An Interesting Study Session

So there's this boy I like. I can't do much about it though because he's my best friend and I know he's not ready for a relationship yet. He's a bit clueless really, and seems like he's still in the stage that he doesn't realize that girls are girls... If you know what I mean.

As a 16 year old girl, I should probably wait for him. I mean that society in general feels that girls just shouldn't even think about sex until they get married. Or at the very least, they should wait until they're sure it's love.

My parents are thankfully a bit more practical than that. They both told me – at separate times – that while they would prefer I wait until I am older or utterly in love, that they know that sometimes, things happen. Plans change. They also told me that they will still love me if I should happen to find that I've made a terrible mistake.

To tell you the truth, I don't think that either of them can actually picture me making such a mistake. I'm a smart girl. I get good grades. I'm ambitious. I plan to go to college and get a degree as a scientist or an engineer. I actually understand quantum physics for the most part, and rather enjoy it.

So I'm sure that it would come as a shock to just about everyone that knows me that I am obsessed with sex! That's not to say that I go out and screw every guy I see. I really don't, but a big part of that is because I don't want to have to deal with the consequences of such actions. I don't want STDs and I don't want to get pregnant.

That said, I have discovered something really important about myself. That ambition I talked about... it drives me crazy!!! I can finish a 12 page written report in less than two hours and then spend the next four hours going over every word, picking it apart and stressing about it. It's insane!

To that end, I realized that I need something to take my mind off things when I get like that. That's when I discovered that sex can be a beautiful tool to help me relax. If nothing else, by the time I'm done, I've stopped obsessing over my perfectly good enough homework.

There have been two boys who've helped me. They were the same age as me... and didn't really know what they were doing. This was good in the fact that it meant that they let me take the lead, but... That made me seem like a bit of a dominatrix. That's not what I want. Is it?

Anyway, I just felt that I had to explain all of that so this next part might make a bit more sense.

Every day after school lets out, I take my laptop into the library and do my homework. It just works out the best for me that way. I can get it all done quickly, and then when I go home, I have nothing to worry about... unless I'm obsessing about an assignment I've already finished, but that's beside the point.

Lately I've noticed something unusual. There's an exchange student who's been staying with a host family nearby, and he's really not the type to do his homework. He's what you might call athletic. I myself would have never known him from any other Joe, but my best friend almost squealed out loud when he first saw him.

Apparently, this exchange student is mildly famous. I didn't pay enough attention to know how or why, but from what I gather, he's really good at sports, and might possibly have a YouTube channel where he does extreme stunts. As I said, it's not entirely clear to me.

Thus, imagine my surprise when I noticed him hanging out in the library after school! And it wasn't just once or twice, but for close to two whole weeks. Long enough to make me wonder if he was smarter than he generally let on.

Except, well, he didn't actually read any books. He simply pretended to read while he watched me. It took me far longer than it should have to realize this, but that was mostly because I couldn't believe that anyone would be watching me like that!

For a few days, I mentally debated talking to him. There had to be a reason he was mildly stalking me, right? A real reason, not just a vague: “you're pretty and I think I might like you,” kind of reason.

Just when I was gathering up my courage to go ask him what was up and tell him off if I had to, he came over to me. I looked up in surprise as he sat down at the table I was using. It was covered in books I had used while researching a report, so I hadn't expected anyone to bother me.

With great respect, he placed small papers in the books to mark where I'd had them open, closed them, and then set them aside. I was so flustered that I could do nothing but let my mouth hang open in shock. What I really wanted to do was shout at him for touching the books before I was done with them!

“I love watching you read,” he murmured. “I could do it all day. You don't just scrunch up your eyes in confusion and growl in frustration – like I do. You actually smile and understand what you are reading... Even this book!” He held up a book titled: Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar.

I was taken aback. “Uh... Thanks? I think...”

“None of this makes sense to me,” he confessed. “Reading is one of the hardest things I ever try to do. I spend hours every night trying to do my homework, and often don't finish even one assignment because I just can't get through it.”

I was sympathetic, so I tried to be as nice as possible as I asked a rather bitchy question. “So? What does that have to do with me?”

