Beebo Brinker Chronicles 1 - Odd Girl Out

by Ann Bannon

  Odd Girl Out

  Ann Bannon

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE BIG HOUSE was still, almost empty. Down the bright halls and in the shadowy rooms everything was quiet. Upstairs a few desk lights burned over pages of homework, but that was all.

  There was one room in the sorority house, however, where no reading was going on. It was a big, warm room, meant for sprawling and studying and socializing in, like the others. Three girls shared it and two of them were in it now on this autumn Sunday night.

  One was a newcomer. Her name was Laura and she had just finished moving all of her belongings into the room. It was a scene of overstuffed confusion, but at least she had somehow succeeded in squeezing all her things in and now there remained only the job of finding a place for them. Laura sat down to rest and worry about it. She tried to ignore the other girl.

  Beth lay sprawled out on the studio couch with her head cushioned on a rambling pile of fat pillows at one end and her feet dangling over the other. She was drinking a Coke, resting the bottle on her stomach and letting it ride the rhythm of her breathing. She wore slim tan pants and a dark green sweatshirt with “Alpha Beta” stamped in white on the front. Her hair was dark, curly, and close-cropped.

  Laura sat by choice in the stiff wooden desk chair, as if Beth were too comfortable and she could make amends by being uncomfortable herself. She was nervously aware of Beth's scrutiny, and the sorority pledge manual she was trying to read made no sense to her. The worst of it was that Laura wanted Beth to like her. Beth seemed like all good things to the younger girl's dazzled eyes: sophisticated, a senior, a leader, president of the Student Union, and curiously pretty. She had a well-modeled, sensitive face with features not bonily chic like those of a mannequin, but subtle, vital, harmonious. She wasn't fashionably pretty but her beauty was healthy and real and her good nature showed in her face.

  Laura flipped nervously through her pledge manual, not even pretending to read any more. Finally Beth saw that she wasn't reading and smiled at the ruse.

  "One hundred and thirty-seven pages of crap,” she said, nodding at the manual. “All guaranteed to confuse you. I don't know why they don't revise the damn thing. I've passed an exam on it and I still don't understand it.'

  Her attitude embarrassed Laura, who smiled uncertainly at her new roommate, thinking as she did so how many times she had smiled in the same way at Beth, not sure of how she was expected to react.

  She had never known quite how to react to Beth from the first day she had seen her. It had been shortly after Laura's arrival at the university, when everything she saw and felt excited her to a high pitch of nervous awareness. Even the sweet smoke of bonfires in the early-autumn air smelled new and tantalizing.

  Laura walked around the university town of Champlain, down streets chapeled with old elms; past the new campus with its clean, striking Georgian buildings and past the old with its mellow moss-covered halls; past that copy of the Pantheon that passed for the auditorium; past the statues; past the students walking down the white strip of the boardwalk, sitting on the steps of buildings, stretching in the grass, and talking ... always talking.

  It thrilled her, and it frightened her a little. Some day she would know all of this as well as her home town; know the campus lore and landmarks, the Greek alphabet, the football heroes, the habits of the campus cops. Some day she wouldn't have to ask the questions—she would be able to answer them. It made her feel a sort of grateful affection for the campus already, just to think of it this way.

  She had been in school a week when she went up to the Student Union to join an activity committee. It seemed like a good way to meet people and get into the university's social life. Laura had an appointment for an interview at three o'clock. She sat in the bustling student activities center on the third floor waiting to be called, clearing her throat nervously and sneaking a look at herself in her compact mirror. She had a delicate face shaped like a thin white heart, with startling pale blue eyes and brows and lashes paler still. A face quaint and fine as a Tenniel sketch.

  She waited for almost half an hour and the sustained anxiety began to tire her. She stared at her feet and up to the clock, and back to her feet again. It was when she glanced at the clock for the last time that she saw Beth for the first.

