The Reality Engine Ch. 10

"I'm not sure about that," Alania said, as she related to Sweet Pea how the evening had gone for her thus far.

"So you made a jealousy play, and he didn't bite?" Sweet Pea asked.

"I'm not sure I'm even #2 on his list anymore," Alania said, sighing. "I think he also wants to fuck Bridget, but would rather die than say so."

"Steve is a man of honor, and I know he can control his desires," Sweet Pea said, as he sucked on Alania's tits.

"Oh hell yeah," Alania said, as she moaned out loud. "I've been sorely used tonight, and my titties could really use some attention. That's it, suck them dry."

"Damn, you smell good," Sweet Pea said. Alania laughed out loud at his assessment.

"No I don't," she said, still laughing. "I smell like shit. I smelled good when the night started, but between dinner, the movie, drinks, and now here, I've worked up quite a sweat. Oh shit, I think I need to pee!"

"Well, c'mon, get dressed, and let's go to the ladies room," Sweet Pea said, as he rose from bed.

"It's in the middle of the hall, right?" Alania asked. "The deal was, I would be naked all night, I don't get paid if I put my clothes back on, do I?"

"I won't tell anyone," Sweet Pea promised.

"I have an idea," Alania said. "Why don't we streak to the ladies room, I'll let you in, you can watch me pee, and then, we streak back?"

"I don't know if I'm that brave," Sweet Pea said.

"C'mon, it will be fun, I promise," Alania said.

Sweet Pea nodded his head in agreement, and Alania smiled at him, and took his hand. They bolted out of his dorm room, and ran as fast as they could for the ladies room. Once there, Alania ducked inside, and let Sweet Pea in. She raced to the nearest toilet stall, and shut the door, while Sweet Pea waited right outside the stall for her. He had no desire to watch her pee, and was glad she had closed the door before doing her business. After a moment, he heard the toilet flush, and Alania opened the door to the stall, and was cleaning off her pussy with a piece of toilet paper.

"There, all better," she said, as she put the piece of paper in the toilet, and flushed it again. "Thanks for waiting. Now, let's get back to bed."

They snuck out of the bathroom, and once again, dashed back to his room. Once safely behind lock and key, they both doubled over laughing.

"Wow, this is the life," Sweet Pea said. "Naked in public, and I haven't been caught yet."

"I've only been caught one time," Alania said, as she grabbed hold of Sweet Pea, and kissed him. "It was so embarrassing."

"Why didn't you stop doing it after you got caught?" Sweet Pea asked.

"Getting caught only added to the thrill," Alania said. "Deep down inside, a part of me desperately wants to get caught."

Sweet Pea picked Alania up and moved her to his bed, and he lay down next to her, wrapped his arms around her, and snuggled her. He so desperately didn't want this to end, as he was having the time of his life. He went down on her pussy and stuck his tongue in her, she rewarded his efforts with a low moan.

"That's good, but come on and fuck me. I'm horny and I need some cock," Alania said.

Sweet Pea obliged, as he rammed his cock into her pussy, and he kissed her on the chest, and then, the lips. She wrapped her legs around his waist to give him more leverage.

"You're only getting one chance at this in life," Alania said, as she dug her fingers into his back as he fucked her. "Make it count, and live. This will never come again."

"Unless you get paid another $1,000," Sweet Pea said, as he kissed her, and stuck his tongue into her mouth.

"You never know," Alania said. "You're pretty fucking good in bed, better than Steve, that's for sure."

Their tongues twisted in an ecstasy of emotion, as Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around Alania and made love to her. She wrapped her left hand around his head and placed her right hand on his butt, to try to push his cock deeper into her. She felt the sensation of the condom rubbing against her inner vaginal cavity, and she felt the heat of his pubic hair tickling her clit. She tightened the grip of her legs around his waist, desperate to get every single inch of him inside her. In this most unlikely of places, with this most unlikely of men, Alania felt something, deep inside of her, that she never had before. She didn't know if it had a name, but it felt warm, and it felt good, and it felt safe.

He grunted and groaned as he pounded into her. Alania had been fucked many times before, but this time felt different. She could never remember sex feeling as pleasurable as it was with Sweet Pea. She wanted to freeze this moment in time, forever, with this man pounding into her, while she looked up at him and knew, in her heart, how much he wanted her. Just as quickly as it had come, it was over. He groaned out loud and cummed into her, and her body tightened as she felt his man spunk shoot into her inner depths.

