[sarahsarah]

Chapter 1

“Are you sure that you’re ready darling?” It was the third time that Jade’s mother had asked her the question, her nerves clearly greater than her daughter’s. Jade knew that her mom had been dreading this day for weeks, hoping that it wasn’t going to arrive. With her father having left when they were just a child, Jade did worry about how her mother was going to cope completely on her own. However, if she had proven anything to her daughter, it was that she was strong and tough.

“Yes mother,” Jade replied, throwing the last few items into her suitcase. The room looked almost completely bare; her posters were gone, her shelves nearly empty and the wardrobe almost entirely vacant. “I’m really excited, and you need to stop worrying,” Jade added. She zipped up the case and looked around the room. This had been her home for the entirety of her life and it felt strange to be saying goodbye to it. She knew that she would be returning over the holidays, but it felt like she was finally entering a new era of her life.

“I know Jade, but I’m always going to worry about you when you’re off at university. I’m so used to having a busy house and now it’ll be quiet nights watching television,” her mother said. Jade sighed; her mom had many qualities but being proactive wasn’t one of them. Raising children as a single parent was admirable, protecting them from your own hurt was commendable and ensuring you worked enough to give them a good life and a good school was saintly. However, if Jade could just wish one thing for her mother, it would be for her to meet some friends or even a man.

“Come on mom. You always used the excuse of working, caring and putting food on the table as the reason to not do things, but now there is no excuse. Get yourself out and about. Janet was mentioning the other day about the ladies group forming nearby and that you should join. I know there’s a singles night at the bistro next week as well,” Jade said. She gave her mother a sly nudge with her elbow as she finished.

“Jade!” Her mother exclaimed, “I’m not going to go and meet just any man.”
“I know, but promise me you will try that ladies group and see if you can go out with the girls from work as well,” Jade said, urging her mother to do something for herself.
“Fine, I’ll try it out I guess. The girls are having a drink after work on Wednesday, so maybe I’ll go to that.”
“Brilliant,” Jade shouted gleefully, “Now can you leave me alone to finish sorting everything. Go and bug Iris for a bit.” Jade’s mother nodded and left the room with a smile.

Iris was Jade’s twin sister and the two were almost entirely identical. As Jade looked in the full length mirror on her wall, she might as well have been staring at her sister. They had exactly the same face; the deep sapphire eyes drew you in and her thinly plucked eyebrows were shaped into a deceivingly perfect arch that followed the slight curve of her eye. Her mouth almost naturally seemed to curve into a smile at any opportunity most likely due to her high, wide cheekbones.

The gorgeous features of Jade’s face were merely a reflection of her entire body. Everything, from her long legs to her slim waste, suggested a natural beauty in the teen. She naturally stood high, almost with an air of authority that her language rarely showed. The black leather jacket hung smoothly on her slender body with the collar flicking out, the white top modest but stylish and the jeans finished the outfit to perfection.

However, if you only moved two rooms down, you would find a near copy of this appearance. Even the clothing choices of the two girls were very similar. It only felt natural to have a similar taste in almost everything. Only one thing could really be used to tell the twins apart and that was their hair. Jade’s long, blond, lustrous hair shone like a white flame, draping over her shoulders and flowing smoothly, whereas Iris preferred to tie her hair up in a ponytail. If the two of them stood side by side, it was the only obvious way of identifying which sister was which.

The girls had a similar taste in many things; both loved ballet, having attended ballet school since age nine. They were equally fond of fine dining, had always been film fanatics and were fairly sporty. They differed a lot academically; Jade had always excelled when it came to science and mathematics, whereas Iris outshone her in the arts. Despite this, miraculously, both of the sisters had been accepted to the same university, albeit to study very different subjects.

Today was the day they were leaving for university and Jade was a mix of emotions. She couldn’t be more excited about the next stage of her life, she couldn’t be more nervous about what might happen. On top of that, she was worried for her mother, happy to be going with her sister, sad to leave home and ready to party. Tomorrow would be the start of rush week which meant she needed to leave this day; she’d waited as long as possible ensuring she spent quality time with her mother first.

