The Dark Side of Flavia

The air brakes made a long hissing sound as they brought the bus to a halt. She hesitated as two other students moved toward the bus, still thinking about Maria before clutching the shoulder strap of her messenger bag and stepped aboard.

Time stood still as the day became unbearable. Every second of classroom lecture, every new assignment, every report, every powerpoint slide; all worked in unison to keep her from the appointed time. Just a string of activities that would bar her from the sliver of two hours she would spend with Maria. Daydreaming of her muse, her only refuge from the mundane of life.

At five minutes until two, Flavia glanced around the entry area of the coffee shop where she was meeting Maria. She could feel her own heart beating out of control within her breast. Like a giddy child at Christmas, anticipating the gifts to be found, Flavia searched the room to see if her 'present' was there. A totally uncharacteristic pout fell on her face when she didn't find a package with her name on it.

Suddenly she was startled by someone thrusting a photograph in her face from behind her. "Name the artist and the style of this painting!" Maria demanded as she sardonically giggled.

"That's a painting from an old dead guy and the style is some sorta goofy oil painting style," Flavia replied as she realized that Maria was toying with her. Both girls laughed as Maria stepped out from behind Flavia.

'God she's hot. Wish I could pull off an outfit like that,' Flavia thought to herself as she looked over her new friend. Maria's tall, athletic frame was draped in a bohemian blouse that was longer on one side than the other. It was low cut in the front. The sheer material barely hid the fact that Maria was enjoying a braless Thursday. Her small breasts formed two exquisite points against the silky material. Long silver necklaces graced her slender torso, falling between the two lovely peaks. Flavia could barely refrain from letting her eyes drift.

Beneath the long shirt, she wore black leggings which accentuated her long, shapely legs. Her frail sandals exposed perfectly pedicured toes. Her nearly coal black hair was pulled back; held with a hair tie made from a gauzelike material. The light would glisten against portions of her hair and reflect back in shades of darkness that reminded Flavia of the shimmer of black feathers.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't get this stuff! And to think; he's gonna run dozens of these in front of us for that test." Maria grumbled as she softly rubbed Flavia's shoulder reassuringly.

Flavia froze at Maria's touch. A spark of electric passed through her whole body as she wryly smiled accepting Maria's gesture.

"You getting anything," Maria said as she motioned toward the main counter with her head. Momentarily Flavia thought to herself, 'oh yeah. I'm getting something. I'm getting turned on.' But she quickly realized that Maria was gesturing toward the counter where they were still two people away from ordering. "Yeah. Coffee, black," Flavia replied.

"Ooooh. Dark and mysterious. Sorta fits you," Maria commented, grinning wildly.

'What does she mean by that?' Flavia considered to herself. "Let me guess. You're more the Mocha type?" Flavia cocked her hip to one side, crossed her arms, and lowered her head looking at Maria through her upturned eyes in mockery.

"Lattes baby! You go dark and mysterious and I'll go light and milky. My treat," Maria exclaimed. "Dad threw cash at me to make up for being an absent father again," she sarcastically threw out. Seeing the confused look on Flavia's face, she continued, "My folks are divorced so dad tries to buy my love." She paused for emphasis. "So I let him." She said in an ever increasingly dry humor.

"Works for me."

The two girls stood in line next to the counter while several customers were being served. Flavia scanned the crowd for a free table. "If you're getting the coffee, I'll go see if I can find a table. I think I saw a free one in the side section."

"There's a side section?" Maria replied before recognizing where Flavia was looking. Once she understood the direction Flavia was going, she smiled and nodded.


Flavia worked her way through the crowded dining area and settled into the small two person booth along the inside dividing wall. She pulled out a few books and a notepad with notes from recent lectures; preparing to discuss the dreaded class with Maria.

Resting her head on the back of her hands, she glanced over to the other patrons. 'Wait, isn't that Sandy's mother?' she though to herself. 'God's she's with a guy!' Sandy's dad had passed away not long before they moved across the street to the condos. She smiled as she thought of the fresh flowers that lined the walkway to their unit. But quickly contained her expression. 'Wonder if Sandy knows about this. He's actually flirting with her,' she mused.

About that time, Maria arrived with coffee. She started talking before even reaching the table and setting the cups in place. "So Flavia, I think we've been in a few classes together this year."

"Yeah. One each semester. Kind of a coincidence for a university this large."

