Millicent is a high school student undergoing a grueling week of hazing to join an exclusive local sorority. Historically viewing herself as plain and shy, she initially craves the validation and social standing that membership promises. As she endures the humiliating tasks assigned by the older girls, she questions the tension between securing peer acceptance and maintaining her independence.

Tracy is Millicent's supportive high school friend. The sorority rejected her for making practical but unpopular fashion choices, such as wearing knee socks and carrying a traditional bookbag. Despite being excluded from the elite circle, she refrains from showing envy and instead advises Millicent on how to endure the stress of hazing.

Beverly is a senior sorority member assigned to be Millicent's big sister for the duration of initiation week. She takes deep satisfaction in enforcing the group's strict rules, stripping pledges of their names in favor of the moniker gopher. Her calculating approach to leadership creates immediate friction and testing conditions for the younger girls.

An older passenger on the public bus who physically resembles a cheerful gnome or leprechaun, dressed in a brown suit with a forest-green tie. When Millicent asks what he ate for breakfast as part of a hazing dare, he responds earnestly with an absurd story about mythological heather birds. His unselfconscious behavior offers an alternative to the rigid conformity demanded by the high school girls.

Louise is a popular, attractive senior member of the high school sorority. She represents the ideal of mid-century conventional femininity and serves as a minor celebrity within the school's social hierarchy. She offers Millicent seemingly kind guidance on surviving initiation, though her advice relies entirely on total submission to the group's rules.

Herb is the handsome captain of the high school basketball team. Knowing the pledges are forbidden from speaking to boys, he playfully tests Millicent's resolve by complimenting her forced silence. His attention flatters Millicent but also forces her to question the authenticity of male interest within the school's rigid social structure.

Liane is a fellow sorority initiate going through the same grueling week of tests as Millicent. She views the hazing purely as a transaction, noting that joining the exclusive club helped her older sister secure a desirable boyfriend. She represents the societal pressure young women face to prioritize marriage and social mobility above individuality.

Betsy is a member of the high school sorority. Her dark basement serves as the staging ground for the Rat Court, a final ritual that isolates the pledges before they face their peers for official judgment.