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 28 – Lisa's thong

The following morning began at 4:00 with yet another naked run to the stadium. 
As always, the five streakers ran past Heather's friend and had their picture taken 
before finishing the trip to the stadium. Bernadette's performance improved 
tremendously; she came very close to finishing the sixth flight before her lungs 
gave out and she was forced to walk the final few steps. Tracy was heartened by 
her progress and at the thought that Wednesday might be the last day the group 
would have to go streaking at 4:00 in the morning.

"You're close, a lot closer than you were a week ago. Think about it for 
Wednesday. If you make it up the steps, you can test on Friday and we'll be done. 
You do have it in you. It's just a few more steps. That's all it is."

Once again Polk tried to engage Tracy in conversation and once again Lisa bent 
over to distract him. For the second time Lisa's ploy worked by drawing the 
security officer's attention away from Tracy. She noticed him holding a clipboard 
in front of his crotch and that he was hunched over, obviously hiding an erection. 
Ha! So she had turned the tables on Polk, forcing him to have a hard-on and 
humiliate himself! That morning he was quite eager to send the women on their 
way.

As they took off running past the Student Fitness Center, Tracy and her pledges 
did not notice something that would complicate the rest of Lisa's summer. 
Heather's friend had stayed near the stadium to observe the group from an area 
shaded by some trees. Among other things, she watched Lisa bend over in front of 
the security officer and remembered the story of her doing the same thing in the 
shoe store. She knew that of the pledges, Lisa was the least inhibited about 
showing off her body. That gave her an idea, to suggest that Heather put Lisa's 
lack of inhibitions to the test.

Heather's friend explained her plan when the pledges were eating breakfast. 
When Heather heard the idea, she liked it tremendously. Rather than share it with 
Tracy, she decided to go directly to Ruth Burnside's office and see if she could 
talk the professor into going along with it. While she was in class, Heather 
discussed with the professor Lisa's total lack of modesty. Burnside off-handedly 
added the detail about her student's fantasy of pursuing a public career as the 
world's first naked economist. Heather responded:

"Well, Dr. Burnside. You know that in the sorority we like our pledges to push 
their limits as much as possible. Even someone like Pledge Lisa, who seems open 
to just about anything, has limits that need to pushed even farther. I like to 
challenge the pledges, keep making them do more and more daring things."

"Yes, I understand your philosophy. So what does that mean for Pledge Lisa?"

"I'm thinking about changing Pledge Lisa's uniform for campus. I'd like to take 
away her shorts and have her wear something a bit more daring. What I'm 
thinking about is issuing her a thong and making her wear it on campus instead of 
her pledge shorts. I can't see that it would be a problem outside, because the 
campus administration just loosened the dress code to allow thongs at the pool 
and for sunbathers in the dorm area. The only thing I'd need would be permission 
from you to allow Pledge Lisa to wear her thong in your classes."

Burnside sat back, contemplating the idea. She liked it tremendously. Lisa would 
look quite sexy running around lectures, passing out papers, and collecting 
assignments with her bottom exposed. Making Lisa wear a thong also would help 
Burnside completely control her, because if she had to be disciplined there was no 
way she would be able to cover the marks on her bottom. The threat of discipline 
would be much more frightening if the student had no means of covering her 
welts.

The other reason forcing Lisa to wear a thong on campus appealed to Burnside 
was that it would allow the girl to come much closer to fulfilling her secret 
fantasy. She would be spending the rest of the summer almost completely naked 
below the waist, which would bring her very close to living naked in public. 
Heather and Burnside agreed that people such as Lisa should be encouraged, and 
even obligated, to pursue whatever sexual fantasies they had. Both the professor 
and the sorority believed that repression of sexuality was a major cause of 
personal frustration, which in turn manifested itself in all kinds of dysfunctional 
and self-destructive behavior. For example, it seemed to both women that 
societies that were the most sexually oppressive also were the most violent. 

Burnside was astute enough to realize that Heather must have had some ulterior 
motive for wanting to force Lisa to run around the university in a thong instead of 
shorts. However, she figured that if there was any major problem, she would find 
out about it soon enough and could rescind her permission. In the meantime, 
Pledge Lisa's bottom would remain uncovered in public for the duration of the 
summer, in addition to her working completely naked whenever she was in 
Burnside's office or house. It would be interesting to see how Lisa would handle 
such a personal challenge.

