For my readers...at first this story may seem deeply out of step with my normally romantic and deep thought provoking works. But look a bit closer. This is one of my darker pieces inspired by an online psychology course that I took by the same name. It is the cautionary tale of what can happen to us when we fail to recognize our own flaws and weaknesses...when we just follow the crowd towards what we think of as...success.
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Lauren stared critically into the mirror. At nineteen, she was just beginning her college adventure. And getting into the right sorority was the first step. She had pledged three, the same way that she had applied to three colleges. The dream one. The one that she was likely to get into. And of course her safety, if all else failed. So far she had received offers from her safety and the likely one. Tonight was her final mixer at the dream sorority. So she wanted to look her best.
This was a higher class of people so she had toned down her usually enticing attire. Her navy blue cotton skirt came to just above the knee. She wore a simple but expensive light blue blouse. Even her black pumps were a good two inches lower than her usual choice of heels. Her blonde hair was pulled back from her face and she had used a couple of clips to keep it up off her neck. The usually heavy hand that she employed with her make-up had been lightened as well. Overall she barely recognized the young woman in the mirror.
Lauren was pleased as she made the five minute walk across campus to the sorority house. Even though the guys did not stare at her with open lust, their heads still swiveled as they stared after her. Maybe she would dress like this more often. She tapped lightly at the door when she arrived. As it opened, she was surprised to see that only a dozen or so people mingled about the large living area.
"We only invited a few pledges to this event," explained the dark haired young woman who was the President of this particular sorority. She showed Lauren in and immediately stood up. "Welcome everyone. We are glad that you could join us for this final opportunity to show us why you should be Kappa Delta Zeta Theta Beta Babe. Tonight is rather simple really...truth or dare."
Lauren smiled, she had been playing that game since junior high school. She looked around at her competition and her confidence increased. Each of these young women looked more like they belonged in a science lab than a sorority house.
"To make things a bit more interesting though, we will begin with a dare for everyone," pronounced the President. She held up a clear beaker full of a pinkish cloudy substance. "The chalice of truth contains not only forbidden alcohol...don't tell anyone...but three magic ingredients. I am not going to tell you what those are yet. Instead you will be given the chance right now to drink," she paused and looked at each girl in the eye, "or leave. It is that simple."
Lauren saw a couple of girls looking at one another. One actually stood up and walked out the door without a word, her head held high. A couple stared at the floor and wrung their hands nervously. Wanting to make a good impression, Lauren stood up and said, "I'll go first."
The brunette looked at her and smiled, "Somehow I thought you might." She passed the cup to Lauren, who took a very long gulp of the liquid. It was not unpleasant. It tasted rather like a strawberry daiquiri at first. But there was a distinct bitter after taste that coated her tongue. She refused to show her displeasure as she passed the beaker to the girl next to her.
The young woman stared at the glass container and raised it slowly to her lips. She sipped lightly at it and made a grimace when the aftertaste fully hit her. Then she passed it to the next girl. And the next and next until all half a dozen or so remaining girls had imbibed from the chalice of truth. Then the President smiled knowingly, "Know that you have all accepted the challenge of drinking from the cup I will tell you the first secret ingredient: come. We had all our brothers at Alpha Alpha Alpha Alpha Dom masturbate into the chalice of truth just before you arrived."
Lauren could see the shocked and sometimes disgusted expressions of a couple of girls. But she just laughed. "What? It isn't like it is the first time you have swallowed, is it?" she mouthed off to the others.
The President smiled again. "The next round is truth. We will ask each o you a question. If you get it right then you pass automatically into the next round. If you get it wrong then you must take another drink from the chalice...or you are out."
Lauren smiled even though her head was beginning to throb just a bit and her vision was getting fuzzy around the edges. Worse still her clothes felt too tight, too restrictive, as if they were made of sand paper and she longed to rip them from her body. To be free. She was so distracted that she did not even hear the brunette ask the first young woman her question. If she had then she would have been even more uncomfortable.
Then it was Lauren's turn, "What is the square root of one-hundred?"
Lauren shook her head. In all the times that she had played truth or dare it was never like this. She had expected some silly question about when she lost her virginity or what color underwear she was wearing. Not this.
To make matters worse the pounding in her head was increasing in volume and tempo. And math had never been her thing. At that moment, she could barely remember what a square root was, or even the number one-hundred. She shook her head, "That's a dumb question."
The President smiled but this time her face contorted into a mask of disgust or so it seemed to Lauren. "Not the correct answer. Do you wish to drink," she held up the cup. "Or leave?" she waved an overly large hand towards the door that seemed to open magically.
Lauren giggled and took the cup. She took another large gulp and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand in a very unlady like manner. She handed the glass beaker to the girl next to her and fought with all her will power to stay on her feet.
She was distracted as the other girls managed to answer their questions. One got hers wrong but after looking over at Lauren, she choose to leave rather than drink again from the chalice of truth. As thee door closed behind her, the President pronounced, "Very well done. The second magic ingredient is an aphrodisiac. I know...those are not real. But Viagra is. And it works just as well on women as it does on men."
Lauren giggled again nervously. Another young woman stood up, "This is ridiculous," she said as she looked around at the others. "I'm out of here." She walked out the door as well. They were down to just three girls. Lauren smiled as she calculated that her chances of making her dream sorority just multiplied exponentially.