Chapter 5 - Nicole

It’s mid-January and High-school seniors across the country are stressing out about making their final decisions for which colleges they want to apply to, having only a few weeks left to get their applications sent out, that way the colleges can make their decisions and send out responses by April.

The last couple of years, Sam had been just assuming she would go to NorthWestern State University in Louisiana. That is where both of her parents had attended and both sets of her grandparents lived in that area, so she would have family nearby and it just seemed the logical choice. In the last few weeks however, Samantha’s mind had been changing rapidly, because moving to Louisiana would put her too far away from her brother Alex, whom she had only recently began exploring an emotionally deeper, sexual relationship with and did not want to be apart from him.

“I know dad, you’ve gone over the plans a thousand times now. At this point I could get there and back with my eyes closed” Samantha said to her dad.

Mr. Konders continued to shuffle through papers, written plans, emergency information, and other important documents, making sure that his daughter would have everything she needed for her trip to see Colorado State University.

“I don’t know why we agreed to this” Mrs. Konders said to her husband, “They’re just kids, what if they get in an accident or someone mugs them?!”

Sam turned her head and rolled her eyes slightly, thinking back to all of the times her mom had brought up these same concerns in the last two weeks, never completely satisfied with the answers she received. “Mom, we will be fine.” Sam said, “Brian is 18 and you know him - hes VERY responsible. Besides, he needs to go check the college as well since he cant afford to go to an out of state university.”

“Yeah hunnie, I know. I just worry is all” her mom said. “So its just going to be the four of you, right? No parties, no drinking, no shenanigans, promise?”

“I SWEAR mom.” Sam said, “Were only going to be gone 2 nights, and you guys put those tracker apps on our phones just in case you get worried”

“And you will ALWAYS have your phones on you, right?” Mrs. Konders inquired of her two children

“Yes mom” Sam and Alex said in unison

With that, Mr. Konders had finished packing up all of the paperwork and information he thought they might need on their trip into the box and took it out to the car for them.

Sam and Alex hugged their parents in turn, kissing their mom and promising to call every few hours to let her know they were safe.

As they closed the doors to the car, Alex put it in reverse to back out of the driveway while Sam synched her phone with the radio and pressed play on her road-trip mix

‘Pumped Up Kicks’ by FosterThePeople started playing

As Alex put the car in drive and started away from their house and parents waving at them from the driveway, he grabbed Sam’s hand from her lap and entwined her fingers in his. After the first turn at the end of the street, she lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed the back of it, before settling it down on his side of the emergency brake handle so he did not have to inconvenience himself by reaching over to her while he drove.

“Can you believe this?!” Alex said to his sister, “two days away in a hotel room with you. I hope you’ve been eating your protein because I have plans for your body tonight” He said to her with a wink and sly smile.

With a grin, Sam replied “Easy there cowboy, were sharing the room with Brian and Nicole remember?”

Alex’s smile started to drop, “Oh ... right”. But before he could get disheartened, Sam smiled and gave his hand a squeeze, saying “Don’t you worry sweetie. I fully plan on taking advantage of you this weekend”

As they pulled up to the entrance to Brian and Nicole’s apartment, Sam leaned over and gave Alex a quick - but very thorough - french kiss, not knowing when she would next have a chance to be intimate with him and wanting something to hold her over.

Parking next to the curb, Nikki and Brian were waiting there with their bags. Alex popped the trunk and Brian went to the rear to load their stuff as Nikki opened the back door.

Having momentarily forgotten that their hands were entwined, Sam and Alex quickly released their fingers and moved them to more natural positions, however Nicole saw this mistake and it firmed up in her mind the idea that the two siblings were closer than what would be considered “socially acceptable”.

With a small, innocent smile, Nikki just said “Hi” and settled herself into the seat behind Sam.

Closing the trunk, Brian walked around to the other side and got in behind Alex. “Hey you two” he said with a sigh as he settled himself in for the 5 hour journey from Grand Junction to Fort Collins “we ready to go?” He asked, prompting everyone to momentarily consider their supplies to make sure they had everything needed for the weekend.

