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Chapter 9 - Lisa's weakness
Tracy was finished in less than 10 minutes. She struck hard, but was not
in any mood to prolong the strapping. Lisa made it through the
punishment without crying, although her expression clearly reflected the
pain of having taken a severe punishment over the bruises left over from
the previous day�s paddling. Her bottom now was in bad shape, covered
with cruel welts and deep red in color.
Tracy tapped her hard on the shoulder. �Get up. Come with me,� she
snapped.
Lisa struggled to push herself up and painfully followed the pledge
mistress past the kitchen and back to the sitting room. Kathleen was
still kneeling, a solitary and very forlorn figure hunched in the
corner. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and her eyes still covered
by the blindfold. It was clear that she had been crying the whole time
she was left alone.
Tracy took off Kathleen�s blindfold and unlocked the handcuffs. She
helped Kathleen stand up, but then pointed at the floor to let both
pledges know that they needed to kneel so she could talk to them.
�Pledge Kathleen, I�m cutting your punishment short, because Pledge Lisa
informed me that she was partly to blame for what happened on the exam
table. I have dealt with her, and except for your re-test, and I
consider the incident resolved.�
�Yes, ma�am.�
�Pledge Lisa, we need the bathrooms cleaned before you go to bed
tonight. There�s an inspection manual sitting on the desk of the office.
I expect you to use it and make sure the bathrooms comply with what�s in
there. Each bathroom has a cleaning log stored under the sink. Once
you�ve cleaned the bathroom, make sure you fill in the time so you won�t
get blamed if anyone comes in after you and leaves a mess.�
�Yes, ma�am.�
�Alright. I want you two to wait in the pledge room while we have
dinner. You�re still under punishment restriction, so you�ll be missing
dinner. Once we�re done, I�ll have Pledges Cherine and Bernadette go get
you so you can get started on the bathrooms. You can use the pledge
showers while you wait. With the way you two smell right now, I�d take
advantage of that if I were you.�
�Yes, ma�am.�
�Stand up!�
Lisa and Kathleen quickly rose to their feet.
�You are dismissed.�
�Yes, ma�am.�
----------
Lisa and Kathleen went into the basement while Bernadette and Cherine
took their places at the table with the sophomores. The two unpunished
pledges felt both very nervous and very guilty that they were enjoying
dinner while their companions were going hungry in the basement, but
fortunately that did not diminish their appetites. They assumed, quite
rightly, that there would be plenty of evenings they would be going
hungry themselves sitting in the basement following a punishment.
Kathleen was consumed with guilt over what had happened to Lisa. As soon
as they made it into the pledge room she began crying and profusely
apologizing. Lisa responded not by trying to tell Kathleen that she
forgave her or that �everything�s OK�, but by holding her fellow pledge
while she finished crying. Lisa knew that what Kathleen needed was not
to be reassured with words, but by being held.
She led Kathleen to the sofa and sat down. She took her companion�s hand
and drew her into a sitting position next to her. Kathleen cried into
her shoulder as Lisa held her and comforted her. Finally, she recovered
enough to speak:
�I�I can�t do this! I thought I could, but I can�t! I want out! I just
can�t handle it! I�m sorry!�
Lisa didn�t say anything, but began stroking Kathleen�s short dark hair.
That seemed to calm her down a bit. She gently brushed away the tears
from her companion�s face, which calmed her down even more. Lisa moved
from brushing away the tears to caressing her cheek, which quieted
Kathleen even more. Lisa realized that she had discovered something
important about her companion, that she could be soothed and reassured
by being touched.
Kathleen snuggled up to Lisa, seeking an emotional shelter from the
traumatic events of the past three days. Lisa put her arm around
Kathleen�s shoulders and allowed her face to rest against her chest. She
knew that if she could comfort her fellow pledge long enough without
being interrupted, the crisis would pass.
