White Freshman, Black Coeds Ch. 18

At 8:35 I texted Trey:

I'm here, past the House, down the first street on the right.

I'll be rolling up in a minute.

I saw headlights rounding the corner, so figuring it was him I stepped out so he'd see me. He pulled in front of my car in a 4-door Accord. I walked toward him and we did the black-guy handshake thing, but this time he put his other arm around me, real quick-like, but something he hadn't done before. I wanted to tease him about something, but this didn't seem like the right moment.

"Hey Mark, I really appreciate you inviting me, dawg. I ain't been out in a minute." I wish I could remember what he was wearing, but it was cool, like almost a dress shirt and pants, but the shirt wasn't tucked in. And fly shoes.

As we walked toward their street to turn left, I said, "It's cool, man, us guys gotta stick together. And this is the first party I've been to here, so I'm looking forward to it too."

Some other stuff was said, like about how many fine honeys there might be, things like that. Then I got serious, mainly because I was setting him up for something, "You've really read Kant and all those guys?"

"Ahem: 'Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.' My bruthah..." holding his hand out for a low-five, for some skin I guess they used to say back in the day.

We were almost to the House's walkway now. "That's deep, man. You're gonna get some honeys with that ish for sure. But let me ask you this, my bruthah: You were bustin' on my minivan, but you're gonna roll up here in a 4-door Accord? Man, that ain't exactly a chick magnet!" I rushed up the stairs and rang the bell before he could react. Or play-hit me, I didn't know which was more likely.

Trey followed quickly after me, punching my arm and saying, "Man, I'd rather be drivin' that than some old raggedy minivan! What are you, a Soccer Mom?" We were having that play-battle and laughing at each other when a stylishly-dressed coed with a what's going on out here look on her face opened the door.

Quickly becoming serious, "Good evening, Madame. I am Mark A. Livingston, Esquire. May I introduce you to my august associate, Mr. Reginald B. McKinley....the Third." I don't know why I was feeling so froggy; excited about seeing Nia again, I guess?

I thought Trey would be mad and give me a look, but man, he was so smooooth: he walked right up to this young lady (who wasn't bad looking at all), did a curt bow from the waist, took her right hand in his (palm up like you're supposed to), "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, m'lady. My friends call me Trey." And then he kissed her hand! All cool too, like he'd done it a million times. The girl was caught off guard, a who is this guy look on her face.

But she recovered quickly and answered, "Good evening, good sir, my name is Kyla. My friends call me......Kyla." We all laughed, but Trey was already firing on the ladies, saying, "Kyla is such a beautiful name." And then he busted into some kind of poem as he deftly ushered the young lady into her own house, "Beauty never slumbers, All is in her name, But the rose remembers...."

Following them in I didn't catch the rest because a voice I knew well yelled, "Mark!" And then my bundle of boundless energy, my Nia, threw herself at me, nearly knocking me over. Trey and Kyla turned back to look, which became a little embarrassing when Nia planted kisses all over my face. "I'm so glad you could come!"

Turning to see Kyla arm-in-arm with Trey, she said, "Kyla, I see you've already met Trey," a knowing look at her, with a quick I told you so shot at me. "This is my boyfriend Mark. I don't think you were jammed in the living room with the nosey other girls last weekend when he came to pick me up."

"Mr. Mark A. Livingston....Esquire, I think you mean. Yes, we've met. But I'm pleased to meet you again, Mark." Nia looked puzzled, but I explained it to her later. I heard music thumping, but couldn't tell from where exactly. Didn't seem to be on this floor though.

"Well let's go to the kitchen and get you guys some drinks," Nia said, leading us to a large open kitchen with a big island in the middle, a big breakfast nook off to one side. I say a breakfast nook, but the table there could've easily sat 12, which fit with the scale of the house. There were people milling about and some at the table, but I think Nia wanted to be the good hostess and get drinks in our hands before making introductions.

