For All We Know

But I've never been the type of guy to consider things on the basis of pure logic. Sure Amy had big boobs but when you compared other factors, such as proportion, Priya's boobs were smaller but her body compared to Amy's is much tinier. Proportionately Priya's boobs were bigger and her waist was a lot tinier. And Amy has no ass at all. If you watched them walking next to each other, the way I had several times during the summer, it was like a graceful gazelle walking next to a cow.

To put it in non-zoological terms it's like driving through a twisting and technical Grand Prix race circuit. If you need to drive that course, do you want to drive it in a semi or a Ferrari?

When I woke up the next day, I'd already figured it out in my mind. The decision I'd made wasn't the one a nice guy would make, but it was probably the best one possible for me. I'd start spending time with Amy but I wouldn't lead her on. I wasn't going to allow it to turn into a relationship, but if she wanted to hang out that was fine. It was also fine if she wanted to turn the non-relationship into a

"friends with benefits" thing, because I was all about the benefits. But I was not going to start calling us a couple. The way I looked at it, some pussy and no hassle although with a cow, trumps no pussy and humiliation from a gazelle every day.

Unfortunately, the decision was taken out of my hands. I was on my way to my first class and a little early when I ran into Amy. I waved at her and she came right over to me and looked like she had something on her mind. She did but it wasn't what I expected.

"Eric do you know how to skate?" she asked.

"Well," I said. "I'm not a hockey player, or an ice dancer, but I can probably make it around a rink a couple of times without embarrassing myself or falling all over the place."

"Good, because we're all going skating at the plaza downtown tomorrow night and maybe you can make up for last night, and get your good guy card back," she said.

"How did I lose my good guy card?" I asked. "When we danced last night we seemed to be fine. Oh Shit, sorry I left without saying anything. But I just had to get out of there."

"After making Priya cry, you should have left," she said. I was shocked at her words.

"Amy, how did I make her cry?" I asked. "We had a conversation that's all."

"Eric, you've never asked her to dance," she said.

"Is dancing with her a requirement?" I asked.

"Well...no but it would be nice," she said. "Eric, you just don't understand life in her country. The women over there are treated like shit. They're second class citizens."

"Amy, you don't understand life over here. Men are treated like shit. WE'RE second class citizens," I said laughing.

"Okay explain that one," she smirked.

"Amy, if you take a typical guy like me, life sucks. I'm not rich. I'm not handsome, I'm a normal guy. The hot women look right through me to see some asshole, that'll end up abusing them or cheating on them or ignoring them. I'll end up with a nice little woman, that'll turn into my mom over the next twenty years. I'll never have an overwhelming passion for her, we'll just be stable. We'll have a couple of kids and by the time we're 45 one or both of us will have cheated on the other. Maybe we'll put it behind us or maybe we'll divorce. If we do divorce, pure loneliness will drive us to someone else."

"If we do divorce, I'm screwed no matter who cheated on whom. I'll get raped in court because that's the way it works. Probably as many as half of the men out there want divorces, but as they say, it's cheaper to keep her."

"Eric, what does this have to do with Priya?" she asked.

"How many guys have you seen ask her out?" I asked. "Lots of them right?" she nodded.

"Have you ever thought about how difficult it is to be a guy? You have to summon up your courage and approach a veritable stranger to ask them if you can spend some time with them. The poor guy has no power. He's at the whim of that woman. How much self-esteem does he have left when she rejects him? Some girls try to be nice about it. They make up excuse after excuse and the guy finally takes the hint and moves on. Other girls figure they don't want to beat around the bush and stretch it out, so they just say no. It' hurts more, but you get over it and move on quickly. But your friend is the type of woman who enjoys putting guys down. She just beats the shit out of them with sarcasm and destroys their ego. I think she gets off on it."

"I think you're wrong Eric," said Amy. "She does have a weird sense of humor, but Priya doesn't have a mean bone in her whole body."

"Amy, yesterday was the first time, I've ever spoken to her. She just walked up to me and started calling me names," I said.

