Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿Ava Loses Clothes But Gains Friends by LuckyDave1066

   Looking for new friends, she learns something about herself!

   Though she was less than halfway through the fall semester at Oxmoor
college, Ava was pleased to be on the verge of achieving her main goal for
the term.  Her latest project had nothing to do with her academic progress;
she was on her way to her usual 4.0 average, but her goal for this
particular semester was all about her life outside the classroom.

   Excellent grades had always come easily for Ava, but her social skills
left a lot of room for improvement.  She had a tight-knit group of
girlfriends back when she was in high school, but they all had become
friends back in early elementary school.  As the years passed her
increasingly obvious high IQ began to make other kids assume they wouldn't
be interested in her, or she wouldn't want to hang out with them.  Her
tendency to be satisfied with her longtime friends and not work at
developing new friendships kept her social circle small.

   Relying on her cluster of longtime friends worked well enough through
middle school and high school, but once she began her college career her
inherent shyness and limited social skills left her fairly isolated.  She
told herself her lack of a social life was probably a good thing, allowing
her to focus on her coursework.  With nothing much else to distract her,
she did pick up right where she left off in high school, with a perfect GPA
after her first two semesters.

   Back in her hometown after her first year at Oxmoor, circumstances
forced Ava to recognize her lack of new friendships, as well as a tendency
to be shy around people she didn't know well.  The members of her old gang
were mostly busy, some working full time, a few with new boyfriends to
spend time with and one with essentially no free time to hang out with
anyone but the baby boy she gave birth to a little more than 9 months after
graduation!

   With a part-time job of her own at a local hardware store and a long
list of books she wanted to read, Ava had enough to do, but for the first
time she could remember she found herself feeling lonely a lot of the time.
She decided to make broadening her social circle a priority in the coming
semester.  She spent some of her free time going online to check out
various clubs at Oxmoor, but didn't see any that she could see herself
interested in joining if she wasn't hunting for new friends.

   She realized just how unaware she had been about how her fellow students
spent their time when she found a website focused on various intramural
sports; according to the site, almost a third of the student body
participated in at least one sport.  Though the sheer number of students
involved made it seem like a good way to meet people, she didn't think she
would be able to contribute to any team in any sport; she had been the
stereotypical klutzy nerd in high school, loathing every minute of gym
class.  Being the weak link in every game she played hadn't endeared her to
her teammates then and she didn't expect it would in any team sport at this
level either.

   Ava was beginning to wonder how she could ever develop any new friends;
her summer break was nearly over when she happened to see a Tik Tok video
full of girls her age having fun together.  The video was fairly silly and
Ava knew she was watching a carefully edited version of the interaction of
all the members of the Zeta Sigma Alpha sorority at Oxmoor, but they
certainly looked like they were enjoying each other's company.  Going
beyond the video, Ava did more research and was pleased to see that the
sorority had camaraderie and academic excellence listed as top priorities,
built right into their mission statement!

   Ava came back to campus as early as she could get into her dorm and went
to the ZSA chapter's house the next afternoon to attend their first
recruitment gathering of rush week.  She met at least twenty sisters and
came away even more sure she'd like to be invited to join them.  Over the
rest of rush week she attended several other house's parties; she was
impressed by several of the ZSA sisters and could imagine being able to
start friendships with many of them.

   Ava thought she could fit in well at several of the sororities she
researched, but she thought ZSA would be the house most likely to get her
to come out of her shell.  She knew part of the reason she didn't have many
friends was her own tendency towards shyness, and from what she could tell
after meeting a large segment of the members there, introverts were
accepted, but gently encouraged to join in a variety of activities,
fundraisers, and volunteering.  When the time came to formally apply for a
bid to be accepted as a pledge she almost didn't list a second choice of
sororities, but played it safe just in case the girls she'd met weren't as
enthused by her as she was by them.

   After a nervous few days of waiting, Ava was thrilled to get not one bid
but one from both sororities she'd formally applied to.  She considered her
backup choice but decided she might be TOO good a fit there; when she'd
visited them it seemed like the typical member was, like her, great at the
academic side of college life but not so outgoing.

   She opted to pledge at ZSA, and was initiated along with about 20 other
new members.  "Now all I need to do is make it through the pledge process,"
she thought.  She was pretty optimistic that she'd have no problem meeting
that period's challenges; from what she'd been told during rush week, the
tasks new members had to do were mostly volunteer work with some mildly
embarrassing challenges.  One night was spent taking detailed measurements
of every possible sort of each pledge; the Senior sisters explained that at
the final ceremony where successful pledges were accepted as full members
the new members would be provided with a custom-made gown.

   The vague descriptions of potentially embarrassing requirements worried
Ava a bit, but she was confident that nothing required of her and her
fellow pledges would be too unpleasant.  The challenges had been described
as being intended to give the new recruits a chance to bond with each other
as they rose as a group to meet whatever challenge they were given.  "I
wanted something to shake me up a little bit and get me to break out of my
shell, and it sounds like I'll get exactly what I've been looking for," she
thought.  The senior members made the challenges sound more like
opportunities to gain confidence and show loyalty to the sorority; Ava was
actually looking forward to being tested.

   The pledging period lasted four weeks, and began with fairly simple
tasks.  On the first Saturday the pledges were given a choice of two
assignments; they could serve dinner at a local homeless shelter or they
could work a concession booth at a home football game.  The pledges were
split more or less evenly with Ava and eight other girls choosing the
public service option.  The group served a few dozen unfortunate souls the
best meal of their day, their fresh white ZSA t-shirts and shorts a strong
contrast to the scruffy diners.  On the van ride back to campus a few
pledges were gloating about how taking on the more worthy task would boost
their chances of being accepted as a full member.

   The pledges who chose to work at a concession stand had chosen what they
were sure would be an easy gig, even a fun one if any cute guys came to buy
snacks.  Their task turned out to be a little bit more challenging than
they had expected, as they were told just before leaving for the game that
the outfits they were wearing were all wrong.  Two senior sisters handed
out the official Team ZSA uniform for the event.  White yoga shorts and a
pretty small bikini top was the entire outfit.  One pledge was bold enough
to ask, "I assume we can wear panties, right?" She was told in no uncertain
terms that underwear was allowed, but only if it didn't show through the
thin white material of the shorts.

   Despite some muttering, ten of the eleven pledges got into the clothing
provided; only three even bothered to try wearing panties, knowing that the
undies they were wearing would surely show through the flimsy shorts One
girl walked off, unwilling to serve food and drinks in public for several
hours in such a skimpy outfit.  "Clearly not ZSA material," one of the
seniors laughed.

   As the senior leaders expected from their own time serving customers
dressed the same way a few years earlier, the ZSA booth had a steady stream
of customers, with some guys returning several times.  Since some senior
girls had managed to get local stores to donate a lot of what the pledges
were selling, most of the proceeds went to support ZSA.

   When the contingent of pledges who spent their evening with homeless
people made it back to the house they were expecting to be praised for
helping the needy, as well as bringing about some good publicity for ZSA.
They did receive some compliments on a job well done, but most of the
excitement in the house was about the fantastic job of fundraising the ten
pledges working the concession stand had done.  Marjorie, the chapter
president, heaped praise on them, announcing they had brought in over
$1500, as well as getting ZSA some free publicity in the form of photos to
be run in the local Sunday paper.

   Ava had a hard time holding back a chuckle listening to Marjorie going
on about the great work the concession stand team had done, but had to
admit they'd been successful.  "I guess it's true that sex sells," she
thought as she looked at the girls still dressed in their working outfits.
"But they're really not dressed all that differently from how a lot of
girls sunbathing on the quad do, so why not?"

