A Difference in Politics Ch. 01

Author's note:

This story may seem a little slow to those who are accustomed to love making up front, but if you are patient and seep past the first few pages you'll learn that this story holds more than fucking, but of a grown passion from two of the most unlikely people. I have tried to make these two characters believable and more than one-dimensional fillers, and it is my hope that they are multidimensional characters that have feelings and thoughts that everyday victims of lust have. I hope, but I do fear my hope is naive, that people will embrace my story and disregard the fact that the two main characters share a different race and political ideology, which in my opinion is more important than race. Perhaps one day, when my writing improves I will be able to spin this short tale into a full-length novel, and truly allow the characters to come to life, I look forward to your comments.

Ryan was twenty-two years old and in his final year at the university, which of course he was thankful for. There would be no fifth year for him, Ryan made sure of that. How disgraceful would it be for him to be a fifth year student? Surely, not Ryan who had always been a model student, never the geek, but always the model student because that was the way that Ryan was raised to be, and at six feet two a hundred and eighty pounds Ryan was your typical all American boy. He had grey eyes and thick straight coal black hair that fell into his eyes. Many girls considered him extremely handsome, and Ryan himself knew he was good-looking, and used it as an advantaged.

"And what do you think about gun control and the Second Amendment, Lauren?" asked the beady-eyed professor who was pacing the half-empty classroom.

Ryan already knew what she was going to say because he knew what all girls, or people for that matter, like her would say. He had heard Lauren argue cases plenty times to know that she would always take the liberal platform, and frankly he was sick of all the liberal bias propaganda that he constantly heard from all the liberal pukes that seemed to know nothing different from what Hillary and the Dixie Chicks told them.

Through his own political isolation, Ryan had developed a sort of game where he would try, almost successfully, to pinpoint what a person would say and how they would argue their weak case. This was just another stupid girl with more opinions than needed, and Ryan figured that she would probably start her sentence by saying guns were bad, and often he guessed the correct response because he had a knack for seeing people past their surface.

Take for instance the Goth girl seated next to him on the right. She was heavy set, with dyed greasy black hair and dirty blonde roots. According to her fat pig-like chin that resembled a pink rubber tire, her makeup was about three shades too light; the Goth girl was wearing a weird collection of long dark drapery and laced up platform boots. Ryan figured the girl did not get enough attention as a child thus her now need to seek attention from the world, whether the attention she gathered was negative or positive. He thought she probably was disgusted by her own looks, as everyone else probably was, so she chose to hide every attempt to soften her looks because she did not want anyone feeling sorry for her or thinking she felt sorry for herself.

Shifting further back into his seat, Ryan brought his attention back to Lauren, who was seated four rows down from him and a few seats to the right. Lauren, hunched in her seat, with a half irritated half-amused look on her face that clearly read she was not amused with being called on. Shrugging her shoulders, Lauren leaned up in her desk and frowned slightly as she took her eyes off the notebook that had previously held her attention.

Her legs were stretched out and by the lengths of them, it was clear she was tall. She had a slightly slender figure, and with smooth cocoa skin was the only black person in the class. Lauren had deep wide snapping light brown eyes that seem to take up her whole face, her hair, black and wavy, reached past her shoulders in pools of darkness, but out of everything a person could find attractive about her, Ryan thought her eyes were her true beauty.

Everything about Lauren was darkness, her long blue-black hair that fell in pools of shimmering dark waves, her smooth cocoa skin that looked as though silk would never be a friend for fear of stolen business, her closed persona that never gave way to what was going on inside, but her eyes were a different story. Lauren's eyes were light, large, and round. Her eyes seemed to glow as a porch light would on a darken street corner, but her eyes never betrayed her; they did not give away secrets, they acted as sponges, observing but never releasing until wrung out by something strong and powerful.

She was definitely attractive, in a hippy sort of way, but the lip ring in the corner of her mouth and the black rimmed glasses were not appealing to him, he did not go for that type. With loose fitting light blue jeans with holes in the knees, a grey too small t-shirt that read, Never Bluff a Donkey with a picture of a laughing donkey in the center she was reasonably dressed for a college student.

