I need to say something right up front: I'm not a lesbian.
I am open minded. I'll try almost anything once.
That's why I joined the sex club at my university.
But I'm not a lesbian.
It wasn't actually called 'The Sex Club' of course. The official name was The Sorority Sisters Sex Education Club, SSSEC. Everyone called it 'The Sex Club'.
The club's purpose was to promote healthy attitudes and lifestyles for women with regard to sex. I was proud of that. We had subgroups for everything from alternative lifestyles to domestic violence. We did good work and helped a lot of people.
There were, however, lots of rumors about the club. I heard them all: that we threw orgy parties, that we selected one lucky guy and five of us would fuck his brains out, that we taught each other how to finger ourselves, etc. When I told guys I was a member, they smiled and asked if I would invite them to the next orgy party. It got annoying after a while.
Well, you know how they say there's always a kernel of truth in every rumor? That turned out to be true about The Sex Club.
One Thursday afternoon, my sorority sister Danielle stopped into my room when my roommate was out. I was lying on my bed reading.
Danielle was in the sex club too. She had joined the year before me as a freshman, just like me a year later.
"Do you play poker?" she asked.
I had learned from a friend a few years ago. He was a big poker nut.
"Yes."
"Hold'em?"
"Yes."
She got this semi-embarrassed, semi-evil little smile. She sat down next to me on my bed.
"Are you enjoying the sex club?" she asked me, as if discussing classified information.
"Yeah, I really think we helped people with the booth on domestic violence..."
Danielle started laughing until she realized I was serious.
She put a hand on my forearm.
"No, I mean, have you been to any of the 'special' events yet?" She made air quotation marks with her fingers when she said 'special'.
"Oh, uh, no... not yet" I answered, a bit confused.
"Oh" she said, and nodded before continuing.
"Well, look, we're really careful about the 'special' events. They need to be kept quiet, you know? So it takes some time before people feel they can trust you and invite you."
I just nodded.
"So there's an event tonight and I'll invite you, but you have to promise to keep it a secret, ok?"
"Yes, of course." I said, reassuring her.
Danielle got even closer to me. She talked in a whisper.
"Ok, the S&M group is doing their monthly S&M Strip Poker game. Have you heard about it?"
The blood drained out of my face almost immediately. I couldn't believe it. I thought of all those people who'd asked me about these parties, and how stupid I had looked denying it!
"Uh... no...?" I said.
"Ohhh... you'll love it! You should come!" she told me, enthusiastically.
I didn't know what to say.
"Strip poker?" I asked.
"Yeah, well, it's S&M strip poker. It's pretty wild."
"Oh..." I answered. "How wild?"
Danielle laughed out loud. And then resumed her whisper.
"It's really fun. Girls only. You'll see! Come on!"
"I don't know" I hesitated.
"Really, you'll love it! I promise!"
I nodded again.
"It's girls only?" I asked.
"Yeah... it's just easier to take your clothes off when there are no guys in the room."
I nodded again. The idea of strip poker was exciting. And it was true that stripping in front of guys might be awkward, or even lead to something I didn't want.
"But there's only three girls in the S&M group?" I pointed out.
She laughed out loud again.
"Oh, there's more than three girls in the S&M group..." she said, almost winking at me.
I just nodded, feeling even more stupid.
"But what's S&M strip poker?"
"Oh, you'll see, there's only one, like, sub, you know, like slave, in the game... but I promise there's almost no way you'll be the slave... they're really bad poker players..."
She laughed. I smiled.
"...and everyone will be super nice to you because it's your first time, so it'll just be really fun..."
I had no idea how to react.
"Come on Alex" she told me. She looked at me reassuringly. "You'll love it, really!"
I thought about it some more, trying to resolve the feeling that I'd been the last person on campus to know the truth about my own club. But then I decided I wanted to know what really happened in the club. And I wanted to be invited to future 'special' events.
So I accepted.
Danielle gave me a big hug and assured me I would love it.
A few hours later, Danielle and I walked over to the sorority house hosting the game. She explained the rules to me. They turned out to be remarkably simple.
