Chapter Two
Lizzie made her way downstairs in search of Lydia. She knew that Lydia was generally in one of three places: her room, in front of the television or out on the quad basking in sun and frat guys. Lizzie had hoped for the first two, but as she first entered Lydia's room she found it completely empty. Lizzie sighed and decided to head downstairs.
She then walked into the living room to find several other sisters there, circled around the dining room table. Once Lizzie's presence was known they all turned around looked at her stood up and applauded. Lizzie looked around confusion evident on her face as the girls around her continued to smile, clap and snap at her.
"Oh Lizzie have you not been in the dinning room yet?" Kitty asked once she took in Lizzie's confused face. Lizzie's negative nod only spurred Kitty on; Kitty quickly crossed the room towards Lizzie and began to usher her into the dinning room.
"Kit, stop, I need to find Lyd –" Lizzie began but was interrupted by another sister, Jess, hushing her and leading her to the dining room table.
"They came earlier this morning Lizzie," Kitty explained and gestured over to the dining room table in the center of the room. On the table was a bouquet of thirteen daffodils tied with a lilac ribbon and a note. Next to the bouquet was Lizzie's iPhone, which she quickly lunged for and grabbed.
"My phone!" Lizzie exclaimed, "Oh thank god, I was so worried I was going to have to get a new one!" Lizzie hugged the phone closely to her body and smiled.
"Ugh, Lizzie, can you not be so… Lizzie for a second. Read the note!" Kitty responded looking pointedly towards the bouquet on the table. Lizzie looked at the girls around her and then back at Kitty, all of them shared the same exasperated and curious face. Lizzie picked up the note and read it to herself. "Well, what does it say? Who are they from? When you disappeared last night at the Kappa Nu party I didn't know you disappeared for a man." Kitty retorted.
Lizzie looked at Kitty straight in the face and replied, "I honestly have no idea." Lizzie once again looked down and read the note, confusion quickly washed over her face.
"Well let's hear it," Samantha impatiently replied as Lizzie continued to stare at the card once more.
"It's really no big deal, honestly," Lizzie replied, much to the chagrin of everyone else in the room. "Alright, well if it means that I can leave to charge my phone in my room, fine," Lizzie huffed. " 'Looks like you forgot your phone last night, although didn't you say Cinderella was over-rated? Looking forward to hearing from you, your reluctant Prince Charming.' " Lizzie looked around at the moony faces of the women she had come to love and stuck her tongue out at them. "Well, that's it ladies. Unfortunately, I really have no idea who this is from as I can't seem to remember last night – and really can you all please stop looking at me like that?" Lizzie sighed exasperated and tired as she left the room to charge her phone.
Lizzie climbed back upstairs into her room to find Jane diligently reading some medical text that Lizzie would never understand in her life. Lizzie proceeded to plug in her phone to charge and collapse on the bed. Before she knew it Lizzie was stirred awake by some gentle prodding by Jane. "Ugh, did I fall asleep?" Lizzie groaned out Jane.
"Yeah you did sweetie, but you have to wake up now honey, we have chapter." Jane supplied, "Please don't forget that chapter is business casual attire today, so you need to wear a dress or slacks and at least brush your hair."
"Chapter? Today is Sunday? I honestly thought it was Saturday. Do I really have to go?" Lizzie replied lazily while brushing her hair. It's not that Lizzie hated chapter, although no one truly liked the two-hour long meeting that involved the whole sorority that happened every Sunday. It's just that chapter was the absolute worst if you were hung-over, like Lizzie was. Chapter meant that all hundred-plus women involved in an organization were brought into a room and sat down and talked to by the executive board and chapter advisor, a representative from the National Organization of Xi Chi. The chapter advisor was once a sister but is now graduated and lives with the girls in the house.
"Yes you really have to go this time Lizzie. Don't forget you already skipped once because you went home to visit your dad, plus not to mention elections are next week. If you want to be on the executive board you really need to show the girls that you're committed," Jane replied as she threw Lizzie's favorite navy blue dress at her.
