The Pledge Mistress Copyright 2006 by EC EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/ (warnings: erotic discipline, sex between adults, medical fetish, public nudity, sexual hazing) Chapter 13 – The three-mile streaking challenge The next portion of the lesson was a quick review of the implements themselves. Burnside had an impressive collection of leather belts, straps, floggers, martinets, crops, whips, canes, and paddles of various shapes, sizes, and materials. She also had some standard kitchen items such as breadboards, bath brushes, and hairbrushes to show how ordinary items that could be used for impromptu discipline. She handed the implements one by one to the pledges and discussed the advantages and drawbacks of each. As she talked, the pledges carefully examined the items and passed them along to their companions. Burnside held up a very old paddle-shaped breadboard: "This breadboard and I go back a very long way, because it's one of the first implements I ever had. I was only 13 when I punished my first boyfriend, and this is what I used on him." Lisa and her companions glanced at each other. They couldn't imagine what Burnside must have been like when she was only 13 years old, but apparently her personality and sexual tastes had not changed much in the ensuing quarter century. The two freshmen that had stood quietly the entire afternoon now were ready to perform their duty as practice subjects for the pledges. Burnside called them forward and told each to stand next to a chair. She directed Heather to unlock and take off their handcuffs. She tapped her right eye, a signal that she wanted Heather to blindfold the subjects. She held up some printouts and addressed the pledges: "Now for your practical exercise, combining implements and positions. I have prepared these worksheets to help you with the evaluation. I want you to identify the best position for each implement and the best implement for each position. You will need to explain why and also tell me what implements are not appropriate for a given position. You will use your practical experience to experiment and tell me what's most effective." She passed out the papers and continued: "Don't worry about hurting your subjects. That's what they're here for, to give you the chance to have some hands-on practice inflicting corporal punishment. They understand that they're going to be feeling some real pain in a couple of minutes, and it's what they expect. Do not try to speak to them, because they are instructed not to interact with you. The only talking I want to hear is you telling them to move or to assume a position. Whatever you tell them to do they are instructed to obey." "You'll be working in two-member teams. I want you to take turns, for each of you to strike your subject at least twice with each implement on the table. Now, I've explained what positions I think work best and why. However, if you think you can do better, by all means, try out your ideas. Some things work better with some disciplinarians than others. If your experience differs from mine, then I'd like to see your reasoning and the results." "I will be assessing not only your written statements, but also the markings themselves. I do expect you to exercise responsibility. Be careful about breaking the skin of your subjects. If you think you're close or you see blood blisters, stop and let me know. I'll tell you if it's safe to continue. OK, enough talk. Pair up, choose your subject, and apply what you've learned." "Yes, Dr. Burnside." As the pledges got ready to begin punishing their subjects, Heather pulled out her digital camera. She planned to photograph the discipline session and add the pictures to the Four-Beta digital archives. At first Lisa and Kathleen were going to pair-off together with Steve, but their mentor stopped them. She told Kathleen to go with Bernadette and Cherine to join Lisa. The Sergeant-at-Arms assumed that Kathleen and Lisa would concentrate better if not allowed to work with each other. Cherine had none of Lisa's experience disciplining guys. The experience was totally new and at the beginning rather frightening. Lisa told her companion to put Steve over her lap for a spanking with her hand, and then with a short, thick hairbrush. It was a totally strange feeling for the freshman to be sitting naked in a chair and have a silent, but equally naked young man over her lap. She could feel his penis and testicles pressing against her thigh. She did not slap very effectively with her hand, but her confidence started building when she started using the hairbrush. She began to enjoy herself and the satisfying rhythm of the POP…POP…POP of the wood as it made contact with Steve's skin Lisa briefly took her turn with the hairbrush before they instructed Steve to put his hands on the table. As instructed, they made sure his legs were spread and his back was arched so they could see his bottom-hole. Lisa gave Steve two smacks with the paddle, and then handed the implement to Cherine. After Cherine delivered a couple of respectable paddle swats, the two women stopped to fill out the first portion of the forms and note their observations. Lisa picked up a heavy leather strap, a leather paddle without holes, and one with holes. She struck with the two paddles first, fascinated at the pattern left by the paddle with the holes. Cherine followed suit. The two women wrote their observations and continued with the strap. CRACK!!!