Chapter 19

The second event that brought Seth further out of his funk was meeting a girl. Seth had been a virgin until college, and ever since then all the girls that he'd fucked had been seduced under the influence, as it were. So when Seth locked eyes with the stunning redhead across the cafeteria, he wasn't sure what to do. He had never seen her before, but there was an immediate attraction.

At first he wrote it off, because she was beautiful enough that he was sure that most guys, and probably most girls, would be immediately attracted to her as well. But throughout the meal, she kept meeting his eyes, so after he was done, he walked over to her table. She was sitting with some friends, but she seemed to be ignoring them as she watched him walk over.

Seth sat down at the table across from her and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Seth."

One of the girl's friend said, "So?"

The girl took his hand, and they held them rather than shaking. "I'm Giselle," she said with a slight accent.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight?" Seth invited.

"OK," Giselle replied.

"Giselle!" her friend exclaimed.

"Meet you at the student center at eight?" Seth asked.

"That would be nice," Giselle responded.

"I'll see you then," Seth confirmed, getting up after very reluctantly releasing her hand. As he walked away, he heard her friends asking Giselle if she had lost her mind. He considered his mind as well. It was certainly not like him to just walk up to a girl, not knowing anything about her, and ask her out. He couldn't figure out why he did it, why he thought she'd accept, or why she accepted. But she did, and he was happy about that.

That night Seth met up with Giselle in the student center, where they grabbed a seat and didn't leave. They talked about their pasts and let the conversation roam where it wanted. After about three hours, Seth asked, "Is this weird?"

"Is what weird?" replied Giselle.

"Why did you say yes to going out with me?" Seth asked.

"I'm not sure," Giselle answered. "I just know that when I saw you, I wanted to get to know you better."

"Me too," Seth admitted. "I never believed in love at first sight, but I definitely felt an attraction at first sight! And I've never been this comfortable with anyone, other than my sister, especially not a total stranger!"

"Then I agree with you, it is weird," Giselle said. "I feel the same way."

Seth felt a little nibble of suspicion. "Look, I really like you," he said. "Can we take this a little slow? Maybe dinner and a movie tomorrow night?"

"Did you think that I would immediately take you into my bed?" Giselle asked playfully.

"I thought that might happen," Seth replied.

"Well, it might have," Giselle said with a smile. "You're certainly cute enough, and I like you a lot. But OK, tomorrow a dinner. And not student center food!"

Seth walked Giselle back to her dorm. The reason he hadn't seen her around was that she lived across campus, and had only been in his cafeteria that morning because she had been visiting with friends. Friends who didn't understand the instant attraction.

Seth kissed her at the door, a light kiss, though he had to fight not to make it something more. He left, practically skipping, and headed back to his dorm. Instead of proceeding to his room, he went to Sarah's. It was late, so he let himself in with his key. In the dim light from outside, he saw Betty sleeping in her little nest at the foot of the bed and Sarah sleeping under the covers.

Seth slipped off his shoes and slipped into bed next to Sarah, taking a moment to notice that she was naked.

"Sarah?" he whispered.

"Mmmm?" she asked sleepily.

"I need to talk to you," he said quietly.

Sarah opened her eyes and saw him lying with her, and she snuggled up onto him. "What's up?" she asked in a low tone, to avoid waking up Betty.

"Did you do anything in my head? Did you change something once when you visited?"

"No!" Sarah hissed. "You know I wouldn't do that!"

"The weirdest thing happened today," Seth told her. "I saw this girl from across the cafeteria, and I was drawn to her. I went over to her and asked her out tonight and she agreed! We met and talked for hours, and I'm telling you, it was like love at first sight for both of us!

"I thought about what we did to some people, and maybe it was like that for them, too. That's why I was wondering if you hadn't picked her out for me and given us each an attraction for each other."

"Maybe it really was just love at first sight?" Sarah speculated. "I need to meet this mystery woman, pronto!"

"I'm having dinner with her tomorrow, or rather, tonight," Seth said.

"I'm inviting myself and Betty along then," Sarah said.

"I don't think she'll mind; she's interested in meeting you, too, I'll let her know later," Seth yawned sleepily.

"Mmmmm, I like this," Sarah said, snuggling deeper into Seth. "Stay."

Soon they were both asleep. When Betty got up first in the morning, she was surprised to see the two of them in bed together. At first she smirked, thinking they had finally done it, but then she realized that Seth was still wearing his clothes. She woke them both up, and they got up without embarrassment. Seth went back to his room to change, and the girls got ready for their day.

Seth called Giselle's cell during the day to tell her where he was planning to take her to eat, and he confirmed that she was OK with her Sarah and Betty joining.

"Not even on a real date yet, and already you're having me meet the family?" she joked.

"My sister is closer to me than anyone in the world," Seth said. "When I told her how I felt about you, she insisted that she meet with you."

"And how do you feel about me?" Giselle asked soberly.

Seth mused the correct answer for a minute, then said, "Strongly."

"Interesting answer," Giselle said with a grin in her voice.

"The best you get after knowing you for only four hours," Seth replied.

"OK, we can have dinner with her," Giselle declared.

Seth had decided to do it right, and he made reservations at a reasonably upmarket place; he relished the excuse to see them dress up. When Seth went to get Sarah and Betty, he quite enjoyed the view. They were both wearing short black dresses, and both looked fabulous.

