“Sure I will. I told Ariane I’d take care of you.” She seemed larger suddenly, sprightlier, here on her turf, where she was a Kappa Delta. “Turn down that street right there. It’s the house on the corner.” She pointed down a street lined with oak trees. I drove down it and came to a stop before a white frame house with girls in the yard putting up signs for rush week. Follow the Yellow Brick Road, the signs said. We’re off to see the Wizard. We went in and Irise introduced me to the Chi Omegas. “She makes A’s,” she told everyone. “She’s a genius. She wrote for a newspaper. She’s so wonderful. You’re so lucky to have her here.” They drew around me, really pretty girls, girls with beautiful clothes and faces. “Oh, we’re so glad to have you. It’s so good you’re here. Will you help us with rush? We don’t even have a skit yet.”

“I’ll write you a skit. What do you want it to be about?”

“She’s going to write a skit.” It echoed up and down the living rooms. “There’s a transfer from Dunleith who can write.”

Two of the girls went with me to drop Irise off at the KD house. Then we put my stuff in the dorm room I had been assigned. “Don’t worry about that,” the girls said. “We’ll get you in the house soon. It takes a while but someone always leaves. As soon as someone leaves you can have their room.”

“Just put those clothes in the closet and get my typewriter,” I directed. “Let’s go back to the house and get started.” We drove back to the Chi Omega house and I set my typewriter up on a dining room table and wrote a skit while they watched. It had two acts and three songs set to the music of popular ballads. In the finale the star (to be played by me) came out on the stage wearing a red towel and sat down on the edge of the stage and sang:

I’m tired of wearing my clothes.

I’d rather go naked, God knows.

I’d much rather wear Chi O pins in my hair

And sit on the curb till I froze.

They adored it. We rehearsed it six times, ordered the costumes prepared, and went in to dinner in the dining hall. I was surrounded by admirers. I had campus beauties all around me. I was a hit. I was going to be popular. “She wrote for a newspaper. She won a writing prize at Vanderbilt. She can write book reports and everything. She makes wonderful grades. Can you believe she came here? We’re so lucky to have her. Oh, maybe now we can get off academic probation after all.”