Chapter 3: Learning the Rules

The next few days went by rapidly. After reviewing the syllabus things quickly got down to business, and it was impressive how much information we covered each day. Perhaps this was because there weren't as many classroom interruptions, but more likely the professors just didn't seem concerned about overwhelming us.

By Wednesday afternoon I'd already written my first two-page 'paper' and was feeling remarkably confident in my choice to attend college. After years of private tutors and occasionally sitting in on lectures at various colleges and universities, I realized I was actually over prepared for freshman level classes. I found myself learning more from how my professor taught as opposed to what he taught.

I fully appreciated the liberal arts experience. After briefly introducing the topic and verifying that we'd already read the material, the professor opened things up for in-class discussion. It helped that Amy was in my class, as between the two of us we could really heat up a debate. I was fascinated by how fellow students approached an argument and how people who seemed so similar to me could have such radically different views.

By Wednesday afternoon I was already planning out my weekend and trying to come up with something good to bring to Saturday's barbecue at the Whetsons'.

I was startled out of my reverie by my phone ringing. As anyone from the Institute got a special ring tone, and most people on campus used my campus number, I was slightly confused as to who it could be.

After a couple rings I grabbed my wireless headset and answered.

"Hello? This is Alex."

"Hey, it's Sarah!" came the bubbly yet exceptionally loud reply from my ear piece.

'Why do teenagers have to be so freaking loud?' I silently seethed before adjusting the volume.

"How's it going?"

Despite the ringing in my ears from her shout, I was actually pleased Sarah had called, but there was no way I'd ever tell her that.

We started the usual small talk about the weather and how our weeks had gone, and she had to rub in the fact that her school didn't start for another week. I reminded her that my school year would finish more than a month before hers and was pleasantly satisfied with the level of indignation that quickly colored her voice.

As a guy I never really saw the point of long conversations by phone when you were close enough to just hang out in person. I was debating the merits of cutting her off when, after several more moments of increasing raving at the unfairness of the world, Sarah finally got to her point.

"Anyways," she sighed in exasperation at my failing to respond to her latest barb, "since I don't have class I have a bit of extra time this afternoon. I was just wondering, do you want to go running along Memorial Creek?"

This last was said all in a rush, and it took me a moment to figure out she'd asked me a question instead of her previous ranting.

I was so used to giving her shit by this point that I couldn't help teasing her.

"Are you asking me out?"

"No, it's just safer to go running in groups."

"Oh, so you're trying to get me killed?"

"NO, I..." she began to stammer before groaning in frustration. "Arg! Oh, never mind!"

Sensing she was about to explode, I cut her off before she could get too agitated.

"Sure, I'd love to go."

"What?" she stammered. "Great!" she quickly added. "You're in the freshman dorm, right?"

"Yeah, I'm in Loomis," I replied distractedly. I was trying to remember if I'd seen any athletic shorts while checking out the dresser over the weekend.

"Cool, then I'll meet you out front in 15 minutes?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you then."

I was able to find several pairs of running shorts that weren't cut too short. In fact, checking myself out in the mirror I had to admit I looked rather good. 'I guess the Institute's workout routine has been good for something after all.'

Since Sarah wouldn't be out front for another few minutes I wasn't in a rush and stopped to talk with Jess and Jackie when I ran into them going down the stairs.

"Hey, where're you heading?" Jackie asked as they admired my running shorts.

"I was going to meet up with a friend and go running along the creek."

"Mind if I join you?" they asked practically in unison before looking at each other and cracking up.

"Sure, I haven't gone out that much recently so we probably won't go all that far today. But I don't want to be late so is it okay if I wait for you out front?"

"Sounds good. We just need to change, but should be down in a few," Jackie replied as they hurried heading up the stairs.

As I headed on down the stairs I could swear I heard Jess mutter, "Who wears short shorts..."

Five minutes later Sarah showed up. Before I could say anything she hauled back and smacked me on the arm. Hard.

"Ow," I winced as I rubbed my shoulder.

"You were being a butt on the phone and I don't appreciate it."

"Hey, I'm here aren't I? You're the one who called up to rub in that you don't have school this week."

"That's not the only reason I called," she winked. "Are you ready to go?"

"No, we need to wait for Jess and Jackie."

"Who?"

"Some of The Girls from Three West."

Just then I noticed a twinkle in Sarah's eye only moments before someone smacked me hard on my other shoulder.

I turned to find Jackie and Jess smiling at me. "What was that for?" I asked incredulously.

"I saw her walk up and smack you and it just seemed like a good idea," Jackie replied coquettishly. "He did deserve it, right?" she asked Sarah.