   The pledges were challenged in different ways during their weeknight
tasks.  The older girls did things like gathering the prospective ZSA
members on a moment's notice to be tested on their knowledge of the
chapter's history, or demand that the new girls climb up on the tables at
the dining hall and sing the school's fight song during the lunch or dinner
rush.  Some of the older girls seemed less interested in getting the
pledges to bond with each other than to get off on some weird power trip.

   Most of the indoctrination seemed to Ava to be more silly than mean,
though she was pretty embarrassed when it was her turn to be told to stand
up in front of a large class she wasn't even enrolled in and recite
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  She never would have imagined herself
jumping up in front of an auditorium full of laughing students, but thought
it might make some more appropriate public speaking easier in the future!
The second weekend had annoying assignments such as stacking firewood for
the bonfire the chapter's leaders had planned for the end of the pledge
period, but no particularly difficult or embarrassing tasks.

   Ava happened to be at the ZSA house when the signup sheets to volunteer
for either working at the concession stand at the next weekend's football
game or to do cleanup of litter at a mile of a county road the chapter had
adopted.  Ava wasn't overjoyed by the idea of being more or less on display
for several hours, but considering how much revolting trash the highway
cleanup crew would likely have to deal with, she went with what she
believed would be the lesser of two evils and signed up to be a server,
skimpy white shorts and bikini top be damned!

   The next time she checked the sign-up sheet Ava was happy to see the
names of a couple of girls she'd become friendly with as they worked their
way through pledging together.  Maria was a petite, quiet sort, with long
blonde hair and a buxom figure which looked even more voluptuous given her
short stature.  Tanya was as different as possible, at least as far as
their appearance was concerned.  Always ready to make a joke or bawdy
comment, Tanya was every bit of 6 feet tall, slim to the point of being
skinny, with dark brown hair kept short.  Ava and her new friends often
joked that they were meant to be a gang, with each of the three of them
having strengths and weaknesses that all seemed to mesh together.

   Ava was more outgoing than Maria but way less so than Tanya.  Maria was
by far the most studious of the three, with Tanya satisfied with her low C
level grades; Ava got excellent grades, but didn't obsess over them the way
Maria did.  Ava even mostly fit in between her two friends physically.  She
was taller than average at 5'-9", with shoulder-length strawberry blonde
hair and a somewhat voluptuous figure, a bit less full-figured than Maria
but way curvier than Tanya.

   A few days before their scheduled turn at working at the ZSA concession
booth, the three friends discussed the unfortunate characteristics of the
official outfit they were going to have to wear.  Tanya was the only one of
them not bothered by having to wear the ensemble the ZSA crew had been told
to wear, telling Ava and Maria, "let's face it, I'm built like Olive Oyl
and most guys are looking for bigger boobs, at least more than my 34aa
figure.  The outfit might get a few guys to notice me, so what the hell,
maybe I can get a date or two out of this!"

   Maria replied, "Take it from me, it's not necessarily such a great thing
having bigger boobs.  It seems like 9 out of 10 guys who act like they're
interested in me are really just in it to get their hands on them."

   Ava was surprised and saddened to hear Maria & Tanya talk in such a
negative way about their appearance, or at least how they thought others
saw them.  She had her share of insecurities about her appearance, but
generally thought she was no worse than average.  The truth was, anyone
able to overlook the baggy clothes she favored and her nearly complete lack
of interest in using makeup would probably place Ava's looks somewhere in
the top 10% of her peers.

   A few days before she was scheduled to work at the football game, Ava
sent Marjorie an email politely objecting to the revealing outfits she and
her fellow pledges were being told to wear and suggesting that the uniform
should be changed.  When Marjorie replied in less than an hour, saying in
her email, "Thanks for your suggestions, you've given us a lot to think
about, and I'm sure you'll see a change for the better very soon," Ava was
thrilled.  She shared Marjorie's email with Maria, Tanya, and a few other
pledges scheduled to work the concession stand on the upcoming Saturday
afternoon.

   On game day, four hours before kickoff, Ava and her fellow pledges
arrived at the campus gym, which was connected to the stadium and had a
locker room reserved for the pledges staffing the concession stand. 
Melanie, one of the senior sisters, met them and led the eager pledges to
their changing room Along the way to their locker room she told them,
"Marjorie asked me to explain a few changes to our stand's setup for today.
As you've probably heard by now, there have been some complaints about the
house uniform for events like this.  The house leadership council weighed
the pros and cons of changing the traditional outfit and decided to make
some changes; from now on, no more bikini tops or thin yoga shorts."
Several of the pledges cheered, but Ava was surprised to hear several boo!

   "Unfortunately," Melanie continued, "the revised uniform wasn't ready
soon enough for the athletic department to review and approve it in time
for it to be worn at our usual stand inside the stadium."

   "So we're right back where we started, still wearing the old uniform?"
Ava asked.

   "Please, give me a chance to explain," Melanie said tersely.  "You'll be
wearing the new uniform, but not at our usual location.  Instead of inside
the stadium, you'll be working at a tent reserved for alumni, just outside
the main entrance of the stadium."

   One of the pledges who'd booed the uniform change asked, "Won't this
location mean we'll have less time to make sales?  Once the game begins,
we'll probably be lucky to have any customers at all!"

   "You might be right, "Melanie agreed, "you'll just have to keep your
customers happy while they're around.  Being alumni, they should have more
cash to spend than the students you'd be waiting on inside the stadium.  Go
get dressed and get to work."

   Ava, Maria, Tanya and a half dozen other pledges hurried into the locker
room, eager to get out to their tent and get started.ï Whether or not they
favored the old uniform, they all were hoping to make a good impression by
raising as much money for ZSA as possible despite the last-minute changes.

   The pledges filed in and each found their own locker, with their names
printed on a sheet of paper taped to the door and two boxes, each around
the size of a shoe box inside.  Most of the pledges began undressing as
soon as they found their own locker.  At least four were down to their
lingerie and a few, including Ava and Tanya were completely naked when the
first comments indicating problems with the new uniforms came from the
pledges who had looked inside the boxes before disrobing.

   "Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

   What the fuck!"

   "They can't really mean for us to go out there wearing this, can they?"

   The partially undressed pledges stopped getting out of their street
clothes and looked at the new zsa concession stand uniform being held up by
their still dressed sisters.  The verdict wasn't unanimous, but most of the
group agreed the new outfit was worse than the old one.  Way worse.

   The top could have been a more respectable choice than the small bikini
top worn by the girls working at the concession stand a couple of weeks
earlier, if it hadn't been cropped so high.  Emily, one of the girls
already topless, slipped into the tiny top to see if wearing it was even
feasible; after tugging it down as far as possible she saw just a hint of
the underside of her boobs was visible where they met her torso.  Several
of her fellow pledges tried their tops and had similar results; clearly
whoever had modified the t-shirts knew what they were doing, and most
likely had access to the measurements of each pledge's body made a few
weeks earlier.

   Ava was the only pledge whose top didn't seem to have to been carefully
created for its wearer; her t-shirt had been cut even higher, leaving
practically all of the underside of her full breasts visible.  She was able
to keep her nipples concealed by her tiny top, but only if she didn't raise
her hands above her head!

   It dawned on Ava that her top's size was no accident.  "This is some
kind of test to see if I'm committed to doing what it takes to join ZSA,
and maybe a way to put me in my place after I complained about the old
uniform," she thought.  Never one to back down from a challenge, she
decided to accept the revealing top as it was, without complaint.  The
support of her sister pledges made her even more determined to carry on;
they all told her the top wasn't really too bad and that she looked hot
wearing it.  Two of her fellow pledges actually tugged the back of their
top down a bit, trying to show solidarity by matching her look!

