Disclaimer: The following is a fictional adaptation based on Choices The Freshman. I do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Zig Ortega, Tyler, Abbie, Kaitlyn, Zack or the location Hartfeld University. All other characters, the story line and events were originally developed by me.
Author’s Note: The following is an adaptation of The Freshman. The events and timeline will differ slightly from the game play. Contains mature situations and language.
Holding Her + Loving You
Late on Friday evenings, the Knights’ Roundtable campus bistro of Hartfeld University resembled the school library more than a restaurant. Even the espresso machine was quiet.
Business wasn’t just slow, it was nonexistent. Tori Michaels leans over the counter behind the cash register, solemnly gazing at the bare tip jar. There are a few quarters, dimes and pennies inside of it, but no green paper. That’s what she really needed. But she knew each time she saw her name on the work schedule for the last three Friday nights, the chances of earning any extra cash were slim. The bistro was a ghost town during the spring. Her manager had left just after 6 p.m. and she was scheduled to close up.
Bored was not the word. She sits her elbow against the counter, resting her chin in her hand and drums her fingertips mindlessly against her cheek. With a heavy sigh, she stands up straight, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her cellphone. There are a few texts from her best friend and roommate Michelle.
Hey Girl! This party is so wild! Miss u! Come by after work?
She taps a reply and shoves her phone back into her pocket. Maybe. Might just head to the apartment. Holler @ u later.
She would give anything to be at that party and not stranded in waitress purgatory in an empty on-campus diner.
She is startled when the door to the bistro swings open. The bell over the door jingles, an intended alert that a customer has arrived.
Tori fixes a smile on her face. When the customer steps inside, she knows his face instantly: His face, and his tall, athletic body.
“Welcome to the Knights’ Roundtable,” she says, reciting the requisite greeting.
She is met with silence. His head hangs dejectedly, his eyes cast down to the floor as he steps inside. He does not look around or seem to even observe his surroundings. His back pack hangs off of slumped shoulders, his hands shoved into his pockets. His body language reads like a lesson in misery.
He walks to the back corner of the bistro and takes a seat near the window at Table 5. Tori finds his seat selection odd. There is nothing but empty tables but he chose the one in the very back, seeking seclusion in an already deserted space.
She watches as he drops his backpack down into a chair, pulling out the one beside it and taking a seat. He does not move for a minute, staring into nothingness, before sighing and unzipping his backpack. He pulls out a laptop and powers it up.
Tori chews the inside of her cheek as she contemplates what she should do. If he had any interest in ordering, he would have approached the counter. She is not sure if he even knows she is there. She lifts the counter top door and heads towards his table.
“Hi,” She says with a vibrant smile.
“Hey…” he says flatly, not looking up or moving his eyes away from his computer screen.
“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Something to eat?” she asks.
“No thanks, I’m good,” he says and types something quickly into the laptop before it chimes.
Tori widens her eyes, pursing her lips and nods her head slowly. “Oookaay…” she blows out and heads back to the cash register.
She reclaims her space at the counter and tries to find something to do to busy herself rather than stare at the insanely handsome, brown-haired young man. He seems so different from when she has seen him around campus before. He was always smiling, animated, appearing cool and comfortable in his own skin.
Right now he is anything but that person. His eyes are weary. The corners of his red pout turn slightly down, as if whatever he is thinking about could move him to tears any second.
Tori grabs a towel and wipes down the counter for the fourth time in the last hour, peeking up occasionally at her melancholy guest.
He is the first customer to venture inside the bistro in the last 90 minutes and Tori feels she will go stark raving mad if she has to stand in silence any longer.
She swirls the damp towel across the counter, buffing it before she clears her throat.
“You’re Chris Powell, right?” She says as if she didn’t already know the answer. She had cheered for him in the stands with hundreds of other Hartfeld students on Saturday afternoons in the fall.
He pauses at the sound of her voice, glancing over at her briefly, as he scrolls through something on his computer.
“Yeah,” he says with a nod.
“Cool,” she nods. The only sound in the bistro is from his typing. She huffs as he returns to his silent brood.
“So, uh, Chris Powell, here’s the thing,” Tori says and tosses the towel down on the counter. She wipes her damp hands on the front of the black apron she wears over her jeans and white t-shirt. When she says his name, he finally looks at her, a steeply arched eyebrow indicating he would rather not be bothered.