"Alcohol okay, everybody? Yes? Yes? Kyla?" Sure, pour me another, please. There were two big punch bowls on the island, one with a red liquid, more than half empty; the other orange, barely touched. Nia ladled out 4 drinks from the red punch, though I thought she'd probably already had at least one herself, and Kyla had apparently too, since she'd asked for 'another.'

Now remember, I'd never drank liquor before, only a bottle of beer once in high school somehow, and the wine at Miss Pullam's. So I didn't know how this was going to taste and was apprehensive about it. The four of us were gathered across the punch bowl and I was about to sip mine when Trey piped up in a formal voice, "A toast, if you please."

I followed the lead of the others as they raised their glasses up and out, forming a little square over the punch bowl. "To new friends, well-met." He tinked his glass with Kyla's as Nia tinked hers with mine, then we all met in the middle and tapped glasses all around.

Kyla was looking at Trey again with that who is this guy look, and Nia nudged me with her elbow, which said, told you!

"Kyla, would you help me with introductions if I miss anybody?" Then it was: okay, this is so-and-so, she's a ZP, and her too, and her over there, and that's Shelton from the fraternity, and also X and Y, and, "Kyla, help?" And like that around the room, and we were Trey and Mark, and I was Nia's boyfriend, at which I probably beamed like an idiot.

Mind you, I was the only white person in this room of maybe 20 young black men and women, and I maybe felt a little uncomfortable, but my time in the Boys Home had been good exposure to....what? Blackness? Black lifestyle? Sure, they sometimes had different ways of talking and interacting, but we were all just people on the inside. And at our ages, still shy and afraid of looking stupid in front of other people, whatever their color or ethnicity. Putting up facades to shield ourselves.... Oh screw it, we were all just people and I hardly felt out of place at all. Only with the fact that I didn't know any of these people.

Drinking my punch, it just tasted like punch to me. I probably wouldn't have guessed there was alcohol in it. (I found out later it was Everclear.) Some of the girls had come over to introduce themselves, and some of the fraternity guys even came and talked to Trey and me. Soon Trey was refilling their glasses, and looking at mine I saw it was only half-empty, so to catch up I drank it down and held it out for Trey to refill.

Then one girl came over and made a special point of talking to me. "Hi, Mark. You look so familiar to me! Do I know you from somewhere?" The words, but mainly her tone, made me then really look at her. Oh God, it was Brie from Ross this morning! My face instantly went red; my ears get hot, so I can always tell. But she covered for me by saying, "Anyway, I'm Brie. Welcome to Zeta Phi! You dating Nia makes you part of the family now." Then she hugged me, her big bosoms welcoming me in their own special way, and whispered in my ear, "Your secret is safe with me!"

"Nia, I'm glad you found such a handsome and polite young man. Is he good to you?"

Nia nodded her thanks and agreement and said, giggling, "Most of the time..."

"Well you just let me know if he ever gets out of line. It wouldn't be fitting for anyone in this room to mistreat my favorite pledge." Nia burst out laughing at the fitting room dig, which I soon worked out was a callback to this morning. And then I turned red all over again.

"I will, Brie. But so far he's treated me very well...", as she hugged up on me and kissed me.

"Well he'd better, I'm just sayin'," a twinkle in her eye as she raised a playful fist at me. The gal was a bit taller than me and big enough that I didn't want to tangle with her. She laughed and walked away while I watched her go with more than passing interest. Unless I tangled with her under the right circumstances...

Then Kyla motioned with her head to Nia, like let's go, to where the music was I figured. Kyla held up a finger and gave her the you guys go ahead motion with her fingertips, like you're brushing crumbs on a table away from you. Kyla nodded okay and they left; Trey's arm was now around her waist, a little lower than I would've dared.

"Tell me I was right."

"You were right."

"About what?" Bending her ear toward me like you do.

"About Trey firing on the ladies..."

Nia giggled and pulled me into her, kissing me with tongue. In front of all these people! But I didn't mind, I actually enjoyed it once I got past the initial shock. I guess I'd been raised pretty conservatively, Puritanically I suppose. But I was working on that.

"Just Trey firing on the ladies? What was that 'Mark A. Livingston Esquire stuff out there?" So I told her the whole front porch thing, her giggling the whole time.