“Yep, let’s do this thing” Sam said, prompting her brother to head out.

As they drove and made small talk, Alex noticed that Nikki kept giving him looks in the rear-view mirror and at one point, he thought he saw her smile and wink at him in a conspiratorial way.

“Hmmm” Alex thought to himself, then adjusted the mirror nonchalantly so that he could get a better view of her. He had not noticed when she initially got into the car because of the bulky jacket she had been wearing, but now he saw that Nikki had her makeup done and was braless, wearing a skin-tight tank top that accentuated her small, perky C-cups. As he glanced over what he could see of her in the mirror, then back to her face, he saw her staring back at him in an innocent manner.

As if he had been considering it all along, Alex said “So Nikki, why is it again that you’re coming along? You’re only 14, it’s not like you will need to check colleges out any time soon.

Looking out his side window, Brian answered for her “I didn’t want to leave her home with our mom. She’s not in a good way right now” he said, referencing the fact that she had been in a drug-induced stupor the last few days and was in no condition to care for her children.

“Mmm” Alex said in acknowledgement.

“Don’t worry,” said Sam, “She can explore the campus with me while you guys sit in on the classes Brian wants to check out”

Since it was a foregone conclusion in Sam’s mind that she would be attending CSU now, she didn’t really have any desire to sit in on any classes, rather she wanted to spend the time trying to find off-campus housing and talking to the academic advisors and a few different sorority girls she had been talking to from the college recruitment message boards.

“Might be a bit dull” Sam said, turning to look at Nicole, “but we will have fun too, don’t worry”

Nicole nodded her head in ascent and kept scrolling through whatever it was she was doing on her phone.

Around 2pm the small group arrived at their hotel. Since Brian was the only one over 18, the room was in his name so he went in the front office to check in and get their room keys. As the other three waited in the car, Alex looked over at his sister and smiled, then glanced back at Nicole and noticed her staring back at him, subtly biting her lower lip and looking at Sam, not having noticed Alex’s glance.

“I wish I had a friend like you guys” Nicole suddenly said.

A bit taken aback, Sam turned in her seat and replied, “what do you mean? We are your friends!”

“No,” Nikki said, “I mean more than just friends”

Startled, Alex turned and shared a nervous glance with his sister, but before he could ask what she meant by that, Brian opened the car door and hopped in.

“Room 427,” He said pointing to the building in front of them, “According to the front desk clerk, we go through that lobby entrance, past the fountain to the first set of elevator doors, up to the 4th floor and to the left”

Alex drove to a parking spot near the entrance in question and the group disembarked. As they hauled their bags up to the room, they all admired the beautiful interior of the hotel. Sam’s mom had paid for 2 nights at a fairly ritzy hotel in an attempt to comfort herself with the fact it had security and was not a “slum”.

Upon entering the room, bags were dropped to the floor or on beds, Brian said “Guess me and Nikki will take this bed, you guys can have the one closer to the bathroom. Sound good?” he finished with a quizzical look to Sam and Alex.

“Yeah that’ll work” Alex said, “I was hoping they would have a nice couch or something but I guess not” he finished, waving his hand at the 3 chairs and the recliner that were scattered around the room.

“Allright, what first?” asked Brian

“I want to freshen up, but then I guess lets just head over to the campus and see what’s what” said Sam, “we’ve got almost 2 hours till were scheduled to meet the academic advisor.

A general consensus was made, and as Sam took her things into the bathroom to take her shower, Brian said “Im going to see if I can find a vending machine or something, I need a snack. You want anything?” He finished, asking Nicole and Alex.

Both having shaken their heads in the negative, Brian stepped out of the room with a promise to be back in 5 or 10 minutes.

Alex stood up and began unpacking his and Sam’s clothes, putting them in the dresser and closet as needed. Nicole went over to the sink that was just outside the bathroom and began organizing her toothbrush, combs, makeup and things.

