Matching Hearts

Faith laughed and surprised Ben with a hug. "Don't put yourself down! If we do get matched...well, let's just see what happens!"

"Excellent attitude, Faith. Thanks."

Before things got uncomfortable, Faith prevailed upon Ben to mingle with the others, and she did the same with some of the other guys. There was chubby Jeff, whose nerd laugh was worse than Ben's and seemed to be easily triggered by things that weren't funny at all; Lenny, a fellow freshman who was quick to tell her he'd made straight A's last semester and had little else to say (Kathy would later tell Faith she had a friend in his dorm who had never seen him out and about at all); Mike, the tall and blond student council vice president, whom Faith had heard of but never met; Jody from the football team, who looked fantastic in a charcoal gray suit and showed no discomfort with being the only Black guy in the room; Scott, who looked and sounded an awful lot like he'd rather be matched with a man than a woman (and who guessed, correctly, the designer of Faith's dress); and a trio of loudmouthed guys who stuck to playing quarters in the corner, whose names she didn't even want to know.

When Lindsay chimed the crowd to silence with a spoon against her glass, Faith looked up to see a few other guys she hadn't noticed yet. It was too late for introductions now, but from what she could see, she liked her chances. Nervous but happy, she sipped the last of her latest glass of punch as Lindsay started in to her well-rehearsed speech.

"Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the umpteenth annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Fuck Valentine's Day party!"

"Umpteenth?" asked one of the guys Faith hadn't met yet.

"Yeah, we don't know just how far back it goes," Lindsay said. "Probably the sixties. My grandmother would know, but I'm not about to ask her what she got up to when she was here!" She paused for a round of laughter, and continued when it died down. "I trust everyone knows the rules, but just to reiterate, consent still applies, understood? Sorry, guys, but if the lovely lady you get matched with says no, it's hands-off."

"Not that we expect that," added Nancy. "Guys, I think we've got a lot of horny gals on our hands tonight!" That brought on a round of hoots that would have disgusted Faith before tonight, but she had to admit she was a horny gal tonight.

"Right, then," said Lindsay, picking up one of the trays of conversation hearts that she had just retrieved from the kitchen. "Guys, line up in front of me, gals with Nancy. Seniors first for both." At the other end of the table, Nancy had the other tray at the ready. "And all of you, remember, don't read your hearts out loud until everyone has drawn one!"

Though Lindsay hadn't said the underclassmen and women had to stand in order as well, for the most part they did. Faith willingly took up her place near the end of the women's line with the other first-years. Equal parts nervous and exhilarated, she forced herself not to look at the guys' line and try to guess which one she'd be matched with. But she couldn't resist one glance, and giggled as she made eye contact with Ben, who she could tell was feeling just about exactly like she was.

Barry was first among the men, naturally. "You're a gorgeous sorting hat, Lindsay," he teased.

Lindsay's laughter was genuine and joyous as she watched Barry take her heart. Having settled that bit of business, she made a point of looking in all the guys' eyes rather than at the tray as they took their hearts.

And so she was unaware for the time being that Will, Jody, Dan and the other designated prize guys took random hearts, not the ones they'd been assigned.

At the other end of the table, Nancy did keep an eye on the tray in case any of the seniors forgot the right heart to take. None did, so none of the women was aware of anything going off script. Faith was fourth from last, and chose the only remaining green heart. "My favorite color," she explained as she picked it off the nearly-empty tray.

"Glad there was one left for you, then," Nancy said, wishing she had some way of knowing which of the guys got the match. She was starting to feel guilty about keeping the poor thing in the dark, and hoped Faith didn't get paired up with one of the real losers. Then again, she didn't want that for any of her sisters, and a few of them were bound to get stuck.

Faith turned the heart over and read the tiny print. "All mine." She liked the sound of that, but that didn't matter. Now she let herself survey the guys lined up on the other side of the room, and wondered which of them had an "All mine" in his hand. A few of them were comparing theirs; but under Nancy's watchful eye, no one tried to trade.

Once everyone was lined up, Nancy clapped her hands to draw their attention. She did not want to risk any of the guys or the underclass women noticing that there was one man too many, so she wanted all eyes on her. "All right, everyone, it's the moment of truth!" she said in her best cheerleader voice. "Lindsay first, of course. What does your heart say?"

Lindsay stepped into the middle of the room and opened her palm, doing her best to look like she didn't already know what it said. "It says...'Guess who'," she announced.

Most of the guys didn't even try to hide their disappointment, nor did Barry hide his delight as he held up his own "Guess who" heart. Everyone else clapped as Barry and Lindsay embraced and then retreated to an out-of-the-way corner of the living room.

"God, what were the chances?" Heather said in her usual sarcastic tone.

Faith said nothing, but for once she agreed with Heather. All at once she could see too well, there was nothing random about the draw. It was just a matter which of the least-desirable guys she would get stuck with! If she was lucky, maybe Lindsay thought Ben was ugly and she'd get him at least.

"Congratulations, both of you," Nancy said. "I'm next." She held up her pink heart between her thumb and forefinger and said the magic words. "Sweet talk."

Faith wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved when Ben raised his hand. "I sure hope I can sweet talk you!" he said as he stepped into the middle of the room and into Nancy's arms. Surely Nancy, who could have had anyone except Barry, wouldn't have chosen Ben! Maybe it was random after all?

"I'm sure you'll do just fine!" Nancy said while everyone else applauded, and they joined Barry and Lindsay in the corner.

Mary Beth was next. "All right," she said, forcing herself not to look at Will, "Which of you gorgeous guys is going to, ahem, 'Be mine'?"

"I'm yours, Mary Beth!" announced Mike, holding up his matching heart.

Mary Beth managed to hide her disappointment - Mike certainly wasn't a bad catch, after all - and he was none the wiser as they hugged and spun around. Lindsay, out of the spotlight for once, had no need to be diplomatic. "It's wrong!" she hissed in Nancy's ear. "She was supposed to get Will!" Then she turned to Barry. "Didn't you tell the guys which hearts to pick?"

"I guess Will got it wrong," Barry whispered back.

For the moment, Lindsay believed him, though she wondered about the odds that Mike, who was supposed to get Joan's heart, had also picked the wrong one.

But the next pairing left no doubt that there was a bigger problem. Poor Joan's "Wink wink" heart matched to Jeff, who Lindsay had hoped would end up with Faith. Joan gave Jeff a pleasant smile and even let him hug her, but she gave Lindsay a dirty look as she rubbed Jeff's back. When they retreated to the corner, Joan steered him as far from Lindsay as she could position herself.

The remaining women who'd been aware of the fix now knew something was very wrong, but there was nothing anyone could say without spilling the beans. Connie lucked out and got Jody with her "Play time" heart, though she was supposed to get Dan. Alice, the last of the seniors, whose "Crazy 4 U" heart was supposed to match with Jody, instead got Andy, one of the trio Faith had most feared getting stuck with. His two buddies hooted and high-fived him before he met Alice in the middle of the room, where she took both his hands for a squeeze but wouldn't let him hug her.

One of Andy's horrible friends was still in the mix when Faith's turn came (Emily had drawn the other one, and was forcing a smile on the sidelines while he grinned like a hyena), but on the bright side, so were Dan and James. Rounding out the quintet were quiet Lenny and probably-gay Scott. Faith had noticed several turns ago that they were one woman short, and she had little doubt that the guys had noticed as well. That had her more disgusted than ever with Lindsay - there was no way that was a mistake! - but she couldn't help but be relieved with what it meant for her chances.

At the moment of truth, Faith didn't have to force her smile; it had always come naturally in a situation where the news could be either wonderful or terrible. "All right, guys," she said, stepping into the center of the room. "Which one of you is 'All mine'?"

She was never sure if it was amusement or just plain relief she felt when James sang out "Youuuuu're all mi-ine!" Regardless, she threw herself at him and squealed with joy while the room applauded.

"Who was supposed to get him?" Lindsay hissed at Nancy.

"No one asked for him," Nancy whispered. "Their loss, huh?"

Faith rubbed James' hand playfully in hers as the last three read out their hearts. Kathy got Lenny, poor Lizzy got the last of the trio Faith had avoided, and Heather got Scott (and didn't appear disappointed with him).