----------

With the Tri-Alpha pledges back at the fraternity and Pledge Master Arnold once 
again in charge of his group, life in the Four-Beta Sorority returned to normal. 
The pledges returned to being completely naked whenever in the sorority house 
and their temporary status of relative equality with the other women quickly 
vanished. They had to give up sleeping in the comfortable guest beds and return 
to their austere military cots. Their privacy vanished and once again they were 
forced to use the pledge toilet, relieving themselves in full view of anyone who 
happened to be in the basement at that time.

The Four-Beta pledge training classes started up again, after a week break 
because of the presence of the males in the sorority house. Every night there was a 
different seminar. Topics that week included a self-defense class taught by Tracy, 
another massage training session from Suzanne Foster, a beginner's class in car 
maintenance presented by Tri-Alpha VP Jacob, a course in avoiding credit card 
debt, and a practical exercise examining the fundamentals of academic research. 
Along with the seminars there was the routine PT, study breaks, house clean-up, 
and meals with the sophomores. Each day was so full of activity that it seemed to 
last an eternity.

There was another unpleasant detail introduced into the pledges' lives, their hiking 
boots.  Tracy ordered her group to wear their hiking boots on campus during the 
mornings to break them in.  Of course the boots looked totally ridiculous with the 
rest of the pledge uniforms, but as Tracy put it:
"You'll look a lot more ridiculous if you're out in the woods with your feet all 
ripped up with blisters."

Wednesday morning began at 4:00 with a pre-dawn streak to the stadium. As 
always, Polk let the group in through Gate 4. Bernadette's performance on the 
steps improved slightly, but not enough for Tracy to declare that she was ready to 
test on Friday. That meant yet another run on Friday, with the possibility of 
Bernadette testing pushed back to Sunday, at the earliest. 

Fortunately for Tracy, Polk was not waiting for her when the group finished their 
practice run on the stadium steps. He was gone from the stadium area, forced to 
respond to a burglar alarm that had gone off in one of the academic buildings. 
Tracy locked the gate herself and the five naked women ran back to the sorority.

Tracy might have been forgiving of Bernadette's struggles on the stadium steps, 
but Wednesday afternoon she became much more sharp-tempered over the three 
freshmen's academic performance. Kathleen, Bernadette, and Cherine had taken 
an exam for one of their classes on Monday, but in spite of Tracy's efforts to get 
them ready, they did not perform to her expectations. Each had only scored in the 
low '80's and their mentor was livid. Tracy seethed with anger as she escorted the 
three young women to the Economics Building to pick up Lisa. As they entered 
Burnside's office, the expressions on the faces of Lisa's companions reflected 
genuine fear, because they knew they faced punishment as soon as they got back 
to the sorority.

As soon as they entered the sorority house the pledges undressed and put their 
clothes in the washer. They knelt in the sitting room, waiting for the Pledge 
Mistress to start berating them. Tracy did return with the freshmen's tests, but for 
a long time stood quietly, going through their papers and jotting down some notes 
and observations. The freshmen were sweating as they waited for the ominous 
silence in the room to explode into vicious yelling.

Heather came into the room and chatted with Tracy about what had happened that 
day in class. It was clear that she was pleased about Tracy's awkward situation 
and at seeing that, when it came to her pledges' performance, she was not so 
perfect after-all. However, Heather also realized that she had the perfect 
opportunity to pull Lisa away from the pledge group and impose the planned 
change of her uniform.

Heather called Lisa to the hallway and told her to go downstairs. Lisa complied 
with very mixed feelings. She was relieved to escape the possibility of being 
punished along with the freshmen, but at the same time she felt bad about 
deserting them. Also, she did not trust Heather. There was no way the Sergeant-
at-Arms would pull her away from being punished just out of being nice. No, 
Heather was up to something. Lisa's suspicions rose even more when the sorority 
officer spoke in her sweet sarcastic voice:

"Put on your uniform, Pledge. We're going out, and you'll get to go shopping 
with me. Don't you think that's gonna be fun?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Lisa put on a clean pledge uniform and followed Heather up the stairs, very 
worried about what Heather was planning to buy.

As they ascended the steps, Lisa heard Cherine's voice crying and the sound of 
CRACK!…CRACK!..CRACK!

She glanced through the door to see Cherine bent over a table. Tracy was striking 
her with a very narrow two-pronged leather strap. Cherine's bottom already was 
covered with multiple thin welts that were clearly visible on the girl's dark skin.

