College 10
By Corbin
How life tests the endurance, patience, and sometimes faith of one young woman.

**********

I found Soccer practice to be typically exhausting and while most people were up 
and just starting to party their assess off at ten or eleven o'clock at night, I 
was turning my light off, as I routinely do on most weeknights, to get some shut 
eye.
 
'Damn' I blinked as I heard the doorknob unlock, rolling over I looked at 
the clock, "1:35am" and rolled back over in frustration. 'Damn Sharon, 
have some courtesy!' I sighed privately, although Sharon 'tried' to be quiet 
as she went into the bathroom, the sound of sink water running was 
actually soothing for some reason and my eyelids became heavy again. 
But my peace was soon significantly startled when I felt additional weight 
on my bed; 

"What in the?" I jerked my head up to see Sharon kneeling on the edge of 
my bed. "Sharon, do you know what time it is?" I hissed.
 
"Scoot over!" The brunette drunkenly slurred as she crawled over the bed, 
decked out in a nightshirt.
 
"You've been drinking, haven't you?" I moaned and scooted over as 
Sharon pulled the covers over her.
 
"Just a little. Oh your body puts off so much heat!" Sharon squealed with 
delight. I felt Sharon curl up behind me and snuggle up close, this wasn't 
an odd occurrence, and Sharon did this frequently when she drank, 
wanting to crawl into my bed and oddly enough, I thought little of it, in fact 
it was all very innocent to me. Unlike what happened with Nikki a couple of 
nights ago, something more was going on with me and Nikki and I found myself 
fighting to keep my thoughts from spinning too far out of control.
 
"You and that Nikki-Girl are getting to be good friends huh?"
 
"That Nikki-Girl Sharon? What kind of statement is that?" I sighed.
 
"Don't get defensive, I didn't mean anything by it." Sharon complained and 
wrapped her left arm around my torso, giving me a friendly hug.
 
"Yes, we're hanging out and doing stuff, ever since I started with Soccer."
 
"How's that going?" 

I felt her left hand move up and begin playing with my blonde hair. "Good, so 
far."
 
"I know it's late, I'll shut up and let you get some sleep." Sharon said, still 
stroking my hair.
 
"It's okay Sharon, I know you mean well, thanks." My left hand reached 
back rubbed Sharon's thigh, although covered by a blanket.
 
"Hey, don't get fresh." Sharon teased.
 
"You wish." I mumbled.
 
"Pervert." Sharon quipped right back.
 
"Freak." I snapped and pushed my elbow into Sharon's ribs.
 
"Don't start something you can't finish." Sharon grabbed my prodding 
elbow.
 
"Tough talk for a wimpy cheerleader!" I jerked my left elbow sharply, 
freeing it from Sharon's grasp.
 
"OW!" Sharon suddenly belched and I felt her curl up.
 
"Sharon? You ok? I'm sorry!" I spun around in the bed, "I was only 
teasing!" I moved the covers back to see Sharon clutching her ribs. "I'm 
such a clumsy idiot. I'm sorry" I flipped my hair back and went to sit up, 
"Let me turn the light on." and I reached for the bedside lamp. My fingers 
touched the knob and I was about to give the switch a click when suddenly 
an involuntary groan came from my mouth as a pair of thighs clamped 
around my waist. I tried to feel my way around in the dark and twisted my 
torso, quickly feeling Sharon's legs clamp even tighter. With my back 
turned, I felt an arm fling around my neck as Sharon pulled me back 
down to the bed.
 
"What? What were you saying about some wimpy cheerleader?" Sharon 
whispered into my ear as she flexed her thighs again causing me to moan 
in discomfort.
 
"But I thought..." I gasped.
 
"SUCKER!" Sharon smiled and kissed my left ear.
 
"Fuck Sharon, not so hard." I whined as my legs kicked and thrashed on 
the bed, agonizingly I struggled first by grabbing Sharon's forearm and 
managed to out muscle her, forcing Sharon's arm from around my neck. 
Slowly I began to twist my body, my abs flexing to keep Sharon's 
incredible thighs from crushing all of the air from my lungs.
 
"Not so hard Sharon!" Sharon mocked as I strained, "YOU give?" 
She demanded while struggling to keep me from turning around.
 
"Okay fine, it's going to be like that." I moaned getting irritated at Sharon's 
mocking and went about trying to secure Sharon's wrists, but the brunette 
was tucking them in close to her chest and was pretty strong. I hated this, 
my nightshirt had ridden way up and as I drew my knees up, forcing my 
butt to stick way up in the air. With my right hand, I reached behind my 
back and found Sharon's left foot, giving it a twist to break her locked 
ankles.
 
"Ouch...ouch...ouch!" Sharon snapped as her left foot was wrenched from 
around my backside ankle.
 
"Cry baby." I smiled.
 
Sharon gave up the scissor hold; it was only a matter of time anyway and 
jerked her legs back, trying to kick out from under me and we both 
thrashed back and forth a little as I fought to keep from getting nailed by 
Sharon's flailing feet and knees. "No way bitch" Sharon seethed, but it was 
a struggle that seemed to be turning into a mostly defensive battle on her 
part as she was constantly yanking hands and legs free, expending nothing 
but valuable energy. While I had finally wiggled my way onto my right 
side, I kept throwing my right leg up and over Sharon's waist trying to get 
back on top of her. The short battle had us gasping for air although I 
seemed to be a little less tired, Yet both of us were bathed in a sheen of 
perspiration as our movements become slow and more calculating in an 
effort to conserve energy. [I didn't know why Sharon enjoyed these little 
impromptu fights, I could never quite figure it out, but every so often she 
would prod me into a wrestling match which Sharon always lost). But Sharon hated 
to loose at anything, and would fight as underhanded as she could to win.
 
