Chapter 2: Admiration

Friday morning's Anthropology lecture was off to a very strange and surreal start. Granted, classes held on Fridays at nine in the morning weren't the most productive anyway, but they're especially unproductive when the teacher doesn't show up. Chad was standing at the lectern, taking attendance and examining the syllabus. It wasn't only Dr. Walter's absence that was the subject of much of the lecture hall whispering.

Charli had returned to class. After Charli's very public humiliation by Brittany Anderson near the beginning of the semester, word on campus had spread fast and most knew why she didn't dare show her face in that classroom again. A video that someone took with their camera phone had gone viral around campus, and whenever Charli needed a reminder of who she once was and how far she'd come, she only needed to open YouTube. It was a painful lesson to many of the non-upper crust to avoid confrontations with Brittany Anderson or any Omega Xi for that matter. Charli had returned, and now Brittany was absent. Not only that, but Charli was sitting next to Laura, and the two were chatting like old friends. And not only THAT, but Charli (for those who even recognized her in the first place) didn't look like the mousy computer geek in the video. One didn't need to be a social anthropologist to know that there'd been a significant shift in the campus culture. Charli had to

smile at being the center of attention, even if that attention was delivered through sideways glances and muffled voices speaking in whispers into neighbors' ears. Charli drank it all in, reveling in the fact that none knew (except for Laura) the most scandalous secret of her return: that while she'd been gone undergoing her transformation, she'd fucked the professor once, had been fucking the teaching assistant regularly, and even indulged in occasional fucks with the new president of Omega Xi!

Chad did his best to get everyone's attention. First he coughed into his hand. Then he tried a loud "Ahem!" Even when he knocked on the lectern and shouted, "Class!" no one seemed to care. The biggest bit of campus gossip all semester was sitting in this very classroom, and as long as there was no instructor present, there were theories that had to be discussed. Chad looked at Charli and gave a silent plea. Charli winked and whispered something into Laura's ear. Laura smiled at Chad and stood up.

"Hey!"

Since she was also the focus of much of the discussion anyway, most people stopped talking.

"Chad's trying to say something. Shut up and listen." It was said simply and authoritatively, and people obeyed. Laura sat back down and Chad gave her a stunned but grateful nod of appreciation. Beside Laura, Natalie crossed her legs to try to quench the excitement she was experiencing at watching her mistress be authoritative.

"Th ... thanks Laura. Anyway, Dr. Walters will be unable to attend class today." The faces of many of the girls in the classroom fell a little at that. "He ... he had an appointment this morning." Chad did his best to control his blush. The truth was that he'd gotten a call fifteen minutes before class from Heather, asking him to cover for Gregg. The sultry sound in her voice and the soft repetitious squeak of bedsprings left no doubt as to the more important plans she had for her lover.

"If it's okay with you, I think we'll review the last chapter on language migration." The class groaned collectively ... with three notable exceptions. "I could remind you all of your last quiz scores, if you need some motivation..."

The unspoken truth was that there were many in the class who, under normal circumstances, would have dropped due to their grades. The fact was, the class was hard! Unfortunately, no girl in her right mind was going to drop the class and miss her three hours a week with Dr. Walters. So, with another audible collective sigh, notebooks opened and pens were uncapped.

Laura took notes at first, giving Chad the same courteous respect she would have shown Dr. Walters. But within minutes it was apparent that nothing Chad was reviewing with the class new to her. She smiled smugly to herself that for the first time in recent memory, she was confident in her understanding of course material. Next to her, Charli was doodling idly in her paper, also not taking notes.

"Not taking notes your first day back?" Laura asked, somewhat slyly. Charli smiled at the quip, understanding that Laura was one of the few to know that despite her absence, Charli had been keeping pace with the class thanks to private tutoring from Chad ... her secret boyfriend. Chad's lacrosse team had seen them together, but they never suspected that she was his student. It saddened Charli a little that once the semester was over, she and Chad could go public with their relationship. The truth was, sneaking forbidden kisses (and other things far sweatier) was pretty damn exciting.

"Nah..." she whispered back, keeping her voice low. "Learning's just not the same when he's wearing clothes." Charli blushed at her own joke, suppressing a giggle. Laura took a closer look at Charli's doodlings and saw that her friend's depictions of Chad's physique, if not artistic, were at least proportional.

Charli leaned over again and interrupted the beginnings of Laura's slip into fantasy. "I think you have an admirer." Charli drew an arrow on her paper and Laura looked up where it pointed. A petite peaches 'n cream blonde girl a few rows up quickly averted her eyes and resumed intently taking notes. "Don't you have an outfit just like that?"