"So how is it we're both from the same city, both the same age, and we've never met?"

Flavia found it difficult to respond, absorbed in Maria's deep eyes. "I went to South, which high school did you go to?" She finally uttered.

"Well that explains it. I went to University High." She mumbled while digging books out of her sling pack. She leaned back and took a deep cleansing breath, playfully grimaced and continued. "This test is on Monday and I truly don't get it. So let's go over the study guide and see if we can find anything in our notes to flesh it out." Maria directed.

"Sounds like a plan." Flavia chimed.

The girls discussed how to tell the difference between Venetian, Northern Renaissance, and Baroque characteristics while sipping occasionally from the cups. Their minds drifted for a bit during a discussion of impressionism while joking about several abstract images.

"Looks more like monkey shit flung on a wall, to me." Maria giggled at one image.

Flavia about choked on her coffee at the thought before breaking into laughter.

"God, you've got a gorgeous laugh and smile." Maria mused. "So why all the dark?" She hesitated, gauging Flavia's reaction before continuing.

Flavia set her mug down and quietly put her hands in her lap. "I donno, just been feeling a bit dark lately," she replied.

"Don't take offense or anything, but I don't think I've ever seen you in anything but gray and black clothes. With a smile like that you should be wearing red!" Maria's exuberance spilled out in her words.

The comments caught Flavia off guard. She was so taken by Maria that she let the cold exterior of her life crumble a bit. She glanced down at her coffee, blushing a bit. 'Oh my god, blushing! This isn't like me at all. Maybe she's okay with me.' Flavia rolled the thoughts through her mind. 'How do I explain? I can't tell her the whole story.'

As she was mulling it over in her mind, fortune struck. Maria's phone rang. Maria turned to answer giving Flavia the opportunity to close that door of conversation before it was truly opened.

"Yeah. Hey dad. What's up?" Maria started.

Flavia nodded toward the coffee station, giving the non-verbal intent of getting a refill. Maria shook her head with a smile, mouthing the words 'thanks.'

As Maria continued her call, Flavia took the mugs to warm up the black gold in their mugs. She passed by the table where Sandy's mom and that guy were chatting. She tried not to gawk at the unusual couple. 'God it's embarrassing. Those two adults were flirting with each other right here in a room full of college students. Get a room already.' she thought as she moved beyond them.

Returning with fresh coffee, she could see Maria was a bit frustrated.

"Yes. Okay. Yes. I will dad. Well, just give me time to work something out. Okay." She glanced at Flavia who was cautiously approaching the table. She motioned to her to say it was okay. "Well, like I said, I'll figure something out. Okay, me too. Bye."

Maria punched the red off circle on her iphone, setting it on her books. "God they annoy me sometimes!" She exclaimed in frustration, fisting her hands tightly and shaking them slightly for emphasis.

"What's up?" Flavia asked in concern.

"Mom is going back east to spend a few days with my aunt Beth. I was going to stay with dad for those days because for some reason mom doesn't want me to stay at home alone. I'm a college freshman and they hover over me like I'm in kindergarten!" Her annoyance was spilling out. "But now he's tied up this weekend and won't be around either."

"So she doesn't want you to stay by yourself?"

"No. And with this test on Monday, I don't want to go to Philadelphia for the weekend. I need to spend some time studying." Her fake, pouty, whine made Flavia smile inside.

Without thinking through what she was saying, Flavia spoke. "That's not a problem. Just stay at my place for the weekend." Even as she heard what she had just said, panic ran through her. 'God, I just asked this gorgeous woman to spend the weekend with me. Shit. Shit! SHIT!! My room is a pigsty. I'll have to run home and clean!' She internally grimaced at the thought of how much work it would take to prepare her room for a guest.

"Flavia, that's so sweet." Maria exclaimed. She was clearly pondering the notion as her eyes began to broaden. "Better yet. You come stay at my place. Mom will be okay that I'm not home alone and we'll have the house to ourselves!" Giddy with excitement Maria grabbed Flavia's hand; squeezing it with joyful anticipation. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

Flavia's heart stopped at the thought. A whole weekend with Maria. Alone! "God, Maria, are you sure?" A deviant grin crossed her face slyly as she pondered the reality of enjoying two days alone with the object of her obsession.