“I voted for you,” she nods and puts her hands on her hips. “In the race for student body president, I voted Powell.”
“Oh, well, thank you,” he says and actually turns his head towards hers. When he looks at her, she is met by the most enchanting set of blue eyes she swears she has ever seen. Long lashes almost too pretty to be real curl upward and under those blue peepers and Tori’s breath hitches. “I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome,” she nods. “I didn’t really pay too much attention to a whole lot of the details about the election but what you said about every student having opportunities on campus was really nice. Plus, you are like, crazy hot. I thought what you said was cool and all, but I mainly voted for you because you’re hot.” She shrugs, her face twisting slightly before winking at him.
Chris is stunned by this stranger’s boldness. He looks back at the petite young woman, with big, curly dirty blonde hair. Her roots are black underneath the spirals of blonde curls. Her makeup is meticulously done, big brown eyes accented by deep shades of eye shadow and liner. Her lips shine slightly with a nude lip gloss and, as she realizes she has completely caught him off guard, her pearly smile reveals deep dimples in her cheeks.
Chris fumbles with what to say for a minute before shaking his head slightly with a chuckle. “Well, thank you again. At least, I think that is a compliment.”
“Oh trust me, it is,” she continues to smile. “Plus, that other guy running against you, he seemed like a terd. Just arrogant and stuck-up,” she shakes her shoulders and winces as if throwing off something disgusting. “No thank you.”
For the first time in 48 hours, Chris Powell feels the hint of a grin come to his lips.
“Honestly though, you could have said you believed aliens from the planet Zalnow were amongst us here at Hartfeld and with those eyes…I’d still have voted for you,” Tori says, leaning her hip against a chair. Her smile is more flirtatious now as she makes no effort to hide the visual assessment she makes of his body.
Chris smirks and rubs at his cheek some before laughing again. “Zalnow?”
“It’s a real planet. You are on your computer, Google it,” She nods.
“No it isn’t!” Chris exclaims incredulously and lets out a laugh.
“Well if it made you laugh and smile, does it matter if it’s real or not?” Tori asks pointedly, cocking a brow.
Chris freezes when he realizes her intent. He hmphs in defeat before nodding his head. “I guess not.”
“So, are you going to like order something or…?” Tori inquires and folds her arms across her chest. She takes a few steps forward, now standing just one table away from him.
“I uh….” Chris frowns and Tori sees the temporary relief she has given his mind erased in a heartbeat. “I’m not really hungry, I just….I needed some place to get away and do some work. I couldn’t go to the library and…I needed to get out of my suite,” he says gloomily.
“Everything okay?” Tori asks, genuinely concerned.
Chris pauses and leans back in his chair. His eyes are on the computer screen in front of him again although he is not looking at the images. He tugs at his ear before exhaling. “My girlfriend broke up with me last night,” he says. “She’s one of my suitemates,” he explains.
“Ow, brutal,” Tori winces. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” she apologizes.
Chris waves it off. “It’s alright….”
She can look at him and summarize that it is very much not alright. “I’m still sorry. That’s tough.”
“One of my suitemates and his friends are all at the library right now and I didn’t want to risk seeing her after class today so, I’ve just been hanging out on campus,” he admits. “It’s kind of a mess at the suite right now. Most of our roommates, well, they all support her so….I needed to be somewhere else.”
“Well, you take all the time you need then. We don’t close till midnight. You’ve got about two more hours. No rush,” She says sympathetically.
“Thank you,” Chris says in a hush. He clears his throat and resumes typing, his attention returning now fully to the work in front of him. Tori backs away and heads behind the counter. Silently she cleans areas that don’t need to be cleaned before wrapping up more cutlery in napkins for customers who won’t arrive any time soon. She periodically lifts her eyes to Chris. He continues to tap away on his computer, the outside world seems to have faded away.
He only lifts his head again when her sneakers come into view beside his table. She moves the salt and pepper shakers out of the way before sitting a white saucer down on the table and topping it with a white mug. She places a rolled set of cutlery beside it. Chris watches surprised as she heads to the counter, returning with a pot of coffee and small plate with a slice of cheesecake and cherries in a thick creamed drizzled over the top. She places the cheesecake on the table before pouring him a cup of coffee.