"Eric, she was frustrated and hurt," said Amy. "We spent the whole week trying to teach her how to dance. They don't have many dance clubs in Pacmanistan. And young ladies from good families especially on her level, simply don't dance in public. And then there was you. Like you said Eric, she's had to tell a few guys off. And trust me, Priya has a mouth on her and she isn't afraid to use it. But most of those guys were asking for it. Eric, she can't go on romantic single dates with guys because she's engaged. She can go out in groups with FRIENDS though. She's a really pretty girl Eric, but she doesn't see it. And shit, I'd love to be built like her. But guys don't see it like that. Most of them aren't really angling for a date or a friendship. They just want some pussy and they see dating as a way to get it."

"Eric, you danced with all of the single women in our group yesterday and some of the attached ones. Terri's gigantic football player fiancé doesn't mind you dancing with her whether he's there or not because you're not an asshole and you respect limits. The only girl in our group that wanted to dance that you didn't dance with was Priya, Eric. She was almost in tears. So yeah, she kind of went into attack mode, but what did you expect?"

"Amy, there are other guys in our group. Like you said, someone could have and should have danced with her. It didn't have to be me," I said.

"Eric, it really did have to be," she hissed.

"Why?" I asked.

"Most guys hate dancing," she said. "They do it as a means to an end. With Priya there's not going to be an end. So someone has to do it just to be nice and you're the nice one. The two other single guys that we hang out with are either desperate or a dirt bag, so it really did have to be you. The guys who have girlfriends had better not dance with her or their girlfriends are going to be jealous or angry so they're not going to volunteer, so it should have been you. As a matter of fact, I told her before we got there that you'd probably dance with her. That's why she went after you."

"So everyone just assumed that I'm supposed to be some sort of non-sexual saint. I'm supposed to rescue old ladies and orphans and dance with angry women with no thought of personal gain?" I asked.

"Yes Eric," she laughed. "That's what you're supposed to do."

The next day I drove downtown to the plaza along with a group of my friends. Those of us who had cars drove them and picked up those who didn't. I rented skates and tried out my rusty skills. After an exploratory lap around the rink, I was smiling and enjoying myself. I did a quick jump turn and suddenly remembered how to skate backwards. After that, I skated in time to the music and watched as several of my friends fell and got up and continued skating. Amy was an amazing skater. I skated with her a couple of times. The second time, she started waving something around in her hand.

"We're going dancing tomorrow night if you want the chance to get this back?" she said.

"If I want what back?" I asked.

"Your good guy card," she smirked.

"Amy, why do the girls always get together and decide where we're going?" I asked.

"Because if we let the guys decide, we'd just stay in someone's basement playing video games, drinking beer and fucking," she said smiling. "So are you going to get this back tomorrow or what?"

"Why wait?" I asked. I skated over to the sidelines quickly and leaned over the railing by the table that Priya was sitting at.

I leaned over the railing until our faces were very close. "Why aren't you skating?" I asked.

"Because I don't know how?" she said, sarcastically matching my exact tone.

"If we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, I'm sorry," I said. "I'm kind of shy and I just thought that I'd get humiliated. No one really wants to be hurt, and coming from you it..." I hesitated.

"What do you mean coming from me?" she asked. "I watched you earlier. You went over to Amy and you skated with her. You skated with her more than once. But when you went over to Sarah, she told you no and..."

"Did you see the reason that Sarah told me no and how she handled it?" I asked. "Sarah told me no because she thinks I skate too fast for her. See how she's holding onto the railing as she goes around. She smiled at me and said no way Eric but I'll dance with you when we're done. It was friendly. When you tell guys no, it's not like that."

"Eric, usually when I tell a guy no, it's because they want something other than being friendly. If I say no nicely, they try to persist and then things get out of hand. They don't take being rejected, nicely," she said.

"It's probably because it hurts so much more coming from you," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're so hot," I said. She tilted her head back and laughed as if I'd just said the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"Me?" she asked. "I'm hot?" and then she laughed again and wouldn't stop.

"Eric, someday I have to show you some pictures," she said. "I went to an all-girls school. I'd be willing to bet that if I showed you my high school class picture you probably couldn't pick me out of the class. I look just like every other girl from my country. In fact, I'm not as pretty as some."

