Harpers House

A new crop of freshmen pledge to Alpha Phi! This is a new story series that follows the incoming freshman class as Ashley and friends prepare for graduation. For more adventures of Ashley, check out the series Ashley Alpha Phi!

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Rush happened so quickly. Monday was a whirlwind tour of open houses. By Thursday my friends and I had each put in our preference for Alpha Phi. By Friday we had received our official bids. Saturday morning we had a big meeting to get oriented and discuss our rooming assignments so that we could be all settled for classes starting on Monday. I had to catch a ride with my boyfriend Mark because I didn't have any other way to get to campus.

He definitely thought this whole situation was pretty amusing. "Be sure to find out which day is 'naked pillow fight day' for me" He teased me as we turned toward campus.

"If there are any naked pillow fights, you'll be the first to know." I rolled my eyes at him. "It's not like that, you know."

"What, you all skip the pillows and go straight to making out?"

"No. I mean, there's more to it than like, lezzing out and parties and shit. In fact, from what I've seen there isn't really any lezzing out. It seems like it's all just meetings and community service."

Mark shot me a sideways glance. Before he turned his attention back to the road. "Hey, let a guy dream ok? I saw the pictures. You definitely didn't choose the engineering sorority."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "You shouldn't be dreaming about those girls anyway." I rested my chin on my arm and watched the brick buildings zip by outside the window.

"In my defense, you kind of are one of those girls now." He retorted as playfully as he could muster despite the hint of resentment in his voice "so technically 'those girls' are exactly who I should be dreaming about." He grabbed my upper thigh right below my hip bone. It tickled me through my lulus a little. My body couldn't help but react to his touch but I hated it when he got like this: needy and trying to mask his poutyness behind crappy comedy. It had been a while since we fooled around but his attitude wasn't really putting me in the mood. "For now anyway, until you find some frat guy at one of your 'community service' events." His fingers pushed towards my inner thigh, but I ignored him the best I could.

"Whatever. Don't be so insecure." He released his grip on me. I hated that my body had reacted to him at all. "If any frat guys hit on me I'm going to let them know that I'm perfectly happy with my non-greek boyfriend's eight inch cock."

"You're going to have to introduce me to him someday."

"It's you, dummy!" I playfully slapped Mark's shoulder for not picking up on my attempt to lighten the mood.

"Maybe in nautical inches." He whipped back. "You know I'm nowhere near eight."

"Yeah, but the frat boys don't know that." I pouted. "Besides, a girl can dream too, right?" I let the car drop silent for a few moments before bringing up what was apparently turning out to be a particularly sore subject. "You know... if you were so worried about frat guys you could have rushed too. There was nothing stopping you."

"Nothing but money. Besides, I got my housing application in on time." It was an unnecessary clapback.

Unfortunately he was right. if I hadn't missed the deadline to apply for dorms we would probably be moving into the same building right about now. We rode in silence for the rest of the way until we pulled on to sorority row.

He broke the silence with sympathy in his voice. "Hey, I'm sorry. It's just all pretty exciting. College and stuff you know?"

"Yeah. It's all happening pretty quick." The stress of the week had been getting to both of us.

Mark threw the car in park and looked over at me. "So.. I'll bring your stuff by in a bit and you can show me your room?"

I shook my head. "Sorry Mark, I don't think boys are allowed."

"Uh. Alright. I guess I'll just... come drop it off. Text me when you're ready?"

"Yeah I owe you big!" I leaned over the center console and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll make it up to you tonight! Promise." I popped out of the car and walked towards the double doors with the big block AΦ hanging over them. I didn't turn around to watch him drive off.

---

Emily, the Alpha Phi president stood in the center of the room. She gave us a welcome and an overview of the sorority as if she were presenting a lecture in one of her business administration classes. It felt just a little silly. Lilly, Ava and I were a pretty disappointed to find out that we would have no chance of rooming together. First we found out It was to be two to a room which meant at least one of us would be the odd girl out. That was followed up by the gut-punch revelation that we would each be paired with an upperclassman - a "big sister" to guide us through the new member period. I rolled my eyes at the thought. I had been doing the "little sister" thing for eighteen years already and I wasn't really keen to continue it, but if it meant I didn't have to drive an hour across town to campus and back every morning I guess I would have to put up with the bullshittery of Greek life.