Alex said “hey, so what did you mean in the car when you said you wish you had friends “like us?”, pointing to the door to the bathroom and back to himself, indicating himself and Sam

“It’s just that ever since around Christmas, i’ve noticed that you and Sam seem to have gotten closer. You never make fun of her anymore, she is always hugging and smiling at you as if you two share some kind of secret together, and when I got to the car today I noticed you guys were holding hands.” Nikki said, looking at Alex in the mirror to gauge his reaction. “The most I ever get is a tap on the back of the head when Brian passes me on the couch, or a few kind words from my mom when she wants something from me”. As she finished saying it, Nikki dejectedly looked down at the counter and fiddled with her hairbrush, not sure what to say next.

As she finished her statement and Alex put down the pair of pants in his hands, he looked over at Nicole, beginning to realize what she meant but still not fully understanding that she had an awareness of Sam’s and Alex’s physical relationship.

Alex walked over next to Nikki, bent down and turned her shoulders to face him, “Hey, we both love you like a sister. We’re always going to be here for you, even when Sam moves to college and I go the year after. You hear me?” He finished, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into his arms.

With small tears in the corners of her eyes, she put her arms around Alex’s neck and hugged him back, gently nuzzling into his neck a bit and sighing as she breathed in the scent of his deodorant and shampoo. As the embrace reached its zenith, Alex heard Nicole whisper almost incoherently “I love you too”.

When they let go of one another and Alex stepped away heading back to the suitcase to finish unpacking, he heard her say behind him “Do you think either of you will ever love me the way you love each other?

At this, Alex dropped the shirts in his hand and stood there, mouth agape and everything she had said and done recently running through his mind trying to connect all of the dots. He slowly turned around and was going to try to surreptitiously determine if she knew what was going on between himself and Sam, or if he was just suffering from a guilty conscience and therefore seeing undertones to the conversation that didn’t actually exist.

There Nicole stood, her tank top laying on the counter and her yoga pants off, her cute little breasts exposed and confidently wearing only her panties, she said to Alex, “Ever since Winterhaven I’ve had a feeling that the relationship you two share is one that I want to be a part of. I love you both, and I want to be a part of it, whatever that may mean. No one has ever shown me the love that you two do in such a free and easy way, I don’t want to watch you two leave home and get distant from me. Nobody else gets me the way that you two do...”

Alex just stood there, taking in all of her words, her young, natural femenin beauty, the way her long neck curved down to her petite, but firm C-cup breasts. The way her hips widened and curved back down, glimpsing her ass in the mirror behind her, and all the way down her firm, toned legs to her feet. She was inviting him to touch her, to look at her body, naked and unashamed - putting herself out on a limb just hoping against hope that her intuition was right about the two siblings.

Alex recovered his wits quickly enough as he heard the shower turn off, “I don’t know what you mean” he said, trying to pretend he didn’t understand what she was referring to.

With nothing left to lose, Nicole just stood there staring at Alex, not making a move to cover herself back up, but beginning to get a bit of a rose color in her cheeks as she realized that Sam or Brian could walk into the room at any second and she would have no way to excuse her current state.

Realizing that Nicole was just going to stand there until she heard an answer one way or the other, Alex crossed the room quickly, picked up her shirt and placed it in her hand and said quietly, “I’ll ... talk to Sam. But you need to be ready to tell her everything because shes going to ask questions and this isn’t something anyone else knows about. Were on the edge here as it is.” He bent down so his eyes were level with hers and placed his hands on her shoulders, “No one knows about ... us. You are going to have to convince her that you know exactly whats going on and tell her just what you told me”

With her head nodding in eager acceptance, she quickly threw the tank top back over hear head and put her pants back on, sighing with relief inwardly that her huge gamble had paid off, glad that she had taken that Valium in the car or else she would have never had the nerve to pull off the stunt she just had.

Just then, Sam opened the door to the shower and nodded her head to Nikki, “Showers all yours” and began running the towel through her hair.