  Beth was standing halfway across the room, tall and slender and with a magnetic face, talking to a couple of nodding boys. She was taller than one of them and the other acted as if she towered over him, too. Laura watched her with absorbed interest. She tapped the smaller boy on the shoulder with a pencil as she talked to him and then she laughed at them both and Laura heard her say, “Okay, Jack. Thanks.” She turned to leave them, coming across the room toward Laura, and Laura looked suddenly down at her shoes again. She told herself angrily that this was silly, but she couldn't look up.

  Suddenly she felt the light tap of a sheaf of papers on her head, and looked up in surprise. Beth smiled down at her. “Aren't you new around here?” she said, looking at Laura with wide violet eyes.

  "Yes,” Laura said. Her throat was dry and she tried to clear it again.

  "Are you on a committee?"

  She was strangely, compellingly pretty, and she was looking down at Laura with a frank, friendly curiosity that confused the younger girl.

  "I'm here for an interview,” Laura said in a scratchy voice.

  Beth waited for her to say something more and Laura felt her cheeks coloring. A young man thrust his face out of a nearby door and said, “Laura Landon?” looking around him quizzically.

  "Here.” Laura stood up.

  "Oh. Come on in. We're ready for you.” He smiled.

  Beth smiled, too. “Good luck,” she said, and walked away.

  Laura looked after her, until the boy said, “Come on in,” again.

  "Oh,” she said, whirling around, and then she smiled at him in embarrassment. “Sorry."

  The interview turned out well. Laura joined the Campus Chest committee and turned her efforts toward parting students from their allowances for good causes. Every afternoon she went up to the Union Building and put in an hour or two in the Campus Chest office on the third floor, where most of the major committees had offices.

  It had been nearly two weeks later that Beth stopped in the office to talk to the chairman. She sat on his desk and Laura, carefully looking at a paper in front of her, listened to every word they said. It was mostly business: committee work, projects, hopes for success. And then the chairman told her who was doing the best work for Campus Chest. He named three or four names. Beth nodded, only half listening.

  "And Laura Landon's done a lot for us,” he said.

  "Um-hmm,” said Beth, taking little notice. She was gathering her papers, about to leave.

  "Hey, Laura.” He waved her over.

  Laura got up and came uncertainly toward the desk. Beth straightened her papers against the top of the desk, hitting them sideways the long way and then the short way until all the edges were even.

  Beth, this is Laura Landon,” the boy said.

  Beth looked up and smiled. And then her smile broadened. “Oh, you're Laura Landon,” she said. She held out her hand. “Hi, Laur."

  Nobody had ever called her “Laur” before; she wasn't the type to inspire nicknames. But she liked it now. She took Beth's hand. “Hi,” she said.

  "You know each other?” the chairman said.

  "We've never had a formal introduction,” Beth said, “but we've had a few words together.” Laura remained silent, a little desperate for conversation.

  "Well, then,” said the chairman gallantly, “Miss Cullison, may I present Miss Landon.

  "Will Mi
ss Landon have coffee with Miss Cullison this afternoon?” said Beth.

  Laura smiled a little. “She'd be delighted,” she said.

  They did. And she was. An occasional fifteen-or thirty-minute coffee break was traditional at the Union Building. Beth and Laura went down to the basement coffee shop, and came up two hours later because it was time finally to go home for dinner. Laura couldn't remember exactly what they talked about. She recalled telling Beth where she was living and what she was studying. And she remembered a long monologue from Beth on the Student Union activities and what they accomplished. And then suddenly Beth had said, “Are you going to go through rushing, Laur?

  "Rushing?"

  "Yes. To join a sorority. Informal rush opens next week."

  "Well, I—I hadn't thought about it."

  "Think about it, then. You should, Laura. I'm on Alpha Beta and, strictly off the record, I think we'd be very interested."

  "Why would Alpha Beta want me?” Laura said to her coffee cup.

  "Because I think it's a good idea. And Alpha Beta listens to Beth Cullison.” She laughed a little at herself. “Does that sound hopelessly egotistical? It does, doesn't it? But it's true.” She paused, waiting until Laura looked at her again. “Sign up for rushing, Laura,” she said, “and I'll see to it you're pledged."