Lizzie looked over at Jane, who already looked immaculate in her sky blue dress with her hair pulled back. Jane was the perfect fit to be the chapter President for this upcoming year, especially since in her role as Secretary she already solidified herself as one of the hardest workers of her class on the Executive Board. However, Lizzie's future within the organization was a lot less certain. While it was certainly true that Lizzie was well liked and respected amongst her peers in Xi Chi, her devotion to the sorority was often questioned since her version of sisterhood was not always as visible as other girls. Lizzie had a lot of very close friends who were either in other sororities or not affiliated with Greek life at all. Lizzie truly cared for all of her sisters, but she was only very close with Jane. On a lesser level she was fairly close with a few other sisters, mainly Mary, Kitty and Lydia, but she took on more of a mentoring role with them.
Lizzie had recently been considering running to be the Personnel Vice President for Xi Chi, which meant she would be in charge of disciplinary and risk management issues. Most of the girls believed Lizzie would be perfect fit for the role. However, there was a decent sized group who were of the impression that Lizzie simply wanted to do the position for a resume boost as opposed to a dedication to the sisterhood.
As Lizzie put on her dress she began to think about if she truly even wanted to be on the executive board for Xi Chi. It would certainly be a lot of responsibility, since it would mean that Lizzie would be held responsible if anything were to go wrong within her organization. Part of Lizzie knew that the only reason she even began to desire to be on the executive board was because of Jane's gentle but firm pushing.
Jane and Lizzie soon walked into the living room, which is where they held their chapter meeting. Jane assumed rightful her spot at the front of the room, as a member of the executive board while Lizzie sat in the middle of the room facing Jane and the other members of executive board. As roll call began, Lizzie started to think about what being on executive board would truly mean. Lizzie realized that even though Jane may have been the one to give her the idea of running for election, ultimately it was Lizzie who convinced herself to do it. She wanted to contribute more to her organization, and she knew that this would be the best way for her to leave her mark on Xi Chi. Once reaching this ultimate conclusion, Lizzie tuned back into Chapter at just the right time as they were beginning to talk about elections next week.
"So ladies, we all remember that we have a very special chapter next week, right?" Fanny began. Fanny was Xi Chi's chapter advisor, and was, in Lizzie's opinion, a little too old to be one. Chapter advisors were usually fairly recent graduates, but Fanny had graduated well over ten years ago and thereby lived vicariously through the young women in the chapter. Fanny really did care for all of the girls deeply, that much was clear, however she was a little bit over the top, and today was no exception to that.
Fanny was at the height of her glory, including her pink velour sweat suit that hadn't been in style since she graduated college. "Ladies, ladies. We all know how important elections are. However, something that makes these elections even more important has been brought to my attention by the executive board!" Fanny began to look around the room. "In six weeks time, for the first time ever might I add, Xi Chi will be having a private formal with the men of…" Fanny paused here for dramatic effect as the girls in the room physically leaned in anticipation. "With the men of… Kappa Pi Psi!" Fanny shrilled off.
All around the room the girls began to scream and laugh in pure excitement, except Lizzie. To be fair Lizzie was pretty excited; a private formal event with the top fraternity on campus was certainly very exciting. Private formals were essentially large, semi-formal parties that only the individuals involved in the two organizations are allowed to attend. Relations between sororities and fraternities are very exclusive, and having a private formal with another organization essentially meant that the two organizations would be very close for a long time. While Xi Chi was certainly a top sorority on campus, they had never had a formal with Kappa Pi, who was widely considered the best fraternity on campus. The men in Kappa Pi were generally rich, funny and good-looking, if not always the smartest. This formal meant that Xi Chi's social standing was about to skyrocket, which Lizzie really didn't care about but she knew that it would mean a lot to the other girls.
However, Lizzie instantly began to think of all of the security issues that would go along with a large group of drunk, excited college kids in a room together and her excitement quickly waned. It would certainly be a fun but very crazy night.
"Ladies, I do not need to remind to you what a great honor this is," Fanny looked pointedly around the room. Lizzie felt that the term 'great honor' seemed a bit extreme, but carefully kept her face neutral. "I expect all of you to get to know the boys of Kappa Pi very well in the upcoming weeks, in fact they are having a party this upcoming Friday! They have even told us that they hope to see all of you ladies there. Who knows, maybe you'll even be able to find a husband amongst them!" Fanny looked around the room hopefully. At this point Lizzie couldn't help but roll her eyes. Ultimately she knew Fanny just meant the best for the girls in Xi Chi, and cared deeply for them, but her way of thinking was not only old-fashioned but was part of the reasons that sororities have such a bad reputation. Fanny knew this deep down, otherwise she obviously wouldn't have been chosen by the national organization to advise their chapter, but she certainly rarely showed it.
"As elections are next week, the next executive board will need to work closely with their executive board for all of the planning. I certainly know that the next President and their board will be more than capable of handling this but I will still be there to help advise and ensure that everything goes well," Miranda, the current President began and pointedly looked at Jane. "On the subject of elections, we will take secret nominations at the end of chapter and we will hold elections next week," Miranda continued on.
Chapter continued on in this fashion for another hour and a half, but Lizzie was really only half-listening. Lizzie was already thinking of who she thought would be a good fit for the rest of the executive board positions for the secret nomination process. Lizzie quickly filled out her ballot and submitted in the box as she exited the living room. When Lizzie got back to her room she checked her phone she saw that Charlotte had texted her. Charlotte had asked her to come over for coffee and catch-up. Lizzie quickly responded that she had just gotten out of chapter and would be over in about fifteen minutes. Lizzie threw on a light jacket over her dress, grabbed her purse and left the Xi Chi house and headed to the Alpha Omega Sigma house, where Charlotte lived.
Charlotte was one of Lizzie's closest friends, probably only second to Jane. Charlotte was in Alpha Omega Sigma, known as Alpha Sigs around campus. Alpha Sig was not considered a "top" sorority on campus, but instead was known for their strong sisterhood, as all of the sisters were extremely close. They were certainly more laid back than other organizations and were well liked by the other sororities on campus. A majority of fraternities often slighted Alpha Sigma, since they were not known for being large partiers, but the fraternities that did have parties with Alpha Sigs had a genuinely good time.
Charlotte met Lizzie at the door and they wandered into the living room to make coffee. "How're you doing, Lizzie?" Charlotte asked as the coffee began to brew.
"I'm alright, elections are next week so I am pretty nervous for that, I suppose." Lizzie began; she then looked around to see if anyone else was in the room with them. Once Lizzie saw that no one else was she looked at Charlotte and spoke slowly, "So I went out last night with Kitty and Lydia. It quickly snowballed and turned into a night that was apparently too wild for me," Lizzie laughed.
"Exactly how wild is too wild? Like freshman year at Sigma Epsilon on Halloween, wild?" Charlotte questioned with an eyebrow raised as she poured the coffee.
"Wild as in I woke up this morning with no memories of the night and a bouquet of flowers delivered to the house from I don't know who. The note alludes to some inside joke that I clearly don't remember." Lizzie explained as she sipped her coffee. Lizzie then recounted what the note said and a brief explanation of what had happened in her house that morning when the rest of the sorority found out about it.
"Wow, I don't even know how to respond to that really… No memory of who sent them at all? Do you have any idea of where you were or what you did last night?" Charlotte questioned both amused and a bit concerned.
"I really have no idea. I checked my phone and I didn't have any new contacts that I didn't recognize, so I guess I may never find out. I know at one point I was at Kappa Nu, but Kitty said that she didn't see me much at the party until we left for home together. I suppose one day the 'Reluctant Prince Charming' may reveal himself but until then we may never know" Lizzie laughed.
"Well the only thing I learned right now is that I need to go get trashed with Kitty and Lydia to help my non-existent love life. Although I don't think I want to get quite as drunk as you were last night. I'd like to remember my Prince Charming, thank you very much." Charlotte said jokingly, but with an edge of seriousness. Lizzie laughed but shot a quick look of concern towards Charlotte.
