The Bitch and the Butch

God, she thought, I must be in a good mood if I'm thinking stuff like that.

And yet, she couldn't quite tear her eyes away from her hallmate. Mercedes was lost in a thought that she couldn't quite materialise, and so she said nothing.

It was eventually Sophie, standing awkwardly in the doorframe, who broke the silence, gently clearing her throat:

"Did you need me, Mercedes?"

"Oh, yes," she said, inexplicably starting to blush a little as she caught Sophie's eye, "yes, I wanted to thank you for the audio. I don't know where you found it, but it worked fantastic."

She was praising the file - there was clearly no desire in her tone to actually thank Sophie.

But still, hearing that, Sophie smiled: "It's my pleasure, Mercedes - a friend recommended it, and I'm glad it finally helped you get some rest."

"A friend?" Mercedes' face hardened suddenly, a worried expression in her eyes. "You haven't been telling other people that I have sleep problems, have you?"

"No," she said, enough panic on her face that Mercedes could tell she was lying, "I said it was for me."

"Oh, fuck off," Mercedes said, annoyance in her tone. "Go get me some juice, and then fuck off, Sophie."

Sophie did as instructed - as she told Ellie the night before, it was often easier to go along with it and just do as Mercedes demanded. And so she vanished, pouring a glass of apple juice and leaving it on Mercedes' bedside table.

"I'm sorry again," she said, before leaving Mercedes' room.

As she walked out, Mercedes couldn't help herself. She looked at Sophie as she left. In her mind, she wanted to tell herself that she was seeing the redhead out. But that simply wasn't the truth, no - she was watching Sophie leave so she could watch Sophie, and take in her body. For some reason, some reason that she simply couldn't place, she was checking out her hallmate.

She shook her head when she realised what she was doing. God, fuck me, she thought, I must need a bit of action. Well, it certainly has been a long time.

Mercedes hadn't had any sex for a good few months now. She'd been seeing Colton Stanley, a guy on the swim team who came from a similar background to her. He wasn't too bright, but he was a hot piece of meat and really good in bed - she'd had great fun letting him fuck her, and riding him, forcing him to eat her out to assert her dominance. There wasn't much going on upstairs, but Mercedes didn't mind that - on the contrary, him being thick as pigshit made him so much easier to push around.

She thought that they could have worked out, until she went to meet him one night at his halls. She could hear noises, grunts and screams of joy, and they were coming from Colton's room. He lived on the ground floor, and she could see him through the gap in the hastily-drawn curtains. Colton, on his front, screaming in sexual pleasure as another man took him anally.

She had stormed away from the building in shock, feeling appalled - not at the sight of Colton engaging in gay sex (although she'd have been lying if she said her homophobic tendencies didn't factor into it at all), but at the fact he was doing it while they were dating. She was disgusted, knowing that he was cheating - on her.

Didn't he know who she was? She was Mercedes Alexander, and she ran this place - and yet, he thought he could get it better somewhere else. No, it wasn't on - it wasn't happening, not to her.

Some strings were pulled and Colton soon wound up off the swimming team, and then transferred to a different, lesser university. She hoped she'd never see him again - she didn't want to admit it, but she was hurt.

And since then, she hadn't been with anyone. Her needs were being fulfilled by a handy vibrator and her own fingers - they did the job just as well, and without the need for some fucking man who could go off and screw her over.

Or so she thought. And now, here she was, looking at Sophie with strange thoughts on her mind. Urgh, a shiver ran through her entire body, what the hell was the matter with her?

Maybe she could distract herself - the best way to put her mind right about where Sophie stood was to tell her, right to her face. It wasn't cruel, she thought - it was simply reasserting the order of things. She didn't want Sophie getting ideas above her station - no, she needed to know that she belonged below the posh girl, and that was how things should be.

She sent another message to the redhead, who appeared in her room a few moments later.

"What can I do for you, Mercedes?" she asked.

Sophie was still dressed in her white dress, but Mercedes noticed that she had some casual sneakers on.

"Are you going out, Sophie?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with a friend. But I can hold off if you need me to do something for you?"

