Chapter 1

“How much trouble do you think I’m in?” Laurel asked, while Kate maneuvered from her wheelchair to the car seat. The conversation paused while Laurel folded up the chair and put it in the trunk.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Kate said once Laurel joined her in the car. “They’re not going to blackball you over something like this. We’ve all made fools of ourselves over guys at parties. The censure was just Avery playing politics.”

“Crying at the pledge meeting probably didn’t help,” Laurel said forlornly.

“Chill,” Kate told her. “In December we’ll be sworn in as full sisters, and then you’ll have just as much status in the sorority as Avery. How did it happen, anyway?”

Laurel sighed. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Well, I just ... Daniel and I really hit it off at first. I really liked him. But when we stopped talking I let it go like I should have. But then Avery and Martina said they could tell he really liked me. I just wanted to make sure I was available if he wanted to talk to me again so I kept close. And then when he did come up to me again I was excited, but then he asked if I was following him, and I got anxious. I started saying stupid things like I always do, and I just kept making it worse. Like I always do.”

“I thought college would be different, you know?” Laurel began to complain. “People would be more mature. I would be more mature. They always make it sound like you can have as much sex as you want in college. I’m jealous of how easy it is for you.”

Kate laughed. “Did you honestly just tell the girl in the wheelchair that you’re jealous of how easy sex is for her?”

“Well..., yeah?” Laurel answered. “I mean, you’ve done it lots of times since school started, right?”

“Sure, I’ve gotten busy with a couple guys,” Kate explained. “But, I mean, it’s fucking complicated. Plus, I really fucking miss orgasms.”

“You can’t come?” Laurel asked, full of surprise.

“Technically yes,” Kate clarified. “But it’s so much trouble that, effectively, no.”

“Then why..., I mean, what’s it like?” Laurel pressed.

“Well, I mean, it’s not that much different than when ambulatory girls have sex but don’t come. It’s still sex,” Kate explained. Laurel looked confused. “Don’t tell me you’ve come every time you’ve had sex...?” Kate added.

“I’ve only done it once,” Laurel confessed. “But, yeah, there was an orgasm.”

“Hmm,” Kate said. “Let me try to describe it.” She continued:

Friday before last I had my fifth date with Baz. He and Mary and Bradley were over watching movies at my place, but Baz and I both kinda knew that we wanted to do it, so we made excuses to get rid of the others. Which is cool - Mary has some stories about that night too.

Fast forward and we’re sitting there on the couch, both shirtless, and he’s sucking on my nipple. Then he kinda straddles me and he’s kissing me from above. At first I’m grabbing his ass, but his jeans are on, so unbutton his pants and pull them down to get a good grab. His dick got free in the process, and it starts poking me right in the solar plexus. So I’m like, “Okay, we need to fuck. Go get in bed - I’ll meet you there in a minute.”

Laurel interrupted. “Couldn’t he have carried you? I know you like to be independent, but it sorta would have been romantic, right?”

Kate shrugged. “Yeah - but then my chair would have been in a different room. Baz falls asleep right after he comes. If I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee, I don’t have time to mess around.”

“Oh,” Laurel said.

Kate went on: