clique.txt (FFFFFF,slave,bond) I watched her as she came into our dorm room. My new roommate, assigned to me by the college. Sarah was her name. It took me just seconds to know everything about her--well, not everything, but a lot more than you might guess. She was pretty enough, in fact she was attractive, with a great body. But she was out of it--she was a social nobody. She didn't know quite how to dress (and I saw her whole wardrobe as she unpacked), and when she talked, she was reticent--she rarely said more than monosyllables. And there was something just a little bit weird about her. In other words, she was just about exactly opposite of what I was going to be in college. Now you might guess that I immediately planned to see if I could change roommates, to someone who was more in tune with the world and how it worked. If you did, then I'd say you are showing your own prejudices--there is no rule that says someone who is conscious of their own social position has to be cold-blooded. In fact, Sarah had proven to be willing to do me a favor even on that first day, and by all appearances was kind and without malice, and it didn't bother me at all to do her the favor of helping her improve her own social position. In fact, if truth be told, I actually enjoyed the prospect of helping her redo her wardrobe and showing her the ropes. One thing I was certain: college *wasn't* going to be like high school. I was going to make sure of that. In high school, I got to watch girls like Wendy Taylor and her friends hang out together and lord it over the rest of us, for no more reason than their group was the most popular at the school. Well, Wendy was among the few kids from our high school I would have to face in college--mostly it would be all new people. I was going to scope things out quickly, and establish my reputation before things fell into place. On our first supper at the dining hall, I had my first chance to check out our upper-classmates. Within two days, I had identified the group of the most popular girls, whom I watched unobtrusively. My goal was clear: be accepted by them rather than whoever came to rule the freshman class. That could come later. I talked to Sarah about strategy--how to meet them and get to know them, but Sarah wasn't interested. "A bunch of snobs," she said, disparagingly. We ended up debating the worth of cultivating such friends, neither of us budging from our positions: she thought it a complete waste of time while I maintained ones social connections have a large effect on ones success. But she was willing to go along with me working towards getting in their group. I picked a girl named Hillary Stafford who was a senior, was obviously a member of the group in full standing, and seemed relatively friendly and approachable. Sarah and I very carefully made sure we were immediately behind her in line at the dining hall, and I made a couple of casual comments to her. After the second comment, she gave me this surprised look. She also seemed to be amused which immediately put me on guard. Perhaps I had misjudged and she wasn't as approachable as she appeared. But I don't get flustered easily so I managed to remain casual and she was willing to trade a little small-talk. After we were through the line, she headed over to her group's table and Sarah and I found our own table. It wasn't much, but it was a start! Sarah seemed amused by my efforts, but she was still willing to go along with things. The next day, I managed to walk by Hillary between classes and I said a casual "hi", and she seemed taken up short, but after a split second she appeared to recognize me and she said "Oh, hi!" She said it with such confidence that I immediately knew why she commanded such respect. That night at dinner I wasn't silly enough to get in line next to her again, but I did manage to arrange it so we were walking past her when she got in line and I said "hi" to her again. Everything remained casual, but I was more than pleased: less than a week into college and I was on the right road. All this time I kept my eye on Wendy too. She was already in the midst of a group of Freshmen girls who by all appearances looked like they were going to be the Freshman "popular crowd". They all dressed well and all looked just as great as Wendy. I couldn't help but be pleased as I thought about how things were going as I lay in bed at night. She could *have* that crowd for the time being. After a couple of more days of just an occasional (planned) encounter with Hillary, Sarah and I once again got in line right after her when we went in for supper. While waiting in line I said "hi" and introduced Sarah and myself to her. And we lucked out--she was willing to talk with us all through the line, and when we had our food, she actually asked if she could join us! Hillary at our table! Actually, I would have preferred it if she had asked us to join her table, but I wasn't going to complain. But I was surprised--it seemed like the unlikeliest thing for her to do. I didn't let the opportunity go to waste--I carefully geared my conversation to the right balance of friendliness and respect. Sarah didn't say much of anything and I did have a twinge of fear that she might be spoiling things. But Hillary was amazingly friendly and perfectly willing to talk. I realized that I had picked exactly the right one of the group to make friends with, but I almost wondered if she really belonged to that group! Someone who so easily defected from a group didn't seem like they were a permanent member. But I recalled watching Hillary with the others and I knew she was definitely at or near the top of its hierarchy. Well the next day brought even more success: Sarah and I ran into Hillary between classes and she stopped to talk to us! In fact, she did much more: she told us she and her friends had a "social club" and she invited us to join! Sororities are banned at our school and some of the girls form less-formal, unofficial groups that they sometimes call social clubs. I couldn't believe this! Everything was going too well! She told us she'd talk to us again about it and take us to a meeting if we were interested. Sarah snorted with disgust when Hillary was out of earshot. All that day I talked to her and I