Pixie Dust

For University of Minnesota-Twin Cities students CINDERELLA "CINDY" LEWIS and HUCKLEMARY "HUCK" FOWLER, a September day of classes comes to a trying end: Cindy's blindfold test in Music History meets with a harsh reaction from CLASSMATES, while Huck and fellow Fluid Mechanics student AGNETHA THORSDOTTIR get into an argument over Huck's eagerness to answer course questions...and Agnetha's reluctance to show her own immense intelligence.

At their apartment in the school's Mark G. Yudof Hall, Huck and Cindy conclude that all the classes the two roommates take have "enough marginalized women in 'em to form a sorority." So calm, inventive Cindy and confident, sometimes-fiery Huck decide to establish their own sorority.

After they decide to call the new organization Myriad House, Cindy drafts a flyer to attract other on-campus women tired of being marginalized...and she and Huck place the flyer all over the UMN-Twin Cities campus as well as spreading the word through social media.

The two-fisted effort gets results: It attracts spirited, arm-wrestling gymnast ALYCE BEATTY and her militant roommate, MARIAH SEAY, a shooting guard on the school's women's basketball team. Two of Mariah's and Alyce's University Village dormmates join up, too: Nonchalant Louisianan MADELEINE PONS, who's in Minnesota to study journalism; and thinker ALLEGRA PEREZ, a distributive studies major out to become a weapons expert.

Two of Cindy's fellow music majors also come aboard: Searching, passionate JOHANNA SHINGLEDECKER and gentle, thoughtful TINKERBELLE ROBERTSON. So do MARY MARGARET CHAI, Tinkerbelle's perky roommate who's studying to be a doctor; and GUNILLA HAGBERG, Johanna's farm-bred, self-reliant roomie...the sole Minnesotan in the outfit.

Rounding out the unit: Eccentric FAIRY CHANG and her banjo-playing roommate, flighty TAYLOR MARIE DUBRAY, who's out to win the university's Milkmaid Contest.

NIKKI FOBBS, Yudof's residence director, gets hold of the Myriad flyer as well...and confronts Cindy and Huck about it: "Don't you two like living in a dorm anymore?" But things look up when community leaders APRIL FRANCKHAUSER and JENNIFER CULLINANE offer to help the Women of Myriad after seeing the house flyer. Before long, April, Cindy, Huck, and Jennifer meet with the school's folksy, Texas-born president, NICK CONLEY, to talk up Myriad; their meeting expands to just outside Nick's office so that all twelve founding Myriad members can participate.

Myriad House's first activity is a dinner exchange at a popular Minneapolis restaurant, where the women discuss their sorority's pet project: The restoration of a car to auction off so that the dough can go to a local charity.

Myriad spirits soar when Cindy, Huck, and Co. find a 1929 Ford Model A to work on; it's eventually stored at the school's Fleet Services Facility, much to the delight of facility manager HAKIM STEWART...and the vehement dismay of Hakim's second-in-command, BRANT ROBINETTE.

Those high spirits take a tumble when Huck and Cindy come back to the dorm and find themselves locked out of their pad and their belongings placed outside the apartment...all courtesy of Nikki.

Result: The Myriad Twelve rally to find their own place to call home. But first, Cindy and Huck replace the old lock and get a new one so that they can stay in their apartment.

The Myriads find a place, all right...at 1721 University Avenue, S.E., since 1940 the famous home of student coop housing, but made available due to the coop's decision to relocate up the street. Nick offers the Myriads a chance to move in...providing "you women do everythang you said you would" and keep the group intact through the end of the school year.

Things look up again when the house's twelve founders meet up with Office for Fraternity and Sorority Life chief BRIAN BAZELIDES in a spirited discussion as to why Myriad should join the UMN-Twin Cities Greek system.

The Myriad Dozen put their credo into action at a time when Nikki loses her job; along the way, they finish working on that 1929 Model A. But when it's time to finally test drive the old Ford, the Myriads find the car vandalized.

The stunned sisters get right on the case to find out who did it...besides Brant: Mary Margaret and Taylor Marie do lab work, Madeleine engages FOUR HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISTS to help her dig dirt on the crime, and Cindy and Huck overhear a conversation between fellow students CHRISTIAN SCHAFER and JOHN DAVID FILIPEK...and find that John David and his Johanna-stalking buddy helped Brant deface the car. Huck goes ballistic on the two young men, telling them and their accomplices to repair the Model A and to foot the bill for their damage.

The Myriad Sisters receive another blow when Taylor Marie and Gunilla lose the Milkmaid Contest to "cow whisperer" JILLIAN ANN KLEMESRUD, a dormmate of Huck's and Cindy's. With house morale sinking and the twelve women needing answers, Cindy merely asks: "Why don't we have a jam session?"

Cindy's idea goes over with nine of her colleagues, but loses a nonmusical Mary Margaret as well as Johanna, who excels at playing five instruments...ones "St. Vincent wouldn't be caught dead playing." In fact, Johanna goes back to her and Gunilla's apartment to scribble a note: "I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN HANDLE THIS ANYMORE."

Tinkerbelle and a flustered Gunilla find Johanna at a local church, where she loses herself in her own organ music. Once the music stops, Johanna and Tinkerbelle have a heart-to-heart talk.

With Myriad back to a dozen members, the twelve founders show their vocal-and-instrumental talents at the school's Coffman Theater. Meanwhile, with Hakim watching, Brant, Christian, John David, and Nikki reluctantly repair the Model A they vandalized.

The party continues the next day at the house on University Avenue, S.E. And when the restored-and-repaired 1929 Ford gets auctioned off, Myriad becomes an official UMN-Twin Cities sorority.

What's more, Agnetha gains the confidence to show her smarts.