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Chapter 28 � Lisa�s thong

The following morning began at 4:00 with yet another naked run to the stadium. As always, the five streakers ran past Heather�s friend and had their picture taken before finishing the trip to the stadium. Bernadette�s performance improved tremendously; she came very close to finishing the sixth flight before her lungs gave out and she was forced to walk the final few steps. Tracy was heartened by her progress and at the thought that Wednesday might be the last day the group would have to go streaking at 4:00 in the morning.

�You�re close, a lot closer than you were a week ago. Think about it for Wednesday. If you make it up the steps, you can test on Friday and we�ll be done. You do have it in you. It�s just a few more steps. That�s all it is.�

Once again Polk tried to engage Tracy in conversation and once again Lisa bent over to distract him. For the second time Lisa�s ploy worked by drawing the security officer�s attention away from Tracy. She noticed him holding a clipboard in front of his crotch and that he was hunched over, obviously hiding an erection. Ha! So she had turned the tables on Polk, forcing him to have a hard-on and humiliate himself! That morning he was quite eager to send the women on their way.

As they took off running past the Student Fitness Center, Tracy and her pledges did not notice something that would complicate the rest of Lisa�s summer. Heather�s friend had stayed near the stadium to observe the group from an area shaded by some trees. Among other things, she watched Lisa bend over in front of the security officer and remembered the story of her doing the same thing in the shoe store. She knew that of the pledges, Lisa was the least inhibited about showing off her body. That gave her an idea, to suggest that Heather put Lisa�s lack of inhibitions to the test.

Heather�s friend explained her plan when the pledges were eating breakfast. When Heather heard the idea, she liked it tremendously. Rather than share it with Tracy, she decided to go directly to Ruth Burnside�s office and see if she could talk the professor into going along with it. While she was in class, Heather discussed with the professor Lisa�s total lack of modesty. Burnside off-handedly added the detail about her student�s fantasy of pursuing a public career as the world�s first naked economist. Heather responded:

�Well, Dr. Burnside. You know that in the sorority we like our pledges to push their limits as much as possible. Even someone like Pledge Lisa, who seems open to just about anything, has limits that need to pushed even farther. I like to challenge the pledges, keep making them do more and more daring things.�

�Yes, I understand your philosophy. So what does that mean for Pledge Lisa?�

�I�m thinking about changing Pledge Lisa�s uniform for campus. I�d like to take away her shorts and have her wear something a bit more daring. What I�m thinking about is issuing her a thong and making her wear it on campus instead of her pledge shorts. I can�t see that it would be a problem outside, because the campus administration just loosened the dress code to allow thongs at the pool and for sunbathers in the dorm area. The only thing I�d need would be permission from you to allow Pledge Lisa to wear her thong in your classes.�

Burnside sat back, contemplating the idea. She liked it tremendously. Lisa would look quite sexy running around lectures, passing out papers, and collecting assignments with her bottom exposed. Making Lisa wear a thong also would help Burnside completely control her, because if she had to be disciplined there was no way she would be able to cover the marks on her bottom. The threat of discipline would be much more frightening if the student had no means of covering her welts.

The other reason forcing Lisa to wear a thong on campus appealed to Burnside was that it would allow the girl to come much closer to fulfilling her secret fantasy. She would be spending the rest of the summer almost completely naked below the waist, which would bring her very close to living naked in public. Heather and Burnside agreed that people such as Lisa should be encouraged, and even obligated, to pursue whatever sexual fantasies they had. Both the professor and the sorority believed that repression of sexuality was a major cause of personal frustration, which in turn manifested itself in all kinds of dysfunctional and self-destructive behavior. For example, it seemed to both women that societies that were the most sexually oppressive also were the most violent.

Burnside was astute enough to realize that Heather must have had some ulterior motive for wanting to force Lisa to run around the university in a thong instead of shorts. However, she figured that if there was any major problem, she would find out about it soon enough and could rescind her permission. In the meantime, Pledge Lisa�s bottom would remain uncovered in public for the duration of the summer, in addition to her working completely naked whenever she was in Burnside�s office or house. It would be interesting to see how Lisa would handle such a personal challenge.

