Synopsis: Allison faces the Alpha Gamma board and is forced to make a split-second decision.

“Remy, I’m scared,” I think I was cutting circulation off to her hand with how hard I was squeezing. We were sitting in a conference room that was far larger than the one at Alpha Gamma, and with a tiered floor. It was more like a courtroom if we’re being honest. I was really, really scared. What had led us up to this exactly? How could we get things back to the way they were before? Was that even possible?

“Just remember to speak from your heart,” Remy whispered back to me reassuringly as the room began to fill up. We had just flow nhere on what should have been a four hour-flight but connections had stretched it out to a full eight. By the time we’d landed, finally, my back was sore, I was anxious, and Brianna had had to do my makeup in the hotel room because I couldn’t keep my hands steady enough.

“You’re going to be okay,” Brianna said, sitting on the other side of me. We were situated in a kind of observation box, I would have called it a jury box if this were a courtroom. Maybe this kind of was a courtroom.

“You know what, you’re right,” I smiled. “And I have the dean on my side so…”

Brianna slowly turned her head and stared at me, studying me for a moment. I could feel Remy doing the exact same thing. Had I said something wrong?

“Okay, Allison,” Brianna said very flatly and patted my knee. “Let’s just get through this.”

“Yeah…” Remy trailed off, staring at the far wall.

“What’s wrong with you guys? He said-“ I started, but Brianna shushed me as a door on the far side of the room opened. My eyes swept across the space, taking in the massive AG logo that was designed into the carpet and the podium in front of it. That was probably going to be for me. To be honest this wasn’t exactly the big event I had expected; it wasn’t like a stadium or anything, or a massive lecture hall. This was…underwhelming. I was suddenly kind of glad that mom couldn’t make it out; who would want to fly out from Washington for this?

The room was quickly filled with women of varying ages, mostly in their 50’s, I think. I immediately Recognized Amanda Geer, a blonde woman in her 30’s, well dressed and armed with a messenger bag of sorts. She took a seat near the head of the conference table and began reading through a stack of papers; I’m sure they had something to do with me. The three of us sat quietly as ladies took their seats and an older lady at the head of the table banged a gavel.

“That’s Lydia Petrello,” Brianna whispered to me. “She’s the president of Alpha Gamma, the entire sorority.”

“I’d like to call this meeting to order,” She said. “We’re here to discuss the appeal of Allison Parsons, former pledge of Alpha Gamma, Bellcrest chapter. I’m going to start this off by saying that while we do recognize Allison as a woman, we are still burdened with a certain responsibility toward the safety of our members. The threats against Allison in one single night were substantial enough that we believed there to be a legitimate danger to the house, and therefore we made the decision to remove her from the situation. That being said, it is unlikely that we will reverse our decision, but we will still hear Ms. Parson’s appeal.”

It was then I fully understood the gravity of the situation; they weren’t going to let me back in, they’d simply called me here so that they could say they’d listened to my appeal, that I’d been given a fair chance. This wasn’t really a fair chance, was it?

“Ms. Parsons?” Amanda Geer was looking at me from her side of the conference table. “Would you like to make your appeal?”

I glanced over at Remy, she was stone-faced; she had picked up on it as well as I had. Of course, she did. I wanted to just say no, I felt so defeated that I wanted to just tear out of the conference room and keep running, and running, and running, and never look back. What was even the point of pressing forward? No, no I couldn’t do that. This was over, I had lost, but how it ended, that was up to me. I pushed myself out of the chair, straightening my skirt as I made my way out of the box and timidly pressed on toward the center of the room. I’m pretty sure they could all hear my heart pounding away in my chest and suddenly I wished I could be anywhere else. Anywhere. Anywhere but here, come on, what had I gotten myself into? I gripped both sides of the podium and looked back to Brianna and Remy who both looked at me encouragingly. I noticed that Brianna had her phone out; was she recording this? I looked back toward the front of the room where Amanda Geer and the other women were looking back at me expectantly.