He sighed in frustration. “Well, the thing is that I am failing all my classes. This isn't a surprise, but... My teachers keep telling me I just have to try harder, but they just don't understand that I am trying my hardest!”

He sighed again, and the sheer misery on his face made me keep my mouth shut. I was tempted to tell him to go away though. I myself had no patience or time for people who couldn't do their homework. My best friends could both attest to that!

In addition to the one I really like that I mentioned above, I had another best friend. The three of us were like peas in a pod... except for while doing our homework. I sat down and got mine done rather quickly and easily while they went to his house after school and procrastinated while claiming that they were working on it. I couldn't be around them at such a time because their fidgeting alone was enough to send me into rage mode!

“Anyway...” he seemed to be getting to the point. “My teachers and my coach have all threatened me... I'll be removed from my team if I don't get my grades up!”

He said that as if it was the worst tragedy imaginable. I had to bite back a nasty retort and the urge to roll my eyes. With a very soft sigh of just barely held in check frustration, I decided to offer him some wisdom.

“Perhaps being off the team for a while would be a good thing. If you are struggling so much, you should probably use the time you normally practice to see a tutor. A good tutor would be able to help you understand your schoolwork, which in turn will help you get into a good college and get a good career.”

He smiled at me in a way that made me wonder if he was patiently trying not to roll his eyes.

“You don't understand,” he informed me. I'd swear that he was smirking at me a bit sarcastically. This made me narrow my eyes and purse my lips. “I have no plans to go to college. I'm already set to sign a three year contract with my all time favorite team. Did you know that I won a gold medal in the Olympics?”

“What?” I asked in surprise. This might actually explain why my best friend said he was mildly famous.

“Yep,” he confirmed with a smile. “I'm really good at sports. It's like I close my eyes and my body just does what I need it to. If only my mind worked the same...” He sighed morosely.

I literally could not think of a good thing to say to that. Deep down, I was a tiny bit jealous. I was born with two left feet and couldn't even dance! I'd seriously consider giving up half my extra smarts if I could have some of his athletic talent. Judging by the look he gave me, he was wishing sort of the same thing.

“So...” he drawled hesitantly. “I was wondering if you'd consider helping me. Maybe if you went through my homework with me, I might understand it better, and at least pass my tests. This would bring up my grades enough that I wouldn't have to worry about getting kicked off my team.”

“Dude! You are seriously asking the wrong person here! I mean think about it, you've stalked me enough to know that I have two best friends, right? Well ask them; I have no patience for tutoring!” I protested with some mildly frantic waves of my hands.

He looked utterly depressed all of a sudden. “I see...” A moment passed in silence, and then he bit his lower lip in thought. “What about this? Would you consider just helping me memorize the questions that will be on my tests? My teachers have decided to give me flash cards to help me out, but it all boils down to reading... I try but I just can't do it very well at all.”

I rather abruptly pushed my chair back, stood up, and stared him in the eyes. “You mean to say that you can't read at all?!”

He sighed in frustration again. “I can read, but it takes me forever!” He then pulled a packet out of his bag. “We had to write a simple book report... even though it took me weeks to read the book, I did my best, and then I wrote the report. Here, see for yourself!”

I almost dropped the report that he thrust into my hands, but then I held it steady and read it. The first two pages were computer paper and the last five or six pages were notebook paper. The computer papers contained a short and to the point report that gave an overview of the plot and which parts he liked or disliked about it.

The report was full of mistakes. Not spelling errors so much – as I assume that spell check took care of those for him – but he frequently used the wrong form of a word – such as there when it should have been they're. Things like that.

I flipped to the notebook pages. These were the handwritten copy he had started with. Notes he'd written down as he read the book. I assume he had been required to include these to prove he had read the book and not just a very thorough description of it. Trying to read his extremely messy handwriting was a nightmare in and of itself. But as I worked through it, I realized something important...

A lot of the words that were spelled wrong were actually correct except for letters in the middle being switched. Another example, he almost always wrote the word and as: a d n …

“You're dyslexic!” I exclaimed in astonishment. “How have you made it this far without someone trying to help you overcome this?”

He shrugged. “The computer helps me hide it...”