  "I—I will. I certainly will, Beth,” Laura said, hardly daring to believe what she'd heard.

  Beth grinned. “My God, it's nearly five-thirty,” she said. “Let's go."

  After that it had been easy. Beth spoke the truth; Alpha Beta did listen to her. Laura had signed up for rush, with the secret understanding that she would pledge Alpha Beta. But even at that, it was a thrill when Beth called her two days after rushing was over and said, “Hi, honey. Pack your things. You're an Alpha Beta now. Officially.

  Laura had cried over the phone, and Beth said, “You don't have to, you know."

  "But I want to!"

  Beth laughed. “Okay, Laur, come on over. You just joined one of the world's most exclusive clubs. And you have a new roommate. In fact you have two."

  "Two?"

  "Yes. Me. And Emily."

  Emily had spent the day with them, helping Laura bring things in and put them away. Laura was so tired now she could hardly recall Emily's face; all she remembered was a warm, ready laugh and the vague impression that Emily was fashioned to please the fussiest males: the ones who want perfect looks and perfect compliance in a woman.

  Beth had called a halt to their work early in the evening.

  "We've done enough, Laura,” she had said, dropping down on the studio couch. “We've even done too much.

  "It was wonderful of you to help me, Beth."

  "Oh, I know. I'm wonderful as all hell. I only did it because I had to.” She grinned at Laura, who smiled self-consciously back. Beth liked to tease her for being too polite and it made Laura uncomfortable. She would have gone to almost any length to please Beth, and yet she could not abandon her good manners. They struck her as one of her best features, and it puzzled her that Beth should needle her about them. She knew Beth could carry off a courtesy beautifully at the right moment; Laura had seen her do it. But Beth was much less formal than her new roommate, and furthermore she liked to swear, which Laura thought extremely unmannerly. Beth made Laura squirm with discomfort. And in self-defense Laura tried to build a wall of politeness between them, to admire Beth from faraway.

  There was a vague, strange feeling in the younger girl that to get too close to Beth was to worship her, and to worship was to get hurt. As yet, Beth made no sense to her, she fit no mold, and Laura wanted to keep herself at an emotional distance from her. She had never met or read or dreamed a Beth before and until she could understand her she would be afraid of her.

  Laura had been thinking about this that afternoon while she filled the drawers of her new dresser with underwear and sweaters and scarves and socks, and had resolved right then that she must always be on her guard with Beth. She didn't know what she was trying to shield herself from; she only felt that she needed protection somehow.

  Beth had suddenly put an arm around her shoulders, shaking the thoughts out of her head, and said with a laugh, “For God's sake, Laur, how many pairs of panties do you have? Look at ‘em all, Emmy."

  And Emily had looked up and laughed pleasantly. Laura couldn't tell if she were laughing at the underwear or at Beth or at the look on Laura's face, for Laura looked as surprised as she was. She stood there for a minute, feeling only the weight and pull of Beth's arm and not the necessity to answer.

  In a faint voice Laura answered, “My mother buys all my underwear. She gets it at Field's."

  "Well, she must've cleaned them out this time,” said Beth, smiling at the luxurious drawerful. “I'll bet they put in an emergency order for undies when she leaves the store."

  Emily laughed again and Laura shut the drawer with a smack and cleared her throat. She hated to talk about lingerie. She hated to undress in front of anyone. She even hated to wash her underwear because she had to hang it on the drying racks in the John or in the laundry room where everyone could see it. It was no comfort to her that everybody else did the same thing.

  "Of course, I don't believe in underwear myself,” said Beth airily. “Never wear any.” She swept a stack of sweaters theatrically off the table and handed them to Laura, who gazed at her in dismay, reaching mechanically for the sweaters. Beth laughed. “I'm pretty wicked, Laur."

  "Don't you really wear any—any underwear?” Her whole upbringing revolted at this. “You must wear some."

  Beth shook her head, enjoying Laura's distress and surprised at how little it took to shock her. Laura looked at her with growing outrage until she burst out laughing and Emily intervened sympathetically.