"We can study, order a pizza, drink some of mom's hooch, watch a movie. Ooh, Ooh. Then on Saturday night we can have some friends over! We'll throw a little party. It'll be fab." Maria's pitch and excitement rose with each sentence; her eyes wildly glancing around as if searching for the ideas that may have been hanging in each corner of the room.

"Well, it sounds great. But I only have a couple of friends. I don't socialize much." Flavia began before Maria cut her off with her energetic thought flow.

"We'll keep it small. Just a couple of girls. A real girls only pajama party. God, that sounds too childish. Maybe a hot girl's panty party." Maria's eyebrows rose at the thought, her words becoming a bit more intentionally sultry.

"But, I." Flavia's face quirked with an almost painful expression.

"What?" Maria questioned seeing the concern on her new friend's face.

"Hot girls?" Flavia whispered, leaning forward to speak more softly. She glanced around to be sure nobody was hearing what she was saying.

"Well-yeah!" Maria all but sang her response, a bit too loudly for Flavia's taste.

"Well, that's like not," Flavia protested softly.

"Wait? Are you like?" Maria's eyes penetrated Flavia right to the core.

"Well-yeah?" Flavia all but sang back in a self-deprecating sarcasm.

"God. Flavia! Are you joking? You definitely fall into the 'Hot Girls' category."

Flavia went flush with the thought that Maria even remotely thought of her as being in the same realm. For the briefest of moments, the hurt of her all but non-existent self image was pulled out of the darkness and into glorious light.

"Okay, but I just warn you, I'm not very good at parties." Flavia started to explain herself but again was interrupted by Maria's rambunctious verve.

"It's settled! Tomorrow night for study and Saturday night for fun!! Oh Shit!" Maria exclaimed when she glanced at her cell phone to check the time. "I'm gonna be late for class. Let's talk about it in a couple of hours. Can you still meet me later?"

"Sure." She responded without hesitation, not even checking her scheduled to see if she really could or not.

The two girls quickly grabbed their things and headed to the door. Flavia was leaning to one side, tugging her messenger bag's strap up over her shoulder as she worked her way toward the drop off point for mugs and trash.

The guy that had been sitting with Sandy's mom passed by her and headed for the door. She suspiciously looked him over for good measure, just so she could tell her neighbor about this guy she had seen. 'I'm sure Sandy needs to know if her momma is making sweet with some strange guy. It could be worse. At least he was just a normal old guy and not hideously ugly too.

Giggling wildly, the girls dropped their mugs off and turned to leave. Looked up as they headed through the doors, two tall boys were standing at the entrance. They held the door open for the girls and smiled broadly, obviously checking out Maria. A twinge of jealousy struck Flavia that these guys would be ogling the girl she wanted. But then again, she didn't even know if Maria was interested in girls for anything more than friendship.

"Why thank you kind sir," Maria said to the boy closest to her as she passed by. She briefly let her hand pat his midsection as she batted her eyes at him. Flavia blushed and kept her head down as she passed by. 'God, Maria is so spontaneous. I wish I could be that openly flirtatious. But then again, I don't look like her.' she thought to herself.

In the bright sunlight of the parking lot, Maria initiated her 'good bye for now' ritual. But before she could, a resounding shout came from across the parking lot.

"Flavia!" Sandy closes the door to a VW and begins rushing toward Flavia. "We live across the street from each other, so why is it that the only time I see you anymore is downtown?" She started while walking across the parking lot. Sandy is a slender, attractive, reddish blond with her hair pulled back into a pony tail. It waved with her exaggerated movements as she approached.

"Sandy. They let you out of the prison?" Flavia sarcastically tossed back at her. Maria raised an eyebrow trying to grasp what Flavia is talking about. "Sandy is a senior at South." Flavia explained.

Maria took a moment to look over Sandy before leaning in toward Flavia and whispering, "Wow, your girlfriend is hot just like you." The comment struck a cord in Flavia stomach, a spark of excitement shot through her at the thought that Maria was commenting on the looks of another woman. 'Maybe it's a sign that Maria might like the company of women too,' she thought to herself.

"Not out of jail yet. But I am only at the school a couple of hours each day. Work-study permit in the afternoons." She explained.

"Maria, this is my neighbor, Sandy. We went to high school together." Flavia gives Sandy a brief hug and Sandy responds with a kiss to Flavia's cheek that missed all but completely.