The tall business-suit clad blonde took a seat behind the foldout table, and a much smaller peppier blonde stood up and took the center of the room. I had met her once previously - Ashley. She had introduced herself to me at open house night and gave me the common boilerplate about why I should join Alpha Phi. You know, the usual bullshit that all of the sororities seemed to think made them unique: chapter meetings, movie nights, game nights, and the social events that I recognized as a thinly veiled attempt at not calling them "parties." She had asked me why I might want to join Alpha Phi and I gave her some canned answer about the "college experience" and it being a really good organization but even I didn't buy it. I just figured it would be more likely to get my foot in the door than the truth: "I need a place to stay on campus, and a sorority is my last hope."

"I know you're all really eager to get your housing assignments and get to know your new room mates but as many of you know, Kim graduated last year." Quiet formal applause filled the room. "She's off doing cool things in Philadelphia with her new nonprofit..." She sounded a little choked up as she said it. She took a second to gather herself, gave a light smile and continued "...which I guess makes me our new social chair this year. So first order of business is our social tonight. I know it's the weekend before classes, but tonight is special, so we're keeping it a private event." A groan swept over the room. "Stop it. You'll have plenty of time to meet boys later in the week - tonight is about getting acquainted with our new members. We'll have a history of Alpha Phi presentation by Olivia, a values presentation by Sarah, and an expectations review by Emily."

The room processed the itinerary in stunned silence. I don't think anyone wanted to be trapped in the house all night when the entire campus was coming alive with the dorms filling in and nobody yet burdened by schoolwork.

She let it linger as if to build anticipation but after some long moments she broke the silence with a wink and a smile, "and of course we can have a few refreshments afterwards." The room erupted into a cheer. "Settle down settle down. I'm going to turn the floor over to Emily with your rooming assignments, but first as your new social chair it's now my responsibility to give you this speech." The older girls in the room visibly switched off. Ashley picked up a paper from the table in front of her bearing the NPC letterhead and proceeded to read from it, robotically:

"The National Panhellenic Conference has a zero-tolerance policy for hazing in all of its member sororities. Hazing is not only illegal, but it goes against the very principles that sororities were founded upon. Sororities are expected to provide a safe, welcoming environment for their members to grow and thrive in. Any sorority found to be participating in hazing will face severe consequences, including possible expulsion from the NPC and legal action. We urge all sorority members to speak out against hazing and to report any incidents they witness or experience. We recognize that the new member period can be a challenging time for some, but hazing is never the answer. We encourage sororities to create new member programs that are educational, engaging, and respectful of each individual's rights and dignity..." Ashley trailed off and threw her head back as if she were falling asleep. "You all got it? Or do I need to read the other half?"

A collective, monotone "Yes." Came back from the room.

"Good then. Don't do anything that will get us in trouble." She tossed the paper back onto the foldout table with a flick of the wrist that made it spin as it landed. "With that, Emily has your room assignments."

Applause and cheers of anticipation filled the room while Emily stood up again. "Thank you, Ash. That was very... by the book." The room giggled in response. "Alright, let's get to it. Pledges, you will be rooming with your big sisters as they show you the ropes, so be sure to listen to them, they've done this all before!"

She picked up a notebook off of the table and read it from it:

"Myself and Sarah in room one. Jessica and Rachel in room two. Madison and Pledge Ava in room three. Chloe and Pledge Lilly in room four, Olivia and Pledge Mia in room five, and finally, Ashley and Pledge Harper in room six." My heart jumped when I heard my name called. I immediately looked at Ashley who gave me a bubbly wave from the dias. The din in the room slowly rose as girls paired off and started discussing plans on how they were going to lay out their spaces.

"Now or never," I thought, and approached Ashley.