"You're incredible," Alania said, as soon as she was able speak. "When I had sex with Steve a week ago, it was boring and mechanical, no passion at all. It was something I had to do to get paid. There is no way you're a virgin."

"I'm not," Sweet Pea said, as he kissed the side of her face. "It is impossible to be a man and to live in a freshman dorm at the University of Frostbite Falls for more than two years and not have gotten laid, purely by accident. You remember that famous joke about when you're in a relationship, a bunch of girls walk up to you and say that they were thinking about having a cock sucking contest and thought you would be a good judge? That actually happened to me last year. I've had sex three times since I've been a student here, but for some reason, everyone thinks I'm a virgin."

"Probably the way you conduct yourself," Alania mused.

"I won't hold my breath that we'll ever do this again, but I'd love to anytime you want to," Sweet Pea said. "If you're not even #2 on Steve's list anymore, you'll always be #1 on mine."

"That's sweet, thank you, and don't be surprised if I take you up on that offer someday," Alania said, smiling. "I'm exhausted, let's get some sleep, but we should swap phone numbers in the morning. Don't let me forget."

The next morning, Alania was woken by a ray of light streaming in through the window. She jerked up in bed, and saw Sweet Pea, still naked, seated next to her, maintaining a small distance from her, and reading a book.

"What time is it?" Alania asked, as she looked under the covers and realized she was still naked.

"A bit after 10 AM," Sweet Pea said, with a smile. "I didn't want to wake you up, and I haven't laid a finger on you. You can get up, get dressed, and be on your way now. I'll let Steve know how well things went last night."

"Last night was amazing," Alania said, as she kissed Sweet Pea on the lips. "I'm still so horny, can you touch me and love me for a little while longer?"

"Sure," Sweet Pea said, tossing the book aside, wrapping his arms around Alania, drawing her to him, and kissing her. Alania stayed with Sweet Pea for another two hours that morning, before leaving at a bit past noon.

Scott was woken by a ray of light streaming in through his window. He rose out of bed, and looked at the clock on his desk: 12:15 PM, he had slept through the entire morning. He heard a knock on his door, and realized that was what had awoken him. Scott opened the door, and saw Chad standing outside waiting for him.

"Hey bro, how you doing?" Chad asked.

"Just woke up," Scott replied. "What's up?"

"Ready to go for lunch?" Chad asked.

"Sure, let's go," Scott said, as he fished for his keys, his phone, and his clothes, got dressed, and went with Chad.

"By the way, Henry sent me a text message this morning," Chad said. "The city coroner wants to see us today. The body of our perp from Friday night has been identified, and the coroner wants to go over our statement to the police from Friday night again. Apparently, something came up in the examination."

"Was an autopsy performed?" Scott asked.

"Nah, the coroner doesn't think it's warranted," Chad replied. "The cause of death is straight-forward, he just wants to double-check a few things to make sure the details line up."

"Okay, when do you want to go?" Scott asked.

"Right after lunch?" Chad asked. "The girls can stay behind, but Henry, Steve, you, and I should go."

"That's fine then," Scott said.

An hour later, Henry, Steve, Chad, and Scott arrived at the city coroner's office in Frostbite Falls, and were shown into the office of a man named Spencer Traceback. Mr. Traceback welcomed the boys into his office, and shook hands with each of them. The first thing he asked for was to hear their story of what happened on Friday night, in their own words.

"The man who died Friday night was Mr. Juan Benoite, and he has been in prison twice, and is a former gang member," Mr. Traceback told the four boys, after they had retold their tale. "He grew up in El Paso, Texas, and he came to Frostbite Falls after he was released from his second stay in prison. He was looking to get away from the negative influences in his life, and for a fresh start. We only know who he is because the El Paso police department was kind enough to send us a report about him when he decided to leave Texas to move here. Something I have to ask you boys, did any of you actually see the gunshot wound that killed Mr. Benoite?"

"No, but we heard it," Chad said. "Henry and I were the two closest at the time. Steve and Scott were a short distance away, but everyone heard the shot, right?"

"I couldn't see anything, it all happened so fast," Steve said. "I heard the gunshot, but there were a few seconds where I didn't know if anyone had been hit. I remember Scott, Kloe, Bridget, and I all checked to make sure it hadn't hit one of us."

