Read Online Pledged by Alexandra Robbins - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Alexandra Robbins
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tight black tops. “Ready, girls?” rasped a confident-looking sister in a tube top; the question sounded less 1950s school mistress than 2000s dance queen. The sisters gathered closer together on the sidewalk and, at the instruction of the Tube Top, began stomping down the block yelling, “Beta Pi, Delta Lambda, Beta Pi, Delta Lambda” over and over again. Vicki shrank into the middle of the crowd, reluctantly muttering the chant under her breath. When they passed onlookers, Tube Top turned backward to face the throng and raised her arms almost evangelically as the girls’ chant grew louder. As they approached the Delta Lambda fraternity house at the end of the block, the girls became more and more boisterous. When the first of the girls reached the front door, a roar erupted from inside the Delta Lambda house. The roar crescendoed as the girls crossed the threshold, and it dissolved into cheers once the last of the Beta Pis stepped inside.
“Beta Pi! Beta Pi!” the boys shouted excitedly. It was no wonder; Beta Pis looked good in tight clothing. The sisters congregated in the front room, flipping their mostly blond hair and holding out their song sheets. As the girls launched into a raunchy version of Britney Spears’s “Slave 4 U,” changing the lyrics so they praised Delta Lambda, the older sisters pushed Vicki and the other girls in dresses to the front and made them dance for the boys in Delta Lambda.
It was only September, but the Greeks routinely began their anachronistic courting rituals far in advance of November’s Homecoming to ensure they wouldn’t get stuck with “losers” during the most important week of the year. Rather than seek out individual dates, entire fraternities were expected to woo entire sororities so that the fraternities and sororities could match up appropriately; the coolest or best-looking fraternity paired with its sorority equivalent, and so on down the line. For the Greeks, the week preceding Homecoming—known at State U as Greek Week—involved dozens of scheduled activities, from daily contests to nightly parties. Each sorority attended all of these events with its escort for the week: a fraternity, preferably of equal or better popularity, alongside whom the sisters would compete and celebrate. The fraternity-sorority teams at State U were judged by a group of supposedly impartial Greek students who ranked the competitors on their spirit, participation, and event results. They competed in intra-Greek athletic events such as Wiffleball and beach volleyball, Greek Olympics—which involved silly games like water-balloon tosses and Twinkie-eating competitions—a float-decorating contest, and the centerpiece of the week: a talent competition called Lip Sync, for which teams sewed elaborate costumes, built sets, and learned complex dance routines during which they would lip-sync to a popular song.
Unchained Melodies
BEGINNING AT ABOUT THIS TIME EVERY SEPTEMBER, SORORITIES across the country assess themselves as they evaluate the slightly shifting hierarchy that determines their place in Greek life. (Some schools hold two of these event series: Homecoming in the fall and Greek Week in the spring.) If the girls’ social status is on shaky ground, they must aim to match up with one of the impressive fraternities to raise their stock. If the girls are on top, then they can choose either to match with an equally prestigious fraternity or to grant a favor to a struggling but acceptable fraternity that would benefit from matching with them. Or the sisters can pick their Greek Week escort entirely on the basis of the quality of gifts they receive from the suitors that week. The campus buzzes for weeks about which houses match together. Doing well at Greek Week means more than the huge trophy and championship shirts that are distributed at a ceremony or, in State U’s case, at halftime of the Homecoming football game at the end of the week. Winning Greek Week catapults a
“Beta Pi! Beta Pi!” the boys shouted excitedly. It was no wonder; Beta Pis looked good in tight clothing. The sisters congregated in the front room, flipping their mostly blond hair and holding out their song sheets. As the girls launched into a raunchy version of Britney Spears’s “Slave 4 U,” changing the lyrics so they praised Delta Lambda, the older sisters pushed Vicki and the other girls in dresses to the front and made them dance for the boys in Delta Lambda.
It was only September, but the Greeks routinely began their anachronistic courting rituals far in advance of November’s Homecoming to ensure they wouldn’t get stuck with “losers” during the most important week of the year. Rather than seek out individual dates, entire fraternities were expected to woo entire sororities so that the fraternities and sororities could match up appropriately; the coolest or best-looking fraternity paired with its sorority equivalent, and so on down the line. For the Greeks, the week preceding Homecoming—known at State U as Greek Week—involved dozens of scheduled activities, from daily contests to nightly parties. Each sorority attended all of these events with its escort for the week: a fraternity, preferably of equal or better popularity, alongside whom the sisters would compete and celebrate. The fraternity-sorority teams at State U were judged by a group of supposedly impartial Greek students who ranked the competitors on their spirit, participation, and event results. They competed in intra-Greek athletic events such as Wiffleball and beach volleyball, Greek Olympics—which involved silly games like water-balloon tosses and Twinkie-eating competitions—a float-decorating contest, and the centerpiece of the week: a talent competition called Lip Sync, for which teams sewed elaborate costumes, built sets, and learned complex dance routines during which they would lip-sync to a popular song.
Unchained Melodies
BEGINNING AT ABOUT THIS TIME EVERY SEPTEMBER, SORORITIES across the country assess themselves as they evaluate the slightly shifting hierarchy that determines their place in Greek life. (Some schools hold two of these event series: Homecoming in the fall and Greek Week in the spring.) If the girls’ social status is on shaky ground, they must aim to match up with one of the impressive fraternities to raise their stock. If the girls are on top, then they can choose either to match with an equally prestigious fraternity or to grant a favor to a struggling but acceptable fraternity that would benefit from matching with them. Or the sisters can pick their Greek Week escort entirely on the basis of the quality of gifts they receive from the suitors that week. The campus buzzes for weeks about which houses match together. Doing well at Greek Week means more than the huge trophy and championship shirts that are distributed at a ceremony or, in State U’s case, at halftime of the Homecoming football game at the end of the week. Winning Greek Week catapults a
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