Chapter 2: The Four-Beta House

With her meeting with Burnside completed and a student aide’s guidebook and copy of her contract now safely in her backpack, Lisa left the Economics Building and continued on her way to the Four-Beta Sorority. It was much hotter outside and Lisa was glad to be so lightly dressed as she made her way across the Student Center. The sun shined hotly on her face and shoulders, but the rest of her body felt comfortable under the light dress. An occasional soft breeze blew up her clothing and cooled off the still-sensitive area between her legs.

The young woman exited the university campus and made her way up a tree-lined street towards the sorority house. She passed several other sorority houses before getting to her destination, all of which housed rich princesses who would never have accepted her into their miserable little circles. Not that it mattered, because Lisa wouldn’t have given any of those pathetic bitches the time of day, let alone want to socialize with them.

Until she and Ken learned about the Tri-Alpha Fraternity and its sister sorority the Four-Betas, it never would have occurred to either of them to join one of the “Greeks”. However, precisely because the Tri-Alphas and Four-Betas were so different from the other fraternities and sororities, Ken and Lisa became interested in joining last spring. Ken had decided to commit to pledging the Tri-Alphas first, and when Lisa started dating him, she decided to follow him and join the Four-Betas.

The decision was not one to be taken lightly, because the fraternity and its sister sorority demanded a radical change of personal lifestyle from their members, which included harsh physical activities and frequently surrendering one’s own body. Lisa was nervous, because momentarily she would surrender herself and submit to a group of strangers, a very difficult action for someone like her who had a strong character and controlling personality.

The Four-Beta house was large, one of the largest sorority houses on the street. It was an old house, a mansion probably built around 1925. The grounds and the building itself were immaculate. A tall hedge surrounded the entire back of the property, protecting a swimming pool, sun deck, and hot tub from public view. Having a barrier concealing the back yard was important, because the sorority strictly prohibited clothing in the pool area.

Lisa drew a deep breath and rang the doorbell. As previously instructed in her admission letter, she backed away from the door and knelt on a small mat marked with the Four-Beta insignia. She now was a pledge, and until accepted as a full member of the sorority she would have to endure an inferior social status in the house. She would be required to kneel before greeting any full member of the sorority until her probation ended. The kneeling requirement applied not only at the sorority house itself, but also when talking to any Four-Beta member on campus. The kneeling requirement was an important reason why Lisa wanted to pledge in the summer instead of the fall.

The door opened and an attractive, tall, dark-haired woman glanced down at the kneeling pledge. Lisa knelt forward, touched her head to the porch, then knelt upright.

“Pledge Lisa reporting for duty, ma’am.”

“Good afternoon, Pledge Lisa. I’m glad to see you. My name’s Tracy, and I’m handling your orientation today. Do you have your registration packet ready?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Still kneeling, Lisa took a folder of contracts and releases from her backpack and handed it to her companion. The other woman briefly looked it over. Satisfied, she organized the papers and closed the folder.

“Follow me, Pledge Lisa.”

Lisa stood up and followed her companion into the house. They passed through an ornate entryway and descended into the basement. The basement had been remodeled and divided into several large rooms; the most austere of which was the pledge room. Lisa followed her guide into the pledge room, which was empty except for a row of lockers, four army cots, a small sofa, and a very sturdy-looking table. On the back wall there were three open shower stalls, a toilet, and two sinks. The showers and toilet sat out completely in the open, anyone wanting to use them would be doing so in full view of the rest of the room. The pledge room itself did not have a door, since Four-Beta pledges did not have the right to enjoy any privacy or modesty.

Tracy took out a set of keys and unlocked the padlock to one of the lockers. She opened the door and continued:

“Pledge Lisa, this’ll be your locker. Go ahead and get your clothes off and put everything inside.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, everything. Of course, everything. Didn’t you read the orientation letter?”

Lisa kicked off her shoes and placed them on the floor in the locker. She pulled the dress over her head and hung it up on one of the hooks in the back. For her there was no real shock going from being dressed to being completely naked, precisely because she had started out wearing so little. Finally she took a deep breath and picked up the backpack to place on top of her shoes inside the locker.

The moment Lisa finished placing her personal items inside the locker, Tracy pushed the door shut and closed the padlock. Lisa noticed that the padlock was sturdy, one of those heavy-duty padlocks normally used to secure a garage door or an industrial tool shed. There was absolutely no way she could open it on her own, and only key to that lock was on Tracy’s key ring. That detail meant Lisa could only access her personal items with Tracy’s permission.

Tracy moved in front of Lisa and gave her a very sharp look. Lisa, her heart pounding, stood at attention, not knowing what else to do.

“Alright, Pledge Lisa, there’s something that you and I need to get straight with each other, and we’re gonna do that right now. Do you understand that you just broke a rule of your pledge commitment?”

“I ... uh ... wha ... what rule was it, ma’am?”

“You forced me to repeat an order. I told you to put your stuff in the locker, and instead of doing it you just stood there questioning me. That’s not a good way to start out, and I don’t appreciate it, you get it?”

Tracy punctuated her statement by poking her finger into Lisa’s bare chest.

“But ... but ma’am, I wasn’t questioning you. I just wanted to make sure that...”

“GET YOUR ASS IN THE FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION ... NOW!!!”

Lisa, terrified at the change in her mentor’s voice and sudden savage demeanor, clumsily dropped to the floor. She positioned her arms to do pushups and balanced as best she could on her hands and toes. She was in excellent physical condition, so her tall thin body formed a graceful straight line, much to Tracy’s satisfaction.

“You do NOT argue with me, get it? You will NEVER argue with me again, or I WILL fuck you up! I WILL make your life a living hell! GET IT?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Alright, we’ll just see how much you get it, Pledge! In cadence, exercise! ONE ... TWO ... THREE...”

“ONE!”

“ONE ... TWO ... THREE...”

“TWO!”

“ONE ... TWO ... THREE...”

“THREE!”

“ONE ... TWO ... THREE...”

At the count of ten, Tracy paused but did not let Lisa get up. The pledge was winded and her skin glistening with sweat. She had completed a full set of ten military-style four-count push-ups, which in reality meant she had done a total of 20. Fortunately, her arms were strong from working out and she was able to hold her position.

Another member of the sorority came into the pledge room with a couple of guys, one of whom Lisa recognized as an officer in the Tri-Alpha fraternity. While Lisa struggled to remain in the front-leaning-rest position, Tracy casually chatted with the newcomers. The conversation shifted to Lisa, as Tracy described her pledge’s qualifications and background. While they conversed, the others glanced down as her sweaty, trembling, naked body. Tracy continued talking with an incredulous tone in her voice.

“I can’t believe what she just pulled, like, within a minute of coming into this house! This little bitch argued with me! All this effort I’m putting into helping her get settled in, and she actually argued with me!”

The Tri-Alpha guy who Lisa recognized chimed in: “That’s not a good way to start, Pledge.”

“No, sir.”

“If you’d pulled that shit with me, you’d have lot more to worry about than a few push-ups.”

“Yes, sir.”

The truth was that Lisa was very afraid that there was more to worry about than “a few push-ups”. Under normal circumstances at the very least she could have expected a couple of belt swats across her unprotected bottom. However, Tracy had decided not to inflict any physical punishment because Pledge Lisa had not yet taken her ID photos. That might have saved Lisa’s skin, but Tracy decided that her pledge owed her more pushups. Again she screamed:

“In cadence, exercise! ONE ... TWO ... THREE...”