Laura looked the girl over and realized that she did in fact own the exact same shirt and skirt combo. She'd worn it just last week. Subtle differences that only a trained eye could detect were noticed right away by Laura. While the outfit was a close match, it was clearly discount. Nor did it fit exactly right like Laura's own tailored clothing. Besides, the girl's wide eyes and freckles across her nose gave her too much of a child-like innocence to really allow the outfit its full impact. Still, the girl had nice legs.

"Do you know her name?" Laura asked.

"I never talked with her, but I think her name is Yasmine. If it weren't such a unique name, I probably wouldn't have remembered."

Laura nodded thoughtfully, but kept her eyes fixed on Yasmine. The girl tried to sneak a few more peaks in Laura's direction but kept her head down when she realized she was being stared at so intensely.

Pulling her gaze back to Charli, she leaned over and whispered, "Have you given any thought to pledging Omega Xi?"

"What?!?" Charli yelled, quickly turning red when she realized that she'd shouted out loud. "Sorry," she said to the Chad as all eyes quickly turned to her. If it had been anybody else, Chad would not have had a grin on his face.

Laura eyed everyone in the classroom who was still looking in their direction, daring them to continue their gaze. One by one, all eyes returned to their substitute teacher. Finally getting over her embarrassment, Charli turned again and in a much quieter whisper asked, "What!?!"

"You're beautiful, Charli! You're confident ... you've fucked at least one professor (that I KNOW of)" Laura winked when Charli's eyes opened in protest. "You're currently fucking the president of Omega Xi ... speaking of which, what are you doing Saturday night?" Before Charli could answer, Laura finished, "And you didn't go through sorority rush this semester."

It took Charli a second to process the verbal barrage that Laura had just unleashed at her. Despite her compliments, Laura's request was disturbing. "Laura if this is some kind of sick joke, I don't find it very funny. Just because Brittany is gone doesn't mean Omega Xi is filled with the kind of people I'd like to hang out with. What did I do to offend you that you'd wish this upon me?" Charli immediately regretted her stinging words. Despite her venom and her vitriol toward all things Omega Xi, Laura was still a friend even if she was now the sorority's new president.

"I know ... I know. It's just ... well. I'm president now. It's expected that I take on a new pledge member. I've been so preoccupied with ... well, other things, that I haven't done any recruiting. And truthfully, the whole sorority sickens me. But I'm in charge now. I just thought that if you were there with me ... maybe we could start making changes. You'd be my only friend there."

Charli's heart welled up with sympathy for her companion. Whatever Laura's relationship with Natalie was, it was clear that Laura didn't consider her slave to also be her friend. There was care and concern ... but not friendship ... at least not yet. Some wounds were apparently still too fresh. "I'm sorry. Laura. It's just that it's ... it's Omega Xi. I'll support you in any way that I can ... but I'll never wear their letters."

Charli's use of the phrase "their letters" made it clear that she didn't include Laura in with that crowd ... even if she was president. Laura sighed. It was a long shot anyway. "I understand. We're still cool?"

Charli smiled wickedly. "I don't know. Maybe you should come by tonight and show me just how sorry you truly are."

Laura licked her lips in anticipation. "It's a date."

When class ended, Charli hung back. Never having made friends in the class in the first place, she wasn't surprised that the only ones that acknowledged her existence beyond gossipy whispers and glances were Laura, Natalie, and Chad. She was a focus for gossip, but no one bothered to welcome her back to her face. When it was just the four of them remaining, Laura saw the smoldering gaze with which Charli eyed her boyfriend.

"Come along Natalie, it looks like these two have important matters to ... um ... discuss." Laura headed out the door, with Natalie following close on her heels. When she turned back to close the door, Charli and Chad were already engaged in a serious tongue-duel.

Once outside, Laura stopped short. Sitting on a marble slab bench, drawing in her notebook was Yasmine — the one who was watching her so intently during class. "Natalie, I've got some things to take care of. I'll meet you back at the house." Natalie opened her mouth to protest, but a stern look from Laura stopped her. Dejectedly, Natalie closed her mouth and walked away, clearly upset to be leaving her mistress's side. Laura thought ruefully that her slave was going to have to grow a backbone eventually if her long-term hope of having her rise to the presidency in two years were to come true. But, there was no immediate hurry. She could still suffer for a little while longer.