Harem House - Selene Pt. 17

"That's not your business." Rani said defensively.

Sara and Bella hadn't blinked in over a minute and were looking back and forth between Sanjay and Rani as if this were the most captivating soap opera they'd ever seen. Rachel still looked sour, as if this entire conversation was unwelcome. Mindy looked nervous, her grip on her fork nearly white-knuckled. Rani looked annoyed and leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"So, what happened after you dropped me off last night?" Sanjay asked.

"Mindy and I hung out." Rani glanced at Mindy, who nodded quickly.

"With Arthur?" Sanjay asked. "And now you're dating him?"

Sara, Bella, and Rachel looked at Mindy, who seemed alarmed and pointedly not looking at them as she looked back and forth between Sanjay and Rani.

"Look, Sanjay, who I am or am not dating is not your business." Rani said flatly. "Because it's not you. So..." She gestured with her hand to brush him off and away.

"Okay." Sanjay shrugged. "Whatever." He shook his head. "Mindy?"

Mindy looked surprised.

"You want to go with me to homecoming this weekend?" Sanjay asked.

"Uh... no. Thank you." Mindy shook her head.

"You sure? If Arthur ditched you for Rani, he's a blind man. You're way hotter." Sanjay assured her.

"Uh..." Mindy hesitated, unsure of how to react or explain. Sanjay was a particular kind of dense she hadn't encountered before, and she wasn't sure how to get rid of him. "I already have a date for homecoming." Mindy said quietly. Sara, Bella, and Rachel's eyes widened. They hadn't heard any news of a new boyfriend or a date. She hadn't even told them about her date with Arthur on Sunday. They assumed she'd slept at her parent's place like she usually did when they needed help with the restaurant, and she worked late.

"Who?" Sara asked.

"Oh, uh... just some guy from work. You don't know him." Mindy brushed the question away.

"That guy you've been crushing on?" Bella asked excitedly. "He asked you out?"

"So Arthur." Sanjay interjected. "Arthur's taking both of you?"

"Well, he's taking a bunch of us." Rani explained, which didn't clarify anything or make it better.

"What?" Rachel asked, suddenly joining the conversation but clearly confused.

"We're both dating Arthur." Rani clarified."The two of us. Plus Selene, Kat, and Kelly."

"He wasn't kidding about the multiple girlfriends thing?" Sanjay asked as it seemed the only question one could ask when encountering an answer that made no sense. The fact that Arthur was going on a date with five women simultaneously and that Rani and Mindy seemed totally cool with it did not fit into his reality. "And now you're one of them?"

"We're both dating Arthur." Rani stated again, now that the cat was out of the bag.

"Did you..." As was his habit, Sanjay started talking well before his brain finished processing. "Did the three of you hook up after you ditched me?"

Rani and Mindy looked at each other momentarily and shared an expression that anyone might recognize as two people deciding whether to tell the truth or spare someone else's feelings. In the end, Rani decided to go with the truth.

"Yes." Rani answered. "Mindy invited me, and I... went home with them." Sara and Bella looked shocked, Rachel looked apoplectic, Mindy looked terrified, Sanjay looked pissed, and Rani looked vindicated as she straightened her spine and embraced the honesty of the situation.

"Slut." Sanjay spat.

"Hey!" Mindy and Rani both protested.

"You're both-" Sanjay started but got cut off as Rani picked up her glass of water and splashed it across the table, over his plate, and into Sanjay's face. The wet slap of ice-cold water shocked him one moment and enraged him the next. He felt it seep through his t-shirt and drip from his ears and down the rest of his body. He stood up suddenly, tossing the chair back as he did so.

Mindy realized that everyone in the cafeteria was watching them. The water toss, yell, and chair clatter had gathered everyone's attention. Rani was turned sideways in her chair to face Sanjay now that he stood up. The others at the table had their hands on the edge, uncertain of what would happen next.

"You're a cheating bitch!" Sanjay screamed at Rani.

"It was our first date, asshole, and it was over." Rani scoffed. "We weren't in a relationship. I'd just met you that day!"

"You'd just met Arthur too, but you fucked him!" Sanjay protested. "Like a goddamn-"

A meatball struck Sanjay in the face like an unexpected meteor from heaven.

Rani turned to see Mindy frozen in shock at herself, standing with her fork pointed toward Sanjay, now empty. The meatball had made a perfect arc from her fork over the table and directly between the angry eyes of the enraged young man.