…CRACK!!! Lisa struck hard with the strap, darkening Steve's already reddish bottom. She shifted position to hit him with a backhanded swat: CRACK!!! Lisa handed the strap to Cherine, who took a deep breath, stepped back, and delivered a truly vicious swat. CRACK!!! Steve broke from the force of Cherine's swat. He twisted from the pain, which, of course, was a stupid thing to do. Cherine snapped: "I'm not done with you! Get you're hands back on the table!" CRACK!!! After a couple more swats with the strap, some hits with a belt, and some more with a martinet, the two women paused to enter their information into the worksheet. The next implement they decided to experiment with was the riding crop. Lisa decided to try something new. She ordered Steve to lie on his back and hold his knees up. Once his legs were held in place by his interlocked arms, Steve's bottom was spread wide, his anus pointing straight up, his testicles and penis on full display, and his bottom and upper thighs stretched tight. Lisa decided to test his endurance and his resolve to stay quiet no matter what. Lisa and Cherine took turns viciously striking at the tender skin surrounding Steve's bottom-hole and the insides of his upper thighs. They struck over and over as the fiery pain mounted around that intimate region. Steve moaned and gritted his teeth, but just as the pledges were determined to break him, he was just as determined to resist as much as possible. Steve's face was wet from tears and sweat under his blindfold and he was grunting from the pain. Steve's inner thighs and area around his anus turned quite dark as Lisa and Cherine struck over and over. Lisa, whose aim was very good, concentrated on his bottom, while Cherine, who was still a novice, concentrated on his thighs. Heather told Lisa and Cherine to stop for a moment and to pose next to their subject. Heather snapped a couple of pictures while the two pledges stood to his sides, each resting a hand on one of his knees. Bernadette and Kathleen already had their subject attached to the ceiling for the final whipping. Rather than wait for them to finish, Lisa decided to have Steve lie on the table with the cylindrical pillow under his hips and his hands and feet tied to the table legs. He would have to take the whip strokes lying down instead of standing up. Because Steve's bottom was in such bad shape, his two tormentors had to concentrate on his thighs and upper back. Lisa discovered that flogging downwards was somewhat more difficult than flogging sideways. She was careful to note that observation, because she suspected Burnside would critique her for not using the best position for the whip. Steve was crying by the time the two women let him off the table. Lisa decided to end Steve's punishment. She asked Heather for a pair of handcuffs, cuffed his hands, and got ready to lead him to the corner. Heather took a final picture of her two pledges and their victim before Lisa guided him to the corner and told him to get on his knees. Bernadette and Kathleen wrapped up shortly afterwards, posed for a final picture, and led their subject to the corner to join the others. While the three young men knelt uncomfortably, Burnside took the worksheets from the students. Heather ordered them to line up and kneel while Burnside went over the papers. "Pledge Lisa!" "Yes, Dr. Burnside!" "You made an observation about using the lying position for the whip. Stand up and share that with the rest of us." Lisa stood up and explained why she felt it was harder to use the whip on a subject that was lying down than on one that was standing. Her answer seemed to satisfy the professor. The pledges final duty was to pose for a picture with the professor. Burnside picked up a riding crop and stood in the middle of the group while Heather ordered the pledges to kneel upright with their hands at their sides. The picture was a formal portrait and would be included in the Four-Beta yearbook. ---------- Heather and Burnside ordered the pledges into the kitchen to prepare a late meal for the household. Meanwhile they helped themselves to the services of the punished males. They figured Steve would not be of much use because of