couldn't convince her it was worth anything to go with Hillary and me. Actually, I wanted her to go-- even though I can put on a good act, it's always best to have moral support. But she said she had better things to do with her time. But I already knew that Sarah eventually always followed my lead. By the time we saw Hillary at supper, Sarah's refusal had turned to complaints about the time we were going to waste. Hillary sought us out, brought up the subject again, and when we agreed, she told us she'd take us to a meeting that same night! She even agreed to stop by our dorm room and pick us up! I fretted about what to wear--this was very important, and I was caught off guard having to make such a decision without advanced knowledge of exactly how these things worked. I realized I should have made friends with another upper-classwoman who knew about these things. I finally picked out something that was at home among casual clothes as well as with dresses, but it was painful trying to get Sarah dressed similarly, given her wardrobe. When Hillary arrived, she was in shorts and it was clear to me that it was going to be quite casual. I felt relieved because Sarah had ended up in a more casual outfit than I had originally been comfortable with. Now things looked perfect. Hillary took us walking into town. As we walked, she told us there was an initiation, which was horribly embarrassing, but otherwise was no big deal. I asked her what it was, and she said we'd be paddled. I almost choked but I kept my cool. My mind raced for about fifteen seconds, but then I decided it was well worth it. Then I began to wonder at the fact that Sarah hadn't stopped to protest. I glanced at her, but she seemed unperturbed. I didn't think much more about her--my mind was on what was coming. Hillary pointed out a house and we walked up to it and Hillary sort of warned us to just go along with things: that we would suffer a bit of humiliation but it would be over quickly enough. I was still nervous and wondering but I hid it. Sarah was unreadable as usual. The lights were dim all over the house and no one was in the front hall or the living room when we arrived though I heard voices. Hillary led us to another room: a den or something: it had a couch. She told us to wait a minute and she left through a door to a more lighted room which I gathered was the kitchen. "What do you think?" I asked Sarah. "Look what you've got me into," was her response. Actually I couldn't blame her at that moment. Hillary came back with two other girls. One of the girls told the other one to sit on the couch and soon it was clear to me that there were three of us were to be initiated. Then the girl who brought her in left and it was just Hillary and the three of us. She told us to get undressed. Once again I thought very quickly for about 5 seconds. Then I committed myself--I started on my blouse. Sarah and the other girl both looked a little nervous, then they followed my lead. Soon we were in underwear and Hillary told us to take the rest off. "Don't worry too much," she added in a low voice, "its basically just a bit of humiliation." *More humiliation than I was expecting* I thought. Soon the three of us were sitting nude on the couch. Hillary went and came back with some pieces of leather and buckles and things which I soon figured out were restraints! She told the other girl to stand and proceeded to restrain her hands behind her! Then she did her feet and helped her to sit down again. There was no going back so I submitted to the same treatment. I couldn't believe I was doing this. Soon we were all three sitting there, bound, on the couch. Our legs were bound together and we couldn't have gotten up and left if we wanted to. Then Hillary took this device and put it in the girl's mouth. It turned out to be a gag. I'd never seen a gag like that: it held her mouth open and filled it. She did the same to me and then to Sarah. Then she left. I looked around. It was the three of us sitting on the couch like that. We were completely helpless. Once in a while I saw a girl walk by a door and a couple of girls walked through the room. They looked at us briefly and one smiled, but otherwise they didn't react to our state at all. Hillary was certainly right about the humiliation. Then I noticed a girl walking by one of the doors who was completely nude! After that, every girl we saw was nude. After a while there weren't so many girls walking around and no one was in the room with us but I saw a couple of girls standing in the kitchen. Still nude. They were talking to other people in the kitchen. Then I heard a bit more talking and moving around, and then a woman walked out of the kitchen. She wasn't nude--in fact, she was dressed in a suit, as if she were some corporate executive or something. She was blond and beautiful though a bit severe. She appeared to be in her late twenties. She walked in and looked at us and a couple of nude girls followed her. She didn't smile or say hi or anything. "That one first," she said, pointing at the girl sitting with Sarah and me after inspecting us each in turn. I noticed that when she looked at me, her eyes never met mine-she hardly even looked at my face. Then she turned around and walked back into the kitchen. The other two girls pulled the girl off the couch and guided her into the kitchen, following the woman. She had a lot of trouble walking and the other two girls practically had to carry her. From where we were sitting, we could see the two girls get her up to a table and lean her over the edge, face down. Then they stood there and held her. The woman, who had disappeared from sight, returned with a belt or strap or something in her hand. It looked like leather and she had folded it double. Then I couldn't believe it! She started whacking the girl's behind with the strap, but I couldn't believe how hard she was doing it. The girl jumped at the first whack and the other two girls grabbed her tighter to hold her down. Then she jerked with each whack and it was obvious that she was struggling to get away. I could barely hear her trying to scream through the gag. But the woman just kept beating and beating her--I couldn't count how many times. I started shivering. I couldn't believe