Even as I approached my new "big sis" I still wasn't sold that Alpha Phi was right for me. Lilly and Ava had given me the hard sell on it. They really wanted to bid Alpha Phi. The three of us had been together since grade school and I certainly wasn't going to break us up. I guess I saw myself more as an Alpha Chi Omega. They seemed much more into the studying and community service aspects of greek life, but I eventually relented. For me all of this was less about the sorority functions and more about housing anyway. Still I needed to go through the motions and I certainly wasn't going to rain on anyone's parade.

I took one last look back at Lilly and Ava, who were each chatting individually with their big sisters. Even though we were going to be living in the same house, it felt like the threshold at the end of an era. "I guess we're room mates!" I offered her to break the ice.

"I'm actually really excited about it." She replied. "My big sister was only a year ahead of me, so I've been a little sister for three years." She grabbed me by the hand and began leading me down the hall, "Come on! Let's go check out the room!"

--

Our room was actually pretty awesome. Way better than the 3D tour that Mark had shown me of his dorm he was moving into that very moment. We had a big window overlooking the street, wood floors, two separate beds and two separate wooden desks. It made Mark's dorm look like a prison in comparison. Thinking of Mark reminded me I needed to text him to bring my bags, but I knew when he showed up with them he was going to want to discuss our plans for the night and I wasn't yet sure if I was going to be able to get out of the "get to know you" social, seeing as the whole point of it was apparently for the older girls to get to know me. Still, that was something I was going to have to deal with eventually. I snapped him a pic from the doorway, trying to capture as much of the character of the room as possible.

"Swanky, but what about your room?" He replied.

"That IS my room, butthead!" I shot back.

It was at this point that Ashley saw me on my phone. "Hey, who you texting?"

"Oh, just my boyfriend, Mark." I replied. "He's moving into his dorm right now, but he's going to bring my bags by in a bit. So I was showing him the lap of luxury we're living in!"

Ashley gave me a friendly smile. "Oh, cute! How long have you two been dating?"

"Since new years... so about eight months, I guess!"

"Aww, that's sweet. Is he rushing too?" I shook my head. She had a look of concern and sympathy on her face like I had just told her he had terminal cancer or something.

"Is that... bad?"

"Not bad. Just not ideal. It can be kind of hard dating someone outside of the greek system. They never really understand what we do." She trailed off and seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Guys in particular have this idea of what sorts of things we get up to."

I flopped down on what I had assumed would be my bed. "So I guess it's not just Mark then? He won't shut up about how he thinks we're basically going to be making out and having naked pillow fights all the time."

"I guess my plans for the evening are off the table then." Ashley teased. "But it's definitely not just Mark. When I first rushed and moved in with Kim, my boyfriend was convinced we were like required to fool around as a part of orientation. Don't get me wrong, we'll certainly have our fair share of things that the boys would fantasize about, but I really don't think it's anything more than anyone else gets up to in college."

I couldn't really tell if she was joking. I mean, you certainly see movies where girls joke about "experimenting" in college, but I kind of just assumed that was urban legend like going blind from masturbating or hairy palms or whatever.

"Did your boyfriend rush?"

"Ex-boyfriend, and he didn't even end up going to college." She crossed the room quickly and threw her arm around me. "Here, let's take a selfie! You can send it to Mark!" I couldn't really tell if she was being genuine or just doing it to change the subject.

We did our best "sisters!" pose in front of the window. Honestly it was a little frustrating to admit that Mark was right: I definitely hadn't joined the engineering sorority. We were hella cute.

Mark shot me back a similarly posed shot of him and some Indian guy who I guessed was his room mate, together in their white slab prison-like dorm room. I showed Ashley, and she started cracking up. "Oh shit I know that dorm! Get me drunk sometime and I'll tell you some stories!"

"Really? You drink?" I managed. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

"Yeah, only on weekends though. When I first started I made the mistake of partying a little too hard and I got a bit behind in school. I don't suggest it."

It took me off guard how casual she was about everything. She simultaneously seemed like an authority figure and a new friend. I had the opening I needed though. "Hey speaking of Mark and partying," I knew I had to be delicate, "I realize attending the presentations is like required..."

She raised an eyebrow at me like she knew what I was going to ask before I said it out loud. It caught me off guard.

"It's just! It's our last night to hang out before college like, starts. I promised him I would for dropping me off and for bringing my bags around later on!"

