Chapter 3: Tinkerbell Flies Solo pt. 3.
For the first time since returning to campus, Alexa Bliss was truly happy. The ZBZ "Pref Night" recruiting event had been a smashing, joyful success, with every one of Alexa's potential rushees remarking multiple times how hopeful they were of hearing from Zeta Beta regarding their bids. The tiny blonde was especially proud of her friend Ruby, who'd been able to convince Liv Morgan to attend the exclusive event. As Bliss reflected on the evening's events, it occurred to her that Ruby Riott was probably her best friend at this point. In spite of their very incongruent life choices to that very second in their lives, Ruby was ALWAYS there for her, and Alexa was certain she needed to purchase the tattooed brunette something to commemorate their special relationship. At the moment, Alexa leaned against the exterior wall of ZBZ's whitewashed back porch. The Victorian style mansion boasted an absolutely picturesque wraparound seated porch, complete with gazebo corner, and that structure might've been Alexa's favorite location to spend time.
The exhausted blonde took a long pull from the red Solo cup she was holding loosely in her hand. The cold liquid was as refreshing as it was strong with inebriant, and a thin smile crossed her scarlet lips at the thought of Sarah Logan and Dana Brooke pouring large handles of various liquors into giant cylindrical Gatorade coolers to create this particular potion. The two girls had nicknamed their elixir "Zeta-rade," and had gamely kept an eye out for school administration while dispersing it amongst the new prospects. The ugly truth around "The U" was that the Greek organizations were much better at bending the rules regarding fraternity and sorority conduct during Rush than the school was at enforcing them. Alexa never really thought the higher-ups really even wanted to catch the kids cheating, so long as the mayhem remained off of school property.
"Hey Lexi," came the calming voice of Bayley Martinez from the doorway. "Cooling off?"
The tiny blonde nodded at her hispanic compatriot with a smile, giving the taller girl a hug as they came together.
"Yeah. It got a little hot in there for me. Too much enthusiasm. I guess that's a good thing though, right?"
Bayley chuckled, taking a sip of what Alexa assumed was the island-style lager beer the Chicana was so proud of. "Yeah. Looks like a great pledge class this year."
Aleca nodded again enthusiastically, wanting to signal her agreement while still taking a long drink of her refreshment. "I really liked that girl you brought, Bayles," she fired back after a beat, prompting an eye-roll from her sorority sister. It was a well known fact around Zeta house that Bayley HATED that nickname, but that she tolerated it if said with the affection one shows a good friend.
"Oh, Mia?" Martinez confirmed. "Yeah, she's a girl I met at the Latinx Student Mixer last night. She's pretty great."
Alexa shook her head in the affirmative, intending to add to their conversation. Before she could speak again, both girls furrowed their brows at the sound of what could be described as gentle sobbing coming from the side of the house closest to the densely populated street known as "Sorority row."
"You hear that?" Bayley asked, doing her best not to yell.
"Mm hmm," Alexa confirmed, her own eyes narrowing in the general direction the sound was coming from.
"Did someone leave because they were upset?" Martinez continued, wondering aloud to no one in particular.
Alexa, still puzzled, shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. We had one 'no show,' but we had everyone stay the whole time."
"Huh," Bayley mused.
"I mean, should we go see?" Bliss urged her sorority sister.
"I guess," Martinez murmured, though in the back of her mind she hoped someone wasn't getting attacked or something.
Cautiously, almost comically so, Alexa Bliss and Bayley Martinez tiptoed down the immaculate white stairs descending the front of their wraparound porch onto the carefully maintained concrete sidewalk, peering into the darkness surrounding them in the hopes that whatever was causing these unseen sobs wouldn't be coming for them next.
Clearing the row of neatly manicured hedges that bordered sorority property, Alexa and Bayley turned left after traipsing through the front gateway, and their gasps at what they found were almost simultaneous.
Every sorority house had a bench edged up to the sidewalk in front of their domicile, their seating area kept clear at all times as part of a "get home safe" initiative the campus police had enacted some years prior. Any girl on those benches after dark could summon a college shuttle van, and within ten minutes a white vehicle would pull up to the curb and pick up the female in need.