Lisa was grateful for the moment of silence, because her own emotions
were in turmoil. She realized that she had reached an important turning
point in her life, because to keep Kathleen in the pledge group, she
would have to develop a relationship with her and allow her to become
emotionally dependent. It seemed that only Lisa could provide Kathleen
with the motivation and support that would convince her to stay in. She
would have to assume the role of Kathleen�s mentor and protector.
Ultimately there would have to be more to the relationship between the
two women, but the question was, how much more?
Lisa felt an emotional tug towards Kathleen, but was experienced enough
in life to know why. Both women were frightened, isolated, tired, and
under a lot of emotional stress. They were totally dependent on the
whims of Tracy and Heather for every detail of their existence,
including their most basic human needs. They faced three months being
cut off from the outside world. They had no one to turn to for comfort
except each other. Lisa�s need to watch over someone else was as
important as Kathleen�s need to seek protection. Lisa realized she
needed Kathleen every bit as much as Kathleen needed her.
Lisa knew that another issue was likely to come up between herself and
Kathleen, and that was sex. It was Kathleen�s sexual fascination with
Lisa that got both of them in trouble in the first place, and the sexual
issue was certain to re-surface. How would she handle that, when the
moment came?
Lisa decided that Kathleen had calmed down enough for them to shower.
She squeezed her companion�s hand and suggested they get cleaned up,
since the others would be returning shortly and the bathrooms still had
to be cleaned. Kathleen did not resist. She quietly followed Lisa to the
shower stalls.
The two women began soaping themselves, but Kathleen was sending
non-verbal signals that she wanted her companion to soap her back. Lisa
didn�t see the harm in that. She agreed to gently soap Kathleen�s entire
back, including her welt-covered bottom. As Lisa�s hands gently circled
soap over her companion�s tender backside, Kathleen put her hands on the
wall and arched her back. She wanted more. She wanted Lisa to touch her,
to run her fingers over the most sensitive area of her body. She wanted
to feel Lisa�s finger to massage and then press into her bottom-hole. If
Lisa only would do that�
Lisa did go much further than she originally intended. She soaped the
most intimate part of Kathleen, thoroughly cleaning her vagina and
bottom-hole. Kathleen gasped with delight, something that Lisa found
very erotic. The pull now was much stronger, not only was Kathleen
falling in love with Lisa, but also Lisa was becoming increasingly
attracted to Kathleen. She realized how much she enjoyed touching and
caressing her�
No�no, this can�t be happening. You�ve go to stop it, now. You can�t do
this to her! The small voice of restraint, that voice of reason and
morality, resonated in Lisa�s thoughts. You�ve got to stop this, now!
Lisa backed away, only to have her companion embrace her. Kathleen put
her face to Lisa�s chest and held her tight. That embrace, along with
the sensation of Kathleen�s skin in contact with her own, buried Lisa�s
doubts. She realized just how good it felt to hold her. It was too late
for that voice of reason to intervene in Lisa�s life. Just three days
after meeting her, she had fallen into a relationship with Kathleen.
Lisa�s heart pounded as Kathleen pulled her head off her chest. She
looked at Lisa with a very intense expression. Her eyes glistened with
desire and her mouth was slightly open. Lisa knew that the moment had
come. They now were lovers. All they need now was to exchange their
first kiss. Kathleen closed her eyes and leaned forward�
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs alerted the two women that
their interlude of solitude had ended. They rapidly separated and moved
to their respective showers.
Bernadette and Cherine entered the room, quite surprised to see their
fellow pledges still showering. The expressions on the faces of the
shower�s occupants gave them away. Kathleen was clearly distressed at
the interruption, while Lisa�s face reflected a combination of
embarrassment, disappointment, and relief. Bernadette gave Lisa a very
suspicious look: what�s going on here? Why aren�t you two cleaned up
yet? Even Cherine, the most inexperienced member of the pledge group,
realized that something was not right.
Lisa pulled herself out of her confused mood and finished rinsing off.
She ignored Bernadette�s suspicious glances as she prepared to confront
the next issue of the day, the bathrooms. She reached for the inspection
manual and organized her companions by task. Lisa would clean the
toilets and perform the final inspection check, Bernadette would clean
the sinks and wipe down the floors, Kathleen was responsible for
bathtubs and showers, and Cherine was in charge of removing trash and
dirty linens.