Dan was the odd man out, but Faith suspected a lot of her sisters felt sorrier for themselves than for him. "Sorry, Dan," Lindsay announced. "Every year has one man go unmatched. It's our way of reminding you guys it's ladies' choice when it comes to sex. But you're not going home emptyhanded." She reached under the couch and pulled out the booby prize she had set there that afternoon, the latest issue of Playboy. "You can take it home, or you're welcome to use our downstairs bathroom while you wait for your friends," she chirped. "There's hand lotion and everything."

Faith wanted to bitch-slap her sister. But Dan proved to be a class act, and he accepted the magazine with a smile. "The guys all know their way home," he said. "Thanks, Lindsay, and congratulations, everyone. Good night!"

"All righty then," Lindsay announced as Dan saw himself to the door. "Everybody upstairs and let's do what?"

"Fuck Valentine's Day!" all the women yelled out with a lust several of them were not really feeling now that they knew who their partners were.

Lindsay still had to keep up appearances until she got Barry alone in her room. And so Faith and the few other sisters who still weren't sure the game was fixed remained none the wiser as they all filed up the stairs. Faith's room was near the front end of the hall, so she and James were among the first couples to leave the procession.

As soon as she had closed and locked the door, Faith let out a nervous laugh. "Listen, James, I'm fine with whatever you do or don't want to do, but I'm sure glad I got you!"

"The feeling is mutual," he said, taking her hands in his and drawing her into the room as if to dance.

That reminded Faith, "That was so cute, that song you made up!" She sang it again herself, "Youuuu're all mi-ine!"

"I didn't make it up," James said. "It's a real song, by Fred Parris and the Five Satins."

"Never heard of them," Faith said. "Sounds like something from my grandmother's time."

"That's about right," James said. "Actually Fred Parris just died, about a month ago. But he left a bunch of great songs for hopeless romantics like yours truly. Here, have you got a computer in here? I can play it for you on Youtube."

Faith went to her desk and opened her laptop, and opened Youtube on the browser. "Five Satins?" she asked. "All Mine?"

"Right."

She clicked on the first video in the list. As the first scat vocals piped up, James said, "That's it. Care to dance?"

"And how!" Faith turned and put her arms around his neck, and they swayed. When the first verse came and went with no music, she asked, "Is this a capella?"

"Yes," James said. "They recorded it at a VFW hall, and the musicians never showed up. Supposedly they left the hall door open and you can hear a truck downshifting outside, but I've never been able to spot it."

"It's beautiful!" Faith lay her head on his shoulder and basked in the glow of the moment.

"I think so too." He held her tightly through the rest of the song. When it was over, he pulled back and said, "Listen, if you want to just dance or even just talk..."

"Well, the same goes for you," Faith said. "But I did say I'm glad I got paired with you, didn't I?"

"As am I." He leaned in gently, and her lips met his.

* * *

Down the hall, Lindsay was not feeling romantic at all for the moment. "Exactly what happened with the hearts, Barry?" she demanded, flipping the overhead light on even before she shut the door to make it clear there would be no fun for the moment.

"Well, you got mine, didn't you?" Barry didn't look disappointed at all as he helped himself to a seat at Lindsay's desk chair.

"Right," Lindsay said. "So you knew the right one to pick, but none of your friends did. Didn't you show them the cheat sheet?"

"Oh, they knew the right ones to pick," Barry said. "We just chose not to pick them."

"We?" Lindsay demanded.

"Oh, well, I had to pick yours. But the others, yeah, we talked about it and decided we really didn't want to play along."

"Why?! Poor Joan got that jerk Jeff - I mean, gross!"

"You think he's gross, but you wanted someone to get him, didn't you? You couldn't be sure he'd be the odd one out if it really were random!"

"Yeah, I wanted Faith to get him. Poor kid thought she had a chance with you, can you imagine? It was for her own good!"

"What about Jeff's good?"

"Who the fuck cares about him?"

"Well, he does, for one," Barry pointed out. "But what did he or Faith ever do to you?"

"What do you care about that?" Lindsay snapped. "I mean, nothing, neither of them did anything to me. But we're the seniors! We went through getting matched with the losers before, now it was our turn to have our pick of the litter! Faith'll get her turn in three years! And as for Jeff, a drip like that's probably happy to get near anything in a bra!"

"Of course, one guy a year doesn't even get that, doesn't he? I mean, Dan knew the rules and he has no problem getting dates, but it wasn't supposed to be him tonight, was it?"