   While most of the pledges were still working on making their tops at
least somewhat respectable looking, a handful had moved on to see what was
in the second box in their locker.  What they found was as shocking as the
tops had been a few moments ago; as tiny a thong as even the most
adventurous of them had ever worn.  The room was once again filled with
comments, none of them positive.

   "They can't be serious!"

   "No fucking way!"

   "Not gonna happen!"

   A couple of the pledges at least gave the miniscule lingerie a chance,
slipping the thong on and letting the rest see how little they covered. 
The verdict was unanimous; not one pledge was willing to go out and serve
snacks and drinks with so little of their body covered.  Several of the
pledges were already beginning to get their street clothes back on and
leave when Tanya noticed something all the rest of the girl's shock at
seeing the thongs had made them miss.

   "Guys," she said, "look under the thongs!  The fabric lining the bottom
of the box isn't just packaging, it's a wrap-style skirt!" She held the one
in her box up to show them that the piece of stretchy white fabric, while
none too generous, was indeed a skirt, with several pieces of velcro along
the waist to allow the wearer to adjust where on her hips the waist should
rest.  Eager to be able to have a way to salvage their assignment, the
pledges all put their thongs on and started experimenting with how to best
wear their skirt.

   Not wanting to show off what their thong left exposed, the pledges
settled on letting the waist ride about as low as possible, around the
upper curve of their butt.  This choice left the skinny straps of their
thong in sight, but kept the butt cheeks covered.

   Once again, Ava seemed to have been singled out.  There simply was not
enough fabric to allow the skirt to cover her entire ass.  She had to
either accept that a substantial bit of her lower cheeks would be visible,
or let whoever was tormenting her force her to abandon today's assignment.
Checking herself out in a full-length mirror as the pledges filed out to
head to the tent, she couldn't help blushing, but also saw, probably for
the first time, that her fellow pledges weren't wrong when they told her
she looked hot in this shameless outfit!

   As she followed her fellow pledges out of the locker room Ava felt
light-headed, still not sure she should, or even could make herself go out
through the pregame crowds milling about outside the stadium with so damned
much of her body on display.  Her friends noticed her distress and, along
with a few of their sisters waited for her, shielding her a bit as they
worked their way to their tent.  "We can provide some cover now, but when
we start serving at the tent you'll be on your own," Tanya warned her, "are
you going to be okay?"

   Thinking back to the version of herself she'd seen in the mirror moments
ago, Ava replied, "I think so.  I was just having a hard time getting
started, but my outfit's not all that different from what all the rest of
you are wearing, and I don't want to let you all down, so yeah, I can do
this!" She wasn't as sure she could handle the situation as she claimed to
be, but once she'd told Tanya she would stay she felt like she was
committed.

   The cluster of scantily dressed pledges was noticed well before they
reached their tent and they had customers 3 or 4 deep waiting for them
before they were ready to begin serving.  Ava's escort dispersed to begin
working as soon as they were in the tent, so she began working herself,
pouring beer into plastic cups and handing the filled cups and bags of
chips over one of the folding tables lining the front of the tent while
Maria handled the cash.  Ava's face was still flushed when she greeted her
first few customers, but after a few minutes she began to get used to her
situation; the hectic pace and constant stream of customers left her no
time to worry about her outfit.

   After a few minutes, the pledges had hot dogs and burgers being grilled.
The scene under the tent was getting to be pretty chaotic between the drink
vendors, the cashiers, the pledges running trays of hot food to the various
spots at the counter, and Tanya collecting cash from the cashiers and
running it back to a fellow pledge in charge of a strongbox near the back
of the tent.  When one of her sisters carrying a tray full of burgers cut
between her and the counter, Ava backed up slightly and raised the full
cups of beer she was carrying high enough to let the reckless burger runner
pass by.

   "Emma!  Be careful, you almost made me dump beer all over you," Ava
scolded the burger toter before turning back to hand over the two red cups
to her current customer.  "Thanks," she said, mildly annoyed at
encountering yet another so-called adult male too transfixed by the sight
of a pretty girl wearing a small top to make eye contact.  "Ugh, he's the
worst one yet," she thought, "staring at my chest with his mouth actually
hanging open!" She turned to take her next customer's order.  "NEXT IN
LINE,"she called out, but none of the men standing across the table spoke
up right away, apparently struck dumb by the sight of her almost entirely
uncovered boobs.  She hadn't noticed yet, but her stretch to avoid
colliding with the burger runner had caused the hem of her top to ride up.
WAY up, several inches above her small pink nipples!

   "Umm, I think I'm next," one of the men finally answered.

   "What can I get you?"

   "Two beers, and two bags of chips," he replied.  She relayed the order
to Maria and began filling two cups.

   "Another ogler," she thought, "but at least this one is making an effort
to look me in the eye some of the time."

   Ava turned back to hand over the two cups of beer and noticed her
customer wasn't reaching for the cups yet; since he was in the process of
dropping a $20 bill into the tip jar she didn't mind waiting until he was
ready to take the cups off her hands.  "Thanks," she said, smiling warmly
as he folded the bill to fit it into the tip jar.

   Just as it looked like her customer was ready to take the chips, Ava
heard Maria hissing at her, "Ava, what the fuck are you doing?"

   With no idea what her friend was going on about, Ava asked, "just
waiting on customers, why?"

   "As extreme as our outfits are, I don't think we're supposed to actually
be flashing the customers," her friend insisted.

   "What are you talking ab...Ahhhh shit!" Ava squealed when she finally
glanced down and saw her top bunched up high on her chest, her breasts
entirely exposed.  "Here, take these," she pleaded, shoving the cups
towards her customer.  He was still fiddling with the contents of his
wallet, leaving her standing there effectively topless with a full cup of
beer in each hand for another 10 or 15 seconds before taking the cups off
her hands.  As soon as her hands were free she tugged her top back in
place, as much as its size allowed.  Once she'd made herself more or less
decent she picked up a couple of bags of chips and turned to hand them over
to the big tipper.

   Now it was her turn to have a hard time looking people in the eye; she
was blushing deeply as she handed her customer his chips.  Making her
situation even more embarrassing, as she looked down to avoid eye contact
she saw that her nipples seemed to be enjoying this fiasco, obviously stiff
and engorged beneath the light fabric of her shirt!

   Though she wanted to go hide somewhere far away, every one of the
pledges was busy, so she stayed at her station and continued to serve the
crowd, the nearest of whom had been close enough to see her accidental
show. Even though she was careful to avoid repeating her performance, word
of her inadvertent exposure seemed to have spread; the line of customers at
Ava's portion of the counter kept growing right up to time for the game to
begin and her tip jar was filling up faster than it had been doing before
she flashed her waiting customer's.  Though their generous tipping didn't
bring about a new round of flashing, her latest customers seemed content to
enjoy the sight of her working in her minuscule outfit.

   Later that evening most of the ZSA members were relaxing at the
chapter's house listening to various pledges telling the tale of how Ava
had flashed her boobs.  Every version was wilder than the one before;
eventually the story morphed into one where Ava had intentionally stripped
her shirt off entirely, and kept serving customers topless!  Ava felt like
she had to set the gathered sisters straight before the whole campus
thought she was some kind of slut.

   She protested, "It wasn't that bad!"

   "Not that bad," Melanie repeated, "so, you're telling us you enjoyed
getting naked?  You got off on showing guys your boobs right outside the
stadium?"

