by Claire Adams
Chapter Five
As my breathing slowed, I came back to myself gradually, feeling Johnny’s warm, strong arms wrapped around me, the blanket underneath us both. I heard the crackle of the fire and turned to look at it, my whole body still tingling with aftershocks of pleasure, muscles flexing and relaxing erratically inside of me. My lips were curved in what felt like a permanent smile; I couldn’t believe how incredibly good I felt, how happy I was. “You’re going to have mosquito bites in weird places tomorrow,” Johnny murmured jokingly in my ear.
“Totally worth it,” I replied. “Although next time you haul me into the deep dark woods to screw my brains out, maybe remember some bug spray.” Johnny turned me onto my back and buried his face against my breasts, kissing and nuzzling.
“Nah, I wouldn’t be able to kiss and lick you everywhere if you had bug spray on you,” he told me, bringing his lips back up to mine. “That shit tastes nasty.”
“Maybe some of those candle things then,” I suggested lazily. Johnny nodded.
“Done. Or maybe we’ll get a tent and just stay all night, and see how many times we can have sex before we’re completely exhausted.” I laughed, shaking my head.
“We can do that anywhere. We could do that in the dorms.”
“Yeah, but then you’d have to worry about who was listening, who was hearing me make you go ‘Oh, Johnny—oh, god, please, yes, yes Johnny, right there…’” He nibbled along my neck, and I gasped, the sound dissolving into a giggle at his teasing.
“Okay, so maybe the woods are good for something,” I admitted. Johnny’s hands wandered all over me, touching and caressing, and I melted against him, letting him do whatever he liked, staring at the fire as the orange-yellow-red flames licked and arched out to meet the air. Johnny slipped a hand between my legs, stroking me and I felt my body heating up again, my pussy tightening as he rubbed my clit, almost more playful than meaningful.
He played with me for a few minutes, his fingers working me until I was on the edge—not quite fully aroused, but my heart beating a little faster, my nerves tingling. He backed off, kissing the side of my neck, and went back to just caressing me, cupping my breasts, exploring my body as if he had never had a toy so nice in his life. “I feel like I was away for way longer,” he mused, brushing a lock of my hair away from my neck and holding my body close to his while we both watched the fire. “How are things going for you this week? Finding your classes more easily?” I grinned, remembering the chance encounters that had brought me to Johnny’s attention.
I told him about my classes, about how I was having trouble focusing—jokingly telling him that all I could think about when we were busy discussing the early American writers was how much I would prefer to be in bed with him. Johnny told me more about the away game, about his teammates and the guys in his frat. As I lost the hazy glow of orgasm, I remembered what the girl in the dining hall had said, and what she had taunted me with again.
“Hey, there was this girl I saw flirting with you the other day,” I started, biting my bottom lip. Johnny tensed slightly against me.
“I hope you’re not jealous—I can’t even see anyone else now that I have you,” he told me, kissing my neck again.
“No, no it’s not that,” I said quickly. “I mean my first day orientation, the RA for my floor went on about how boys weren’t allowed during quiet hours, even if it was you.” I laughed. “I’m not going to yell at you because you’re hot and talented and girls want to be with you—that’s not something you can control.” Johnny relaxed against me and I fell silent for a moment, thinking of just how to go about saying what it was that was weighing on my mind.
“The thing is, a few days later, she came up to me in the dining hall.” I told Johnny about what the girl had said. “Who’s Claire White?” I finally asked, feeling my heart beating faster and faster in my chest. “All I could find out was that she committed suicide.” Johnny sat up on the blanket, staring into the fire, a chilled look coming over his face.
“She…” he sighed. “She was my girlfriend, the last year I was in high school.” He licked his lips and frowned. “I cared about her a lot—I loved her. She was my first.” Johnny blushed slightly in the firelight. “But she had a lot of problems.”
“That tends to go along with being suicidal, I guess,” I said quietly, knowing that I needed to say something. Johnny shrugged, the haunted look still on his face.
“She loved me, and I loved her, but there was just nothing I could do…” he swallowed. “A lot of people still blame me for her dying, and I kind of get that; but she was going through a lot of stuff. Bad shit, you know? She couldn’t handle it, and I couldn’t save her.” He turned towards me again, smiling slightly. “I don’t… can we not talk about it?” I hesitated, but nodded. It was obviously something that still hurt for him, obviously something that was still bothering him, in spite of the way that he acted in his normal life. I wished that he could tell me more about the situation, but I could understand why he wouldn’t want to think about it; if it was a girl he had loved, and he had lost her—felt guilty about not being able to save her—then he wouldn’t want to drag it all out again. I believed him; I didn’t think anyone could pretend to be that guilty that well.