"Don't call her names!" Mindy shouted with all the implied lethality of a particularly fluffy kitten.

"Where is he?" Sanjay said coldly after he took a deep breath. "Where the fuck is Arthur?"

No one answered him. Having never met the man, Sara, Bella, and Rachel had no idea. Mindy and Rani knew he had Theater Club that night, but neither would give him up.

Suddenly, Sanjay started forward as if he were going after Mindy. Everyone else around the table froze, including Mindy, but she immediately dashed away when she realized he was coming for her. To Mindy's and Sanjay's surprise, Rani moved in the opposite direction, directly toward Sanjay. Everyone in the cafeteria went "Oooo" when her knee collided with his groin so hard that Bella would later swear she heard a pop.

Sanjay folded and went down for the count to a ripple of nervous laughter and a pained expression on everyone but Rani's face.

"What the fuck were you gonna do, asshole?" Rani yelled at him. "Grab her? Hurt her? Hurt me until we tell you where Arthur is so you can, what, try to jump him or something just because he can pull five women, and you can't charm your way into a single pair of pants? Fuck you. Asshole."

The girls at the table looked shocked, including Mindy. A scattering of confused applause rippled out through the cafeteria crowd. Those who weren't recording on their phones weren't sure whether to applaud, but many did anyway.

Rani finished her speech just as the guys in Campus Security uniforms came over. She raised her hands and backed away, and Mindy followed suit. The girls at the table raised their hands and didn't move.

The scene quickly dissolved. Security asked their questions, but everyone who'd seen the incident swore it was self-defense on Rani's part. Campus Security had no less than six videos from nearby phones emailed to them within ten minutes (not to mention the additional eight that went up on Reels and other social media).

Sanjay was escorted out of the cafeteria.

Rani and Mindy were allowed to finish their dinners if they wanted to, but their food was already mostly gone. Security offered to escort them back to their dorm when ready, but Rani turned them down. Mindy was a little shaky, but okay, it was the closest she'd come to being in a fight before. Rani seemed unfazed but didn't mind holding Mindy's hand for emotional support.

"We should get some ice cream." Mindy suggested.

"Okay." Rani agreed and took the opportunity to lead Mindy away from the table and the questions that would inevitably come from her suitemates once security left them alone.

"Are you okay?" Mindy asked as soon as they had stepped away from the table, and her three suitemates nearly collided with each other to discuss recent events.

"I should be asking you that." Rani scoffed. "You just hit a guy with a meatball."

Mindy smirked. "He deserved it." She sighed.

"Are you okay that we're... well, that your suitemates are all talking about you, me, Arthur, and probably Sanjay right now?" Rani asked.

"I...." Mindy glanced over her shoulder at her suitemates, who immediately looked away from her as though they weren't looking at her and Rani, still holding hands in line for ice cream. "I don't know." Mindy squeezed her hand. "I know I should let go of your hand, but I kind of need it right now."

Rani smirked. "It'll be okay." She assured Mindy. "Rachel's a prude, but it's your life. You can't let other people's antiquated concepts of morality define your choices. And she has no right to tell you what to do with your life, no matter what she believes for her own."

"I know, I just..." Mindy sighed. "They're my friends. I was hoping to break the news to them piece by piece. I've... I've never had to have a coming-out conversation before."

"About your relationships and sexuality?" Rani asked. "You don't owe anyone an explanation of your sexual preferences unless you want to discuss it with them. It's none of their business." Rani assured her.

"Thanks." Mindy squeezed her hand. "And thanks for looking out for me back there."

"Well, I owed you. You defended my honor with that meatball." Rani chuckled. "Great shot, by the way, right between the eyes."

"Great kick." Mindy admitted.

"Thanks. My dad made me take years of self-defense training." Rani said.

"Isn't kicking below the belt illegal in most martial arts?" Mindy asked.

"Yeah, but this ain't a dojo. It's the streets." Rani struck a quick karate pose with one hand, to her own quiet amusement.

Mindy chuckled, but her heart wasn't in it. "Do you actually want ice cream?"

"Honestly? All I want to do is go back to my dorm and watch a movie or something on my laptop. Maybe make some popcorn." Rani shrugged.

"Can I join you?" Mindy asked.

Rani looked at her and smiled. Mindy was still holding her hand, so Rani swung it back and forth and nodded. "Of course. Any particular movie or show you want to watch? It can be anything so long as it's on Netflix or HBO Max."