�If any of you doesn�t like what they�re doing, I�m willing to switch
with you.�
No one volunteered, given that Lisa already had taken the least pleasant
task, the toilets, for herself.
The pledges went through their duty very quickly. They worked on two
bathrooms at a time, Kathleen and Bernadette going first, and then Lisa
and Cherine finishing up. They were completely finished within an hour.
Lisa inspected each bathroom, signed the cleaning log, and moved on. She
realized that Tracy�s comment �make sure you fill in the time so you
won�t get blamed if anyone comes in after you and leaves a mess,� meant
that the bathroom clean up was a standard chore and not a hazing task.
Just to be safe, Lisa directed her companions to get ready for bed while
she looked for Tracy. Finally she found her in the sorority library,
sitting in an armchair as she read a psychology journal and took notes.
Lisa realized how focused a student Tracy truly must be, given that she
was working on her major even during the weeks between the spring and
summer semesters.
She knelt at the door and knocked.
�Ma�am, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak.�
�Go ahead Pledge Lisa.�
�The bathrooms have been cleaned ma�am.�
�That fast? Are you sure they�re in compliance with the inspection
manual?�
�I checked each one myself, ma�am. If they�re not in compliance it�d be
because I overlooked something.�
�Alright, let�s have a look.�
Lisa followed Tracy through two of the bathrooms. She straightened a few
of the towels, but otherwise found nothing wrong.
�OK, Pledge Lisa. This�ll work. You�re dismissed for the night.�
�Yes, ma�am.�
Lisa suddenly remembered Ruth Burnside�s request to have the chapter
president call her to work out an arrangement that would allow Lisa to
continue pledging but not interfere with her duties with the Economics
Department. She knelt to address Tracy again.
�Ma�am, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak.�
�Yes, Pledge Lisa?�
She told the pledge mistress about her contract with Ruth Burnside and
explained that President Alexandra needed to call the professor to work
out the details concerning how they would split up Lisa�s time. Tracy
told Lisa to follow her back to the office, and typed out an e-mail
addressed to both President Alexandra and Ruth Burnside concerning the
need for them to talk about Pledge Lisa�s dual commitment. She asked
Lisa for Burnside�s contact information to put in the e-mail, and also
included President Alexandra�s information.
�There. Now it�s all in writing, addressed to both of them, so there
won�t be any confusion about what they�re supposed to do.�
�Thank you, ma�am.�
Lisa decided to bring up another issue, before things between her and
Kathleen went any further and they got in trouble. She knew that pledges
were strictly prohibited from having relationships with full members of
either the sorority or the fraternity, but the rules did not say
anything about relationships with other pledges. She asked, just for the
purposes of clarification for her group, what the rule was concerning
sexual contact between pledges.
Tracy gave Lisa an impatient look.
�Pledge, don�t bullshit me. You�re not curious about that rule for your
group. What you want to know is if you�ll get in trouble if you do
anything with Pledge Kathleen. That�s what this is all about, isn�t it?�
Lisa took a very deep breath. �Yes, ma�am.�
�That depends on how you handle it. We encourage pledges to experiment
with their sexuality within the guidelines of our program, so there�s
not a problem if you have a relationship with Pledge Kathleen. If you
end up doing anything with her, you'll need to be discreet about it. We
don�t want you flaunting it around the sorority. No kissing in public
areas, no handholding, no making the rest of us listen to sweet talk,
that sort of thing. The privacy rule�s not just for you; it�s for
everyone. There�s a lot of relationships among us and between us and the
Tri-Alphas, but we respect each other and keep it quiet. If you can keep
whatever you do with Pledge Kathleen to yourselves, then I have no
problem with you spending some of your time together. The moment it
interferes with your behavior in public or your pledge duties, then I
will have a problem.�
�Thank you ma�am.�
�Now, there�s another issue, and only you can answer it. You need to
think about your reason for wanting a relationship with Pledge Kathleen.