Then it was my turn to start laughing. Amy skated over with Sarah. She looked pleased and handed me back my imaginary card. I whispered in her ear and asked her what size shoes Priya wore. She told me and I skated over to the rental window and got skates that would fit her. I put the skates down in front of her.

"Oh no," she said.

"How about a bet?" I said.

"What are we wagering?" she asked.

"Do you have any pictures in your wallet?" I asked.

"Of course," she said.

"Pick out three of them," I told her. "If I can pick you out in two out of three of them, you have to skate. If I can't pick you out. Then I'll take off my skates and sit with you." She thought about it for a moment.

"And you have to dance with me tomorrow," she threw in. "I really want to do that."

"Okay," I said. She searched though her wallet and found three pictures. She actually found more than three but she looked through them and pulled out the three should thought would give me the least chance of recognizing her.

The first was the most difficult. It was a picture of three little girls who couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve. I stared at them and picked the girl on the right side.

"Oooh," she shrieked. "How did you know?" She pulled out another picture this one had two little girls standing in front of a horse.

"You're on the left this time," I said.

"Shit," she hissed.

I looked at the last picture. "You've already won," she said. "Are you trying to humiliate ME, now?"

There were 16 girls in three rows. There were seven girls in the back row, five in the second row and four in the front row.

I pointed at a girl on the right side of the second row.

She put all of the pictures away and bent to put her skates on. She stood up and I grabbed her arm. She just stared at me as I grabbed it. From that first touch, something went through me. And I knew that futile or not, I was very glad that I hadn't settled for Amy.

"You're not going to let me fall on my bum, are you?" she asked.

"Your what?" I asked.

"You call it an ass," she said. Her mouth curled into that little half smile that I've come to love. But that was the first time she'd done it with me very close to her. I melted and almost fell myself.

"I'll protect your ass as if it was mine," I said. Immediately Amy flashed me an angry look. I guided Priya out onto the ice.

"Okay ma'am," I said. "We're going to take it really easy. Just take baby steps. The first time around you're going to hold onto the railing with one arm and onto me with the other. It took us almost ten minutes to make it all the way around the rink, but she was smiling when we got back to her table.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked. "Can we go again?"

The second and third times around the rink she still took baby steps but she began letting go of the railing. By our fourth swing around the rink, she made it all the way around the rink just holding onto my arm. She was extremely gleeful and it was catching. Everyone seemed to be enjoying watching her become sure of herself. And her natural grace made watching her more fun than watching some of the women who'd been skating for years.

But our luck couldn't hold out forever. And when it ran out, Priya showed me her intelligence. While we'd been skating around, I told her that falling was natural and it was bound to happen. I'd told her that a lot of people made the falls far worse than they had to be by flailing their arms and trying to stay upright. The best thing to do was to just bend your knees and try to make the fall softer. When she lost her balance, she did just that. I grabbed her and we fell together with her landing on top of me.

"Oh, that didn't hurt at all," she laughed.

"Tell that to poor Sarah," said Amy. She came skating over to us.

"You had something softer than the ice to land on," she said. "I think Sarah almost broke her butt when she fell. She may never skate again."

A few minutes later, we were back up and skating again. Almost too soon they announced that the song they were playing would be the last for the evening and that everyone who'd rented skates needed to turn them in.

"Eric," said Priya. "Thank you very much. I had more fun than I've ever had." I smiled right back at her, knowing that my life was ruined.

For the next few months, we were a non-couple. When I say non-couple I meant that we were friends without benefits. But everywhere our group went, the two of us were together. If we went to the movies, we sat together. If we went to dinner or dancing or anywhere else, the two of us were together. There were also times when the group didn't plan on going anywhere when Priya and I would quickly call several of our friends to go someplace just so we could do something together.

Over the same time period, things began to change between us on a very subtle basis. We went to a slasher flick that was particularly gory and Priya actually grabbed my hand in the movie. After the scary part was over, she held may hand for the rest of the movie. After that, she always insisted that we go whenever something even mildly scary came out.