Chris’s mouth parts as he looks up at her questioningly. “What’s this?”
“The No. 9 Broken Heart Special,” Tori says. “On the house,” she stops pouring the coffee, holding the pot in her hand as she smiles slightly at him.
“Oh….wow, thank you, but…you don’t have-“
“Ah, ah,” she cuts him off. “Cheesecake is a guaranteed remedy to soothe an achy heart. My treat. But, if my manager asks, you hit me over the head and took it.”
Chris gives an amused smirk. “Hit you over the head for cheesecake? Why wouldn’t I rob the place if I was going to go that far?”
“Because cheesecake is worth so much more than money Powell,” Tori frowns. “Where are you priorities?”
He gives a genuine laugh, unaware that he is smiling at her. “Thank you, uh-“
“Tori,” she answers. “Tori Michaels. I’m a sophomore.”
“Nice to meet you Tori,” Chris says. “Thank you for the cheesecake and coffee.”
“You’re welcome,” she nods. Chris moves his laptop to the side and unrolls his napkin, pulling out a fork. He digs into the cheesecake and Tori watches as he places the creamy delight into his mouth. His eyes close slightly as he tastes it.
“I was wrong. This is worth hitting someone over the head for,” Chris nods. “My mistake.”
“Right?” Tori laughs. She sits the coffee pot in her hand down on the table behind her. Leaning against Chris’s table, she smiles down at him.
“I feel bad for not ordering anything now,” Chris says. “I’ve got a little bit for a tip. Not much, I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, I feel like I should do something for you,” he looks up at her, taking another bite of cheesecake.
“You could take my business math midterm for me next Wednesday,” she says. “It’s kicking my ass. My professor says minus one or minus two for negative one or negative two. He’s so confusing. I think he means subtract! You can legit come take that midterm for me and we would be even.”
Chris laughs. “I don’t think you want me taking your midterm either. Trust me on that. I’ve got too much going on as it is already. Barely have time to study for my own classes.”
“Student body president, starting quarterback, are you just an overachiever or what?” She teases.
“I just…I got this idea to run against Sebastian-“
“The terd,” Tori nods.
Chris chuckles. “Your words, not mine. I really wanted to do something other than be a football player you know? Something that felt like it made a difference but….I got too bogged down and…lost sight of some other things I need to be taking care of….” He trails off and she can see regret in his creased brow.
“Is that…what happened? With her?” Tori asks softly.
Chris nods reluctantly. “I got too busy. I took for granted she was going to be there for me. I wasn’t showing her any attention and then, poof. The other night she tells me we are having problems and that she can’t do this anymore,” he sighs and puts his fork back down on the plate. He has suddenly lost his appetite again. He runs a hand over his face, momentarily forgetting Tori is standing right beside him as he relives the pain of those words hitting him.
“I neglected us,” he sighs. “She met some guy too. He’s a barista at the coffee shop on campus? You know him?”
“Oh yeah, that guy? That guy’s an asshole!” Tori exclaims and jerks her head back.
“So you know who I’m talking about?” Chris asks.
“Nope, not a clue,” she shrugs.
Despite himself, Chris smiles.
“Sorry there isn’t like some secret society of campus waiters and waitresses that meet every week and talk about how they are screwing nice guys and girls out of their relationships,” Tori’s eyes fall back on him.
Chris smirks. “No, I guess there wouldn’t be. Sorry, didn’t mean to imply-“
“Stop apologizing,” Tori interrupts. “So, you got busy and she started stepping out on you?”
“I don’t know for sure that anything happened with them, but…I can just tell you know, that something’s there? That she’s into him,” Chris frowns and his shoulders drop again. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t gotten so short sighted, she wouldn’t have dumped me.”
Tori frowns and then slides out the chair across from Chris. She takes a seat and looks at him.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Chris laughs sardonically. “I have this whole idea for this thing called the Second Chance Scholarship. I got the idea from talking to him. Now I’m sitting her trying to work on an idea that would help the guy my girl left me for,” he shakes his head.
“You’re a good person Chris,” Tori says. “You’re being the bigger man.”