“But I don't think you should hide it!” I protested hotly. “I think you should have a professional therapist or something!”

He shook his head. “I don't want that.”

I half sighed, half growled in frustration. “Well then you don't deserve my help either!”

“Please?!” He begged softly. “I don't know why, but somewhere deep down, I just know that you can help me!”

I took a deep breath, held it for several seconds, and then exhaled slowly. “Let me see those flash cards?”

He dug around in his bag again, and then handed me a thick stack of cards. They had been printed onto thick card stock, and were separated into different classes by paperclips or rubber bands. I looked through them quickly.

A surreptitious glance at him showed that his eyes were slightly bulged and his mouth nearly gaped open as he watched me literally read a stack of 15 or 20 cards for his history class in about a minute flat. His eyes focusing on mine let me know that he saw me actually reading them – as opposed to just flipping through them without reading them. Speed reading was a skill of mine...

I sighed in defeat... and a strange feeling like I would be a total and completely heartless bitch if I didn't at least try to help him out.

“Fine. I tell you what, I'll try to help you if you promise to help me in return,” I stated, suggesting that we make a deal.

“If I can, I'd be glad to help you, but I am a bit terrified to think about what you could possibly need help with!” He blurted out, his eyes goggling as he glanced at a book titled: Astronomy 101: From the Sun and Moon to Worm Holes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts About the Universe by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

I looked down at my hands in silence for a few seconds as I debated doing this. This could be considered low... even for me. And by that, I mean that I tend to think and make decisions based on how much they will work in my favor, rather than on what might be the morally right thing to do.

“Here's the thing,” I finally stated, coming to a decision to go for it after all. “I tend to obsess. I can get all my homework done in a matter of hours, and then spend the rest of the night sleepless because I can't stop thinking about it. It's not enough for me to get 90 or 95 percent right. If I think that I might be even the slightest bit wrong about the tiniest detail, I'll dive back into research until I have verified it from at least three different sources above and beyond the three I used originally!”

I growled in frustration, and then exhaled to try to calm down and move on. “Anyway, I've discovered that this does me no good and that I am far better if I take my mind off it and do something else for a while... Are you opposed to...” I stopped, scrunching up my face and body as if I was half afraid that he would laugh at or hit me.

“What?” He wondered with intense curiosity.

I held my breath for a moment again, and then forced myself to just spit it out. “Sex. Are you opposed to sex?”

He literally bit his tongue and held it as he cycled through several emotions. I could see disbelief, curiosity, eagerness, disbelief again, and then finally suspicion. “No... I'm not, but I don't think you're being serious. I think you might be trying to set me up.”

Knowing that we were alone in the Library – except for the ladies that worked here who were busying doing their jobs, nowhere near us – I decided to just be honest.

“I am not trying to set you up. It's something I do... I have sex when I realize I'm obsessing about something. It gets me out of my head – so to speak.”

He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “So you're asking if I'll have sex with you in exchange for you helping me with my flash cards?”

I gave him a mysterious smirk. “Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could do both at the same time.”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously again. “Uh...huh... how?”

Taking a look around to see if there was anything I needed to grab, I realized that I was done with all the books on the table. So I slung my bag over my shoulder and grabbed his hand.

“Come on!” I urged as I dragged him away. He just barely remembered to grab his own bag as he followed me. I led him out to the large forest that bordered the school on one side.

It was one of the few forests left in the city, being preserved solely for study during certain science classes. I knew from experience that it had excellent wifi and plenty of privacy most of the time. Especially after school. There was no reason for anyone to come here after school.

Locating a small clearing that could not be seen from the school nor the houses on the other side of the forest, I gently tossed my bag next to a tree. Then I pulled a brown eyeliner out of my pocket.

“Let's play a game,” I suggested with a mischievous smirk. “Sit there while I explain.”

He sat in a sunny patch and set his bag next to mine. I'd stuffed his flash cards in my pocket at some point, so I pulled them out to make sure I had them, and then stuck them back in my right back pants pocket. Next, I abruptly pulled my shirt off.

