All characters are fictional and over 18 years old.
It wasn't Charlotte's choice to go to university an hour away from her parent's home, and it definitely wasn't her choice to join a sorority. If she had it her way, Charlotte would've been in another state with fewer churches and less humidity. This was one of her more unrealistic fantasies considering that her parents met each other and got married at Vanderbilt. When her acceptance letter came in the mail, their nostalgic excitement far surpassed any personal pride that Charlotte felt.
As she walked through the long corridors of the sorority house, she couldn't shake the feeling that the excitement of others came at her expense. Groups of bubbly, beautiful women circled around her, complimented her hair or her dress, and floated away before Charlotte could get any of their names. She turned a corner towards the common room and was suddenly face-to-face with three sisters, each smiling as if they had never experienced sadness before.
"Hey!" The tallest one said, beaming like she had a halo above her head.
"Hi," Charlotte forced herself to look up at her. The tall one reached forward and pinched her cheek. The humiliation of having her cheek pinched as a grown woman rattled her soul, but she held her tongue.
"Aren't you just the cutest thing?" Her smile grew wider and her friends giggled.
"Thanks," Charlotte said. It was taking everything within her to not implode from embarrassment. Mercifully, the tall girl released her grip on her cheek and folded her hands neatly in front of her.
"We're on our way to church, do you want to come with?" she asked.
"I went this morning, sorry," Charlotte lied. She couldn't imagine a deeper hell than a Sunday service with these three.
"Wow, I wish I was as devoted as you," the tall girl put on a frown. "What's the reading today? Anything good?"
"Oh yeah, really good," Charlotte did her best to look excited. "I wouldn't want to spoil it for you."
A chorus of forced laughter echoed in the hallway. Charlotte took a deep breath and avoided the urge to physically cringe at the piercing giggles.
"Well, I guess we'll see you at the event tonight. It's always a lot of fun for the littles," the blonde girl next to the tall one said.
"What do you mean?" Charlotte said, but they were already floating away, whispering amongst themselves as they walked. Charlotte sighed and found a large, empty chair in the corner of the common room to throw herself into. She put in headphones, opened her computer, and began working on a programming assignment due later in this week. Data science was interesting enough, but her father had pretty much selected the major for her. Apparently, there weren't many new jobs in art history opening up.
"...these religious girls are so funny..."
"I can't imagine how that confession goes, 'Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It felt nice to touch my clit, but will I go to hell?'"
Charlotte snapped out of her work and looked up to see two women sit at a table next to her. She made brief eye contact with one of them before quickly looking back at her computer. Charlotte peeked up for another glance; something was different about her. Besides loudly talking about sex in a public space, she visually stood out from the blonde, well-dressed, and always-smiling girls Charlotte had met. Her hair was reddish-brown and cut short above her shoulders. She had big, brown eyes and laugh lines on her cheeks. Instead of the modest sundresses and blouses most of the other girls wore, she opted for a cropped t-shirt of a band Charlotte didn't recognize and torn-up jeans. If she hadn't already announced her sexuality through her conversation, Charlotte probably could've made a good guess.
The woman stopped mid-sentence and noticed Charlotte looking at her. She raised her eyebrows and gave her a knowing smile before turning back to her friend.
"I just saw Grace walk by, I'm pretty sure she's going to church right now," she said. "She was literally begging me to buy her a vibrator last week." Her friend laughed and looked around the room, making sure Grace wasn't nearby. Charlotte did her best to act engrossed in her homework, but she was happy to hear that the cheek-pincher was getting a healthy dose of gossip.
"Did you get her one?" her friend asked.
"Of course I did. I showed her how to use it too," the brunette said in an audible whisper.
"Oh come on, you did not."
"I'm a full-service saleswoman," she shrugged, leaning back in her chair with a satisfied smirk. "You'd think she'd understand the concept of pressing a button and putting it where it feels good, but I don't think the sex education is too thorough down here."
Charlotte was blushing a deep shade of red just listening to the conversation. Was she not embarrassed to talk about these things in front of her? How could she not worry about Grace finding out that she was spreading gossip? Charlotte wasn't so naive to think that these things didn't happen behind closed doors, as her mother had thoroughly lectured her about avoiding them, but it was the first time she heard people talk so openly about such private matters.
Charlotte also realized that she didn't really understand how sex toys worked. She imagined the brunette girl at the front of a classroom of half-naked women, all eagerly paying attention to her demonstration. The brunette was sitting on the teacher's desk, legs spread and using a ruler to point out different erogenous zones.
Charlotte shook the thought away and looked up at the girl, hoping that she didn't notice how Charlotte was thinking about her. Thankfully, she was focused on her conversation and didn't seem to have the power of telepathy.
"I don't know why you bother with those girls, Jules," her friend said to her. Jules, Charlotte thought. That was her name, and she made sure to remember it.
"Some of them cum for the first time because of me," Jules said.