She knew her place, Mercedes thought. If she was in a mood, she'd have made Sophie cancel her plans to stay here and do some arbitrary job just for the fun of it. But no, not today - she was genuinely grateful for the rest. And there was something else - some feeling in her mind that she couldn't quite grasp, but which told her she wanted to make Sophie happy. And, if she did, that would make her happy too.

"No, no, don't worry. I just wanted to say - well - thank you for helping me rest," she said, unsure about the kind words hanging from her lips and the tone of sincerity she tried to adopt. As she said them, she thought they didn't sound like her at all, and yet she wanted to be nice to Sophie. This wasn't like her first thanks - this was genuine.

"It's my pleasure, really," she smiled, looking a little embarrassed.

"You say you're going to see a friend now, right? Is it the friend who gave you the audio?"

"Yes," Sophie smiled, "it is."

The grin on her face was part happiness at the acknowledgement, and part the thought of what Ellie was going to do to her when she arrived.

"Okay," Mercedes nodded, not sure about what she was going to do, but her unconscious mind wanting to do something - a combination of the commands lingering in her mind and her usual desire to dominate battling.

She didn't anticipate what she'd do, and neither did Sophie.

The redhead tensed up as Mercedes wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Sophie hadn't known Mercedes for that long, but she knew her well enough to know she wasn't a hugger. She didn't show affection - at least, not like this, and not with someone she'd made clear was beneath her. Sophie didn't know what to do - she uneasily raised her arms as best she could and returned the hug, no enthusiasm at all in the gesture.

What was happening? Was Mercedes testing her or something?

Mercedes didn't know what she was doing either, but as she hugged Sophie, something in her mind said she'd made the right choice. There was something wonderful about holding this beautiful girl in her arms - Mercedes relaxed into the hug, hints of a smile in the corners of her usual scowl. She breathed in without thinking, taking in the scent of Sophie.

She held the hug a little longer than was comfortable, but she eventually forced herself to break it off. As she looked at Sophie, she felt disappointed that the redhead was no longer in her arms. And she felt a little turned on.

No, more than a little.

She needed to do something about that now.

"Right," Mercedes said, adopting her usual hard tone, "time for you to fuck off, Sophie - I'm busy."

It took a moment for Sophie to register the command - she was still stunned at what had happened - but she eventually nodded. "Yes, right, have a great day."

Sophie left the posh girl's room and returned to her room to grab her coat. Mercedes listened as Sophie headed down the corridor, and the closing of the entry door. She was amazed she lasted that long before her fingers dove between her legs, and she started playing with herself in a desperate need to cum and release that sexual tension inside.

"Fuck," she screamed as she came, "I need to get fucked."

At least an hour, and a couple more orgasms, had passed before Mercedes' rational mind broke through, and demanded to know what the hell had happened.

***

Mercedes didn't wind up finding someone to fuck that Sunday. But she didn't wind up doing much else either - after her morning masturbation, thinking of Sophie, all the energy had drained out of her and she'd fallen back asleep for a little while. She was no longer wearing her headphones or listening to the audio, so she woke up from her nap a little more clear-headed.

She wondered what had happened - where had these thoughts come from? Nothing in her mind connected it with the audio file, not at all - she merely thought it was the drought of sex in recent weeks.

Mercedes spent the day trying to do work - dealing with her actual uni work, as well as the minutiae of the swimming team - but she couldn't really concentrate. Her mind was elsewhere without her even realising it, and she slowly started to get more and more turned on as those hypnotic suggestions and the thought of Sophie once again.

The posh girl sat at her desk, and removed her hidden vibrator. She teased herself, holding the vibrator over her expensive panties and removing it as she neared the edge. This was a routine she performed several times, and each time, she got closer and closer, more and more turned on, until eventually it became too much.

"AAAAAHHH," she screamed as she came.

And, just like before, she came with the redheaded girl on her mind.

She wondered, just for a moment, if Sophie was into girls. She certainly wasn't to know that, at that moment, Sophie was across campus, being fucked by the butch girl that Mercedes had so thoroughly humiliated for her own amusement.

Would that have maybe turned her on even more - the thought that Sophie could be used by a dominant girl, a dominant girl like her?