"Hi, I'm Maria, a friend of Flavia." She extended a hand to greet Sandy but received an unexpected hug as well.

"Any friend of my neighbor..." Sandy replies.

"Oooh Oooh... you should come to our party on Saturday night!" Maria grabbed Sandy's forearm and tugged her a bit for emphasis.

"I'm in!" Sandy replied to Maria. Then turning to Flavia she mockingly said, "There's a party?"

"Well it looks like it." Flavia shot a playful smirk at Sandy before throwing her eyes in Maria's direction, as if to say, 'Yep, she's on a roll here!'

"Oh wait. That's the night I usually skype Jason." Sandy's eyes hood over as she thought through her schedule in her mind.

"Bring a laptop or something. We have wifi." Maria confirmed hoping to entice Sandy with the idea of coming over.

Maria glanced down at her cell phone again to check the time. "Oops. I really have to run now. I'll text after class to see where you wanna meet up. Later baby cakes!"

Flavia's face turned scarlet at the thought of Maria calling her baby cakes. But it's sweet. She drifted off into a daydream as she watched Maria walk down the sidewalk toward the lecture halls.

"Ah, earth to Flavia!" Sandy snickered. "You got it bad this time, don't you?"

"What?!?" Flavia protests.

"Oh for godsakes. 'Babycakes??' You look like a smitten elementary school kid." Sandy twists her mouth into an accusing expression.

"Okay, so?" Flavia can't believe her own confession has passed through her lips.

"It's okay. It's just me you're talking to. You remember, your friend that knows you're probably a lesbian." Sandy reassuringly offered. "Well, just let me know when and where this party thing is taking place. I'm meeting up with mom for dinner."

"You're not the only one meeting up with your mom tonight." Flavia raised her eyebrows with a knowing look and grinned.

"Hell. Are you saying that guy is here??" Sandy all but shouted before looking in the window.

"That Guy?" Flavia inquired. "So you knew about it?"

"She's been up to something. Dressing in her cutest things, wearing perfume again, curling her hair to go to work; all the signs are there. She won't fess up to it but I knew it had to be a guy." Sandy ranted while looking in the window to catch a glimpse of the new man.

"Sorry hon. You just missed him. He was sitting in there with your mom the whole time we were studying. And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but ..." Flavia's sentence drifted off into all but a whisper.

"What?" Sandy demanded.

"Well. She was flirting with the guy." Flavia uttered softly as if telling a deep dark secret.

Sandy's eyes widened, then all at once both girls gave expressions of nausea. Flavia made coughing noises while Sandy acted like she was throwing up.

The girls composed themselves after their mock attack of nausea over the thought of anyone over 24 dating. Sandy turned to lean against the brick wall next to the window where she had been peeping for a glance of the new guy. "I have a new guy too. He was in your graduating class!" Sandy smirked.

"Yeah. So you finally hitched up with Jason." Flavia replied calmly.

"WHAT? How'd you know??" Sandy's face curled up with the frustration that her little secret was clearly out in the open with her friend.

"Please? You two always toyed with each other all through school. I just thought that since he went away for college you'd never have the chance to make good on it. But I guess in the age of video chat and Facetime, anything possible," Flavia lectured.

"Well, you're right." Sandy relented. "But not ANYTHING is possible. I enjoy talking with him and we're talking seriously about this summer. But It would be nice to have him here and not there."

"That's what Facetime sex is for." Flavia again spit out a zinger without even flinching as much as a cheek muscle. But to her surprise, Sandy was speechless. It wasn't the kind of speechless that results from getting hit with a sarcastic 'yo momma' comment. It was the kind of speechless that comes from being outed.

"Wait. You dirty little girl." Flavia's grin was priceless, knowing she had accidentally stepped into the erotic secret life of Sandy.

"Okay it was only a couple of times, but we both were kinda worked up." Sandy protested as she raised up and away from the brick wall. "And besides. It's the safest form of sex."

Justifying it with the safe sex line caught Flavia as funny and she broke into a full out laugh. Within a moment Sandy joined her, realizing how absurd her statement was.

"Well, I have a couple of errands to run before meeting up with Maria to study some more. As soon as I get an address I'll text you and let you know where the party is Saturday. Looks like I'm spending the weekend with Maria." Even as she spoke the words, it sank into her heart that she was about to spend two days with Maria - alone.