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With the Tri-Alpha pledges back at the fraternity and Pledge Master Arnold once again in charge of his group, life in the Four-Beta Sorority returned to normal. The pledges returned to being completely naked whenever in the sorority house and their temporary status of relative equality with the other women quickly vanished. They had to give up sleeping in the comfortable guest beds and return to their austere military cots. Their privacy vanished and once again they were forced to use the pledge toilet, relieving themselves in full view of anyone who happened to be in the basement at that time.

The Four-Beta pledge training classes started up again, after a week break because of the presence of the males in the sorority house. Every night there was a different seminar. Topics that week included a self-defense class taught by Tracy, another massage training session from Suzanne Foster, a beginner�s class in car maintenance presented by Tri-Alpha VP Jacob, a course in avoiding credit card debt, and a practical exercise examining the fundamentals of academic research. Along with the seminars there was the routine PT, study breaks, house clean-up, and meals with the sophomores. Each day was so full of activity that it seemed to last an eternity.

There was another unpleasant detail introduced into the pledges' lives, their hiking boots. Tracy ordered her group to wear their hiking boots on campus during the mornings to break them in. Of course the boots looked totally ridiculous with the rest of the pledge uniforms, but as Tracy put it:
"You'll look a lot more ridiculous if you're out in the woods with your feet all ripped up with blisters."

Wednesday morning began at 4:00 with a pre-dawn streak to the stadium. As always, Polk let the group in through Gate 4. Bernadette�s performance on the steps improved slightly, but not enough for Tracy to declare that she was ready to test on Friday. That meant yet another run on Friday, with the possibility of Bernadette testing pushed back to Sunday, at the earliest.

Fortunately for Tracy, Polk was not waiting for her when the group finished their practice run on the stadium steps. He was gone from the stadium area, forced to respond to a burglar alarm that had gone off in one of the academic buildings. Tracy locked the gate herself and the five naked women ran back to the sorority.

Tracy might have been forgiving of Bernadette�s struggles on the stadium steps, but Wednesday afternoon she became much more sharp-tempered over the three freshmen�s academic performance. Kathleen, Bernadette, and Cherine had taken an exam for one of their classes on Monday, but in spite of Tracy�s efforts to get them ready, they did not perform to her expectations. Each had only scored in the low �80�s and their mentor was livid. Tracy seethed with anger as she escorted the three young women to the Economics Building to pick up Lisa. As they entered Burnside�s office, the expressions on the faces of Lisa�s companions reflected genuine fear, because they knew they faced punishment as soon as they got back to the sorority.

As soon as they entered the sorority house the pledges undressed and put their clothes in the washer. They knelt in the sitting room, waiting for the Pledge Mistress to start berating them. Tracy did return with the freshmen�s tests, but for a long time stood quietly, going through their papers and jotting down some notes and observations. The freshmen were sweating as they waited for the ominous silence in the room to explode into vicious yelling.

Heather came into the room and chatted with Tracy about what had happened that day in class. It was clear that she was pleased about Tracy�s awkward situation and at seeing that, when it came to her pledges� performance, she was not so perfect after-all. However, Heather also realized that she had the perfect opportunity to pull Lisa away from the pledge group and impose the planned change of her uniform.

Heather called Lisa to the hallway and told her to go downstairs. Lisa complied with very mixed feelings. She was relieved to escape the possibility of being punished along with the freshmen, but at the same time she felt bad about deserting them. Also, she did not trust Heather. There was no way the Sergeant-at-Arms would pull her away from being punished just out of being nice. No, Heather was up to something. Lisa�s suspicions rose even more when the sorority officer spoke in her sweet sarcastic voice:

�Put on your uniform, Pledge. We�re going out, and you�ll get to go shopping with me. Don�t you think that�s gonna be fun?�

�Yes, ma�am.�

Lisa put on a clean pledge uniform and followed Heather up the stairs, very worried about what Heather was planning to buy.

As they ascended the steps, Lisa heard Cherine�s voice crying and the sound of CRACK!�CRACK!..CRACK!

She glanced through the door to see Cherine bent over a table. Tracy was striking her with a very narrow two-pronged leather strap. Cherine�s bottom already was covered with multiple thin welts that were clearly visible on the girl�s dark skin.

�Aieee!!!...Ma�am�ma�am�Ooh�Ow!�I�I�ll do better�Ahh! I�ll try��

Kathleen and Bernadette were kneeling. They had not yet been punished, but were sweating and trembling from fear and anticipation.

