Chapter 6: School Begins

The impact of what I had said to Charlie as we were leaving the apartment the day before didn't hit me until we were leaving the motel early Tuesday morning.

"It's time to face the music," I said, more to myself than to Shirley.

"What do you mean?"

I looked at her and couldn't help but smile, wondering if she were as tired as I was. We had gotten plenty of relaxation between sexual bouts but very little sleep.

"I owe Charlie an apology."

"You don't owe him anything. He should apologize to you for failing to keep his girlfriend in line," Shirley reasoned.

"You don't know how close I came to going back on my word. Charlie specifically asked me not to tell Angie about his summer affair with Deborah and I only missed doing just that by this much," I said, holding my thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

"Oh," she said in an understanding way. Shirley Pennington was a changed girl. After our day and night together, making love, trying every position that had ever been invented, she wouldn't have criticized me if I had confessed to committing murder. I felt the same about her.

"I snapped and let Angie goad me into retaliating. I shouldn't have said those things about spanking her."

"You did nothing wrong. You said those things because of the way Angie spoke to me. Charlie's the one who's wrong. He's trying to deceive her and I think she's on to him," Shirley said, attempting to deflect the blame from me to the other couple.

"If she breaks up with him it'll be my fault," I said, wondering what possible explanation I could give Charlie for suggesting his girlfriend needed a spanking.

"Sammy darling, stop blaming yourself. Charlie's underhandedness caught up with him. He's intentionally deceiving Angie so he can have sex with her. He's the one who is wrong. If he can't understand that, let me talk to him."

I looked at her, adoringly. "You amaze me. You know I'm wrong and yet, you defend me."

"That's my job," she answered, her eyes glowing as she smiled at me.

We had showered at the motel but I needed to shave, and we both needed to change our clothes before meeting the group for breakfast. Silence pervaded the apartment, making me think no one was there until I was almost finished shaving.

"Your time is up, it's five past seven." Angie's voice reminded me of Miss Canby, when she caught me trying to sneak into her forth grade classroom after the last bell had rung.

I hurriedly cleaned the razor and splashed cold water on my face in order to free up the bathroom for her.

"And cover up that ugly chest, it makes me sick first thing in the morning," she said, still sounding like Miss Canby.

"Finish shaving, Honey. We still have the bathroom for five more minutes," Shirley said, having come to my rescue. She pushed past Angie, who turned tail, already red at being caught lying about the time.

Shirley kissed one of my bare nipples. "And his chest is BEAUTIFUL," she yelled in the direction of the front bedroom.

I quickly ran the razor over my face and got dressed. When we left ten minutes later, the other bedroom door was closed.

We were still laughing about the little incident when we reached the school cafeteria.

Carol and Jason had done a good job of getting the word out that the breakfast group would reconvene. All of the otherten members were seated around three tables that had been moved together; grinning at us.

At first I thought they were grinning because they knew why we were arriving late but soon learned that wasn't the reason at all. An early vote had elected Shirley as our new leader. She immediately accepted the position, taking her seat at one end of the table, leaving me to sit next to Kent.

Talk that morning was mainly catching up on what we had done over the summer. The group had been formed the year before from students marooned at school over the Christmas holiday. Most were attending Pontiac on scholarship and either couldn't afford to go home or didn't have a family to visit. Kent and I were the exceptions. I came back early and was permitted to join the group. Kent later joined the group at the insistence of Tracy, after he became her boyfriend.

The addition of Kent and I evened the group to eight males and eight females. Now, after four members graduated, we were down to twelve members, five males and seven females.

Shirley waited until we finished eating to shift the meeting from social to business. "As I see it, our first order of business will be to fill the ranks with replacements for the seniors who left us."

This brought a flurry of discussion regarding how we would go about choosing new members. After several minutes of debate it was unanimously agreed that we should seek students from the freshmen class who planned to stay at school over the Thanksgiving vacation. That premise made students who were attending Pontiac on scholarship prime candidates. Shirley named a committee of two, Cheryl Lynn and me, to interview eligible candidates and select four new members.

