The Book of David Ch. 04

"C'mon. Let's get lunch a little early and then I'll have time to cram for my afternoon final."

"Sounds good." E-Beth looked over at her roommate. "Want to come with us?"

Amber glanced at her books and then at the clock. "Dorm cafeteria food?" her nose went into that cute, stuck-up pinch. "Thanks, but no. I'm meeting my friends a bit later."

"Okay." E-Beth got up off me and I stood up and stretched as well. "See ya later."

I hugged her to me. "Just a few more days. And then it's home for Christmas and two weeks of lovemaking you'll never forget."

"Men," E-Beth giggled. Our first quarter together had gone well.

***

The next day, I was coming home from my second-to-last final. Cherys was on the couch, her class materials sprayed out around her. From the haphazard pile, it didn't look like she was getting much studying done. I knew from the schedule that Danielle was out at her own final for the afternoon.

The beautiful brunette looked up at me the moment I walked through the door. "David!"

"Hey, gorgeous," I remarked off-hand. It was a casual comment I'd started making to her over the last few months. It simultaneously let me show my true appreciation for her beauty and neutered the intensity so she didn't feel like I was really hitting on her or anything.

Cherys just walked straight up to me and slipped my bookbag off my shoulder so that it fell to the floor with a heavy thump. Then her hands scooped beneath my arms and around my back, and she hugged me tightly.

With a moment's delayed reaction, I wrapped my own arms around her and patted her back. "You okay?"

It took a moment for her to squeeze me even tighter. I had to admit, the warm hug felt really good. At last she sighed, and released me. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just felt like a nice hug." Then she turned and went back to her books, a new focus in her eyes. "That felt really good. I think I'm going to make a habit of it."

"Anytime. Glad to help." I started off for my own bedroom. I only had a couple of hours before I had to meet E-Beth for dinner.

***

WINTER QUARTER, SOPHOMORE YEAR (January 2000)

"Damn it's freakin' freezing out there," I muttered to no one in particular as I stomped into the Sciences building. A cold front had moved in, and it was practically freezing on the first day of classes for the Winter Quarter. Then there was the half-snow/half-rain coming down and drenching everything in sight.

We were just getting back from a pleasant Christmas break, where I'd rapidly gotten used to sleeping in and not having any homework. I'd also gotten used to being able to spend every waking moment with E-Beth. Coming back to school after that wonderful time off and in this miserable weather was just cruel and unusual punishment. And to top it all off, my first class was my eternally hated subject, Chemistry. It was a general ed requirement for my Engineering degree, but one I'd procrastinated as long as possible.

The linoleum floor was a little wet so I had to be careful of my footing. So most of my focus was on the floor as I headed into the lecture hall. Now if you put a ball in my hands and give me a purpose then I can tightrope my way down the sidelines without stepping out of bounds and avoid tacklers all at the same time.

But when I'm not paying attention? I'm the biggest klutz in the world. And so it was that I managed to body-check the thin blonde I didn't see as I tried to get through the door.

"Hey!" she shrieked. I automatically reached out and grabbed her arm just before she fell to the ground, jerking her back until she fell against my chest instead. I caught her easily and then her stormy, pissed off face looked up at me. "Watch it, dickhead!"

"Amber?"

"David?" Her voice lost its edge. She looked up at me and I couldn't help but think how cute she looked. She wore a stylish little snowcap and her blonde hair was in two braids that fell behind her ears and over her shoulders.

"I'm so, so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," I apologized. I felt the press of people behind us as more students tried to move into the lecture hall, and I started walking. Somewhat to my surprise, Amber followed along.

"What are you doing in this class?" the blonde asked. "It's mostly freshmen."

"Yeah, well it's a requirement for my major and a pre-req for Chemical Engineering. I was just putting it off as long as I could."

"Ah, I see."

I started down one of the rows, and Amber followed right along with me. I got to a good spot and then took off my winter jacket. She followed suit, and a minute later we were sitting side-by-side in the lecture hall.

I was still a little surprised that she was still with me. I'd assumed that in a primarily freshman class she would have plenty of friends she could have sat with. But then, no guy ever complains when he gets to sit with a pretty girl.

"So," she asked. "How was your break?"

Internally, I grinned. We had come a long way since 'What the hell are YOU looking at?'

***

I checked my watch. Wow, I was really early.