As they exited the house, Heather�s voice rang out sweetly to Lisa:

�Aren�t you glad you�re coming with me and not having that cute butt of yours whipped?�

�Yes, ma�am,� lied Lisa. In reality she wondered if she�d be better off getting punished alongside her companions.

Heather led Lisa to Pageant Street and into a clothing shop. She immediately led the pledge to a clothing rack of undergarments and asked her waist size. Upon hearing Lisa�s response, Heather began thumbing through thongs that would fit, finally settling on three that came closest to the color of her pledge shorts. Heather narrowed the selection to the thong that provided the least cover in the back and had a very high waistband. She passed it to Lisa.

�Here, Pledge. Try this on and let�s see how it looks on you.�

Lisa was bewildered by the command, but knew better than to argue. She stepped into a dressing room and pulled down her shorts, set them aside, and put on the thong. The article of clothing made her feel more exposed than she felt when completely naked. She felt the contrast between her crotch, which was adequately covered, and her backside, which was totally bare. Reluctantly she stepped out of the dressing room and faced Heather.

�I like it. You look really cute. Turn around, Pledge.�

Lisa turned around. Heather carefully examined her uncovered bottom, and then ran her hand over her exposed buttocks.

�Perfect. The color�s just a little bit off, but other than that it looks really nice.�

Heather patted Lisa�s bottom:

�OK, Pledge, get me your shorts and hand �em over.�

Lisa�s heart jumped into her throat. She quietly retrieved her shorts from the dressing room, hoping that she misunderstood what Heather had just said. That hope faded when Heather grabbed Lisa�s shorts and stuffed them into her backpack. She then selected three additional thongs identical to the one Lisa already had on. She pulled out a Four-Beta purchasing card and directed the pledge to follow her to the sales counter.

The cashier stared in amazement at the two women when Heather announced:

�Four thongs please: the three here and the one she�s got on.�

The clerk turned to Lisa:

�Uh�OK�but�aren�t you gonna wear something over that?�

Before Lisa had a chance to respond, Heather cut in:

�Oh no, she�ll be fine! She�s a total show-off! She likes it when people look at her butt, and she wanted me to help her choose something that'll let people see what she�s got!�

Noting Lisa�s worried expression, the clerk insisted on a response from her. Sullenly Lisa responded:

�I�ll be fine, ma�am. What she�s saying about me is true. I�I�m kinda an exhibitionist�and��

�OK�I just hope you stay out of trouble. I mean�if I were you, I�d cover-up a bit more��

�It�s all-right, ma�am. I�I�ll be fine.�

With that the two women left the store and stepped out into the late afternoon sunlight. It seemed that everyone�s head turned towards Lisa as she walked down the crowded street with the Sergeant-at-Arms. Worse than the stares were the constant whistles and the occasional honk from people driving by.

Lisa was hoping that, at the very least, Heather would take her back to the sorority. No such luck. They went from one business to another as Heather calmly looked at CD�s, bought a textbook, placed an order for several boxes of fruit for the sorority, and visited a car repair shop to set up an appointment to have a minivan�s oil changed. Lisa tried to sit down to avoid the stares of the mechanics, but Heather admonished her:

�Stand up, Pledge! I didn�t say anything about you sitting down!�

�Yes, ma�am.�

Lisa could not have explained, even to herself, why she felt so totally humiliated. It didn�t make any sense that she felt more vulnerable wearing a thong in public than being naked in public. Perhaps part of the problem was not having any control over what was happening to her. It was one thing to run naked at a nude marathon, streak in the middle of the night, or bend over in front of a security officer when surrounded by four other naked women. It was quite another to be at Heather�s mercy, alone and exposed in a provocative piece of clothing in broad daylight on a busy public street.

Unfortunately for Lisa, Heather had planned an even more humiliating stop before they returned to the sorority. The sorority officer led her pledge to a caf�-bar that had a small dance floor. She ordered two non-alcoholic drinks and then asked Lisa to dance. As several guys and women (the caf� was a favorite lesbian hangout) whistled at Lisa, Heather danced with her through several fast songs. Then a slow song played, and Heather drew Lisa close and danced romantically.

