Breaking The Seal

Peter asked Katya where she was staying and she said she and her parents were in a hotel for the reunion, though obviously she would be moving on campus at Heatherton as soon as the school year started in a couple weeks. Peter asked her if she needed a ride but Katya declined, saying she would rather walk on her own for a while. Peter worried at this sudden departure but Katya reassured him, telling him this wasn't like the last time they saw one another. This wasn't a goodbye, she said, because they would be together again very soon. Peter watched his cousin go, her tight little butt swaying back and forth in her wet, turquoise bikini, and for the first time in two years he felt a sense of hope about his future.

A week later Peter found himself in his office at Heatherton, preparing for the start of classes the following week, when he heard a knock at his door. He looked up to see the Dean, Cornelia Culpepper, standing at his door. She was 45 but exemplified the notion that 40 was the new 30, with close-cropped blonde hair and a naturally welcoming smile.

"How's our star pupil doing?" Cornelia asked in her exquisite English accent.

"Good," Peter replied. "Settling in. I have a lot of good ideas for my first semester here."

"Good," Cornelia answered. "I just wanted to drop in and see how you were doing, and to let you know that your housing request had been approved."

"My housing request?" Peter asked, confused.

"Yes," Cornelia replied. "You asked that your cousin be permitted to house with you, and while normally we wouldn't allow a teacher and a student to share the same residence, in light of her being an exchange student and new to the country the board felt that in this case staying with her relative would be good for her." Peter stood silent. "Maybe good for both of you," she added.

Peter didn't know what to say, first and foremost because he had never put in any such request to have Katya room with him. He opened his mouth to question things further when he stopped. He recognized the golden opportunity he was being showered with, and while he didn't know how it came into being, he didn't want to spoil it.

"Thank you," Peter simply said to the Dean.

"Do us proud," Cornelia smiled. "I know you will." She backed out of Peter's office, her heels clacking down the hall.

Peter had work he knew he should finish here in his office, but suddenly he didn't care. Curiosity and anticipation got the best of him, and he quickly made his way out of the building and all the way to the outskirts of the campus to Faculty Row, where many of Heatherton's teachers had small houses, almost like dorms on a college campus, supplied by the school. Peter reached his and walked inside, where he saw several unfamiliar suitcases piled up by the couch in the living room. He heard a noise from the bathroom inside and made his way down the hall to the door, which he pushed open to find Katya just about to sit down on the toilet. She looked up at him.

"Hello, cousin," she smiled.