Drive Me Insane

A/N: Is it bad form to make an alternate universe story based on my own story? Yikes. The premise for this is "What if Suzie and Moriah met in college?"

I'm still in the middle of writing the ending to my Suzie/Moriah series but this happened to come up because I want more first times with these characters. It's fun. :D

To be honest, I think a lot of people have a fantasy that they'd have a high school/college sweetheart that were spectacular enough to fight for.

------

My dorm roommate and I had an understanding. We'd take turns staying out of the room when we wanted to get laid. I had a couple of best friends that were willing to let me crash, and she had a slew of friends that she could spend the night with as well. I'd also asked for a max time limit of three weeks to use your turn and if you didn't, it was forfeited. Very important.

That night, I'd texted her, asking if I could bring a girl back. She'd readily accepted with the condition that I clear out for two days so she could spend Saturday and Sunday with her boyfriend at our room. I accepted the terms, and she sent me back a happy face emoji.

I went back to the dorm's common room to the girl I'd been flirting with for two weeks at the local coffee shop.

"Where were we?" I murmured as I crawled over her.

"Here." She brought my neck down to kiss her, and shoved her tongue in my throat. I pressed on her, trying to slow down the pace but she wasn't having it. She was absolutely voracious.

"Ugh. Can't believe what people do on that couch. That's why I don't study in here."

I vaguely heard a lilting voice, and opened my eyes mid-kiss to see a couple of girls walking by. I winked at the redheaded girl that had spoken then leaned up to draw a breath before diving back into Kyra's mouth.

I heard a tiny exasperated tsk from the redhead as she walked away.

I gave my roommate an hour to clear out, and by the time we stumbled in, she was gone. Excellent! We were planning on being loud.

----

That weekend I had to stay out of the dorm, and ended up crashing on the floor of my best friend Jesse's room. He insisted on having a party on Saturday, and that I should be there. I danced to avoid the inane conversations around me. I had my own private drinking game going where I would take a sip every time someone mentioned finals.

That redhead was there with the same friend I saw her with last time. I found myself in the little circle of people that she was talking with and she gave me a side eye then stepped a little away when I sidled up next to her.

The group was talking about a professor everyone hated and how to get through his impossibly difficult final. I was drinking more in this group. They seemed to be complete nerds.

"Hey, what's your name?" I whispered quietly.

"No."

"What do you mean 'no?'"

"Just that. I don't want to talk to you."

"Oh." I paused to collect my thoughts. "Why not?"

"Because you're a superficial jackass."

"Oh. How do you know?"

She turned to look at me with a frown. "You're not even going to deny it?"

I shrugged. "I don't think of myself as a jackass. But I could be wrong. I mean, most jackasses aren't self aware enough to acknowledge their own jackassery."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"So, again, how do you know?"

She tsked and I found it as adorable then than I did earlier that week. "You were completely over that girl in a common area, then stopped to wink at me! That wasn't cool."

"Oh."

"Also, apparently, your vocabulary leaves a lot to be desired."

"That's not true. I say the word 'milieu' all the time, in a very dignified way."

She scoffed and ignored me.

The group went to sit down around the beds. I followed to sit down close by her.

The nerd group finally stopped talking about finals, and started to get more randy.

Someone decided that we should play seven minutes in heaven. The yet unnamed girl tried to escape but her friend pulled her back down to sit.

Jesse took over, and wrote everyone's names on a little piece of paper then tossed them into the fancy top hat he owned. He was an excellent emcee, just the right mix of enthusiastic and dry humor.

"Okay, first up is Yury and Jacob! Let's give them a hand! Steve! Turn up the music so we can give them a little privacy!"

The thumping bass went louder as the shy couple went into the spacious closet.

I made eye contact with Jesse then moved my eyeballs to the side to indicate the girl. He rubbed at his nose discreetly then went through two more couples before he got to me. The second pair of names that were called were two guys; they came out of the closet looking flushed.

"Excellent! Now, next up is Moriah and -- Suzie!"

I looked around in faux obliviousness, and when I turned to look at her, she was scowling. I raised my eyebrows.

"You're Suzie?" I pointed at her.

She ignored me to look at Jesse instead. "Pass."

"Ouch." I said quietly.

"You know the rules." Jesse spoke to her and the group. "This is a completely consensual game so you can opt out but either you're in or you're out. There's no passing."

