Chapter 27: Expect the Unexpected

November 13, 1982, McKinley, Ohio

"So, what do you want to do tonight?"

Nancy laughed, "As if you have to ask!"

"I mean BESIDES that!"

"How about we grab some dinner and then see The Man from Snowy River. It's an Australian film, and it's had excellent reviews. Then we can come back here."

"Dinner and a movie, sure. The other thing? Let's not move so fast, OK?"

"We've done it before..."

"Yes, we have. Remember that I gave you a choice? I think you immediately figured out what the choice was."

Nancy nodded, "A one-off night of pleasure or a date with a possibility of a second date."

"Exactly. It's not too late to change your mind."

She shook her head, "No way! As much as I want that, I'd rather go on a date with you, even if it ends with only a simple 'good night' kiss."

"Then dinner and a movie it is."

We walked out to my car, got in, and headed for the diner we'd been to many times when we'd been dating.

"I'm really sorry for how I messed things up last time," Nancy said. "Well, the last two times."

"Let's leave the past in the past," I said. "We've both grown and changed. You aren't in High School anymore."

"Even my mom has changed! She's dating."

"Dating?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.

"That's better than saying your mom is getting laid, don't you think?"

"YOU said that before!"

"Well, she's a heck of a lot happier now than she was, so obviously, it's doing some good!"

"Is it that, or is it that she's in a relationship?" I asked.

"Both," Nancy replied. "I'm happy to be going on a date with you, but I'd be much happier if you spent the night."

"One step at a time. Let's not rush this, please."

"You think we rushed things before?"

I shook my head, "I have no idea if we went too fast, too slow, or just right. But consider this to be a first date, and we'll take it from there."

"You haven't heard from Jocelyn, have you?"

"No. I really didn't expect to. I've been tempted to call her, but I'm afraid that might make things worse. I'll see her in ten days or so."

"Have you heard from your other friend? The one in Wisconsin?"

"Dale? Yes. We talk about once every four or five weeks. He's majoring in co-eds and spending a bit of time studying to keep his GPA up. I'll see him at Thanksgiving and Christmas when he's home."

"I guess, really, Angie and Clarissa have replaced them as your closest friends."

I took a deep breath and let it out. She was voicing something that I had come to realize, and while I was thrilled to have Clarissa and Angie as friends, there was something of a hole in my innermost being, as if parts of me were missing. There was, I was reasonably confident, no way we'd ever be the trio we had once been — Dale had no interest in coming back to this part of Ohio, and even if Jocelyn did, I wasn't sure we could fix things.

"I suppose," I said evenly, trying to conceal the emotions welling up inside me, "but really, I have a small circle of friends rather than just two. Sophia, Sandy, Robby, Lee, Angie, and Clarissa. And, of course, my roommate. There are some others in a wider circle, but that first group is the tight-knit one. We pretty much do everything together. How about you?"

"I still hang out with 'Miss Delicious' quite a bit, plus a few other friends from High School."

"How is Barbara?"

"Still a virgin, but still giving the best blowjobs in the county!"

"I believe I told you there was a new champ!" I chuckled.

"Have you had a better one?" Nancy asked impishly.

"I think answering that question would turn me into a man I do not want to be."

"How so?"

"Do you want me comparing you to other girls? Talking about what we've done together with other girls or with guys?"

"Uh, no, I guess not."

"Then suffice it to say I enjoyed everything we did together. But we should probably change the topic."

"When are you leaving for home?"

"Next Friday, as soon as classes are over. I'm giving Clark a ride as far as West Monroe."

"When will you be back?"

"Probably Sunday afternoon after church. Are you working all week?"

"Yes. I got a few extra hours from Mr. Sokolov in addition to my normal schedule. You aren't working at all, are you?"

"Only Summers. My parents agreed to contribute a fixed amount, and when you add in my grants, I don't need to work, except Summers."

"Are all of those guaranteed?"

"All but one, which I have to reapply for each year. The others run until I graduate. Well, assuming things don't get messed up at Taft."

"I heard about that. I guess it's under review now?"

"Yes, and according to the attorney who the Biology Department chairman had come talk to us, the school would have real difficulty in reneging on those commitments."

"What do you think should happen?"

"Should? If there is evidence of discrimination, then remedy that. What will happen? We're all afraid that eventually, Dean Parker will succeed, and she'll implement a system which disadvantages male students in favor of female ones to, as she calls it, 'remedy past discrimination'."

"Girls are disadvantaged, starting in the earliest grades. Did you know that boys are called on far more often than girls in math and science classes?"

"Melody mentioned that when we were discussing the situation," I replied. "But the solution to that problem isn't to simply change the rules in college, but to fix it at the source."

"So, all those girls now are disadvantaged permanently?"

"I didn't say it was a perfect solution, but why should I be, in effect, punished for something I didn't do and had no part in? I agree the university should try to recruit more women, but they shouldn't let in less qualified women while excluding more highly qualified men. All that does is change the focus of the discrimination!

"It's like Clark, Larry, and Carter say — they don't want people thinking they were accepted at Taft simply because they're black. Sophia says the same thing from her perspective. And I have to agree with that. Honestly, how would you feel if everyone thought you got your degree only because you were given special privileges?"

"But haven't you had special privileges? You know, being called on and being considered good at science and math because you're a guy?"

"Jocelyn was salutatorian," I protested. "Because she was very good at math and science, not because she was a girl! And if you think about it, calling me privileged when I study harder than most people I know is not right; everyone in my group studies hard. That's why we succeed, not because we're guys or girls, but because we work hard.

"And it's not as if I had all this stuff handed to me on a silver platter, which is what Dean Parker seems to want to do! My parents worked hard, and I worked hard so I could afford to go to school, just as you and your mom are. Was it easier for me because my parents both worked and were together? Sure. But if we start basing college admissions on that, rather than GPA and SAT or ACT scores, we're going to end up with less qualified students, and society is going to be worse off in the end."

"Don't you think it's better to have a good mix of students? One which matches society?"

"You mean admitting only average candidates instead of the best and brightest? After all, that is society as a whole. Don't we want the absolute best and brightest in college? And I'll point out you got in without any special privileges. I guess my bottom line is that if there are problems with the system, fix those and move forward. Don't try 'quick fixes' which, in the end, hurt everyone."

"It just seems to me that what you're proposing is a recipe for continued discrimination."

"How so? If we start working on the problems in grade school, in the long run, we'll fix it. It's sort of like dealing with racism. Me debating Emmy's dad until I'm blue in the face won't change a thing. Neither will passing even more laws. What WILL work is teaching kids not to discriminate from the time they're young. Emmy doesn't have the same stupid ideas her dad does, even with his influence.

"And if you think about it, one sure way to create racism is to give special privileges to minorities! That will create resentment. It's the same with sex discrimination. If you want to create resentment and ill will towards women, start treating men as second-class citizens. All you'll do is make things worse."

"I guess I just don't see anything changing without some sort of radical action."

"So you think Dean Parker was right? I should be kicked out of the Honors Program in favor of a female with a B average? And she should get some kind of 'free pass' even though she could only make B's in regular classes?"

"No, I guess not."

"But see, once you start down the path of special privileges, that's where you end up. I think Sandy put it best when she said we need to work for equal opportunity, NOT equal results. The results are never going to be equal because there are, in fact, some people who are smarter than others. And some people have more money than others. And some have better athletic skills. And so on.

"Take Katy's parents as an example; they make enough to send her to any private school she wants to go to and pay cash. I don't have a problem with that. They make more, and they pay more in taxes. Heck, I bet they pay more than you, me, your mom, and my parents combined. That's how it's supposed to work. If you make more, you pay more in taxes. They even pay at a higher rate, which is also something I don't have a problem with.

"Where I would have a problem is if someone said that they had no right to earn more than the average person in the county or state and confiscated the rest. Or that Katy could only go to a state school because most people go to state schools. I'm no socialist, but I also understand that the government needs to be funded, and those who have more can contribute more. Karl Marx actually cribbed his 'from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs' from the Acts of the Apostles and Jesus' parable of the talents. Between those two and other verses, you get voluntary, not compulsory, action, which is where I disagree with Marx."

"So it's OK that mom and I had to struggle so much?"

"No, but unfortunately, there are limits to what we can do as a society. Maybe a more socialist system like Sweden would work better, but I think people ought to be able to keep most of what they earn and benefit from hard work. And lest you think I'm a hypocrite, I could go to college and medical school for free there, but I would still rather be here because I get to decide what I do with what I earn. Yes, I'll pay my taxes, happily even, but the rest, which is most of it, is mine to do with as I please."

"You aren't jealous of Katy?"

"Why would I be? Are you?"

"I guess I just don't think it's right that some people have advantages because of pure luck. You know, which family you were born into."

"I guess the way I see it is luck is what you make of it. Neither Dale, Jocelyn, nor I come from well-to-do families, and yet we're all in college. And so are you, for that matter. Sure, all of us are going to have to borrow money to finish our educations, but we ARE here, and we'll have good, solid jobs when we graduate. And that's true of my friends at Taft, too. Everyone except Sophia is using a mix of grants, loans, help from their parents, scholarships, and money from working."