"Yeah, well, guys need to learn we're in control when it comes to getting pussy," Lindsay said. "We've got something they want, they need to learn they can't always get it. And it's your fault it was Dan and not one of the losers like it should've been!"

Barry laughed. "You really are something else, Lindsay."

"Well, what to you care? If it bothers you, you always could've said no when I asked you to the party. Or you could've told me to find someone else to find the other guys!"

"Sure, Lindsay. Sure I could have."

* * *

Faith had always imagined her first time being undressed by a guy would be embarrassing. But she felt nothing but passion and joy as James unzipped her dress and she felt it slipping off her shoulders. Though she was eager to help him out of his clothes as well, she gave in completely to the erotic tickle as the dress pooled around her ankles, and welcomed his adoring look upon her in her underwear.

"Sorry they don't match," she said of her red bra and blue panties.

"Don't be silly!" He hugged her again and rubbed her back, and had her bra unclasped before she even realized what he was up to. She held him tightly for a bit more and shared a long kiss with him before backing off to let him pull the bra away. Without another word he leaned over and kissed her nipples one by one, drawing a delicious gasp from her each time. She grabbed onto his shoulder for balance and sighed heavily as his hands and lips worked her breasts into a wonderful lather of pleasure.

At last he stood up straight again. "Help me off with this?" He unbuttoned the top button on his shirt.

"I insist!" She kissed him again, and their lips stayed engaged while she undid all the other buttons and untucked his shirt from his pants, and unbuckled his belt. While she was at it, she felt him pulling her panties down. Though she found it a delightful rush to be naked while he was still almost fully clothed, she lost no time in pushing his shirt off around his shoulders and then pulling his t-shirt over his head. He embraced her again, and Faith was introduced to the delight of skin-on-skin. The sensation took her breath away.

Presently they were both wearing only their glasses. Faith couldn't help laughing when she realized that. "To think I almost wore contacts tonight!"

"I'm glad you didn't, you look beautiful with your glasses," James said.

"Thank you! But I think it's time we both take them off, don't you?" She placed her hands on the legs of his glasses and, when he whispered his consent, she lifted them off. He responded in kind, and Faith somehow felt even more wonderfully vulnerable than she had a moment before. She gave some thought to telling James she was a virgin, but opted to keep that to herself unless he happened to ask.

He didn't ask. He kissed her neck gently and cupped her buttocks in his hands and rubbed them playfully. His erection bobbed around between her thighs and she loved the fleeting touches so close but yet so far from her pussy, which he hadn't touched yet. With every nibble on her neck and every brush with his cock, she was longing more for him to do so.

When Faith was persuaded he wasn't going to go any further on his own, she pulled back from him and lay back on her bed. "Don't be shy," she said, and she spread her legs wide and held out her arms.

"You make it hard to be shy," James grinned.

"Looks like I make it hard, period," Faith snickered.

James joined in on her laughter and climbed onto the bed and onto Faith. "To think you looked so innocent downstairs!"

"Aren't we always the most dangerous ones?" She took him in both her hands and guided him inside her. In the heat of the beautiful moment, she let it slip. "Oh, that's even better than I imagined!"

"You're a virgin?"

"Not anymore!" She hoped that would be the end of it.

And it was. James went at it slowly at first, and Faith found herself responding in ways she'd never imagined. She'd seen enough movies to know women always seemed to make a lot of noise, but since when did Hollywood get anything right?

Evidently they had in fact gotten that much right, for Faith found herself utterly unable to resist moaning and gasping out loud with the sensation. The loss of control only made her want even more.

James saw to it that she got even more. He picked up the pace, and the rising intensity had Faith gasping for breath and grunting loud enough to worry about being overheard next door - until she remembered her neighbors were up to the same thing. The realization that some of the others probably weren't doing it at all flashed through her mind. But with James' gentle touch on her and in her, Faith couldn't bring herself to care.

"Are you close?" James' own voice was as lusty as Faith sounded.

"I think so!" She could barely get the words out.

With that he flailed at her even harder and faster, and to her surprise she loved every thrust more than the last. When she felt her orgasm nearing, her moans grew rhythmic and more intense. "Oh. Oh! Onhhh...Ohhhhhh..." At the big moment she went silent and threw her arms around him, and squeezed him for dear life as she came. "Thank you!" she whispered when she could catch her breath again.