Senior Year Memories Ch. 44

"Tempting," I admitted, thinking about the offer. "But can we spend a little more time here first? I'd still like to get a better understanding of you before I go to a second location."

Chloe was someone who was used to getting things right the first time, so I could see a little annoyance cross over her face at my suggestion. Nevertheless, she didn't let it overtake her, as she soon nodded.

"Also logical. Do you have a questionnaire, or would that be too formal? I'll admit I did have a checklist of my own that I was hoping that I'd be able to bring up with you, but I thought that would be best brought up at my house where there might be fewer... eavesdroppers," she explained.

I raised an eyebrow at this. A checklist? That was... well, that was certainly formal, I had to give her that. I had to give Chloe a lot, actually, as she seemed uniquely determined and confident with what she wanted to do about her virginity. Any nerves she seemed to have mostly seemed to be about approaching me to ask her for help, but beyond that it seemed she knew exactly what she wanted out of sex itself. I'd been a complete fucking mess when I'd first lost my virginity, so in a way, I kind of envied her.

Tapping my fingers on the table, I finally decided to say, "Well, I guess a good place to start would be-"

"Chloe!!!" a familiar voice declared excitedly, as two girls bounded over to our table. "It's your turn!"

These were two girls I had recently become quite familiar with. The first, the one who'd actually called out to Chloe, was an excitable Middle-Eastern beauty, Zahra Dashti, while her companion was a slender and tightly muscled blonde, Amy Temple. The pair of them had their attention drawn to Chloe, but soon each of them shot me a smile as well.

The hint of a smile that Chloe was holding onto almost completely disappeared as she addressed them. "I made no promises about taking the stage today."

"Yeah, but you showed up, and if you show up, you *gotta* sing," Zahra exclaimed.

"Them's the rules," Amy confirmed, before nodding my way with a smug smirk. "Ryan."

"Amy. Still keeping out of trouble?" I asked.

Amy laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I don't wanna, but I'm keeping my promise to you."

"She really is," Zahra confirmed, wrapping an arm around Amy's shoulders. "She's being so good for all of us, it's pretty great!"

"Miraculous, I'd say," Chloe said, shrugging.

"Call it whatever you want," Amy said, grabbing Chloe by one of her arms. "But you're getting on stage!"

"And singing!" Zahra quickly amended, grabbing Chloe's other arm. "And maybe even shaking your booty a little!"

"Not like it's mandatory, but we'd enjoy it," Amy said.

"And Ryan would enjoy it too, wouldn't you?" Zahra said, cocking her head to me and whispering not-too-subtly, "Roll with it."

I laughed, turning my attention back to Chloe. "I mean... if the mood struck you, it could be fun to see you shake your booty. Regardless, I'd love to hear you sing, though."

Chloe sighed, dramatically, then stood up to join her fellow drama kids. "I will sing, and I will sing well, but there will be no shaking of my 'booty'."

Zahra and Amy laughed, with Zahra dragging Chloe toward the stage saying, "Good enough! Come on, do it, do it, you've got this!"

A round of cheers went through the room as Chloe first quickly sorted through the selection of available songs, then took to the stage. She stood behind the microphone for an awkward little moment while everyone settled down, before she spoke up.

"I don't have an elaborate introduction for what this song means for me on some deep, profound level, and I don't have a funny introduction. It's a good song, and I'm going to sing the hell out of it. Now," Chloe said, the music kicking in behind her quickly.

Now, I didn't exactly know what to expect when Chloe began singing. Talking with her one on one, she seemed thoroughly awkward, almost mechanical even, with an underlying sweetness that I could see trying to peek through. I knew she had to be a good performer if she was on Mrs. Harker's shortlist of four girls who could win the lead role in Little Shop, but I didn't imagine... well, I *couldn't* imagine what she would sound like actually singing.

And that, I guess, is on me, because once she began singing the Pretenders' 'Brass in Pocket,' it was like she became a completely different person. Her smile was natural and free, her manner utterly relaxed and confident. Her voice had a natural beauty, with an underlying sultriness to it that the song demanded. It was as if she could drop herself into being whatever she needed to be as the moment demanded, and I was captivated watching her. I could not believe that this was the same girl who'd been soliciting me for sex just moments before with all the grace of a distracted robot. When she looked into my eyes from the stage, playing along with the song's playful sultriness, I couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement and anticipation.