Lisa was dumbstruck at what was happening. She knew that Heather had absolutely no romantic interest in other women, but was forcing her to dance in public to humiliate her. After one slow dance the two women sat down to have their drinks, only to be joined by three of Heather�s friends, two women and a guy, who were from her department. Heather whispered into Lisa�s ear:

�These are good friends of mine, Pledge. You�d better treat them with respect.�

�Yes, ma�am.�

For a few minutes treating Heather�s friends with �respect� consisted of bringing them drinks and a shared appetizer. The drinks were alcoholic and Lisa looked longingly at what she was carrying. She badly needed a drink herself, but of course, as a Four-Beta, she could not have alcohol. She noticed that even Heather was adhering to that rule. Lisa served the drinks as her mentor chatted about classes and the sorority. The topic turned to Lisa as all three of Heather�s guests commented on how attractive she was. The guy asked:

�You suppose I could dance with her?�

�Sure, she�d love to! She�s a lot of fun to dance with, because she�s totally uninhibited. Once you get her out on the floor you�ll see what I�m talking about!�

Lisa danced one fast dance with the guy before the music switched back to slow. The guy pulled her close and pressed her body into his. She could feel his penis stiffening underneath his pants.

�So, you�re totally uninhibited, huh!�

�Yes, sir. That�s why I�m pledging the Four-Betas.�

�I love your ass. You�ve got the best ass of just about any girl I�ve seen. So you like showing it off in public, huh?�

�Yes, sir. Uh�that�s why I got a thong on. Sergeant-at-Arms Heather helped me pick it out, �cause she wanted me to show off.�

��and does she ever spank that cute ass?�

�Yes, sir. She�s spanked me.�

�I bet you like that.�

Lisa took a deep breath. This was getting harder and harder. It took every bit of her self discipline to keep herself from kneeing that asshole in the groin, ramming her fist into Heather�s mouth, grabbing her shorts out of her backpack and leaving the caf�. However, she couldn�t. Whatever Heather was trying to do, Lisa had to go along with it. Finally she answered:

�It�s part of pledging, sir. We all get punished because it�s part of our hazing.�

�But I bet you like it. I bet you like having these cute ass cheeks spanked.�

With that the guy�s hands moved down and massaged Lisa�s exposed bottom. They danced like that for the rest of the song and the next one, Lisa�s bare bottom firmly in the grip of some creepy guy she didn�t even know.

Lisa was frightened and infuriated. She glanced at Heather, who was watching with an expression that indicated she was pleased with the pledge�s predicament. It was obvious this guy was grabbing Lisa�s ass because Heather wanted him to.

�So you like it when guys touch you?�

�Yes, sir.�

Lisa�s fears that her dancing partner would go beyond fondling her turned out to be unfounded. He took her hand and led her back to the table, releasing her with a quick slap to the bottom.

Heather ordered Lisa go back to the bar to retrieve another round of drinks. On her way back a tall, fat, unkempt-looking guy asked Lisa to dance, which she declined. As soon as she got back to the table with the tray full of drinks, Heather snapped:

�Did that guy just ask you to dance?�

�Yes, ma�am.�

�Then you dance with him! You go right over there, tell him you�re sorry for being such a bitch, and dance with him!�

�Yes, ma�am.�

Sadly Lisa walked over to the creepy-looking guy and told him she had changed her mind about dancing with him. She did not go as far as apologizing for �being such a bitch�, but the humiliation of what she was doing was bad enough. On top of being unpleasant to look at, Lisa�s new dance partner smelled of alcohol, cheap cologne, sweat, and stale deodorant. Worst of all, he was completely detached from reality, thinking that he was sexy to Lisa when he was totally the opposite. Of course his hands went straight to her exposed bottom, but he also began landing slobbery kisses on her neck.

Heather planned to let Lisa dance for a long time and let events with her unsavory companion take their course. However, the unpleasant adventure abruptly ended after only two dances. The extreme stress she was under, combined with the rancid smell assaulting her nose and the saliva smeared all over her neck, suddenly made her violently sick. She spun away from her partner, dropped to her hands and knees, and threw up on the dance floor. She struggled to her feet, only to double-up and completely empty her stomach. The mess from the second episode was quite impressive.