  "Beth, you're going to make your poor little roommate think she's fallen in with a couple of queers,” she said with a giggle.

  Beth grinned at Laura and the younger girl felt strangely as if the bottom had fallen out of her stomach.

  "She has,” said Beth with emphatic cheerfulness. “She ought to know the dreadful truth. We're characters, Laura. Desirable characters, of course, but still characters. Are you with us?"

  Laura wished for a moment that she were all alone in a vacuum. She didn't know whether to take Beth seriously or not; she felt as if Beth were testing her, challenging her, and she didn't know how to meet the challenge. She transferred a sweater nervously from one hand to the other and tried to answer. Nobody was a more rigid conformist, farther from a character, than Laura Landon. But the bothersome need to please Beth prompted her to say weakly, “Yes."

  She put the sweater in a drawer, turning away from Beth and Emily as she did so, and silently and secretly scraped the white undersides of her forearms. It was an old gesture. Whenever she was disappointed with herself she bruised herself physically. The sad red lines she raised on her skin were her expiation, a way of squaring with herself.

  Beth, who could see she had gone far enough, confined herself for a while to friendly suggestions and answering questions. It was a great relief to Laura. She was almost herself again when Beth suggested a tour of the sorority house.

  The two girls went first up to the dormitory on the third floor, where everybody but the housemother and the household help slept.

  "Does anyone ever sleep in the rooms?” Laura asked as they mounted the stairs.

  "Oh, once in a while. In the winter, when the dorm is really cold, some of the kids sleep in their rooms. The studio couches unfold into double beds. They can sleep two."

  They had entered the big quiet dorm with its dozens of iron bunk beds smothered in comforters and down pillows and bright blankets. Laura shivered in the chill while Beth pointed out her unmade bed to her.

  "We'll have to come back and make it up later,” she said.

  Beth had then led Laura down to the basement. She was enjoying this new role of guide and guardian, enjoying even more Laura's unquestioning acceptance of it. They fou
nd themselves playing a pleasant little game without ever having to refer to the rules: when they reached the door to the back stairs together, Laura stopped, as if automatically, and let Beth hold the door for her. Laura, who tried almost instinctively to be more polite than anybody else, readily gave up all the small faintly masculine courtesies to Beth, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if Beth expected it of her. There was no hint that such an agreeable little game could suddenly turn fast and wild and lawless.

  In the basement Beth showed her the luggage room, shelved to the ceiling and crowded with all manner of plaid and plastic and leather cases. In the rear of the room was a closed door.

  Beth turned around to go out and bumped softly into Laura, who had been waiting for an explanation of the closed door. Laura jumped back and Beth smiled slowly and said, “I won't eat you, Laur."

  Laura felt a crazy wish to turn and run, but she held her ground, unable to answer.

  Beth put her hands gently on Laura's shoulders. “Are you afraid of me, Laur? she said. There was a long, terribly bright and searching silence.

  "I—I wondered what the door in back was to,” Laura faltered. Her sentence seemed to hang suspended, without a period.

  Beth let her hands drop. “That's the chapter room,” she said. “Verboten. Until you're initiated, of course."

  "Oh,” said Laura, and she walked out of the luggage room with Beth's strange smile wreaking havoc in the pit of her stomach.

  On the way upstairs they met Mary Lou Baker, the president of Alpha Beta. She came down the stairs toward them, towing a bulging bundle of laundry which bumped dutifully down the stairs behind her. She smiled at them and said, “Hi there. How's the unpacking coming along, Laura?"

  "Fine, thank you.” Laura watched Mary Lou retreat into the basement, impressed with her importance.

  "She likes you,” said Beth as they headed back up to their room.

  "She does?” Laura smiled, pleasantly surprised.

  "Um-hmm,” Beth answered. Usually she has nothing to say to newcomers for a few weeks. If she notices you right away it's a good sign. At least it is if you're interested in her approval.” She said this rather disparagingly.