You're Alex?

As they stood in line waiting for the person in front of them to be checked out, Alex was watching that process carefully, and for the first time, Jamie was able to study her without her being aware. He had decided she was a pretty girl but seeing her in profile only enhanced that opinion. She still looked younger than she was but seemed like she was smiling, even when she wasn't. He'd sort of seen her legs, at least part of them when he was massaging her feet. They were longer than he had first thought, and, even in the pants she was wearing, he could tell they were shapely. The final thing he noticed, since she was standing very straight and erect as she watched, was that the front of her light sweatshirt stood out quite a ways from her body, telling him she didn't lack in the boob department. He wondered why fate had smiled on him so favorably.

As they were checking out, Jamie noticed that most of the food was foreign to what he was used to eating. He was apprehensive about how that might work. How would he adapt to eating differently? He'd heard his uncle say that's what happened when you got married — you adapted to the eating habits of your wife. Jamie felt his cheeks getting warm as that thought zipped through his head. Still, this might be similar.

Jamie paid despite Alex's protestations that she had money.

"We'll settle when we get home," he assured her. He really needed to settle later as he didn't have the money to be paying for everything. And, he remembered her telling him that first day that she had money her grandfather had left to her. She didn't mention how much, but anything was more than he had.

"You up for hamburgers and tater tots?" Alex asked when they were back in the car.

"Sounds normal."

"Normal?"

"Used to eating hamburger, ... mac and cheese, and Raman."

Alex eyed him for a few seconds. "Listen," she said, blushing slightly, "I don't want to offend you." She paused, but Jamie didn't look at her. "I want you to let me pay for groceries."

Jamie held up his hand to stop her. "No way," he said decisively. "I can't let you do that."

"I think I told you my grandfather left me some money, and I want —"

"No!" He interrupted a little more emphatically than he had intended. From the corner of his eye, he saw Alex flinch. "Shit, I'm sorry," he added quickly, glancing at her, now doubly sorry due to his language.

Alex watched as it was Jamie's turn to blush. She was trying to decide what to say next. She realized she had sort of insulted his masculinity and, even though they were just roommates, that characteristic seemed to be a part of the male gene pool. She had crossed the line. Even though she hadn't intended to offend Jamie, she knew she had. He was a male, and that wasn't going to change.

"Okay, we'll let that rest." She didn't want to start their time together with an argument.

On the drive back to the apartment, Jamie was chewing his lower lip. "I should have said thank you. I guess I'm not used to people, you know, being nice to me." He pulled into his parking place.

As Alex climbed out of the car, her cell phone rang. She glanced at it. "My mom," she said.

"I'll carry the groceries in, no problem."

Alex smiled at him. "Hi, mom."

"Hi, honey. How's everything going?"

"Great, mom. It's only been a couple of weeks."

"I know, but I want college to be a good experience for you."

"I'm sure it will be, Mom. Probably be a couple of bumps along the way."

"Oh, I hope not, Alex."

There was no way to answer that; her mother was always foolishly confident that her daughter's life would be flawless and free of problems, despite her insisting on staying in Ohio.

"Just be sure you do things the way you've been raised to do them," her mother cautioned her. It sounded so simple and so like her mother.

Alex gritted her teeth. A big part of why she was going to school in Ohio and not in Florida was so she didn't have to do things the way she had been raised to do them. She just needed the pluck to begin doing it.

"You don't need to worry about me, Mom. I remember all the things you've taught me." She wanted to add, "and I'm going to do my best to ignore as many of them as I can."

"That's good, dear. You be careful, now."

"I sure will, Mom. You guys have fun in Florida."

They hung up. Alex had the entire school year to learn to be just a little bit bad. After her mother's call, though, she was itching to get started. She hurried inside as she was anxious to help stow the groceries so she'd know where things were. Jamie had gotten the refrigerator stocked and was starting on the cupboards.

"You like beer?" she asked suddenly.

Jamie's head snapped around. "What?"

"You heard me," she giggled, feeling the heat in her cheeks.

He turned and looked at her, obviously puzzled. "Only tasted it once."

"How was it?"