"Aieee!!!...Ma'am…ma'am…Ooh…Ow!…I…I'll do better…Ahh! I'll try…"

Kathleen and Bernadette were kneeling. They had not yet been punished, but were 
sweating and trembling from fear and anticipation.

As they exited the house, Heather's voice rang out sweetly to Lisa:

"Aren't you glad you're coming with me and not having that cute butt of yours 
whipped?"

"Yes, ma'am," lied Lisa. In reality she wondered if she'd be better off getting 
punished alongside her companions.

Heather led Lisa to Pageant Street and into a clothing shop. She immediately led 
the pledge to a clothing rack of undergarments and asked her waist size. Upon 
hearing Lisa's response, Heather began thumbing through thongs that would fit, 
finally settling on three that came closest to the color of her pledge shorts. 
Heather narrowed the selection to the thong that provided the least cover in the 
back and had a very high waistband. She passed it to Lisa.

"Here, Pledge. Try this on and let's see how it looks on you."

Lisa was bewildered by the command, but knew better than to argue. She stepped 
into a dressing room and pulled down her shorts, set them aside, and put on the 
thong. The article of clothing made her feel more exposed than she felt when 
completely naked. She felt the contrast between her crotch, which was adequately 
covered, and her backside, which was totally bare. Reluctantly she stepped out of 
the dressing room and faced Heather.

"I like it. You look really cute. Turn around, Pledge."

Lisa turned around. Heather carefully examined her uncovered bottom, and then 
ran her hand over her exposed buttocks.

"Perfect. The color's just a little bit off, but other than that it looks really nice."

Heather patted Lisa's bottom:

"OK, Pledge, get me your shorts and hand 'em over."

Lisa's heart jumped into her throat. She quietly retrieved her shorts from the 
dressing room, hoping that she misunderstood what Heather had just said. That 
hope faded when Heather grabbed Lisa's shorts and stuffed them into her 
backpack. She then selected three additional thongs identical to the one Lisa 
already had on. She pulled out a Four-Beta purchasing card and directed the 
pledge to follow her to the sales counter.

The cashier stared in amazement at the two women when Heather announced:

"Four thongs please: the three here and the one she's got on."

The clerk turned to Lisa:

"Uh…OK…but…aren't you gonna wear something over that?"

Before Lisa had a chance to respond, Heather cut in:

"Oh no, she'll be fine! She's a total show-off! She likes it when people look at her 
butt, and she wanted me to help her choose something that'll let people see what 
she's got!"

Noting Lisa's worried expression, the clerk insisted on a response from her. 
Sullenly Lisa responded:

"I'll be fine, ma'am. What she's saying about me is true. I…I'm kinda an 
exhibitionist…and…"

"OK…I just hope you stay out of trouble. I mean…if I were you, I'd cover-up a 
bit more…"

"It's all-right, ma'am. I…I'll be fine."

With that the two women left the store and stepped out into the late afternoon 
sunlight. It seemed that everyone's head turned towards Lisa as she walked down 
the crowded street with the Sergeant-at-Arms. Worse than the stares were the 
constant whistles and the occasional honk from people driving by. 

Lisa was hoping that, at the very least, Heather would take her back to the 
sorority. No such luck. They went from one business to another as Heather calmly 
looked at CD's, bought a textbook, placed an order for several boxes of fruit for 
the sorority, and visited a car repair shop to set up an appointment to have a 
minivan's oil changed. Lisa tried to sit down to avoid the stares of the mechanics, 
but Heather admonished her:

"Stand up, Pledge! I didn't say anything about you sitting down!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Lisa could not have explained, even to herself, why she felt so totally humiliated. 
It didn't make any sense that she felt more vulnerable wearing a thong in public 
than being naked in public. Perhaps part of the problem was not having any 
control over what was happening to her. It was one thing to run naked at a nude 
marathon, streak in the middle of the night, or bend over in front of a security 
officer when surrounded by four other naked women. It was quite another to be at 
Heather's mercy, alone and exposed in a provocative piece of clothing in broad 
daylight on a busy public street.

Unfortunately for Lisa, Heather had planned an even more humiliating stop before 
they returned to the sorority. The sorority officer led her pledge to a café-bar that 
had a small dance floor. She ordered two non-alcoholic drinks and then asked 
Lisa to dance. As several guys and women (the café was a favorite lesbian 
hangout) whistled at Lisa, Heather danced with her through several fast songs. 
Then a slow song played, and Heather drew Lisa close and danced romantically.

Lisa was dumbstruck at what was happening. She knew that Heather had 
absolutely no romantic interest in other women, but was forcing her to dance in 
public to humiliate her. After one slow dance the two women sat down to have 
their drinks, only to be joined by three of Heather's friends, two women and a 
guy, who were from her department. Heather whispered into Lisa's ear:

"These are good friends of mine, Pledge. You'd better treat them with respect."

"Yes, ma'am."

For a few minutes treating Heather's friends with "respect" consisted of bringing 
them drinks and a shared appetizer. The drinks were alcoholic and Lisa looked 
longingly at what she was carrying. She badly needed a drink herself, but of 
course, as a Four-Beta, she could not have alcohol. She noticed that even Heather 
was adhering to that rule. Lisa served the drinks as her mentor chatted about 
classes and the sorority. The topic turned to Lisa as all three of Heather's guests 
commented on how attractive she was. The guy asked:

"You suppose I could dance with her?"

"Sure, she'd love to! She's a lot of fun to dance with, because she's totally 
uninhibited. Once you get her out on the floor you'll see what I'm talking about!"

Lisa danced one fast dance with the guy before the music switched back to slow. 
The guy pulled her close and pressed her body into his. She could feel his penis 
stiffening underneath his pants.

"So, you're totally uninhibited, huh!"

"Yes, sir. That's why I'm pledging the Four-Betas."

"I love your ass. You've got the best ass of just about any girl I've seen. So you 
like showing it off in public, huh?"

"Yes, sir. Uh…that's why I got a thong on. Sergeant-at-Arms Heather helped me 
pick it out, 'cause she wanted me to show off."

"…and does she ever spank that cute ass?"

"Yes, sir. She's spanked me."

"I bet you like that."

Lisa took a deep breath. This was getting harder and harder. It took every bit of 
her self discipline to keep herself from kneeing that asshole in the groin, ramming 
her fist into Heather's mouth, grabbing her shorts out of her backpack and leaving 
the café. However, she couldn't. Whatever Heather was trying to do, Lisa had to 
go along with it. Finally she answered:

"It's part of pledging, sir. We all get punished because it's part of our hazing."

"But I bet you like it. I bet you like having these cute ass cheeks spanked."

With that the guy's hands moved down and massaged Lisa's exposed bottom. 
They danced like that for the rest of the song and the next one, Lisa's bare bottom 
firmly in the grip of some creepy guy she didn't even know.

Lisa was frightened and infuriated. She glanced at Heather, who was watching 
with an expression that indicated she was pleased with the pledge's predicament. 
It was obvious this guy was grabbing Lisa's ass because Heather wanted him to.

"So you like it when guys touch you?"

"Yes, sir."

Lisa's fears that her dancing partner would go beyond fondling her turned out to 
be unfounded. He took her hand and led her back to the table, releasing her with a 
quick slap to the bottom. 

Heather ordered Lisa go back to the bar to retrieve another round of drinks. On 
her way back a tall, fat, unkempt-looking guy asked Lisa to dance, which she 
declined. As soon as she got back to the table with the tray full of drinks, Heather 
snapped:

"Did that guy just ask you to dance?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then you dance with him! You go right over there, tell him you're sorry for 
being such a bitch, and dance with him!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Sadly Lisa walked over to the creepy-looking guy and told him she had changed 
her mind about dancing with him. She did not go as far as apologizing for "being 
such a bitch", but the humiliation of what she was doing was bad enough. On top 
of being unpleasant to look at, Lisa's new dance partner smelled of alcohol, cheap 
cologne, sweat, and stale deodorant. Worst of all, he was completely detached 
from reality, thinking that he was sexy to Lisa when he was totally the opposite. 
Of course his hands went straight to her exposed bottom, but he also began 
landing slobbery kisses on her neck.

Heather planned to let Lisa dance for a long time and let events with her unsavory 
companion take their course. However, the unpleasant adventure abruptly ended 
after only two dances. The extreme stress she was under, combined with the 
rancid smell assaulting her nose and the saliva smeared all over her neck, 
suddenly made her violently sick. She spun away from her partner, dropped to her 
hands and knees, and threw up on the dance floor. She struggled to her feet, only 
to double-up and completely empty her stomach. The mess from the second 
episode was quite impressive.