we'd gotten ourselves into this. I continued watching as if in a trance. The woman finally stopped, and then had what looked like a thin piece of bamboo in her hand. She whipped the girl's rear with it and the girl jumped again and looked like she was struggling even harder. I started to squirm. I had to get out of there, but I had no idea how. The girl was still struggling and the woman was still working on her rear. She stopped a couple of times for a few seconds while the other girls got a better grip on the girl. They just went on and on and I couldn't believe it! I had wriggled onto the floor and was trying to figure out what to do next. I was in a blind panic. It briefly registered in my mind that Sarah was there too--she was still sitting on the couch, staring at the spectacle in the kitchen and looked frightened out of her wits. But she hadn't moved a muscle. A couple of girls came in (both nude) and saw me on the floor. "I guess this one doesn't want to go through with it," said one of the two. They immediately started untying me and ungagging me. I couldn't believe it: they were going to free me just like that! I had been scared that there was no way out! After they untied me, they led me out. I turned around and looked at Sarah. She was still sitting there, making no move to come along. "Sarah?" I queried. She turned her head and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with fright, but she just sat there. Our eyes were locked for a few seconds, then one of the girls pulled on me and said to come on. They led me to another empty room and gave me my clothes and told me I could get dressed. Just as I was finished getting dressed, Hillary walked in... nude. Suddenly I felt so funny standing there dressed next to Hillary, completely naked. I must have giggled nervously. She led me to the front door and told me not to worry and that if I should ever have a change of heart, to let her know and she'd bring me back. I couldn't keep myself from an occasional glance at her body which was absolutely flawless. She was beautiful dressed or not. Then she looked down at her own breasts, then I saw that her eyes were looking back up at me under her brows. She was grinning at me. I felt so foolish. I walked away from there, my mind spinning. I was still shivering at the thought of the whipping I witnessed. And me, unable to stop them if they planned to force me! And Sarah not coming back with me. And Hillary. Sarah never returned that night and she still wasn't back when I woke up. I finally ran into her that evening at supper: she got in line with me. I was dying to ask her what happened, but I was strangely reticent to bring it up. We talked as usual and she came and sat with me as usual. Halfway through eating supper, she stood up without warning and went over to Hillary's table. I stared at her for a couple of seconds and then got control of myself again. She walked over, talked briefly to one of the girls and then went back to the cafeteria line and came back carrying something. When she got closer I realized it was a fork. She gave it back to the girl she had talked to and returned to me. That was the strangest thing--I didn't know what to make of it. On the way out, I had another surprise: I looked over at Hillary's table and I discovered that Wendy Taylor was sitting with them! She was just talking and laughing with the rest of them. I just walked on with Sarah back to our room, wondering what was going on. The next morning when Sarah and I were in line for breakfast, Hillary walked right up to us. She gave Sarah a couple of books she was carrying. Sarah left the line and went and put them on Hillary's usual table and then came back. Other than that, Sarah and I had our usual breakfast except I noticed that other girls besides Sarah sometimes went over to Hillary's table and did them little favors, and later between classes I saw the same thing happen outside. I realized that Hillary's friends would just call a girl over as if she were a waitress and the girl would always come. That night at supper I saw more of the same. And Wendy Taylor was sitting at Hillary's table again. Sarah sometimes went off in the evening and I don't know where she was going. She'd still be gone in the morning. Once I was still hanging out at the room when she showed up in the middle of one morning after being out. She saw me and she acted a little weird. She looked worn out and she said she wanted to take a shower. But she wouldn't undress: she got out some clean clothes and took them to the bathroom. But somehow, other than her all-night excursions and the little favors she did for Hillary's group, she actually seemed a little friendlier to me. There was one other incident that left me wondering. One day I was going back to my room and I noticed a couple of senior girls who were friends of Hillary's leaving our hallway. Our hallway has just freshmen so I was a little surprised to see them. When I got to our room, the door was open about two inches. I walked in and was amazed to see Sarah, completely naked, kneeling on the floor next to her bed with her body on the bed. Her rear was sticking out in a way that was positively lewd. Her head was sideways, flat on the bed, facing my way, and her eyes were open, but she didn't look at me at all. She just looked like she was in a trance. I said her name twice before she even moved an inch. Then she lifted her body slowly, looked at me and said she had been lost in thought. I've run into Hillary a few times since then, and she is always friendly and open with me and I always have the feeling she is waiting for me to ask to go back. Once I saw her walking across the campus with Wendy Taylor and I felt a knot in my chest. I realized that a part of me wanted to strangle Wendy. Or wanted to be where she was. Or something, I didn't know what. Hillary was so beautiful, walking in the sun and the wind. I wish I felt like I knew what was going on. I wish I knew what Sarah did. I thought about telling Hillary that I'd go with her to be initiated. I felt jealous of Sarah's courage as well as her social position--when Hillary and those other girls talked to her, I felt completely out of it, even if I was standing there with them. I felt so out of it.