Mercedes gave up on work that afternoon. She watched videos on her laptop and ordered some healthy food from the nearby Chinese, but she simply couldn't motivate herself to do anything else. Her mind wasn't on it at all - it must be the late night last night, she thought. I slept forever - I must need the rest.

Come the night, she felt exhausted yet strangely awake, and so, as she climbed into bed, she popped her headphones in once again and turned on that miraculous audio file. She heard those same familiar sounds - the tranquil water, the relaxing voice - and she wanted to be scornful, but she couldn't deny that it was sending her to sleep.

It was working wonders, once again, and once again she was soon fast asleep.

And, once again, when she was away, those hypnotic commands started to filter into her mind.

"Dream, thinking of beautiful girls. Girls make you happy, don't they? You love girls, don't you? Yes, you do..."

---

On Monday, Mercedes woke up feeling much as she had on Sunday, her thoughts on her redhead flatmate and her hand instinctively creeping between her legs. She came twice before getting dressed, wearing a simple-looking but ludicrously expensive summer dress from a designer label, and heading to the kitchen to make a smoothie.

Esme was sitting there already, clad in her usual Monday yoga outfit of tight grey leggings and a pink sports top. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she was drinking a smoothie of her own.

"Hey Mercedes," she said, her usual start-of-the-week peppiness.

"Esme," Mercedes said, her eyes drifting to her friend's body, but snapping back. God, it was worse than she thought.

Esme didn't wait for Mercedes to ask about her weekend - she'd known her friend long enough to know that she didn't care. Instead, she asked about her weekend, and received disinterested answers as Mercedes focused on prepping her drink. This was usually the way, but it served a double purpose for Mercedes - she glossed over Esme's words because she couldn't remember too much of anything other than her time playing with herself.

They sat at the table, discussing swim team matters and plans for the week - it was a usual Monday routine, with Esme keen to know what was happening so she could adequately prepare and defend her position at the top.

And then, Sophie entered the kitchen.

Sophie was as carefree as she always was when hanging around the two rich girls - that is, trying to be friendly but with an air of tension. She was dressed casually, a loose T-shirt and leggings, her usual outfit for lectures.

Esme immediately assumed an air of arrogance, ready to be rude and dismissive to protect her role as Mercedes' number two. She looked to Mercedes for a cue on what to do and how to act - she'd become very good at sensing her friend's mood.

She didn't anticipate what she'd see.

Mercedes seemed embarrassed and happy in equal measure to see Sophie - it almost looked like she was blushing. There was definite colour in her cheeks, but Esme didn't want to read anything into it - indeed, she didn't know what she could read into it.

The posh girl rose to her feet: "Hi Sophie."

Esme sat in silence, watching. There was an upset in the dynamic, she could sense it - she wanted to watch and see what happened.

"Hey Mercedes," she smiled, "hey Esme. How was your time at home?"

"Fine," she said, ending the discussion there. Mercedes had taught her to keep yourself to yourself, especially when speaking to people below your station.

"How was the rest of your Sunday, Mercedes?"

"Fine."

There was silence for a moment.

"Are we heading out to the Lounge tonight?" Mercedes asked. It was a casual question, but Esme knew there was no real discussion to be had - the three girls had gone to the Cocktail Lounge, a venue just outside campus, every Monday night since they'd arrived on campus.

"Of course, Mercedes," Esme said, knowing how to respond.

Sophie grimaced, a hint of worry in her eyes:

"I'm so sorry, Mercedes," she said, "I don't think I can. I'm going out with my friend tonight - I hope that's okay?"

Esme just about managed to stifle the smirk - she was looking forward to seeing Mercedes tear Sophie apart for going against the status quo.

That didn't happen.

Instead, Mercedes seemed to blush a little, and then she offered half a smile to the redhead.

"Yeah, yeah, of course - you go and have fun, Sophie."

It took all of Esme's might not to let her jaw drop to the table. Mercedes would not have brooked that excuse ever - and yet, she was. She looked at the posh girl, her eyes pleaded for an answer, but Mercedes didn't even acknowledge her - her focus was solely on Sophie.

"Thanks, Mercedes," Sophie smiled, "I hope you both have fun at the Lounge when I'm gone." She checked her phone. "Oh god, I'm running late for class - I've got to go. I'll see you later."