While Sam stood there with a towel wrapped around her body, bent over and drying out her hair with quick motions of the towel, he couldn’t help but admire the beauty that was his sisters nubile body. With a start, he looked over and saw that Nicole was also gazing at Sam in a manner that suggested more than just a simple appreciation of another good-looking girl. There was a ... fire in her eyes. Alex could swear the look he saw Nikki giving Sam just then was the same one he had given to his sister on that first night of sexual exploration. Amazement, wonder, the promise of possibilities, all with an undercurrent of fiery lust.

Nicole grabbed her things and, with a meaningful look to Alex, walked into the bathroom for her own shower.

Just as the bathroom door closed, they both heard a THUMP as something slammed against the door to the room.

“What the hell...” Alex said to himself as he went to check the noise. As he turned the handle, Brian burst in nearly out of breath. “Dude, there’s some hooot college chicks out here that just invited us to a party that their sorority is putting on tonight, get your ass out here!” he finished, thumbing over his shoulder. Not waiting for Alex to answer, Brian quickly turned around and ran presumably back towards his ‘hot college coeds’, obviously harboring thoughts of the dirty and unrealistic porn he had seen somewhere.

“WHERE’S YOUR KEY?!” Alex shouted, realizing too late that it was a futile gesture and that Brian was too distracted to answer or care just then. With a chuckle, he said to Sam as he went to close the door, “Damn horndog. I swear it’s a good thing he’s pretty, cuz sometimes he can be a few tacos short of a Fiesta platter if you know what im sayin’”

With a final shake of her head, Sam flipped her hair back over her head and finished wrapping the towel in its place. She eyed the door, then glanced over at the bathroom door as she heard the shower come on. Sam slowly began walking towards Alex with a mischievous grin on her face and began unwrapping the towel from around her body.

Samantha held the towel open with both hands, exposing her naked body to her brother and, pushing him back onto the bed she began to straddle him, grinding her hips and running her pussy lips over the bulge in his pants in a vigorous and demanding manner.

As he took in the site of his beautiful sister he momentarily forgot everything else. She ... this ... was what was important now. Nothing could distract him from the desire he felt for his sister and the way they...

“fuck” he said to himself as Sam began kissing him, he pulled her away for a second and said “Nicole knows about us”.

It was like a lightswitch was flipped off. Sam, initially confused but then quickly beginning to understand, rolled off of him and quickly wrapped the towel back around her waist in a manner that suggested she wished to preserve her honor from this unwelcome revelation.

“What do you mean?”, she said, glancing nervously at the bathroom door

“I mean,” Alex said, “that she knows about us. I mean that she knows that our relationship is more complicated than a normal brother-sister relationship. I mean that she wants to be a PART of our relationship”

With a look of disbelieving hesitation, and thinking that Alex might just be trying to have a bit of fun with her or that perhaps he had been harboring some dirty thoughts about their mutual friend, she said “What makes you say that?” still glancing to the bathroom door and back to her brother.

With quick, harsh whispers he stood and walked to the counter where Nikki had been standing and said, “I MEAN, that not two minutes ago she was standing here, completely naked and telling me she wants to be loved the way that we love each other. That she loves us and wants to be involved in our relationship. She said she has suspected something for a few weeks, since Winterhaven”

Taking this all in, Sam continued to process this information and look around the room. To the bathroom door, to where Alex was standing, to where he was pointing on the ground where Nikki’s clothes had apparently been discarded, and back around to the door.

As she continued to process, Alex kept talking. “I didn’t get the impression that she would tell anyone. She seemed to know the severity of the situation and how no one would like it if they heard a brother and sister were having a physical relationship. I don’t know, it all happened so quickly, but she wouldn’t put her clothes back on until I promised to talk to you about it” he finished, slowing down and trying to remain calm himself.

All things considered, Alex thought Sam was taking the new information rather well. Certainly better than he himself was taking it. He absolutely LOVED his sister, more than anyone he had ever known, and was absolutely terrified of their illicit relationship being brought to lite and people shaming them, but he was MORTIFIED with the idea that this might spell the end of their relationship together.