It was one of Heather's friends that came to Lisa's rescue. She led the half-naked 
pledge to the women's bathroom, had her rinse her mouth and drink from the 
fountain, and finally handed her a small bottle of mouthwash. Heather's mood 
went from triumphant to embarrassed, as she realized that her remaining two 
friends wanted no further part in this cruel little exercise. As for the guy Lisa was 
dancing with, he retreated, worried that he would be told to clean up the floor. 
The staff was infuriated and told Heather and the others to get out of the café. 
Thus Heather's effort to humiliate Lisa came to an abrupt end.

----------

It already was quite late when Heather escorted Lisa out of the café-bar and back 
to the sorority house. Of course Heather made sure they passed through Fraternity 
Row and Lisa had to withstand a barrage of whistles and cat-calls. Finally they 
returned to the Four-Beta house and Lisa dutifully undressed. Heather handed her 
the three thongs out of her backpack and told her to put them in the washing 
machine along with the one she had just taken off.

Lisa was very scared by Heather's treatment and longed to talk to Tracy. What 
Heather had just done to her in the café went way beyond simple hazing or 
testing. Perhaps she had not broken any specific rules of the Pledge Manual, but 
she most certainly had broken the spirit and protocol of the Four-Beta pledge 
program. She tried to figure out what was going on in Heather's mind. Was it 
possible that the Sergeant-at-Arms had been hoping to force her to quit the 
pledging program? If that was what she intended, she had failed, because Lisa had 
not given her any hints that she was ready to quit. There was another possibility, 
that perhaps Heather was hoping to spark an outburst from Tracy's explosive 
temper. Maybe the whole incident was designed not as a set-up against Lisa, but 
instead a set-up against Tracy. 

Now that they were back at the sorority house, Heather needed to release the 
pledge back into the custody of the Pledge Mistress. Tracy showed up, her face 
reflecting extreme displeasure that Heather had taken Lisa out of the house 
without her knowledge or permission. However, she knew better than to argue 
that point, because Heather already had an answer: well, you took the pledges out 
of the house several times yourself without anyone's permission, so now it's my 
turn. 

Upon putting her clothes in the washer, Lisa found Tracy sitting at a table in the 
sorority library with the three freshmen. The pledges were depressed and teary-
eyed, but diligently studying. Tracy had a bunch of her own study materials laid 
out, but it was clear she was there more to help the freshmen than to work on her 
own research. Lisa approached the Pledge Mistress and knelt.

"Pledge Mistress Tracy, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak."

"Yes, Pledge Lisa?"

"Ma'am, I request permission to speak to you in private. I…I went out with 
Sergeant-at-Arms Heather and I…need to clarify some stuff in the Pledge 
Manual."

Tracy immediately stood up.

"Let's go. Upstairs." She turned to the three freshmen. "You three are under 
orders not to move until I get back. If anyone, and I don't care who it is, tells you 
to move or wants you to do anything, tell them they've got to come up to my 
room and talk to me first."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two women went upstairs to Tracy's room and Lisa knelt. Tracy noticed the 
pledge's hands shaking and realized that something was very wrong. She told 
Lisa to get off her knees and take a seat in her desk chair. 

Her voice cracking, Lisa told Tracy the details of her unpleasant outing with the 
Sergeant-at-Arms. She could tell that Tracy was very distressed over what had 
happened and not able to conceal her worry.

"Ma'am, what's going on? I didn't join this sorority to have my butt grabbed and 
be forced to dance with a bunch of creeps on Pageant Street! I don't mind the 
thong so much, but what she did…at the café…I mean, she's pimping me! That's 
what it is, she's fucking pimping me! If that's what…"

Tracy held up her hand:

"Lisa…Lisa…I can explain this! I can tell you what's going on!" 

Tracy took a deep breath. 

"I know what she's after and it's not really you at all! It's me! The problem is, the 
only way she can get to me is through you! That's why she pulled that shit with 
you at the café! What she's doing is trying to get you to quit the sorority and…"

"Well if that's what she wants, then I can tell you she's pretty fucking close! If 
this is the way you bitches operate, then…"

"Don't you dare throw me in with Heather! You can call me a bitch all you want, 
but don't compare me with her! I'm not like her, and what each of us wants for 
the sorority is very different!"