"Why did you partner me with Cheryl?" I asked Shirley as we walked to our first classes. Cheryl Lynn had been the most vocal about the selection criteria, maintaining that we needed three males and one female to fill the vacancies.

"We'll discuss it tonight," she said, lifting her lips for a quick kiss before briskly walking to her first class, leaving me wondering what she had up her sleeve.

My eight o'clock class was accounting, the course I had waited to take my second year on the advice of Donna, the comptroller at Mr. Oldham's company. Looking around the classroom I could only spot two other sophomores among a sea of wide-eyed freshmen.

Next, during my break I tried to get a head start on the accounting assignment, but the learning center was so crowded that I didn't get much work done. This was followed by economics and sociology, both courses Shirley had insisted that I take as a sophomore so she would be around to help me get the most out of the two subjects.

When Kent and I met for lunch we compared notes about our living arrangements. Like me, he'd already had a run-in with a roommate. He and Tracy disagreed about cooking and cleaning responsibilities. He said Skip was staying out of it. I related some of my clashes with Angie but didn't tell him that I had gone so far as to suggest she needed a spanking.

Kent agreed to meet me at one of the tennis courts at three and he headed off to his afternoon classes. This being Tuesday, I didn't have an afternoon class so I went back to the learning center and concentrated on sociology and economics.

I wondered what I would say to Charlie that night and, more importantly, what he would say to me. Should I wait to see how he reacted to me? From the way Angie tried to kick me out of the bathroom that morning I was pretty sure they hadn't talked about her childish disposition and I was certain he hadn't taken my advice and spanked her.

As it turned out, the courts were being monopolized by freshmen. Shirley found us there, sitting on a bench and watching the action, but Tracy didn't show. Kent excused himself and went to look for his girlfriend.

"He must be nervous," I said to Shirley. "They've already had a squabble over who's going to be responsible for what."

"Sounds familiar," she commented as we headed to the car.

"Why did you hook me up with Cheryl Lynn?" I asked.

Shirley just gave me one of those knowing stares.

"Okay, I see what you're up to," I said and watched her smile.

"Meet with her. Have lunch or something. Tell her you'll line up the interviews."

We put our book bags in the back seat and I got into the car.

"How am I going to find out whom to interview, put an ad on the bulletin board?"

"No, you don't have to do that," Shirley said, sounding alarmed. "Use your resources."

The way she said it, 'use your resources, ' I knew why Shirley had picked me to team up with Cheryl. Indirectly, Shirley would be controlling which candidates we chose.

"You think I'll do whatever you say, don't you?"

"No, of course not," she said, looking shocked as she crossed her legs, letting her skirt ride up to put her shapely thighs on display.

She must have seen my frown and covered her legs. It wasn't like her to use her body to make me do what she wanted.

"What are my resources?"

"Ask Mrs. Weatherspoon for a list of names. She likes you."

I had never thought of my advisor that way. Mrs. Weatherspoon had to be fifty years old. But it was a good idea and I didn't argue with Shirley. That settled, we talked about other things, important things, like how much we loved each other.

Shirley said she needed to stop at the dress shop for a minute. I took both book bags upstairs and found the apartment empty. I was trying to decide where I was going to do my accounting homework when Charlie and Angie came in. She disappeared into their bedroom. Charlie stuck his head in to say hi.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

I had my accounting homework spread out on top of the dresser, trying to make it fit without toppling off.

"We went swimming," I answered, wondering if this was a good time to apologize.

"All night?"

I laughed and told him that the swimming pool was at a motel and that we had gotten a room. He grinned and left me standing in front of the dresser, wondering why he hadn't accused me of fucking up his love life. It was only a matter of minutes before sounds coming from the other bedroom told me I hadn't fucked up anything.

