Synopsis: Allison meets with Pi Lambda Sigma, the members of Alpha Gamma reach an impasse with National

“Okay this is it,” Brianna said, pulling the car parallel to the sidewalk between two other vehicles. I’ll never in a million years understand how she was able to parallel park like that; I certainly couldn’t do it. “Hey, when you get out of the car, I want to show you something.”

“Is it a different bid?”

“Shut up,” She said. “Just get out.”

I shook my head a little and stepped out of the car, waiting for her to walk around o me. I pulled a bit at my skirt; she had me in this super conservative type dress, it had a rounded collar and a bow in the back. I thought it was a little bit overkill and possibly way too feminine, but she insisted it was what I should be wearing if I wanted to meet with Pi Lambda Sigma.

“Look,” Brianna said as she pointed down the street. This was a street with a very singular purpose: to host the university’s Greek houses. Most of the sororities and fraternities were on the same street; it made things simpler I guess. It certainly had made rush night a little easier. “You see that?”

“See wha—oh,” My eyes went wide as I saw one of the sororities flying the transgender flag proudly out front. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a lot like the pride flag but with three colors: Blue for male, Pink for female, and White for Intersex or Non-Binary.

“That’s cool,” I said. “I didn’t think—”

I stopped short as my eyes slowly surveyed the rest of the street. It wasn’t just that one house, it was all of them. They were all flying the transgender flog. Down the row I could see a flood of pink, white, and blue. Even the AG house was sporting one and it seemed to be bigger than all the rest. What was going on?

“It’s for you,” Brianna explained. “This is all in honor of you. This is the impact you’ve had. I’m glad you got to see this because you need to know that you haven’t been forgotten or swept under the rug. You matter to a lot of people. Now, come on, it’s time for you to go talk to Pi Lambda Sigma. If that’s what you REALLY want to do I mean.”

I quietly walked beside Brianna as we stepped onto a pristine white porch, knocking lightly on what seemed to be an even whiter door. It opened swiftly and a bleach blonde girl stood before us. Brianna had been right about my outfit; this girl was wearing a high-necked pink sweater and a white knee-length skirt. She was wearing bright pink lipstick to match and eyeliner so perfect it had to have been done by a machine. Okay, could I even fit in here? I was a hot mess compared to her. I smiled kind of sheepishly as Brianna spoke.

“Hi, my name is Brianna and this is—”

“Allison Parsons!” The girl squealed. “It’s so great to finally meet you in person, come in! Come in!”

“I guess your reputation precedes you,” Brianna said to me was we crossed the threshold and passed into the house.

“Oh my god,” I said, looking around. “This place is beautiful.”

“Allison,” Brianna said quietly. “The walls are baby pink.”

“With white trim!” I said excitedly.

“The walls are baby pink,” She repeated. I didn’t care, I was too busy marveling at the place. I didn’t care if she hated it; if I couldn’t get back into Alpha Gamma I might as well be at least a little bit happy, right?

Brianna informed the girl that we wanted to speak with President Powell, and off she went. We stood there for a bit, and soon enough, a pretty brunette, about my height with a rounded face, wearing a pink velour dress appeared before us in the foyer.

“Hi,” She said, smiling and extending a hand. My name is Kelly Powell, I’m the president of Pi Lambda Sigma! You two must be Allison and Brianna? I know you already pretty well Allison, your video and speech to the AG board was the stuff of legends. It was all people here could talk about for a few days.”

“R…really?” I asked, a little embarrassed.

“Oh yes!” She said with a huge but very reserved smile. “You’re kind of a big deal around here, you should feel honored, nothing is a big deal around here.”

“Other than the color of the walls,” Brianna muttered. “I feel like I just walked into a vagina.”

“Pardon?” Kelly said, smiling at Brianna. I’m not sure if she actually heard her or not but I was about to die of embarrassment.

“So how can I help you, ladies?” Kelly asked us, switching to a more ‘customer servicey’ mode.

“Well, as you know,” I said, straightening up a bit. “I got a lot of bids and I was considering yours. I think your house might be exactly what I’m looking for.”

“Oh really!” Kelly brightened up a bit. “Well, why don’t you step into my office and we’ll talk about a few things!”

It turns out her office was just the living room where a few other girls were sitting, but hey, whose counting?