“I'll go through the cards and write the answers to the questions on my body,” I began the explanation as I reached back and unfastened the hooks of my bra. “Then I'll ask you the questions. You can search my body for the answers, and when you find the right one, you have to kiss it.”

I then removed my jeans, leaving my red, lace-edged panties on for the moment. I could hear him inhale in surprise – first when I removed my shirt, then when I removed my bra. He seemed to be expecting me to remove my jeans since it was obvious that I was stripping by that point, but then he inhaled a gasp when I told him that he'd be kissing me.

He adjusted the way he was sitting, and then looked away with a blush. “O...okay... I think I can do that.”

I laughed softly. “And then when you've memorized one class, we'll wipe all the answers off and start over with the next class.”

“That sounds... really fun actually!” He admitted, obviously enthusiastic about my game now.

I turned around and flipped through the flash cards for his history class, writing down the answers all over my body. Lucky for me that I have the ability to ignore how much that tickled!

When I was done, I stood before him and twisted side to side so he could see all the answers. He looked me over with interest, his eyes lingering on my breasts. Each breast had a date written on it. I honestly figured that dates were the hands down hardest thing to remember, and this might make it easiest for him.

“First question: Who was the most famous leader of the south during the civil war?” I asked, reading off a flash card.

He examined my body, trying to find a name to match to the question. His hands slowly traced some of the words written. I could see him trying to read them, his brows furrowing in concentration. Finally, he kissed a spot on my left hip. I looked to see that he had gotten the right answer.

“Hmm...” I murmured with a genuinely pleased grin. “So you do know.”

“I guessed,” he admitted with a blush. “But I am pretty sure that I won't forget it after this!”

“I'm sure!” I agreed with a laugh. “Next question...”

For at least an hour, I read off questions and he answered them. Not only did he easily memorize the facts, but he also memorized where the answers were located on my body. After two hours, we had gone through all the flash cards twice.

Interestingly, when he didn't have to read, he learned quickly. I grinned at him. By now, I was more than ready to have sex, but I thought that I should change things up and make sure he really had learned.

“Take off your shirt!” I commanded urgently.

“Are we going to have sex now?” He wondered with a sexy grin.

“Not just yet,” I informed him. “I'm going to write the numbers one through twenty on your chest, and then ask you questions at random. When you get one right, I'll kiss the next number.”

He had pulled his shirt off, and now sat staring at his chest. His brows were furrowed in thought. “Just my chest?” He wondered.

“I guess that's up to you,” I replied with a smirk.

He seemed to debate with himself for a moment, and then nodded as he apparently made a decision. A moment later, he removed his jeans and pushed his boxers down very low. Low enough that while he wasn't exposing his hard shaft, I could clearly see it straining to break free.

Taking my eyeliner, I wrote the number one on his neck. Putting a good inch of space between each number, I traveled ever farther down. He protested when I wrote 21-25 – since I had only mentioned going to 20 – but since they were all on the very small portion of skin directly above his penis, he didn't seriously argue with me about it.

Setting the eyeliner aside, I grabbed the flash cards and mixed them all completely up. Now he could be asked any of the questions from any of the classes in any order. I read the first one – it's answer was one of the dates that had been on my breast in the very beginning.

“1879!” He blurted out, proving that he clearly could learn when the information was provided in a way he understood.

I straddled his lap and kissed his neck, taking the time to lick him and leave a hickey. He moaned in enjoyment, grabbing my face so that he could kiss my lips. I let him for a few seconds, and then pulled away.

“I don't kiss, sorry,” I informed him. It was one of those weird things that I couldn't explain, but it was true.

“Oh,” he murmured in disappointment.

I asked him another question, and then another. Eventually – actually, surprisingly quickly – I was on question 23.

“Oh God!” He blurted out. “If you keep that up, I think I'm going to cum!”

I pulled back to smile at him. Interesting! I wasn't even touching his penis!

He took a few deep breaths. Meanwhile, I waited until he had calmed down. About two minutes later, I wondered if I should just end our game and go home for now.

“Okay,” he stated with an exhalation. “I'm certain that you can ask me the next question.”

After he answered questions 24 and 25 correctly, I rewarded him by slipping my hand inside his boxers, pulling out his oozing shaft, and licking him up and down. Next, I started to create a hickey on his balls, but he urgently pressed on my head with a hand.