Everyone starts out with $100 of chips and fully clothed, which means a top and a bottom of your choice, a bra and panties. Everybody plays barefoot and bare legged.
If your chips dip below $75, you strip down to your panties and bra. If your chips dip below $50, you lose your bra. If your chips dip below $25, you are naked.
"As long as you have chips, there's a chance you can get some clothes back on" she said with a smile.
"What happens when you lose?" I asked nervously, wondering about the 'S&M' in 'S&M Strip Poker'.
We were walking up the steps to the sorority house. She smiled.
Well, everyone except for the winner will end up naked, so it's ok. Everybody stays naked until the party ends.
That seemed ok to me.
"But the first person out... she becomes the group slave..." Danielle explained
Whoa! I thought to myself. A million images came to mind, some exciting and some terrifying!
We stepped inside the sorority and there was no turning back. I followed Danielle to the basement.
"And the winner..." she continued... "gets to be the lead Mistress... even though the slave will really serve all of us..."
I knew which alternative I preferred!
She knocked on the door to the basement. Rita unlocked it and let us in. She was in the S&M subgroup, but she wasn't what you'd expect. She dressed like just another college girl. She had beautiful brown hair, and she was long and sleek looking.
"Come in! We were just about to start!"
She hugged us both and showed us in.
Once inside, you could hardly tell this was a basement. The ceiling was covered and they had carpeted hardwood floors. The whole thing was an open space the size of four or five dorm rooms. There was music playing, beer and punch on a small bar and a giant tv playing in silence.
A big cheer went up when we walked in. Sitting around a big round table in the middle were six girls, all blond. When I saw them, I started to suspect that my qualification for joining the party was that I was blond.
It was a really festive mood, not like anything I associated with S&M. The girls cheerfully started singing "Danielle's here, Danielle's here!" I started to relax.
I recognized one of the girls and said hello.
"A rookie!" one of the girls said with a big smile.
Danielle got me a cup of punch and we sat down at the table.
"Everybody, this is Alexandra" she announced me, and everyone disjointedly yelled out "Hi Alexandra!"
Rita walked around the table and put a hand on my shoulder and Danielle's.
"Do you know the rules?" she asked.
"Yes..." I answered.
"Yes I explained them" Danielle told her.
"Ok, so you know about blinds?"
I did, but I'd learned a few things from my poker friend. Don't give away free information! I pretended not to know.
So Rita explained how the small and big blind worked to me, and told me about the rapidly escalating blinds that would be used in the game. The blinds were forced bets which got bigger and bigger as the game went on. This was designed to knock people out who would rather sit on their chips and stay clothed.
"Ok, let's play!" Rita said.
I was looking down adjusting my seat when I was startled by a crash. A collar had just landed in the middle of the table. A collar!
The game became real at that point.
Rita passed chips to everyone.
The minimum bets and blinds were small for the first few rounds, and everyone played very tight. I knew it was an opportunity to be aggressive and steal pots, but fear of stripping first or becoming the slave made me cautious. It was a bit scary because I really had no idea what being the slave would mean, and I was counting on Danielle to protect me.
As the game continued and the blinds began to rise, the bad players began to make mistakes. One bad player was Dana. She got aggressive with an Ace and Seven card offsuit. Amber took that pot, leaving Dana at exactly $75 of chips. When she lost, all the girls started whooping it up, teasing her that she'd be the first to start stripping.
I was doing pretty well. I won a few and lost a few.
Amber turned out to be the most aggressive of the group.
On one hand I had two Jacks and raised to start. Amber re-raised me. I called. So did a couple of others.
The flop came five, seven and Ace, all different suits. The ace made me nervous, but I pushed ahead to see what everyone had. I bet another $10 and the two other girls folded. Amber re-raised me by another $10. That was going to be enough to take my outer layer off if I lost.
All the girls started laughing nervously.
I looked at Amber. She sat there, straight in her chair, expressionless, her hand firmly placed over her cards. Nothing moved. Not her eyes, not her long blond hair... it was impressive. She had been in beauty contests and it showed in her ability to stay motionless.