'She must play poker,' thought Ryan.

"The constitution," she stated in a bored voice, still hunched in her chair she continued, "reads that the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, meaning citizens have the right to own guns with out fear of that right being taken from them."

Even though it was a very simple break down and interpretation of the Second Amendment, Ryan, thoroughly shocked by her answer, leaned forward in his seat to get a closer view of Lauren, who it seemed, he was really looking at for the first time. Ryan found himself listening thoughtfully to what she saying, and for the first time in a long time Ryan let go of his stereotypical views of his classmate, and openly listened to what his classmate had to say.

"Does this mean that every single citizen has the right to own a firearm without regulation?" she continued in the same careless tone, "No, it does not because nowhere in the second amendment does it mention what type of regulations can be placed on the owning of firearms. With every right comes responsibility, and responsibility should only be given to those who prove they are responsible, and thus, restriction is an important factor in gun control."

Leaning up in her seat and finally looking at the professor she said a little more aggressively, "I believe reglation, gun regulation should be left up to the state," and she slumped back in her chair and continued to doodle.

"Very well said Lauren," said the pacing professor who looked as though he should be holding a pipe, "but I'm afraid there will be no room for a counter argument today because we've once again run out of time."

Before turning back to his podium the beady-eyed professor with his tweedy jacket turned to the class and added, "Remember to check the class website to see who you'll be partnered up with for the project that's due in four weeks. Remember this project accounts for fifty percent of your grade, cheers."

It was the end of the day and Ryan was with his best mate Jake eating his last meal of the day before he called it a night. The sky was a deep blue and the cold wind slapped against his cheeks causing them to turn red. Jake and Ryan had decided to sit outside the small dingy Italian joint that they frequently ate at because they both were outdoorsmen and preferred cold fresh air over manufacture warm stale air.

"My class seems to be filled with a bunch of brainless idiots," said Ryan, "Though, there is one girl who doesn't quite fit into the loop; still, with time I'm sure she will."

"You're such a pompous ass," his friend replied, laughing.

Taking his fork he scooped up a bit of the pasta before saying, "Not a pompous ass." Cramming the food in his mouth he continued, "An honest ass possibly, but certainly not a pompous ass."

"Ah, but pompous by definition is a synonym for arrogant and you certainly do display a high level of arrogance," Jake said shaking his head so that his blond curls danced in his eyes.

"Pompous, is not a synonym for arrogant, the two are not interchangeable. A pompous person more than often is arrogant, where as an arrogant person does not at all have to be pompous."

"My man," said Jake rolling his eyes dramaticly, "you're missing my point."

"Perhaps I am," Ryan said with a bit of uncertainty, "but let us assume I am pompous, it still would be well placed."

Putting down his fork Ryan picked up his water and took a long gulp before saying, "I'm figuring that I'm allowed to make mindless observations considering I'm judged for being one of the few conservatives on this campus."

Picking up his fork again he continued, "And as a political minority my opinions are often disregarded which would drive any sane person into ..." searching for the right word Ryan waved his hand in the air and finished disconcertingly, "discontent."

"Oh my, is this a pity party that you're throwing for yourself, Ryan?" his friend asked with a smirk on his face.

"Not at all, just a bit of a fed up rant that's a half justification for the way I act." Smiling lightly he attacked his meatball with his fork before changing the subject.

"Who are you partnered up with for Professor Thrownback's class?

"Lily," answered his friend with a grimace.

"Isn't that the red head with the big tits?" Ryan asked between mouthfuls of cut up meatballs.

"No, that's the transvestite with the bad breath."

"Bummer," Ryan snorted.

"And you?" Jake asked him.

"Lauren, not sure what her last name is." Waving his fork in the air he explained, "Black chick who sits kind of in the middle of the class."

"She's kind of hot," said his friend.

"Yeah, if you go for that type," Ryan snorted. He had already made up his mind that Lauren was extremely attractive — it was just that he would never consider her.

"Come on Ryan, she's hot. She reminds me of that Super Model Liya Kebede. Just she has a better body than Liya because she is not so thin," with a thoughtful look on his face Jake said as though it just hit him, "and has bigger tits."