She went to leave, but before she did, something else happened - she moved over to Mercedes and gave her a big hug. Where did this come from, Esme wondered? And why the fuck was Mercedes hugging back?

Esme watched the scene play out in front of her, trying and failing to process it. This was a major shift in the dynamics of the group, and she didn't like it at all. What had happened - no-one had told her anything. And yet, suddenly Mercedes was friendly with Sophie. Was the redhead getting above her station?

And, if she was, why was Mercedes encouraging it?

Fuck, Esme wondered, have I done something wrong?

She started to panic, and panicked in silence as Sophie eventually left for her class. Mercedes left shortly after, heading to her room with a bit of pace in her step. She didn't say anything to Esme, something that worried her even more.

Her smoothie still sat on the table, but Esme's appetite had gone.

---

Esme stood, trying to be inconspicuous, outside of the Matlock Room. It was the uni's largest lecture theatre, housing up to 1,200 people at a time, and used for all the biggest subjects and many of the top events. Esme would often go there herself for her classes, but her waiting today was of an extra-curricular nature.

It was the last lecture of the day - some English class that she didn't overly care about. No, the only thing that mattered was that one of the students in that lecture was Sophie Maxwell.

Esme had fired off a text to Mercedes, telling her that she couldn't join her at the Lounge because she was feeling really unwell - it must have been something she'd had for lunch, she said. Mercedes told her to fuck off, and that she was really disappointed, and then that she wouldn't bother going herself.

The perfume heiress could detect the passive-aggression in the tone, and she was worried that this could do a bit of damage to her relationship with Mercedes.

But that didn't matter in the long run, she reasoned, because she was going to find out what hold Sophie suddenly had over Mercedes. And once she knew what was going on, she was going to do whatever she had to do in order to deal with it. Destroy the information, blackmail Sophie - or worse.

Despite the common belief that Esme was simply Mercedes' lackey and nothing more, few knew that she could be more ruthless when she needed to be. Mercedes benefitted from the knowledge that her position as head of the pack was assured. Esme, on the other hand, was driven by a kind of dangerous desperation - she knew that her position was precarious, and so she was going to do whatever she had to in order to remain second-in-command.

That was what brought her here, and that was why she was following Sophie covertly as she left the Matlock Room to head to who-knows-where.

She was off to meet a friend - was it the friend who had something on Mercedes?

But Sophie kept walking, making her way to some of the cheaper accommodation, and Esme wasn't buying it - who would Mercedes know around here?

That question was going to be answered soon enough - Sophie was wandering up to the front door of an accommodation block. Esme tried to crouch behind a bush - it was the only real vantage point affording her a view of the door.

It opened.

It was a familiar face - it took Esme a moment to place it. That butch lesbian girl, the one who harassed Mercedes at the outdoor ball.

What was going on? Were they in on it together, whatever it was?

If she thought she was confused before, she didn't know what to think when Sophie greeted the girl with a big passionate kiss.

***

Esme crouched behind the bush, stunned by what she'd witnessed.

Sophie and that butch lesbian, locking lips, holding hands and eventually heading inside. This wasn't right, not at all, and she didn't like it.

She and Mercedes had carefully researched Sophie before very reluctantly agreeing to share a floor with her - one of the things that made her a good option, outside of a sense that she'd be incredibly pliable, was the fact that she wasn't a dyke. In first year, they'd both shared with a lesbian, and they never felt comfortable - Mercedes was always incredibly open about how little she liked the idea that the girl was checking her out all the time, something that Esme thought was based more in homophobia than the flatmate actually doing it.

Mercedes told Esme to tell with it - in response, she'd raised an anonymous complaint about sexual harassment, and the flatmate was swiftly removed from the uni.

So what to do now, she wondered?

Her immediate instinct was to call Mercedes and tell her what she'd seen - if she knew that Sophie was messaging around with that butch lesbian that she clearly hated, she'd soon put an end to it.

But what if she didn't?

Sophie clearly had something over Mercedes - why else did she act so sheepish, so giddy, when they spoke in the kitchen that morning? What if Mercedes already knew that Sophie was seemingly and suddenly a lesbian now? What if she knew she was hanging around with the butch girl?