Looking at his sister and raising his hands, palms up in supplication as if to ask “what do you want to do?”. Sam firmed herself up and started drying off again. “Were going to go to the college, when we get there, you take Brian and go do shit, i dont care what. I will take Nikki and we will talk. I need to ... I dont know. I think I need to hear exactly what she knows.”

Sam took the towel off and began pulling on her underwear, bra, pants, and shirt. With her pants halfway up, she paused and looked at Alex. “Naked?” She asked with a nod to where her brother had been standing when talking about Nicole being naked in front of him. “Like ... NAKED naked?”

“She had panties on still, but other than that, yes.” Alex said matter-of-factly

Sam started shaking her head in bewilderment, still not quite able to believe what she had just been told, but rather than being worried or jealous as to how Alex might have reacted, she contemplated the possibilities of what it could really mean

Half an hour later, their car pulled up to the main campus quad. The Quad is basically the center of campus life, with the buildings going out in different directions from that central point. After parking and heading inside to speak to the information desk to get instructions on where to go and when, along with their visitor badges, the guys and girls split up to head to their respective destinations.

Samantha’s first sit-in class was called “Death in perspective” which is aimed at helping students appreciate life and all of the opportunities it affords. As they walked, Sam and Nicole were being fairly quiet, only pointing out and talking about some mundane things as they passed them on the campus - such as the hippies laying by the tree in the Quad and the liberal arts professor sporting a very 90’s looking grey beret hat (and pulling it off, surprisingly).

As they continued to walk, Sam suddenly blurted out “what exactly did you say to Alex in the hotel room?”

Nicole stopped in her tracks. She had hoped this conversation was coming, but wasn’t prepared for the question to just be ‘out there’ so directly and quickly. She was not the type to be easily embarrassed however so she almost immediately continued walking, catching up to Sam.

Nicole had nothing to lose at this point. She had exposed herself both physically and emotionally to Alex, and he had obviously immediately told Sam, which lead Nicole to believe that she had been correct in all of her assumptions about the relationship between the two.

“That I love you guys ... in the same way you love each other” Nikki said. She phrased it in such a way to give Sam an ‘out’ if she didn’t see Nicole in the same way. “I saw you two at Winterhaven, under the blanket. I saw him undress you with his eyes that night, the way you two are always touching in ways that could seem like brother and sister to people who know you, but is obviously more to those that have never met you. I saw you two holding hands in the car today when you picked Brian and me up.” Nikki continued; “you have both separately told me that i mean alot to you and that you love me too, but I don’t feel special to you. I feel like just another friend of convenience. I want to feel more. I want to be a part of your relationship in whatever way you will allow me to be.”

Taking a moment to absorb all of this, Sam said nothing for a time as they continued to walk. She looked at the time on her phone and decided that this ... whatever “this” was, needed to take priority. Sam and Nikki continued to walk, slower now, both saying nothing and just absorbing all of the things that have been done and said today.

Samantha considered all of the things Nikki had said. Sam had never been with another girl before, mainly because she had always enjoyed the male/female sexual gratification. But then, she realized that Nikki had never actually said anything about sex ... though she had exposed herself to Alex in the hotel room...

“Why did you strip in front of Alex earlier?” Sam asked

“Honestly?” Nikki said, “I figured it was the quickest way to get him to take me seriously, and that’s not something that could really be ignored...”

Sam considered this. She was a very jealous lover usually, but this didn’t have the ring of lust that would usually get her all catty when another girl makes a move on her man. This was more like a helpless kitten just trying to connect with someone to get the nourishment they have always needed but never gotten. It made a kind of sense, but Sam wasn’t about to just acquiesce to this very strange proposition. For one thing, Nikki was only 14 which could cause some serious problems if the wrong people found out. And after all that, Sam would be leaving home in a few months for college, what then? Would Nikki try to replace her in Alex’s eyes and arms? ... and bed? No ... it seemed much more likely that Nikki was putting all her money on one roll of the dice and telling the truth, simply hoping for the best.