"Anyways, I am going to apply to be an intern at the District Attorney's Office for this spring semester, I think," Lizzie explained to Charlotte, who nodded but offered no future plans of her own in response.
"Aren't you a bit worried about being over-worked? Especially if you are elected to executive board of Xi Chi." Charlotte probed.
"I mean yeah, it will be a bit exhausting but I know it will be super rewarding. I guess I just have to blow off some steam before the next semester. Speaking of which, apparently we are having a formal with Kappa Psi Pi at the end of the semester. The girls are really excited about it, meanwhile all I can do is think of all the disasters that are bound to happen, especially if Fanny has a say in any of it," Lizzie told Charlotte.
"Kappa Pi, wow, you guys are really moving on up in the world. Will you even still have time for a little old me, Alpha Sig, anymore?" Charlotte began but after Lizzie made a face continued, "You know I am only kidding Lizzie. That's really awesome, honestly, it'll be such a fun time."
"Apparently Kappa Pi is having a party this Friday and I think you should come with me," Lizzie offered. "I know for a fact that you haven't gone out in over a month and I promise I will be sober so you can get really crazy. I really don't think I can touch alcohol for at least another month after last night," Lizzie continued.
"Are you sure they'll even let me in? Don't they have a 'you must be this hot to pass' sort of rule?" Charlotte joked, but quickly looked down to hid her face from Lizzie.
"I certainly hope not otherwise I don't think I'd be able to get within thirty feet of the house" Lizzie laughed. "Seriously though, Char, you're coming. We can get ready at my place Friday, come over to my house around 7, okay?" Lizzie looked expectantly at Charlotte. Lizzie sometimes worried about Charlotte's self esteem, sometimes it was extremely hard to tell whether Charlotte was making a self deprecating joke or being serious.
"Alright, alright. I'll see you then, but Jane has to promise to do my hair," Charlotte confirmed.
Lizzie and Charlotte talked for another hour before Lizzie had to leave to go to the library to do some readings for her Constitutional Law course. The rest of Lizzie's Sunday was filled with catching up on all of her work for the rest of the week and beginning to search for internships for the spring semester. She didn't even make it back to the house in time for dinner and instead opted for a liquid dinner: two lattes. Lizzie finally made it out of the library at around midnight and began the thirty-minute walk to the sorority house.
As Lizzie walked home she finally allowed herself to think about the identity of the secret flower sender. Lizzie hadn't had a serious relationship since high school and for good reason. She dated a guy named Nick in high school for about two years, despite the fact that he was unfaithful for the last year of their tumultuous relationship. While Lizzie couldn't exactly put into words why she stayed with him she knew part of it had to do with the fact that he was mentally abusive and would threaten to end his life if she left him. She was finally able to break free of him when they both graduated high school and went to separate colleges. Lizzie was then therefore turned off from serious, committed relationships for a while after that.
While Lizzie certainly hadn't remained celibate in the past year and a half of school, her heart was never really engaged in any of the flings. She went on a few dates, but never more than three with the same guy. For the most part Lizzie had been quite content with this arrangement, however this "Reluctant Prince Charming" had reminded her of all of the great feelings that went along with being in love. While she certainly wasn't in love with the mystery man, she decided that it was time she opened herself up again to the possibility of being with someone.
When Lizzie finally lay down to go to bed that night, she was so exhausted that as soon as her head hit the pillow she instantly fell asleep.
Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I hope you are enjoying the story so far, I know that I am having a fantastic time writing it. This is my first story I have ever written, so bare with me as I muddle my way through this. I intend on updating this story once a week, either on Monday or Tuesday most likely. However, I am a student so my schedule is heavily dependent on how much work I have that week, so this schedule is certainly not set in stone.
I also wanted to say that I know that some of the terms I use are a bit unique to American college Greek Life culture, which can be very confusing for anyone not already familiar with the culture. I have done my best to explain things when I can, but as a sorority member myself I often forget what is a strange term and what is not. Please feel free to leave a review or PM me with questions or suggestions; I would be more than thrilled to answer them. Thank you for reading, loves!
