(Special thanks to Lisa Teez, whose feedback on the story 'Shameless' inspired this sequel.)
*
"DeeDee!"
"Hanna! Hugs!" With a squeal of excitement, the two women embraced, kissed each other quickly on the cheek, and pulled away. "Oh. My. God. Hanna, you look...whatever you've been taking, I want a prescription!"
Hanna was already turning to the brunette woman who walked in with DeeDee. "Liza!" she shouted. "Oh, it has been too long." The two of them hugged. "And I do not know what you're talking about, Dees. You still look as gorgeous as ever, and you cannot deny it."
DeeDee rolled her eyes. "I don't feel as gorgeous as ever. I feel old. I'm an old woman already, at the tender age of thirty-four. I have three gray hairs hidden under the henna. Any day now I expect my friends to tell me they're putting me in a home."
Liza smacked her on the shoulder. "Oh, hush! God, I wish my boobs looked that good--LUCY!" She waved at another woman, a petite blonde, who was walking in from the sitting room. "Oh, it has been too long!" She looked back over at Hanna, who was already grabbing DeeDee's coat. "This was such a good idea, Hanna. We haven't seen each other in...five years?"
Hanna slung the coats over her arm. "Six years since I've seen Lucy, but some people keep in touch more than others." She lowered her voice and leaned in at the small group. "Bobbi and Barbi still share an apartment, you know."
Lucy wiggled her eyebrows. "Probably not all they share. You know those two are such total dykes for each other, ever since..." They all shared a look, and everyone but Hanna blushed.
DeeDee huffed. "At least somebody's getting some. I broke up with my boyfriend three months ago, so I haven't gotten good sex in..." she made a show of counting on her fingers. "Three years." Everybody giggled.
Liza rolled her eyes. "You want to talk about lack of sex, honey. Try getting married. Honestly, I thought I was going to have to fend my husband off with a stick, and what do I get? 'Not tonight, honey, I have a headache.' I'm like, 'That's MY line!'"
The doorbell rang. Hanna opened it as the other three women turned to see who the new arrival was. "MUFFY!" they all shouted in unison.
The woman at the door with the big glasses and the mousy brown hair blushed furiously. "Elise, y'all!" She walked in and pulled her coat off. "I don't know how many times I gotta tell you, I haven't been 'Muffy' in years! Not since...college."
Everyone shared a look. Everyone except Hanna blushed.
*****
Becky walked in, carrying an astonishingly large tray of jello shots in a variety of colors. "Alright, pledges," she said, looking at the slightly nervous quartet of girls. "Tonight's challenge is Truth...or Dare!" She grinned wickedly. "Or Drink!"
Bertha shifted position a little nervously. "I'm, um...I'm not a big drinker."
Suzi giggled. "Better hope you've got a gutsy crowd, then!" She grabbed a jello shot and set it down in front of her.
Becky handed jello shots to the other girls. "Madame Secretary, if you could explain the rules to our baby freshmen?"
Suzi stood up. "Of course, Madame President. Hanna, Muffy, Lucy, You--" Bertha blushed. She'd already been told that nobody named 'Bertha' ever made it into Kappa Delta Tau, and she had until the end of hazing to find a nickname or wash out. "You four girls are all familiar with Truth or Dare, right?"
Lucy looked up. "Y--"
"WRONG! Here's how the Kappas play Truth or Dare...or Drink. You each have a jello shot in front of you. So do the six of us. We're going to take turns asking you a question, and you have to answer it truthfully. If you don't want to answer the question, you can instead take a dare. And if you won't answer the question, and you won't take the dare...we all have to do a shot." Suzi grinned at Muffy. "And since I know some of you can't handle your liquor, we'll get the truth out of you soon enough. Or the dares. Or both." She sat back down. "Any questions?"
Muffy raised her hand. "Speak, pledge," Liza said.
"When will we be finished, ma'am?" Muffy said, trying to keep from shooting a 'I can't believe you got me into this' look at Suzi. They were neighbors back home and only a year apart in high school, and Muffy had figured it was a sign of friendship when Suzi had suggested she pledge. She hadn't thought about what hazing would be like. No-one can hurt you like a friend, Muffy thought. She even told them about my nickname.
Bobbi and Barbi looked at each other, then at the pledges. "When we say so," they said in unison.
"And with that," Becky said, "let's begin! Since you asked the question, Muffy, now you get to answer one. Truth or Dare: Why do they call you 'Muffy'?"
Muffy blushed furiously. "Dare."
Becky grinned like a wolf in a henhouse. "Show Hanna why they call you 'Muffy'."
"....drink?"
The first round of jello shots went down.
*****
Pinky had another sip of wine. "I still don't know why it bothers her so much," she said. "Personally, I always liked 'Pinky'. Then again, I never liked 'Bertha' to begin with. Women shouldn't be named 'Bertha', it always gives the impression that you have beefy arms and only one eyebrow."
Hanna giggled over her own wine. "How many people ask you what it means?"
Pinky looked down at her bubble-gum pink dress. "Not as many as you'd think." The two of them broke out in further laughter, which attracted attention from the scattered pockets of conversation around the room. "If they say anything, I either talk about liking the cartoon, or suggest it's down to my color scheme."
"So you don't tell anyone about..."
Pinky blushed, just a little. "I mentioned it to my last boyfriend. I think it weirded him out a little. Then again, he did want me to dress him up like a French maid and spank him, so 'weird' is a relative thing." She sighed. "I have a gift for picking losers, Hanna. Either they're so vanilla that they think missionary style is for perverts, or they've got a fetish 'Savage Love' hasn't even heard of yet. I'd just like to meet one nice guy...who likes to do it in elevators." She drank a little more wine. "So how about you? Nice house, body perfect enough to make the rest of us seethe with quiet envy...aren't you going to join the pity party even a little? Dish. Tell me what you're doing nowadays, whether you've got a man stashed somewhere, how you can afford this place!"
Hanna smiled mysteriously. "I run a little...Internet business with my M...ain squeeze." She looked around at the others, all knotted up in discussion. "You wouldn't want to come upstairs and see it, would you?"