“I came here today,” I started. “To make a case for why I should be allowed back into Alpha Gamma. I had a speech ready and everything but as I stand here carefully measuring the climate of the room, I’m starting to see it as more and more of an exercise in futility. So, instead of begging for my life, metaphorically, I want to take a minute to reflect on what Alpha Gamma gave me. At this point it’s so much more than just those Greek letters or the rituals, or the charity work, though I’m not…I’m not going to deny that I like those. It all gave me a sense of belonging and a look into a world that I never in a million years thought I could be a part of. But you know what really stands out from the whole experience? Sisterhood, friendship…love. I experienced love that…I never thought I could get. I was so alone before all of this, I just sat in my dorm room playing video games and wishing I could be somewhere else…somewhere like Alpha Gamma. Alpha Gamma gave me everything I needed, they saved me, even thought they scared me pretty badly at first. I can’t describe the horror I felt when I realized my entire family knew that I was…at AG. Or how terrified I was when my own sister came to take my pledge. But it gave me a sense of belonging, and it made me feel like I was part of something so much greater than myself. I don’t want to talk about what Alpha Gamma took away from me, but rather what it can’t take away. It can’t take away the friends that I made, it can’t take away the sisterhood that we share or the bonds that we formed. It can’t take away the fact that my sisters, all of them, helped to make ‘Allison’ a reality rather than just a figment of my imagination. A few weeks ago, I took a pledge; I pledged my loyalty to Alpha Gamma. Today I’m going to make a different pledge. Allison’s Pledge. I pledge to remain loyal to my sisters no matter what the outcome of this appeal. I pledge to be there beside them no matter what path I take in life. I pledge to love them, as if they were my own family, because they are, blood or not. I pledge to fight for them, not as a member of Alpha Gamma, but as a woman, because the one, single most important thing that Alpha Gamma taught me, was what womanhood is all about. Thank you for your time.”

I took a deep breath; there was absolute silence in the room. You probably could have heard a pin drop all the way back at Bellcrest and then cut through the tension with a knife and then had to go get a chainsaw because that little knife just wasn’t going to do it.

“Ms…Parsons, we will consider your remarks,” Lydia said. “We’ll meet back here in half an hour.”

Within seconds the room was empty again, just as it had started out. I looked back to the box to see Brianna and Remy looking at me carefully. Yeah, I had screwed up, badly. It felt right but it had been the wrong thing to do, no question. But hey, at least this way I went down and not the entire chapter. Remy slowly stood and exited the box, her platform heels thumping softly against the carpeted floor as she made her way toward me. She stopped maybe a few inches from my face and I braced myself for the inevitable reaming that was about to come from her. It never came. Instead she lurched forward, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me forward. Her soft lips connected with mine and the rest of her body followed, pushing me back against the podium and grinding against me. I closed my eyes and wrapped arms around her, pulling her closer; eventually she stopped and pulled away, her head just a few centimeters from mine as I laid against the top of the podium. She exhaled, her warm breath danced across my face.

“Guys?” I heard Brianna say. “Just so you know, I still had the camera running, you need to warn me before you do things like that.”

“I…I don’t think it was planned,” I said breathlessly as Remy let go and stood back.

“Okay,” She said. “We don’t have much time before they come back so we should probably just sit tight. Allison…whatever happens today, you are my sister…well…um…okay probably more than that, but you know what I mean. The other sisters will definitely agree…well…I don’t think you can count on them to be as enthusiastic as I just was…or can you? I don’t know.”

“Oh, shut up.” I said as I leaned in and locked lips with her again.

“GUYS!” Brianna shouted, her voice echoing against the walls of the chamber. “I’m STILL here!”

Just was I let her go, we heard the door click again. That definitely hadn’t been thirty minutes. I checked my phone, it had been about fifteen. Great, a knee jerk decision. Remy and I didn’t even bother to sit down as the room was filled again. I could see a sullen look on Amanda Geer’s face; that had to be bad. After a brief moment of silence, Lydia cleared her throat and spoke.

“Allison Parsons,” She said. “I want you to know that it brings me no pleasure to say this, we always wish the best for our members but the outcome has been overwhelming. After a sixteen to four vote, it has been decided that your membership to Alpha Gamma will be permanently revoked. This decision cannot be appealed. Thank you for your time and we wish you the best in your future endeavors.”

“Remy,” I said.

“Yeah?” She asked, looking directly at me.

“We still have a hotel room.”

“OH GOD DAMMIT!” Brianna shrieked. “Will you two give it a rest?!”