   "No, no!  I didn't strip," Ava insisted, "didn't actually take anything
off, my top slid up a little, that's all.  I just meant my exposure wasn't
as bad as everyone is saying it was; the whole thing was probably over in
half a minute, so I didn't even have time to get naked!" Despite her
intention to minimize her accidental flashing, she was just making matters
worse; she felt herself beginning to blush as her audience began to whoop
and holler.

   "So you would have gotten naked if you'd just had enough time?" Melanie
asked, grinning wickedly.

   "No, that wasn't...oh, never mind," Ava replied, now blushing deeply. 
She gave up trying to convince the crowd her brief exposure had been an
innocent accident, hoping the discussion would move on to other matters.

   Alone in her dorm room later that night, Ava found herself staring at
the ceiling, wondering how she could have avoided her new notoriety, going
all the way back to her decision to accept the obviously inadequate
clothing, through her time serving customers and on to the ZSA post-game
celebration.  She had been embarrassed from the time she first put on the
outfit, but as she thought back to the oh-so-brief time her boobs had been
on display, there was another feeling at least as prominent.

   Excitement, fast becoming, unmistakably, arousal!  "Could Melanie tell,
or was she just joking," Ava wondered, "Had everyone who saw the incident,
or even just heard about it second hand, recognize something about my
reaction I didn't see myself?" Replaying the incident in her mind, she
paused when she came to the moment she first realized how exposed she was.
"Why didn't I put the damned cups of beer down on the counter as soon as I
could see my boobs were out?" The answer came from the warmth she was
feeling between her legs as she relived, again and again, the most exciting
minute of her whole year, maybe any year.

   Whether or not she knew it, Melanie had been closer to being right about
how being seen partially naked affected Ava.  This was an entirely new
experience for Ava, but as she thought about having had a bunch of men see
her boobs her right hand found its way inside her panties.  As she ran her
fingers up and down her pussy lips she imagined herself back at the
concession tent, serving customer after customer with her boobs completely
exposed.  Without even trying to imagine how it could happen, she slipped
her middle finger into herself as far as she could while picturing her
flimsy excuse for a skirt somehow falling off.  When she imagined herself
intentionally sliding her thong down, stepping out of the tiny garment, and
casually continuing to wait on customers while completely nude, she groaned
and rocked against her hand until her spasms subsided.

   As she came down to earth Ava was happier than ever that she had paid
the extra money needed to have a single dorm room; she cleaned herself up
and tried to make sense of why she would be so excited by having parts of
her body normally carefully kept covered become visible, and actually be
seen.  She was too tired to go online and see what she could find out about
this previously unknown tendency, drifting off to a night of deep,
contented sleep.

   After the public and private excitement of Saturday, Ava's Sunday and
much of the following week were almost eerily calm.  Other than a couple of
mandatory sessions at ZSA's house testing the pledges' knowledge of the
history of the society and the local chapter, nothing much of note
happened. All the pledges were a bit tense, knowing that the following
weekend was when they would find out if they were being accepted as
full-fledged ZSA members.  Word was passed to the entire pool of would-be
members that they needed to come to a meeting at the chapter's house at
8:00 PM Friday night.

   Starting at exactly 8:00 PM, Marjorie welcomed the group, congratulating
them, "well done, ladies, you've done well; I know you probably feel like
we've been hard on you at times.  I hope you all believe me when I tell you
that it was all to be sure you all were the kind of determined, fearless
young woman our society would be proud of, and that you were committed to
doing whatever it took to prove yourself worthy of admittance."

   "The good news tonight for all of you young ladies is that as of now you
are all provisionally qualified to be accepted as full ZSA members."

   "The bad news is that you still have one night of challenges ahead of
you before joining us in the sisterhood of ZSA, one last chance to prove
your commitment to doing what it takes to join our house," Marjorie
continued, "but I don't want to make you too nervous; after all, every one
of the sisters you are hoping to join made it through this phase, so you
should be able to as well."

   Tanya asked, "Can you give us a hint?"

   Looking annoyed, Marjorie answered, "I'll just pass on the advice senior
member gave to me when I was a freshman; she told me, 'Wear clean
underwear,' and it turned out to be good advice."

   Marjorie ended her speech by telling the nervous pledges that they would
receive detailed directions sometime before midnight the next night.  For
the group who'd worked at the concession tent with Ava, doing some kind of
stunt in their underwear didn't sound so bad; after what had happened to
her that day, the latest challenge sounded pretty tame to Ava.  A nervous
chatter ensued among some of the pledges who had somehow avoided the more
risque tasks during the rush period, a few of whom made it clear they had
no intention of running around in public wearing only lingerie.

   Having already been seen by a bunch of people while wearing less, Ava
couldn't help being amused by the more reluctant of her fellow pledges. 
Based on Marjorie's hints, she thought this last challenge seemed likely to
turn out to just be some harmless silliness, just naughty enough to catch
the attention of any bystanders and bring ZSA a small bit of notoriety.  As
the pledges filed out of ZSA's house, Maria got Ava's attention, asking,
"So, what do you think they're going to have us do?  Seems likely it
involves us being seen in just our undies,"

   "I think that's a given," Ava replied, "but I'd be surprised if it
somehow ends up being more embarrassing, or more revealing!"

   "More revealing?" Maria hissed, "I sure hope it doesn't go that way!"

   "I hope..." thought Ava, "what exactly DO I hope?"

   "Oh, gawd, I hope you're right," Maria whimpered, "Any more revealing
than lingerie would mean being topless!"

   "Not necessarily," Ava said, smiling, "it could mean being naked!"

   "I, I mean, just no...I couldn't," Maria stammered, blushing, "could
you? I know, you had the concession stand experience, but that was an
accident, right?  And as I recall you were only exposed a very short
while."

   "I'm not sure, but I really think I could.  If Marjorie was telling the
truth, all the full members did whatever it is when they were pledges; if
they were all up for it, how bad can it be?"

   Despite the brave face Ava maintained while talking with Maria, she had
a hard time getting to sleep, tossing and turning as she imagined a wide
range of possibilities for her coming task, any one of which she could soon
be facing.  But which one?  One of the mild, safe ones, where her lingerie
was indeed visible, but stayed in place?  Or possibly one of the kind now
keeping her from sleeping, where being seen in only lingerie was just a
stop along the way to being fully exposed?

   Waking up a bit after noon Saturday, Ava showered and shaved her legs,
then, not having decided what sort of panties she'd be wearing later,
shaved enough more to ensure just about any panties in her top drawer would
cover what was left of her wispy strawberry blonde pubes.  Stopping at the
student center for coffee and a bagel sandwich, she ran into a couple of
her fellow pledges, both of whom had just been to the local Target and
showed her the matching red lace bra and panty set that several other
pledges had already established as the default outfit for the night below
the standard issue white button-down dress shirt and white linen miniskirt
they always wore at house events.

   Ava changed her plans for the afternoon; studying at the library was
out, shopping for frilly lingerie was in.  By the time the college shuttle
bus got her to Target the red sets she'd been shown were sold out in any
size even close to what she needed.  Annoyed at first, she smiled as she
decided that if she couldn't blend in with the crowd she might as well do
her best to stand out.  She managed to find two sort-of matching items; a
sheer black bra and black tap pants just as sheer except for a small lace
panel in the front.  She was surprised to find anything so racy in Target
and almost changed her mind and put them back on the rack when she noticed
some of her fellow shoppers stealing sidelong glances at her selections.

