Will-Power

[hiyou9]

Wow, so this was just supposed to be a quick little one-shot, but it turned into a 7 page monster. I was having so much fun writing it, I guess

Anyways, one of the girl's challenges when she rushes for a sorority is holding back all her sneezes until the sorority president says she can sneeze. Build-ups and teasing tickles and anticipation abound! Enjoy

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Kennedy Berkshire was only about two weeks into her first year at college, but she’d already been approached by several very important sororities and asked to pledge. She hadn’t expected anything less, of course. She’d grown up very wealthy, having lived in a very wealthy Connecticut city. She’d gone to the best boarding schools. She’d gotten a 2250 on her SATs, she’d been captain of the girl’s crew team, she’d been editor of the school paper, class president—essentially, every success you could name, she’d achieved.

Though Kennedy was planning on rushing for all of the sororities she’d been asked to pledge for, she was only doing this so she’d have back-ups. She was intending—hoping—to join Alpha Psi Omega, the best and most exclusive sorority on campus.

And finally—finally!—that day had arrived. An upperclassman girl had quietly approached Kennedy while she was doing homework on the lawn. She bent down close to Kennedy’s ear and murmured, “Kennedy Berkshire?”

Without looking up, these things were supposed to be kept covert after all, Kennedy whispered, “That’s me.”

The girl handed Kennedy an envelope sealed with wax, “Come to APO house tonight at ten. Bring this note. We’ll be expecting you. Nod once to confirm,” she whispered.

Kennedy nodded once as requested, and the girl straightened up, smiled brightly, and said, “Thanks for all your help! I’ll be going now.”

She walked away. Kennedy watched her, heart thudding with excitement.

She had to get into APO. She just had to.

* * *

That night, Kennedy was getting ready for the night and chatting with her roommate, Hillary.

“I wonder what kind of things we’re going to do?” Kennedy said as she applied her mascara, “Like, my older cousin is a third year at Vassar, and when she rushed for the sorority she’s in now, she had to run around campus completely naked. She did get to do it with a bunch of other pledges and at night, but still.”

“I heard,” Hillary said, “That you have to do something really random the first night the first night before you rush. It's, like, a weird test.”

“Really? What have you heard? Tell me!” Kennedy asked eagerly.

“Well—this is just a rumor—but I heard that you have to go the whole time you’re there without sneezing,” Hillary said slowly.

Kennedy paused in putting on her eyeshadow, “I have to what?” she asked, perfectly manicured eyebrows raised.

“You heard me,” Hillary said.

“I know I heard you, it just sounded so weird,” Kennedy answered, “It sounds too...easy. I hardly ever sneeze. I can’t even remember the last time I sneezed, actually.”

“Well,” Hillary shrugged, “Then this should be easy for you.”

Kennedy grinned at her reflection, “You bet it will,” she said, winking at herself.

* * *

At 10:00 on the dot, Kennedy rang the APO house doorbell. She was quite pleased with the outfit she’d picked out for herself—she was wearing a pale blue sundress with spaghetti straps. It fell mid-thigh. She had paired it with a pair of gleaming white ballet flats (Labor Day was in two days, and she wanted to get a chance to wear them before then) and a white headband.

As Kennedy waited for the door to open, she thought about what Hillary had told her.

All I have to do is not sneeze all night? That’s so easy! And so weird...what kind of a preliminary challenge is that? Well, hopefully it’ll be a snap!

The door slowly swung open, and interrupted Kennedy’s thoughts. Standing on the other side of the door was Tanya Wellington, APO’s president.

“Kennedy Berkshire?” she said smoothly.

“That’s me,” Kennedy said, equally smooth.

“We’re so happy to have you here tonight,” Tanya said, oozing charm.

“And I’m so happy to be here,” Kennedy responded, turning the wattage on her politician-hungry-for-votes smile up to a thousand.

“Please,” Tanya said, gesturing into the house, “Do come in.”

Kennedy obeyed, and walked into the foyer, where she was immediately knocked over the head by the smell of cheap, musky perfume.

Kennedy swallowed nervously. Perfume. Her only nemesis. She could already feel a tiny itch—one that had the potential to blossom into a dozen enormous, unstoppable, tickly, itchy, allergic sneezes—beginning to prickle somewhere deep in her septum.

Kennedy could not let that happen. Not only would that hurt her chances of getting into APO, but the fierce competitor in her wouldn’t allow it.