She seemed to think it over a bit. "Ok, so as social chair I'm supposed to give you the hard sell on this. I mean, this is our opportunity to all get to know each other a lot better. But..."

"But?"

"Well, as your big sis I would say while it's a good idea to show up, it isn't strictly required."

"Oh my god. Thank you." I spouted, relieved. "He's been pouty about not having a lot of time together all week."

"Ugh. Guys can certainly get that way when they're not getting enough... attention." We exchanged a half smile. We both knew exactly what she meant without her outright saying it. She paused and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "What if you just show up to it for a bit. You know... give it a shot for like 45 minutes and then go meet up with him?"

"Yeah! I could do that. I'm sure he'll understand if I've got something that I need to just pop into for a bit!"

"Yeah. Seems like that works out for everyone." There was something behind her voice that I couldn't really place. Sadness? Dread? Hard to say. She shook it off and headed for the door, then exclaimed in her regular bubbly Ashley voice, "Hey I gotta run off campus for a bit to get my things! We've got a lot of decorating to do! We're gonna make this place so cute! Text me when he drops your stuff off! I really want to meet him!" And with that, she was out of the room calling behind her "Hope you like piiiink!" She made her exit skipping down the hallway hugging every girl she passed.

It was like a weight was off of my shoulders. I wasn't going to have to cancel on Mark, and I could avoid that whole big fight. Even better it meant we would be able to go find some place to park and mess around a bit. It would be uncomfortable but at this point anything would do. I needed to get him out of his funk.

It isn't like I didn't also want to fool around, I just didn't understand why he couldn't just rub one out like a normal guy instead of getting all bitchy. Hell, I'd even be happy to help. Ava sent her boyfriend pictures occasionally but Mark never asked me for any. Shit, it wouldn't take much I would even send him pictures of my feet if he wanted. He was always so weird about them.

I laid back on my stripped mattress and I think I fell asleep for a bit. It couldn't have been long, but it felt good to just decompress a bit in a space that was mine. When I came around I decided I had waited long enough and texted him, "Hey - ready for you to swing by my bags when you get a chance!"

After a couple short seconds, "👍 omw" popped up on my phone.

I sank into my bed and let my mind wander while I waited. I knew that I should text Ashley because she wanted to see him but I never thought to get her number before she bubbled her way out the door. Wasn't a big deal though, I'm sure she would get a chance.

Five or ten minutes later, Mark texted a brief "hey I'm outside!" and I sprung up to make my way to the front doors.

I found him downstairs waiting by the mail desk with my bags. He was buried in his phone leaning on the mail counter. Emily was also there behind the counter, but she had her nose buried in her phone while staffing the desk. When I got close, he looked up from whatever he was reading with a smile. "Harper Jane Dooley!" shaking his head at the surroundings, "Ms. High Society!"

I shrugged as I closed in for our hug, "Yeah I guess it's pretty nice after all!" Truthfully I felt a little embarrassed about just how nice it actually was. "Thank you so much for bringing my bags, you're so sweet." I looked over his shoulder and Emily was either smirking at us, or something on her phone, I couldn't tell.

"Of course! It was really no issue." He leaned around the corner to take in the common room and as much of the hallway he could see. "So this is it huh? This is the new girls club?"

"Yeah, I guess so! It's a lot roomier than I was expecting."

"Well, can you show me around or do you want to just drop off your stuff and go grab lunch with me?" I was caught a little off guard by his chipper attitude, given how we had left things this morning.

"I don't know," I turned to Emily, "Is that allowed?"

"It's a sorority house Harper, not a convent." She replied without even looking up from her phone. "Just make sure he's escorted at all times and out of here by 5:00 for our event."

I nodded towards the hallway and grabbed my large suitcase leaving Mark to wrestle with my trunk. We stopped in the common room and the cafeteria so he could see those and just happened to run into Lily. He cracked some inside joke to her about beans and it got an uncharacteristically large laugh out of her. The two of them were always doing shit like that and it made me a little uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong I love Lily, but it always kind of felt like she was just a tad too friendly with my boyfriend.