Jade gave one quick glance to the mirror, straightened her jacket, grabbed the handle of her suitcase and left the room. “Iris, are you ready?” She shouted down the corridor ahead of her.
“Almost, I’m just finishing clearing out the wardrobe,” a reply echoed back to her. Jade walked to the doorway and saw her sister on her hands and knees, grabbing the things out the back corner of her wardrobe. Her ass was stuck up in the air, and her short skirt was providing almost no cover.
“Damn it Iris, you can at least try not to look like a slut,” Jade joked, teasing her sister.
“Shut up. Your outfits are almost always as revealing as mine. Don’t look if you’ve got a problem with it,” Iris quipped back. Jade leaned against the door to the also near empty room.
“That may be so, but at least I’m not gathering my private collection of… equipment,” Jade stated.
“Yeah yeah, I bet it was the first thing that you packed,” Iris replied before pulling out of the wardrobe holding a small rucksack. Jade gave a chuckle, going slightly red at the comment.

“So did mom come in here?” Jade asked her sister now she could talk to her face.
“Very briefly, she seems quite emotional,” Iris replied, throwing the rucksack onto the pile of other belongings.
“Hmmm. I tried convincing her about the ladies club again, as well as going out with people from work. I am a bit worried about her,” Jade opened up, “Do you think she’ll be alright?” Iris walked up to her twin and rested her hand on the girls shoulder.
“Look, I know you worry, but she is stronger than either of us and she’ll be absolutely fine. We’ll still be in touch all the time and we’ll be home for the whole of Christmas. Today, and the next week, is all about us though. Now cheer up because we’re going to university!” Iris started jumping as she said the last sentence and Jade couldn’t help but burst into a massive grin.

“You’re right, now grab your stuff and help me load the car,” Jade said in a much brighter mood. She grabbed two of the cases and made her way downstairs. By the time that the two sisters had finished loading the car, the boot and the back seat was nearly overflowing. Both front seats were pushed forward as far as they could go to make room for all of their possessions. After Jade had thrown in the last couple of items, a set of filing and a sandwich toaster, she slammed the door shut and turned to see her mother waiting in the doorway giving Iris a massive hug.

“Come here Jade, it’s going to be a long time before I see you again,” her mother called out. Jade smiled and approached her two family members. She wrapped one arm around Iris and one around her mother and the three shared a heartfelt goodbye moment. When they finally broke apart there were hints of tears in Jade’s mother’s eyes. “I’m going to miss you girls so much, but the important thing is that you have fun. Try to do some work as well though,” she said with a croak in her throat.

“We’ll miss you as well mom,” Jade replied, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Iris added.
“I will always love you girls,” their mother replied before waving them towards the car.

The journey was long; by the time that Jade and Iris reached their dorms, it was already dark outside. They quickly unpacked their belongings into their respective rooms and instantly went to sleep. It had been a long day, even with alternating who was behind the wheel and both girls only wanted to get some rest, ready for the next day.

The twin sisters stood outside the building staring at the stone walls. They stood beside each other, adrenaline pumping through their veins. Considering that the girls had been at the university for less than twenty four hours, neither had met any new friends yet. They had decided to go to the Pan Hellenic fair together, especially as they both had full intentions to join the same sorority. This event would kick off the rush week for all new students wishing to pledge either a sorority or a fraternity and Jade had been waiting for this moment ever since Cal had told her about the sorority so long ago.

“Are you ready for this Jade?” Iris asked. They had talked about this moment almost nonstop for the last few months; it was almost the only thing that they discussed.
“You know it; I’ve been waiting so long. I think Cal said the president’s name is Monica,” Jade replied.
“Yeah she did. Hopefully it all goes well. I’m so excited,” Iris said. Both girls made their way inside the packed out hall. Every inch of the room was full of students and stalls. Everywhere they looked people were excited, girls and guys were encouraging people to join sororities. People were wearing matching outfits, holding big signs and running stands with colours stood out. The whole place seemed like chaos.