"Well, what's that have to do with us? I mean, we're already putting up with a lot 
of shit from you two, and now Heather…"

"Heather wants you out for a very simple reason. She wants to fuck me up as 
Pledge Mistress. She figures if she can get you to quit, the others will quit as well 
and that'll make me look like shit. That's what's going on. Heather doesn't care 
about you or the other pledges. What she's after is me, and she figures the only 
way she's gonna get to me is by getting you to quit. You're the one who's been 
keeping everyone else motivated, so it stands to reason she'd come after you 
first."

"But…what are you two fighting over?"

"Over who gets to be the next Four-Beta chapter president."

"…so you're running against her?"

"That's what it looks like. It's gonna be between me and her. You see, the 
problem is that, up until a few weeks ago, everyone thought that Heather was 
gonna be chapter president after Alexandra and that was gonna be it. They'd make 
me the new Sergeant-at-Arms, which would've made me the fourth highest-
ranking member of the sorority. That would have been fine with me. The problem 
is that Heather's pissed off a lot of the women (especially the sophomores) and 
there's a lot of people in the sorority who don't like her. At the end of April there 
was some talk about drafting another candidate to run against her. Until last week 
they were gonna try to get Shannon…" (who was the leader of the juniors) "…to 
run against Heather, but she wouldn't have gotten elected because she's not a 
senior and it would break tradition. You follow me so far?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, something happened Sunday night that pulled Shannon out of the running 
and pushed me instead…" 

With that Tracy described Heather's effort to remove her as Pledge Mistress, the 
resulting humiliation, and the discussion among the sophomores to ask Tracy to 
run against Heather.

"Anyhow, now I'm up against her, Alexandra, and most of the seniors. And I can 
tell you this whole thing is totally stupid, because to be honest, I really don't want 
to be the Four-Beta chapter president. I mean, I'm trying to get into OCS and I 
don't need to distracted with a bunch of political shit from the sorority! But…I 
mean…I can't turn it down either. If I get voted in, I'll have to serve, because, to 
be honest, I think the sophomores are right about Heather. If she gets in, she's 
gonna mess up the sorority. The reason the girls who don't like Heather are 
looking to me is because all the other seniors are afraid of her. I'm the only one 
who's not. If she gives me any shit, I can kick her ass. She knows that, and 
because I'm not scared of her, she's scared of me."

"Shit."

"Yeah, that's what it is alright, a bunch of shit. I mean, it's totally stupid, really. 
But political crap is part of human nature, so I'm not surprised. You get a group 
of 80 women together and something like this is bound to happen. I've been in the 
Army long enough to know there's plenty of bullshit there too. So…" Tracy 
shrugged her shoulders. "…we just deal with it."

"But you two have no right to make us your punching bags."

"I'm not the one doing that, Lisa. I'm not the one who's trying to use you for 
anything. Think about it. I know I'm a bitch around you, but I'm only behaving 
that way because I have to. It's what I was elected to do. It's what's written down 
in my job title. There's no way I would've done what Heather did to you, and I'm 
very pissed off about it."

"So is there anything you can do about it? Is anything gonna happen to her?"

"Not from the way you described the incident. The problem is that Heather did 
not violate any specific rule of the Pledge Manual. What she did was violate the 
spirit of the pledge program. What she did was totally unethical, but I don't think 
I'd get President Alexandra to back me up on issuing an official reprimand."

"So what am I gonna do?"

"Well, the first thing is that you'll have to decide what's best for you and the 
people you care about. Unfortunately what's best for you and what's best for them 
is probably not the same thing. If you leave the sorority, what's gonna happen to 
Kathleen and Ken? You gotta think about that, and then, if you decide to stay in, 
you gotta think about whether or not you can still accomplish what you wanted 
when you signed up. That's item one. The other issue is whether or not you want 
Heather to 'win' this fight. Do you think we'd be better off if she becomes 
president? Do you think it would be better for the sorority if you leave? That is a 
consideration, and I think you already know the answer."

"Now, assuming you stay, there will have to be some changes, for your own good. 
You'll have to stick close to me and your fellow pledges, always. You won't be 
able to go off by yourself because if you do, she's gonna find you and fuck with 
you. I've been trying to give you a little space because I think you're far more 
mature than your fellow pledges. The problem is that came back to bite me. Had I 
kept you with me this afternoon, Heather wouldn't have had the chance to take 
you out of the house. That was my fault. I should have seen it coming and I 
didn't. I dropped the ball on watching out for you and I apologize."

Lisa didn't say anything, but nodded to acknowledge Tracy's effort to set things 
right with her. Tracy continued:

"Obviously Heather's thong bullshit's got to be fixed. That I will take up with 
President Alexandra. I'll make sure you get your pledge shorts back tomorrow 
morning before class."