   "Just because I bought them doesn't mean I have to wear them tonight,"
she told herself on the bus ride home, peeking into her shopping bag
several times as if she might have just imagined buying the two items. 
Tearing off everything she was wearing as soon as she made it back to her
dorm room so she could try on her new garments, she paused a moment to look
at them more thoroughly than she had in the store.  She shuddered when she
noticed she could read most of the text on the price tag right through the
material at the bra's cups, but went ahead and put both items on.  She was
borderline terrified, less by the serious amount of exposure wearing only
these two pieces of clothing would cause than by how much she was starting
to look forward to being seen wearing them!

   Not wanting to risk spilling anything on her new lingerie, Ava stripped
both pieces off and placed them on her bed with everything else she'd be
putting on once she received the instructions for tonight's mission.  She
got dressed in her everyday style and joined Maria, Tanya, and Emily for a
light dinner at her dining hall.  The four friends quizzed each other about
whether they'd heard any details about their challenge, now just a few
hours away.  The only information any of them had managed to pick up was a
snippet of conversation Tanya had overheard about a statue of a group of
Civil War soldiers at the far west end of the Quad being involved in some
way.

   Despite all of the group except Maria claiming to be chill about
whatever was in store for them, the conversation faded and none of the
foursome had much of an appetite.  The group left half of their food behind
and split up to go back to their rooms and wait for their instructions.

   Back in her room, Ava began to prepare for...something.  The uncertainty
was making her crazy, but other than getting dressed for the event there
really wasn't anything she could do but wait.  She second-guessed her plan
to wear the racy lingerie, going as far as getting into a much more
conservative bra and panty set before regaining her nerve and putting on
the wispy new things she'd bought earlier in the day.  Studying her look
before putting on her skirt and shirt, she both dreaded the likelihood that
others would soon see her the same way, and found herself becoming excited
about exactly that outcome!  By 7:30 she was dressed and pacing around her
room.

   A few minutes past 8:00 PM, Ava was startled by a knock on her door. 
She'd expected her instructions to come in a text or email, but as she
approached the door she saw a sheet of paper someone had slid under it; she
popped out to the hall, but whoever had delivered the paper was already
gone.  "How old school," she thought, then realized that the senior ZSA
sisters running this show were probably trying to keep whatever they were
setting up quiet as long as possible.  The attempt to keep the upcoming
event below the radar of the college's administration and security
departments was encouraging in that it might keep the number of spectators
down, but also probably meant that the event would be at least somewhat
risque!

   The instructions were simple, but clearly meant to reinforce the need to
avoid letting anyone who didn't absolutely need to know about the event be
alerted to it, at least before it began.  Ava read them twice just to be
sure; they read:

   1) Tell NOBODY about this memo, even your fellow pledges or ZSA sisters;
they could have their phone on speaker or leave it where someone could read
texts.  Destroy this message once you've read it.

   2) Do not bring anything with you other than your room key; no purses,
phones or anything else.

   3) Do not tell anyone where you're headed; no roommates, boyfriends,
girlfriends, nobody.

   4) Feel free to hide behind sunglasses if you're worried about being
recognized, but not too dark and no masks.  Some parts of your route may be
dark and we don't want you to get hurt.  Baseball caps are okay.

   5) Meet up by 8:30 at the patio on the quad side of the Student Center.
To keep the college administration out of this, instead of current students
we have arranged for volunteer alumni ZSA sisters to be your guides at the
checkpoints on your route.  You'll be met at the starting point by Meredith
Taranni, a ZSA sister and Oxmoor graduate, class of 2017.  You'll be able
to recognize her by the pink t-shirt with large letters spelling 'ZSA'
which she will be wearing.

   Have fun and good luck!  See you all later tonight!

   Love, Marjorie

   "Nothing here to settle my nerves, but nothing to make me worry even
more," she thought.  She didn't own a baseball cap and had lost her
sunglasses a few weeks ago, so once she had tucked her keys into a pocket
on her skirt she was ready to go.  She was still a little surprised that
the event was set to start so early; having reason to expect that some part
of the evening's activities might be embarrassing, she had hoped it would
all take place later, when fewer spectators would be around.

   During the short walk from her dorm to the Student Center she wondered
if the early hour meant that all Marjorie's hints that the event would be
embarrassing had just been some sort of mind game, mumbling to herself as
she walked, "I wonder if I made a big fuss about buying lingerie for
tonight for nothing!"

   Approaching the student center, Ava saw a half dozen of her fellow
pledges already at the patio, clustered around a woman in a pink t-shirt.
Maria and Emily were there already, listening to Meredith describing the
challenges she'd been faced with when she was a pledge.  After another 10
or 12 minutes of chatting she did a head count and seeing that all sixteen
pledges left in the group were present she called for quiet and said, "it
looks like everyone who's going to be here already is, so let's get you
ladies started!"

   "The first leg of tonight's adventure begins right here.  You are to
march in single file from here to the lobby outside the Theatre
department's auditorium in Edmunds-Whyte hall; do you all know where that
is?" Seeing only half of the pledges nodding their heads, she continued,
"Okay, those of you who DO know where it is, please be so kind as to lead
the group there.  You will be met there by another ZSA member, named Ellie,
class of 2011, who will give you instructions for the next part of your
journey.  One more thing -- you are to wave these pennants high over your
head at all times," she said as she passed out white triangular pennants
attached to foot-long sticks with ZSA printed in red.  "Also, whenever you
are outdoors during tonight's event you need to shout out 'ZSA', loud and
proud, at least once or twice per minute."

   "Alright, nothing too hard so far," Ava thought, "a little silly, but no
big deal." She was getting more sure by the minute that her investment in
her daring new bra and panties had been pointless.  Strangely, now that it
was beginning to look like she might make it through the night's
festivities without anyone seeing what she had on underneath her shirt and
skirt, her nervousness was quickly being replaced by disappointment!

   The procession of pledges slowly strolled the quarter mile to their
destination in high spirits, having a hard time not laughing at their
mission.  There weren't many people out walking around the quad, but those
that were present all stopped to watch, adding their own laughter and a few
catcalls.  When the pledges reached Edmunds-Whyte hall, Ellie waved them
over to doors at one side of the glass-enclosed lobby and welcomed the
group.  "Hello, ladies," Ellie said, "I hope you've all enjoyed your
evening so far.  Your tasks will be somewhat more demanding from this point
on, but as I remember the night I did the same challenge, the more
difficult phases were also the most exciting!"

   "Follow me, ladies," Ellie said, then began walking toward a door at the
corner of the lobby marked "No Admittance".  The pledges wondered what sort
of trouble they were being led towards, but they all fell in line behind
Ellie and marched through the door and down a long, narrow corridor lined
on one side with shelving loaded with props and costumes the college's
Theatre department used for their productions.  Ava had been to several
plays here during her freshman year but Ellie was setting too quick a pace
for her to recognize any of the props.

   After making a few turns deep inside the building, Ellie stopped as
quickly as she'd started, telling the baffled pledges to stay in line.  She
picked up a stack of paper bags from a shelf and handed them out, one to
each pledge.  "I'm passing a marker to the lady at the front of your little
parade, as soon as she's printed her initials on her paper bag she is to
pass the marker down the line.  When you've each printed your initials on
your own bag we'll get on with your latest challenge."

   "Ellie," a pledge named Deirdre asked, "are we still supposed to be
waving our pennants?"

   "Yes, definitely," Ellie chuckled, "but you'll have to do it with your
left hand; you'll need your right hand for something else." Seeing the last
pledge in line was finished with the marker, Ellie took it back and told
the 16 pledges to line up neatly, one arm's length apart "So you can put
your right hand on the right shoulder of the lady directly in front of
you." After a few bumps and relocations the group was set up as directed.