his recent orgasm, but the other two young masochists were certainly ready for some fun. Burnside took Mark for herself and let Heather take the other freshman. Heather led her partner into the guest bedroom while Burnside took Mark to the main bedroom. The two doors shut and the pledges were left alone. With four sets of hands working in the kitchen, the meal was ready in a few minutes. Heather and Burnside showed no sign of coming back out anytime soon, so Bernadette decided to go back out into the living room and play with Steve. She began talking sweetly to him and gently rubbing her breasts up and down his chest. Her original intention was just to tease him, but soon he was very hard. She decided to take a small risk. She unlocked his handcuffs and led him to the bathroom. She checked the medicine cabinet for condoms, and sure enough, she found a box. Excellent. Bernadette passionately kissed Steve and ran her hands over his welt-covered backside. He responded immediately, the physical sensation of the delicious throbbing combining with the feel of the lovely young body pressed up against him driving him wild with desire. He desperately kissed her. Bernadette planned to have Steve lie on his back and straddle him, but suddenly he took control of their love-making. As soon as he had the condom on he pushed her to her hands and knees. She was wet with lust and desire and did not resist. He gently massaged her vulva, then grabbed her hips and plunged in. Bernadette gasped with delight. Oh, this was good. It turned out that Steve was an excellent lover and capable of multiple orgasms in one day. Like Lisa's boyfriend Ken, all it took was some good sensual pain to unlock his sexual being. Fortunately the bathroom had a shower, so Bernadette and her momentary lover decided to clean up. They closed the door of the stall and soaped each other's bodies. Steve massaged Bernadette's body, first her back and then her breasts. Finally his hands wandered towards her stomach. She did not resist as he continued his way towards her vagina. He soaped and massaged that sensitive area and brought her to yet another orgasm. The couple kissed desperately as she climaxed a second time. They toweled off. Bernadette put Steve's handcuffs and blindfold back on and led him back to the corner. She didn't know if he'd get in trouble if Burnside and Heather found out about their love-making session, but, why take chances? She cleaned up the evidence in the bathroom as best she could before rejoining her companions in the kitchen. ---------- While Bernadette was occupied with Steve and Cherine was busy cutting vegetables, Lisa and Kathleen slipped out into Burnside's back yard. They were surprised to see an old friendly-looking dog struggling to his feet in the grass, but the dog simply wagged his tail, barked once, and lay back down. Obviously he was used to strange people in the yard and had long since stopped being bothered by them. The lovers had gone outside with a simple idea of exchanging some hugs and kisses. As much as they wanted to make love, the lack of time and the presence of an old friendly dog staring at them deterred them from completely indulging themselves. Even so, they kissed for a long time and ran their hands up and down each other's bodies. They hugged tightly, enjoying the feel of each other's bare skin in the warm summer air. As they held each other, Lisa's secret desire to spank her lover's thin bottom returned. She had no desire to do anything serious to her, but did hope to someday put her over her lap. She decided to try a small test to see if Kathleen would submit to a spanking. She rubbed her lover's bottom and gently patted her bottom-cheeks in a spanking motion. Kathleen buried her mouth into Lisa's, leaving her unsure whether her unspoken message had been understood. Lisa kissed Kathleen's neck and again patted her bottom. "Hmm…" "So…have you been a good girl today?" "Hmm…maybe." "…or maybe just a bit naughty?" "Maybe…" Once again Lisa patted Kathleen's unprotected bottom, a bit firmer this time, almost lightly slapping it. "Because if you're being a bit naughty on me, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?" Kathleen responded by kissing her hard. Lisa had her answer. Her lover would be perfectly willing to take a spanking. Her heart raced, because now she knew that the next time she was alone with Kathleen, an erotic spanking would be part of their foreplay. ---------- Bernadette returned to the kitchen just as Cherine finished cutting vegetables. It was obvious she had showered, but it was even more obvious she was content and relaxed. Cherine gave her companion a very hostile look, angry at having been left alone to deal with dinner. "Where were you?" "I was in the bathroom." "By yourself?" "No. I was with Steve." "Thanks a lot. Real