Free Pledged by Alexandra Robbins Page B

most popular girl wants the most popular boy.”
    The room broke into pandemonium again. “This is important ,” the seniors whined. Amy, Sabrina, and Caitlin didn’t worry much—there were only twenty-two seniors, by far the minority.
    “Next round: Zeta Sigma,” Charlotte said, and selected the next group.
    “Pro: Zeta Sigma is just as strong as Delta Lambda and it is steadily climbing the ladder of popularity.”
    “Pro: They have a house near Sorority Row, and the Delts don’t,” said a sophomore.
    “Con:”—the debate was rapid-fire now—“Some of the guys are rude. They could reflect badly on our chapter.”
    “Con: More of us are dating Omega Phis than Zetas.”
    “Pro: The Zetas did a lot for us this week.”
    “Last one, Omega Phi.” Charlotte seemed to be getting weary. The juniors wondered whether she was going to vote with the seniors just to get this over with.
    “Pro: Omega Phi is as strong a house as Zeta Sigma.”
    “Pro: Omega Phi did a lot for us with the gifts and are a very supportive house toward us,” a sophomore said. “Shouldn’t that be what matters?”
    “No.” The senior who spoke was getting angry that the other girls couldn’t see the importance of choosing the biggest house possible. “You guys don’t understand. Omega Phi was so small last year it had to double up with another fraternity for Greek Week. When a house first becomes big enough to not double up, it’s matched with the worst sorority. That’s not us.”
    “Listen,” Whitney responded out of turn, “this is our last Greek Week, so out of respect for your older sisters, you should vote our way. We’ve all been here longer than you, so we know what’s best for this house.” She paused, found some uncertain wide-eyed faces staring back at her, and looked hard at them. “And if you want the seniors to be active sisters this year, you will do this for us.” The underclassmen gasped.
    Amy raised her hand again. She didn’t want to cause trouble, but she hoped to raise the point that it would be generous of Alpha Rho to accept a lower-tiered fraternity as an escort, thereby raising the boys’ status. While waiting to be formally acknowledged, she told this to the juniors around her. The seniors overheard her whispering and shifted their seats so they surrounded her. By drowning her out and blocking Charlotte’s view of her, they made sure the president wouldn’t allow her to speak. Frustrated, Amy said, “Y’all, can I say something real quick?”
    The seniors shushed her. “Enough talk,” one of them said. “We’re voting now.” Charlotte nodded and distributed the ballots. Discussion was closed. The executive board left the room to tally the votes.
    Going Through the Motions
    SEPTEMBER 15
    VICKI’S IM AWAY MESSAGE
    i mean does any of it really matter?
    THE BETA PI HOUSE WASN’T NEARLY AS CONFLICTED AS Alpha Rho. All week the Delts had made it clear that Beta Pi was their first choice and heavily courted the sisters with notes and presents. Beta Pi considered the Delts to be only an “eh” house, but had serenaded them to be polite. The girls were much more enthusiastic about the biggest fraternities—last year they had gone with Iota, in their eyes the top fraternity, and now several girls were dating brothers in another popular group.
    Frankly, Vicki didn’t much care when, with little fanfare, Beta Pi ended up choosing Kappa Tau Chi, one of the top three houses, composed of guys who could keep up with the sisters at the bar. She hated the serenading, surviving it only by mouthing the lyric as far back in the crowd of sisters as possible. She wasn’t much for events like Greek Olympics, either, which usually consisted of such scintillating displays of athletic prowess as the Guy Has Peanut Butter on His Face While Girl Chucks Cheerios at Him event. Especially at times like these, Vicki was embarrassed that she was a member of a sorority. She never wore her letters outside of the