My mind drifts to our protocol. Last night after Sisterhood parties, around nine o’clock, all the active members voted from the Sisterhood Select app on their phones. Then Sisterhood Select compiled a list of the results and sent it back to us sometime before six o’clock this morning. Sallie submitted that list—all the girls we were inviting to Pref—to Panhellenic this morning at seven. Annie Laurie was not on it.
“I don’t get it,” Lizzie says, scratching the back of her head.
Selma leans back, runs her fingers through her hair. “We’re in trouble.”
“Hang on, girls. Whatever the mistake is, we can fix it,” Gwen says calmly. “Let’s call Panhellenic. They’ll get it all sorted out.” Gwen, I’ve learned from this turbulent week, is the eye of the hurricane.
“Let’s all go over it one more time before we do,” Lizzie says. Gwen and I step behind the others and we all lean into her laptop as she slowly scrolls down each name on the screen. Sure enough, Annie Laurie Whitmore’s is right there in black and white, scheduled to be at Alpha Delt for our second round of Pref.
“Let’s call Panhellenic. It’s the only way we’ll know for sure,” Gwen says.
Lizzie takes out her cell phone, places it down on the table, and presses the speaker button. When a lady picks up, she leans in. “Hi, this is Lizzie Jennings, Recruitment Chairman for Alpha Delta Beta. We have a discrepancy and we’re hoping you can help us.”
“Sure thing,” the lady says. “What’s the discrepancy?”
“So we submitted our list of the PNMs we’re inviting back to Preference to y’all this morning at seven. And a certain girl wasnoton it. Yet now, she’s on our schedule for today. We’re confused, to say the least.”
“I guess so. I’m Terry, by the way.”
“Hi, Terry,” Lizzie says.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it. But in the meantime I can assure you our system is accurate. What is the Potential New Member’s name?”
“Annie Laurie Whitmore.”
“Okay. Let me look at something.” We hear her typing in the background. “May I put you on a brief hold?”
“Sure.” Lizzie glances at us and we all agree.
Nervously I take a sip of my coffee and a bite of the doughnut I brought from upstairs. Bits of sugar glaze fall onto my blouse and I brush them off in haste. Then I replay every detail of the morning in my mind: Sitting on Sallie’s bed. Looking at the list. Making sure Ellie’s name was on it. Going down for coffee, getting a monster hot flash, Lilith going to her room to get our Tiffany key rings—
Now Terry is back on the line. “Lizzie, are you there?”
“Yes. I’m here. And so are our Rush Advisors, Sallie, Wilda, and Gwen, and our chapter president, Selma James.”
“Hi, ladies.”
“Hi, Terry,” we all say at the same time.
“Okay, so, I’ve got the list you submitted pulled up on my computer. It’s in alphabetical order, as you know, and I’m scrolling down to the bottom.” A pause. “Annie Laurie Whitmore is the second to last name on the list. Ellie Woodcock is last.”
We all look at each other. “That’s impossible,” Gwen says, calmly. “She was never on our list to begin with. In fact, she didn’t get a single vote.”
“Huh. I’m looking at the list you uploaded this morning right here on my computer, and—”
“There has to have been a mistake. Y’all must have pulled from the wrong list,” Lizzie says, desperately.
“With all due respect,” Terry’s tone is kind, but authoritative. “I’m not doubting there’s been a mistake, but we’ve never made one like this before. I’m the Greek Life Advisor and I’ve been here four years. Are there any other discrepancies?”
Each of us looks at the other and shrugs. “We haven’t looked that closely,” Lizzie says. “It was only when we saw Annie Laurie’s name that we knew something was wrong.”
“Would you mind going over your original list again—to make sure all the other names on today’s schedule jive with yours?”
I get a sinking feeling—a knot in my stomach. Someone has deliberately messed with our list.
“Sure,” Lizzie says, desperately. “We’ll do that and call you right back.”
Sallie gets up and pulls out her own computer from her bag, then sets it up on the table. “I know I’m crazy, but not this crazy.” She opens her laptop. Then laughs her incredibly fun, infectious laugh, the one she could bottle and sell for a million dollars if that were possible. I love how she never takes life too seriously. “Okay, here’s the list I submitted this morning. I’ll read the names on mine,” Sallie says to Lizzie, “and you check them against the Panhellenic schedule.” Since they’re in alphabetical order, Sallie begins with Becca Billings. We have no As this year. Then she proceeds down to the Ws. “The last two names are Cali Watkins and Ellie Woodcock.”