"I don't remember much. It was okay, I guess. Why?"

"We're in college now. We should be drinking beer, right?"

"I can't afford to buy beer, and we're only eighteen."

"Good point," she said, disappointment in her voice. She'd have to find another way to rebel.

She cooked hamburgers and heated Tater Tots in the microwave. Two plastic containers of peaches were opened, and dinner was served. Their first meal together.

***

The shower arrangement was working well with Alex showered, dressed, and off to class before Jamie was up. They did spend most evenings together, studying and talking, learning each other's backgrounds, hopes and dreams. They found that, in some ways, they were a lot alike. While Jamie had always been poor, he and his mother scrambling to pay their bills, his older sister long gone. Alex had always been well-cared for but, like Jamie, had been very restricted in her activities and experiences.

She had quietly begun doing something she had never dared do in the past. She was probing the internet, looking at porn for the first time. She was trying to avoid real hardcore but was only partially successful. It didn't take long for her curiosity to overcome her caution, and she saw things she hadn't imagined. One of the results was an expanding interest in her own body.

Her room had an old and slightly yellowed full-length mirror, and she found herself standing in front of it, sometimes naked, as she compared her body to those she saw on the internet. She was surprised that, despite her natural self-doubt, she compared favorably with most of the ladies she saw. She had never considered herself in that way before as her mother almost forbade it without using that word. With her mother's prudish attitude, she wondered how she'd ever been conceived.

One of the porn sites had an ad for an erotic literature site, and she had gone to it, hesitantly for sure, but had read some of the stories and, despite her upbringing, found herself jealous of the experiences of some of the women. Plus, the way her body reacted to some of the things she read surprised her. All of this was causing her to view Jamie a little differently, too. After all, he was a male and probably had all those things ... guh. She wondered if he was looking at her in the same way. After all, he was a male.

In line with Alex's thinking, things were also changing for Jamie. He'd never had a girlfriend and, in fact, had never even been friendly with girls, his poor upbringing making most of them avoid him. But here he was, living with a girl that he was finding more fascinating with each passing day. Still, she was his roommate and maybe his friend, but nothing more. His experience from all those years made him reluctant to think of her in any other way.

It was nearly nine o'clock on an unusually warm September evening, and Alex and Jamie were diligently studying when Alex became aware of a drop of perspiration dripping down her chest between her breasts. She thought for a second, glanced at Jamie, and headed for her room. In her top dresser drawer, she found what she was searching for — a shirt she had purchased since she'd been at college. It was a bright orange, sleeveless T-shirt with two narrow straps that went over her shoulders. The front was lower than anything she'd ever worn, and when she looked at herself in the mirror, there was an inch, or maybe more, of cleavage clearly visible. She took a deep breath and headed back to Jamie.

"How's it going?" she asked, heading directly toward him.

"Good," he said, still looking at his book. He lifted his head, smiling at her until his eyes went wide, his mouth dropping open.

Gathering every iota of courage she possessed, she said, "How do you like my new shirt?"

Jamie, however, wasn't checking the shirt. He was much more interested in observing all those parts of Alex that hadn't been visible previously. He determined, at that very instant, that she was utterly gorgeous. He was speechless.

Alex watched his reaction, her heart racing as she had never been looked at this way before. "Well," she forced herself to say, "do you like it?"

"Yes, you, you look great," he stammered. Then, realizing what he'd said, he added, "It looks perfect on you."

"Thanks," she said. "I love it." Satisfied, she plopped into the chair and went back to studying.

Jamie wasn't going to get much studying done as long as Alex, in her orange shirt, was in the room with him. He kept sneaking glances at her, and she obliged him by keeping her eyes on her book. Her skin was pale, smooth, and flawless. His mind was toying with him, tormenting him as he fought the desire to touch her, to run his hands over that skin. At that moment, that was as far as his thoughts went. Even that was causing labored breathing.

His near-agony went on until Alex finally decided it was time for bed. She stood, yawned, and stretched, the orange shirt pulled tight across her ample breasts.