Seeing her come alive like this... yeah, I could see being seduced by this Chloe.

I was lost in the darkness of Tech Noir, stolen utterly by watching Chloe singing and becoming equally lost in the moment. The song was only a few minutes long, but it felt much longer in the best of ways. When it finally ended to the uproarious cheers of the rest of the drama club kids (and my own, one-man standing ovation for accompaniment), I knew with absolute certainty that I would be going home with Chloe Marcus tonight, curious to see what this strange, confident beauty would want out of the evening.

First thing's first, though, I'd have to tell Josie that I'd had a bit of a change in plans, not that she wouldn't have seen that as a likely possibility.

As another of the drama kids took to the stage, I got up and looked for the hallway that I'd seen Josie and Olivia disappear down, knowing that they couldn't be that far away (unless they'd decided to hook up in the women's room, in which case I'd have a little more trouble getting to them).

My journey was halted, however, at the one unwelcome sight at this gathering.

Micah Burke.

The drama club's star "triple threat," I hadn't had a ton of contact with him since I'd been embedded with the drama kids, but every bit I had had with him ensured that I would never like him. To my face, he had always been polite and seemingly good-humored, albeit with an empty-looking, borderline arrogant smile. Behind my back, I'd heard he was quite jealous and competitive with the year I'd been having, wishing to be the school's superior lothario.

If it weren't for his attitude, I'd have said that this should've been easy for him. Tall and muscular in a compact sort of way, he had the handsome, distinct face of a movie star, framed by wavy, shoulder-length blonde hair that would've made him look like a surfer dude if it weren't for his expensive, preppy clothes. With intense eyes that were every bit as empty as his smile, I never wanted anything to do with him, even though he seemed to want to be in my orbit.

As I walked through Tech Noir, I saw him standing off to the side, leaning against the wall and talking to Lexa Reynard. Lexa, a beautiful, tall, preppy black girl, wasn't officially part of the drama club, but as a close friend of Cecilia Dunwich, one of the more popular girls in the drama club, she was welcome to this outing. I could see her face better than Micah's as I passed, and while she looked polite, she also looked disinterested.

I thanked her disinterest, and Micah's inability to notice how disinterested she was, as it allowed me to sneak past him and toward the hallway off to the side. Peering around the corner, I was treated to the delicious sight of Josie and Olivia making out by the fire exit, Olivia with her hand underneath Josie's skirt and no doubt giving her one hell of a fingerbang by the way Josie was responding, and while I would have loved to join them, I promised myself that I would get to the point and tell Josie about Chloe. No doubt I'd get a laugh from her and some snark from Olivia, but all told-

A hand grasped my shoulder with much too much familiarity.

"Ryan! Ryan Collins! My man, Ryan... how's it going?"

That same hand pulled me from the hallway and back into Tech Noir proper, turning me to face that bright, toothy, and thoroughly empty smile of Micah Burke.

"Hey, Micah," I said, hoping not to make my disgust too obvious.

Not that someone as full of himself as Micah was was capable of noticing.

"I was surprised to see you here! I've been meaning to catch up with you, have a drink or do lunch, I did say we should get drinks or lunch sometime, right?" Micah said with the oily quickness of a used car salesman.

"You did say that at some point, yes," I said.

"Because, it would be such an *honor*," he said, squeezing my shoulder hard enough to cause some slight pain. "*Such* an honor to have lunch with a legend like you so we could talk shop and compare lists! Because... I mean, guys like us *have* to compare lists, don't we?"

When Micah was talking about lists, he was talking about lists of girls we'd slept with. While I knew I had been having a fortunate year with a great many women, I wasn't keeping track of them as if they were prizes to be marked off on a score sheet like Micah clearly was.

"Not really," I said, pulling back so he was no longer grabbing my shoulder. "Honestly, that's a fairly personal matter."

Micah laughed, a sharp, unpleasant sound. "Oh, come on, you don't have to take it so seriously! It's just girls, amiright?"

I tried stepping around him. "I really need to-"

Quickly, he stepped in front of me. "It's just girls, and we guys, we gotta behave a certain way. Guy code, and all that, and I gotta say, man, with all due respect to a *legend* like you, I'm disappointed in you. Genuinely, and truly disappointed, which I hate saying because I *respect* you so much. You're not doing a really good job dealing with guy code."

