University of Console Herorics: Chapter 21

Faith was laid on Lacey’s bed, using her legs as a pillow of sorts. She had been crying, evidenced by the obscenely large pile of used tissues on the bed. Her eyes were red and its doubtful that she’s gotten any decent sleep in the last few days. Lacey was running her hand through Faith’s hair as she continued to cry. The Alarm on Lacey’s phone went off, sending her phone into a noisy fit. She grabbed it and quickly silenced it. “Ok, one hour till meeting, into the shower with you.” Lacy commanded.

Faith rotates and gave Lacey a comical pout. “I can’t just skip it?” She asked.

Lacey looked down at her friend. “The shower or the meeting? Because at this point I honestly wouldn’t recommend skipping either of them.” She couldn’t help the smile from showing. Faith stuck her tongue out. “Well that’s mature. Look, you and I both know that if you don’t do this now it’s going to eat you up inside for a very long time.” She was trying to sound as matter of fact as possible.

Faith rolled over to face the crappy romance on the TV again. “Or I could just move as far away from this school, my family, and boys, as possible.” She grumbled.

Lacey started to poke at her friend in an attempt to get her to move. “Uh huh, and when you find this mythical island of Amazon’s, what do you plan on doing there?” She asked sarcastically.

Faith held out her hands and made a wave motion with her right hand. “Weave baskets. Pretty ones, with shiny shells threaded in them.” She explained.

Lacy moved her legs out from under Faith plopping her on the bed by herself. “Well then, shall we take a basket weaving class first or you do you just wanna pack and jet?” She asked.

Faith sat up grumbling. “No, I can’t run away from my problems for the rest of my life. I’m a big girl, I’m getting in the shower.” She got up and grabbed her towel and stopped near the bathroom door to turn back to her friend. “You’re making me adult, I’m never going to forgive you for this.” She said with a smile.

Lacey pointed at the bathroom. “SHOWER, NOW!” She was trying not to laugh.

Faith opened the bathroom door. “RUDE!” She said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Forty five minutes later Lacey and Faith were standing outside the Nu Tau Delta house. Faith had really cleaned up. Her makeup was perfect, she had her favorite Nu Tau Delta letter shirt on, her shoes matched the letters in the shirt. Sisters passed the pair and headed into the house. Faith watched as the last of the sisters headed into the house. She looked at Lacey to her left. “Whatever happens in there, we’re still friends, right?” She asked.

Lacey nodded and they headed into the house together.

In order to be a sister in good standing with the sorority you only had to attend ten hours of sorority functions a month, including weekly meetings. There were rules and regulations from their own organization as well as school that kept them from demanding a larger mandatory time commitment. The result was that these weekly meetings were often only ever attended by the girls who lived in the house, or were trying to become more involved in sorority politics. Tonight however the house was standing room only. Every active sister had arrived no less than five minutes early. Faith knew instantly that her sister had leveraged some very serious threats to get the entire sisterhood to be in the same place at the same time, and that it was supposed to embarrass and humiliate her.

Tanya and the other five girls on the sorority council were sitting at the only table in the room. Set right in front of the fireplace. Tanya rapt her gavel three times before she spoke. “I call this meeting to order. Before we get on with our official business we have a sister who would like to address the chapter.” She said with a smile on the verge of predatory.  Some of the girls turned to look at Faith, others were polite or reserved enough to wait for her to reach the front of the room, crawling over and stepping in between the girls filling every available space in the gigantic living room. Once she reached the front of the room there was no denying that every set of eyes was on her, many staring angry laser beams into various areas of her body, attempting to turn their mental judgement of her crimes into physical punishment by way of their eyes.  Faith looked around the room and realized that she couldn’t name even ten girls in the room. She cleared her throat. “Sisters of the Beta Sigma chapter of Nu Tau Delta. I come before you tonight to ask forgiveness. I come before you to clear my conscience. I come before you tonight, to admit my faults and failures.” Her opening did little to lessen the intensity of the stares she was receiving. Never the less she persisted. “Some of us thrive in this, class based society. Where it’s not what you do, it’s the image of yourself you present to the outside world. It’s not about the quality of your life, it’s the size of your bank account. It’s not how you make other people feel it’s all about how many people worship you.” A few of the glares had softened. Many soured and she could feel the silent wave of acidic rage washing over her from behind. “I am here to apologize because I thought I was immune to the realities of that system. You see, I had friends and a life before I became this, person.” She pulled the pins out of her hair, letting it fall messily to her shoulders. “I let my Sister warp and distort how I saw myself. They say you can become a brand new person in College and I was so afraid of who I might become that I somehow convinced myself to become the person I hate most.” She lifted her feet one by one and pulled her shoes off tossing them gently to the floor. “I’m not saying this world is wrong for everyone, or that it’s a horrible reality that destroys more decent human beings than it creates. Many of you will go on to become outstanding and exceptional people. But for me it means becoming a carbon copy of my sister. “She pulled off her Nu Tau Delta Shirt revealing a plain black tank top underneath. “And honestly I’d rather die.” She turned and tossed the shirt at her sister. Her fist picked it out of the air like a bear trap snapping shut. “So, Tanya, I quit.” She spun toward the door and stepped her way out of the room. Girls practically diving out her way this time.

Tanya stood up, barely controlled fury in her eyes. “You walk out of this house, I tell our parents everything. “ She threatened.

Faith threw up the middle finger on both hands still heading for the door. “I dare you, lets see who comes out of that info dump on top.” She said as she opened the door and headed out into the night. Lacey scampered out of the room and snuck through the door before it closed. The room was dead silent for a moment. Then the front door opened again and Lacey tossed her own letter shirt on the floor and closed the door again. For a split second Tanya lost control and tossed her gavel at the nearest window, shattering it. A majority of the room got up and filed toward the door, murmuring as they left the house. None of the girls picked up the abandoned shirt.