Is it because she�s truly the love of your life, or is it because you
two are thrown together in a very difficult situation and need each
other�s support?�
�I�I don�t know, ma�am�I mean like�I�ve only known her three days��
�Exactly. Three days. You�ve known her three days. You�d better give
that some thought.�
�But�she really needs me�I mean, tonight she was just gonna quit, and�I
sort of�you know like, held her�I mean�"
Lisa took a deep breath and blurted out; "this pledging, and the way
you�re treating us, it�s a lot harder than we thought it was going to
be��
�Well, it�s gonna get even harder, because it�s my job to push you to
your limits. Don�t think I�m gonna let up on you guys, because I�m not.
The sorority believes that to join us you have to completely know
yourself, and to completely know yourself you�ve got to know how you�re
gonna react under a lot of hardship and stress. Even with you, after
just three days I�ve noticed some changes in your character because I�ve
been so rough on you. I�m starting to think that you�ve already found
out things about yourself that you didn�t know.�
�Yes, ma�am. That�s true.�
�And that includes what you want from your relationships?�
�Yes, ma�am, or, like�now I�m confused. Three days ago I thought I knew
what I wanted. Now I don�t have any idea. I don�t know. I �spose when I
see Ken again I�ll straighten it all out.�
Tracy became pensive upon hearing Ken�s name. It was apparent that she
knew something important, but was not sure whether to disclose it.
�Pledge Lisa, about your boyfriend�I got a question for you. How well do
you think you know Ken?�
Lisa was surprised by the sudden turn of the conversation. What did
�knowing Ken� have to do with her pledging responsibilities?
�I�m pretty sure I know him just fine. I mean, we�ve spent a lot of time
together and we�ve experimented a lot, and��
�So you�re pretty certain that he wouldn�t hit you with any surprises?
That maybe there�s something he�s been keeping from you?�
�Ma�am, what do you know about him?�
�Pledge, his end of it is confidential. The only thing that I can tell
you is that we�re here to discover the truth about ourselves and about
each other. Next week Ken will start the same process of self-discovery
when he pledges with the Triple A�s that you�re undergoing with us.�
�But, ma�am, is there something about him I need to know? I mean, have
you read his pledge packet?�
�Yes.�
�Then what is it? What��
�Pledge, I�m not going to talk about someone else�s life. You�ll find
out soon enough. The only thing that I�m worried about is how it might
affect you. I�m just asking you to keep an open mind.�
�But what��
�PLEDGE, STAND UP!�
Lisa immediately rose to her feet.
�You are dismissed, Pledge. Make sure Pledge Kathleen is ready to
re-test at 5:00. Get the others up at 5:30. I expect you to have your
area cleaned and be lined up next to the pool at 6:00. Tomorrow�s lower
body and aerobic PT day. It�s gonna be quite hot, yet again, so we�ll
need to exercise as early as possible.�
�Yes, ma�am.�
�Goodnight, Pledge.�
�Goodnight, ma�am.�
----------
Lisa left the meeting feeling as though she had been hit in the chest.
Tracy�s words �maybe there�s something he�s been keeping from you�
echoed over and over in her mind. As best she could within her oath not
to divulge information about another pledge, the pledge mistress was
trying to warn her not to count on Ken. It was obvious he had written
something in his pledge packet that had alerted Tracy that his sexual
ambitions extended beyond continuing his relationship with Lisa.
Unfortunately, Lisa suspected she knew what the problem was. During
their first few weeks as friends back in September, Ken had confessed
that occasionally he felt attracted to guys as well as to women. In
other words, he openly admitted to being bisexual. Cecilia Sanchez later
confided something else to Lisa back in November, that she had noticed
Ken looking longingly at her boyfriend Jason a couple of times. Cecilia
had been tempted to say something and tell Ken to stay away from Jason,
but held her tongue and later was glad she did.