"Micah..." I said, sighing. "I really don't think-"

Micah interrupted me again. "I mean, you don't see me stepping out of line and getting into your hunting grounds, right? You do your thing, and that's cool, but the drama girls have always been mine... and I know you know that, which is why you're disappointing me. I mean, it was one thing when you slept with Amy, I figured you did that because you were jealous I got there first and because that slut really gets around, but then it seemed like it was an actual slight against my honor when I heard what you told Scarlett about me... and now I see you talking with Chloe, looking at her with those goo-goo eyes when she's up on stage singing?"

He laughed to himself softly before leaning in to whisper in my ear. "That little bitch's cherry is mine, and has *always* been mine. Don't fuck me over on this one, or there will be a fucking war."

With that, Micah stepped back and clapped me on the shoulder again, smiling that bright, empty smile again. "So, we understand each other? I'm glad we understand each other."

The quickness with which he could switch back and forth between threatening and false affable, it threw me for a moment. It was genuinely unsettling, and there was once a time when it would have absolutely terrified me into doing whatever Micah said.

Thankfully, that Ryan was long in my rearview mirror.

Standing up straight, I said, "You finished?"

Micah's mouth opened in slight surprise. "Wha-"

Now it was my turn to interrupt him. "Listen, asshole, I've been threatened by far more intimidating sons of bitches than you, and if you think you can tell anyone how to live their fucking lives, then all I'll say to you is 'go to hell.' Caring about 'lists,' and 'hunting grounds' and all that stupid alpha nonsense, it doesn't make you cool; it makes you a huge piece of shit. These girls are their own people with their own wants and needs and lives, and if all you do is spend your time treating them like they're pieces of meat and numbers to be checked off some kind of list, they'll catch on to you, and you'll start getting intimately acquainted with your right hand."

I considered this for a moment as I enjoyed the shocked look on his face, before I smirked, "Or are you a southpaw? I'm sorry, I haven't been paying attention."

For the first time since I'd been properly introduced to him, I saw something flickering behind Micah's eyes. Unfortunately, it was a swift and fiery rage, as he grabbed me and pushed me against the wall.

"Listen, you little pussy!" he threatened. "You won't stop me from getting what I'm owed. I'm taking what I fucking deserve, and if you try to get in my way, I will defeat you! I know stage fighting, and karate, and I will destroy you if I have to! Just stay the fuck away from my bitches!"

Someone cleared their throat beside us, rather dramatically, causing Micah and I both to turn our attention toward the trio of eavesdroppers who just made their presence known. Standing at the front of this small group was Cecilia Dunwich, the normally easy-going black girl who I mostly knew for being casual and cool and having some impressively braided and dreadlocked, dyed-blonde hair, who looked decidedly harsher than I had ever seen her before. Next to her stood the big and round and bearded bear of a man, Tommy Jarvis, who I knew to be every bit as much a friendly, softie of a man as he was gay (and he was *quite* gay), trying to look intimidating with Cecilia and actually doing pretty well.

"You really think this is the time and place to get hostile, Micah?" Cecilia said, amused yet stern. "Not a good look."

"*So* not a good look," Tommy agreed. "We're just here to blow off steam and have some fun! And you're not exactly helping the atmosphere."

"Yeah, if you're gonna keep that attitude up, you might wanna think about doing it somewhere else. I mean, *we* don't want to get the security guard involved, *you* don't wanna get them involved, so why not just walk out of the club pf your own accord with your itty-bitty tail tucked as far between your legs as it'll go and your dignity intact..." Cecilia proposed.

Her voice was silky and smooth, and I had a hard time imagining any guy could turn her down. Sounding, and looking, like she did, I had a hard time imagining anyone could refuse any request of Cecilia's.

"Yeah, but, like, if you really make a fuss of it, I'll happily take you outside. I mean, I don't know stage fighting and karate like you do, but I am bigger than you, which I think will have to come in handy if you try to fight me, and have absolutely *zero* shame playing damsel in distress with the security guard and getting you kicked out of here if you make me. Pleeeeeeeeeease don't make me?" Tommy suggested, clasping his hands together theatrically.