nice of you three to leave me alone in the kitchen. I really appreciate it." "Look, Cherine, I'm sorry. I was horny. He was horny too. I didn't get the finger fuck from the VP like you did. I was just horny, OK?" "Yeah, I guess." "Anyway, where's Lisa and Kathleen?" "I guess they're in the backyard." "I go get 'em." "No, I'll get 'em. You deal with lunch. I'll get 'em." The patio door went open and Maynard let out a half-hearted bark. Maybe he wasn't that great of a watchdog, but at least he saved Lisa and Kathleen the embarrassment of being caught making-out by their fellow pledge. They separated before she went out into the yard, and were just standing when she finally found them. "What are you doing?" "Just…talking." Cherine tightened her lips. It was obvious they were flustered from the interruption and that they had been doing a lot more than "just talking". Cherine was angry, but decided not to push that point. The three pledges went back inside and finished preparing the meal. The dinner was a very strange one. Burnside and Heather were the only people at the table who were dressed. The pledges and the three male subjects sat at the table naked. The pledges were nervous while the males moved stiffly from having been so severely punished. Still, Burnside's guests had worked up a good appetite and the food put everyone in a better mood. They relaxed and ate at a very leisurely pace. After eating the pledges knelt while Burnside gave them some final thoughts on erotic discipline. She noted that they all had done very well and had passed the afternoon's practical exercise. As she spoke the three males cleaned up. "Alright, that's a wrap from my end. Always remember that discipline is more about psychology than it is flagellation. Take your time and think through anything you do." "Yes, Dr. Burnside." "PLEDGES, STAND UP!" The pledges scrambled to their feet. They put on their shower shoes and filed out the door. They were exposed on the driveway while Heather fumbled for the key to open the vehicle, but fortunately it already was getting dark. Finally the pledges got into the minivan for the trip back to the sorority house. ---------- The house was empty with the exception of Tracy, who was back from her Reserve drill and dressed in a Four-Beta PT uniform. At the moment the pledges didn't think there was anything significant about Tracy wearing a PT uniform, but they had forgotten that they had not done their PT for the day. Instead their minds were on the inspection. The pledges and their two mentors spent the next hour carefully going through the house. Tracy found a total of 26 violations. That was not bad considering the size of the house, the detailed rules laid out in the manual, and the fact that only four women had been available to conduct the clean-up. The pledges returned to the sitting room, assuming that either one or all of them was due 26 swats with the strap. Tracy explained the rules, emphasizing that yes, indeed the rules had been violated and the women were facing punishment. Then she sprung a surprise on them: "I'm giving you a choice, because 26 violations is not that bad. You haven't done your PT for the day, and today we're doing lower body. I was thinking a good three-mile run might be a good substitute for 26 swats for each of you. So how about it? What's your choice, three miles or 26 swats? Of course the pledges chose running the three miles, not yet realizing there was a catch. "Good choice. Alright, line up and get ready to stretch." While Tracy led the pledges stretching, Heather went to the basement to pick up their running shoes and socks. She laid the footwear near the front door. Once the pledges finished stretching, Tracy ordered them to put on their shoes and socks. The four women became increasingly concerned, because their uniforms were nowhere in sight. "Get in the van." The pledges looked at each other with very worried expressions, but did not dare hesitate to go into the driveway and load themselves into the vehicle. Tracy jumped behind the wheel while Heather got into the passenger seat. The van quickly pulled away from the safety of the sorority house. It was Heather who broke the news: "You're doing a three-mile run, but we're gonna make it interesting. What you'll really be doing is a three-mile streak." The Sergeant-at-Arms smiled slightly as Cherine and Kathleen gasped. "That's right, ladies. We're making you streak three miles back to the sorority. This is one of your tests. We're giving you an hour to get back, which, if you keep moving, will be plenty of time." "But…" The only 'butt' will be your red butt if you don't make it back in time. We're making you do this for a reason. We're testing you to see how well you deal with a dangerous and stressful situation. We want you to stick together and work with