Higher Education Ch. 19

Charlotte listened with rapt attention to Jessica's enthusiastic, rapid-fire explanations of the various use of camera techniques, screen-writing tropes, and political and cultural background from the past several hours. The older blonde had treated Charlotte and Hannah to tickets to a trendy film festival which had come to their college town. Charlotte's newfound love for movies meant she was eager to go, while Hannah simply enjoyed spending time with two of her best friends. She wasn't quite a movie buff yet, but she appreciated the artistry on display. And Charlotte and Jessica were normally opposites: this was one of the few things they could genuinely enjoy together.

Charlotte had been having a wonderful time. Jessica was really growing on her. So were all of Hannah's friends really, who, despite their often profane language, questionable fashion choices, and mysterious gatherings were a friendly, intelligent group. Charlotte often found herself joining them for meals in the cafeteria, and while they were friendly and welcoming, she couldn't help but notice that they sometimes seemed as if they had suddenly changed the topic as she approached, and sometimes gave each other knowing glances at what Charlotte suspected was some sort of double entendre.

Charlotte couldn't help but notice the influence Jessica seemed to increasingly wield over Hannah. Once, her roommates only fashion concerns were comfort and modesty. Now, she often seemed like she wanted to show as much as skin as she could without causing a scandal. She was once painfully shy, unless arguing some political or academic point. Now, she greeted strangers warmly, striking up conversations with people the pair randomly encountered. Over the past few weeks, Hannah waved to and embraced many people Charlotte had never seen before like good friends, even beyond the regular crew that frequently dined together in the cafeteria. Charlotte couldn't help but notice almost all of these new acquaintances were either black men or beautiful women. Hannah's social circle had dramatically expanded. And while the Hannah of old was frequently anxious, even neurotic, Hannah's disposition had become increasingly more calm and placid. Still, she continued to excel in classes and maintain the same hobbies which Charlotte saw as endearingly dorky. And while Hannah sometimes stayed out late with Jessica, she always came home, so she couldn't be out gallivanting and sleeping around with strange men. Charlotte wasn't sure what to make of the new Hannah, but she seemed happier and more open, without losing the qualities that had made the two such good friends despite their differences in the first place.

For her part, Hannah took Charlotte's occasional late-night, worried calls and texts in stride, recognizing that her conservative roommate, was, in her own mind, looking out for her. And since Hannah and Jessica had begun to bring Charlotte into the less obscene group activities, she noticed that Charlotte had seemed increasingly less judgmental and more open.

"Oooh, this place has great tapas!" Jess gushed, as they passed a busy looking restaurant. "You hungry girls?"

"I could definitely eat," Charlotte said. "Me too!" Hannah agreed.

The trio entered and were quickly seated. "See?" Jess grinned, as Hannah and Charlotte sidled into the seat across from her. "It's good to be a hottie travels with other hotties!"

Charlotte just blushed and Hannah giggled. "Charlotte here is a classy, Christian lady. She would NEVER use her sex appeal to get ahead!"

Charlotte sputtered at that. Why was her female roommate talking about her sex appeal? And besides-since when Hannah okay with playing up women's sex appeal? "What about the inequities of objectifying women?" Charlotte asked, teasing her liberal roommate. "What about the patriarchy?"

Hannah curled her lips upwards in a sly smile. "Who says using your sex appeal means you're playing into the patriarchy? What's wrong with men enjoying women, or women enjoying men?"

Charlotte sighed at that. At least Hannah and Jessica had decided to tone down the sex appeal tonight. Jess wore a tight, white, sleeveless top which showed a fair amount of cleavage and a pair of black slacks. Hannah wore a black, off the shoulder top which exposed a good deal of midriff and a skirt which cut off halfway to her knees, while her legs were covered with sheer black stockings. The pair looked quite sexy, especially when juxtaposed with Charlotte's loose fitting sweater and jeans, but were modestly dressed compared to their normal standards--an accommodation to Charlotte's standards of decency.

"I need to run the ladies' room." Charlotte said. "Can you guys order for me?"

As she left the table, Hannah clutched Jessica's hands.

"Tonight's been great!" She said, making eye contact with Jessica and smiling earnestly. "But I'd really like to get fucked!"

Jessica chuckled and playfully swatted at Hannah's hands. "You really are a cock-crazed slut!" she said.