Not liking the look of being cornered by people he wanted to ingratiate himself with, Micah let me go and smiled his empty smile.

"I'm sorry you all had to see that," he said, chuckling and wiping himself down. "Ryan here said some unkind things about my friends, and I might've made a fool out of myself standing up for all your honor. I'll see myself out, but, you'll want to keep an eye on him, too. He's a pot-stirrer if I've ever seen one."

"Oh, I'm sure he is," Cecilia said, amused.

Turning his attention toward me as Micah slunk away, Tommy asked, "You alright there, Ryan?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Thanks."

I couldn't help but finally get a good look at the third figure hiding behind Cecilia and Tommy, and was somehow unsurprised to see that it was Chloe. While she may have been awkward, she knew well how to call out the big guns at a time like this. She had this shy, cocky little smile on her lips as she watched Micah leave Tech Noir, and I couldn't help but feel impressed with the petite blonde overachiever.

"Anytime," Tommy said. "Micah talks a big game, but he's mostly harmless."

"*Mostly*," Cecilia highlighted, nodding to Chloe. "I think you've got it from here. Come on, Tommy, I'm in the mood for a duet."

"Ooh!" Tommy exclaimed, hooking his arm around Cecilia's, "I call dibs on 'Summer Nights'!"

Laughing, Cecilia and Tommy trotted off toward the stage, looking thoroughly pleased with themselves. Though, probably not as pleased with themselves as Chloe looked right now.

I grinned at her, pleased to say, "So, I need to talk to Josie and Olivia for a minute, but then... let's head over to your place?"

Chloe's eyes brightened, even if she still seemed like she was trying to restrain her enthusiasm. "To further discuss the matter we had discussed previously?"

"Sure," I replied, before grinning wolfishly. "Though I think there might not be as much discussion as I had initially expected."

She nodded, thoughtful. "Those sound like acceptable terms for losing my virginity."

I laughed, interested in her way of looking at this, while still not fully sure I knew what I was getting myself into.

***

True to her word, Chloe's house was empty when we got there. A quiet and sterile suburban home, aside from a few scattered pieces of art and the odd family photo, it lacked a lot of what I would normally consider personality, which could quite well explain some of Chloe's eccentricities.

Guiding me to her room, she could see my curiosity and quickly answered it. "I must apologize for the Spartan nature of the Marcus household. My family has never been one much for anything they would deem nonessential."

Passing by the living room and seeing white furniture surrounded by white walls, the only color coming from the packed bookshelves and the large framed family photo above the mantlepiece, I could understand where she was coming from. The family photo did grab my attention momentarily, as her family was unexpectedly massive. In addition to the late middle-aged couple I took to be her parents, Chloe stood alongside a motley mix of six older brothers and sisters. All of them were similarly conservatively dressed and had that awkwardly intense look that Chloe seemed to have mastered.

"You have a formidable family," I commented.

Chloe nodded, leading me in. "I am the youngest of seven siblings, all of whom are the best in their particular fields. Engineers and mathematicians, artists and architects and doctors... our parents have always encouraged us to be our best and ignore frivolities that would interfere with our reaching our main objectives."

"Wow," I said, running a hand through my hair. "And they don't have a problem with you joining drama?"

"They had... *thoughts*, but there was little they could do to dissuade me. Even had they not listened to my arguments on the positive benefits of drama for my morale and productivity, I can be quite the force of nature when it comes to getting what I want," she explained.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting that."

Smirking ever so slightly, Chloe cocked her head toward a nearby staircase. "Come on, my room's just upstairs, the last door on the right."

Chloe picked up her pace ever so slightly, and I kept up, following her upstairs and into her room, letting her close and lock the door behind me as I stepped inside. Like much of the house, it was white and seemingly spotless, with little space dedicated to any color other than the books on her many bookshelves and a trio of framed Broadway posters for Les Miserables, Hamilton and West Side Story.

"I apologize for the disarray," she said, picking up a sole loose sock that had been resting on the end of her sizable bed. "I hadn't expected any guests today. Had I known you were coming with absolute certainty, I would have taken the opportunity to clean up some before your arrival so you wouldn't think I was slovenly."

I looked around her spotless room, gaping. "Are you kidding? You should see my room, it's a nightmare... it's like you live in a museum."