   "Good job," Ellie told the pledges, "now you should open your bag up,
completely unfolded, then place it over your head, completely covering your
face.  Once your head is completely covered, put your right hand on the
shoulder of the pledge in front of you."

   Ellie ignored the murmuring of a few pledges who really didn't like this
latest challenge, and a few seconds later the group settled down.  Though
quieter, collectively they were experiencing all sorts of inner turmoil. 
Several were a little nervous, some were practically panicked, a handful
found to their surprise that they were enjoying being controlled remotely
by whoever had made up the instructions, and one or two were positively
eager to find out what was coming next!

   With the lead pledge gripping her shoulder, Ellie led her sightless gang
down another corridor and through a door.  Though they couldn't see
anything beyond the inside of a brown paper bag, the pledges could tell
they had left the corridor; they heard what sounded like a large fan or
air-conditioner, noticed the sound of their footsteps was different, and
even through the bag could tell that their new location was much brighter.
They had only been in the new space a short while when Ellie told them to
stop, let go of the girl in front of them, and carefully make a quarter
turn to their left.

   All 16 pledges complied, some more reluctantly than others, finding it
difficult to let go of their neighbor without anything or anyone else to
orient themselves.  When they were all standing independently Ellie paced
back and forth in front of them and gave them their latest instructions. 
"I hope you're enjoying the mystery you're living right now; if not, don't
worry, you'll understand it soon enough," she told them, "Your next task is
simple, but a few of you might not find it easy.  You are now required to
remove your skirt, just unbutton it, unzip it, and let it drop to the
floor, then take a small step back out of it."

   More urgent whispering ensued, with at least one pledge saying out loud
that she wouldn't do it.  As before, the group eventually quieted down, and
as before, they all began to comply with their latest task.  Most of the
pledges hesitated a bit, and some truly had a hard time following through
with their latest instructions.  Eventually, the sound of a zipper being
pulled down next to them, followed soon after by the sound of their
neighbor taking a step backward, convinced even the most reluctant members
of the group that crazy as this adventure was becoming, they were in it
together.  Before long not one of the 16 pledges was wearing a skirt.

   "Well done, ladies," Ellie praised the group, "way to stick together as
a team!  I'm told that Marjorie suggested you all wear clean underwear
tonight, is that right?"

   Several pledges confirmed her advice and said they were glad that they'd
taken it to heart.

   "Yes, it was good advice,' Elli agreed, "but the thing is, at this
point, as long as the tails of your shirts are, it really doesn't make much
of a difference what condition your lingerie is in; it's all covered up. 
I'm sure none of you want to make a liar out of Marjorie, what can you do
to prevent that from happening?"

   "Um, we could take our shirts off, couldn't we?" suggested Tanya.

   "Excellent idea," Ellie answered, "but I'm guessing at least a few of
your fellow pledges might not be comfortable wearing nothing but lingerie,
so I'm going to propose a less demanding option; instead of taking your
shirts off, how would you all feel about just unbuttoning them and opening
them up?  Does anyone object?  No?  Good."

   Despite feeling a bit like they were being manipulated, all but a few of
the group were genuinely relieved to just be taking a step that a few
minutes earlier would have shocked them.  Most of the group had expected
all along that they were bound to end up wearing nothing but a bra and
panties at some point during this test.  Since most of them had gone out
and bought brand new lingerie for just that reason, pretty racy items in
most cases, it seemed kind of hypocritical to object.

   So they didn't.  Object, that is.

   The nervous among them were even more nervous than before as they slowly
unbuttoned their shirts, while a few members of the group unfastened the 6
buttons in seconds and would have been glad to let their shirt join their
skirt on the floor in front of them!

   Once all 16 pledges had finished unbuttoning their shirts and had pulled
the two sides apart, Ellie congratulated them and gave them new
instructions, "Well done, pledges!  Now that your lingerie is visible it's
time to move on.  When I say GO, take the bag off your head and put your
skirt in it.  Leave the bag right where you're standing and follow me down
the steps from the stage to the center aisle and up to the lobby door where
you came in.  GO!"

   Squinting in the bright stage lighting once they'd removed their bag,
none of the 16 could see a thing beyond where Ellie was standing at the
edge of the stage.  They each stuffed their skirt into their bag and looked
around at each other.  When they'd last seen each other, they had all been
dressed normally; now they were barely dressed at all, with their skirts
gone, their shirts half off and lingerie on display.  They started toward
Ellie, who reminded them to line up in single file and started down the
steps.  By the time they stepped halfway down the 6 steps, they were out of
the spotlight and could see the rest of the auditorium, including the
fifteen or twenty students sitting a few rows from the front, who now began
clapping!

   Ellie called back to the pledges, "No point covering up now, and no
running, just follow me." She kept to her slow strolling pace all the way
to the lobby.  None of the pledges bothered to cover up, not even Ava, who
turned out, as she'd sort of expected, to be wearing by far the sheerest
bra and panties of anyone in the group.

   "Sorry to be so sneaky," Ellie chuckled, "but we've learned over the
years that a lot of ladies have trouble showing even a bit of skin, but get
over their nervousness if they have it sprung on them; kind of like ripping
off a bandage instead of pulling it off slowly.  We've found that by asking
you to step outside your comfort zone we can identify the kind of bold,
risk-taking, team-oriented young woman we want to join us at ZSA.  Being
willing to do something most people find embarrassing to help the group
reach its goal is exactly the kind of commitment we're looking for.  By the
way, all the men and women in your audience back there are Theatre majors,
so seeing fellow students in their underwear isn't all that unusual for
them!"

   "So, Emily asked, hopefully, "we all passed?"

   "Yes, so far.  I can happily recommend you all," Ellie answered, "but
you're not quite done.  You need to head to the library next, where you'll
meet another guide.  Her name is Linda, she's ZSA class of 2008.Good luck!"

   As instructed, the 16 pledges hiked across the quad, then worked their
way further west toward the library, passing three large buildings holding
the Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science departments.  Ava knew from
her own experience that the Computer Science building usually was busy at
all hours; her fellow nerds put in crazy hours, weekend or not.  She
couldn't help wondering if any of the guys she saw there regularly were
there right then.

   If they were, would they happen to look out towards the quad and notice
the procession of less than fully dressed young women passing by, waving
pennants and chanting "ZSA"?

   If they did notice the procession, would they recognize one of the
marchers as a classmate of theirs, as well as a member of a couple of their
study groups?

   Ava smiled as she imagined her coding study group having more to discuss
than usual at their next meeting, and waved at their building just in case
anyone she knew was watching.

   The wind had picked up considerably while they were inside the theatre
building.  The gusts were strong enough that the pledges couldn't do much
about the wind flipping up the tails of their shirts or just blowing them
open, especially since they were dutifully waving their pennants high above
their heads.  Most of them concluded it was a losing battle, and that their
efforts to hold the uncooperative garments in place just called more
attention to what they were trying to downplay.  By the time they were
nearing the library almost all of them had surrendered to the wind, with
their shirts wide open and pushed back off their shoulders.

   Laughing at their situation, none of the pledges noticed the tall, lean
woman standing near the library entrance until she yelled to get their
attention, "Yo, ZSA pledges!  What the hell are you doing?"

   The only pledge to speak up was Ava, who tried to change the subject,
asking, "Are you Linda?"

   "Yes," Linda replied, "and who might you be?"

   I'm Ava.  We were just laughing at how ridiculous we all look trying to
keep our shirts from falling off."

   "You're right about that," Linda agreed, "since they're already half or
more off, you might as well get them off and be done with it."