As their relationship developed, Lisa had assumed that Ken was not
really bisexual, but instead simply a masochist. All he needed was the
right woman to dominate him, and he would be happy. Now she had to deal
with the shock of being wrong, that her lover of six months was not
really who she thought he was. Yes, he was indeed a masochist, but
apparently his bisexuality was something he was planning to explore upon
joining the fraternity.
Lisa was infuriated, not so much at Ken�s situation, but at the fact
that he had not had the decency to tell her about his sexual doubts and
upcoming plans. She had to hear about it from a third person, from her
pledge mistress. Lisa tightened her lips, because at that moment she
took it for granted that her relationship with Ken had ended. You want
to fuck other guys, asshole? That�s fine with me. You want to come back
to me afterwards? I don�t think so. You can go to hell.
Lisa was deeply hurt, but refused to admit that to herself. She covered
her emotional pain with anger and scorn. Cecilia had warned Lisa that
she thought Ken was an idiot, that he was weak-willed, and that he had
no character. It turned out that Cecilia was right about him, just like
it seemed she had been right about a bunch of other things. Well, chalk
up another one for Cecilia, thought Lisa to herself.
Lisa�s thoughts returned to her own situation. At that moment she could
not see the irony of her feelings towards Kathleen. In her mind she
excoriated Ken for wanting to explore his desire to experiment with
other guys, and yet here she was, wanting to do the exact same thing
with another female. Unlike Ken, Lisa was not even willing to admit she
might be bisexual. She hated that word and associated it with hypocrisy.
Instead she saw herself as a straight woman who just happened to be
attracted to someone of the same sex due to the circumstances of a
unique friendship.
Lisa returned to the basement to find the other pledges asleep. The room
was dimly lit with a single nightlight, so she could make out the bare
figures of her companions as they lay on top of bedrolls on their cots.
Bernadette had the presence of mind to close the air conditioning vent,
so the room was warmer than the rest of the sorority. The warm air
allowed the pledges to be relatively comfortable in spite of being
forced to sleep naked with no covers.
Lisa glanced around the room. It seemed that Bernadette and Cherine were
asleep, judging by the sound of their breathing. Lisa was not surprised
to see that Kathleen was not asleep. Kathleen got up on her elbow. Lisa
squeezed her hand.
�You OK?�
�Yeah, I guess. I�m just kinda scared about tomorrow.�
�It�s no big deal. You�ve already done most of it, and you came very
close to passing. All you gotta do is just stay calm.�
Lisa put her hand on Kathleen�s cheek. She knew that Kathleen would do
fine, as long she was properly motivated.
�I�m counting on you. You gotta do it, because if you don�t, I don�t see
how I�m gonna get through the summer without you.�
�You mean that?�
�Of course I mean that, silly.�
Lisa leaned forward to kiss Kathleen goodnight. At first she just wanted
to give her a good night peck, but Kathleen buried her mouth into Lisa�s
and kissed hard. Lisa did not resist. Instead she found the experience
very interesting, exchanging kisses with another woman for the first
time in her life. Anyhow, now it was done. The two women had exchanged
their first kiss, the kiss that committed each to the other as a lover.
Kathleen would have wanted to continue, but Lisa touched her finger to
her companion�s lips.
�Get some sleep. I want you to get a good night�s sleep so you can get
through tomorrow. I�ll have a big kiss for you when you�re done.�
Kathleen smiled in the darkness and lay back down. Lisa squeezed her
hand one last time and left her to set her alarm for 4:45 a.m. and
unroll her own sleeping mat. She covered the mat with a dorm sheet and
laid out a pillow. Like the others, she would have to sleep completely
uncovered.
----------
Lisa was soundly asleep when her alarm went off. She groaned and forced
herself to get up. She checked the time, hoping that she had set the
alarm wrong and that it couldn�t possibly be 4:45. No such luck. Sure
enough, it was 4:45. Time to get Kathleen up.