They went down to the parking lot and got in the car, the girls in the back seat. Seth drove over to pick up Giselle. She was waiting for him in the lobby, and he got a hug and kiss. She was wearing a green dress that set off the color of her hair. It dropped halfway between her hips and knees, and the top showed off more cleavage than Seth had realized she had.

They went outside and Seth held open the door for Giselle. As soon as she got in, she turned to the back seat to introduce herself to Sarah and Betty.

"I can tell that you're Sarah," Giselle said, holding out her hand. "I'm Giselle."

"Hi Giselle, nice to meet you," Sarah responded cordially. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

"When?" Giselle asked.

"Last night, after he left you, Seth came to see me," Sarah told her. "Don't worry, it was all good."

"That's a relief," Giselle sighed. "Seth speaks quite highly of you, too."

Seth had just slipped into the driver's side in time to hear that comment, as well as Sarah's reply of, "He'd better!"

Sarah then turned to indicate Betty and announced, "Giselle, this is my roommate Betty."

"Pleased to meet you," Betty said.

They chatted lightly until they got to the restaurant. Once there, Seth helped each of the girls out of the car, and they went in together.

"There are a lot of jealous guys in here," Sarah whispered.

"Why?" Seth asked.

"Well, you are here with three very hot ladies," Giselle said immodestly. "They're all wondering if you are doing all three of us."

Seth colored slightly, and Giselle smirked at him.

"He's so easy to embarrass," Sarah laughed.

"You're still not too old to put over my knee, young lady!" Seth growled with mock indignation.

"Young lady, hah!" Sarah exclaimed. "He's two minutes older than me and he thinks that makes him the boss of me!"

They sat down to a lovely dinner, and each of them got to know the other. Seth learned more about Giselle, and Sarah was brutal sharing details about a younger, geekier Seth. Betty stayed fairly quiet throughout the meal, only piping in when asked a question. They stayed at their table until the restaurant staff made them leave, so they could close.

Seth dropped off his sister and her slave, then drove to Giselle's dorm. "Walk with me," Giselle entreated, not wanting the night to end.

They started walking, holding each other's hands, in quiet speculation. Then Giselle observed, "You really love your sister, don't you?"

"More than anything," Seth said without hesitation. "Sometimes I feel like we're the same person. She's the most important person in the world to me."

"She feels the same way about you," Giselle noted. "I hope she liked me, because if she thinks that I'm not good enough for you, I think I'll be in real trouble."

"Don't worry, she liked you," Seth assured the pretty girl beside him.

"How can you be sure?" she asked.

"I know my sister," Seth said confidently.

"Well, you may have a conflict of interest here, but I'll have to trust you on that," Giselle said.

They continued along quietly for a few more minutes, then Giselle asked, "What's up between Sarah and Betty?"

"What do you mean?" Seth asked.

"Well, they're not quite romantic girlfriends, but they are definitely lovers," Giselle opined. "Sarah is definitely in control of that relationship, and you've slept with Betty, too."

"Why do you think that?" Seth asked, surprised and flustered.

"Because I'm observant," Giselle said.

"What exactly did you observe?" Seth asked.

"I saw the way that Betty looked at Sarah," Giselle began. "At first I thought that she had a huge crush on your sister, but the way that Sarah acted, the looks and touches that she gave Betty; it was clear that they were intimate. I don't know if there is some kind of hero worship, or something else, but Betty has it bad for your sister, and she'd do absolutely anything for her."

"And how does my sister feel about Betty?" Seth asked Giselle.

"She cares for Betty, but in a different way," Giselle continued. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's more proprietary than loving. That's why I think they're not just girlfriend/girlfriend."

"And Betty and me?" Seth asked.

"Again, the way that she looked at you, like she'd jump you in a second if she had the chance," Giselle said. "She's really quite transparent. Again, it might only be lust from afar, but you looked at her in a way that made it clear that you understood exactly what she was feeling. You wouldn't have known that unless you'd been intimate with her."

They walked silently again. "So how'd I do?" Giselle asked a short time later.

"Remarkably well," Seth acknowledged. "You are most perceptive."

More silence.

"Does it bother you?" Seth inquired.

"What?" Giselle said.

"Betty and me," Seth clarified.

"Not as much as your sister and you," Giselle replied.

Seth bristled at the thought of Giselle trying to separate him from his sister. Giselle caught the feeling and quickly said, "It's just that I'm not worried that Betty would steal your affections. I mean, I'm sure she'd make a great fuck buddy, but she'd never be your one and only. Your sister, on the other hand, I'd always be competing with her."

There was silence for a bit longer, and Seth began to mourn a beautiful relationship that had died before it could really begin.

Then Giselle continued, "It's a good thing that I'm not a jealous woman. If I were, I couldn't deal with you loving your sister more than you loved me. Luckily, I am firmly of the belief that there is not one love for each person, that a person is capable of boundless love, and the love for one does not reduce the love for another."

Hope soared in Seth. He stopped and turned to face Giselle, taking both of her hands in his. "Do you mean that? Do you really mean that?"

"Yes, Seth, I do," she said. "I'm not saying that I believe in open relationships and that if we go out, I don't care who you fuck. But I do believe that there can be more than one special person in one's life, and if I tried to keep you from yours, it would just make you resent me. I can love you, even knowing that you love others."