   "Wait, what...you want us to actually take our shirts off?  Out here?"
Maria asked nervously.

   "I thought I was fairly clear.  Yes, take your shirts off.  Here.  Now."
Linda said, "most of you are hardly wearing them now anyway!" She handed
out plastic shopping bags and a couple of markers, telling the stunned
pledges to print their initials on the bag, put their shirt in, and drop
the bag into the shopping cart near the library entrance.

   Linda's authoritative manner overcame the natural hesitance all but a
few of the pledges felt about stripping down to a couple of skimpy pieces
of lingerie right there on the walkway surrounding the quad.  Since their
new state of undress would be in line with Marjorie's comment on the
advisability of wearing clean underwear, the pledges felt like however
stressful it was becoming, the night's tests were more or less what they'd
expected.

   Linda led the group into the library, saying, "Good evening," to the
librarian at the front desk like she brought packs of barely clothed girls
through every night!  Linda's nonchalance was matched by the librarian, who
smiled and nodded a silent welcome.  Surreal as the greetings seemed to the
pledges, the unconcerned way the adults were acting actually settled the
jangly nerves many of the pledges were suffering from.

   It was obvious that Linda wasn't winging it; she never broke her stride
as she led the group deep into the library and up to the third floor. 
Though the library was far from being busy, they crossed paths with a few
students who were way less jaded than the librarian had been, staring
slack-jawed at the procession.  She led the pledges to a far corner of a
sea of study carrels and told them to find and sit at the carrell that had
a plastic bag with their initials already written on it.  "Yes, we've been
preparing for tonight's challenge for a while," Linda said, smiling as she
saw the pledges react to the detailed planning these SZA alumni had done.

   Linda gave what seemed like another sales pitch to the pledges, which
would have seemed unnecessary for a group so close to being full-fledged
SZA members if not for the latest bag, sitting there on the work surface,
silently demanding their attention.  As Linda droned on about the various
CEO's, politicians, and scientists who were SZA sisters, all the pledges
could think about was the damned bag...

   Was it there for the reason they thought it was?

   When would Linda bring up the subject?

   What were they going to do when the expected order came?

   "So," Linda said, her voice rising well above the library-appropriate
level she had been maintaining, "are you up for the challenge?  Are you
ready to join us?"

   "Yes, hell yeah!" shouted Ava.

   "Count me in!" shouted another.

   "Absolutely!" said a third.

   After several more affirmations, the whole group had answered, with no
exceptions.  Talking among themselves later many of the group said that the
way Linda had concluded her talk without mentioning the bags had made them
think the bags were just a way to see if they would be rattled.  A few of
the group admitted to being swayed by hearing other members of the group
enthusiastically say yes.

   "Excellent," Linda shouted, "then follow in the footsteps of decades of
your ZSA sisters!  Take off your bra and put it in the bag in front of you,
then line up and follow me!"

   "You want us to get topless and follow you?" Emily asked, "where exactly
do you plan on having us go half naked?"

   "That's correct," Linda replied, ignoring the second part of
Emily's"query.  You won't see it on their resumes or in their Wikipedia
entries, but every last one of those distinguished women I was just telling
you about was once a pledge hoping to become a member of ZSA just like you,
facing the same challenges, and worried about what people would think about
them refusing to be bound by society's rules.  They got over being
controlled by the opinions of others; I sincerely hope you can all do the
same!"

   Ava had expected something like this, but knowing the way she felt
whenever she thought about her essentially topless exposure at the
concession stand, she had thought it might not be too hard for her to take
off her bra if, or more likely when she was asked to.  Now that the time
had come, she found herself hesitating; intentionally getting almost naked
in public turned out to be way harder for her than having the same level of
exposure happen accidentally.

   The nervous chatter coming from her fellow pledges eventually let Ava
ignore the way her pulse was pounding in her head.  Her hands were shaking
as she unhooked her bra and dropped it into her lap; she couldn't help
giggling at the sight of her uncovered boobs in the cold fluorescent light
of the library, just as covered with goosebumps as the rest of her body. 
She stuffed her bra into the bag and joined the other topless pledges lined
up and waiting for Linda to lead them back the way they came through the
library.

   The route back to the quad seemed to have twice as many spectators as
had been there earlier; word that the ZSA pledges were doing something
outrageous had apparently spread in the time Linda had been making her
speech!  Ava felt herself blushing as she passed by several dozen
bystanders, many of them stationed just a few feet from her path.  Once
Linda had overseen the trip back to the quad she told them to go past the
last two buildings bordering the quad, all the way to the far West end of
the campus where their last guide would meet them.

   The group of pledges, now down to 15 after one couldn't make herself go
topless, marched in line for the 3 minutes it took them to reach the end of
the quad.  They were greeted by two middle-aged women, one of whom
introduced them to the group.  "Hello 2022 pledges," the taller of the two
called out, "I'm Marcie, and this is Clara; we're both class of 1986, and
you'll probably be glad to hear we'll be your last guides on what we hope
is your successful completion of every requirement to be accepted as full
members of ZSA!"

   "Yay!" a few pledges said.

   "I know, I know, we won't keep you hanging around half naked any longer
than we need to," Marcie said, "I remember getting to this phase myself. 
Believe me, I understand how awkward this is." Clara smiled and nodded.

   "There is a reason we end this challenge at this particular spot,"
Marcie continued, "The statue you see behind me honors Oxmoor graduates
who've served in our country's wars; other statues you've passed by on your
journey this evening commemorate various explorers, scientists,
politicians, and a couple of Oxmoor's Presidents.  These works of art have
something in common -- the subject of every damned one of them is a man! 
This isn't because there are no women worthy of being honored this way, but
because even extraordinary achievements often go unnoticed if the achiever
happens to be a woman."

   "The generation of ZSA alumni Clara and I represent has seen many
improvements in how women's contributions are appreciated, but your
generation still has much work to do to ensure our gender's work does not
go unnoticed.  Your task will not be easy and may disturb some, but women
willing to do hard things are who ZSA is looking for.

   "Your final task to prove your determination to join us is as simple as
it is demanding.  We ask you to demand to be noticed by removing your last
remaining item of clothing and marching with us through the quad, all the
way back to where you started tonight's challenge!"

   Marcie's call for the pledges to go completely naked and walk boldly the
entire length of the campus was met with whispers, muttering, and
grumbling, but none of the young women made a move to take off their final
bit of cover.  After almost two minutes had passed without a single pledge
stripping completely, it began to look like Marcie's appeal had failed.

   A single voice rose above the muttering, sounding shaky at first, but
soon settling down, telling her fellow pledges, "I can't speak for anyone
else, but if a little walk in the nude is the price of admission to join
the women who we've met tonight, I'll take that deal!" The speaker followed
her words with action, sliding her panties down her long legs as soon as
she finished talking.

   "I can't believe she did that," Emily said.

   "Damn!" said Maria.

   "Looking good, girl," laughed Tanya, who became the second fully nude
pledge, dropping her black thong to the sidewalk, then picking it up and
asking, "so, where am I supposed to put this?"

   "Did I really just do that," Ava said out loud as Marcie approached her.

   "You sure did; besides being brave, you showed some leadership skills,"
the gray-haired woman answered, "look around, your friends are following
you!"

   "I don't know about leadership, but I'm definitely showing something! 
For a minute there, I was sure I was going to be the only one naked," Ava
giggled, but in the five minutes after she dropped her panties, every one
of the 15 remaining pledges followed her lead.

