Nickwen Street

She wasn't at all surprised that Maggie had heard everything by the time they all gathered with their pumpkins and knives in the lounge that evening. Like the true friend she was, Maggie greeted Polly with a wordless hug as soon as she walked into the lounge. "Good for you," she said as they put their smocks on. "I know you don't feel it right now, but you can do a lot better than him."

"I suppose it's all over campus?" Polly asked with a sad smile. "And they all think I'm crazy for giving up on him?"

"I won't lie to you," Maggie said. "But listen, the only people I've heard say you're crazy don't know Ronnie. The ones who do -- yeah, they get it, Polly, really. Who cares what anyone else thinks?"

"Yeah, I guess," Polly said. "But I can't help thinking, if only I'd humored him and gone to that party on Saturday."

"Did he even invite you?" Maggie asked.

"Good point."

"Yeah, exactly. Oh! Speaking of that party, did you hear about the piano player?"

"It was that party?" Polly looked at her friend in surprise. "I heard some nerd showed up and played the craziest piano anyone there had ever heard...what was his name?"

"I forget," Maggie said. "Mike, Mick, something like that. Anyhow, yes, it was that party. I talked to a couple of girls who were there, they said the guy was a total drip, until they heard him play. He had the whole house rocking like nobody's business."

"He's playing the student union tomorrow night!" piped Ruthie, a freshman Polly knew only to say hello, from across the table. "I heard the student council practically begged him to do it!"

"We've got to go hear this guy, Polly," Maggie said. "You should get out and have some fun anyway."

"I guess." Polly didn't look up from the pumpkin she was attacking with her knife. Triumphantly she pulled out the portion she'd cut out of the top, and lost no time in scooping out the seeds.

"You made fast work of that," observed Maggie, who'd barely started on her own.

"I was imagining it was Ronnie." Polly smiled for the first time all day.

The following evening, Nick's friends stood around the piano in the upstairs practice room in awe as Nick rehearsed. He hadn't lost a bit of the flair he'd shown out of nowhere on Saturday.

"You gonna tell us just what happened to him while you guys were outside the other night?" George needled Mary yet again.

"Told you, I've got no idea!" Mary said. "I saw him talking to some old man in the front yard, and it was like he was another person all of a sudden!"

With a zealous glissando, Nick finished his practice round and stood up. "All right," he said, "Let's go show the cool kids what I can do."

"Just who was this old man, Nick?" George asked.

"I don't want to talk about that." Nick didn't even look over his shoulder as he said it.

He had made a point of not changing his appearance at all, so most of his new fans didn't even realize the skinny guy with the horn-rimmed glasses and neatly combed hair was the rumored piano genius they'd come to see. As he took his seat at the piano, one young woman even tried to stop him. "Uh, sorry, but there's a guy coming to play for us any minute now," she said.

"I'm him," Nick declared with a triumphant grin. He drew disbelieving laughter from his detractor and her friends...and lost no time in silencing them with a round of lightning-fast trills before he even set in on the number he'd worked out that afternoon.

In no time, the whole room was rocking. There were bewildered looks exchanged among people who knew Nick -- quiet, unassuming Nick! -- and expressions of amazement among those who had seen him around campus but never met him. But no one said a word. They didn't want to miss out on a note of the amazing performance, and the music was too loud to carry on a conversation anyway.

Amidst the thunderous cheering after the first song was done, Maggie turned to Polly. "Do you know him?" she asked.

"We had French together freshman year, but I doubt he remembers me," Polly said. "I barely remember him, to be fair. I think his name is Frankie something."

They were far too deep in the crowd for Nick to notice Polly was there, and he'd made a point of not searching the crowd for her anyway. Acting too cool to care had been working quite well for him since that party, after all. He'd made up his mind to play only four songs, since there was still homework to be done, and the reaction to all four was so positive he nearly changed his mind. But homework was homework, and after banging out the final chord he stood up and waved good night to the crowd.

"When's the next concert?" asked a lucky girl who'd staked out a seat just across the piano.

Nick looked at his friends and shrugged. "We'll be at the Halloween party in Woolsey Hall on Saturday," he said. "If the piano's free, I'll play then."

Polly heard this and grinned at Maggie. "You want to go see him then?"

"Of course," Maggie said. Then she giggled a bit. "Moving on already, I see?"

"Don't be silly! Look at him!"

"But he sure can play piano."