It always annoyed me how girls thought they could get away with both flirting and with beating on guys they were attracted to. I'd tried to teach my clients to be more considerate and 'be nice, ' but obviously Jackie's Docent hadn't been as thoughtful.

"Totally, he was a royal ass on the phone earlier," Sarah replied in an indignant tone.

"Really, maybe I should hit him again?"

"Careful, I hit back," I warned.

"Yeah, you probably would," Jackie pouted before turning back to Sarah. "So who are you and where are we going?"

Introductions were made and we headed off through campus towards Memorial Creek at a rather slow jog. At first I was going to complain about the pace, but quickly found out that at 6,000+ feet in elevation the air truly was rare. Still, I was in relatively good shape. I held up a fairly decent conversation with Sarah while Jess and Jackie panted along.

After warming up, Jackie joined the conversation once in a while, especially when we got onto some of the cruder topics which Sarah seemed to expertly steer me towards at every opportunity.

Since Sarah brought it up I figured it was safe to talk about sex. It was extremely amusing to watch Jess blush every time I mentioned anything explicit. It was also refreshing to get outside for a while.

All in all, I had a great time and we made plans to go out running again after classes on Friday. Sarah said she'd try to join us as well, but warned she might be too tired from preseason soccer practice.

When we finally made it back it was close to six, and since we'd been out running I was definitely feeling hungry. I was also sweaty and dusty from the trail. By this point all of The Girls had toured my room at least once and all were well aware of my whirlpool.

"Hey, you guys want to join me for a dip in the hot tub before dinner? We could go skinny dipping..."

"In your dreams, buddy," wheezed Jess as she leaned against the elevator wall, but she did seem to be pondering the invitation.

"Yeah, you wish," parroted Jackie as we rode the elevator up to the third floor.

Judging by the twinkle in Jackie's eyes and her teasing smile I strongly suspected she wasn't all that opposed to the idea, but didn't want to force the issue ... yet.

"Your loss," I teased back. "Want to go get dinner in half an hour?"

Later that night I practically collapsed into bed. It wasn't the length of the run that wore me out, as I was in good shape, but the altitude had really drained me.

Rubbing my aching shoulders I realized that I'd soon need to do something about The Girls. While trying to simultaneously flirt with so many women at once was a challenge I relished, the fact that I'd kept it up this long had earned me a near super human reputation on campus. It didn't help that Laura now joined us occasionally for meals and flirted outrageously with me, though she never once hinted at our previous encounter or tried to take things further.

I needed to either convince The Girls to tone things down, or somehow find a way of making the rest of campus view me as more human. To be honest I was not sure if I could stop flirting with The Girls. It came down to a question of how to become more human without permanently tarnishing my reputation or making the Institute look bad.

I came up with a few ideas, but none would be fun. I hadn't settled on a plan when I drifted into a fitful sleep.

I couldn't help giving Jess shit at breakfast the next morning, as she was cranky and sore yet refused to take any medicine.

"Let me get this straight, your leg muscles are aching and cramping, you take ibuprofen for other cramps, so why not now?"

Apparently I'd crossed some invisible line into 'feminine hygiene' territory, and almost instantly The Girls were on Jess' side vocally defending her right to govern her body as she saw fit.

'Fine, if you want to be stubborn and in pain, that's your problem, ' I thought with a shrug while holding my hands up as if to physically ward off the attacks coming from all around the table.

On Friday Jess begged off joining us for a run, complaining of being too sore. After some good natured ribbing by Jackie and me we headed out front to meet Sarah.

Seeing as it was the weekend and we had plenty of daylight we decided to go out for a slightly longer run. Jackie was still huffing along beside us, but seemed to be contributing more to the conversation. It was a great run, and my legs were pleasantly throbbing on the way back to the dorm.

My mood improved further when, in the elevator, Jackie leaned up against me. Even sweaty I enjoyed her closeness.

"So, is your hot tub still available?"

"Of course."

I hadn't anticipated her question and nearly stumbled as we exited the elevator.

"Good, let me go get a change of clothes."

I'd barely had time to grab a sip of water when there was a soft knocking at my door. Outside I found Jackie wrapped in a towel and holding a fresh change of clothes.

"Jackie, are you sure you want to do this..." I tried to ask as she slipped past me, dropped her towel and headed towards the bathroom with a significant sway to her hips.

She paused in the doorway to the bathroom and looked over her shoulder at me.

"Aren't you going to join me?"