One of the biggest changes was when we'd go dancing. I found that quite often, I ended up dancing every dance with Priya. When we first started, we only danced the faster dances where there was a lot of space between us. On one of those occasions a slower song came on and Priya and I left the floor. Just as we sat down, Amy pulled me back out onto the floor and told me she felt like dancing.

During the song, I held Amy in my arms and she ground herself against me. She pressed her large breasts into my chest and pushed her crotch against mine. "Amy, are you trying to tell me something?" I asked.

"That's for you to figure out," she said.

When I got back to the table, Priya immediately snatched my hand and dragged me away from the table. Her eyes were blazing and the next thing I knew, we were in the parking lot.

"What the hell were you doing?" she hissed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Eric, don't play stupid," she yelled. "What were you doing with Amy?"

"Dancing," I said.

"That was not dancing," she yelled. "That was two people FUCKING to music IN public." A couple of people came out of the bar and smiled when they saw us.

"I didn't like it," she yelled. "I didn't like it at all. Don't you EVER do that again."

"Why not?" asked Amy from behind us. "Priya, we're all just friends. Eric has gone above and beyond what I asked him to do. For the past few weeks or even longer, he's been beyond a good guy. Have you noticed that he used to dance with all of the single girls but now he only dances with you?"

"Maybe Sarah and I want to dance with him sometime. It's much nicer than trying to dance with Claude who only wants to dance you into a corner and try to feel on your boobs. And Adam is worse. He'll only dance with you if he thinks he can fuck you. Besides, aren't you supposed to be betrothed or engaged?" she asked.

"I am," said Priya loudly. "I've done nothing wrong or untoward."

"So how would your intended feel about you spending most of your free time with one guy?"

"He'd trust that we're friends and that nothing is going on," said Priya. But by that time I knew her. I knew her moods and I knew that she was lying.

"He must be really understanding," said Amy. "Most of the guys I've gone out with would be jealous as hell." She grabbed a guy who was walking by and started asking him questions.

"Hey, if you were going out with a girl and she was spending all of her time holding hands and dancing with another guy, what would you do?"

The guy smiled at her, he was probably drunk. "If I answer your question what do I get?" he asked.

"Just answer the question," said Amy.

"Will you rub those against me if I do?" he asked, pointing at her boobs. Amy just rolled her eyes and asked another guy.

"I'd kick her ass and his too," spat the second guy.

A few of our friends came out of the bar. "What's going on?" asked Terri.

"Terri, when was the last time you danced with Eric?" asked Amy.

Terri's boyfriend Ben was huge. "It's not my fault," he said. "I can't dance. That whole rhythm thing is a stereotype," he said.

"Ben, nobody is blaming you for anything," said Amy. "When was the last time you saw Terri dance with Eric?"

"Oh that's easy," said Ben. "I've had to dance with her for about the last three weeks or so since Eric hooked up with Priya. I hate dancing. And if I twist my ankle and can't play I'll get kicked off the team." Amy just tilted her head and looked at Priya.

"We haven't hooked up," said Priya. "We're just friends."

"Exactly," I said.

"I don't know," said Sarah. "You guys are way closer than you and I are, Eric. And I've known you a lot longer. Whenever we go anywhere as a group, the two of you are always together. I think a lot of people think the two of you are together."

"Bullshit," I said.

"Exactly," said Priya.

"Here," said Sarah. "I'll prove it to you. She went into the bar and came out with one of the waitresses. She stood all four of the girls including Terri and herself together.

"Which one of these girls is Ben's girlfriend?" she asked the waitress.

"Who's Ben?" asked the waitress.

Ben raised his hand. The waitress pointed to Terri.

"Good," said Sarah. "Now which one of these girls is Eric's girlfriend?" The waitress immediately pointed at Priya.

Priya walked away from the bar angrily. Over the next few days, things only got worse. We went out a few times as friends but Priya didn't show up. And usually when I got there and found out that she wasn't there, I left as well.

I ran into Ben and he told me that Terri had ended breaking up an argument between Amy and Priya that had turned into a fistfight and the two of them were each looking to find a new roommate. He told me that I should expect a call because they'd been arguing over me and Amy was really upset.