SAINTS AND SCHOLARS
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ALPHA BETA TRAITOR

Kathy Moffet



In her mind Sarah had the votes counted.
She would beat Sue Reventlow by one vote
fourteen to thirteen
and be president of the sorority
for the second year in a row.
She thought.
Now with the girls all gone
and her roomie Beth sound asleep
in their cozy quarters
she was reconciling 
the harsh reality of being runner-up.
Where had she miscalculated?
Who had jumped ship,
detrained-- mixing metaphors--
from her campaign express?
Then.
It came to her.
The votes,
the anonymous ballots.
Mrs. Halkemp, who owned the sorority house
had wadded them in a plastic bag
and taken it into the kitchen.
Sarah crept quietly there, 
lifted the cover of the wastebasket. 
The small plastic bag was on top.
She removed it, untied it,
emptied the identical-sized ballots
onto the small breakfast-nook table.
And found at once the root of her miscalculation.
The slip of paper read Sue
in Beth's inimitable print
with the tall "S" 
and the three-dash "E" without a spine.

Beth had betrayed her.

Sarah re-stuffed the other ballots into the bag
and returned it to the wastebasket.
Then she marched back to her room
and switched on the overhead light.
Beth was already sitting up,
her head propped on the upright pillow.
"You were too much into it,"
she stated with matter-of-fact candor.
"We weren't spending the time
together we used to."
Sarah looked across at Beth,
crushed the small slip of paper in her hand,
said:  "Thank you.  Being president 
wasn't fun anymore anyway.
Sue can have the job."
Sarah tripped the switch,
laughed into the darkness.
"Get some sleep.  I missed you, too."
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  • Home
    • Notre Dame
  • Contact
    • Roadmap to HEAVEN >
      • Suit to Kill, Slip to Thrill
      • Title Index >
        • A Letter From Your Secretary
        • 8086
        • A Woman's Pride
        • Aliens or Angels?
        • Alpha Beta Traitor
        • Amy And Amy And
        • Are You Telling Me?
        • Baby Blue Sunbeam
        • Ballpark Hero
        • Barn Quilts
        • Beautiful with Braces
        • Because it Still Rains
        • Bend
        • Better
        • Better Yet
        • The Big Yellow Elopement Machine
        • Blind Date
        • Brother
        • Cadmium Gold
        • Calico Charms
        • Caramels
        • Carrie Me Back
        • Cat in the Corner Chair
        • CATCH from 13 Stories
        • Cat's Eyes
        • The Cherry Spot
        • The Closer Wins a Steak
        • Cloud
        • Coffee Shop HEARTS 2
        • Company
        • Confessional
        • Confetti
        • Cover!
        • Cover Art Gallery
        • The Dad Who Was 24-Feet Tall
        • The Day the Avanti Didn't Start
        • Days of Christmas
        • The Devil Sells His Soul
        • Double Sugar
        • The Ebullience of Being Elaina Brightman
        • Escape
        • Everybody's Teddy
        • Fall of Winter
        • Fatal Flaws
        • Final Final: The Last Newspaper
        • Forgiveness Day
        • The Girl as Good as Mozart
        • The Girl Who Never Was
        • Girl With Backpack
        • Grand Lady
        • Guardian
        • Hard-Boiled, Soft-Headed
        • The Heart of an Unknown Soldier
        • Help Wanted, Hope Needed
        • Hurt
        • I Am Afraid of My Feelings
        • I Don't Care if I Ever Come Back
        • I Will Be Leaving
        • I Wonder Where He is Now
        • In the Throes of Coca Coma
        • Jailhouse Judy
        • Jigsaw
        • Kansas City
        • The Kid Goes 0 for April
        • KISS
        • Kiss Me, Kate-Lynn
        • klick-klock
        • The Last Elevator Girl
        • Lawyer Vs. Rodeo Rider
        • Library Doors
        • Lighthouses
        • Loft in Space
        • Lookalike
        • Love Nothing Novel
        • The Lunacy and the Lace
        • Man in the Big Pajamas
        • Mermaid
        • Morning Jog
        • Mr. In-Between
        • My Brother's Science Project
        • A Nice Quiet Space
        • Nine
        • Not Fields Afar
        • The Note
        • On Briarwood Roof
        • One-Two Punch//Delivered
        • One Way Ticket
        • Out of Limelight
        • Parallel You
        • The Passenger
        • Perfect
        • Physical
        • Pitch Count
        • Polaroid Manipulations
        • Portrait of Genevieve
        • Pretty Dresses, Petty Thieves
        • Pretty, Ugly
        • Proposal
        • PurgaStories
        • Red Chair to Mars
        • Reentry
        • Return to Fine Arts
        • The Ride of a Lifetime
        • Run-Run Runaway Caboose
        • Saturday
        • Secret Game Workshop
        • Shadows
        • Signals
        • Slideshow
        • Slugger
        • The Small of Her Back
        • Southpaws
        • Spelling Bee
        • Spring of Summer
        • Starry Night
        • Stewart Survives the 7th
        • Stuntgirl
        • Stopover
        • The Stowaway
        • The Super Secret Planet Finder
        • Tail of the Lake Monster
        • Team Bus
        • Tow Me
        • Turret
        • Telephone
        • Usherette
        • Varsity
        • Veranda Nights
        • Wicked Curves
        • We
        • Where's Your Faith?
        • You
        • You Kill Me
      • .005 >
        • Prayers Answered >
          • Postcards
          • Pitch Count
          • Where's Your Faith?
          • Spelling Bee
          • You Kill Me
          • Cruisin'
          • Casey's Comeback
          • Archives
  • Library
  • Omnibus
  • Parables
  • Love Stories
    • PRETTY WOMAN
    • Wait Worthy
    • A CUPA DONUTS >
      • THE JOURNEYMAN >
        • Strangers on the Shore
      • The Miracle at Multiplex 4
      • Moon Over November
  • 5-Minute Stories that Last Forever
  • Miracles
  • Healing
  • Meditations
  • PurgaStories
  • Scenes of a GT Hawk
  • Hole in One
  • First Date
  • Wanna Bet?
  • The Not-So-Lonely Cabbie
  • The Big Fight
  • A Parable of the High Seas
  • Lonely Girl
  • Mr. Almost