Johnny checked the time on his phone and we put out the campfire, smothering it in sand. We loaded up the blankets and the leftovers and walked back to the truck together in the darkness. My body was still humming, my mind full of questions, but I was mostly happy, mostly content as Johnny boosted me into the seat and stepped around the front of the truck to the driver’s side. He carefully pulled out of the clearing and made his way up the trail onto the road once more, and I leaned against him, holding his free hand in the eerie blue-green light from the console, relieved that I had finally gotten the nerve to ask him about Claire, but wondering what else there was. I realized as we got closer to campus that I was actually, really falling for him—that I was well on my way to being fully in love. I told myself not to take things too seriously, but with Johnny’s arm around me, with the night of lovemaking we’d just shared and the way he had always been so incredibly sweet, I couldn’t help myself.
Chapter Six
I was still glowing, buzzing from head to toe from my night out with Johnny, the next day. It was easy for me to put my mind at rest, to go to my classes and actually focus; Johnny caught me on my way to my first class of the day and kissed me eagerly, teasing me just a little bit, caressing along the curves of my body until I was more than ready to ask him to carry me off to the dorms or to the frat house—that I didn’t even care about my class anymore.
But once I was in class, I was in a great mood, able to pay attention. The question of Claire White still simmered in the back of my mind, but I was mostly satisfied with Johnny’s answer; if he had been her boyfriend, if she was the first girl he’d been with sexually, and he had loved her, then of course he would be less than willing to talk about her. I thought about the girl; Johnny’s comment about girls flirting with him was right. I couldn’t be surprised if girls who wanted Johnny for themselves had an eye to sabotage any relationship he might get into. I’d have to get used to the fact that the guy I was into was one of the most-desired men on campus.
I had my phone on silent, not even on vibrate; while I knew that Johnny would probably text me at least once, I was determined not to lose my focus over anything while I was in class. I checked my phone when I went from one class to another—my second one of the day, the last before I could go to the dining hall for lunch—and saw that my mom had called. I rolled my eyes; leave it to her to have no idea that I’d be in class. As I walked from one building to another, I listened to the message. “Hey, sweetie! I just wanted to catch up with you and see how you’re doing with your second week of college. Give me a call back when you get a chance. Love you!”
I couldn’t call her right away; even if I didn’t have class, I wanted a little bit of privacy to get her up to date on my life. Before I p
ut my phone away for class, I saw that Johnny had texted me. Mosquito bites? I can put some lotion on them for you later, you know… I smirked to myself and replied that as far as I was concerned, he could put lotion anywhere on my body, and I’d have to make time to let him do it soon.
I put off the phone call for as long as I could; it wasn’t that I didn’t love my parents, but I was excited to be away from them, and calling home would have been a reminder that I was still—in their eyes at least—a kid. Besides, I had lunch, and then more classes to go to in the afternoon. Georgia laughed at me for trying to unobtrusively scratch the few stray mosquito bites I had gotten from my almost-camping trip with Johnny the night before and laughed even harder at his suggestion of being the one to doctor them for me. I went to my afternoon classes and then lingered at one of the booths advertising a club event coming up, all to put off the fact that I would have to call my mom.
I finally got up to my dorm, and into my room, and closed the door behind me. I would much rather have been calling Johnny, but I knew that I couldn’t delay any longer. I threw myself onto the bed and dialed out to my mom’s number.
She picked up after two rings. “Hey, sweetie!” I smiled in spite of myself. I really do love my parents; deep down, in spite of the way that they had pressured me to date only “good” boys, sons of their country club friends, I knew that they had my best interests in mind. Even if I disagreed with them as to what would make me happiest in life, I had to admit that they were looking out for me in their own way.
“Hey, Mom. Sorry I had classes all day, I only just how have a few minutes to talk.”
“We’ve missed you, Becky,” my mom said, and I had to believe her; somewhere I actually missed them a little bit. I missed my dad’s help with my math homework; I missed my mom asking about the boys at school. I was excited to be on my own, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them again at break.
“How are things over there?” Mom rattled on for a while about this or that friend, this or that scandal in the neighborhood. She told me about a situation happening among the PTA at my old school; since Mom was no longer a parent to a kid at the school, she had some distance from the drama, and could just sit back and laugh at everyone else.
I listened, pretending to be interested. “Really? What did she say?” I heard about Dad’s new project at work, and about the fact that they were thinking of renovating the bathroom on my side of the house, since they could now—while I was away at least—use my room as a guest room.
“I wanted to ask—are you coming home this weekend? Your dad and I would love to see you.” I considered it. If I went home, I definitely wouldn’t have a chance to spend any time at all with Johnny. I also didn’t really think I wanted to go home again so soon after starting; after all it had only been a couple of weeks—not really very long at all since my parents had said goodbye.
“I’m really busy, Mom,” I said, trying to make my voice sound as regretful as possible. “I’ve got a lot going on with classes and everything… just, really super busy all the time.” Mom laughed.
“Thus speaks the college girl!” she said. “Just what are you so busy with? I know you’re smart enough to keep up in your classes.” I hesitated again; things were so new with Johnny.
“I’ve been making friends,” I started. “And you know, just because I can keep up with my classes doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get ahead.” I bit my bottom lip and finally took the plunge. “And I met a boy.”
“Really?” Mom’s voice practically crackled with excitement. “What’s he like? Tell me all about him.” I blushed, smiling in spite of myself.