"Yes, yes he can," Polly agreed.

Some of the other women were a good deal more forward about looking forward to Saturday. "Any chance of a tour of east campus before the weekend?" one of them asked Nick, batting her eyes furtively at him.

"We'll see," Nick said, just as matter-of-factly as if he'd been asked what time it was. "I don't know if I'll have time, but maybe."

"Hope you make time!" said the woman with a squeal of laughter, and she reached over and brushed his hand. "See you there, I hope!"

"Uh, yeah, me too." Nick looked and felt more confused than anything at the comment as his admirer winked at him and turned to go.

"Good Lord, Nicholas, couldn't you tell she was flirting with you?" Miles asked as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Really?" Nick looked almost like he wanted to run after the girl.

George and Stan laughed. Mary didn't. "Don't listen to them, Nick, they just think they know all about women."

"You certainly won't hear me say I do!" Nick flopped back down on the piano bench. "How did I miss that?"

"You ever even been on a date, Nick?" Stan asked.

"Only once, in high school," Nick said. "It...didn't go well. Just as well I can't even get Polly to look at me, huh? I wouldn't know what to do if she did."

"I can teach you that!" Mary said, helping herself to a seat beside him. The other three burst into peals of laughter, but she shut them up with a withering look. "You know, guys, I could comment on just what you don't know about women!"

They exchanged nervous looks, and Nick gave them a triumphant smirk. It was no idle threat, they all knew that much.

"Yeah, okay, teach him, then," George said. "Come on, fellas."

Once they were alone, Mary took Nick's hand and drew him to his feet. "Don't listen to them," she said. "They're a bunch of little boys who wouldn't know how to treat a lady at all."

"Neither do I, I guess, but at least I'm honest about it." The confidence Nick had shown behind the piano was a distant memory as he looked up at his friend.

"Oh, it doesn't take a genius!" Mary said. "We're not creatures from another planet, you know."

"Oh, I know, Mary. I mean, I've always been able to talk to you easily enough, haven't I?"

"Yes, and you know, if that's all you want to do, that's fine, Nick. I noticed a long time ago, you never flirt with me like the others. Of course, if you're not attracted to me..."

"Oh, I was." Nick couldn't help himself, and he burst into nervous laughter.

"Was?!" Mary put her hands on her hips and gave him a mock-stern look.

"Still am, of course," Nick admitted. "It's just...you and Stan. Or is it Miles?"

"Both," Mary snickered. "But neither one is happening again. And didn't I say you could be my Prince Charming for Halloween?"

It was two hours to bedcheck, but Nick knew better than to even mention that to Mary as he welcomed her into his room. "Mary, I hope..." he said tentatively as he locked the door, "I hope you don't think I think of you as a...you know."

"Oh, I do!" Mary laughed. "Nick, relax! I decided a long time ago, I love sex, why should guys have all the fun?"

"How'd you do that?" Nick asked. "I mean, there's so much of a push out there to stay pure as the driven snow!"

"My pop's a gynecologist," Mary explained. When Nick laughed, she went on, "No, seriously, he is! So he always made sure I knew everything about my body, and that there's nothing unhealthy or wrong about those urges you know so much about -- and yeah, we get them too! Once you realize they're just shaming gals like me for enjoying something that feels beautiful, it's easier than you think to stop caring what they think."

"Makes sense," Nick admitted.

"It's also crazy how hard they try to keep us in the dark about our own bodies," Mary went on. "No offense, I know how crazy you are about Polly, but she probably doesn't know her own vagina from a hole in the ground."

"Maybe that's why I never could imagine doing it with her," Nick chuckled.

"Right, you can imagine it with me, but she's too pure for all that stuff." Mary knew the type well.

"Sorry!"

"Don't be, I get it." Mary took his hands in hers and drew them around herself. "Now, just put your arms around me and stop worrying!" She had had the foresight to turn Nick's radio on, and they were already swaying to imaginary music by the time the tubes warmed up. She expected to have to order Nick to kiss her, but to her pleasant surprise he took the initiative. He was better at it than she expected. "So you're not so new at this after all!" she said with a grin when the kiss was over, rubbing his chest playfully.

"You really think so?"

"I've been with some pretty sloppy kissers, let's just leave it at that."