Jamie felt his erection being painfully constricted by his pants that were suddenly too tight. He glanced down to see a visible lump on the front of those pants and wondered if Alex had gotten a glimpse of it. He'd never been this close to a girl who looked like Alex. He pondered if she was tormenting him on purpose or, well, just being a girl. Either way, the result for him was the same. As he watched her disappear into her bedroom and close the door, he was hoping there'd be more torture in his future.

Alex closed the door, closed her eyes, and bit her lower lip. She'd done it. It wasn't exactly flashing the crowd at a football game, but, for her, it was nearly the same. She realized she had forgotten to do something while she was with Jamie — she'd forgotten to check his pants to see if his penis had gotten larger, and she'd have been able to see the lump it would have made. She'd read about that in the stories and had seen enough in the pictures on the internet to be a little nervous about it. She understood what happened when boys and girls got together. At least she thought she understood. She needed to find out for sure.

While she had been curious about Jamie's reaction to her orange T-shirt, she was startled by her reactions. Her heart had pounded, and it seemed like something was heating her blood. Even more puzzling were the feelings in her nether regions. She recalled a tingling and a sensation like her muscles were contracting. Despite their strangeness, she had enjoyed the feelings and was anxious to repeat them.

Jamie dropped his book on the table when Alex's door closed. He went quickly to his room, picturing what had just happened, his roommate in that orange shirt, exposing that gorgeous skin and, finally, stretching and displaying the breasts he hadn't seen quite lIke that before. He stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed. His erection had not diminished and needed to be taken care of, and that didn't take long to accomplish. He felt almost guilty somehow, masturbating while picturing Alex. It didn't diminish his pleasure, however.

***

Alex made a stop at a department store in the mall closest to the university. She had a small list of items she wanted to pick up. She was thankful for her grandfather's money as it allowed her to do some things she otherwise wouldn't have been able to do. As she selected the items on her list, she remembered the sensations she'd experienced when she'd worn the orange shirt in front of Jamie and was anticipating that some of her purchases would recreate those feelings.

She had one class left to complete her academic day, and when it was finally over, she raced to the apartment, hopefully getting there ahead of Jamie so she could prepare for her evening. She didn't see his car, and a smile crossed her face. She raced inside and to her room, anticipating what lay ahead.

About ten minutes later, Jamie came through the door. He saw that Alex's door was closed, so he knew she was home.

"Hey, Alex. Want me to go ahead and fix some dinner?"

"Oh, would you? That would be wonderful," he heard through her door.

"What should I fix?"

"Surprise me," she called, giggling as she thought of how she'd be surprising him.

Jamie went to work, deciding to surprise her with some BLT's. Of course, as soon as the bacon began cooking, the surprise was spoiled.

When the sandwiches were ready, he looked up to see Alex coming out of her room ... and his mouth opened slightly, his eyes wide. She was barefoot and had on a tight, white T-shirt, and two things were making his eyes dart from one of them to the other. First, there were the nipples clearly visible through the thin shirt, enthralling bumps surrounded by a dark circle. The second was her legs, long and bare under the cut-off jean shorts she wore, a vision that he had neither seen nor imagined in his short time with Alex. When she momentarily turned her back to him, the bottoms of her butt cheeks were visible below the shorts. What had happened to the shy and dowdily dressed girl that had become his roommate? Not that he wanted anything to change now.

"Yum," she said, "they smell delicious. Which one's mine?"

She was standing close to him, and, for the first time, he could smell her perfume, even over the aroma of the bacon. He had trouble concentrating on the sandwiches with those very erect nipples just a foot or two from his face.

They ate the BLT's, chatting about their day and plans for the evening, Alex noticing that Jamie's eyes danced between her breasts and her bare legs.

Finally, when everything that needed to be there was in the dishwasher, Alex looked at Jamie.

"Could I ask a big favor?" she said, a bright smile on her face, her courage ratcheted up by the looks she had gotten from Jamie. It was a step-at-a-time process, the way she had planned it and the way she wanted it.

At this point, Jamie wasn't about to deny anything that Alex wanted.

"My feet are sooo sore," she said. "Could I get another massage, like the one you gave me before?" She paused. In a very breathy voice, she said, "it was fantastic."

