“You sound like my mother.”
“I sound like a friend,” she countered. “I love you and I know how hard you worked to get here, and I also know how hard you worked last year to maintain your GPA. I don’t want you to lose all that over a guy who’ll be screwing some Texas beauty queen in a few months.”
That stung. The thought of Daniel leaving and being with another woman makes my stomach lurch and my heart ache. It must have shown on my face, because Julianna got up from the table and hugged me. I haven’t told anyone that Daniel’s been talking marriage.
“I’m sorry if what I said was harsh, but you have to think past your present giddiness of a new boyfriend and think about your future. By this time next year, I promise Daniel Rothschild will be nothing but a memory.”
I blink my eyes several times, because frankly, thinking about him being gone so far away and never seeing him again made them sting with tears. I know Julianna’s right. I can’t keep skipping my classes. Even with the notes I’m borrowing from other friends, my last quiz was not good.
“Maybe we should start seeing less of one another?” I say aloud. “I don’t want to lose my scholarship.” Plus, it might make his leaving a bit easier to take, because who am I kidding? Marriage? At my age? To someone I just met?
Even as I say the words, a lump forms in my throat the size of a baseball.
“Be like me,” Julianna pops a pod in the coffee machine to make herself another cup. “Screw ‘em, forget ‘em and keep moving on. We’re young, Sarah. This is the time for no strings, making mistakes and learning what we like and don’t like.”
I smile. I wish I could be more like Julianna. She’s beautiful, sensual and fearless. I don’t think there’s a guy on campus who doesn’t lust after her. She never gets serious with anyone. She’s made no secret about her philosophical views of college life. She thinks everyone on campus should be learning, partying, screwing and having fun. In her mind, the time to get serious about life is after you graduate and spend a few years building your career.
She may have a point.
“I know you’re right,” I admit, making my mind up as I take a sip from my own coffee. “I’ll start today and get back to classes. Hopefully I’m not too far behind and can make it up so it won’t mess up my GPA too much.”
“You’ll catch up,” Kaitlyn comments as she sits down at the counter with a pastry and Mountain Dew. “You’re one of the smartest people I know. If you need any help or notes or anything, just let us know. We’ve got your back.”
I take another gulp of coffee, before putting it in the sink and heading out the door.
“Julianna,” I call and see her look up from the magazine she’s reading. “Thank you for being a friend.”
“Always,” she smiles.
“Hey!” Kaitlyn calls. “What about me?”
“You both are amazing friends. I don’t know what I’d do without you!”
I close the door behind me and smile. Our apartment is only about six blocks from school and I take my time. I love walking in the warm sunshine and basking in the knowledge that crisp autumn air and falling leaves are just around the corner.
“Hello beautiful,” I hear Daniel’s familiar voice behind me, making me jump.
“Where did you come from?” I ask.
“I was on my way to see you and I noticed you walking toward school, so I started following you. You weren’t going to ditch me, were you?”
“No!” I quickly assure him. “I was actually going to head to class and text you to see if we could meet later this morning. I’m really falling behind.”
He stares at me and I can see … something … in his eyes.
“Fine,” he says and turns to leave.
“Wait!” I put out my hand to stop him.
He looks at me but doesn’t say anything.
“I really need to keep up my grades,” I say. “I was talking to Julianna this morning …”
“Julianna?”
“Yes. She reminded me that if my grades fall, I could lose my scholarship and there’s no way I can afford this school without the full scholarship I’m receiving.”
“Julianna needs to mind her own business.”
“She’s just trying to be a good friend.”
“She’s jealous of you. She’s jealous of what we have.”
I shake my head. “No. That’s not true.”
“It is true. Look, I didn’t want to tell you this. I wanted to spare you the pain, but Julianna has tried to get with me several times over the last several weeks. About a week after we started dating she started showing up at my classes and suggested I should go out with her.”
I shake my head. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“Are you saying I’m lying?”
He looks angry.
“No,” I assure him, startled by the rage I see in his eyes. “I just think there must have been some misunderstanding.”
“Sarah,” he reaches out and touches my face. “You’re so innocent. I think your friends take advantage of you. I’m sure you know Julianna has a reputation. Everyone in school knows about her and how wild and promiscuous she is. It’s all some of the guys talk about. She’s up for pretty much anything and it seems she’s even up for going after her so-called friends’ boyfriends.”
I can’t believe Julianna would ever do what he’s suggesting. I hug myself against the images popping in my head. Images of Julianna and Daniel entangled in a heated embrace.
“She did go out with someone Kaitlyn had a crush on last fall,” I say aloud, as if affirming what Daniel was saying.
“Of course, she did,” he says. “Julianna is not a real friend. How long have you known her? What do you really know about her?”
“I …” I don’t finish my sentence. I want to defend my friend, but don’t know what to say.
Daniel reaches over and kisses my forehead. The kiss is quick, short, and definitely not romantic.
“Call me later if you have time for me,” he says before leaving.
“Daniel!” I call after him. But he keeps walking as though he never heard me.
Daniel
Sarah’s apartment is only about six blocks from school. I left her last night after a particularly hot and heavy make out session. She was practically begging me to ram my hard cock inside her.
Don’t get me wrong. I wanted to. Very badly. However, not yet. We’ll have plenty of time for that once we’re married and I’ve taken her away from all of this. Then I’ll have her wherever, whenever and however I want.
I was hard and ready when I left her last night, so I went to a bar on the far side of campus that stays open later than most of the places around here. There was a very drunk and very horny girl from one of the classes I teach in economics. It took me all of fifteen minutes to get her out of the bar and behind the building for a fast and quick fuck against the wall.
Sarah and I agreed to meet this morning before I have class. She doesn’t seem to mind missing her classes to be with me. I haven’t actually asked her to skip her classes, but I haven’t discouraged her from doing it either. Everything is going according to plan and she is practically eating out of my outstretched hand.
She’s fallen for me.
Hard.
Just as I intended.
I make my way down Turner Street toward her house with my bouquet of flowers I bought from a local florist when I see her. Where is she going?
To class? When she’s supposed to meet me?
That pisses me off so much I have squeezed the living daylights out of the flowers in my hand until they look like a bunch of mutilated weeds. I chuck them in the nearest trash container.