"None of you actually saw the revolver discharge the gunshot that killed Mr. Benoite?" Mr. Traceback asked.

"No, but you have the bullet, right?" Henry asked. "Doesn't it match what was in the revolver?"

"Sure we do, and it does match, but there are two issues, first, the revolver has a safety latch to prevent it from firing due to being bumped into or dropped," Mr. Traceback said. "Second, the angle of the bullet wound is wrong. The sequence of events, as I see it, is that Mr. Benoite was hit on the back of the head, that he turned the gun towards himself as he was falling down, unconscious, and that he pulled the trigger upon himself before he hit the ground. Such a sequence of events is unlikely. He died because the bullet punctured an artery in his upper chest, which is an extremely lucky shot."

"I don't have a good answer for you," Scott said. "You're right, those points do seem odd."

"In the big scheme of things, it doesn't really matter," Mr. Traceback said. "His body was sent to his family in El Paso for burial last night, so it's not really my business anymore. This is more of a personal inquiry. I've been a coroner here in Frostbite Falls for close to 20 years now, and I've never seen a death from a handgun injury quite like this one. The safety latch should have prevented the gun from firing when Mr. Benoite was knocked unconscious."

"I don't even think I hit him that hard," Chad said.

"You didn't," Mr. Traceback said. "We X-rayed the skull last night, and the point of impact where you struck him with a wooden beam showed up clearly. It was hard enough to give Mr. Benoite a severe concussion, but not nearly enough to kill him. In the end, this is just an old coroner's curiosity."

"I wish we could tell you more about what happened," Chad said.

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Traceback said. "I appreciate you coming out here to see me at all. You boys did two very smart things on Friday night. First, you didn't touch the body. There is nothing you could have done to save his life, and moving the body would have made any investigation more difficult. Second, and most critically, none of you laid a finger on the gun. We took your finger prints when you came into the station on Friday night, and compared them to the prints on the gun. Not a single one of yours showed up. That crosses each of you off the list as a potential shooter of Mr. Benoite. That's why this investigation is currently closed. Gentlemen, thank you for your time, I do appreciate it."

At 4 PM, far away from Frostbite Falls, on the southeastern outskirts of Fuggville, Minnesota, at a bar named the Pottsylvanian Creeper, Calvin Longfellow, Bridget's brother, was seated on a bar stool drinking a scotch. While he hadn't drunk alcohol in a long time, he felt unable to deal with his life at the moment while sober. He had only just arrived at this bar, in which he used to be a regular patron. However, once he had decided to kick the drinking habit, he had not returned, until now.

Calvin was here, at this bar, to meet his old friend, Hayden Twerlick. Calvin and Hayden had gone to High School together, been friends for years, and had been drinking buddies for a time as well. Calvin always went to Hayden when he needed to talk to someone who could cut through things and offer him insights. Hayden walked into the Pottsylvanian Creeper, ordered a scotch for himself, and took the bar stool right next to Calvin.

"Been a while since we drank here, mate," Hayden observed.

"Yeah," Calvin said. "Over two years sober, and it has all gone to hell."

"If you're here, drinking, at 4 in the afternoon on a Sunday, it must be big," Hayden said. "So, lay it on me, mate, what's bugging you?"

"My sister, Bridget, is trying to help me straighten my life out," Calvin said.

"The good sister right, not your evil sister?" Hayden asked.

"Yeah, the good sister," Calvin said. "Bridget is an angel in human shape, and you know that the single thing that keeps me alive is that if I killed myself, it would make Bridget sad. She's the only family I have left. I've lost my mom and dad, who can't look at me without being disappointed. All my sister Violet ever does is yell at me and tell me how stupid I am, and how embarrassed she is to know me. Bridget is the only one who speaks to me like I'm a person, you know? If I lose her, I lose everything, and I'm scared, every day, that I'm losing her."

"What makes you think you're losing her?" Hayden asked.

"It's been five weeks since she went away to college," Calvin said. "She's got a bunch of new friends that she hangs out around now, and they all seem really cool, but, she's so busy that we don't talk anymore. I've never been this lonely, and before she left for school, there were a lot of days when Bridget was the only one I spoke to. Now, she's come up with a plan to help me straighten out my life, and if I fuck this up. . ."

"Well, if she's still trying to help you, then I don't think you've lost her completely," Hayden said. "What about this plan she came up with?"