“Oh, girls, this is Brianna and Allison, you remember Allison? We’ve been talking about her for the last week!”

“Oh my god!” A few of the other girls gushed. They kind of gathered around to ask questions and Kelly waved them off. It was like I was suddenly a really lame Harry Potter.

“So,” Kelly said as we sat down on the couch. “Can you tell me what interests you in our house?”

I wasn’t really prepared for this question but then again, I wasn’t even ready for it when Remy had asked me during the Alpha Gamma rush. Ugh, I missed Remy. She was right down the street, probably. Did I have to go see her before I answered this question?

“I was really attracted to your philanthropy programs, as anyone would be,” I tilted my head again and smiled. “But I also really love your presentation of femininity. I feel like that as a new woman, so to speak I have a lot to learn so while I do my part in contributing to the house, all of you will have SO much to teach me and I would be so grateful for it.”

“I really like to hear that,” Kelly smiled as she folded her hands in her lap, knees pushed together toward us. “But now there’s one thing I need to know from you.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do? Please, PLEASE don’t get me wrong here, having you as an addition to our house would be the most amazing thing in the world and the girls would absolutely love you, but it’s a big decision and a commitment. Over the last few days we’ve seen a lot of buzz in the press and it’s very possible that Alpha Gamma could retract your expulsion. You’d be back with your sisters and I’m pretty sure you’d be initiated. I’m not saying that you should go back to them after everything they did to you, but I want you to be absolutely sure that joining our sorority is exactly what you want. I don’t want you to have any regrets over it.”

“You need to take a few days to think about it,” Brianna said, touching my hand. “I don’t necessarily want you to go back to Alpha Gamma but she’s right, you don’t want to have any regrets. If you still feel the same way in a few days then yeah, come back here and pledge.”

Kelly nodded and smiled to me.

“Allison we would love to have you, but please, take some time. I’ll see you back here in a few days okay?”

She showed us out of the house and Brianna walked me to the car, holding my arm while I did a sort of limp. The stitches were holding but walking was still painful.

“I don’t like this,” I sighed. “I’m ready to join now.”

“I know you are sweetie,” She said. “You’re missing that feeling of sisterhood that you had with AG but you need to do some thinking before you replace one thing with another. It’s your choice, I just want to make sure you’re making the right one, you understand ri—”

“Brianna!” Remy’s voice boomed from down the sidewalk, we both looked up to see her standing there in front of the Alpha Gamma house, hands on her hips. She was gorgeous, I can’t even describe just how gorgeous she was. The sunlight behind illuminated her form and I practically started drooling when I saw her standing there in that position of authority. She was angry, and that was hot. Brianna noticed and rolled her eyes at me. “Bring her home!”

We walked closer to Remy with Brianna supporting my weight. I didn’t know how much longer I could walk; I felt like I’d already done enough of it today.

“What’s going on?” Brianna asked as she lugged me down the sidewalk.

“Bring Allison home, we’re going to have a meeting. It’s important.”

I looked at Brianna; I hadn’t been back to the Alpha Gamma house since we’d rushed out that night, I was suddenly nervous but incredibly excited. Why did she want me to come back, and why was she so angry? Remy took my other arm and we sort of shuffled down the sidewalk until we were able to cross into the AG house. I was greeted by Laura, Michelle, Cassandra, and a dozen other girls.

“Hey Allison, welcome back!” Laura smiled and gave me a quick hug.

“Cute outfit!” Michelle grinned. “I approve!”

“Come on,” Cassandra said. “There’s someone who wants to meet you!”

Now who on earth would want to meet me? They helped me into the living room, and there I found the last two people I expected, ever. My mother stood from the couch and reached her hand out to pull me in.

“Hello, Allison,” She said. “It’s wonderful to meet you. This is Amanda Geer, I know you’re already acquainted but this is probably the first time you’ve really been introduced in person.”

“Hello, Allison,” Amanda said as she rose from the couch. “It’s so good to really, finally meet you. You’ve made a huge difference, probably more than you know.”

“I…um…thank you,” I blushed and shook her hand. “What’s um…what’s this all about?”

“Well,” Amanda said. “We’ve made a decision, and we think it’s time to bring you home, but not as an Alpha Gamma. We’re all here today because we’re going to try something different. Are you ready, Allison?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m ready.”