“Or just stupid,” he berates himself. “I left her behind the other night when I came up with this idea. Now look where it got me.”
Tori is quiet for some time before she speaks. “What you are doing though, it’s important to you, right?” She asks peering across the table. “You really believe in helping other people?”
“Yes,” Chris nods. “I really do.”
“Then, maybe she just couldn’t understand how important that was to you too. Being president means something to you, something special,” Tori reasons.
Chris shakes his head. “I should have made her feel like she was the most important thing to me. Not football or student government. I loved her,” Chris says, his voice reflective and soft. “Now it’s over. But…I still have to see her every day. Every single day. We live together. How am I supposed to move on from that?” He questions.
“I don’t know if I have an answer,” Tori sighs. “Other than it will get better with time but, it’s understandable that right now it’s going to be hard. Just…just don’t be so hard on yourself okay? You seem like a really great guy Chris. Maybe she’s the one who made the mistake.”
Chris stares back at the pretty girl across from him. She is undeniably cute and with a heaping helping of personality and humor, he would be intrigued by her under normal circumstances. His mind drifts to MC and he feels the sadness wash over him again. He can’t imagine ever feeling for any other girl the way he feels about her.
“I’ll let you work,” Tori says, breaking the silence. She eases her chair back and heads back to the kitchen area of the bistro. Chris watches her walk away, staring quietly before turning his eyes back to his computer.
Minutes later Tori returns. She places a business card for the bistro down next to Chris’s laptop. He looks up at her, searching her face curiously.
“I put my number on the back,” She says as she fidgets slightly with her thumb nail. “If you are ever feeling better and want to hang out…even if you’re not feeling better and you still want someone to hang with…call me, Chris,” she says with a tiny nod.
He picks up the card and flips it over. Her loopy handwriting is swirled in blue ink. He thinks for a minute and looks up at her. He nods slowly.
***
The cherry blossom trees around the quad are in full bloom and the warmth of a spring day and the sunshine on his skin are slowly helping to lift Chris Powell’s mood. It’s been one week since MC ended their relationship and Chris had become a bit of a recluse. The only time venturing outside into the fresh air was his trips between classes, back and forth to the student government chambers and the field house for conditioning.
When he has been at the suite, he has remained holed up in his room. Every time he has crossed paths with MC, his heart breaks a little more each time. He returned to the suite late the previous night, thinking he had given all his roommates enough time to settle in for the night in their rooms. But when he opened the door to the suite, MC was in the kitchen, whipping up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He stutter stepped when he saw her. She was wearing a chest hugging tank top and tiny shorts. The sight had once been the fuel for many nights spent in her bed. Now, it only reminded him of what he had lost.
They exchanged softly spoken hello’s before Chris strided towards his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against it and closed his eyes.
As the days have progressed since their split, Chris has felt worse not better. The length in time doing nothing to fill the emptiness he still feels from her departure.
Her bedroom is next to his. Even when he has avoided an awkward encounter with her, he feels her presence radiating through the wall. He hears the opening and shutting of her door, his heart sinking. She once would enter the suite and head straight to his room, but in the last weeks of their relationship, MC opened the door to Chris’s room and found only an empty bed.
He hears her talking in hushed tones behind closed doors to Kaitlyn and Zack and he knows the conversations are about him.
But today, today feels a little different. He takes a deep breath as he crosses the quad and heads across campus. A few students greet him along the way, smiling and saying hello at the football star and student body president.
His head is lifted, his eyes no longer on the ground as he feels the warm breeze float over his skin. His next class is not for another 45 minutes and he decides the walk around campus is doing him good.
He lifts his eyes to the sky overhead, hearing the chirp of birds and he inhales.
He recognizes the difference in his mood. He craves it. He smiles slightly to himself at the soothing of his wounded heart.
“Hey Chris, wait up!” he hears a voice call. He turns to see Tyler jogging towards him.
“Hey man, how’s it going?” Chris nods as Tyler falls into step at his side.
“Just got out of the worst midterm for Biology,” Tyler sighs. “It was pretty intense.”
“I’m sure you probably aced it,” Chris nods.
Tyler shrugs some as he walks beside his friend, hesitant to question him. He feels flustered as he tries to find a way to bridge the questions he’s been desperate to ask for several days now.