"Suzie, don't be a party pooper! Just do it. I did it already." Her friend sighed out in exasperation.

"Naw, it's okay. She doesn't wanna do it. Leave her alone. Just draw again, Jess." I piped up, and resigned myself to being hated by her. I HATED peer pressure. I wanted to spend more time with her but I didn't like pressuring girls either. It was usually easier than this to get them alone.

"Fine. Come on." She stood up, and I scrambled after her. There were some whoops as we went into the closet.

I sat in a dark corner, and tapped my feet to the music. "So what's your favorite season?"

"What?"

"Season. You know, Summer? Winter?"

"Uh, Fall. I guess."

"Cool! Me too. I like the dry chill in the air when September comes around. Do you prefer cats or dogs?"

"What are you doing?"

"I only have seven minutes to get to know you. I already know your name so I'm getting the important stuff before our time is up." I paused. "Unless you'd rather make out."

"No, you probably have mono or some other disgusting bug."

"Harsh. You're not very nice, you know."

"Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you can't be a selfish player."

"Oh. That's why you don't like me. You think I take advantage of people?"

"From what I've seen, it's clear you do."

"There's nothing wrong with having fun with like-minded people. The girls I've been with aren't looking for anything serious either. We're all just trying to get through junior year, same as everyone else."

"That sounds rehearsed."

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't have the right to sleep around if I want, same as a guy. I'm not hurting anyone, on the contrary."

She tsked yet again.

I chuckled. "That's adorable."

"What?" She hissed in the dark.

"The little clicking sound you make when you're upset."

"I'm not upset. I don't care enough about you to be upset."

"You cut me to the quick, darling." I hummed placidly as I lit up my watch to look at the time. "Well! I hope the next person you're paired with is more to your liking. I'll be honest though, there's not a lot of lookers out there to choose from."

She was silent so I kept humming.

"Time's up! I guess the burning question of 'Do you like cats or dogs?' will have to wait." I stood up and stepped out of the closet first. Everyone clapped for us same as they did for every couple. I gave her a quick smile then went to sit down.

She took her place between her friend and me again. "Dogs. I prefer dogs."

I smiled widely at her, and she pulled her mouth up in amusement.

----

I was studying in the library, and the words were starting to sound like a Barbara Streisand song instead of real information. I needed a break to refocus.

I stretched in the wooden chair, and rubbed at my eyes. I looked around, catching a mane of red hair across the way. She had headphones on, and was chewing on her pen.

I grinned then walked over to her.

"Hi!"

She looked up then immediately rolled her eyes as she took her earbuds out. "Hi."

"I'm Moriah. Remember me? The selfish superficial jackass? We spent seven glorious minutes together in that stinky closet?"

"I remember."

"Hm. So! How's your evening going?"

"Fantastic. And yours?"

"Excellent."

"Great. Well, I have to finish this chapter so..."

"Oh, right! Right. I'll get out of your hair. Which, by the way, is very pretty." I smiled at her.

"Thank you. You can save the charm for someone else though."

"Oh. I got plenty to go around."

She pretended to throw up, and it made me grin.

"Toodle-oo! 'Til next time!"

"I'm dying of anticipation."

"Me too!" I went to sit down again and forced my brain to focus for another hour.

"Hi Moriah!" I looked up to see Paula standing over me. I believe we were together on the Fourth of July. A very explosive night, if I do say so myself.

"Hi Paula, dear. How are you?"

"Good! I've been swamped, and our team is about to compete in cross country nationals."

"Whoa! Nationals is cool. What do you do on the team?" I glanced over to see Suzie watching us; she looked away quickly when I caught her.

"I do the hurdle run." She sat down to chat.

"Ah! That explains so much."

"How so?" She tilted her head, and grinned mischievously. Her pretty brown waves draped her face so nicely.

"You were very enthusiastic. And we almost broke my cheap dorm bed."

"Oh my god!" She squealed, and slapped my forearm. "You're terrible. Well -- no, actually, you're really very good."

"Hmm. Wanna go for an encore?"

"When? Today?"

"If you'd like. I feel kind of bad kicking my roommate out with such late notice but maybe we can find a place."

"Well. My roommate is out today for the weekend."

"Is she? How fortunate."

"Isn't it? So maybe--" she leaned close to the apple of my cheek, "--we could do a little cardio tonight."

I grinned, and tilted my head closer to her. "Anything in the name of school spirit." "Paula?"