"Hey now!" Hannah replied. She twisted her mouth into an exaggerated frown and placed her arms akimbo, hands on her hips, as if she took umbrage at Jessica's statement. But her eyes still danced with mirth and the edges of her mouth twitched like she was trying to stifle a laugh. "I love pussy too!" She said, with mock seriousness. Unable to keep up her charade, she laughed as she stuck two of her fingers and front of her mouth and stuck her tongue out between them, flicking it and back forth as she mimicked cunnilingus.

The two nymphos burst into laughter together at Hannah's lewd gesture. "Oh geez," Jessica gasped. "Stop it! Can you imagine Charlotte's reaction if she saw that?"

Hannah's laughter grew harder at the question. "I mean, I'm sure she'd freak out...but given how much I do the real thing...and all the other things I've been getting up to...maybe she should catch a glimpse of the new me!"

As the pair's laughter died down, Jessica said more seriously. "I'm trying to set something up for later this weekend. I agree it's been too long since we've been fucked together--it's been what, three days since I've been able to see you take a giant black cock up that tight little cunt?"

Hannah nodded eagerly. "I'm horny as fuck right now, but I guess it wouldn't be fair to ditch poor Charlotte. And I am having a really good time with you guys!"

"Still," Jess said. "We need to convert the prude! As lovely as tonight has been, imagine how much better it would be if all three of us were headed back to my apartment to get gang-fucked by a dozen studs!"

Hannah licked her lips and eyes glazed over with lust. "I'm getting soaked just thinking about it! But a dozen..." She looked thoughtful. "We'd need to call Anne and Sophie, I think!"

Jess nodded. "Well, it's time to stop fantasizing. I think she's almost ready." She gulped and looked side to side, almost as if she were nervous. "I think this is finally the last week of Charlotte's closely guarded chastity!"

Hannah arched her eyebrows. "The party last weekend was fucking intense! I can't imagine bringing a new girl to something like that...my first one was so much more tame! I didn't think there'd be a new one so soon."

Jess shook her head. "No, I don't think that's the right approach for our girl. Here's what I'm thinking..."

After having gotten a little lost on the way back from the bathroom--perhaps because she felt so flustered from the once-reserved Hannah's playful comments about enjoying men--Charlotte approached her table. Hannah and Jessica heads were perched close together, and they spoke in hushed tones. Jessica waved her hands around as she seemed to be describing something enthusiastically, while Hannah leaned in and nodded along eagerly. They didn't seem to notice the third member of their trio for that evening approach.

Charlotte cleared her throat. "Hey guys!"

Hannah and Jessica both swiveled their heads to face her, startled expressions on their faces. "Oh, umm, welcome back Charlotte." Hannah stammered awkwardly.

"You guys weren't talking about me, were you?" Charlotte laughed. "You guys look so startled, my ears are burning!"

More cooly, Jessica said, "Actually we were...we were just talking about how wonderful it is that you've been spreading your wings and hanging out with Hannah's new friends and with me. Malcolm and Lucas both can't stop talking about how much they like you!"

Charlotte blushed. Malcolm and Lucas were both charming in their own different ways, and she'd genuinely begun to enjoy their company. A year ago, she'd have shunned them. Her affection for her new friends was tinged with a hint of guilt at that fact.

Jess went on. "We'd really like it if you spent more time with us."

"Yea!" Hannah said, pounding her small fists on the table for emphasis. "I went to one of your movie...sorry 'film' festivals (she adopted a faux-fancy accent with that correction). Maybe you guys can come to one of my board game nights!"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Not likely!" She then turned to Charlotte. "Why are you still standing there? Come, sit!"

Hannah scooted over to allow Charlotte to take a seat at their both. The awkward moment when Charlotte returned was quickly forgotten. The girls spent the rest of the evening talking happily, sharing jokes and thoughts about the movies from the evening and various goings on in their courses, laughing and chattering away into the night.

***

A few evenings later, Charlotte sat at her living room table in her dorm, a copy of the Wall Street Journal spread out before, unwinding after a long day of classes and studying. She wore a button down shirt and a pair of sharp but comfortable slacks. Her reading was interrupted by a soft but rapid knocking on her dorm door.

"CHARLOTTE!? CAN YOU GET THAT FOR ME?" Hannah called out from her dorm room, where she had been holed up with the door closed for the past thirty minutes.