Lisa was too tired to feel much of the tenderness towards her companion
that she had felt just a few hours before. She shook the freshman awake
and told her to get in the shower. Kathleen was equally groggy,
something Lisa had anticipated. Hopefully the shower would make her
alert enough to face her upcoming exam.
Kathleen seemed to wake up once the water hit her. Lisa handed her a
towel and told her to dry off. She checked the time. 4:58 a.m. Time to
get upstairs.
The two pledges entered the sitting room and promptly fell to their
knees. Tracy and Heather entered the room and took their positions next
to the examination chair. Because Heather was to be the examination
subject, she was completely naked. Tracy was dressed in the Four-Beta
running uniform and a white doctor�s robe. She was carrying two
clipboards, one for herself and one for Kathleen.
As Heather climbed onto the table and positioned her legs in the
stirrups, Tracy repeated the instructions from the pervious day
concerning what was expected of the person performing the exam. As
before, she stated that it would be best to have the examiner call out
her observations to an assistant. She asked Kathleen if she had someone
to help her, and she responded that Pledge Lisa would be the one taking
notes.
Lisa was relieved that Heather and Tracy mentioned nothing about the
mishap the day before. They behaved as though the test was Kathleen�s
first try, not her last chance. Their calm attitude put the pledge at
ease somewhat, as did the reassuring presence of Lisa.
Kathleen managed to concentrate by breaking the exam down into its
individual tasks. The most difficult part was asking Heather about her
sexual history and current sexual activities. Lisa found Heather�s
answers very interesting. It turned out that she had two current male
partners and one female partner, that she had a total of sexual 17
partners in her past, and that with one of her current male partners she
occasionally engaged in anal intercourse. Wow! And to think that she had
given Lisa the impression that she was so cold and straight-laced.
Kathleen seemed equally taken aback by Heather�s openness, but to see
the Sergeant-at-Arms as a sexually active college student instead of a
sterile sorority officer seemed to put her at ease to some extent.
The rest of the exam went flawlessly. Lisa checked off the tasks one by
one and wrote down Kathleen�s observations. Even the final part of the
exam, in which Kathleen had to push her finger up Heather�s bottom, went
well. Kathleen held up her soiled index finger to check for rectal
disorders, but found nothing. She cleaned off her subject and the exam
ended.
Kathleen signed the examination form, added a few comments in her own
handwriting, and handed it to Tracy. Both pledges knelt while Tracy
looked over the form.
�Pledges! Stand up!�
Lisa and Kathleen immediately rose to their feet.
�Congratulations, Pledge Kathleen, you�ve passed. Now was that really so
hard?�
�No ma�am!�
Tracy looked approvingly, not at Kathleen, but at Lisa. Once again, she
was testing Lisa even more than she was testing Kathleen. Once again, it
was Lisa who had led a fellow pledge through a difficult personal
crisis. Her face was totally exhausted because she had been the last
member of the group to go to sleep and the first one to get up. She was
sacrificing her own comfort for the sake of the others, which in Tracy�s
mind was an important indication of a person�s worthiness as a leader.
�Alright! Get the others up! It�s lower-body PT day, and you know what
that means? Running!�
A half an hour later the four naked pledges joined the sorority�s 14
sophomores in formation next to the pool. Like the pledges, the
sophomores were naked, but each one had running shoes and a folded
uniform next to her exercise mat. An equally naked President Alexandra
led the 18 women as they performed a long series of stretches and
low-impact leg exercises. By the time they finished warming up it
already was 7:00 a.m. The women put on their running uniforms and stood
at attention, ready to move out.
Lisa and her companions wondered if they would have to go running
outside with nothing on, but one of President Alexandra�s male
assistants came out carrying four summer pledge jogging uniforms. The
pledges quickly put them on. When they looked at each other they
wondered if it might have been less embarrassing to go out naked. Each
shirt read:
PLEDGE
This pledge is the property of the Four-Beta Sorority.
If found unescorted, please return to rightful owner.
As for the shorts, there was a large red �B� on each side of the bottom.
Everyone on campus knew why those �B�s� were red.
The Pledge Mistress - Chapter 10