Nick didn't want to know if that group included any of their friends anyway. As Mary rubbed him into a short-of-breath tizzy, he couldn't have cared less what she might have gotten up to with them in the past. For the first time since Saturday night, he let his mind wander from what the old man had had to say. If he was doomed, it looked from here like at least he'd have good company with the likes of Mary!

After she didn't have to tell him to kiss her, Mary thought he might be a bit bolder than expected with his hands as well. But after five long minutes of kisses and lusty rubs on her back but nowhere else, she gave in and unbuttoned her blouse herself. It was all she could do not to laugh as her old friend stared almost catatonic at her bra; but she did manage not to. Feeling more flattered than frustrated, she took both his hands and placed them on her breasts.

"Does that feel good?" he asked, giving them both a very gentle squeeze.

"Oooh...yes, it does! Just don't squeeze any harder than that. But it'll feel even better if you get me out of this bra, you know."

Nick grinned and reached around behind. His fumbling with the clasp was endearing at first, but it went on far too long. Good as it felt when he finally got it undone, Mary reached back and redid it. "You need to practice that, my friend," she told him. "Try again."

It took him four tries before she was satisfied. "Nice job," she said when she finally let him pull the garment away. "Word to the wise, Nick: we women look forward to getting that thing off at the end of the day like you couldn't imagine. Don't keep a lady waiting when she wants out of her bra!"

Nick didn't laugh, for he was mesmerized by the look and feel of his friend's breasts. They felt as delightful in his hands as ever he had imagined. Mary looked down in adoration at his gentle hands, making only the mildest of appreciative noises until he brushed a nipple with his thumb. "Oooh!" she squealed.

Nick's hands came to a stop, though he didn't remove them. "Sorry! Did that hurt?"

"No! That was a good 'ooh'! It felt wonderful! Do it again."

Nick did as he was told, and soon he was well accustomed to Mary's increasingly loud and guttural responses as she unbuttoned his shirt. If Nick didn't know his own nipples were nearly as sensitive as hers, he was quick to learn now. "Ohh, that does feel good!" he whispered.

"You know what feels even better?" Mary whispered in his ear. "Skin on skin!" She was already unbuttoning his jeans as she said it, and she welcomed his returning the favor.

"So is it all you imagined?" Mary said a moment later, striking a pose as she gave Nick his first ever look at a woman's body.

"All that and more!" Nick said in a hushed tone. "You know how many times I've imagined, you and me..."

"All you ever had to do was ask, silly. Come here!" And then Nick learned she was right, skin on skin felt even better.

During several more minutes of kisses and caresses, Mary accepted that Nick was just too shy to finger her as she loved so much. When she couldn't stand going without any longer, she ordered, "Lay down!"

"This is embarrassing," he said as he followed her order and his hard cock pointed straight up.

"How so?" she asked. "You know where I'm about to put it, don't you?"

"Guess I hadn't thought of it that waooooooohhhhhh!" Nick promptly forgot all he'd been saying as he felt Mary guide him inside her. "Oh my..."

For a delicious moment, she sat still atop him, just taking in the joy of the moment. "Doesn't that feel beautiful, Nick?"

"So much!"

"Anything to be ashamed of?"

"No!"

Mary resisted the temptation to speculate on whether Polly would be any good at what she was about to do. If she had her way, of course, her old friend would never think twice about Polly again!

Nick hadn't really known what to expect. But he certainly never would have expected any -- much less all -- of the noises Mary made, or the way her breasts jiggled as she rocked him into two orgasms, or the wonderful wet embrace of her body, or that he evidently was quite good at his part in the act. It was sometimes tempting to close his eyes and focus on the intense feelings of the moment, but the her body was just too beautiful in the dim light.

"Come for me!" she grunted, still catching her breath from her second time off the deep end.

"Uh...uh...okay!" Nick couldn't think of anything more sensible to say as she continued grinding into him in the most delightful way. He rocked his hips as hard as he could with her pinning him down, and at long last Mary got to enjoy his fingers in her bush. They mostly just tickled her, but that only added to her arousal, and presently she found herself coming a third time.

This time, Nick did come with her. He let out a joyful yelp the like of which she had never heard with any other partner. "Oh, Nick, that's beautiful!" she said once it was out.

"So are you!" Nick said. "I'm so sorry I never said so before!"

"Don't apologize for that now!" She leaned down to kiss him and he threw his arms around her and pulled her tightly down on top of him. "You are one great beginner!"