"Would love to, yeah, sure," Jamie answered, remembering that first massage and hardly able to believe his good fortune.

He hurried to the couch and sat down. Alex quickly joined him, swinging her bare legs up and onto his lap. He was watching her legs and didn't see her nibbling on her lower lip. As he took hold of one foot, he saw the bright red polish that hadn't been there the first time. Even seeing that had his heart pounding. Massaging her foot while holding her leg, with occasional peeks at those nipples that were becoming more prominent, was causing another reaction, and he wasn't sure how he'd handle that.

Alex had one of her textbooks and pretended to be studying, allowing Jamie to look at whatever he wanted to without worrying about her catching him. But she was aware of everything that was happening, even the growing lump in his pants where her foot was resting. She was thankful for the erotic stories she had been reading as they were helping her understand what she was feeling and things she could do to entice Jamie further.

He had started massaging the other foot and was further tormented by her sultry-sounding, "Oh, Jamie, that feels sooo good." He glanced at her face, the eyes partly closed, her tongue caressing her upper lip. He thought he might pass out. But that simple yet sensuous look emboldened him, pushing aside at least a little of his shyness. One hand continued work on Alex's foot while the other inched a little further up her calf.

Using courage that Alex's actions had pulled to the surface, he said, "This calf muscle feels a little tight. Is it sore?"

A smile crossed Alex's face as she heard Jamie's words. "It's been sore all day, but I can't ask you to work on that too."

Jamie was able to tear his eyes away from Alex's nipples long enough to meet her eyes. "I've got all my studies finished, so plenty of time to take care of you."

"Jamie, that would be great. I owe you big time." She sent him her biggest smile.

This time, Jamie let it lie that she owed him. That was sounding more appealing, even if he wasn't sure at the moment how to capitalize on her offer. He watched her slide forward so that her calves were now on his lap, resting uncomfortably on the erection that refused to disappear. He began massaging her calf, her skin soft and smooth.

Alex loved the feel of his hands on her leg. Of course, she'd never had a boy touch her legs as Jamie was doing, and the tingling sensations coursing through her body were exhilarating. She'd looked up from her book a few times and caught him looking at her chest. Or, more explicitly, at her nipple bumps. Those had even surprised her, as she had never before had a reason for them to get so long and hard.

From the time she had moved so that her calves were in his lap, she had felt his erection under whichever leg wasn't being massaged. She changed position just often enough that she could rub her leg back and forth on that delightful lump. She couldn't see any reaction on his face but wondered if it was accomplishing what she hoped. If Jamie were like the boys in her stories, he'd enjoy what she was doing. His massaging had worked its way nearly to her knees, and she would have loved to tell him her thighs needed massaged too, but that was a little beyond what she was willing to do ... at least this evening.

Alex was reading those stories and learning about what boys and girls do. In the stories, the girls and women always enjoyed the sexual things that happened, and she hoped that was true and not a fictional fantasy. So far, the new feelings she was having verified what the stories told her and were making her ready to make her most daring move yet. Alex's cheeks were already red as her anticipation heightened. As she began to lean forward toward Jamie, her cell phone sounded. She exhaled sharply and swore under her breath, something she never did, as she swung her legs off Jamie's lap.

"Hello, mother," she said, working to keep the disgust from her voice.

"Hi, honey. Just thought I'd give you a call and find out how everything's going."

"It's all good, Mom. All good."

"That's nice. You and the roommate still getting along well?"

She looked at Jamie and smiled. "We're getting along fine." At least we had been getting along fine until you called, she thought.

"Wonderful. Maybe, if you come to see us at Thanksgiving, you could bring her along. I bet she'd like Florida."

"I'll have to check with Jamie. I'll, um, let you know when I get more information. How are things in Florida?"

"We're doing well and getting used to the heat and the horrible humidity. We spend most of our time in the air conditioning."

Alex's eyes were watching Jamie's, and she was wondering what he was thinking. She was trying to concentrate on the conversation with her mother while, at the same time, thinking about what was happening with Jamie and what she wanted to happen.