Dispatches From Open Rush: Part Two

Still Day One

9:27 p.m.: Are they…. chanting?

9:29 p.m.: They are definitely chanting. Also, clapping. It feels cult-like… I kind of like it? Need to reevaluate my priorities.

9:32 p.m.: Get into a weird passive-aggressive fight with the girl by the door who wants to take my purse. I say I’ll hold it. She’s still smiling, but behind those eyes, resentment festers.

9:49 p.m.: Actually hear the words, “rush is so fun!” come out of my own mouth. Sorority girl tells me that she hates it. A feeling of camaraderie is formed.

9:54 p.m.: Struggle yet again to explain what my jacket looks like. “It’s black with like… a hood…”

10:06 p.m.: “Over break I thought I was going to lose all my freshman weight but that obviously didn’t happen. Who wants to go to a 6:30 spin class tomorrow?”

10:07 p.m.: “Yeah, A.M.”

10:15 p.m.: Fifth and final house of the night. Look in my face in my iPhone camera and remind myself that I am a strong and independent woman.

10:17 p.m.: Girl and I have a fun and unstrained conversation about our mutual habit of blacking out and accidentally shoplifting from Wawa.

10:35 p.m.: Two girls approach me at once and crowd me into a corner. Is this an intimidation technique?

10:45 p.m.: Finally done for the day.

Day Two:

6:10 p.m.: Can’t be bothered to meet my group half an hour before our first round so I decide to meet them at the house. Think about wearing yesterday’s outfit. Grudgingly find a new outfit if only to impress the girls in line around me (I’m SHALLOW, okay).

6:17 p.m.: Receive three missed calls from my Rho Gam so I guess I have to answer? “Sorry, I was… uh… sleeping…”

6:32 p.m.: Girl struggles to explain that her house breaks their assigned stereotype without mentioning specifically what that stereotype is. “We have all types of girls here! My best friend from Thailand, for example, thought she didn’t fit in, but she, like, totally fits in.”

6.55 p.m.: The jacket thing is just not even funny anymore.

7:12 p.m.: The Rho Gams are all so obviously annoyed with us because it still takes us five minutes to get into alphabetical order. Girl-with-no-tights from yesterday is… still not wearing tights?

7:20 p.m.: Spend the whole ten minutes I’m talking to a girl trying to catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror behind her. I think I have lipstick on my teeth.

7:55 p.m.: While on a break, Saxby’s round two: “We just had this amazing, really down-to-earth conversation. She was like, I love your outfit.”

8:02 p.m.: “The first house, like – I thought they were really sweet, but the girl I was talking to was just… like, I looked around the room and I just don’t think that house is for me, like these are not the kind of people I imagine myself around. You know?”

8:22 p.m.: Last house. More chanting. Unable to think in anything other than small-talk.

8:33 p.m.: Try to muster up energy/interest in the proceedings but honestly could not care less. Girl I’m talking to feels the same. We stand in grateful silence.

8:35 p.m.: “I love the… decorations.” “I hate them.” “Oh.”

8:59 p.m.: Grab my coat for one last time and head home, tired, cold, and more lemonade than girl. Woo rush 2k14!!!