Hayden felt partially responsible for what Calvin was going through. They had been tight friends, for years, who spoke every day, before Hayden decided to enlist in the US Army. He was here, now, at their old stomping grounds at the Pottsylvanian Creeper because he had 3 weeks of leave from the Army, and he had returned home to see everyone.

"It's some new guy she met in college, named Scott Cooper," Calvin said. "He came up with it. Apparently, he thinks my troubles are romantic in nature, so they set me up on a date with a girl."

"How did they manage that?" Hayden asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, how the fuck could you convince any girl to go on a date with a train wreck like me?" Calvin asked, as he took another sip of his scotch. "It was a girl that Henry and Bridget graduated from High School with last year. Her name is Shauna, and my folks paid her $100 a date, for 3 dates, with a $100 bonus at the end if she completes all 3 dates."

"Ah, well, I see how this puts you in a very difficult position," Hayden said.

"Damn right it does," Calvin said, as he started to cry. "If this doesn't work, Bridget will give up on me completely. I can't live if that happens, Hayden. This has to work."

"What about the girl?" Hayden asked. "She just paid help, or what?"

"I played video games with her on Friday night, and I really like being around her," Calvin said. "She's nice, she's kind, and she's considerate. She spent the night, and I dropped her at home on Saturday morning. I went to church with her, and her family, this morning."

"So, what's the trouble, mate?" Hayden asked. "The date went well, you like the girl, and our friend Scott seems to have hit the nail on the head."

"The trouble is that there are only two dates left," Calvin said. "What happens if I don't change in the way Bridget wants in the next two weeks? Shauna will be out the door as soon as she doesn't get paid to be around me anymore. If Bridget is disappointed with how this went, then she'll never talk to me again."

"You don't know what's expected of you, is that it?" Hayden asked.

"Yeah, now, she's gone so far as to pay a girl to date me to try to help me," Calvin said. "If this doesn't work, then I can see her concluding what the fuck else can I do? You know I'm hopeless, I know I'm hopeless, my entire family knows I'm hopeless, even Shauna knows I'm hopeless, and I just met her for the first time less than 48 hours ago. Spend even a little time around me, and you figure it out. The only person who never has is Bridget. I can't lose that, Hayden."

"I hear you mate, now, let's get to the reason why you called me here in the first place," Hayden said. "I've heard what you have to say about it, now, let's try to get to the truth of the matter."

"You were always the best at that," Calvin said. "If you've got any insights, I'd love to hear them."

"First of all, let's take this chap, Scott Cooper, what do you know about him?" Hayden asked.

"Bridget thinks the world of him, that much I know," Calvin said. "She told me that he knew two guys from his childhood, who committed suicide, and that ever since then, he'd been focused on trying to help people like them."

"That's interesting," Hayden said. "I'll be honest with you, I agree with Scott. If I was going to come up with a plan to help you out, mate, I'd probably do the same thing he did. You get together with a girl, you're happy for a while, and it can motivate growth in other areas."

"I understand what he's striving for," Calvin said. "Only thing about Scott is I don't think he understands what a truly lost cause I am. I'm sure Scott means well, but he's never lived my life. If Bridget likes him so much, he must be a hit with the ladies. Scott Cooper has never known what it's like to be me."

Hayden was deeply intrigued by his friend's words. He knew Calvin well enough to know how deep the self loathing went, but he had never heard it expressed so openly as this. Hayden was convinced Calvin hadn't yet shared what was really bothering him, and he had to find a way to get his friend to talk about it, and deal with it.

"So, two more dates with Shauna, at $100 a pop," Hayden said. "When are they?"

"This coming Friday night, and a week from this Friday night," Scott said, as the tears started to pour out of his eyes. It had been a long time since Hayden had seen his friend this emotional.

"Why did you go to church with her this morning?" Hayden asked.

"She asked me to," Calvin said. "$400 is a lot of money when you're 18 years old. She wants to do a good job, maybe she figures there's more money to be gotten out of my family by dating me."

Before Hayden could reply, Calvin's phone rang. Calvin motioned to his friend to table the conversation for a moment, while he answered his phone. Both young men were surprised when the call was from Shauna.

"Hey Calvin, what you doing?" Shauna asked.

"Not much, what can I do for you?" Calvin asked, and as soon as he heard his friend speak, Hayden knew something was up. Gone were all traces of anxiety and self-loathing; Calvin was putting his best foot forward, and it wasn't to keep his sister happy.