The female currently sitting on the Zeta Beta bench, however, didn't seem to be in dire need of physical assistance. The young woman appeared to be in no imminent danger. She was, however, crying uncontrollably, her face pressed into her hands as her elbows rested forcefully against her knees.
"Oh no," Alexa blurted, her own empathetic tendencies taking over. Without thinking, she rushed to the crying girl's side, sliding a friendly arm around the other girl's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," the unnamed young woman sobbed, before looking up at Bayley and Alexa. "I didn't mean ta interrupt…" Her voice tailed off as she began crying again, although this time she was at least attempting to compose herself.
"Oh, it's okay," Bayley returned softly, noting the lilting accent in the girl's cadence. The latina wasn't sure, but she thought she recognized the younger girl's accent as either Irish or Scottish.
"Are you okay?" Alexa continued, wanting to keep the girl talking in case something had happened to her in front of the ZBZ house.
The mystery brunette sniffled loudly, prompting Bayley to pull a neatly folded bit of kleenex from her back pocket. These Sorority events often prompted tears of joy, and so Trish Stratus had requested for the ZBZ sisters to be prepared for any such outbursts this week.
"Aye," Nikki moaned, wiping her eyes with Bayley's tissue. "I was s'posed ta be at Alpha Gamma fer the 'Pref night,' but Penelope and Allie wouldn't let me in. They said I wasn't 'AlGam' material and even though I'm a legacy and they couldn't stop me from pledging they'd just haze me until I dropped." Cross took a long, choppy breath, the kind one often indulged in after the stream of consciousness speaking that Nikki had just engaged.
"Wow," Bayley fired back, unsure of what one was supposed to say after that kind of in depth revelation. "I'm so sorry."
Nikki hastily wiped her nose with the back of her hand, suddenly conscious of the small gathering of young women around her. "It's okay," she continued, before chuckling ruefully. "I didn't even wanna pledge tha' sorority. My mum just said she'd pay for it if I did because of how much she enjoyed being an AG."
Alexa listened patiently, though she noted that Ruby Riott had led a small group of rushees outside. Several young women had volunteered to stay behind and clean, and they now found themselves idling next to Ruby, each of them grasping at least one trash bag. Anna Jay, Tay Conti and Liv Morgan shuffled through the front gate and out to the street, though they all came to a stop as they stumbled upon the scene unfolding in front of them.
All at once, the girls seemed to understand what was happening. Ruby stepped forward, sensing her place beside Alexa, while the prospective pledges continued their tasks, though they did so quietly.
"Do you wanna come inside?" Ruby asked softly, after letting an appropriate beat pass. This was completely by design. Some freshmen girls could be intimidated by Alexa or Trish or some of the more striking sorority sisters. For those young women, Bayley and Ruby were often the main points of contact. Nikki wiped her eyes again, unsure of what she was hearing. Instead of repeating herself, Ruby just smiled softly and nodded.
"It's okay. ZBZ isn't perfect, but it's a great place to make lifelong friends and have the best times of your life. We're having our 'pref' night tonight, too. Would you like to come in?" She paused, nodding toward a line of potential members bringing out trash bags and then gathering on the front lawn, chatting in small huddles of two and three.
Nikki sniffled one final time, then nodded, pausing one final time before muttering "thank you."
Alexa beamed at Ruby. Ruby Riott was in no way the stereotypical sorority member. She was tattooed, pierced, and her jet black close cropped hair stood out in photos when taken with the ocean of blonde and light brown coifs. But Ruby, maybe more than any other member of ZBZ, understood the concept of sisterhood. And by stepping up to lead with no prompting or cajoling, Ruby was making her presence known early in the year as someone to be reckoned with at ZBZ. As Anna, Bayley and Tay Conti led Nikki gently into the sorority house, Alexa calculated what it would take to add one more to their pledge class. "It might be a slight pain in the ass," she concluded inwardly, "but stealing a legacy from a rival house would be worth whatever the minor headaches were."
(Author's note: These last three chapters were something of a prologue. Next, we will meet the pledges of Sigma Pi and learn more about the tragic backstory of Adam "Hangman Page." Thanks for reading.)