“If you are serious about having sex, then you have to give me another moment,” he nearly whispered. A blush told me that he was either ashamed or embarrassed to admit that.

Shifting until I wasn't touching him at all, I dug around in my bag. I had a few different types of condoms to choose from because the two other guys I had been with each preferred different ones. I chose a thicker one that was supposed to help delay guys who were very sensitive. This wasn't any sort of judgment against him, I just figured that I'd already gotten him close a couple of times, and so he was very likely extra sensitive at the moment.

I opened the little metallic looking plastic package with my teeth, and then pulled the condom out. He looked at me curiously. Inexplicably, this made me shy.

“What?” I asked a bit defensively.

“You've clearly done this before, which I did not expect at all,” he replied. “I'm not trying to imply this is a bad thing. I just... well I thought you were one of those girls that buried her nose in a book because she didn't want to think about boys yet.”

I smiled at him. Honestly, it felt like a compliment the way he said it! “Well... I thought that you were probably a playboy who slept around, but now I am pretty sure you're not.”

He cringed slightly. “What gave me away?” He wondered.

I looked up as I thought this over. “Nothing in particular... It's just that I think... well, if you truly slept around, you probably would have insisted that we progress to sex a couple of hours ago. Just so you know, I wouldn't have objected.”

“So... Do you now think I'm a virgin or something?” He wondered, a frown letting me know that he wasn't sure whether or not to be insulted.

I prepared the condom, and then slowly rolled it onto his shaft. “No... I think that you're probably like me. You've done it with one or two girls, but not a lot. You're still not entirely sure what you're doing.”

He laughed softly. “For someone not sure you know what you're doing, you definitely have a lot of confidence!”

“That's because I'm having a lot more fun than I usually do,” I confessed with a blush.

“Same here,” he informed me, rolling me onto my back. I wrapped my legs around him, giving him clear access and permission to enter me.

Even with a thicker condom, he didn't last more than five minutes, but that's really okay. He had power in his thrusts that shook my whole body. I found the experience both rough and strangely wonderful. After he was done, he shifted so that he was kneeling but still inside me.

“After my very first time, I called my dad and told him that I felt bad because I had no idea how to make a girl feel good,” he explained. “My dad suggested that if I do this, I will probably leave you feeling every bit as good as I do.”

He then pressed his thumb to my clitoris and rubbed it gently but steadily as he rocked his body slowly. OH MY GOD! I suddenly felt a fire in my body like never before. It really didn't take all that long, maybe five minutes though it felt like much less, and suddenly I was squealing as I curled my body into his.

I clung to him as he continued the little circles of his thumb. A few seconds later, I couldn't take any more. “Okay okay!” I cried out, trying to push him away. He took the hint and removed his hand from between my legs.

“Can I steal just one kiss?” He whispered in my ear.

Still breathless, I nodded. He kissed me so deeply that I almost wished that we could start over and have sex again. When he was done, he chuckled.

“I can't wait to study again!”

I laughed in response to that. “Me either!”

***

“So... as you know, prom is tonight,” my best friend stated nervously. He glanced to our other best friend, who motioned like he was thinking: Go on! “I figured that since you're a girl and you don't have a date, you'd probably like to go with me.”

My mouth gaped open incredulously. “Wait... let me get this straight... You wait until the last moment, and then expect me to go with you just because I'm a girl???”

He blushed. “Well... that and you're my best friend – aside from him. I thought that you probably assumed that we were all going together as friends anyway.”

“You can't be serious,” I grumbled, rubbing my temples. Deep down, I was utterly thrilled that he was asking me, but other than that, I was pissed off. “You know what? I have a date!”

“You do?” He was positively gobsmacked.

“Why do you find this so hard to believe?” I ground out angrily.

“Because you didn't say anything about it!” He half roared. “I naturally assumed that this is the kind of information that you'd tell your best friends!”

Our other best friend half tilted his head as he nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I mean you've heard us talking about it for weeks.”

I scoffed. “And when I mentioned that I bought my dress, you both suddenly changed the subject! I understood completely, you didn't want to talk about girly stuff!”

