Vicki was angry. Angry and drunk. "We regret to inform you," the letter began. All the studying, the extra curricular activities, the charity work -- all of it for nothing. The rejection was the end of her chance for an ideal life. Now she'd be off to some shit-hole state university. Would her mother feel anger or pity?
To make it worse, her older sister had partied through high school and still gotten into the Ivy League. She was out there living the dream as an investment banker or some other wildly overpaid job that kept her in tailored suits and luxury cars.
Vicki took another drink from the pint of Fireball. She felt the bad taste in her gut as much as her mouth, was surprised to find herself sobbing. It would be hours before her parents got home.
The contact in her phone said Sarah instead of Sister. She pressed it and listened while it dialed.
"Hello," Sarah answered on the first ring. It was 11:00pm.
"How the effe did you get into college," Vicki said. Her words might have been slurred.
"Vicki?"
"Yeah," Vicki said.
"What's wrong?"
--
Sarah wouldn't talk to her that night, honestly maybe she did, but it was all a little hazy. They had agreed to further discuss after Vicki had time to process. And sober up.
Vicki met her sister for brunch at a trendy cafe. They sat outside, the warm sun enough to blunt the crisp April breeze.
Sarah was ice, her face always controlled, smooth skin and perfect teeth.
"I thought it would be easy to get in. After all, you..." Vicki started to say but lost her nerve.
"You can say it. After I got in," Sarah said.
"Yeah," Vicki said. She drank some ice water and tried not to make eye contact. "No offense, but your scores weren't that good, you were in cheer which I'm sure shows up great, but otherwise you didn't even try. You never even wanted to go to college."
"Yeah," Sarah said. "I just didn't want to disappoint."
That stung Vicki extra hard. She still hadn't told her parents. They had sacrificed to put both girls into private schools, and after their free spirited oldest daughter whipped through the Ivy League, they had extra high expectations for Vicki.
Her eyes started to well up, but Vicki fought off any tears. "How did you do it?" she asked.
Sarah stared at her for a long moment, gears turning.
"You repeat any of this, and I'll never speak to you again," she said.
"What?"
"I'm serious. Swear to me what I'm about to say never gets repeated. NE-VER," Sarah said.
Another long beat.
"I promise," Vicki said. Sarah's raised eyebrow, didn't believe her. "I swear. Not a word."
"No matter what I tell you," Sarah said.
"No matter what," Vicki said.
Another long pause.
"I pulled some strings, non-academic strings," Sarah said.
"Oh my god I knew it. You cheated," Vicki said. This revelation didn't get Vicki into college, but it did make her feel like less of a failure.
"I didn't cheat. I pulled other strings, and it wasn't free," Sarah said.
"Sounds like cheating to me," Vicki said, suddenly smug.
"Life isn't about following the rules. It's about finding the right people to do the things you need done, and paying for it," Sarah said.
"What does that mean?"
"Let's just change the topic. I cheated, OK? Mission accomplished," Sarah said.
An awkward silence. Sarah wouldn't make eye contact with her. Sarah pulled the waiter and ordered a scotch, neat. It was 10am.
"These strings. Can you pull them for me?" Vicki asked.
--
Sarah was several Scotches in before she laid it all out. She had pledged a secret organization within a national sorority. The organization got her admitted, paid room and board for four years, even placed her in elite circles. But there was a cost.
"You have to understand, there are a lot of rich men out there, think tech billionaires, who are married but never got to really experience college. Girls. They don't want to get a divorce, and they don't want a porn star or hooker-- at least not all of them. They want the girl that wouldn't give them the time of day. A sorority girl.
"And you had sex with them?"
"And then some," Sarah said. She actually smiled, like it was a fond memory.
"You liked it?"
It sort of made sense, Vicki thought. Sarah always was something of a slut; her mom used the euphemism "wild." Apparently, Sarah had fucked a bunch of billionaires through college, and rather than feel shame, she smiled.
"Most of the time," Sarah said.
"What about the other times?" Vicki asked.
Sarah put her drink down, a serious look on her face.
"Any sorority has a hazing process, no matter what they tell parents these days. It's a sort of bonding experience, also a weed-out experience, and also just a flex of sadism from twenty year olds who don't know better. It's not pretty." She took a long pause. "Now imagine all that hazing for a secret society of sex slaves," Sarah said.
There was an edge of bitterness on the word slaves, an idea Sarah had been dancing around but just outright said.