Rolling his eyes Ryan said coolly, "I'm sorry, but I don't roam the pages of Victoria Secret catalogues."

"Which of course is your loss my man. Those girls are smokin' and give a boner in a few seconds."

"I like to achieve a boner by an actually real chick that I can touch, speaking of which I can today."

"Oh my man, who is it?" came his friend's excited voice, "Who's the slut of the week?"

Grimacing at the word slut, Ryan ignored the derogatory comment that he hated and said tactfully, "Jessie, she's the half Japanese chick with the incredible ass."

Because Ryan had grown up with a family of seven women, a woman described for her sexual conquest as a slut had always been something Ryan privately loathed. Out of all the faults and negative attributes Ryan held, sexism was not one of them. Though Ryan was not the man to correct or preach the sinful doings of others, he fully believed that women should be treated equally and have the same sexual opportunities as men.

"My man," said Jake in his surfer voice, "that chick is banging; I always knew you liked those exotic types."

"My type?" Ryan said knitting his brows together, "You don't know the first thing about my type," he continued, lightly trying to conceal the irritation out of his voice.

For some reason, Jake's comment had gotten to him for the simple reason that Jake had no idea what type of women Ryan went for. Hell, Ryan himself knew that he did not have a preference on looks, so long as they looked good.

His thoughts turned to women and he forgot about the girl named Lauren as he listened to his friend Jake talk about hot chicks on campus.

~~~~~~

Later that week Ryan e-mailed Lauren about meeting up to work on their project. He wanted to get an early start, and he wanted to learn if this would be one of those "projects" where he did all of the work. They decided to meet Saturday around noon at his place.

That Saturday, Ryan had just finished eating when he heard a soft knock at his door. Jumping up, Ryan put his empty plate in the sink and rushed to answer the door. Not bothering to look through the peephole, Ryan swung the unlocked door open, and let the brilliant sun hit him in his face, which momentarily blinded him.

Adjusting his stance so that the sun was not blocking his view, Ryan took in the sight: Lauren stood before him dressed in grey sweat pants and a white short-sleeved poker shirt with gold lettering; he was beginning to think that poker was quite her forte. Lauren's dark hair pulled back into a high ponytail made her large light brown eyes look even larger, she definitely looked under eighteen not a girl in her early twenties. Her face mirrored a look of pure skepticism that somehow had irritation hurling at the pit of his stomach.

"Hey Lauren," Ryan said in what he hoped to be a cheerful voice, "why don't you come in and get out the cold ..." Ryan held his hands out and stepped aside so that Lauren could enter his two bedroom apartment in which his roommate was out for the day. As Lauren walked in his apartment, he noticed her shapely ass that was puffed out of her sweatpants.

'What an incredible figure she has,' thought Ryan as he watched her walk into his living room and stop. Walking in front of Lauren Ryan ushered her into the dining room where they could work on the large dining table.

Sitting down on the chair, Lauren pulled a spiral notebook out of her backpack and said, "So, do you have any ideas for the project?"

"I have a few," Ryan said sitting down in the chair directly across from her, "I was thinking something along the lines of capital punishment or the environment."

"Yeah, those are two platforms that I was thinking about doing." Lauren said. Opening her notebook, Lauren, with her loopy handwriting, jotted down both subjects and underlined both titles.

Putting the end of her pen in her mouth Lauren looked up at him and said thoughtfully, "I was thinking that we could argue the case in favor of the environment."

Frowning slightly, Ryan looked at her, shaking his head before saying, "Um, I don't know, I don't really support environmentally friendly laws, so I'm not sure if I can convincingly argue in support of them."

"Okay, that's cool," Lauren said crossing the word environment out that she had written on her notebook. "How about Capital Punishment?" she suggested, "What are you views on Capital Punishment?"

"I support it," Ryan said looking at her.

"You support it?" she asked a little too surprised.

"Yes," he said folding his arms. Perhaps it was the fact that she just assumed he would not support capital punishment, or perhaps it was the fact that he had already prejudged her; whatever the reason why found himself instantly disliking Lauren. If she thought this project was going to turn into some liberal support wagon, she was sadly mistaken. Ryan was not about to compromise his political beliefs for her, and frankly he was starting to get mad that he was wasting a perfectly good day with another liberal idiot.