Sam looked over at her friend and saw her as if for the first time. Like an open book, pages there just waiting to be read, all Sam had to do was make a small effort to turn them.

The two kept meandering through and around the large Quad, sometimes branching out to walk around a particularly impressive building or to watch a group of students playing hacky sack.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Nikki began to feel a bit of a panic. What would happen to her if she was rejected by Sam? It would isolate her from the only real friends she had known, she would lose the love and acceptance that they had lavished on her since she became a bigger part of their group last year, and she couldn’t stand the thought of it.

Just when Nicole was about to start hyperventilating with all of the stress and uncertainty, Sam reached down and grabbed her hand, continuing to walk and pulling Nicole along with her.

“It’s ... it was just unexpected is all” Sam told Nikki, “Alex and I have only just started to explore our own relationship together, and neither of us expected for this to happen” she continued, gesturing between herself and Nicole.

“Let’s put this on hold for now” Sam continued, “when we can find some time alone, we will all three of us sit down together and talk more, ok? But I can promise you this,” Sam said with a gentle squeeze of Nicole’s hand, “neither of us thinks any less of you, we both still love you and want you in our lives, no matter what we decide”

Halfway across campus, Brian and Alex were also slacking off a bit. Turns out, Brian had set a meeting with the sorority girls from the hotel and had taken Alex to meet up with them.

“So ... hey,” one of the girls said as they all sat around the table at the boutique coffee shop, “we’re throwing a party tonight for a few of our graduating sisters, you boys want to be our dates?”

Alex started to say “Well see, here’s the thi ... OWCH!”, Alex reached down to rub his dead leg that Brian had just kicked.

“Sounds like a plan” Brian said, smiling to the girls. “Where should we meet you?”

As Alex continued to listen to the conversation, he felt his phone buzz against his leg. He opened it up and saw a picture message from his sister. It was what looked like his sisters hand holding another girls hand - he could only assume it was Nicole’s. The picture had the caption “We talked, everything is good and the three of us need to find some time to discuss”

Closing his phone, Alex had many questions flying through his head.

What could this mean?

What does ‘everything is good’ mean?

Why would the three of them need to talk?

But most of all ... how could he ditch Brian without seeming to ditch him...

About 90 minutes later, the two had excused themselves from the table and began walking back toward the quad after promising to meet up with the girls in an hour at the address they had given.

“I don’t know man, I am pretty tired from the drive and I can’t get caught drinking.” Alex said to Brian, “Plus, were all underage and going to Juvi isn’t something I had on my bucket list”

“Yeah yeah, fine go back to the hotel with the girls then” Brian said, “just dont hate me when I come back tomorrow with stories about my hot sorority gangbang” he finished with a hopeful gleam in his eye.

The four eventually met up back at their car and headed back to the hotel, with Brian talking constantly about the college sorority party he was going to be at tonight, and his “two super hot dates”.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, Sam suggested they all go for a swim.

“No time” Brian said, “I gotta shower and change then head over to Sorority Drive”. With that, Brian grabbed his bag and went into the shared bathroom to shower.

Sam, Alex, and Nicole all realized at the same time that they were all alone and the silence was building between them.

“Pool?” Nikki timidly questioned, “I don’t think i’ve ever seen such a big pool inside a building like this before, they probably have hot tubs too... !”

With that, Alex and Sam were jolted back into action. “Yeah”, Alex said, “Lets.”

They all grabbed their suitcases and began opening them looking for their swimwear. Once they had their suits, they all realized together that there was no where to change since the bathroom was occupied. Alex sat down on the bed next to Sam, apparently ready to wait for Brian to finish in the shower so they could all take turns going in to change, but Sam stood there with a spark of an idea coming into her mind.

As if on cue, Nicole met Sams eyes and nodded slightly in unspoken understanding, then began to unbutton her pants right there in front of the two siblings. It wasn’t until Nikki had bent back up from pulling her pants and underwear down to her ankles, that Alex looked up from his hands and realized that something had just happened, and that Nicole was apparently getting changed right there in front of them.