She hummed as her mouth floated over mine.

"How short are your running shorts?"

"Extremely."

"Let's go?"

"Yep!"

I collected my things while she waited then pressed her against the table to steal a kiss before we left. She pressed her hips into me then pulled at me to get me out of the library. I caught Suzie's gaze and winked at her.

She pursed her lips and shook her head.

----

Another agonizing week of studying passed. I attempted to remind myself why I even bothered.

She was walking on the grounds in front of me so I quickened my pace to reach her.

"Hi! We really have to stop meeting like this."

She looked over then almost smiled before schooling her face.

"Hey stalker."

"How've you been?"

"Fine."

"Cool. Cool. What's your favorite flower?"

"No."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because you might actually buy some to give to me with some cheesy pick up line."

"You may think you know me. But you don't. I don't give out flowers willy nilly."

"No?"

"No. I reserve that only for people I'm interested in pursuing a relationship with."

"So then you don't need to know my answer then." She opened the door to the building, and stepped through. I followed but then looked around, realizing I was on the other end of campus from where I needed to be.

"Oops! I have to be in Psychology right now. Gotta go! See you later, Red."

She hummed noncommittally, and kept walking.

I got a thrill every time I spoke to her. She was disparaging but there was an undercurrent of something there. It was a fun sort of sparring. I almost got a smile that day too.

----

I was walking with Jesse; as was our custom, our hands were gesticulating wildly while we talked about one of our favorite animes.

"But if he hadn't had the moral breakthrough, he would still be under the control of the dark spirit. So now he's a hero, not the villain."

"But why can't he be a villain that does good? And still use the power of the spirit?"

"Because--" I froze as I saw her. Jesse came to a stop too. A couple of people gave us a wide berth so they wouldn't bump into us.

"Oh. It's that girl."

I found the wherewithal to keep moving but I went slowly to look at her some more.

She was laughing with a friend, and her nose was wrinkled as she laughed. She had dimples I hadn't seen before that day.

"Isn't she gorgeous?"

"Yeah. She's pretty. You didn't sleep with her the day of the party?"

"I didn't even kiss her, man."

"Oh! What did you do in the closet then?"

"Just talked. She kind of hates me."

He guffawed, and I looked at him, wrenching my gaze away from her.

"Why are you still obsessed then? Forget her."

"I don't know. There's something about her."

"Careful. Your boner is showing."

"Shut up. She just seems special."

"If you say so. But remember how much you hate guys hitting on girls who say no. They can be real jerks."

I sucked on my teeth. "Yeah. Maybe I'm pestering her. It doesn't seem like it, though. When we talk, it's more like a give and take."

He was silent, presumably disagreeing with me.

I turned back to look at her, and she made eye contact with me. She tucked her hair behind her ear then looked back at her friend.

I grinned all the way to English Lit.

----

I was with our little group of friends in the bleachers, cheering on our football team as loudly as possible. I liked football but I enjoyed even more the social license to scream my voice hoarse.

I was having a great time until I looked down to see a redheaded cheerleader with a pony tail kick her leg up then do a cartwheel.

"Oh fuck."

"What?" Sammy questioned when she saw the look on my face.

"She's a cheerleader."

"Who is?"

"Oh-ho! Sorry man!" Jesse was sitting on my other side. He followed my gaze.

"What?" Sammy shouted in exasperation now.

"Mor has the hots for that girl, and it turns out she's a cheerleader."

"Which one?"

"That one right there." Jesse pointed her out.

"Why is that a problem then?"

"Well. Odds are, she's straight."

"You don't know that!" I glowered at him. "Didn't you see that gay Natasha Lyonne movie? Cheerleaders can be gay too."

"Sure." He said indulgently. I couldn't help but be a little heartbroken though. I saw in my mind's eye her hanging on the neck of a burly football player. Though she'd professed to hating me with a passion, she still had some sort of passion for me. I had stupidly gotten my hopes up, and realized now how much I'd thought about her since I'd first laid eyes on her.

Our team won so we shouted our alma mater at the top of our lungs. It was horribly out of tune.

As we were leaving, I kept an eye on her, waiting with bated breath for my jock boyfriend prophecy to come true.

She eventually stopped to chat with one of her teammates, smiling the same smile I saw on her the other day.

I suddenly ditched my friends to jog over to her.

"Hi!" I grinned.

"Hello."