"No! Don't do that…I mean, please don't do that, ma'am."

"Huh?"

"I'll wear the thong."

"There's no need to wear a thong, no matter what Heather says. It's real simple. 
It's a uniform violation."

"No ma'am. Heather issued me a challenge. I don't turn down challenges. If she 
thinks I can't handle running around all summer in a thong, then I'll just have to 
prove her wrong."

"Lisa, that's not what this is all about."

"It is for me."

"You're actually gonna…go to class wearing a thong?"

"Yes, ma'am, that's what I wanna do. I'll stop if the university tells me to cover 
up. But until that happens, I'm gonna show Heather I'm not afraid to wear her 
fucking thong."

"You're sure about this?"

"Yes, ma'am. Totally sure."

"Alright. That's gonna be your choice and I'll respect it. If you change your mind 
let me know."

Tracy paused, struggling with a simple decision, but a very momentous one. 
Finally she took a deep breath and plunged ahead. She had decided to let down 
her guard and place some rare personal trust in another person.

"I don't really know how to say this, Lisa. What makes it harder is that as soon as 
we step out of this room we gotta go back to our roles as Pledge Mistress and 
Pledge. But…all the stuff you've done for the other pledges…and also what 
you've done for me…it means a lot to me…a lot more than I'm capable of 
expressing. You've helped me…in so many ways…and the problem is that I have 
no way of showing my gratitude. We've got to play this thing through to the end, 
and I've got to keep dogging your ass until August …but I don't want it to always 
be this way between us…and…I want you to know that how I have to treat you is 
not really how I feel about you."

"I know that, ma'am. I know you've gotta play the game."

With that the two women stood up, together. There was no shout of "Pledge, 
STAND UP!" because they were determined to set aside the pledge protocol for a 
few minutes. They would resume their roles upon leaving Tracy's room, not 
before.

Tracy and Lisa returned to the library, where the three sullen freshmen continued 
to study. It was time for everyone to clean up and go to bed. Lisa followed her 
companions downstairs, noting the fading strap marks on their bottoms. The 
women took turns at the toilet, showered, and brushed their teeth before lying 
down.

Before they turned out the light, the pledges were surprised to see their mentor 
come into the basement completely naked. They quickly knelt, but she told them 
to get up and continue getting ready to go to sleep.

Tracy amazed the others when she pulled a cot from the stack in the corner and 
unfolded it. She lay out a sheet and took a pillow. 

"Pledge Kathleen, hit the lights, please."

"Yes, ma'am."

Without saying anything more Tracy settled on her cot and went to sleep. For the 
rest of the summer she would sleep with the pledges. Until they swore in as 
members she planned not to let them out of her sight except when they were in 
class. Her own lifestyle would change considerably. If she was to constantly be 
with her pledges, she felt that it was important that she return to living the 
lifestyle of a pledge. She locked her room and planned to use it only as a place to 
keep her books and computer. The following day she would take her running 
shorts and T-shirts to the basement and put them inside a locker. The only 
clothing she would allow herself to wear for the rest of the summer would be her 
Four-Beta summer jogging outfit. 

Tracy's decision even extended to what she wore in the Four-Beta house. The 
following morning she added a hanger to the four pledge hangers in the entryway 
closet. When her pledges undressed, she would undress with them. 

Tracy's decision bewildered the three freshmen, who were not thrilled at having 
her in their midst at all hours. Only Lisa understood what was going on, but it was 
obvious that it would be better not to say anything to her three companions. Like 
it or not, Tracy now was part of their group.

As the women settled down to sleep, Lisa felt deep admiration for the Pledge 
Mistress. She was not a nice or friendly person, but she did not hesitate to 
sacrifice her own comfort for the well-being of the people placed under her 
control.

----------

Heather descended the stairs to wake up Lisa and continue harassing her. She was 
shocked to see five cots in the basement instead of four. She could make out 
Tracy's bare figure asleep on the cot closest to the door. It was obvious that 
Heather's rival fully understood what she had in mind for the pledges. There 
would be no visiting in the middle of the night and messing with them, because 
Tracy was right there in the basement, watching over her group like a vicious 
guard dog. Her astuteness and foresight only increased Heather's hatred of her.

The Sergeant-at-Arms went back upstairs frustrated and infuriated.

That miserable fucking bitch!!!