I quickly stripped off my sweaty running clothes and headed into the bathroom. Once there I was nearly struck dumb by the sight of Jackie bent over, her medium sized breasts gently swaying as she adjusted the water's temperature and started to fill the tub. I swore I saw a gleam between her legs, but wasn't sure and didn't want to be caught staring.

After letting a few inches accumulate Jackie stepped into the tub, settled down, and turned towards me.

"Well, are you going to join me or just drool," she challenged, but there was a warm smile on her lips and a teasing twinkle to her eye.

"Um, drool?"

"Oh, get in here," she complained with a laugh, splashing water at me.

Jackie's eyes never wandered and she barely seemed to notice my nudity. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable I made sure to maintain eye contact while I waited for the tub to fill. Shutting off the faucet, I turned on the jets and joined her in the hot tub.

I instinctively reached forward and started giving her a foot massage. Part of this was my Docent training telling me to make my 'client' comfortable. It gave me the perfect excuse to fondle her leg with the added bonus of getting plenty of 'peeks' when the bubbles cleared. Occasionally I saw another sparkle, but wasn't ready to admit I'd been staring at her pussy.

"Mmm, that feels good," Jackie purred as she settled back against the side of the tub.

This had the effect of thrusting out her chest, and the water just happened to be at nipple level. Watching the bubbles bounce up and burst against her breasts was enthralling and I felt myself get hard. I began to question the innocence of Jackie's actions as when I switched to her other foot she let the first drop so that it was resting in my lap, at times actively massaging my erection.

Wanting to do more than just massage her feet, I tried to mix things up.

"I think you're feet are done, would you like a shoulder massage?"

After a vague nod I was amused to see her eyes instantly pop open and lock onto my now very erect cock when I stood up. As I maneuvered into position behind her I felt her squirm back until my erection was firmly snuggled between her ass cheeks. Fortunately I still had enough room to put forth at least a token effort at rubbing her shoulders.

My wrists soon started to cramp from trying to massage her shoulders at such an awkward angle. I decided to treat Jackie like any other Little Sister I shared a shower with, allowing my hands slide down until I was massaging her breasts.

A few minutes later I kept one in place while I allowed the other to travel further south. Jackie gasped in pleasure when I found her clit, but moaned when I drew up short.

"I thought you were pierced," I mused as I allowed my finger to lazily trace the ring that seemed to pass directly behind her clit.

"And I thought you were going to give me a back rub," she moaned, firmly grasping my invading hand and thrusting against it.

"I remember seeing a few older Docents who had genital piercings, but I never got a chance to really talk to them about their experiences."

Sensing I wasn't just going to let it drop, Jackie tried to stave off conversation by quickly answering the most common questions.

"It's called a triangle, I got it last summer, and am very happy with my choice."

"Has it made any difference?"

Sighing in frustration, Jackie tried to squirm against my hand for more stimulation but when I failed to do more than tease she finally answered.

"At first it was rather overwhelming, just walking would get me wet. After a few months I got used to having it, but sex is still a whole lot better."

"Does it hurt to have it pull on your clit like that?" I asked, lightly pulling on the ring.

"Hardly," she moaned. "You of all people should know girls aren't that fragile. It doesn't hurt so long as you don't pull too hard or too fast."

"Like this?" I asked while using the ring to gently tease her clit.

"Yes!" she groaned, and again thrust her hips towards my hand.

I decided to test out her claim that the piercing improved sex. Either Jackie had a hair trigger or she wasn't lying, as she quickly approached orgasm. I had to use every trick I knew to prevent her from coming immediately.

After several minutes of her writhing against me I figured she'd had enough. With a deft flick of my wrist I sent her cascading over the edge. Jackie literally squealed in pleasure.

There was not even a hint of embarrassment at her very vocal release when Jackie twisted around to firmly kiss her appreciation. Even though I knew she wanted more, her face looked troubled and I began to suspect something was wrong.

"Alex, that was incredible, but we have to stop."

With that she gave my erection an affectionate squeeze before standing up, stepping out of the tub, and heading out of the bathroom.

"Hey, what about me?" I called as I stumbled after her.

She was almost completely dressed when I entered the room.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, unwilling to meet my eyes as she headed for the door.

'What the fuck?' This was absolutely ridiculous. I'd guessed that Jackie was a tease, but to leave me high and dry? That bordered on cruel. At the very least she could have stuck around to finish the bath.

This was one of the first times a Little Sister had walked away without giving me plenty of warning, or at the very least apologizing profusely. One of the key lessons of Docent training was, 'Don't start something you have no intention of finishing.' Another was to make sure both understood just how far the other was willing to go. Teasing was fine, but too much teasing could get you in trouble, and Jackie had more than crossed the line.