They gave each other a look that silently admitted I had a point. I sighed, exhaling all my frustration. Then I grabbed my bag and made sure that I had everything important in it.

“Whatever! I've got a lot of things I need to do to get ready, so I'm going home. I'll see you later!”

They both waved as they watched me practically stomp away. I heard the one I really liked mutter: “No way she has a date. I bet she's just mad neither of us asked her sooner.”

I was tempted to stop and glare at him, but I settled for stomping a bit harder as I left.

Prom was held in a large event center that had space for a big dance. I had agreed to meet my date there since I planned to drive myself. This was mostly to reassure my parents that I could come home if anyone pressured me to do anything I didn't want to. They weren't so concerned about sex, but prom was often associated with sneaking away to get drunk or do drugs. They knew that both would anger me and wanted me to be free to leave if anyone tried to provoke me into trying either.

Therefore, I arrived to find both my best friends waiting for me out front. They had found dates of their own at some point – probably girls who were dumped at the last minute but still wanted to dance.

Even more awkward...

My date stood with them! I nearly didn't join them. A large part of me wanted to hide until my friends gave up and went inside, but... even more than that, I really wanted to dance! My date had given me a few lessons, and I was confident that I wouldn't be horrible at it.

“I told my best friend about you!” My bestie stated loudly. His back was to me, so he didn't see me coming. “But she has no appreciation for sports. I don't think she believed me that we have an actual famous person going to school with us. Will you give me an autograph?”

“I'm only famous to people who watch the Olympics,” my date demurred as he signed a photo or something.

“I watch figure skating,” one of the girls interjected. “I'd love to be able to do that for fun!”

“Oh wow!” The other girl burst out suddenly as she spotted me walking toward the group. “I don't mean to be mean, but you're a lot prettier than I realized!”

I blushed and looked down. Normally I didn't care much for my appearance, only wearing eyeliner and mascara to highlight my eyes – which I felt were my best feature. Tonight, I looked probably the best I possibly could. I'd gone to a professional to do my hair and makeup. She had been expensive but worth it because I felt beautiful! Like Belle...

“Wow...” my two best friends murmured in agreement.

“I thought you said that you were going to come in jeans with ratted hair!” My date stated with a laugh. He held out his hand to me.

I shrugged. “Yeah, well I couldn't get your expectations up and disappoint you. Funny, you still came in a tux.” I slipped my hand in his.

He laughed again. “I know you well enough by now to know that you wouldn't agree to come unless you put all your effort into it.”

I wanted to deny it but couldn't. “Fine,” I grumbled grudgingly. “You got me there.”

“Shall we go get pictures and then dance?” He asked.

“I'd like that,” I confessed in a tone that was flat in order to hide my excitement. I waved to my two BFFs as he led me away. They were gaping at me in astonishment even as their dates were incredulous.

“I did not see that coming!” My secret love exclaimed.

***

The Monday after prom, everyone got busy studying for the final tests of the year. They were important exams that could change bad grades into good ones – so even normally bad students tried their best to learn what they could.

“My teachers are dying to know the secret to my improved grades.”

I laughed. “Well, they probably wouldn't be shocked at all if you told them!”

“I'd like to think they'd be shocked a little,” he said with a chuckle. “Now that we're done studying for today, I'd like to do something before we progress to intercourse.”

“What?” I asked curiously.

“This,” he stated as he spread my legs wide. He then buried his face between my thighs. “You've sucked on me, but you haven't let me do this to you.”

“That's because I was rewarding you for correct answers. I didn't think that you'd want... to do this...” I explained, my breath catching for a moment when his tongue found my clitoris.

“Oh my God!” I gasped softly, clutching the towel we had gotten into the habit of bringing out here with us. We'd started our so-called studying when spring was just warm enough to allow us to get naked without shivering. Now that summer was fast approaching, a towel kept us from getting grass in our hair – not to mention weird stains on our bodies.

He proved to me that he had managed to practice this at some point. He was very good. Good enough that I immediately got suspicious.

“What lucky girl taught you this?!” I demanded between gasps.

He laughed and paused his task. “Believe it or not... online tutorials. I wanted to make sure I'd know what to do when the time came. And yes I practiced it on my previous girlfriend, but also on...” he blushed and looked away. “Peaches,” he muttered.

I laughed a lot harder than strictly necessary. “Carrots!”

“What?” He asked in confusion.

“I practiced on carrots!” I confessed, still laughing.

“Oh,” he murmured with a devilish grin, and then resumed his task.

I gasped and clutched his ear-length hair. Very soon, he had me squealing. I half scooted away from him even as I tugged on him to get him into place. He chuckled again.

“I take it that I did well?”

“Very!” I assured him.

He laughed, kissing my cheek. “It's a very good thing that no one ever comes here after school. You're so very loud when you cum!”

“Oh shut up and get inside me already!” I growled fiercely.

“Just a moment while I put the condom on,” he murmured. A second later, he was ready and pressing into me.

“What the hell?” My secret love burst out angrily, completely surprising us. We both looked over to him. “I heard you screaming and rushed to help only to find this?!”

Our other best friend stood next to him with his head turned to the side and a hand blocking his view of us. “Sorry, upon reflection, I guess it did sound like a sex scream...”

“That's not the point!” Beloved insisted. “This is so wrong! You said you two aren't going out or anything, but you're out here screwing?!”

“Oh go away!” I roared angrily. “What does it matter who I screw?!”

He was obviously flustered because he couldn't respond to that. He made sounds for a few seconds before I repeated my command to go away. I returned my attention to my study buddy.

“Pay no attention to them,” I murmured.

He gave me a wry smile. “It's rather hard not to. I feel like I have to be extra good or something to impress them if they watch.”

I giggled. “I guess I'm in for a real treat then.”

My beloved roared in frustration and stomped away. I saw our other BFF patting him sympathetically on the back as they left. Then I sighed and shook my head.

“The mood's gone, isn't it?” My lover asked.

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“You love him, don't you?”

I took a deep breath and looked away. “Yeah...”

He sat up and held out his hand. “Here, I'll help you get dressed so you can go after him.”

“Are you sure?” I asked in concern.

“Yes. I'm certain that I know enough to get pretty good grades on my finals. We don't need to study anymore.”

I pouted sadly. “But I like studying with you.”

He kissed me very softly. “I'm sure that you'd like studying with him even more.”

“But... what if we try having a relationship and it doesn't work out? I'd lose my best friend forever. Probably both of them!” I protested.

“That's just a risk you're going to have to take,” he assured me. By this point, we had both gotten to our feet, and he had removed his condom.

I picked up my shirt as he picked up my panties. “Get dressed and go after him,” he insisted.

I was reluctant as I stepped into my panties – which he held out for me. “But...”

He firmly helped me put my bra on, not complaining that I hindered him by clutching my shirt. After he was done, he grabbed my face abruptly to make me look him in the eye. I squirmed uncomfortably.

“You and I are a lot alike,” he informed me. “We are strangely comfortable having sex with people we don't care much about, and get squeamish when it comes to those we truly love. This makes us good fuck buddies, but not...” He shrugged and shook his head lightly. “Not actually good for each other.”

I shook his hands off my face and looked down.

He continued. “You feel safe with me and I feel safe with you, but safe is not love. Love... Real love... it's worth fighting for!”

I thought about this quietly as I pulled my shirt on. He picked up my jeans and held them out for me. I stepped back and shook my head.

“It doesn't matter anyway!” I cried out. “He's gone! Even if I ran after him, he'd just be mad at me and it wouldn't solve anything!”

“So? Tell him the truth and make him change his mind!” My lover roared.

“I can't!” I sobbed. “I can't! It's so much better this way!”

“Oh you coward!”

I gaped in astonishment as both my best friends entered the clearing again.

“What?!” I gasped, inexplicably hiding behind my lover, who was now holding my pants for coverage.

“You're a coward!” My secret love shouted again. “I came back so I could yell at you until you understood, only to hear that you would rather be with someone safe because you're too scared to try love!”

“That's because love hurts!” I shouted, shaking a fist at him. “When that girl kissed you, even though I knew you didn't really like her, I felt like I couldn't breathe!”

“Are you serious?!” He roared in anger. “You got jealous because a girl kissed me, and yet get mad at me for getting pissed when I catch you –!” He gestured at my bare legs and the still naked state of my lover. His expression clearly finished his statement.

“Yeah, that was a big shock,” our BFF added. “If we'd had to guess why you were screaming, that literally would have been the last thing we thought of.”

I stepped out from behind my lover and stood in front of him so that he had a bit of cover if he decided to get dressed. Had I thought to look at myself, I'd have noticed that while my shirt covered most of my panties, the very bottom of them peeked out enough to show everyone that they were bright red. That would have made me blush and tug my shirt down, but I didn't give it a second thought, so I put my hands on my hips and exposed my panties just a bit more.

“You gave me no reason to ever think you'd care if I was having sex,” I stated.

“That's because I assumed that we were waiting for each other!” My beloved blurted out, and then covered his mouth with a hand. He blushed a good ten shades of red. “Not that... I mean... Well...”

I stepped forward and tilted my head to the side. “You... waited... for me...?”

“Yes!” He nearly shouted. “I didn't want to be one of those assholes who pressured the girl he likes before she's ready!”

“In... in a way... I was waiting for you. Not for sex, obviously,” I added in a mutter with a gesture toward my lover. “But for a relationship. I knew you weren't ready to get serious yet.” I shrugged. “I thought you were playing around too so you'd know what to do when we finally did get serious.”

He was quiet for a moment, and then he frowned. “Are those my only choices? Get serious or stand back and let you play around with others?”

“Uh... yeah...” I murmured, slightly confused. “Because I don't want to mess around with you if you're not ready for me yet.”

Our BFF nudged him, smirking a bit smugly. “That means that she considers you important. Too important to eff up.”

“I see,” Beloved murmured. Slowly, he thought this over. Unexpectedly, he opened his arms. “Then come here.”

“You mean it?” I asked with unmistakable hope in my voice.

“Yeah... I do...”

I inhaled in surprise and then gasped happily as I ran to him. I didn't stop in front of him, or even hug him. I threw my arms around his neck and jumped up to wrap my legs around his waist while I kissed him.

“Whoa!” I heard our BFF exclaim softly in shock before he turned his back to us.

My previous lover chuckled and took advantage of our distraction to get dressed. When he was done, my beloved and I had broken apart to simply stare at each other in amazement. Our BFF was peeking over his shoulder to see if we were going to get mushy again or if we were going to leave.

Previous lover approached us carefully, perhaps thinking that he might still have to duck a jealous punch. He held out my pants to me again. My beloved narrowed his eyes, not sure if he should still be upset.

“For what it's worth,” my previous lover stated. “She never kissed me like that. She told me that she didn't like kissing at all.” He tapped my cheek playfully. “But it seems you do like to kiss when love is involved.”

I blushed and tried to hide it by burying my face in my beloved's shirt.

“I guess I'll see you around,” my previous lover remarked, handing my pants over to my BFF, and then leaving with a wave.

“Good luck on your finals!” I wished him, resting my head on my beloved's chest as I turned to watch my previous lover leave.

“I feel pretty confident that you've tutored me into a B at the very least!” He stated with a thumbs up. “I'm still on my team, headed for the championship game, and all set to graduate. I owe you everything!”

“I'll remember that,” I promised softly.

“Got it; one huge and expensive favor to be used in the future when I'm super famous and you're a smarty-pants scientist working for NASA!”

“I really don't know if I should be jealous or excited,” my beloved muttered, holding me close. “This means I might be able to talk him into giving me season passes or something...”

I laughed and gave my beloved a thorough kiss to reassure him that there was no need to be jealous. Our BFF cleared his throat.

“You know... I think I'll just set these right here and leave you two alone for a while.” He set my pants on my bag, and then walked away.

Our kiss continued for quite a long time, but suddenly, he broke it off. “Wait! You helped him study? But you never help us. You must know that I could seriously use some help studying for finals!”

“Hmm...” I hummed with a mischievous smirk. I bent over and rummaged through my pants pocket to find my eyeliner. “I think I know something that might help...”