Chapter 26

The soapy water swirled off Ally's shoulders as the warm stream slowly awakened her. It seemed strange taking a shower in the middle of the night, but eh uniqueness of it all was oddly invigorating. As she rinsed the rest of her body, she smiled, wondering what Kaija and John were up to back at the room. As if she couldn't guess...

But why John? What happened with Barclay? A day ago, finding the answer to that question would have obsessed Ally beyond belief. But not now. Not with Ben in the picture.

As Ally's hands skimmed over her breasts and down her soapy belly, she wondered what Ben felt like. Would his skin be smooth and warm, or cool and roughened from exposure to the sun? And did he have chest hair? She grinned at the question, but it really did matter to her, at least on a purely superficial level. God, there was nothing more sexy than a guy wearing a shirt partly unbuttoned around the neck with dark swirls of chest hair peeking out!

Professor Salinger had chest hair, she recalled, absently massaging her scalp with hair conditioner. She remembered seeing a flash of it briefly when he bent over to speak to her once during class. But now he and his chest hair had disappeared off the face of the earth... Ally smiled at the silliness of the last observation. It clearly proved what she had known for years though-her sense of humor was her favorite coping strategy. But somehow Ben's companionship had already eased the shock and pain of the professor's disappearance. It wasn't that she stopped caring; she simply stopped hurting so much. That couldn't be such a bad thing, could it?

Ally grabbed her towel and patted herself dry before slipping into a clean nightshirt and her robe. She contemplated taking her shower caddy back to the room, but figured Kaija and John were already going at it. Did Kaija feel invigorated by the guys she hung out with, or was it a purely sexual thing to her? Perhaps sex was Kaija's favorite coping strategy, Ally mused.

With her shower caddy and book in hand, Ally wandered over to the lounge. It was predictably quiet in the early predawn hours of Saturday morning. She glanced around the room at the tattered furniture-vinyl sofas and chairs with the stuffing coming out, and big chunky wooden tables marred with graffiti.

Ally leaned over to look at the coffee table in front of her. Every inch of the tabletop seemed to be littered with words, phrases, names, phone numbers, you name it. And the authors didn't appear to be too discriminating in their tools of choice either. Carved into the far right corner of the table were the words, "Darcy Does David-D3". Ally shoved her tongue into her cheek to suppress a giggle. It could be worse, she smiled to herself. Whoever etched that appeared to have at least some knowledge of math! "Tracy loves Will" was written inside a big heart. The ink was blurred a bit, probably from the moisture of countless beer cans. But the next one really threw Ally: "Jacob and Phil... together forever!" Oooooo-kay...

"For a hot time, call Brendan at 469-6969" caught her eye next. Hmm, that had possibilities she grinned, running her hand over the thick black lines of the letters. Sharpie, she thought.

She leaned back into the sofa and opened her book. It was no "Passion in the Park", but it was from the same series of books. If she was going to write one herself, she needed to familiarize herself with the way various authors handled their stories. Of course it seemed like a moot point now that Professor Salinger was gone... But the book served its purpose-to help pass the time while Kaija and John did whatever two sex-starved college students did alone in the dark in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. Ally glanced at the book's cover after polishing off another chapter. "Broncin' Bride"... where did people get such ridiculous titles? And why were readers so fascinated with brides and cowboys? With a grin, she made a mental note to pitch a book called "I'm Gonna Wrangle Me a Bride" one day. Heck, it'd sure fulfill the public's apparent obsession with brides and cowboys!

Her eyes were watering and in desperate need of sleep. Ally tossed the book onto the coffee table, snuggled into her robe, and curled up to take a nap. She was in that weird in between state when she heard voices from behind her.

"Are you sure no one will catch us here?" That was a guy's voice. His speech was rapid and his breaths were a series of audible pants. Why would John and Kaija come out here when they had the room to themselves?

"It'll be fine. Trust me." The words were gasped out between a series of sloppy kisses. But even then Ally could tell it wasn't Kaija.

Ally had to make a split decision. Did she move now, or simply pretend she wasn't there? Since she felt too tired to move and really had nowhere else to go, staying put won out.

The couple's hot and heavy session threatened to fog up the windows of the lounge. Poor Allison couldn't help but feel like she had been drop-kicked into the middle of a lame porno movie! The sound effects, dialogue, and moans and groans had that unbelievably scripted quality that somehow became believable once it was injected into a low budget flick.

With a smile on her face, Ally slowly dozed off.

Oh, the pain! Ally rubbed her stiff neck, silently cursing the young lovers of the world for keeping her from getting a good night's sleep. She sounded like a prissy old fart on one hand, yet on a deeper level she'd never, ever acknowledge having, she had to admit she was jealous. Ally secretly longed for the day she and Ben would kick Kaija out of the room for a little alone time.

She rubbed her tired face and wandered back toward her room. At that point she could care less if she interrupted Kaija and John. Ally wanted-no, she needed-some breakfast, and she certainly wasn't going to venture over to the dining commons in her robe!

Ally knocked on the door loudly enough to be heard if they were awake, yet softly enough not to wake them if they were asleep. When no one responded, she eased the door open quietly and slid into the room. Her heart warmed at the sight of Kaija and John cuddled up on the loft. They looked so peaceful together, their limbs tangled in such a way that you couldn't tell which arm was whose.

Did Kaija find comfort in the arms of her bedmate, or was it just another fun Friday night? For Kaija's sake, Ally hoped it was more than a pure physical attraction. She had no doubt that physical could be a whole lot of fun, but she wanted more than that for Kaija. The thing is, did Kaija want more than that?

After slipping into an old pair of jeans and a comfy sweatshirt, Ally headed for breakfast. Saturday and Sunday mornings were always pretty quiet at the DC. Too much partying the night before to be bothered with breakfast Ally suspected.

She made her way through the line, sliding her tray along to gather eggs, toast, and some fresh fruit. Her appetite was uncharacteristically hardy, so she snagged the first table she could find. After all, it wasn't like she wanted to avoid anyone or anything.

Ally was in the middle of spreading grape jelly on a piece of toast when he approached her table. She was literally so busy stuffing her face, she didn't even notice he had entered the room.

"Mind if I join you, Ally-gator?" It was Barclay, complete with that sexy smile of his. When she didn't protest, he pulled out a chair and settled in. "You and I need to talk," he said, his tone low and serious. "I'm assuming you're finally convinced that Kaija and I are no longer together, right?" Ally nodded, biting into her piece of toast. "Then where do we stand?"

The question stunned her. Surely he had noticed that she and Ben were more than just casual friends when he saw them by the campus pond last night. Was he in denial? Did he simply not care? Or was his ego so inflated that he merely thought Ben was a replacement until he broke off with Kaija for good? In any case, Ally wasn't sure she liked what she was seeing from him. She couldn't bear the thought of coming right out and saying she was no longer interested in him; it just seemed so cruel, even if it was probably the kindest thing she could do.

"Ally?" Barclay prodded.

Ally bit her lower lip nervously. It seemed a little presumptuous to say she was with Ben now, so she opted for something a bit less committal. "I don't know... maybe we'd be better off staying friends."