"I don't know, somehow I thought it would be you answering the door, since you knew we'd be here at 9:30. I had that all prepared for you, but I couldn't let it go to waste! That Trey is smooth though, isn't he??"

"Oh he's not the only one who's smooth. I saw the way you looked at Kyla, and Brie when she walked away!" I tried to protest, but she smothered my mouth with kisses, wriggling in my arms as she did, pushing me back against the sink behind me. "Those girls are more buxom than me, so maybe I need to up my game?" I started to protest but she held a finger to my lips.

"Come on, let's go dance! The girls told me you weren't half bad." Half bad at what, is what I wondered that the girls had told her. Because after the dance lessons had been the other lessons and activities. Going the same way Trey and Kyla had gone, I heard the music getting louder as we approached the entrance to the basement, behind a half-wall at the back of the house.

Descending the stairs it got darker and the music got louder until we emerged into a large room that seemed to underly the whole footprint of the house. My eyes hadn't adjusted enough to tell for sure, but it was big. There was a disco ball in the middle with spots shining on it, dappling the room with bright crystals of light. Maybe 40 people were dancing under it, while others were around the periphery of the dancers, still others sitting on sofas and benches and things beyond. Easily 60 people in the room if I'd had to guess. Plus the 20 or so upstairs made 80.

"I thought you said this was going to be a small party!" Having to yell close to her ear to be heard.

"It is a small party. By Greek standards, anyway!" Nia led me over to a couch a bit further away from the speakers. There were several people on it, but a large, long Ottoman-type thing in front of it was mostly empty, so she sat us there, in the center facing the couch.

"Guys, this is my boyfriend Mark. Mark, these are the guys and girls!" Really too loud to talk, but some "Hi Marks" were mouthed, and various hands offered for shakes or fist bumps.

"That's my roommate Gabrielle." Gabrielle was quite the looker, somehow exotic looking that I couldn't place. She gave me a big smile and a little wave with her hand from her lap. I waved back, mouthing nice to meet you! She looked young like Nia, and given that they were roommates, I figured she was a freshman too, just 18 like us. The young man sitting close to her kind of did that up-nodding what's up thing, which I returned. By her body language I didn't think Gabrielle was 'into' him, but he was trying to remedy that.

And then we did what everyone since the invention of loudspeakers has done at parties: we sat there gyrating in our seats, pointing toward the music and thumbs-upping great song! while smiling blandly at each other. No, not blandly, with fake enthusiasm really, like isn't this great? Yeah, this is great! The couples would lean into each other occasionally to say something that no one else could hear. A girl would yell, "I love your dress!" to one of the other girls and gush over it, while the recipient would mime, this old thing? The guys would give each other random thumbs-ups, or point, like, yep. Or maybe a quick appreciative look at the other guy's girl, then a nodded good luck.

Not my cup of tea, but it was alright. Made more than alright by being with Nia, seeing my necklace on her, and her dancing against me to the fast music. I don't remember exactly what was playing, but 3 or 4 fast songs went by while we mostly stupidly smiled at the others, getting stupid smiles back. I make fun of it now because I'm older, but it's just what you did, and it felt cool. Felt like you belonged.

Nia left for a minute and came back with two plastic cups of more punch. As I sipped that I realized I was feeling funny from the first two I'd drank. So remembering Miss Pullam's advice I nursed this one. But Nia downed hers pretty quickly. Then Back at One by Brian McKnight came on and Nia dragged me to the dance floor, a lot of the sitting-downers joining us. Remember, this was going to be my first time ever dancing with a real girl at a real party, so I was nervous. The girls had taught me some of course, but they'd also told me to follow Nia's lead, which I was determined to do.

So I didn't feel too embarrassed, but still, I maneuvered us toward the center of the dance floor, to be hidden in the pack. Nia knew what I was doing but was good-natured about it. When we finally came together, arms around each other, it felt as natural as the times I'd simply held her in my arms. We swayed a bit in place, her trying to get me to rock my hips, then she discreetly coached me through some stepping with her mouth close to my ear, and look at that: I was dancing!