“He’s really nice. He’s—he’s in one of the frats on campus, Phi Kappa something.”
“That’s great! I knew you’d get into Greek life.” I rolled my eyes. Just because I was dating a guy in a frat didn’t mean that I was going to join a sorority. “I’ll have to ask your dad about what he knows about that group.”
“Yeah, well, he’s… really sweet. And he’s an upperclassman.” Mom made an approving sound, and I told her—in as little detail as possible—about going to the party at Johnny’s invitation, about the date he had taken me on into the woods. Mom laughed again and told me to make sure to ‘take caution’ and to not be ‘that girl,’ by which I knew she meant that I shouldn’t be too easy. That ship had sailed, but I was not about to tell her that. Instead I focused on how nice he was, and the fact that I was hoping to see him again that weekend, which was why I couldn’t go home.
“Well, why don’t you invite him to come down? I’m sure your father would love to meet him and so would I. He can have dinner with us down at the club.” I rolled my eyes.
“Mom—it’s way too short notice. He’s probably already got plans, something going on with the frat.”
“Well you can invite him, and if he doesn’t have anything going on he can come and meet us. I want to make sure he’s good enough for you, and if you’re as serious about him as you sound then it would do you good to introduce him to your parents.” No matter how I tried to argue that it was a silly idea and that it was too soon for him to be meeting them, Mom insisted that it would be fine, that I was just being self-conscious and everything would be fine. She finally just told me to invite him and have done with it, and if he didn’t want to come, that was his choice.
I finished up the call, trying to salvage what I could; I knew Mom was suspicious about the fact that I didn’t want to bring Johnny home to them—and really, she had good reason. He was a frat brother, but it wasn’t like he was as wealthy as they probably wanted. He wasn’t one of the well-groomed, suit-wearing boys who were coming into trust funds that Mom and Dad both had tried to push onto me when I was in high school. But I had to at least invite him; I told myself that Johnny would probably just brush it off and say he was busy and I could take that back to my parents. But at least, I thought resentfully as I hung up the phone, I wouldn’t have an excuse for not going home. If Johnny was busy, then they would insist that that freed me up to visit. I felt like a very large fox caught in a very small trap.
Chapter Seven
I was still a little unsettled when Johnny called a little while later and suggested we meet up for dinner at the dining hall. I didn’t say anything at all about my mom’s invitation—I was still debating whether or not I wanted to even mention it period—but I thought at least it would be good to spend some time with him. “Hey, Gigi!” I called across the dorm. “Get your nose out of whatever book it’s wedged in and let’s grab dinner.”
We walked down to the first floor of the dorm and then halfway across the campus to the dining hall; I told her about the call with my mom, and about the stupid invitation to dinner she was forcing me to make. “Just play it off like it isn’t a big deal. I mean, it’s not like you want him to meet your parents so soon, is it?” I had to agree that I didn’t.
We were still chatting about things when we came up to the dining hall entrance. Johnny grabbed me, lifting me up into his arms and kissing me on the lips in front of everyone, and I laughed as he swung me around, thinking that if nothing else, I had started off my school year right. He put me back onto my feet and finally noticed that Georgia was there with me. “Hey, Gigi,” he said, giving her a grin. “You here to make sure no one gives the hottest girl on campus the stink-eye?” Georgia laughed.
“Oh you know everyone’s eaten up with envy anyway. Nothing I could do about that. But I did hear there was food going on, so I figured I might as well come along.”
We went into the dining hall and Johnny kept his arm around me, standing in line to wait to swipe our IDs at the register and get into the line in the serving area. The dining room was half-filled with students already digging into their meals, and the line in front of us stretched out nearly to the door. I looked up at the menu board as we neared the entry into the serving area, and joked with Johnny and Gigi about the offerings; it was “Middle Eastern Night,” with falafel, hummus, kabobs
and more. I had very little confidence in the authenticity, but at least it couldn’t be all bad.
We loaded up our plates, taking things from different stations around the serving area; I joked about Johnny loading up his plate with protein and made sure that I got at least a little bit of salad on my plate. There were different themed desserts as well: roasted figs, rose ice cream, and thin orange blossom honey pancakes, among other things. I was glad to see that Johnny was just as comfortable with Georgia as he had ever been—it made me feel even better about everything, about the fact that I was falling for him fast. If he hadn’t been able to at least make conversation with Georgia, or if he’d snubbed her or was mad that I’d brought her along, I would have felt weird about dating him.
We finally found a place to sit with our trays; I joked to Johnny about my self-imposed quest to taste every one of the juices the dining hall offered and then after that to experiment with as many combinations as were possible. I noticed as we moved through the line and then through the dining area to find a table where we could all sit that a lot of the girls were still looking at me with disappointed—some of them even rampantly jealous—glances, their lips pressed together in pouts or frowns that disappeared if they thought Johnny was looking at them. I didn’t exactly like the fact that so many people wanted to date the guy I was seeing, but I decided to ignore them; after all, it wasn’t their business. Johnny liked me, at least for now, and I wasn’t going to get all insecure and let them win.