It was one of Heather�s friends that came to Lisa�s rescue. She led the half-naked pledge to the women�s bathroom, had her rinse her mouth and drink from the fountain, and finally handed her a small bottle of mouthwash. Heather�s mood went from triumphant to embarrassed, as she realized that her remaining two friends wanted no further part in this cruel little exercise. As for the guy Lisa was dancing with, he retreated, worried that he would be told to clean up the floor. The staff was infuriated and told Heather and the others to get out of the caf�. Thus Heather�s effort to humiliate Lisa came to an abrupt end.

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It already was quite late when Heather escorted Lisa out of the caf�-bar and back to the sorority house. Of course Heather made sure they passed through Fraternity Row and Lisa had to withstand a barrage of whistles and cat-calls. Finally they returned to the Four-Beta house and Lisa dutifully undressed. Heather handed her the three thongs out of her backpack and told her to put them in the washing machine along with the one she had just taken off.

Lisa was very scared by Heather�s treatment and longed to talk to Tracy. What Heather had just done to her in the caf� went way beyond simple hazing or testing. Perhaps she had not broken any specific rules of the Pledge Manual, but she most certainly had broken the spirit and protocol of the Four-Beta pledge program. She tried to figure out what was going on in Heather�s mind. Was it possible that the Sergeant-at-Arms had been hoping to force her to quit the pledging program? If that was what she intended, she had failed, because Lisa had not given her any hints that she was ready to quit. There was another possibility, that perhaps Heather was hoping to spark an outburst from Tracy�s explosive temper. Maybe the whole incident was designed not as a set-up against Lisa, but instead a set-up against Tracy.

Now that they were back at the sorority house, Heather needed to release the pledge back into the custody of the Pledge Mistress. Tracy showed up, her face reflecting extreme displeasure that Heather had taken Lisa out of the house without her knowledge or permission. However, she knew better than to argue that point, because Heather already had an answer: well, you took the pledges out of the house several times yourself without anyone�s permission, so now it's my turn.

Upon putting her clothes in the washer, Lisa found Tracy sitting at a table in the sorority library with the three freshmen. The pledges were depressed and teary-eyed, but diligently studying. Tracy had a bunch of her own study materials laid out, but it was clear she was there more to help the freshmen than to work on her own research. Lisa approached the Pledge Mistress and knelt.

�Pledge Mistress Tracy, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak.�

�Yes, Pledge Lisa?�

�Ma�am, I request permission to speak to you in private. I�I went out with Sergeant-at-Arms Heather and I�need to clarify some stuff in the Pledge Manual.�

Tracy immediately stood up.

�Let�s go. Upstairs.� She turned to the three freshmen. �You three are under orders not to move until I get back. If anyone, and I don�t care who it is, tells you to move or wants you to do anything, tell them they�ve got to come up to my room and talk to me first.�

�Yes, ma�am.�

The two women went upstairs to Tracy�s room and Lisa knelt. Tracy noticed the pledge�s hands shaking and realized that something was very wrong. She told Lisa to get off her knees and take a seat in her desk chair.

Her voice cracking, Lisa told Tracy the details of her unpleasant outing with the Sergeant-at-Arms. She could tell that Tracy was very distressed over what had happened and not able to conceal her worry.

�Ma�am, what�s going on? I didn�t join this sorority to have my butt grabbed and be forced to dance with a bunch of creeps on Pageant Street! I don�t mind the thong so much, but what she did�at the caf�I mean, she�s pimping me! That�s what it is, she�s fucking pimping me! If that�s what��

Tracy held up her hand:

�Lisa�Lisa�I can explain this! I can tell you what�s going on!�

Tracy took a deep breath.

�I know what she�s after and it�s not really you at all! It�s me! The problem is, the only way she can get to me is through you! That�s why she pulled that shit with you at the caf�! What she�s doing is trying to get you to quit the sorority and��

�Well if that�s what she wants, then I can tell you she�s pretty fucking close! If this is the way you bitches operate, then��

�Don�t you dare throw me in with Heather! You can call me a bitch all you want, but don�t compare me with her! I�m not like her, and what each of us wants for the sorority is very different!�

�Well, what�s that have to do with us? I mean, we�re already putting up with a lot of shit from you two, and now Heather��

�Heather wants you out for a very simple reason. She wants to fuck me up as Pledge Mistress. She figures if she can get you to quit, the others will quit as well and that�ll make me look like shit. That�s what�s going on. Heather doesn�t care about you or the other pledges. What she�s after is me, and she figures the only way she�s gonna get to me is by getting you to quit. You're the one who's been keeping everyone else motivated, so it stands to reason she'd come after you first.�

�But�what are you two fighting over?�

�Over who gets to be the next Four-Beta chapter president.�

��so you�re running against her?�

�That�s what it looks like. It�s gonna be between me and her. You see, the problem is that, up until a few weeks ago, everyone thought that Heather was gonna be chapter president after Alexandra and that was gonna be it. They�d make me the new Sergeant-at-Arms, which would�ve made me the fourth highest-ranking member of the sorority. That would have been fine with me. The problem is that Heather�s pissed off a lot of the women (especially the sophomores) and there�s a lot of people in the sorority who don�t like her. At the end of April there was some talk about drafting another candidate to run against her. Until last week they were gonna try to get Shannon�� (who was the leader of the juniors) ��to run against Heather, but she wouldn�t have gotten elected because she�s not a senior and it would break tradition. You follow me so far?�

�Yes, ma�am.�

�Well, something happened Sunday night that pulled Shannon out of the running and pushed me instead��

With that Tracy described Heather�s effort to remove her as Pledge Mistress, the resulting humiliation, and the discussion among the sophomores to ask Tracy to run against Heather.

�Anyhow, now I�m up against her, Alexandra, and most of the seniors. And I can tell you this whole thing is totally stupid, because to be honest, I really don�t want to be the Four-Beta chapter president. I mean, I�m trying to get into OCS and I don�t need to distracted with a bunch of political shit from the sorority! But�I mean�I can�t turn it down either. If I get voted in, I�ll have to serve, because, to be honest, I think the sophomores are right about Heather. If she gets in, she�s gonna mess up the sorority. The reason the girls who don�t like Heather are looking to me is because all the other seniors are afraid of her. I�m the only one who�s not. If she gives me any shit, I can kick her ass. She knows that, and because I�m not scared of her, she�s scared of me.�

�Shit.�

�Yeah, that�s what it is alright, a bunch of shit. I mean, it�s totally stupid, really. But political crap is part of human nature, so I�m not surprised. You get a group of 80 women together and something like this is bound to happen. I�ve been in the Army long enough to know there�s plenty of bullshit there too. So�� Tracy shrugged her shoulders. ��we just deal with it.�

�But you two have no right to make us your punching bags.�

�I�m not the one doing that, Lisa. I�m not the one who�s trying to use you for anything. Think about it. I know I�m a bitch around you, but I�m only behaving that way because I have to. It�s what I was elected to do. It�s what�s written down in my job title. There�s no way I would�ve done what Heather did to you, and I�m very pissed off about it.�

�So is there anything you can do about it? Is anything gonna happen to her?�

�Not from the way you described the incident. The problem is that Heather did not violate any specific rule of the Pledge Manual. What she did was violate the spirit of the pledge program. What she did was totally unethical, but I don�t think I�d get President Alexandra to back me up on issuing an official reprimand.�

�So what am I gonna do?�

�Well, the first thing is that you�ll have to decide what�s best for you and the people you care about. Unfortunately what�s best for you and what�s best for them is probably not the same thing. If you leave the sorority, what�s gonna happen to Kathleen and Ken? You gotta think about that, and then, if you decide to stay in, you gotta think about whether or not you can still accomplish what you wanted when you signed up. That�s item one. The other issue is whether or not you want Heather to �win� this fight. Do you think we�d be better off if she becomes president? Do you think it would be better for the sorority if you leave? That is a consideration, and I think you already know the answer.�

�Now, assuming you stay, there will have to be some changes, for your own good. You�ll have to stick close to me and your fellow pledges, always. You won�t be able to go off by yourself because if you do, she�s gonna find you and fuck with you. I�ve been trying to give you a little space because I think you�re far more mature than your fellow pledges. The problem is that came back to bite me. Had I kept you with me this afternoon, Heather wouldn�t have had the chance to take you out of the house. That was my fault. I should have seen it coming and I didn�t. I dropped the ball on watching out for you and I apologize.�

Lisa didn�t say anything, but nodded to acknowledge Tracy�s effort to set things right with her. Tracy continued:

�Obviously Heather�s thong bullshit�s got to be fixed. That I will take up with President Alexandra. I�ll make sure you get your pledge shorts back tomorrow morning before class.�

�No! Don�t do that�I mean, please don�t do that, ma�am.�

�Huh?�

�I�ll wear the thong.�

�There�s no need to wear a thong, no matter what Heather says. It�s real simple. It�s a uniform violation.�

�No ma�am. Heather issued me a challenge. I don�t turn down challenges. If she thinks I can�t handle running around all summer in a thong, then I�ll just have to prove her wrong.�

�Lisa, that�s not what this is all about.�

�It is for me.�

�You�re actually gonna�go to class wearing a thong?�

�Yes, ma�am, that�s what I wanna do. I�ll stop if the university tells me to cover up. But until that happens, I�m gonna show Heather I�m not afraid to wear her fucking thong.�

�You�re sure about this?�

�Yes, ma�am. Totally sure.�

�Alright. That�s gonna be your choice and I�ll respect it. If you change your mind let me know.�

Tracy paused, struggling with a simple decision, but a very momentous one. Finally she took a deep breath and plunged ahead. She had decided to let down her guard and place some rare personal trust in another person.

�I don�t really know how to say this, Lisa. What makes it harder is that as soon as we step out of this room we gotta go back to our roles as Pledge Mistress and Pledge. But�all the stuff you�ve done for the other pledges�and also what you�ve done for me�it means a lot to me�a lot more than I�m capable of expressing. You�ve helped me�in so many ways�and the problem is that I have no way of showing my gratitude. We�ve got to play this thing through to the end, and I�ve got to keep dogging your ass until August �but I don�t want it to always be this way between us�and�I want you to know that how I have to treat you is not really how I feel about you.�

�I know that, ma�am. I know you�ve gotta play the game.�

With that the two women stood up, together. There was no shout of �Pledge, STAND UP!� because they were determined to set aside the pledge protocol for a few minutes. They would resume their roles upon leaving Tracy�s room, not before.

Tracy and Lisa returned to the library, where the three sullen freshmen continued to study. It was time for everyone to clean up and go to bed. Lisa followed her companions downstairs, noting the fading strap marks on their bottoms. The women took turns at the toilet, showered, and brushed their teeth before lying down.

Before they turned out the light, the pledges were surprised to see their mentor come into the basement completely naked. They quickly knelt, but she told them to get up and continue getting ready to go to sleep.

Tracy amazed the others when she pulled a cot from the stack in the corner and unfolded it. She lay out a sheet and took a pillow.

�Pledge Kathleen, hit the lights, please.�

�Yes, ma�am.�

Without saying anything more Tracy settled on her cot and went to sleep. For the rest of the summer she would sleep with the pledges. Until they swore in as members she planned not to let them out of her sight except when they were in class. Her own lifestyle would change considerably. If she was to constantly be with her pledges, she felt that it was important that she return to living the lifestyle of a pledge. She locked her room and planned to use it only as a place to keep her books and computer. The following day she would take her running shorts and T-shirts to the basement and put them inside a locker. The only clothing she would allow herself to wear for the rest of the summer would be her Four-Beta summer jogging outfit.

Tracy�s decision even extended to what she wore in the Four-Beta house. The following morning she added a hanger to the four pledge hangers in the entryway closet. When her pledges undressed, she would undress with them.

Tracy�s decision bewildered the three freshmen, who were not thrilled at having her in their midst at all hours. Only Lisa understood what was going on, but it was obvious that it would be better not to say anything to her three companions. Like it or not, Tracy now was part of their group.

As the women settled down to sleep, Lisa felt deep admiration for the Pledge Mistress. She was not a nice or friendly person, but she did not hesitate to sacrifice her own comfort for the well-being of the people placed under her control.

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Heather descended the stairs to wake up Lisa and continue harassing her. She was shocked to see five cots in the basement instead of four. She could make out Tracy�s bare figure asleep on the cot closest to the door. It was obvious that Heather�s rival fully understood what she had in mind for the pledges. There would be no visiting in the middle of the night and messing with them, because Tracy was right there in the basement, watching over her group like a vicious guard dog. Her astuteness and foresight only increased Heather�s hatred of her.

The Sergeant-at-Arms went back upstairs frustrated and infuriated.

That miserable fucking bitch!!!

The Pledge Mistress - Chapter 29