We turned slowly as we stepped, which I think most people do, and at one point Trey and Kyla came into view, about 3 couples away from us. Kyla had the side of her face against his shoulder, pointing in toward him, and was dancing really close and slow with him. I smiled at him and winked, and he lifted a hand off Kyla's hip long enough to give me a discreet thumbs up.

"Look at Trey! Tell me again who was right?"

"You were right, my love. You'll always be right with me and for me." Then Nia laid her head against my chest, the top of it snug against my chin.

♪One, you're like a dream come true. Two, just wanna be with you.♪

As the words ended but the music was still dying out, Nia tipped her head up and whispered, "I love you, Mark." Which I whispered back to her, and we tightened our grips on each other and simply swayed, oblivious that the music had ended.

Until Don't Cha by the Pussycat Dolls blasted out of the speakers. Nia tore herself out of my arms, saying this was her jam. And she started dancing at and around me in a manner that could best be described as licentious. Sexy as hell. I just stood there and gyrated a little while she essentially used me as a stripper pole: rubbing against me, spinning around me with an arm circling my chest, even rubbing her butt up against both sides of me (but not the front or back, that would come later.)

There's a lot of words before they get to the chorus, and I started to feel a little embarrassed because none of the other girls on the floor were acting quite like Nia, but then I think the alcohol kicked in and I said, Screw it, this is her house and her friends, if she wants to do this, who am I to stop her? Or resist her, because she was like one of those women in the Bible who danced to seduce righteous men (Salome?). I think her dance classes, especially Interpretive Dance, had paid off, because holy moly! She was smokin' hot dancing like this. You didn't need to be much of an interpreter to know what her body was saying.

When the Pussycat Dolls finally got to the first chorus, Nia mouthed the lyrics to me very deliberately, so that no one could miss it. She enunciated each word and phrase with mouth and body in a decadent, raw, sexual way that belied her years:

♪ Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?

......

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me?

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me? ♪

The underlined words were her special enhancements. I was beginning to wonder if this was Nia, or was she in character? What character, I wouldn't know. The same kind of pole-dancing for the second verse, then the same Don't cha's along with the second chorus. She was getting quite sweaty, and I fantasized about licking it off of her someplace private. When Busta started his long rap in the middle she came into me, holding our hands above our heads, rubbing herself insistently into me. Everywhere into me.

Facing me it was almost as if we were having missionary position sex, but then she turned in my arms and ground her butt into me. And then, she did that thing the girls had done: leaning forward with hands on her knees she gyrated that ass against me in circles, mixed with up-and-downs that were fast and hard. If it was vanilla missionary sex earlier, this was raw doggy-style animalistic sex. People were staring and had almost stopped dancing at this spectacle.

A few go Nia's from girls egged her on. And a lot of the guys were looking at her like dayam! Then looking at their girls side-eyed, like why ain't you doin' that for me? That got us through Busta's long rap and then the Dolls singing the last verse. Then it was the last chorus of Don't cha's and Nia had not slowed down one bit. In fact I think she was even more animated this time around. The girl was absolutely on fire. My girl was absolutely on fire! What a thrill that thought was for me.

The song finally, blessedly ended and Nia collapsed in my arms breathing raggedly, the heat of her body radiating into mine. A slow song had started so I pretended I was dancing with her, but I was pretty much holding her up. My arms and hands around her told me that her shirt was nearly soaked through. Her forehead was a profusion of sweat, the hair around it and down the sides of her face plastered down. She looked like she looked after sex together, and it was so beautiful.

"Did you enjoy that?" She asked, face full of pride and love, knowing full well that I had.

"You tell me," I said as I pressed my stiff rod into her. "Wow, I didn't know a girl could, I didn't know you could dance like that."

"I told you there were many things about me you didn't know yet."

"Was that all you, or..."

"That was all me. I did it for you, and I didn't care who saw or what they thought. You excite me, Mark, my mind as well as my nether regions, and I wanted to show you that. Even show everyone that."