"You did great!"

"Thanks. This is my friend Clara."

"Hi Clara! I'm Moriah. Nice to meet you!" I smiled at her.

"Same here."

"Suzie? Can I borrow you for like, two minutes?"

"I'll go start packing up our stuff." Her friend excused herself.

I waited.

"Well?" She pressed with raised eyebrows.

"Right. So, yes, you were amazing today. I didn't know you were on the squad."

"Yeah, it's fun."

"Sure, if I was playing, and had you cheering me on? I'd wanna win so badly."

"Did you actually have something to tell me or did you just want to flirt at me?"

"I have a question."

"You always do."

"On a scale from 1 - 10, how gay or straight are you? 1, being gold star lesbian and 10, being massively hetero."

"I'm somewhere between 'none of your business' and 'never gonna happen.' That answer your question?"

"Yes, it's like a six or seven."

She laughed, and my eyes followed the movement of her throat. "God, you're relentless. I'll see you around, horndog."

"Woof!" I yelped like a chihuahua, and got a smile for my stupidity.

I watched her walk away in her tiny skirt.

She looked back once, and it sent a thrill down my spine.

----

If I bought a coffee at the kiosk close to the arts building at exactly seven AM, I could find her in line waiting to get her customary hazelnut latte.

That day I bought it for her and waited until she showed up.

"Hey stalker." She came up to me.

"Hi Red. Here." I handed her the coffee cup, and she sniffed at it.

"Why'd you buy me my coffee?" She turned to walk towards her class, trusting I'd follow her.

"Just more expedient."

"For whom?"

"Us. That way I could walk you to class, and we can chat some more."

"Do you have more first date questions for me?"

"Technically, this is our fourth date."

"In your dreams."

"Yes, actually. Okay! So what sitcom was your favorite growing up?"

"Golden Girls."

"Haha! Why?"

"They were so sassy and they got on each other's nerves but they were best friends."

"Kind of like you and me!"

"No, you're just plain frustrating."

"I don't know, Red. You're the one that started taking an interest in me first, and now all of a sudden you're everywhere? Sounds like you can't get enough of me."

"Whatever. Don't you have your flavor of the week to fawn over or something instead of pestering me every morning?"

"She left around three AM. Something about an early start. Didn't even want to have breakfast with me, how rude!"

"Uh oh, Casanova. That might be an indication that your highly exaggerated skills may not be up to par."

"My stroke game is excellent. I made at least six touchdowns." I clicked my tongue as I mimed batting one out of the park.

"You're mixing your sports metaphors horribly."

"Well. You get the idea." I grinned at her.

"Not that I'm not enjoying your little ego trip, but I gotta get to class."

We were indeed at the door to her Music History class.

"Right! See you tomorrow. Same time, Red!"

"Thanks for coffee."

"Welcome!" I walked backwards and toasted her with my cup. She copied me before going in the room.

----

I'd pegged her as a nerd when I first met her friends but I'd been sorely mistaken. She was a bona fide genius. As I heard her speak, I fell deeper and deeper in love at the way she painted the Latin course she was taking as this beautifully romantic tool for expression. She genuinely enjoyed learning and looked forward to every lesson.

She wasn't just coasting along like I was, but found wonder in everything.

She was addicting.

"See, a lot of people think of Portuguese as strictly a Romantic language but it's not! It's heavily influenced by Gaelic which, in turn, has a Germanic influence and -- sorry, I must be boring you!" She looked shy now.

"No, I didn't know that! It's fascinating."

She looked at me dubiously but kept speaking. "Well that's why there's similarities in rhythm and vowel usage with Portuguese and Slavic languages."

"I've noticed that! It doesn't flow like French or Spanish."

"Right! That's because the area that started speaking Portuguese was speaking Gaelic dialects then was conquered by the Visigoths afterwards. It has Latin, Spanish, but also an Eastern European cadence."

"Cool." I said in reverence.

We got to her class and she was smiling. I didn't want to say goodbye.

"See you later, stalker." She turned to walk in the classroom.

"Hey! Are you going to the Nauti party the Pi Kappas are throwing?"

"Cher wants to go. How about you?"

"Jesse and I never pass up an opportunity to dress up."

"Okay. Maybe I'll see you there then."

"Aye aye!"

She rolled her eyes but smiled.

----

I was getting dressed at Jesse's since he promised me he would lend me a sailor cap.