each other to get across campus. That's your PT for the night. A simple three-mile run across campus, but in the nude. It's Sunday night, so things should be pretty quiet." The pledges sat in horrified silence as the van exited the opposite side of the university and continued in the direction of Burnside's house. Tracy turned into a small neighborhood park and opened the door. "Everyone out. This is your starting point. We've measured it, and it's exactly three miles from here to the sorority." As the pledges huddled next to each other in terror, Tracy handed Lisa a cell phone. "If you get in trouble, just hit the speed dial. But if you hit that speed dial and we have to come get you, you'll fail the exercise, you'll get your butts whipped, and you'll have to do it all over again tomorrow night. Don't forget; tomorrow's Monday and there will be a bunch more people out on the streets. So, you might as well save yourselves the trouble and do it right the first time." Y…yes, ma'am." "If you go straight down this street, you'll end up by the duck pond next to the parking lot behind Huntington Hall. From there you'll need to get to the main library. Sergeant-at-Arms Heather will be waiting for you in the courtyard. Whatever route you take to get there, you'll have to run past her and make sure she sees you and gets your picture. The pictures will be important, because that'll be our proof you didn't try to cheat. Once you get to the academic buildings area you'll need to be very careful to avoid Campus Security. Don't forget they're on bicycles, so they can move pretty fast. If you're chased, it won't do you any good to split up, because all of you have to complete the run as a group. You're working as a team. If someone doesn't make it, you all fail." The pledges were silent, even Lisa. This was going to be very, very risky. Tracy continued: "Once you get through the old part of the campus you'll have to cross a couple of busy streets. I'd suggest you stay on campus as long as you can and run parallel until you get to Pageant Street. Don't cross at the light; try to use the crosswalk instead. Then cut straight across and run like hell to the sorority. If you move fast enough the city cops won't get you." Tracy and Heather got back into the van. Tracy backed out as Heather called out the window: "Have fun! I'll see you at the library, with my camera!" The van pulled away, leaving the pledges stranded. Now their only choices were get back to the sorority or face getting arrested. The others immediately took off, but Lisa snapped: "WAIT!" As her panicky companions stopped, Lisa called them back into the shadows behind a some bushes. "Look, you just can't go running off! Do you even know what route we're taking?" Bernadette responded in an exasperated, panicky voice: "Yeah, we're going to the duck pond and then running to the library." "Right across the quad, with a bunch of people running around? I don't think so! There's a back route, a paved nature path that's hidden right up until you get to the library. That's the way we're going! We're hitting the duck pond, but then we'll be turning right. We won't need to cross the quad at all! That's the first part. You guys OK with that?" "Yes!" "We'll have to get off the path to get to Heather. Once she gets our picture, we go right back on. That path continues to the Student Center. Yes, once we get to the Student Center we'll have to run in the open, but that's only gonna be for the last mile." Lisa's companions nervously nodded. "Now, here's another problem. Who isn't used to running three miles non-stop?" Cherine and Bernadette raised their hands. "Then we're gonna have to walk part of the way. This'll sound crazy, but we're gonna have to walk that stretch of path between the duck pond and the library. If we don't, you'll be winded right when we leave the campus, and that's when we're gonna have run the fastest." "Walk on a back trail? At night? In the nude? Are you out of your mind?" "It's what we're gonna have to do. Either we walk the trail or you'll be puking on Pageant Street. Heather will bitch us out for being late getting to her, but that's my plan. If there's no one on the trail after the library, we're walking a bit more and saving our breath for the final part. I'm not worried about the trail. There's four of us, and anyhow it'll keep us away from the academic buildings. From the Student Center we run straight through Old Campus and we're not stopping until we get to the sorority. I want you guys rested for that final part." "And we're walking?" "Why do you think they're giving us an hour? There's no way we can run straight across campus and they know that. If any of you has a better idea, I'd love to hear it." No one spoke up. "A final thing. If we get separated we'll meet up behind the big pine tree