Shirley came in to change her clothes, took one look at how I was struggling to keep everything on the small work surface and left the room.

"I just spoke to Tammy," she said when she came back. "You can use my desk in the dorm on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I'll stop by when I get out of class," she said, casually lifting her dress over her head.

I reached her just as her face became visible. "Don't, Honey. I've got to start dinner," she said as the dress dropped to the floor and she returned my kiss.

"I'm trying to find where your thoughtfulness comes from," I said, pushing my tongue inside her mouth.

We were getting worked up when she pulled away, laughing. "That's it, you found it. Now let me go before I forget about dinner."

"Does Tammy have classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon?" I asked, picking the dress up from where she had dropped it.

"She only has a two o'clock but she's going to stay out of your hair. I told her it's only until the desks are built."

"Do you need any help with dinner?"

She was stepping into a pair of shorts. "I could use some company. You're welcome to join me in the kitchen if you promise not to search for my thoughtfulness while I'm cooking," she said, smiling before pulling a T-shirt over her head.

We talked about our classes, and she put me to work making a salad while she got the meat and vegetables ready for the oven.

We didn't have to call Charlie and Angie to the table. They followed the smell; arriving seconds after Shirley opened the oven door to remove everything.

Dinner was actually pleasant, a huge change from our last meal together. We shared experiences from our first day of classes, each trying to top the others with stories about misguided freshmen.

"What's gotten into her?" I asked when we retired to our room. Angie had started clearing the table the minute we finished eating, even asking Shirley how she wanted the leftovers stored.

"Charlie must have taken control," Shirley speculated.

We made the best of the study conditions, Shirley sprawling on the bed while I stood in front of the dresser and cursed the small work surface.

Later, she looked over my work and quizzed me on all the subjects I was taking, especially sociology and economics.

She stretched when we heard bath water running in the bathroom, signaling it was time for bed.

The windows were open but it was still hot in the room, unlike the night before in the air-conditioned motel room. The heat from our bodies didn't bother Shirley. "This is delicious," she whispered, sighing as her leg captured my ass.

"I'm lucky to have a smart girlfriend who's already taken my courses."

"You just love me for my mind," she quipped.

"That must be it."

"And?" she asked, pulling her breasts away from my chest.

"I love you for your thoughtfulness."

"And?"

When I didn't respond she banged her heel into my ass. "And?"

"This is delicious," I said, running my hand up and down her back, feeling her tense up.

"And?"

"Have I told you that you're beautiful?"

"Not today," she said, pushing in close again.

"You are beautiful and I love you for that too."

"Do you think I'm too controlling?"

"No, but I see you as manipulative. You do have your methods."

"You mean, like that thing I did in the car?"

"Yes." I answered, knowing she was referring to the way she hiked her dress up to reveal her legs.

"That's not one of my methods, as you call it. I won't do it again."

"I know it's not you. That's why I frowned."

"Your frown brought me to my senses."

"You could get most guys to do anything you want by showing your legs but you don't need to show me anything. I would jump off a cliff for you. All you have to do is ask."

Shirley didn't say anything else but I could tell from the way her body was relaxing that she felt safe in my arms and was on her way to sleep. Controlling my cock was difficult but I didn't try anything sexual, thinking that she must be sore from our motel marathon.

We got up early and left the apartment well before seven a.m. Shirley reminded me that she had invited Tammy to have dinner with us on Friday.

At breakfast, I spoke to Cheryl and made arrangements for us to eat lunch together the next day to discuss the interview process.

Mrs. Weatherspoon wasn't keen on supplying a list of students who were attending Pontiac on scholarship, saying it was proprietary information. "It's strictly against school policy to divulge sensitive data," she scolded me.

I explained how the group had come together the previous year and why we wanted four new members who lacked the funds to go home for holidays. The purpose of the group, having friends to hang out with while everyone else was enjoying their holiday must have tugged at her heartstrings because she winked and told me to come back the next day.