How could he have ever thought this chick would not fit the bill? For God's sake she supported environmentally friendly laws, something he was a hundred percent against.

"I support it a hundred percent," he said trying not to glare at her. "I find that most people against it are soft on crime and favor prisoners' rights rather than victims' rights," Ryan said, adding to the insult of the unconcealed glare.

Lauren blinked her eyes hard before saying, "That's your right to think that, but if I may say it's a hundred percent bullcrap."

Closing her notebook with a slight slam that seemed to be reserved Lauren openly glared at him. In less than one minute of talking both Lauren and Ryan were glaring at one another as though they loathed each other for a lifetime.

"That argument is a part of the conservative propaganda to mislead people into thinking that capital punishment isn't a direct violation against the Bill of Rights," she said in one breath.

"Violation my ass," Ryan said, this time really glaring at her, "The only violation is the fact that criminals get to petition their life for twenty years while their victims remain victimize for a lifetime."

"Capital punishment's main goal is to stop criminals from acting again, not for victims to be vindicated, I agree that criminals should never be given the opportunity to act again, but there are other ways of going about that than putting them to death," Lauren said her large eyes snapping.

"Other ways? Other ways like how?" Ryan sneered. He was now steaming mad. He could not remember a time when he had been this mad. How dare they force him to work with such an idiot?

Rolling her eyes at him, Lauren said, "Um, perhaps life in prison!"

"Um, how about you rack your brain and realize that prisoners break out, well you're a liberal which means there isn't much to rack!" Ryan said viciously.

"Excuse me!" Lauren said scandalized. Jumping up she clenched her fist and glared at him. Ryan's heart was thumping and his mind was racing, what he would give to have people like Lauren disallowed to vote. "How dare you talk to me that way? Capital punishment is nothing short of a barbaric practice that civilized countries don't practice," Lauren snapped.

"How dare you yell at me in my home?" Ryan yelled jumping up.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want to do," Lauren said fiercely. She was angry, Ryan had no problem telling that much because she displayed her anger as honestly and fearlessly as a man with a gun and sharp right hook. Hands clenched at either side, chin pointed up giving her a demented look, and eyes narrowed; Lauren directed this all at him.

"How about you have your filthy mouth washed out with soap?" snapped Ryan.

This girl was disgusting. How dare she talk to him like that? Sure, he knew he probably deserved it, but where did she get off at losing her temper like that, and at him? Ryan intended to offend Lauren that day, and that was mostly because it was his nature to offend people that infuriate him.

"You want to know what your problem is?" Lauren stated with hard anger in her eyes.

With the sour look on her face, looking at her, anyone would have thought that Ryan had called her more than a few dirty words.

Full of sarcasm, Ryan asked, "What's that Lauren, what's my problem?"

Stepping closer to him with her finger pointed out like a weapon Lauren said, "You suffer from assholeism. Your problem is that you can't comprehend that people don't have to share your own beliefs to be right."

Stopping to glare at him, she cocked her head to her side and said as if it just occured to her, "And you're a dim-witted, ill-mannered, mindless, barbaric, dick."

"And you have a knack for repeating words with the same meaning," was the only response Ryan could think of at the moment.

"You think you're so great and better than everyone because you believe yourself to be different, but you're really a shallow asshole who can't understand that there are intelligent people who don't fit into your political "rights and wrongs". You're so used to so many people praising how great and smart you are that you seem to have forgotten that the world does not revolve around you, and that everyone does not like or want you, and for that matter think highly of you."

With a sick feeling in his gut he said coldly, "And you're just a plain bitch, nothing more nothing less."

For a brief moment, Ryan thought she was going to slap him. She had raised her hand towards his face as though she was going to strike him, and her eyes flashed in deep pools of wild anger that seemed to have no control, but then she dropped her hand, stared at him for a moment and turned and stormed away. He watched her haughty profile as she flounced out his house and into her car, before throwing himself in a chair. Putting his right hand on his neck, he massaged it.