"Don't you wonder what it would be like if you just magically had all the money you needed?"

I couldn't say it, but I actually DID have that option. All I had to do was commit to Katy, and I'd have no financial worries ever again. I'd also get the added benefit of sex with her, which I was sure would be fantastic. But neither of those two things was in any way sufficient for me to make the kind of commitment necessary to gain them.

"You remember I joked about the bikini model heiress? Well, it really was only a joke because I couldn't make the kind of commitment necessary to accept the money. I suppose in the end, my answer is I could be a lot worse off, and I don't see a problem with having to work hard and make sacrifices to get what I want. My parents always said that having to work for things made those things more valuable."

"So sex is better if you have to work for it?" Nancy teased.

I laughed, "I'm not sure that translates exactly. I think chemistry is much more important than how much effort is put into getting to that point! And I think love enhances it."

"So you're saying it gets better?"

I shrugged, "I suppose we'll find out if we get to that point."

And that was in doubt after the conversation we'd just had. Nancy sounded suspiciously like Dean Parker, though not as extreme, and that raised red flags for me. That said, there was no reason not to continue our current date. But asking her on a second one was up in the air. Melody had warned me that the 'Title IX' discussions were going to be much more divisive, with students supporting both sides, unlike with regard to the rule change. And it felt to me that Nancy and I were going to be on opposite sides.

We had a nice dinner with a good conversation, which avoided the topic. We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and when I took Nancy home, we exchanged a simple 'good night' kiss. When I left Nancy's house, I headed back to campus to pray with Angie and engage in 'stress relief' with Sandy.

November 14, 1982, McKinley, Ohio

Very early on Sunday morning, I woke to find Sandy snuggled close, her soft breast pressing gently on my chest and her pubic hair tickling my hip. I lay quietly and simply enjoyed the warmth of her body. She stirred and lifted her head.

"Good morning," I said, stroking her hair.

She shifted and moved on top of me, splaying her legs on either side of mine and crossing her arms on my chest. She propped her chin on her arms so she could look me in the eyes.

"Do you think I'm using you?" she asked.

"I don't think so," I said carefully. "We both know what we're doing, and we both understand what this means. What makes you ask?"

"It doesn't matter who, but someone asked me if I wasn't taking advantage of the fact that you're in love with Angie but can't have her when I have no intention of being with you long-term."

It was certainly an interesting observation by whoever said it. I was curious, but it didn't really matter.

"I suppose I don't see us having sex as you taking advantage, or me taking advantage of you, for that matter. We both enjoy it, and it isn't hurting anyone."

"You're in love with Angie."

"What I feel about Angie doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, I might as well be in love with Jennifer Jason Leigh."

"Not Phoebe Cates?"

"Nah, I like Jennifer Jason Leigh a lot more."

"But you ARE in love with Angie."

"Yes," I sighed.

"Do you feel as if you're cheating on her?"

"No. If I did, I wouldn't be doing this. Believe it or not, I'm more worried about what Tasha might say than anything."

Sandy laughed, "I'm more worried about what she might DO to me!"

"She and I talked before I came to McKinley, and she acknowledged I was going to date in exchange for a promise not to make a life commitment to anyone before she graduated from High School."

"But she wouldn't tolerate this if she knew about it, would she?"

"I'd be worried about what she might do to BOTH of us at that point!"

"So, she's the front-runner for actually being Mrs. Loucks?"

"I suppose you could say that, but I'm not really thinking in those terms just yet."

"So, you aren't feeling strange about this?"

"No. A couple of years ago, I would have thought it odd for someone to basically have recreational sex, but my opinion on that has changed a bit."

"I'd expect so!" she said, wiggling her hips.

Sandy's movements caused her soft pubic hair to tickle my shaft to attention, and when I was fully erect, Sandy positioned herself and slowly enveloped me in her silky folds. She sighed deeply, flexing her hips and contracting her muscles.

"Taking advantage of me," I asked with a smile.

"Every chance I get," Sandy laughed. "I very much like being filled up by you."

"And I very much like filling you!"

Sandy used slow, gentle motions to bring herself off, then surprised me by lifting off and sliding down, allowing me to cum in her mouth, something she did very rarely. When the last pulse of my orgasms finished, she released me and slid up to cuddle. We exchanged a deep French kiss, and then she rested her head on my chest.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"To thank you for doing this with me. Call it a reward, if you will."

"I don't need rewards," I said. "I enjoy being with you."

"But you liked that, right?"

"Yes, but did YOU like it?"

"It's OK. Not my favorite thing to do, obviously, but if you like it, I'll do it. And the fact that you kiss me afterwards makes me feel even better about doing it."