near the Pageant Street crosswalk. If you lose the rest of us, don't panic, just head to the pine tree and wait." The other three pledges calmed down considerably. Now they had a workable plan other than simply trying to run three miles non-stop across campus. Lisa's route ensured that as few people at the university as possible would see them and minimize the chance of being caught by Campus Security. There was a back-up plan for anyone who got separated. The pledges realized that if they stayed calm and stuck to Lisa's strategy, in an hour they would be back at the sorority house laughing about their experience. "OK, it's show-time! First stop, the duck pond!" The pledges ran along the sidewalk at full speed past the quiet houses. It seemed that every dog in the neighborhood was barking at them, but fortunately the streets were deserted. In an eight-block stretch only once did a car go past. The pledges jumped behind a hedge to let it go by. They scrambled back onto the sidewalk when the porch light went on and continued running. The four women crouched near the intersection leading back on campus. Traffic was fairly light, which gave Lisa an idea. They would not try crossing at the red light when the drivers were stopped, would have a good look at them, and possibly have time to call the police. Instead they would cross when the light was green and not give their spectators a chance to react. Hopefully no one would get hit and there would be no accidents, but the point was to cross quickly with as little warning as possible. As they huddled in the darkness, Lisa got behind the others and looked for a gap in the traffic: "GO!" Four naked young women ran across the wide street in front of several very astonished drivers. One driver swerved and another beeped, but they made it across without incident and disappeared into the dubious safety of the duck pond area. Lisa led her companions to a stand of trees and the entrance to a path that would have been invisible had she not known it was there. Their hearts were pounding as they stood in the darkness. "OK, in we go!" The women shook with tension and tried to catch their breath as their eyes tried to adjust to the dark wooded area. Lisa had another observation that did not put the others at ease at all: "I know that Campus Security patrols along here. If they come through and we see them in time, we jump into the bushes. If they catch us, I'll just try to reason with them. Don't any of you say anything if that happens. Let me do the talking." For the next 15 minutes the women walked in the darkness, following the same path Lisa's friends Jason and Ken followed the previous fall when they went streaking after losing that card game. They walked at a fast pace, but Lisa warned them not to try to run. "After we get to the library there'll be plenty of running." After spending what seemed an eternity walking the women saw lights shining between the trees. They had made the halfway point, when they would have to go out into the lit courtyard, get their picture taken, and then hopefully retreat back to the trail. Lisa drew a deep breath and led her companions running into the courtyard where Heather was waiting for them. To the pledges horror it turned out she wasn't alone. Almost every member of the Tri-Alpha Fraternity was with her. Each one of those guys was cheering and had a camera. The pledges reluctantly ran up to Heather as the cameras flashed wildly. She admonished them: "Too slow, ladies, too slow! You'd better pick up the pace if you don't want to be doing this again tomorrow night!" "Ma'am, have you seen Campus Security?" "Don't worry about them, Pledge." "But…" "I said, don't worry about them…" she pointed at two guys in uniform on bicycles: "…now move your asses!" "Yes, ma'am!" Knowing that Campus Security was in on the adventure put Lisa at ease and changed her plans. Instead of going back on the trail, the pledges would jog straight across the academic area towards the Pageant Street crossing. The only hard part would be the final stretch through three blocks of shops and then running past the houses along Fraternity Row. Knowing that there was no danger until they left campus, the pledges jogged at a leisurely pace and actually began enjoying themselves. The night air felt good as it blew against their naked bodies. The academic area was almost completely deserted and very peaceful. Of course, whenever they did run past someone their spectator either stared at them with disbelief or clapped and whistled. Lisa glanced at the Economics Building as the pledges ran by. For once the light in Burnside's office wasn't on, which led Lisa to wonder what she was doing to Mark and those other two guys. She pushed that thought aside as the group continued past the Student Memorial Center and crossed the guest parking lot. That short cut put them on the sidewalk near the dreaded crosswalk. The pledges stopped to catch their breath under Lisa's pine tree as they worked up the courage to run across the street. Now came the hard part, the final stretch to the sorority house. Lisa glanced at her cell phone. They had only eight minutes to make it. Shit! As soon as she saw a break in the traffic she shouted: "Let's go! As fast as you can, after me!" Lisa and her companions ran across Pageant Street. Once again she heard several beeps and a couple of screeching tires. She couldn't worry about that. Once the pledges made it across they ran past three blocks of student stores, bars, and pizza places. Unfortunately some of the pizza places were open and the students sitting outside were treated to the spectacle of four panicky naked women running by. Lisa kept glancing back at her companions. The awful detail was that she realized she had miscalculated the time it would take them to cross campus. She was the only one who knew that, even running at full pace, they would be very lucky to make it before the time ran out. Cherine and Kathleen seemed to be doing OK, but Bernadette already was winded. Lisa shouted: "Kathleen, get out front and set the pace!" As soon as Kathleen moved to the front of the group Lisa dropped back to run alongside Bernadette. "Move…move…move!" She started landing hard slaps on Bernadette's sweaty bottom to get her to run faster. "Ow! Stop it!" SLAP! "Then move!" SMACK! "MOVE!" SMACK! "Ow!" Just as the women exited the shopping area a flash went off in their faces. Another Tri-Alpha member had taken their picture to document their passage through the business district. Now for Fraternity Row. This was going to be hard, because there were plenty of guys out and about. As soon as the naked pledges came into sight, the street was filled with clapping, cheering, and whistles. Guys came running out the houses to catch a glimpse of the Four-Beta pledges as they ran by. Plenty of them had cameras. The pledges were panic-stricken as they made their final dash to the sorority. As the noise and flashing got worse, the only thought on their minds was "run…run…run". Lisa no longer had to smack Bernadette to get her to run faster; she was doing just fine on fear and adrenaline. The pledges left their cheering audience, ran past a block of older houses, and finally closed in on Sorority Row. At last the sanctuary of the Four-Beta house was in sight. However, the pledges had to endure the final indignity of running past the members of rival sororities and listen to their sarcastic clapping and cheering. Finally the Four-Beta House. Of course, the entire sorority was standing outside on the front lawn, and every last one of them had a camera. The pledges' approach and entry into the house was thoroughly documented by multiple photographers. Tracy was waiting in the sitting room with a stopwatch. She announced the pledges had made it with only 15 seconds to spare. Lisa nearly fainted. Just 15 seconds to spare. Had they missed the deadline it would have been her fault, because had been her idea to walk the trail. However, she looked over at Bernadette, who was bent over with her hands on her knees. She was coughing, gagging, and horribly winded. Bernadette almost didn't make it. Had Lisa not forced her to save her strength and then pushed her at the end, she would not have made it. Lisa could feel good about that. It had been a very close call, but because of her, everyone in her group had passed the three- mile streaking test on the first try. Once again, Pledge Mistress Tracy looked at her pledges, and especially their leader, with deep satisfaction. ---------- The pledges slept soundly that night. They were as exhausted as a person could be, considering they had spent most of the weekend cleaning, Sunday afternoon and evening at Burnside's house, and finally, to conclude that traumatic day, a very stressful hour running across the university in the nude. Even after they were finished with the run, Tracy insisted on a post-run stretch and a few minutes in the pool to relax their muscles. They had to clean up after the pool and drink a bunch of water to stay hydrated. Finally, well after midnight, the four women collapsed onto their cots. They went to sleep immediately. By the end of their first week they had become used to sleeping uncovered. The fact several hundred pictures had been taken of Lisa and her companions that night and were sure to circulate on the Internet barely registered in their minds. One reason was the pledges were too tired to be worried about their very public performance. However there was a second, and much more important reason. The pledges were changing, because a week of living in the nude already had greatly reduced their personal inhibitions.