“So…how…how have you been?” Tyler asks. “I mean, with the breakup with MC and all, I haven’t seen much of you around the suite….”
Chris grips the straps on his backpack as he walks. “I been,” he says quietly. “It’s hard, living with her and all. Just trying to give her space. Trying to give all of you space really,” Chris says.
“Chris, I’m not taking sides in this okay?” Tyler explains. “I know how it can be with the girls and of course Abbie is close to MC but she’s your friend too. This is actually pretty tough for all of us. You disappeared again, we didn’t know if you were trying to avoid all of us or what.”
“It’s just hard being there right now. I’m not trying to ghost on you guys. I just…I didn’t want you to feel like you had to be caught in the middle and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to take sides. You’re right, we’re all friends but…it’s tough right now.”
Tyler nods. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Thanks…” Chris says. Tyler is about to speak when Chris’s steps stop all together. Tyler stops and turns to look at him. Chris’s jaw is clinched and his face stoic. There are frown lines on his forehead as his eyes narrow.
“Chris?” Tyler questions. He turns his head and follows the direction of Chris’s gaze. “Oh….” Tyler says in a hush.
Across the street, outside of the campus coffee shop, MC leans against the brick wall of the building. Beside her, Zig puffs on a cigarette, nodding and smiling at something she says. He makes a comment and MC giggles. The distance between their bodies narrows as Zig takes a step towards her. She hugs her books to her chest, but smiles up at him coyly. Zig puts the cigarette back into his mouth, reaching up and tucking a few pieces of hair behind MC’s ear.
The seething burn of Chris’s glare is enough to make Tyler take a step back. Chris’s shoulders square as he tilts his head.
“They, they’ve just been hanging out,” Tyler says. “I don’t think it’s anything serious…” Tyler says trying to offer some words of comfort. “It’s soon, you know?”
“It’s been a week,” Chris says, his voice suddenly deeper. There is a staccato rhythm to the sentence as the words eek from his lips, each syllable laced with anger.
“I know,” is the only thing that comes to mind for Tyler to say. “Hey, don’t let that get to you. Okay?”
Chris licks at his teeth. Zig says something to MC and she nods before he walks past her and heads back into the coffee shop. Still hugging her books to her chest, she looks around with a contented smile before it falls to the pavement.
He is yards away from her but she can feel the intensity of his stare and the anger coursing through him. When she locks eyes with his, he shakes his head slowly, his face becoming crestfallen. He turns on his heels and heads the opposite direction.
“Chris….” Tyler calls after him. “Chris!” he shouts as his roomate paces away from him.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” Chris throws over his shoulder as he walks towards no place in particular.
The emotions inside him swarm like bees, an irritated buzz that also stings. She has wasted no time.
He thinks for a moment and pulls out his wallet. He stops under one of the cherry blossom trees he found so beautiful only moments before, now paying it no mind. He thumbs through his wallet until he finds it. He pulls out the card and then his cellphone.
He dials and waits, shoving the wallet back into his pocket. She answers with a chipper hello.
“Hey, Tori? Yeah hi, this is Chris, we met last week?”
***
On the fourth floor of the Hartfeld University library, Tori sits across the table from Chris Powell. She lifts her eyes from her book to him in brief episodes as she processes his presence in front of her. She was surprised he had called. She never really expected to hear from him, only hoped. But earlier today, there he was on the other end of the line, asking if she wanted to meet up to study.
He is frowning slightly as he skims over his Intro to Political Science textbook, running his finger over the page to keep his place as he jots down notes with his other hand.
He suddenly huffs and tosses his pen down into the book’s spine before rubbing his eyes.
“Bleary eyed?” she asks softly. They are the only ones on the floor but speak softly out of etiquette.
“I need a break,” he exhales, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
She taps her pencil against her notebook. “Want to try your hand at this Business Math?” she offers with a grin.
“For the 90th time, no,” Chris chuckles. “You’d fail if I did it.”
“Right now I’m going for a strong ‘D’ in this class. D is for diploma,” she jokes and Chris laughs again. She smiles at him, her deep dimples adding an intriguing quality to her face.