* * *

Several minutes later, Kennedy was sitting with all the APO girls in the living room. She desperately wanted to pinch her nose, or even just slide a finger on it—anything to lessen the steadily worsening itch. But she didn't dare, she didn’t want to even slightly indicate her growing need to sneeze.

Kennedy and the other APO members made mindless small talk for awhile, until Tanya clapped her hands together and said, “Alright. Enough chit-chat. It’s time to get down to business.”

She turned to Kennedy, “It’s possible you heard what the challenge is tonight. Rumors do spread, I’m fully aware,” she said, all-business, “But, just in case you haven’t heard—your challenge tonight is to not sneeze one single time, not until we say it’s okay. And I’m sure you came here thinking this would be a breeze, but, as evidenced by the old lady perfume hanging heavy in the air, it’s not going to be.”

Kennedy decided to pretend she had no idea what Tanya was referring to, “Perfume?” she said, feigning puzzlement, “I didn’t notice anything. I guess my nose isn’t very sensitive.”

Tanya smirked, “Well,” she said, “We’ll just have to try harder then, won’t we?”

Kennedy bit down lightly on her tongue out of nervousness, “I guess you will,” she responded breathlessly.

Tanya and the other girls wandered into the kitchen, whispering. Kennedy was left sitting nervously—and sneezily, though no one but her knew that—in the living room. She used this moment of solitude to her advantage and rubbed fiercely at her nose. In her experience, this usually staved off sneezes, and it did this time as well—but only for a moment. The tickle returned, if anything even stronger.

Kennedy was beginning to slowly realize something. One of the advantages of not sneezing often was just that—she didn’t sneeze often. It would probably take a lot to make her sneeze, too. But, when her nose finally hit its breaking point—which Kennedy knew was only going to be a matter of time—she would be unable to stop the sneezes that would surely come tearing through her sinuses. Since she rarely sneezed, and her nose was long overdue for a doozy. She could just feel it.

When Tanya returned, she was carrying a small film canister. Kennedy wrinkled her brow in confusion. Who used film cameras anymore?

Tanya sat down in the chair across from Kennedy, “Do you know what’s in this canister?” she asked.

Kennedy didn’t want to talk, because that only made the itch in her nose grow worse, so she shook her head in reply.

“In this canister is an extremely potent sneezing powder. It’s made up of finely ground black pepper, thyme, cumin, chili powder, and a little dust for good measure,” she said, smiling like a shark circling in for a kill.

Tanya gently lifted the lid off the canister, and grinned at Kennedy, “You ready?” she asked.

Tanya didn’t wait for an answer; she gently poured the powder into her hand, stood, and blew it into Kennedy’s face.

Kennedy inhaled in surprise at the exact wrong time, and she felt every last one of those little grains ascend into her already irritated nasal passages.

Tanya sat down, waiting patiently. It took several seconds, but the itch in Kennedy’s nose magnified a hundredfold. It went from an irritating but bearable tickle to an almost painful and nearly—nearly­—unbearable itch.

The powder mixed with the musky perfume already swirling in Kennedy’s nostrils—it was nasal TNT. She almost succumbed; she felt her breath catch, her eyes begin to close, the sneeze was coming...it was coming...it...was....

No. Through sheer willpower alone, she stopped it. She glared at Tanya through teary eyes, challenging her wordlessly.

“Well,” said Tanya, looking frustrated yet still pleased at how well Kennedy was holding up, “We’ll just have to try even harder.”

* * *

Kennedy didn’t know how much longer she could hold her sneezes back. Her body was practically pulsing with the need. Tanya and the other APO girls had left the room again, whispering the whole time. Kennedy groaned and rubbed madly at her nose.

Mistake. With every rub, the tickle worsened and worsened and worsened and...oh! How she needed to sneeze! Maybe if she sneezed once and stifled it, they wouldn’t hear and it—

Too late. Tanya and the girls had already walked back in the room. Tanya was brandishing a long feather like a sword. She took her seat across from Kennedy and fingered the feather gently.

“I need you to do something really simple,” she said, “I need you to put this feather under your nose and smell it.”

“Thahhh...that’s all?” Kennedy asked, her voice hitching slightly.

Tanya smirked, “That’s all.”

She handed the feather to Kennedy, who picked it up suspiciously. She wasn’t allergic to feathers. Short of shoving it up her nose, it wasn’t going to do anything. She placed it under her nose and inhaled.

The effect was surprising—and instantaneous. The itch blossomed and worsened—if that were even possible at this point.

“By the way,” Tanya drawled slyly, “That feather? It’s coated with quite a bit of pollen.”

