Chapter 16

"Let me guess," Kaija smirked, "you were going to take your underwear off eventually, too?"

"Of course," Ally sighed, insulted by her roommate's stupid question.

"So are you going to check, or am I? We're getting nowhere fast," Kaija complained.

Ally bit her lower lip. "Uh, I'd do it, but..." Her voice trailed off.

"Either you're afraid, or you don't know what you're looking for. Frankly, either way I'm scared!"

Throwing her roommate a scathing look, Ally started to get up. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea," she half whined, pulling the towel closer to her body.

Realizing she had been a little insensitive, Kaija apologized. It wasn't an overly verbose apology, but it was enough to get Ally back on the bed.

Kaija was pretty sure whatever progress she and Ally may have made was undone by the simple passage of time and the change in Ally's mood. "I have an idea!" Kaija shouted excitedly. She ran over to her chest of drawers and pulled out a video tape. The tape's sleeve showed a sexy, scantily clad blonde leaning up against a shiny red sports car.

"A movie? I thought we were gonna-"

"Shh," Kaija interrupted. "This isn't just any movie, it's a classic. In fact, if all goes well, it should put you in the mood in no time."

Ally snatched the cardboard sleeve out of Kaija's hand. "Lemme see that," she demanded. She turned the box over to read the movie's descriptive blurb while Kaija readied the VCR. The tape slid into the player with an electronic whir.

"A porn flick?" Ally shrieked with a gasp. She shook her head vehemently, handing the tape's sleeve back to Kaija. "I'm not watching that crap! Let's just give it up. I'm a useless case..."

"Come on, you've been brave and adventurous so far. Don't give up on me now!" Kaija's look begged Ally to give the movie a shot.

"But it's about cars..." Ally moaned.

Kaija broke into a mischievous grin. "Yeah, maybe the movie has a car name, but trust me, cars have very little to do with the movie."

Ally plopped down on her bed with a sigh. "This better be good," she threatened playfully.

Pushing the Play button, Kaija joined her on the bed. Ally sat wide-eyed, taking in the revealing scenes of the people on screen. The girls watched silently as a wonderfully fit young couple played around in an automotive shop. The guy was fixing a Porsche as a leggy blonde teased him mercilessly. She rubbed his chest, nibbled on his earlobe, gave his tight ass a squeeze, and then grabbed for his crotch as her mouth ravaged his.

"Oh my God," Ally giggled, "she looks like a huge fish gobbling up its prey!" Kaija couldn't help but laugh as well. "I thought you said this was supposed to get me in the mood? Looks more like a comedy to me," Ally complained.

"Shh," Kaija scolded. "Just wait. It's about to get real hot."

As the guy shut the hood of the car, the woman opened the driver's side door, peeled off her wraparound skirt, and leaned into the car exposing her naked bottom. Ally had seen parts of the female anatomy she never even knew existed!

The guy came up behind the blonde and started playing with her breasts as he rubbed against her backside. Just as Ally thought the movie might actually have a chance at turning her on, music started playing.

After a brief instrumental introduction, the woman began to sing. "Porsche, Porsche, I can make your motor roar," she squeaked in a high-pitched voice. All the while, she wiggled her ass up against Mr. Mechanic.

Ally burst into a fit of laughter like no other Kaija had ever heard. Her reserved roommate produced an ear-splitting belly laugh complete with tears streaming down her face and a token knee slap once in awhile.

"What's so funny?" Kaija protested, unable to see why Ally had come unglued.

Holding her head which was throbbing from such intense laughter, Ally snorted. "Didn't you listen to what she was singing? How can you not laugh at it?"

Kaija paused. Within seconds, she heard why Ally was laughing. Hmm, it was never funny when I watched it with Barc, she reflected. But Ally's laughter was contagious, and Kaija did have to admit the whole thing was pretty funny

Ally stood up and walked over to the TV and turned it off. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me here, Kai, but I'm just not ready for it. Let's give it up for tonight."

With little more discussion, the girls changed into their nightshirts and headed for bed.

After a day full of classes and a quick dinner, Ally met Mandy and Erica for a ride to Professor Salinger's house. The girls were all a bit nervous about how the night was going to go, especially since this was the first time each of their work would be critiqued.

Amazingly, all of the students arrived on time as if eagerly anticipating the class ahead. Each found a comfy spot in the professor's large two-story great room.

"Good evening," Professor Salinger greeted. "How is everyone doing tonight?" The class grew silent, an air of tension quickly filling the wide open great room. "Okay... this is the quietest I've seen you guys. What gives?"

Oddly enough, it was Allison who spoke first. "Nerves," she said, a slight quiver in her voice.

The professor leaned back and grinned. "Nerves? Is that true?" he asked, looking around the room. No one either confirmed or denied his question. "Come on, contrary to popular belief, I don't bite." He chuckled at his own lame joke. When he got no reaction from the class, he moved on. "Who'd like to go first tonight? You'll read your story aloud, and then your classmates will offer their thoughts. It's really pretty harmless."

Erica nudged Mandy's arm. "Go on, Mandy," she whispered. "Your story's hot!" Mandy blushed. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed," Erica whispered into her ear.

"Seems like you've got a bit of a fan club already, Mandy," Professor Salinger commented, folding his hands on his lap. "Would you be willing to start us off tonight?"

With a personal request like that, how could she resist? Mandy opened her notebook and began to read her story.

The first part of the story was fairly tame, but it quickly escalated into a hot and heavy sexual encounter between two women, something Ally was not at all comfortable even listening to. She withdrew into herself, tuning out every word of the reading while Professor Salinger watched her with a humored grin. Miss Delaney is going to have to loosen up a bit if she's going to help me with that new novel, the professor thought as he stared at his young protégé. Even he had started to lose track of what was going on with Mandy's story. The more he watched Allison, the more he grew fond of her innocence, kindness, and yes, even potential talent.

"The end," Mandy declared with a blush and a giggle as Erica patted her back in congratulations of a job well done.

The words were enough to bring both Professor Salinger and Allison back to the present. "Thank you for sharing, Mandy. Who'd like to comment on her story first?" he asked the somewhat shell shocked room. It was painfully obvious that no one expected such an explicit story in a college creative writing class. The group wasn't quite sure how to react, or even what to say.

Fearing Mandy would be upset by the silence, Erica raised her hand.

"Yes, Erica?" Professor Salinger acknowledged.

"I think the piece was incredibly hot and sexy," she beamed, glancing back at Mandy with an I-can't-wait-till-we're-alone look.

The professor smiled. "I don't think you'll find any arguments there," he said, "but we're here to discuss the writing style and technique. What did you think about those?"

Erica smiled. "Well don't they have to be good in order to elicit such a reaction?"

Professor Salinger steepled his hands in deep thought, nodding as he considered her comment. "Interesting point, Erica. Any comments about that?" he asked, looking around the room.

One of the preppy guys jumped in, mercifully shifting the conversation solidly from sex to the art of writing. "Now that you mention it, isn't that why some of the best writers end up breaking basic rules of grammar? Because it sounds good to the ear?"

"Exactly." The professor stood up and began roaming the room, obviously energized by the discussion that was evolving. "Think about some of the things we say in every day conversation. Do we always speak in complete, grammatically correct sentences? Of course not! If we were to type half of what we say verbatim into a word processing program, you'd be shocked at how much complaining the spelling and grammar checking program would do. Imperfect sentences," Professor Salinger repeated. "Therein lies the key to writing good, believable dialog."