“You wouldn’t even get that if I did your homework,” he laughs lightly. “Ugh, I need to stretch my legs,” he groans and stands up from the table. Tori watches as he stretches his arms out, yawning slightly and covering his mouth. With his arms raised, his red Henley shirt rises slightly over his jeans and she gets a glimpse of a defined torso and abs. Not normally shy, she is surprised when she feels herself blush.
“I could use a break too,” she sighs and puts her pencil down. She pushes her chair back and stands as well.
“Hey….” She says thinking. “You ever played the Dewey Decimal scavenger hunt game?” She grins.
“The Dewey, whoey, what now?” Chris asks with a laugh and a confused frown.
“The Dewey Decimal Scavenger Hunt Game: It’s silly but, on overnighters they can be fun on a break. Have they taught you nothing as freshmen here?” She asks.
“Guess I missed that part,” he smirks. “What do you do?”
“Well, okay, first you have to write down some information and then it will give you a number. So here,” Tori pushes a piece of clean paper towards Chris and a pen. He takes them and leans over to write on the table. She grabs her spiral and begins to jot down her information.
“Write your first and last name, birthday, pick a number between 1 and 3, then write down your favorite color,” she explains.
“If you say so,” Chris shrugs. He hands the paper to Tori and she makes her calculations on it.
“Okay your number is 3151.047,” she says proudly.
“What does that mean?” He asks.
“Go find the book that has that number. That book is meant to represent you as a person. So whatever the title is, it’s a representation of who you are, based on your answers.”
“Huh,” Chris nods. “Okay, I’ll look. What’s your number?”
“01954.73,” she says. “But I’ve done this before. I want to know what book you get.”
Chris smirks and turns and walks towards the stacks, Tori in tow. He heads to the 3000 section and moves between the massive book shelves until he reaches the 3100 section. He peers back and looks upward, realizing his book is on the very top shelf.
“Can you reach it?” Tori asks.
“I’m tall, but not that tall,” he grumbles.
He looks around for a step ladder but before he can spot one, Tori is climbing up the shelves, balancing the tips of her toes on each level.
“Hey! Be careful!” he yells in a whisper.
“I got it,” she dismisses as she inches up towards the top shelf, pulling herself up with her hands and stepping higher. “What were the last numbers?”
“0-4-7,” Chris says. He stands behind her, already holding his arms up fearful she will fall. She balances her toes on the edge of the book case and reaches up to the very top row. She uses her finger to pull at a book, struggling to free it. She pulls it back, gripping the binding, and as she does her toe slips. Chris is there instantly, his hands on her waist, holding her up.
“Whoa, got ya,” he says as she looks back at him distressed. His strong hands hoist her upward. The book sticks out from the others and she grasps it in her hand, pulling it from the shelf. Instead of letting her climb down, Tori lets out a startled gasp when Chris grips her hips tightly and lowers her down to the floor. Her back to his broad chest, she peers up at him over her shoulder again.
“Thanks,” she says softly.
“You’re a maniac you know that? Climbing up there like that,” he shakes his head.
“Well, I had you here to catch me, now didn’t I” She says softly.
Chris’s hands remain on her hips as he looks down at her, still gripping them in his hands. He looks into her eyes, forgetting in that moment that Tori is so very new in his life. He has only spoken to her on two occasions, but somehow, he has felt at home with her each time he has. She is still a stranger in his eyes, unfamiliar, not like….Then she is there. MC flashes in his mind.
He thinks of her. They spent several nights huddled at the kitchen table studying together. Now, here he was with another girl. A girl he had called on a whim. A girl he was not sure in his heart if he could truly give a chance.
“Yes…you did,” Chris says. He is about to let go of her hips, when Tori leans back against his chest, resting her back against him. He does not move, feeling oddly at ease with their closeness. It stuns him.
“So what book is it?” he asks and clears his throat.
She flips it over and looks at the cover, drawing a loud laugh from her. She covers her mouth and glances around, making sure they were still the only ones between the stacks.
Chris looks down at the cover in her hand.
“You’re kidding me?” He laughs. “No way, you totally rigged that.”
“I swear! I did not!” She spins around to face him, his hands sliding around her waist as she moves but he does not take them away. “The numbers don’t lie Powell! This is your book!”
She holds it up to his face and he tosses his head back as he laughs.
“Sexual Behavior in the Human Male?” He laughs again. “I don’t believe that for one second. You totally did something to pick that book!”
“I did not! This is who you are Powell! Accept it!” Tori teases. She lowers the book, laughing and standing between the stacks with Chris. His hands still on her hips he looks down at her smiling face.
“What is your book?” He squints as he looks back at her. “We’re going to look for it!”
“I told you I already played this game! My book is General Statistics of Africa,” Tori shrugs.
“Bull!” Chris exclaims.
“Cross my heart. Gee, I didn’t know I was dealing with a true sexual creator when I gave you my number,” Tori cocks an eyebrow.
“Would you have not given me your number then?” Chris jokes.
“I would have given it to you sooner,” Tori replies matter-of-factly.
Chris is taken aback but smiles, letting out a surprised laugh. Tori holds the book between them, her face is lifted towards his. Chris’s eyes dart as he looks over her facial features. She feels the grip on her hips tighten.
He is struggling, struggling with what he should do next. It’s all too new, his heartache still too fresh. But something about her, something is pulling him in and he can’t explain it.
She takes the initiative herself. Lifting her short frame up on her tip toes, she slides her hand up his chest and to the back of his neck. Chris lets her pull his head down towards hers. When she kisses him, a part of Chris that had been dormant awakens. His mind and his body are on fire. He thought he had shut down, closed off the part of his being that needed affection. But Tori had inexcusably and unapologetically invaded it. She was tenacious and he liked it. Her kisses are easing his torment, the taste of her, the warm wetness of her mouth against his, her tongue sensually caressing his is bringing him back to life.
The book in her hand drops to the floor as Chris slides an arm around her back, bringing her in closer to him. He presses her back against the book shelf as she works her fingers into his hair.
The soft caress of her kiss becomes more firm as he takes control, savoring the feel of her lips and the sounds of her quickening breath.
He stops briefly, his face so close to hers still she feels his breath on her cheek.
“Do you want to get out of here?” she asks him, her fingers still in his hair.
He nods slowly.
“My roommate is at my apartment,” Tori winces slightly.
“Our suite is empty tonight. One of my roommates had an art show. Everybody else went. We…we can go back to my place. We’d be all alone,” Chris whispers to her.
She licks her lips and focuses on his mouth before looking up into his eyes.
“Yes,” she says softly before a flicker of warmth spreads through her again as his lips return to hers.
***
The walk across campus from the library to the suite had lasted an eternity. They did not speak as Chris silently led the way, each narrowly approaching a jog to make it there in a hurry.
Chris had barely unlocked the door, double-checking the common area of the suite to make sure they were alone before Tori stepped close to him, sliding her hands around his waist and pressed her body against his. She rose up onto her toes, her nose bumping his. His breaths came in short bursts, filled with anticipation.
He reached up and cupped her head in his hands. Their noses tickling one another’s again before he titled his head and brought hers closer for a kiss.
His lips swept over hers gently. Tori felt a warm rush through her entire body at the sensation. Chris felt an electricity surge through his. This was it. Both of them needed this.
He dropped his hands and let them run down her back. He opened his eyes, peering into hers. He had looked into another pair of eyes for the last few months, looking back at Tori he gives pause. But when she gives him a tiny head nod, affirming her desire, thoughts of anyone else drift away and his desire takes hold.
His kiss is eager and aggressive, assaulting her lips in a crush. His lips move from hers to her neck as his hands seek flesh, gripping any part of her body he can reach.
They move from the living room, into the hallway, his tongue continuing its crusade of her mouth. Gone is any awkwardness or inhibitions he had about being with someone else. To hell with MC, tonight, he had to have Tori.
She tugs at his shirt and he pulls away, whipping it over his head. He tosses it somewhere down the hall as they move towards his bedroom. She runs her fingertips up over indentations and muscle lines she did not know were humanly possible before seeing Chris Powell. He helps her pull off her shirt and bends his head to brush his lips over the tops of her breast, pushed up to meet his mouth from the lacey bra she was wearing.
Back pedaling up the hall, pulling her with him, he kicks his bedroom door open. As they enter his room, Tori pushes him back just long enough to reach down and unbutton and unzip his jeans, pushing them towards the floor. He slams the door to his room shut, and then returns the favor, pushing her jeans down over in a fluid motion over her hips. She steps out of them and he brushes his hand over her belly. She leans in to kiss him but he stops her.
“Wait, wait…let me look at you,” he says. She blushes a little as his eyes move from her head down to her toes. He hooks his fingers inside the sides of her panties and pulls her towards him.
“Tori, I don’t know what we’re doing, but I want you so fucking bad right now,” he says.
“Me too,” she breaths out. He reaches behind her and unclasps her bra, slinging it to the floor. He bends his head down and sucks one of her nipples into his mouth. She arches her back and moans as he toys with her. His hand drifts between her legs and he rubs her through her panties. She lets out a loud moan at the alarming heat created by his touch.
He stands tall and she helps him out of his boxers. The blue of his eyes is dark now, almost black. He is ready to be inside her but trying to be patient. He groans when he feels her hand wrap around him and stroke him.
He feels himself building, too quickly, too soon. It had been weeks since he and MC were able to make love with his busy schedule. MC, he thinks, then slams his eyes shut, willing thoughts of her to go away. All the lust he felt for Tori was ready to explode. He gently guides her hand away and pushes her back onto the bed. He pulls her hips towards the edge of the bed, dragging her panties down her legs. He pushes her legs open and lowers his head between them.
She grips at the sheets and cries out at the first swipe of his tongue. Her eyes roll back in her head. Tori could not remember ever feeling this aroused. Sure, she had been turned on by many times before by a number of men, but with Chris it was different. With him, she felt she had waited her entire life to feel this way, never experiencing pleasure like this before. He slides a finger into her and as he swirls his tongue, she feels the building vibration as she pulses. She arches, shouting his name over and over.
“Chris!”
When she falls back on the bed, her legs drop lazily by his head. He smiles up at her and kisses his way up her thigh, over her stomach, her breast, neck and finally her lips.
He pushes her body back on the bed, hovering between her legs. He reaches over to his night stand, opening a drawer and pulling out a condom. He quickly slides it on, watching her chest rise and fall as she waits impatiently. He balances and pushing into her, he draws another loud moan from her. Chris’s eyes clinch shut.
“You feel so good inside me ,” she moans.
“Tori you’re amazing,” he groans loudly.
His length and girth fill her and she thinks she will climax again from just the sensation. He begins to fiercely pump in and out of her. She moans into his ear, pulling him down onto her chest. She grips him tight and wraps her legs around him as he pistons into her with every ounce of the lust he feels.
“Chris!” she cries out again. Her breathing is labored.
He looks down at her, giving her his all. Then suddenly, he slows, almost to a stop. Chris had been so consumed with just the feel of Tori, with the pleasure she was giving him, he let his body take over what really part of his heart wanted to lead.
As he looked down at her, her eyes half shut in ecstasy as she gazed up at him, he leans down and kisses her tenderly. His pace is a gentle grind now. He finds himself making love to her.
She smiles at him a little and he kisses her again. She meets his thrusts with her hips and they both groan. He kisses her shoulder as he rests his forehead in the crook of her neck.
She feels him pump a little faster and knows that he was close. She runs her fingers down his back and moans his name softly into his ear again to encourage him. He thrusts hard one more time and lets out a deep, throaty groan as he comes. He lies on top of her panting hard for several minutes. She kisses his shoulder and he sits up.
With a content smile she gives a little laugh.
“Best study session ever,” Tori says and Chris laughs as he catches his breath.
He pushes himself up onto his hands, looking down at her.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
“Oh yeah,” she nods and he laughs again. “Can I, uh, use your bathroom though?”
“Yeah, sure,” he says breathlessly. He rolls off of her and sits up, wiping sweat from his brow.
“Uh….here,” he says handing her the blanket from his bed.
She stands up and wraps herself up in it as he discards the condom in his trash and slides back into his boxers.
“It’s just up the hall,” he says. “Here, I’ll show you.”
He opens the door to his room and his blood runs cold.
Standing on the other end of the hall, looking at the clothes strewn about the floor is MC.
She lifts her eyes from the floor up to the girl wrapped in a blanket, standing in front of a boxer-clad Chris.
READ PART 2