E-Beth and I had made plans to meet at her dorm room at 8pm. We both had group projects to work on for this Friday evening, but mine had finished ahead of schedule and I would just wait at her place until she arrived. It was far better than making the longer trip back to my apartment.

I fully expected the door to be locked. E-Beth was still at her group project and Amber would certainly have a date for this Friday. She'd been dropping hints about this totally hot and totally rich guy named Jackson for the past week. He was one of the guys in her circle of rich friends, and almost a year of flirting was finally coming to fruition.

So it was a complete surprise to me that the door wasn't completely closed. While the handle was locked, I was just able to tap on the door and it slowly swung open into the darkened room.

Hey, lucky for me.

Then a thumping sound caught my attention, followed by a muffled moan. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and then I saw two figures on Amber's bed, struggling with each other while tangled in the sheets.

The guy looked up at me and barked, "Hey! What the fuck?"

I held my hands up. "Oh, sorry, so sorry. I didn't know you guys were in here!" I stammered and started backing away.

Then I heard a distinct male voice yell in pain "Oww!", which was closely followed by a high-pitched female voice shrieking, "DAVID!"

My instincts kicked in, Amber's tone was that of urgent desperation. I immediately reached out and flipped the light switch.

Soon, everything was illuminated. The guy, Jackson I assumed, was holding up his hand which was bleeding. He had Amber pinned beneath him, her blouse torn and one breast spilled out of her bra as she tried to shake herself free. "GET OFF ME YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" she screamed.

Jackson just looked at his bleeding hand and then glared back down at her. "You stupid bitch!" He raised his other hand to strike her while she whimpered and flinched to brace herself for the blow.

It never came. I grabbed his outstretched arm with both hands and violently pulled him off the bed to fall to a heap on the floor. And once I got myself standing between Amber and him, I just glared down, daring him to get back up.

"What the fuck's your problem?" He yelled at me. "That's fucking assault! I'll sue you and your parents and take your fucking home and turn it into a fucking parking lot! Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," I growled. "You're the dumbfuck who's gonna get his ass beat if you don't leave this room in five seconds!"

"Fuck you!"

"NOW!" I bellowed.

He winced and held up his hands. "Alright, alright. Fucking cunt isn't worth it anyways." He got up and dusted himself off. "I'm still going to fucking sue you." He pointed his finger in my face.

I rolled my eyes again, then grabbed his finger and twisted it back painfully. I'm not a fighter, but even an idiot can grab a finger waggling in his face.

"Oww! Oww! FUCK! Alright, alright!"

I let him go.

"You're done Amber." Jackson swaggered as he fixed up his designer clothes. "All the guys? None of them will touch you with a ten-foot pole. My folks got connections. You're on the fucking black list now, you stuck-up frigid bitch!"

"OUT!" I shouted once more.

And then he was gone.

At last I turned to Amber, who was huddled against the wall with her eyes darting back and forth. She'd fixed her clothes, but her hair was a mess and her tears were streaking her makeup.

On instinct, I went to hug her, but she shrank away from me. I held my hands up and backed away. "What happened?" I asked softly.

"He wanted to..." she choked up. I didn't have to guess the rest. She just swiveled her eyes up to me. "He grabbed my tits. All the guys want to grab my tits. Didn't bother to kiss me or get me turned on or anything. I wasn't really ready yet."

"Well he has no right to force you."

Amber whimpered and then started shaking. "You don't get it. I'm the one who fucked up. Girls don't say 'no' to Jackson. He's the social king around here. He's got all the connections and if you want to be in the social elite, you've got to be on his good side."

"And what's so great about being in the social elite?"

Amber shivered and then looked at me, her blue eyes brilliant against the deep black of her running mascara. Her mouth moved up and down a few times before she whispered, "I don't know."

Just then, the door opened again and E-Beth looked down at us. "Ohmigod? What happened?"

***

Two of Amber's so-called best friends and most of the guys sided with Jackson. Their clique had rules: the girls put out and the guys showered them with expensive baubles. After twenty years of expensive vacations and lavish beachfront homes, they'd get traded-in for a younger model but get a nice alimony payment.

Perhaps for the first time in her life, Amber decided that wasn't the way she wanted to live the rest of her life.

"It's your fault," she told me one day when we were all in the girls' dorm room.

"Why?" I wondered.

