Chapter 5

"I like the time compression feature," Bob said. They'd stepped through one of the doorways at Claiborne, and were holding hands in a forest glen. It was raining—everything about them was wet and green—and somehow they felt as if they were alone in the world. There was a bricked path winding away into the trees, and they followed it.

"I do, too," Suzanne said. "It gives us plenty of time."

The place was cool, and the sound of the rain on the trees was soothing. In only a few yards they'd left the little hut with the door far behind. Suzanne pulled her jacket a little tighter around her—they'd emerged dressed as they'd been on the school bus—and rubbed her arms. The temperature just reinforced how alone she felt.

The cabin was just where she'd been told. It had a rustic air to it, almost like a log cabin, with a screened front porch. They dashed up the steps, laughing a little at the feel of the place.

"It's a 4:1 compression," Suzanne said. She turned into his arms. "That means our two-hour lunch hour is really eight. Whatever will we do with that time?"

He laughed and swept her off her feet. Kiss, another kiss, and then they were in the main room, slowly undressing. The bed was comfortable, and she smiled up at him as they rearranged their arms, legs, and other body parts.

This wasn't the frantic coupling of Claiborne. Instead they made love, slowly, deliciously, sensually. The bed was warm, and the room, with its open windows, encouraged them to stay in it. They even found time to doze a little, to recover so they could make love again.

It was perceived as eight hours, but it seemed a lot less when they finally had to get out of bed and dress. "Back to the rat races," she said.

"Back to those things we have to do," he replied, "not what we want to do."

Hand-in-hand they walked back to the door. There he took her in his arms. "We have to do this again, and soon."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. In the last few hours she'd decided that she was in love. This was a match that Mother would approve. It was one her friends would approve, and it was one both of them wanted.

"Classes." She sighed. "Regrettable, but necessary."

"We'll have to find time outside the Construct."

She nodded. "We'll figure something out."

Reluctantly they stepped back through the door. Her sister was right. The transition from clothes to bare was almost too abrupt. It didn't seem to affect guys, but they didn't battle gravity every day of their lives. They shared a chaste kiss, and went their separate ways.

The rest of the day was "normal", studies, sex, classwork, and getting hot and sweaty with a boy. As much fun as sucking one boy off while another put it to her, it was just that, fun. It wasn't those precious hours when she and Bob had taken their time, had kissed and just held each other, alone in the middle of the woods, with the entire world shut out.

At one point she passed Amber. She'd never taken the time to look at her sister as a girl/woman. She was on a couch, arching up into a boy as they both moved. Sprat had changed her bosom again, this time to something a little more reasonable. Suzanne smiled. She'd done that herself. She'd wanted to have a big chest, and after a few days, she'd gone for something a little more like a real woman. It looked like she was having fun, and so was the boy. Abruptly he pulled back, his wet dick bobbing in the air between them. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both breathing hard, and then he put it back in.

"I didn't know she had the ability to stop," she murmured to herself. It'd taken her nearly a year before she had the self-control to put off consummation like that. Amber's face turned red, she closed her eyes, and stopped breathing. Hmm, maybe she hadn't put off her own completion, only helped postpone his. That was impressive in its own way.

The rest of the week fled past, and part of the next. She and Bob didn't get another chance at the cabin in the woods. One of her friends took them through the beach doorway, and there wasn't time for them to be alone.

The beach was fun in its own right. She'd been there once before, but had never had a chance to enjoy a real beach. It was a public destination in the Construct, or at least that's what she'd been told, so they did have to wear clothes. She had a chance to pick something, and chose the smallest bikini that she could, something that might be considered daring in Rio de Janero. It was dark red, and she thought it went with her skin tones.

Kimberly, a girl she knew was from Southern California, smiled when she saw it. "Two postage stamps and the tiniest triangle in the world. You sure you're covering enough?"

"I've never been to a beach," she said. "I've been to resorts, though."

"You'll never see anything like that there."

"What do you suggest?"

"Something that covers a bit more. After all, the beach isn't part of Claiborne. There could be public scrutiny."

"Oh." She stepped back and looked. The bikini covered only what the law required to be covered, and that inadequately. She'd had a bathing suit when she was younger, perhaps ... She finally settled on a green bikini that would have been appropriate in one of those 1960 movies she remembered seeing on TV once. Then, a little more thought, and she skimped it down just a little. She was showing her body, but she wasn't flaunting it.

"Much better," Kimberly said. "My first time here I wore something that was absolutely wicked. Now, I don't." She was wearing a white bikini that could have been mistaken for a pair of bikini panties and a bra. It definitely wasn't provocative or too revealing.

"Now let's not keep the boys waiting." She hooked her arm through Suzanne's. "And let's have fun."

Teasing the boys was fun, and she met some kids from another school. "Traci's from Mary Magdalene," one girl said, "and I'm Jody. I'm going to Chicago Academy."

"And they gave you time off to come here?"

Jody laughed. "Kind of. It's our lunch hour, and we get two whole hours here. What school do you go to?"

"Claiborne."

"Ooh, that's for the big brains."

"It isn't all studying," Suzanne said. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"True." Jody looked at a group of boys standing nearby. "And we get to see sights like that."

The boys must have seen her looking at them. Two of them came over, and Jody walked away with them.

"I get plenty of that," Traci said quietly. "I like just being alone."

"Oh?"

"Mary Magdalene isn't the Catholic school everyone thinks." She plucked at her halter top. "For one thing, we don't even wear this much."