"I have Netflix and Disney Plus, so... Maybe something on HBO Max? What's on there that's good?" Mindy asked.

"Do you like nudity and gore?" Rani asked.

"I like one of those very much." Mindy giggled. "Maybe the other a little too...."

"Do you like Game of Thrones?" Rani asked as she started to lead the way out of the cafeteria.

"Never seen it." Mindy shook her head. "My parents wouldn't let us watch it."

"Then I know what we're watching." Rani chuckled. She pulled Mindy out of line, and together the two of them made their way out of the dining hall. "So.... other than dinner, how was your day?"

Mindy scoffed, but once they were away from others, she started telling Rani about her time with Arthur in the office earlier that day and caught her up on what had happened. "And then he had me get under the desk and finish him off." Mindy finished her summary of her earlier shift. "It was hands down the hottest thing I've ever done." She giggled.

Rani smiled. "Hotter than last night?" She asked, surprised.

"Well...." Mindy thought about it, recalling everything she, Rani, and Arthur did together after their date. "Top three anyway." She giggled again.

When they reached the dorm building, Rani held the door open for Mindy, and Mindy scooted inside. Rani's room was smaller than Mindy's, and her roommate was a total slob, but the beds were clean. They sat on Rani's bed sideways with their backs against the wall and their feet hanging off the edge, hip to hip. Rani started the first episode of Game of Thrones just as Arthur and Selene arrived at the art building for their weekly Theater Club meeting.

"How have rehearsals been going anyway?" Arthur asked Selene as he held the door open for her.

"They're going fine." Selene shrugged. "It's an okay play. You're not missing much by running tech this time around."

"Think I'll be able to convince them to do Odd Couple in the spring?" Arthur chuckled as they passed through the doors.

"I thought you were more into musicals? We always do musicals in the spring." Selene explained the apparent problem with Arthur's hopes as she retook his hand.

"Well, yeah." Arthur nodded. "But I was hoping since I might not be eligible next fall...." He was technically a graduate student at the end of this academic year. That meant they might not let him take the leading role if there was an undergrad who could do it.

"We'll see." Selene said. "I'll support you."

"Thanks." Arthur said as they reached the conference room. The other theater club members were already there and gathered around Yvonne's phone. They looked up to see Arthur and Selene standing in the doorway, hand in hand, and everyone in the room froze.

"Hey, guys." Arthur waved awkwardly. "Everything okay? You guys look like you've seen a ghost."

Mark and Maria split off from the group first, going in separate directions around the table so they could sit across from one another. Brad and Caleb followed suit.

"Have you seen this?" Yvonne held up her phone. There was a video on it that Arthur didn't recognize, especially from this distance. He and Selene squinted to try to make it out, but they couldn't, so they came closer.

"Are you two a thing now?" Caleb asked, motioning with his finger between Selene and Arthur. "When did this happen? Why wasn't I informed? Dish." He commanded.

"Must be a different Arthur then." Mark scoffed. "Knew they weren't talking about our guy. There must be at least a few on campus, right?"

"What?" Arthur asked as he and Selene came around the table to where Yvonne was sitting. She cued up the video and played it for them.

It was a shaky but clear video of the events in the cafeteria taken from two tables over, with the taker standing up to get a clear shot as the raised voices at the table led to action. Arthur recognized Sanjay; of course, he and Selene recognized Mindy and Rani immediately. Neither recognized the three other girls at the table.

"Ooo." Arthur winced as Rani's knee collided with Sanjay's groin. The humorous explosion sound effect someone added in the video made it sound and seem particularly devastating. Then they all heard Rani, clear as day, yelling at Sanjay and declaring that Arthur was dating five women.

By the end of the video, Arthur's eyebrows were up. When he looked to see what Selene thought of it, she had already let go of his hand and was on her phone.

"They're okay." She said breathlessly. "Mindy says they're fine. Not to worry about it. They're back at the dorm hanging out."

"Okay." Arthur nodded, still a bit shocked. "And what happened to Sanjay?"

The others looked at each other and then back to Arthur.

"Uh... buddy?" Mark asked. "I-" He looked at Maria, across from him, and then back to Arthur. "I gotta ask. Are you dating five-" He looked at Selene and corrected himself. "Six women?"

"Five." Arthur said distractedly as he pulled out his own phone.

The room erupted into talking, laughter, and shocked inhales. When Selene looked up from her phone, she looked straight into the open-mawed stares of Yvonne and Maria, who both looked at her for confirmation.

Selene smiled and slipped her hand around Arthur's waist since he had both hands on his phone, texting.

"We're together." Selene said confidently. "He's also dating Mindy, Rani, Kat, and Kelly."

"What the fuck?" Yvonne squirmed away from them as though Arthur might try to grab her. He hadn't moved at all since he started texting.

Maria and Mark looked at each other again.

"Teach me your ways!" Brad laughed. "Fuck, man."

"I'd fuck him." Caleb chuckled. "Are you into guys at all?"

Mark slapped Caleb's arm, but Caleb hit him back. "What? I can't shoot my shot before his dance card fills up?"

Arthur put his phone away. He'd sent some messages to the House Chat, the chat with all six of them in it.

Arthur: Rani and Mindy were attacked by a guy, Sanjay, in the cafeteria tonight. If any of you see him, let me know immediately.

In the House Chat, the others had responded quickly.

Mindy: We're okay. Rani kneed him in the balls.

Rani: And Mindy hit him with a meatball!

Selene: There's videos of it spreading around campus already.

Mindy: Really?

Kelly: About to watch it.

Kat: Holy shit Rani, really? Way to out us to the whole campus.

Selene: We weren't hiding anything anyway, right?

Kelly: Holy shit. Rani, good job.

Kelly: Not sarcastic, I meant kneeing him. Good job on taking him down for the count. If I see that guy, I might do the same, going after Mindy like that.

Mindy: I'm okay!

Kat: But he shouldn't have gone for you like that.

Mindy: I did throw a meatball at him.

Kelly: Food violence should only ever be answered with food violence. Not physical violence.

Rani: ^ Wisdom for the ages.

Selene: Are we going to get in trouble?

Mindy: The security guy said it was self-defense, but we might be asked to give statements to a disciplinary review board. He asked if we wanted to press charges, but I said no.

Kelly: Maybe you should have. Teach him a lesson.

Mindy: I think Rani taught him enough. If he ever does something like that again, we'll press charges for sure.

Kat: Will he press charges? You technically hit him first.

Rani: It was still self-defense. If he tries to press charges, I'll press my own.

The conversation continued from there, but Arthur put his phone away and looked around at the Theater Club, who were all looking at him and Selene. Some, like Yvonne, looked horrified. Others, like Brad and Mark, looked impressed. Maria looked concerned at Selene but didn't speak up. Caleb literally licked his lips in a way that startled Arthur.

"Ah, I'm not into guys. Sorry." Arthur said. "But to be fair, you ask me that every week."

Caleb laughed. "It's called a status check."

"And yes." Arthur continued. "I am dating multiple people, with their full mutual consent and support. It's an admittedly weird non-monogamous thing we're trying." He explained, feeling as though he were doing a lousy job of it judging by the confused expressions on people's faces, but he continued on. "If you have any questions, I'll answer them if I can, but really: it's not a big deal. It's just a different kind of dating than some of you might be used to, so I understand if you're worried or curious, but please, be respectful. Both of me and of the girls I'm dating. Especially Selene. You know her. Don't think differently of her than you normally would just because she's in a relationship you might not understand."

"I'm stealing that when I take a guy home to meet my straight fam." Caleb declared, which got the others laughing and eased the tension enormously.

Selene and Arthur took their seats as Arthur mouthed a silent "Thank you." to Caleb, who nodded at him, winked, and then opened the binder in front of him, which was the official declaration that the meeting had begun.

Yvonne carefully took her things and moved them a few chairs down, away from Arthur. He didn't notice, but Selene did. Selene frowned in response. Yvonne was a brunette-haired beauty of vague and undetermined ethnic origin. Selene had always been jealous of her figure, which was filled out far more than Selene's. She had huge tits, which she often suppressed with her tops. She also drew attention away from her breasts with her long legs and the fullest, roundest ass Selene had ever seen in a changing room.

As hot as her body was, though, her face made everyone love her. She had a beautiful look with fully pouty lips, and her singing voice was like something from a Disney movie. Her dancing was also spectacular, and her acting was more robust than Selene's. She was the definition of a triple threat, and there was no area in which she slacked. Why she was here and not at some art school was a mystery to Selene. Perhaps there she would have just been another nobody, while here she was a queen. She was a bit of a diva to match, but Selene had never minded that. Yvonne was always friendly, maybe a little condescending sometimes, but friendly to Selene. Now, she acted like Selene wasn't even in the room, and Arthur was contagious.