“You know what? She’s right. Why would the…f-word be bad?” Laughter erupted at Denise’s acceptance of a word she still could not bring herself to say.
“So, anybody meet anyone interesting?” Frannie still basked in her state of na-na-na-na-boo-boo freedom ride.
“I found the whole orientation thing very boring.” Regina sat crossed legged on the floor, filing one her nails.
“What orientation?”
All heads swung toward Piper. She lay across Janie’s bed, looking like she’d just awoken from a long winter’s nap.
“Piper, I drug you out of bed this morning before I left.” Dena, on her feet, pulled a wad of Piper’s blonde hair up to see her eyes. “What did you do all day?”
“Huh? Oh yeah…today.” Piper rolled over and managed to haul herself to a sitting position. Her head strangely sunk into her body like her neck had disappeared.
“You look like a turtle.” Dena wasted little time honing in on Piper. “Is this what the semester’s going to be like? Do I need to be your mother?”
Piper fell forward on the bed, landing in a belly flop. “Cut me some slack, will ya?”
“Hold up, Mom.” Janie, hands on Dena’s shoulders, eased her down into one of the two desk chairs in their room.
“Let’s hear what she did.” Allison munched on a bag of potato chips from the vending machine down the hall.
Piper rubbed her nose and rounded her shoulders in a circular motion. “I…uh…wasn’t really in the mood for, you know….” She swirled her hand around. “An organized event. So….”
The girls in the room leaned forward as if Piper’s next sentence would determine how this fall semester would play out.
“So…what?” Dena’s patience obviously pushed a bit. “Where the hell did you go…and with who?”
Tentatively throwing in her two cents, Suzanne added, “Maybe she had her own orientation. You know…exploring. Like a Girl Scout.”
All eyes angled toward Suzanne, with the exception of Regina, whose attention was still on filing her nails, and Piper, who was obviously juggling which story to pitch to the group.
“Suzanne, you are so naïve.” Dena shook her head. “Does this girl look like she ever sold a Thin Mint?”
“Actually, I did.” Piper’s eyes cleared briefly, then squinted as if trying to recall the childhood episode. “Well, not really. Mommy Dearest ended up buying my supply every year, plus some, so I’d have the highest sales.” Piper shrugged. “She’d toss them in the trash or pan them off to the maid.” Her jaws tightened, a resentful smile etched across her face.
The room fell deathly still, the air sucked out liked a vacuum cleaner on crack. The other’s ping-ponged their gaze around the room to avoid direct eye contact with Piper.
“Yeah, that was my childhood…the straight and narrow.” Piper sat back up and pushed blonde tangled bangs out of her eyes.
Suddenly the wild-child’s whereabouts during the orientation lecture were of little interest to anyone. In fact, if anything, it only solidified Piper’s place with the BAGs.
“Okay, who wants pizza?” Dena reached for the phone and dialed #9 for an outside line.
“I’m in.” Janie reached for her wallet.
“Piper? Pepperoni?” Dena asked, and then placed the order.
It seemed to occur to the BAGs that night that they all had a story…and a past.
~~~
Frannie’s first two years at Sam were pretty non-descript. As much as she wanted to set her own rules, which she did, the self-imposed regulations didn’t seem to fall too far out of the category of the ones she’d had all her life.
Selecting English as a major, she rarely skipped class, and spent more than a fair amount of time studying. She’d easily take third place for study hours. Denise and Suzanne had first and second nailed.
The Zetas pushed hard to get her to pledge during Rush Week. She would have preferred joining the Alpha Chi Omega girls who seemed to be more her speed,
“So, anybody meet anyone interesting?” Frannie still basked in her state of na-na-na-na-boo-boo freedom ride.
“I found the whole orientation thing very boring.” Regina sat crossed legged on the floor, filing one her nails.
“What orientation?”
All heads swung toward Piper. She lay across Janie’s bed, looking like she’d just awoken from a long winter’s nap.
“Piper, I drug you out of bed this morning before I left.” Dena, on her feet, pulled a wad of Piper’s blonde hair up to see her eyes. “What did you do all day?”
“Huh? Oh yeah…today.” Piper rolled over and managed to haul herself to a sitting position. Her head strangely sunk into her body like her neck had disappeared.
“You look like a turtle.” Dena wasted little time honing in on Piper. “Is this what the semester’s going to be like? Do I need to be your mother?”
Piper fell forward on the bed, landing in a belly flop. “Cut me some slack, will ya?”
“Hold up, Mom.” Janie, hands on Dena’s shoulders, eased her down into one of the two desk chairs in their room.
“Let’s hear what she did.” Allison munched on a bag of potato chips from the vending machine down the hall.
Piper rubbed her nose and rounded her shoulders in a circular motion. “I…uh…wasn’t really in the mood for, you know….” She swirled her hand around. “An organized event. So….”
The girls in the room leaned forward as if Piper’s next sentence would determine how this fall semester would play out.
“So…what?” Dena’s patience obviously pushed a bit. “Where the hell did you go…and with who?”
Tentatively throwing in her two cents, Suzanne added, “Maybe she had her own orientation. You know…exploring. Like a Girl Scout.”
All eyes angled toward Suzanne, with the exception of Regina, whose attention was still on filing her nails, and Piper, who was obviously juggling which story to pitch to the group.
“Suzanne, you are so naïve.” Dena shook her head. “Does this girl look like she ever sold a Thin Mint?”
“Actually, I did.” Piper’s eyes cleared briefly, then squinted as if trying to recall the childhood episode. “Well, not really. Mommy Dearest ended up buying my supply every year, plus some, so I’d have the highest sales.” Piper shrugged. “She’d toss them in the trash or pan them off to the maid.” Her jaws tightened, a resentful smile etched across her face.
The room fell deathly still, the air sucked out liked a vacuum cleaner on crack. The other’s ping-ponged their gaze around the room to avoid direct eye contact with Piper.
“Yeah, that was my childhood…the straight and narrow.” Piper sat back up and pushed blonde tangled bangs out of her eyes.
Suddenly the wild-child’s whereabouts during the orientation lecture were of little interest to anyone. In fact, if anything, it only solidified Piper’s place with the BAGs.
“Okay, who wants pizza?” Dena reached for the phone and dialed #9 for an outside line.
“I’m in.” Janie reached for her wallet.
“Piper? Pepperoni?” Dena asked, and then placed the order.
It seemed to occur to the BAGs that night that they all had a story…and a past.
~~~
Frannie’s first two years at Sam were pretty non-descript. As much as she wanted to set her own rules, which she did, the self-imposed regulations didn’t seem to fall too far out of the category of the ones she’d had all her life.
Selecting English as a major, she rarely skipped class, and spent more than a fair amount of time studying. She’d easily take third place for study hours. Denise and Suzanne had first and second nailed.
The Zetas pushed hard to get her to pledge during Rush Week. She would have preferred joining the Alpha Chi Omega girls who seemed to be more her speed,
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