"Guess I had the best teacher," Nick said with a grin. Gazing into her eyes, he wanted desperately to ask her to go steady with him. But he knew Mary too well to believe there was any chance of that, and he just couldn't stand being rejected right then. So he left it at a long, appreciative look.

Mary, of course, had seen that look on other guys' faces before. But this time, she realized with a start, was different.

She couldn't see herself reflected in his eyes.

Across campus, at just about exactly the time Mary was speculating that Polly probably didn't know her own vagina from a hole in the ground, she was in fact getting to know it quite a bit better. For all her experience in indulging her guiltiest pleasure, actually reaching inside herself had always been a bridge too far. Since declaring her independence from Ronnie, though, she'd been hungering for more, and after all, didn't she want the mystery man of her imagination to go in there?

Her own finger was but an excuse for all that, but she was finding it was a pretty good excuse. With her shame at her intimate games becoming ever fainter, she found she actually welcomed the sense of added taboo as she gingerly explored her own body in a way she hadn't dared to do before. Polly wasn't sure if she felt herself getting even wetter than she already was as she imagined herself undressing her mystery beau, but it did feel like that just might be the case.

She was enjoying a particularly indulgent stroke when the rap came at the window. The curtains were drawn, but Polly's heart leapt into her throat just the same as her eyes darted to the window. The noise came again, less of a shock this time but no less unwelcome.

Thanking her lucky stars she hadn't taken her dress off, Polly withdrew her finger and wiped it dry on a tissue, and drew back the curtains to reveal what she had already suspected. It was Ronnie.

Against her better judgment, Polly raised the window enough to talk to him but not enough to let him in. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Please, Polly, can we talk?" The biggest man on campus looked and sounded downright pathetic, and Polly almost felt sorry for him -- almost.

"We've got nothing to talk about, Ronnie. I'm not ready to get married, and I don't believe I'll ever be ready to marry you. That's final!"

"I told you we don't have to get married right away! Or ever, if it doesn't work out! I just don't want you to give up yet! Come on, Polly, you owe me that much!"

"Owe you?!" Polly stepped back from the window, but Ronnie reached in and grabbed at her arm.

He was a lot stronger than she, but she pulled her arm away just in time and ended up with only a few scratches. "Have I got to call Mrs. Peabody on you?" she snapped. "You know what you'll be in for then!"

"You don't have to do that, Polly! Come on, at least let's still go to the Halloween party together! I had the whole thing planned, you were gonna be Miss America and I'll be the judge who crowns you."

Polly laughed through her slowly receding fear. "Right, Ronnie, you want to parade me around west campus in a bathing suit? No way! Besides, I already decided, I want to be Rosie the Riveter."

"Rosie the what?"

"It figures you wouldn't know." Polly set her hands threateningly on the window, set to push it down. "I'd watch my fingers if I were you."

"Polly, please!" But he did remove his fingers, and she slammed the window down. When he didn't leave right away, she stood glaring at him until he climbed back down to the tree he'd come to know so well.

It was easier than expected for Polly to find a male friend with a work-suit to borrow, and she fashioned a monkey-wrench out of a paper towel tube and some packing materials she rescued from the dorm lounge trash can. Finishing the look off with a red kerchief she'd had lurking in her closet for ages, she strutted forth on Saturday night into a lounge full of princesses, angels, and witches.

"Polly!" exclaimed Maggie, who was one of the more elaborately decorated angels. "You weren't kidding!"

"Course not," Polly said. "I've had about enough with looking ladylike, if you want to know the truth of it."

"Right, tonight's not for that," Maggie said. "But I know you're as excited about seeing that piano player again as I am!"

"Frankie?" Polly said. "Yeah, he sure can play. But first, where's the candy?" She turned to find a lovely spread of chocolates and jellybeans on the tea table, which was lined with orange crepe paper and pipe cleaners twisted to look like spiders. Helping herself to a peanut butter cup, she said, "When's he playing, anyway?"

Maggie laughed. "You're too cool to care, but you want to know when to be there, huh?"

"Well, I'll bet you know the answer, though!"

Maggie did indeed know Nick was set to play at nine o'clock, half an hour after the party officially opened, so all the attached guys and their dates could be fashionably late. Nick, in his best impromptu Prince Charming costume, was not late. He and Mary, swathed in a blue gown and with her hair swept up like none of the guys had ever seen before, were among the first to arrive. They both got a round of applause from the other earlybirds when they stepped inside.