   Clara passed out plastic zip-ties, each with the initials of a pledge
printed on them, then collected everyone's tagged undies and passed a
messenger bag full of lingerie to a woman on a bike, who immediately
pedaled off towards the Student Center.  Clara explained that all the
clothes the pledges had left behind would be waiting for them back where
they'd started.

   As word of the naked pledges swept through the campus, the long walk
back to the Student Center became beyond surreal for the unclothed 18 and
19-year-old women.  Much of their route was lined with their fellow
students, most of them clapping and cheering; one male spectator was
inspired to join the parade, stuffing his clothing into a backpack and
falling in behind the pledges!  The intensifying attention made Ava feel
like every nerve ending she had was on fire; her heartbeat was loud enough
to practically drown out the raucous spectators.

   A few of the pledges looked like the unexpected attention was making
them have second thoughts, but with every bit of their clothing having been
whisked away, there really wasn't anything to do now but finish their trek
back to the Student Center and reclaim their outfits.

   As exciting as their challenge had been, most of the pledges by now were
starting to look forward to being reunited with their clothing, but for a
few of the group the walk seemed to be over too soon; Ava had no way to
know she wasn't the only one of the group to feel this way, but when she
spotted the woman who had ridden away with the group's panties standing
next to her bike outside the Student Center, Ava felt an unexpected but
unmistakable twinge of regret that her crazy challenge was about to come to
its end.  She slowed up a bit, letting those pledges who were in more of a
hurry get ahead to collect their clothing.

   "Here to pick up your duds?  You're just about the last one," the
cyclist said when Ava finally made it to the front of the line.  Ava
nodded, but was confused when Patty handed her not all her clothes, or even
just her panties, but only a small envelope with her name on it.  "It's a
key," Patty explained, "for a locker in the Center.  I think the worry was
that if we were handing out the various items here someone might have
stolen some of your things."

   "So I have to go through half the Student center in the nude to get my
clothes back?"

   "Afraid so, but there's plenty of staff to keep an eye on things,
they'll keep you from getting harassed," Patty replied.

   Ava wasn't entirely annoyed; "when will I ever have another chance to
stroll naked through the Student Center without getting in trouble," she
thought, feeling a bit excited by this unexpected extension of her naked
adventure!  As she entered the Center she could see the rows of lockers
ahead.  "Way, way ahead," she thought nervously as she remembered the area
where the lockers were located, right in the middle of the Center, next to
the seating area shared by a half dozen food and coffee vendors.  She
walked slowly toward the bank of lockers, confused to see most of her
fellow pledges standing around, still naked, not even opening the lockers.

   "What's going on," Ava asked Maria, "why isn't anyone getting dressed?"

   "Look at your key," Maria replied, "the numbers are so worn and faded
you can't see which locker your key works with!"

   Seeing some of her fellow pledges randomly trying lockers, Ava again
showed some leadership skills, quickly organizing them into two groups, one
working left to right and one going from right to left.  She had a single
pledge from each group try every locked locker until they came upon theirs,
with the next pledge in line following once her predecessor was successful.
"A simple probability problem," she thought as she watched the last of her
friends find and quickly put on enough clothing to stop being so
interesting to the dozens of bystanders having a late dinner or coffee;
once at least minimally dressed, each pledge hustled out, headed for the
privacy of their dorm room.

   It wasn't until she'd watched the last couple of her friends follow her
method to find their clothes that Ava stepped up to the bank of lockers
herself.  Though there were now fewer locked lockers for Ava to need to try
her key at, there were still enough so that all the other pledges had
managed to cover up and head for the exits before she had even tried half
the lockers.

   Focused now on finding her locker, it wasn't until she finally found it,
opened it, gathered up her long-lost outfit, and set the items on a nearby
table that it occurred to her that she was now the only naked woman in the
room.  The feeling of being one of more than a dozen naked friends had been
very different than her current situation, being the only one of the maybe
50 or so people scattered around the space in the nude!

   Trying to somehow make it seem normal to be naked in front of a crowd of
strangers, Ava decided not to try to scramble to throw on some clothing,
but instead to act as if her situation was perfectly normal, that women got
dressed out in full view of their fellow students all the time.

   Ava almost changed her plan as she struggled to get the damned zip tie
off her panties, but finally got her tap pants free and slipped into them.
She put her bra on next; out in the fairly low light level of the quad the
sheer fabric had been able to at least make her nipples somewhat hard to
make out, but in the brightly lit Student Center Cafe she might as well
have still been topless for all the concealment the flimsy bra provided. 
Thinking about what the roomful of her peers were seeing only made matters
worse, as the current engorged state of her nipples made her arousal clear
to her audience!

   Her reverse striptease hit another small roadblock when she tried to put
on her shirt, as she tried to get it on without checking the sleeves, which
were both inside out.  Once she'd straightened it out and fastened a few
buttons she felt like she was almost decent; she'd certainly seen girls
around the campus in Boyfriend shirts no longer than her shirt.  She
stepped into her skirt, buttoned and zipped it up, then walked casually
away towards the exit.  She tried to not react to a round of applause she
received from her surprised audience as she was leaving but couldn't help
blushing, and couldn't imagine why the blushing only came now that she was
fully, respectably dressed.

   During the short walk to her dorm, Ava wondered if she would ever have
an experience as stimulating as the last few hours had been.  She wasn't
exactly sure she would want to go nude in public again, but was shocked to
realize that she wouldn't rule it out either.  As she unlocked the door to
her room she wasn't sure which device she needed to use first.  She was
looking forward to getting to her phone in order to compare notes with her
fellow pledges, but her need to spend some time with her vibrator was also
pretty compelling.  "Why not both together," she said to herself, "as long
as I'm just texting that should work!"

   Her urge to masturbate was interrupted before she'd even closed the
door. She noticed an envelope with her name printed on it on the floor just
inside the room.  "I'm sure this wasn't here when I left, there's no way
I'd have missed seeing it," she thought.  She opened it and was first
confused, then shocked, then briefly horrified after she read the message
on the neatly folded sheet of paper with the ZSA logo and local chapter's
address, phone number, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter info.

   The message was short, and far less detailed than the instructions she'd
received earlier in the evening, simply telling her where to meet for the
night's challenge (NOT where the earlier instructions had called for) as
well as when (midnight).

   She wished she still had the earlier note to compare to the new one, but
had followed the earlier instructions all too faithfully, tearing it into
tiny pieces and dumping it into a trash bin just outside the entrance to
her dorm on her way to the Student Center.

   She didn't remember the earlier letter having any logo or contact info,
which made the final paragraph of the new letter particularly chilling. 
The new instructions warned the pledges, "This letter is the ONLY official
printed communication about tonight's challenge you will receive from ZSA.
Please be aware that in the last six years there have been several attempts
by three different fraternities to hijack as a prank the final challenge to
be faced by ZSA's pledges.  Just disregard any instructions other than this
letter and you'll be fine.  Have fun and good luck!  See you all later
tonight!"

   Love, Marjorie

   Ava read the letter a second time to be sure it meant what she thought
it did; when she finished her review there was no doubt in her mind that
the series of challenges she and her sister pledges had been tricked into
doing had all been part of an elaborate prank to get them all naked!

   Ava passed through brief stages of anger and embarrassment at having
been conned right out of her clothes by some frat boys, but when she
thought about how exciting her night had been and how much she'd enjoyed
her time naked, she was almost ready to forgive them.  She even kind of
admired how clever their plot had been.

   She glanced at her phone and saw that it was 11:44 PM.  "If I hurry I'll
still be able to make it to the real ZSA challenge," she thought, "I hope
the real thing is as exciting as the fake one was!"