"You made me realize that a guy could love me for who I was inside, not how I looked outside or how much money my daddy has."

E-Beth had hugged her roommate immediately. "You're growing up, Amber."

Amber was a lot nicer to me after that.

***

FINALS (March 2000)

"Wow, you're really good at this."

"You can do this, too. You're smarter than you think."

I snorted. "Nah, I'm just a dumb ape. If it weren't for you helping me, there's no way I would pass this class. Just ask E-Beth. I wouldn't have passed High School Chemistry if it wasn't for her."

"Hey, you don't give yourself enough credit. A dumb ape would only think of food and sex. You've managed to keep your paws off me this long." Amber leaned in and wiggled her chest at me.

"Mmm, ape is hungry. Mmm, ape likes looking at breasts..." I growled in an appropriately dumb voice.

Amber rolled her eyes and punched my shoulder. "Stop that."

"Hey!" E-Beth yelled from her desk. "Stop flirting with my boyfriend!" It was a playful tease on her voice.

Amber and I looked over from our spots at Amber's desk, where we were both cramming for our Chemistry final. Amber protested, "I'm not flirting... not REALLY..." She'd been flirting with me ever since the Jackson incident. "Oh, speaking of which, I want you guys to meet Randall."

"Randall?" E-Beth immediately dragged her chair closer to us. "Who's RANDALL?" she asked in her intrigued-rumor-mill voice.

"Just a guy..." Amber drawled. "I've seen him a couple of times."

"He try to grab your tits every time he sees you?" I asked while obviously ogling Amber's chest.

"No!!!" Amber retorted. "Well, maybe... But he's discreet about it. I think he's the kind of guy who'd even take me to the museum..."

"Wow," E-Beth whistled. "Sounds like a keeper."

"Well, I told him to meet me at the dining hall for dinner. I need to get the friend approvals."

"Hmm..." E-Beth wondered. Amber had dated a few guys over the course of the year, but this was the first one she wanted us to meet. "The dining hall? Thought you didn't eat there..."

"Yeah, well... the food's not THAT bad..."

Half-an-hour later, Kevin, Jen, E-Beth, and I joined with two of Amber's friends in the dorm dining hall. My gang and Amber's remaining friends were on good terms with each other, and we all wanted to meet the new guy. For a few minutes, speculation about 'Randall' dominated the table conversation.

And then the new couple made their appearance. They were both carrying their food trays and space was made to let them join. By coincidence, Amber was next to one of her friends and Randall was next to me as they sat across from each other.

Amber made the introductions, her eyes bright with eagerness. Randall politely said hello to the girls and reached his hand out to shake with Kevin and me.

I had to admit, the guy passed with flying colors. He was outgoing, charming, and pretty damn handsome. He even had the occasional snooty comment about his dad's yacht or how good he was at golf without quite sounding like a Jackson- type of asshole. Those elements might have turned off a girl like E-Beth, but I honestly thought he fit right into Amber's 'Heights' world.

By the end of dinner, everyone was relaxed and completely oblivious to the exams starting tomorrow. Unfortunately, Jen brought the subject up. "Well, I've got a 9am final tomorrow. We'd better get going." She turned to Kevin and the two of them got up.

"Later dudes..." Kevin flashed his hang-loose sign and they walked away. That pretty much ended the evening as everyone got up and started heading off.

E-Beth and I waited outside the dining hall as everyone said their goodbyes. Amber even leaned up and kissed Randall on the cheek before hurrying to catch up to us.

I tried not to notice Amber's nipples poking hard through her shirt.

Five minutes later, we were back in the girls' dorm room and trying in vain to get back into study mode. I felt pretty confident going into the Chem final, but I figured it was best that I keep reviewing the material.

Unfortunately, Amber was now almost useless. She lifelessly looked over her textbook while staring off into space, clearly daydreaming. Her nipples were still hard as well. So when I asked her a question about our shared classwork, it took her a few seconds to snap back to reality and blindly ask, "What?"

I glanced over at E-Beth, who just shook her head and grinned at me and went back to her own study material.

As if on cue, the phone rang. Amber literally pounced on it. "Hello? Randall! Hi!"

E-Beth and I just closed our books and looked at each other. There was no way we could study without wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation. For her part, Amber didn't seem to care. She chatted away for three minutes which ended with, "Now? Sure! Yeah, I'll meet you outside."