Seething, I decided that something had to be done. The Girls were becoming increasingly bold and I didn't want to completely lose control of the situation.

I was in a foul mood when I ate breakfast with Amy the next morning. I'd avoided The Girls at dinner last night, but apparently they'd assumed I just wanted to be alone or something. While I wasn't specifically mad at all of The Girls, Amy's ribbing wasn't appreciated.

"I heard you had fun after your run yesterday."

"Well, at least Jackie had a good time."

"I'm sure," she laughed. "I haven't seen her that happy since she punched you the other day. She didn't hit you again, did she?"

"Not exactly," I grumbled. "Wait, you saw her hit me?"

"Yeah, I was just getting back from class," Amy replied with a shrug. "I tried to wave, but you seemed distracted."

"And you didn't warn me?"

"Why should I? It's not my business who you piss off," she teased, ignoring my glower. "Besides, you're a big boy, a very big boy from what I've heard."

Exasperated, I decided to treat Amy like an obnoxious client and tried gently to get her to back off.

"It's hardly fair if all of you gang up against me."

"Since when were you afraid of a few Girls picking on you?"

"You outnumber me by at least six to one! One-on-one or even small groups I can handle, but all The Girls at once? Come on, I'm only human."

Amy seemed skeptical about this last comment, but did back off and make more of an effort to be friendly. My mood slowly improved as we ate, but I wasn't about to sit through another round of teasing and quickly made my exit when Jess joined us just as we finished.

Several months later I learned that Amy wasn't quite as oblivious to my mood as I'd first assumed, and that I wasn't the only one frustrated with the current situation. Apparently Amy had been having second thoughts about how things were turning out and, after I left, had a conversation with Jess that went something like the following:

"Think we should tell Alex about the exit survey?" Amy asked.

After being trained by a Docent, every client is asked to fill out an exit survey. One of the most controversial aspects of the survey is a series of questions that basically ask, 'If given the opportunity, would you again accept the services of a Docent (i.e., sex)?' Recently The Girls had been talking quite a bit about Alex, and one of the elements they shared was that they'd all answered 'yes' to the 'do it again' questions.

"No way. If he hasn't figured it out by now I see no reason to enlighten him. Besides, it's rather fun watching him try to simultaneously flirt with all of us."

"I guess, it's just I'm not sure 'playing hard to get' is working," Amy replied. She played with the food she had left on her plate for a moment. "Alex seemed rather pissed off about whatever Jackie did yesterday."

"Really?"

"Kind of," Amy hedged. "Outwardly he didn't react much, but his eyes were furious. I just don't understand how he could be so upset yet carry on a normal conversation."

"Well, Jackie did say that he'd need to learn not to hide his emotions all the time."

"I know, and she also said it would be hard," Amy replied, before blushing and adding, "but I'm not sure how much longer I can resist."

"Maybe we can have some fun at the frat parties later tonight," suggested Jess. "So, are you jealous?"

"No!" Amy snapped. "Okay," she smiled, "maybe a little. It just doesn't seem fair even if Jackie promises that it will be more than worth the wait."

"Yeah, but let's give it a little more time and see how the party goes," Jess agreed.

When I got back to my room I was still feeling unsettled about what to do with Jackie and the rest of The Girls. From experience I knew that you either did the hard hours early or you might never get a second chance. Added to that, always hanging out with The Girls seemed to be scaring away some of my classmates, as very few people made any effort to introduce themselves or join our table.

What I found most disturbing was the general perception people had of me: that because I was an Elite I was somehow more than human or otherwise infallible.

After wracking my brain I finally came up with a possible solution that could rectify both problems. It wasn't going to be pleasant and would involve pissing off The Girls, but I hoped it would also give me a chance to study how my classmates reacted, and ideally bring their perceptions of me down to a more realistic, if not fully human, level.

With a roughed out plan in mind, I tried to distract myself by focusing on my schoolwork. I managed to use the rest of the day productively and actually finished all of the homework and most of the suggested reading for the weekend by the time I needed to head over to the Whetsons'.

There was plenty of good natured ribbing when I showed up at the Whetsons' barbeque in my brand new Porsche. Sarah in particular seemed impressed.

"I'd noticed it near the dorm when we went running, but didn't know it was yours!" she gushed as she peered through the windows and generally drooled over the car.

'Like the 'Reserved for Alex Cayly' parking sign left any doubt?' I was tempted to fire back, but thought it best not to provoke Sarah too early in the evening.