Charlotte sighed and strolled towards the door. Hannah's newly active social life meant all sorts of people coming to visit at all times of day, even late on school nights such as this! The relatively gentle wrapping on the door, at least, suggested it wasn't one of the well-mannered but huge black men who had become such a frequent fixture on Hannah's social calendar. Charlotte winced a little at her own thought. Why did she still feel so uncomfortable around so many of Hannah's new friends, who had only been polite and friendly?

She opened the door to a smiling Jessica. Jess wore a tight, sleeveless back turtleneck and a straight, black miniskirt, with matching black nylons and black boots. The outfit was downright conservative compared to what Charlotte usually saw her in.

"Hey Charlotte!" She said cheerily. "I'm here to pick up Hannah!"

"Oh, uh...she's in her room." Charlotte looked askance at Jessica. At least she didn't like some stripper about to hustle at a club, but it was still rather late for a Tuesday.

Jessica giggled, noticing Charlotte's skeptical demeanor. "Hannah and I have a little...discussion group we're part of. It's not exactly a study group, it's students and faculty, but everything is very academic! I'm sure you'd be welcome to join..."

Charlotte heard a chuckle behind her. Hannah had come out of her room. She wore a tight, white button down blouse, with a few more buttons undone than what Charlotte would have considered reasonable and a red and black plaid miniskirt. Although it left most of Hannah's bare legs exposed, it was long enough that Hannah wouldn't risk arrest if she sat down at the wrong angle in public. Another relatively conservative outfit for the evening. It made sense, given Jessica's explanation.

"Charlotte would be a lovely addition," Hannah said, as she approached the pair. "But all in good time." She hugged Jessica tightly before turning back to Charlotte.

"Don't wait up for me, Charlotte! I know it's a school night, but the discussions get pretty vigorous. I'll be safe, and I'll be ready for classes tomorrow, but I don't when I'll be getting back!"

With that, Jessica crooked her arm in Hannah's elbow and led her out the door. Charlotte stood silently as she stared at the door after it closed behind the pair. "Well," she shrugged to herself. "Their outfits are relatively tame tonight...I'm sure they're not going to be dancing the night away!"

***

A few hours later, Charlotte sat on her couch, watching a cable news channel with a decidedly right-wing outlook as she tried not to worry about Hannah's absence. She rolled her eyes as some bombastic talking head with an exaggerated, likely staged, Southern accent defended flying confederate flags as an example of cultural pride. Charlotte was avowedly conservative and loved her community, but cringed at the hatred and bigotry that still persisted amongst some. Charlotte loved many of the traditions and customs that she grew up with, but understood and rejected the history of slavery and Jim Crow and had little sympathy for those who conflated racism with cultural legacy. Her own sheltered upbringing and the ignorant tropes that she grew up with caused her to sometimes have knee-jerk, negative reactions to nonwhite people, but she realized these feelings were wrong and constantly tried to grow beyond them. She believed in faith, freedom, and family--not bigotry, oppression, and ignorance. As the segment came to an end, she sighed with relief. That relief was short lived however, when yet another talking head came on spread some conspiracy about voting machines being developed by a secret cabal of ex-KGB agents. Charlotte took her political beliefs seriously, and was embarrassed by the clowns who had come to dominate what she believed was a political movement of which she was part.

She turned off the tv in frustration, and her mind began to wonder back to thoughts of her missing roommate.

Charlotte paced back and forth across the living room, staring at her phone. She had called Hannah several times to see where she was, but to no avail. Hannah wandering off to participate in some mysterious activity with Jessica or one of her new friends was becoming an increasingly common experience, but she'd never ignored Charlotte's attempts to check on her for so long. True, she had told Charlotte not to wait up for her...but she was supposed to be at an academic discussion circle. On a weeknight, no less! As concern for her roommates activities grew, Charlotte yearned for even one of the strange phone conversations she'd had with Hannah she'd had over the past few weeks, but was greeted only with a cheerful voicemail.

Charlotte sighed and scrolled down her contact list until she came to Jessica's name. If she couldn't reach Hannah directly, she'd try other outlets.

The phone rang and rang before going to yet another voicemail. Charlotte sighed in despair and sat in a chair, staring at the phone in frustration. Suddenly, the screen lit up and chirped with a text message notification.

"Hey hon!" The message from Jess read. "I know it's getting a little late, but this discussion has just been enthralling."

"You guys are really still holding a little parlor session?" Charlotte texted back.

"Yup!" Jessica texted back with a smile.

"And Hannah's with you?" Charlotte texted.

"Of course! Here's proof of life." A picture followed the text. Charlotte gulped and her heart began to race.

The picture Jessica sent showed Hannah, sitting on a sofa, smiling happily and clearly engaged in an intense discussion. She looked up with bright, focused eyes at a giant of a man who looked to be in his mid 40s, with a shaved head, goatee, and coal black skin. The pair looked like a professor and student exploring some fascinating subject together. But! But Hannah's shirt had become even more unbuttoned, and a bit of a white bra could be seen. Hannah bit her lip flirtatiously as she looked up at the older man. And, most shockingly--Hannah's skirt had ridden up as one of the older man's hand rested on Hannah's bare thigh. What the hell was going on!?!? Hannah was flirting with someone...someone much older than her...someone black! And that wasn't all! Several half-empty wine glasses could be seen on the coffee table in front of Hannah and the older stranger. Was Hannah drinking?? On a school night!?!?!?!?!?

"???" Charlotte texted back.

"LOL what?" Jessica responded. "Hannah's just very engaged in her conversation with Professor Duke."

"It looks like a lot more than a conversation!" Charlotte typed back rapidly. "And a professor? Why is he fondling a student??"

"Fondling!" Jess texted back with a winking emoji. "He's just being friendly. Everything's fine! Here, I'm sure Hannah and the crew would love to see you! Come by!"

An address in a nearby residential neighborhood flashed across Charlotte's screen. Charlotte's thoughts raced. She should be getting ready for bed. She didn't want to see whatever horrible things this "study" group was getting into. She could only imagine how racy the topics were, and rolled her eyes at what she was sure would be left-wing platitudes recited like gossip. But...but she had to protect Hannah! The man she was talking to was undeniably handsome, and if he was a professor, Charlotte was sure he was using his intellectual gifts to complement his good looks and charm her academically gifted and always curious roommate.

Charlotte's doubts faded. She balled up her fists as she realized what she needed to do. She was sure if she came to this debauched "parlor" she'd be able to bring some sense back into Hannah, to safeguard and protect her virtue and to bring her home back safe.

Charlotte grabbed a coat and her car keys as she stormed out the door, eager to save her friend and roommate from making a terrible mistake.

***

Charlotte sped through the streets of her college town, determined to reach Hannah before something terrible happened. Finally, her phone's map app took her to a large but unassuming house in a quiet, residential neighborhood. She scurried out of the car and began to pound the doorbell. Its ring echoed through the night.

Before long, the door opened and a strawberry blonde woman in her mid-thirties answered the door. She wore a black blazer over a white, button-down shirt paired with a black skirt. The shirt was a little too tight, a little too unbuttoned, and the skirt a little too short to look entirely professional. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she wore dark-rimmed glasses, looking like a sexy professor from some half-witted teenage sex comedy.

She raised an eyebrow at Charlotte's frantic demeanor. "Good evening, dear" she said, giving a reassuring smile. "You look quite out of sorts...is there something I can do for you?"

"Um...is Hannah here? Or Jessica?" Charlotte asked awkwardly.

"Why yes..." the older woman replied, a dawn of realization flashing across her face. "You must be Charlotte! Jessica said you'd be dropping by. Well, any friend of Jess or Hannah's is a friend of mine! I'm Professor Suffolk, but please, call me Tracy! Come, dear." She took Charlotte by her arm and led her deeper into the home.

The pair stopped when they reached the home's living room. Charlotte scanned the room and saw both familiar and new faces scattered throughout the room on various armchairs and sofas.

Jess, of course, was present, sitting on a loveseat next to a black man with dreadlocks who, absurdly enough, wore a pair of sunglasses inside, at night.

On a larger couch nearby, Charlotte recognized Hannah's friend Anne, who wore a short blue skirt and a revealing white tank top. Anne had become a frequent fixture at the girls' dorm room, and Charlotte had frequently lunched with her and Hannah in the past few weeks. Of all of Hannah's friends, she was perhaps Charlotte's favorite. Despite her sometimes questionable fashion choices, Charlotte was quite fond of the quiet, intelligent girl. Like Hannah and Charlotte, she was a freshmen and although she didn't share any classes with her, she had quickly bonded with the bright, studious girl over their academic endeavors.