She hung up, and then turned to E-Beth. "He's coming now! He wants to go for a walk!"

Always the level-headed one, E-Beth warned, "You do know you have a final in a few hours."

"I know. And I'm ready. You KNOW I am. It's just Chemistry."

"'Just Chemistry' she says..." I grumbled jokingly to E-Beth. Then I turned back to Amber. "But yeah, you're ready."

Amber was already grabbing her jacket. Those nipples were rock hard again. "See you guys later." And then she was racing out the door.

"Hmm..." I wondered aloud once Amber was gone. "Did you feel like that about me?"

I never got a verbal answer as E-Beth launched herself into my arms, her lips firmly planted against mine. "Mmm..." I really enjoyed the kiss.

E-Beth pulled away breathlessly and said, "Let's go out, too."

"What? We've got finals tomorrow."

"Don't you think you're ready? You and Amber have been cramming Chemistry for the last week. Let's go out, have a good time, then come back here and fuck like bunnies! It's a surefire way to have a good night's sleep."

"I dunno..." I hesitated.

"Come on! When did you become such a homebody? We're in college! What's life without some spontaneous screwing around? Jeez, I'd think you'd be excited at the chance to get me horny."

"Of course I am!" I insisted.

"Then why haven't we had sex in a week?"

"I'm going, I'm going." I shut my book and reached my arms out to E-Beth. "Let's go."

***

We walked along, hand-in-hand, enjoying the spring evening. There wasn't much conversation. We'd gone through all the getting-to-know you material long, long ago. And we spent so much time together that there was no need to fill each other in on our days.

While I was very comfortable, I wondered if this was what people referred to as "The Rut". Had we gotten TOO comfortable?

At some point, E-Beth turned us down Greek row. Loud music echoing down the streets caught her attention and I realized we were pretty much walking straight towards the house throwing a party.

A minute later we were at the front door. A couple of freshman guys I recognized were trying to plead their way past the frat brothers guarding the entrance. But one look at E-Beth's V-neck sweater and the abundant cleavage spilling out, and we were waved through, E-Beth holding onto my hand tightly.

A beer cup was thrust into her hands almost the second we got inside. And after a moment's hesitation while our benefactor was staring at E-Beth's chest, the frat guy handed me one as well. And then we were moving inside.

E-Beth and I sipped our beers and wandered through the crowd of students desperate to get their minds off of school. We bopped to the music, exploring the different rooms while trying to decide where to stop and chill out. After touring the house, we'd pretty much emptied our cups and found fresh beers from the keg in the kitchen.

After the second round, E-Beth decided she wanted to dance. The music was grooving and the bass beat had my heart thumping. And so I began to let myself unwind and just enjoy the sight of E-Beth's smiling face and bouncing tits.

I wasn't her only admirer. Within a minute some upperclassman hunk began to sidle up behind her. To my surprise, she didn't mind at all.

E-Beth grinned at me and said something I couldn't hear over the music. But she actually began to bounce her butt back in his direction. Encouraged, the guy moved even closer.

I danced from a few feet in front while this chiseled hunk of a man got even closer to my girlfriend, and I had to admit I was feeling a little jealousy. But I held my tongue since E-Beth was enjoying the attention. I even felt just a little pride at how quickly my girlfriend had been noticed amongst the other gyrating hotties in the room. Besides, how much harm could he do while I was right here?

I soon found out when the guy reached out and actually grabbed her ass in his palm. The reaction was immediate; E-Beth spun around and slapped his hand away. Her index finger came up and she waggled it reprovingly.

Undeterred, the guy set up a new cycle of attack and retreat, attack and retreat. He progressively got closer until she showed him some sign to back off, which he did. But each time he tried again he got a little further than before.

After ten minutes, he had E-Beth's ass pressed up against his crotch while they were pretty much spooning on the dance floor. Then his hands touched her sides, gliding around her hourglass curves from her thighs and up towards her torso. The first time he tried it, he didn't move any higher than a few inches above her waist.

But the second time, his hands scooped around and he palmed the undersides of her heavy breasts. It was a bold move. Maybe he just couldn't wait for the slow buildup any longer. But her reaction was clear.

E-Beth turned and slapped him, HARD, across his cheek. Her eyes were fierce and her lips curled into a snarl. He dutifully backed away and disappeared into the crowd.