“Hi there ladies. Are either of you interested in becoming an omega?” a random girl asked them. Jade jumped in surprise; she hadn’t even seen the girl approach.
“Hmmm… no thank you… we’re looking for a very particular sorority actually,” Jade replied trying to sound polite.
“Oh really, which one is that?” the girl asked. Jade thought and realised she didn’t actually know the official name of the sorority. Cal had mentioned many things but hadn’t ever told her the real name. She looked across at Iris and saw she looked lost for a response as well.
“I don’t know actually; they always just seem to call themselves the sisterhood,” Jade answered.
“Oh, that one, I didn’t realise that was your thing. They have a stall at the back of the room, fairly bland to be honest,” the girl informed them, pointing vaguely away to the left.

Jade thanked the girl and led Iris through the crowd and eventually she found the exact stall that she was looking for. The girl wasn’t lying when she said it was bland. There were no fancy signs, no elaborate selling and no real interest in bringing freshman to the stall. Three girls were sat behind the stall, wearing matching, plain pink t-shirts and looking fairly disinterested. The middle girl seemed to be in charge with the other two girls seemingly looking at her notes. Her frizzy, long black hair and supple body seemed to ooze confidence. Jade could only guess that this was Monica.

The girl to her left looked quite professional, but that might have just been the glasses. Her short blond hair ran freely over her ears and her smile seemed to light up the stall. The pink t-shirt seemed to look out of place on the girl and she even seemed uncomfortable in it. The third girl almost appeared younger than the other two. Her face seemed very youthful and the long brown hair ran a long way below her shoulders. Jade couldn’t help but be drawn to her top though which almost seemed to be stretching over her large breasts.

Jade turned to Iris, gave a quick nod which was returned and the two sisters approached the bench. “Hi there,” Jade said quietly, her confidence waning by the second.
“Oh hello,” the middle girl replied, “I’m going to assume you two are related.”
“Yeah,” Iris said, “I’m Iris, and this suddenly shy person is my twin sister Jade.”
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Monica and I’m the president of this sorority. This here is Danni, my vice president,” Monica said, gesturing to the blonde girl on her left, “And this is Natalie, the treasurer for the sorority.” The other two girls waved as their names were mentioned.
“So are… both of you… thinking of rushing?” Natalie asked. Jade couldn’t help but think she sounded a bit surprised, or doubting. Monica seemed to shoot her a bit of a warning glance which did nothing but confuse Jade.

“Yes we are,” Jade replied, “Our cousin Cal was a member until last year and said nothing but great things. She kept telling us to try and join if we happened to get into this university, so here we are.”
“Oh yes,” Monica said, “Cal did mention to look out for her cousin, I just wasn’t expecting there to be two of you.”
“So do you know much about this sorority?” Danni questioned and seemed to get a warning glance of her own from Monica.
“Well…” Iris began, “Cal told us that it’s a great sisterhood that will support you in many ways. It seemed to have a massive impact on her so we thought it must be great.”

“It certainly is,” Monica replied hushing Danni as it looked like she was about to say more, “So, you are only looking at us then?”
“Yes,” Jade stated, “We’ve had our heart set on it for months.”
“Brilliant,” Monica said, turning a page to face them. “Leave your details including name and email and take one of our fliers. There are five rush events this week, you must attend at least two to be considered for a place. The top twenty voted on after rush week will be invited to the sorority for a month as a shortlist for a place. After that month, we will narrow it down to only ten pledges to join our sorority. We look forward to seeing you over the next week ladies.”
“We look forward to impressing you,” Iris replied happily, taking one of the fliers. Jade followed suit and the two started to walk off happily. As she was walking away she heard one quiet question by Danni under her breath to Monica.
“Do you think they know what could happen?”