Chapter 3

The next day was a Saturday, and Sarah and Charlotte were relaxing in their dorm room.

Charlotte was sitting on the couch wearing a long-sleeved dress that went down to her ankles, and reading a a paper copy of the Wall Street Journal—and odd quirk that Hannah suspected was an affectation for a 19 year old college student.

Hannah sat at their suite’s kitchen table, wearing a loose black t-shirt and jeans and reading a novel and listening to music on headphones, when her phone beeped with a text alert.

“Hey sweetie! It’s Jess! I’m on campus and wanted to see if you wanted to grab a coffee!”

“Why not?” Hannah thought to herself, thinking of her sister’s exhortations from the previous night.

She texted back and the girls made arrangements to meet at a coffee shop a short walk from Hannah’s dorm.

When Hannah got to the shop, she saw Jessica was already there, waiting in line. She wore a spaghetti strap tank top that cut off immediately below her breasts and was low cut-off enough that it looked like her breasts would fall out with the slightest provocation. She had cut-off denim shorts that left the the lower half of her butt hanging out, and her bare feet were covered in high-heeled sandals. Hannah noticed she wasn’t wearing her spade necklace, but that a spade anklet hung from her right foot.

“HANNAH!” Jessica squealed excitedly when she saw her. She ducked out of line and rushed to embrace her. Hannah felt a blush of embarrassment at the loud greeting, which only deepened when Jessica’s almost fully exposed breasts pressed against her body in a tight embrace.

“Good morning Jessica...” Hannah said...”We uh ... kind of lost our place in line.”

Jessica turned around and saw the long line of students looking to get caffeine to battle hangovers from the previous night.

“So we did!” she giggled. “But that just gives us more time to talk!”

The girls sidled into line together.

“So ... I spoke to Sarah last night” Hannah mentioned.

“OH!” Jessica chirped. “How is our girl?”

“She uhhh ... seemed like she’s been making lots of new friends...” Hannah responded.

“Oh and HOW!” Jessica smiled. “I’m so proud of her—she’s really come out of her shell!”

“So...” Hannah said, changing the subject. “Lucas is your boyfriend?”

A mischievous glimmer flashed across Jessica’s eyes.

“He’s definitely a boy ... who’s a friend ... but I wouldn’t call him a boyfriend? Who needs labels?”

“Oh...” Hannah said...”You seemed very ... ummmm ... familiar ... in the cafeteria...”

“Well of course he fucks my brains outs! But so do lots of men! And lots of women!”

Hannah made an awkward squeaking sound and glanced around, shocked that Jessica would so loudly make such a private statement surrounded by so many people!

“WHAT!?!?”

Jessica laughed. “Hannah! We’re in college! We shouldn’t be tied down to one person! We should have fun! Honestly ... I think that applies to well after college too!”

Hannah stared blankly at Jessica.

“Oh Hannah, Hannah, Hannah. Sex—fucking—is glorious! Wait---are you a virgin?”

Hannah turned bright red and looked down, staring daggers into her coffee mug. She wasn’t ... she had a brief encounter the summer before college with a wiry classmate who regarded himself as quite the intellectual, and who had also enrolled in the school as a philosophy major, but the experience only left her wondering what the big deal about sex was.

Jessica sighed. “Look, you don’t have to answer. But we grew up in the same town. I know how it was there. And it’s the kind of thing a girl has to decide to do when she’s ready—and only when she’s ready. But believe me—I’m having the time of my life!”

Hannah turned an even brighter shade of red, and began to stare intensely at the shop’s menu.

“Well, I can see sex makes you clam up--coffee can’t be that interesting.” Jessica said dryly. “But the reason I wanted to meet up with you today is so you could meet a professor of mine, and Sarah’s! I know you two are quite the little bookworms, and I enjoy a good read myself. Professor Suffolk is a star in comparative literature. That’s how actually how Sarah and I started to get close---we took the same class and I sponsored her in a student group that Professor Suffolk puts on. I told her about you, and that you were Sarah’s sister and she wanted to meet you! We’re having a ... closed meeting of our group, but I said I’d bring you by a few minutes early for introductions!”

Hannah looked up for the first time. “Student group?”

“Oh yes,” Jessica said. “Entry is a little selective—you have to have top marks, and the existing students have to approve you. Granted it’s a little cliquish, but we want to make sure everyone meshes. Too be honest, I thought Sarah would be too reserved for the vigorous ... discussions ... that take place. But once she got going, she fit right in!”