Pollen. Something that usually had very little—if any—effect on Kennedy, but her nose had already had so much havoc wreaked on it that night that it was proving to be very effective indeed.

“Tickle the underside of your nose with it,” Tanya commanded.

Kennedy grudgingly obeyed. The soft, tickly feather gently worked its magic on her nose. It teased and taunted, making Kennedy’s nose twitch in frustration. But it wasn’t enough to send her over the edge, not yet. Just enough to worsen the itch. She continued tickling her nose methodically, leaving it twitchy and irritated.

Oh, dear God. Pollen, perfume, spices, a tickly feather—how could one nose withstand so much? Kennedy knew it was time to wave the white flag of surrender. She couldn’t do this anymore—the tickle wasn’t going to go away. The longer she held it back, the worse it was going to get.

Her breath hitched, her head tipped back, her eyes watered and began to shut—she could just make out the self-satisfied grin of Tanya Wellington. The biggest sneeze certainly she—and possibly anyone—had ever sneezed was coming...it was going to be one for the record books...it was coming...she could feel it...welling up and blossoming and....

Nothing. Kennedy’s eyes snapped open in surprise. Oh, cruel, cruel irony! Finally, when she was all ready to throw in the towel, her nose wouldn’t let her.

Tanya looked shocked at this sudden turn of events. The other APO girls whispered excitedly, “No one has ever held out this long!”

Kennedy would have been pleased upon hearing that, but all she could think about was the incredible, enormous, humongous sneeze—well, more likely sneezes—stuck in her nose.

“Your willpower is incredible,” Tanya admired grudgingly, “Did you play sports in high school?”

“I...hhhhh...I was captahhhhhh....captain of the crewhhhhhhh...crew team,” Kennedy gasped, her eyes streaming.

“It shows,” Tanya said, “You don’t like to lose and you never let up.”

Kennedy tried to thank her, but gasped instead. Her head tipped back, her breath welled up in her chest—were the sneezes finally going to come? They had to.

No such luck. Kennedy’s nose was acting like a petulant child, “You didn’t want me when you needed me,” it pouted, “So now, you don’t get me at all.”

“I guess,” Tanya said slowly, “Since you’ve held out fifty times longer than any other pledge, you pass. Congratulations. We've been at this for over a half hour. You made it through the perfume, the powder, the feather pollen, and the feather tickle. The longest any other girl made it was thirty seconds into the powder. So, go ahead. Be free and sneeze until your heart’s content.”

Kennedy managed a breathless thank-you, and ran to find a bathroom. She despised sneezing in front of people and was not about to start doing it now.

Kennedy found one, and slammed the door shut behind her. For the third time, her head tipped back and her breath welled up as the impossible, teasing, taunting itch reared its head. It had to happen this time. It had to.

Never before had there been an itch like this in Kennedy’s nose. It was like the itch of every sneeze she had ever sneezed, combined with all the sneezes she had yet to sneeze. It was like her nose was stuffed to the brim with dust and pepper and pollen and cat fur and perfume and every other nasal irritant that had ever existed or would ever exist. It was stuffed with these things—with this impossible itch—and it had to be released.

But apparently...it didn’t have to. For the third time, the sneeze got stuck. After nearly forty five minutes of this nonsense, her nose had seemingly given up trying. She looked up at the bright fluorescent bathroom light. It inspired a reaction—it tripled the already incredible, pulsing itch, it was bound to happen...she could feel it...feel it in her bones, for God’s sake...her eyes were streaming...nose twitching...breath coming in gasps...the biggest sneeze ever was coming...it was coming...it...was...

Nothing! Kennedy nearly screamed in frustration. When was this torture going to end?! She heard one of the girls sneeze quietly in the hall. “STOP TAUNTING ME!” Kennedy wanted to yell.

She buried her head in her hands.

In her hands, where—apparently—a tiny bit of sneezing powder was lingering.

Kennedy inhaled. She inhaled those few, tiny grains, and all of the sudden, the itch roared. It moved through her nose like a million crawling ants, covering every last square inch of space. Her nose twitched, her head tipped back, that awful, torturous build-up began, her breath welled up one final time, and it was the last straw.

“aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAEEEEEHCCCCHHHHIIIIIEEEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!”

It fired from Kennedy’s nose like it came from a cannon and echoed around the bathroom—a sneeze unlike any other sneeze she had sneezed before. It did nothing to abate the tickle, which continued its victory march through her nasal passages. In fact, it almost seemed to make it worse. Like a schoolboy who had stolen a cookie from the cookie jar, her nose had gotten a taste for something truly delicious, and it was starving for more.

“hhhhhHHHHHAAAAAAAEEEEEEEESSSSSSHHHHHHEEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!!!!” Kennedy roared again.

She barely had time to catch her breath before more sneezes—smaller, but powerful nonetheless—tore through her sinuses, one right after the other.

“Hchshshsh!!!! Ahtktoo! iiiIIISSSHHH!!! IISHHHHOOO!!!!! Hchoo!! Eschiew!!!! Chiew!!! Hishoo! Ishoo! E’tchiew! Ha-ha-ha-IGGSSHH!!!”

The itch was a clingy guest at a party—she had ignored it and ignored it and ignored it, and now it was going to show off until she acknowledged how incredible it thought itself to be.

“Ha-ha-ha-ahhhh....hhhhh...hhhhh....ATCHIEEEEEEEEEEW! Tchiew! Tchiew! Tchiew! Tchiew! Tchiew! Tchiew! Tchiew!”

Eight sneezes back to back. Kennedy was beginning to feel light-headed.

“Oh, I this is hor...hor...hor...horrible! I cahhhhhh...I cahhhhhh...Ihhhhh...HIGISHOO! ISHOO! I can’t sto...sto...sto...ETCHIEEEW! Stop!” Kennedy moaned.

For a wonder, the tickle began to fade into the background. Kennedy was just catching her breath and Tanya opened the door.

“Bless you!” Tanya laughed, “Good Lord, that was some sneeze. You’ve passed on to the next round of rushing.”

Kennedy opened her mouth to answer, but something stopped her short. It was that tickle again—that tiresome itch—and it had returned. It had returned with back-up. The first tickle was nothing compared to this one—that one was mere child’s play.

Kennedy turned so her back was to Tanya. With a feeling like a hundred million dusty feathers exploding in her nose, the tickle took over.

“aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAEEEEEHCCCCHHHHIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!!!”

It ripped out of her, bent her double—but finally, finally it was gone. Kennedy turned to face Tanya. She grinned, and said, “That was nothing!”

[Anonymouse]

And this is why I'm extremely glad my sorority had a strict anti-hazing policy.

I absolutely love this premise though. The idea of all of those girls going through that same torturous routine in order to be considered for initiation... Such a great variety of allergens too.

Also, forty-five minutes?! I'm impressed.

[hiyou9]

Bahaha, I'm sure that's unrealistic--but whatevs It's my imagination! And thanks for the feedback

[Anonymouse]

Sometimes the most unrealistic things make for the most intriguing stories. And this is definitely one of my favorites.

[hiyou9]

Well thank-ya XD

[Dusty15]

This was very cute- what a fun concept! But I totally laughed at the choice of APO for the sorority...that's the National Theatre Fraternity's letters They're not big on having houses and traditional rituals!

[hiyou9]

I KNEW THAT SOUNDED FAMILIAR! I just picked those letters and could NOT for the life of me remember where I'd heard them or why they were familiar!

[Chanel_no5]

Oh good God... this was... this was... amazing!!

[Stimuli]

Good god 0,o amazing

[retrofan191]

This is, hands down, my favorite type of story! Amazingly written too!

[NoV]

Absolutely loved it! Your descriptions of how the sneezes built up and the way her nose tickled were incredible More soon, I hope...

[Sneeze999]

Wonderful story! Loved it, amazing!

[VoOs]

Okay, this story? Is smoking hot.

Thank you for posting!

[Curiosity234]

The build-up was phenomenal. I also like that she didn't fail

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Hmm.... very nice story.

[thesneeze123]

Wonderful! it kind of reminds me of my favorite type of story swh

[queenie]

Should come with a warning label.

[hiyou9]

I'm sorry--a warning label? I'm confused. Why would it need that?

[poiub]

Hey, this is great - very creative! I love the way you ascribe characters to her nose and sneezes - the petulant child, the kid with the cookie jar, the obnoxious dinner party guest. Very funny, great story - hope to see more!

[dontnoqit]

This is a really cool scenario you've come up with. Thanks for sharing it!

[count tiszula]

Wonderful stuff! Nothin like a good holdback ....as long as the sneezes are allowed to fly freely afterwards!

Of course, I' ve no idea what is going on, but then the whole of American education sounds like a fantasy world to me, and I enjoy it all the more.

There could be a little follow up in which Tanya explains how she herself fared with the holdback test, or even the legend of how the test originated, which I'm sure had something to do with a sneezing while hidiing incident........