identical twins, different universities, overlapping recruitments...

[recruitment]

'cheer up, sleepy jean
oh, what can it mean
to a daydream believer
and a homecoming queen'
... the monkees and helen reddy.

i had always imagined that 'the scarlet letter' worn by hester prynne was a rather large, intricately embellish and purposefully distinctive... large, vibrant scarlet "A"...
i was all too soon to find out that many of us have a letter as well...

the three of us had carefully decided on our own cuts, mine was rather easy... i already knew i could not go back to deer valley, i would never consider going back to red river... and i decided i just did not fit at breckenridge. lyndsay and callie had made their own choices as well. we had all decided that we would not tell... discretion.

we had all heard horror stories about the first round of cuts... but we thought that was just "tent talk"...

eight party day was just about to begin... and i would soon know where i would be returning!
we had to go downstairs and be there no later than 6:00 am, ugh!... wednesday morning to receive our invitations... and decide where we were going for the day. i had already picked out my outfit and accessories for the day, took my hair down and just went down without make-up and wore my exercise/lounging shorts... lyndsay, callie and i were all runninig a little late, but isn't it supposed to be fashionable, at least that is always what "late lyndsay" always said.

even though we had heard about this day...i honestly do not think in my wildest dreams or most vivid imagination anything could have prepared me... or any of us... for what we were about to encounter. downstairs was roaring... we all just stopped and looked and were shocked to death. girls were screaming, hugging, yelling, running, crying, sobbing... and leaving. mercy! what on earth? none of us had ever seen anything like what was happening... they tried to tell us... but no one could have told anyone what this place looked and sounded like... no way, never. she were all shaken and even more nervous if that could be possible.

we had to line up my group at a table... most of our group was already there and they appeared happy, i was so relieved for them. lyndsay went straight up and the rho chi gave her "the" envelope... callie and i both noticed it appeared thick, yay! i went next... suddenly the rho chi stopped and said that i needed to go over to a room in the far corner as the rho chis (i caught that... more than one???) wanted to speak with me personally. that was certainly different... but we were late and i presumed that was normal. was i ever wrong! supposedly "smart girls" can be incredibly naive and really, really wrong...

i walked over somewhat confused with no idea what or why... was this peculiar or was it normal? there were three of them, only one rho chi from our group and two others whom i had seen and already knew what houses they were in. they already knew me and asked me to come inside. the immediately told me how things do not always turn out like one would expect and that i should give these houses a chance and that i would find my home... i knew that. but each of them said they were so sorry, but it just happens... but they were all good houses... and that i should not drop out of recruitment... yet. yet? drop out of recruitment? that thought had never entered my mind... our mother would die! then they handed me "the" envelope. my heart was in my throad... being a proper young lady i very politely asked if i was supposed to open it right then or if i could please go and meet my friends and open my envelope with them? they said it would be far better and that i should open my envelope with them. it apppeared thinner that lyndsay's... but i could tell there were invitations in there. so i carefully, wantinig to save it for memories, opened "the" envelope to find my invitations... all three of them. i had been cut by eight houses for "eight party day... eight houses? my. three. my heart was pounding so fast... but i saw that i was invited back to aspen, vail and taos. three. but i really liked all three of the houses and i was definitely relieved to see that i had been invited back to the houses that were the most important to me... but cut my eight houses? eight?

i immediately knew... it was that 'thing'... and it was syd. as i earlier said... and i have said throughout my posts, we come from a long line of greeks... on both sides of my family. i just never said how long and how deep that line was. and just like 'hester prynne' i too knew i had a letter... but it was a stark, huge "l"... legacy... legacies, that "thing"... i really meant a great number of legacies... but not at several different sororities... my "l"... deep, deep legacies specifically to one sorority. but there was another...

i turned and saw that lyndsay was screaming and jumping and was over with the other junior varsity cheerleaders.. those were her friends and her squad... and they were actually cheering. i knew she had gotten all of her dreams and i was thrilled, absolutely thrilled for her. but where on earth was callie... i couldn't find callie anywhere... so i went back to my table and asked bout callie and was curtley dismissed. all of a sudden i was her... but this was a totally different callie that we had grown to love so much... and she was crying. then i realized that she was not crying, she was sobbing... i ran to get her... but she was running away faster that i could possibly imagine. and those were the sobs of a broken heart. did vail cut her? i really did not care about my recruitment at that moment... all i cared about was callie and i knew that i knew that i had to find her. this was not like her at all, not at all. when i finally made it to our floor she was already in her room and was still sobbing and had locked the door. i knocked, knocked... and then told her it was me... please, please let me in... please. i was not prepared for this, she opened the door and she just threw herself at me and shook and we both cried together. finally we sat down and i gently asked what had happened... she literally could not speak. she had gotten "the" envelope and she just handed it to me without saying a word. i opened it to find only one invitation... one... sweet, under-rated taos... not vail? what had happened? she was so sure? i handed her mine but when she saw vail it only made it worse. i really could not consol her.... but told her we had to get ready. she said she had to go somewhere and she immediately left me... but turned and told me to get ready. she was out of there in a flash! where had she gone?

i was almost late... luckily i did not have a party until the third one and it was at aspen, i was so relieved it was aspen if i was only going to three houses, i was pleased i got to start the day at aspen. i had plenty of time to get myself together but it was getting late, so i thought that i had better start getting ready... for my "three party day" on my "eight cut day." i was cut immediately by eight houses... but callie was cut immediately by ten. my. nothing could have prepared either of us for that.... absolutely nothing. lyndsay finally got there and i was so glad she had the chance to enjoy herself and had no clue of the drama that had been going on. i immediately asked her what, where... how many? tell, tell... tell. she had all eight and they were exactly her favorites and the eight she selected. i was thrilled. then she asked about mine... and how many parties i would be going to and if our schedules would match up? tell, tell... tell. like callie, i just handed her "the" envelope. to her credit, she knew me so well... she did not say a word. then she asked about callie and if i knew... and if were we all going to vail together? talk about dread, i knew she did not have time to talk, she had a full day... and had spent so much time with her friends that she was almost late. i told her i would tell her about callie while i helped her get ready... and she was always late, but not always "fashionably late"... just always late. i started working on her long hair (this is terrible, but all i could think about was how dried out it was from being recently frosted and was scared to death i might break it off!) callie... i told her, she was crushed... we both wondered what happened to vail? and why so many of the other houses as well? we had no clue, she was wonderful and we really thought she had connected with several of the houses, who could help but love her?

lyndsay was just about to leave when callie finally came back on the floor. she came over to us and was a completely different callie that i had been with. she was almost heself... i think lyndsay thought i was crazy. what on earth could have happened that could make such a drastic change? lyndsay ran off for a very full and very exciting day... glowing and glamorous lyndsay... and she looked wonderful. callie and i were thrilled for her. however, just as soon as lyndsay was out of sight... callie pulled me into my room and locked the door. what was it? she told me that everything was going to be fine... she knew it would be fine. but she begged me... that no matter what or how... i had to keep her in recruitment and had to make sure that she made it to prefs at taos. i was thrilled that callie was seemingly excited... yet something just did not click. there was something she was not telling me... i knew that i knew and i told her so. she said yes there was "something" but she could not tell me about uuntil later after she had several calls to still make. several calls to still make? she assured me she was fine and that everything was going to be fine, but implored me to make sure she got all the way to prefs with taos... of course, i would do anything for her and i loved taos... and i would have done anything i could during recruitment to help callie.

what on earth was it? so it turns out callie had her own "thing" as well... my, my.

cheers!