When I finally got on top, I dropped all my weight, causing a hard slap of 
our sweat drenched bellies, finally pinning my friend to the mattress, 
forcing Sharon's arms over her head as I grapevined her legs, the sweat 
making it easy to hook my feet around Sharon's calves.
 
"Fucker!" Sharon gasped. Secretly, and this is something that I would never 
reveal at the time, but I got a thrill out of fighting with her, yes some kind 
of sexual charge from it as I lay on top of my friend. And I think Sharon 
loved it more then I did, she definitely threw everything she had into these 
moments and it could get a little too uninhibited at times. She seemed to 
almost clutch at me, not really wrestling but almost as if she enjoyed 
touching and watching my arms and legs at work I guess you could say 
that my muscles were a distraction for her. 
 
"Do you give to me?" I smiled as I lowered my face close to Sharon's. 
While Sharon's antics initially annoyed the hell out of me, I did enjoy making 
the brunette suffer for her games.
 
"One of these days my tough friend, I'm going to turn the tables on you!" 
Sharon sneered.
 
"Until then, tell me." I flexed my hands around Sharon's wrists.
 
"I surrender, you win." Sharon sighed.
 
"Good." I said as I relaxed, my entire body going limp as I collapsed on top 
of Sharon. Slowly as my body went totally lax, I stretched out my legs to 
ease some cramping in the back of my thighs. In a moment of 
spontaneous affection, Sharon drew her knees up and wrapped those legs 
around my waist as her arms came up and hugged me, almost as if she 
might be embracing a boyfriend, or dare I think, a lover.
 
"I love you, you're my best friend." Sharon sighed as she pulled tight, and 
this was one of those moments where I enjoyed that feeling of our sweat 
drenched bodies clinging to one another. But in my mind I was thinking of Nikki, 
and because I was starting to think of being with Nikki, or even Sharon, I felt 
the shame wash over me, I don't know why.
 
"I love you too." I moaned into Sharon's neck. But things were not so 
wonderful; I was torn by the fact that deep down inside I was in hell over 
the suspicion that my two best friends couldn't stand one another. For 
another minute I laid their, until I realized a few uncomfortable things; The 
way our shirts had ridden up so high that our breasts were almost hanging 
out and most embarrassingly, the way our mounds pressed 
against one another, the heat from Sharon's crotch seemed to radiate out 
and pass thru and into my own. As if in some unspoken initiative, we both 
untangled ourselves from one another and rolled apart, breaking the 
embrace. I chuckled at this point and pulled the sheet back up over my 
body.
 
"What's so funny?" Sharon rolled her head over to the right and smiled.
 
"I don't know, just how silly we can be." 

I shrugged. Silly indeed.
 
*********
 
The past couple of weeks had been a dramatic change in my life, in fact I 
felt as though my entire life up until now was unable to compare with the 
emotional growth and changes I was going thru. Physically, I felt like I was 
pushing the boundaries of acceptable behavior by being so affectionate 
with both Nikki and Sharon. Nikki's affection was intense, purposeful, even 
dangerous, while Sharon on the other hand didn't seem to take any of it 
too serious and that was a relief.
 
'Yet was such behavior between two friends of the same sex okay?' I had 
started to wonder, 'Thank god I haven't developed the urge to kiss any of 
them' while the thought of actually having sex with my friends was 
unthinkable. My romantic fantasy's were still dominated by a male 
presence, although I was miserable in that department as well, I couldn't 
understand how I could be on the receiving end of so many dopey 
comments from guys. Which left my wondering if there was an intelligent man to 
be found. 'Such a silly question' I considered as many of my male professors, 
my father, and many men I had come across over the years were highly 
intelligent and spoke intelligently and they spoke to me intelligently. 'And 
then the pendulum swings in the opposite direction when guys hit on 
me, trying to talk about nothing put technical mumbo-jumbo, politics, or try and 
be too intellectual instead of just being themselves. I guess it's true about 
what people say; a man's brain shuts off when confronted with a pretty girl' But 
I shook my head at that notion, 'Sounds stupid' I never thought of myself 
as pretty, or attractive, or beautiful, regardless of what my friends told me 
or however many guys hit on me.
 
Looking down at my watch, I was suddenly startled to see the time was 
getting away from me, I had a date tonight, that 'blind' date that Sharon 
had setup.
 
"Fuck!" I cursed out loud as I sprinted up the stairs to my dorm 
room. "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" I mumbled under 
my breath with a smile, unable to remember where I had heard that 
catchy, corny phrase from before.
 
**********
 
What I didn't know until much later, was just how nervous Kevin and Will 
had become from all of Sharon's 'warnings' and 'preparations' about 
acceptable behavior around me. I think she must have gone over board, 
trying to protect me and wanting the night to go perfect. For crying out loud, 
I'm not some Amish girl just coming off the farm!
 
*********
 
Sharon leaned over the sink and placed the ruby lipstick against her 
bottom lip, her eyes darting over to watch me run my fingernails thru my 
hair, adjusting it over my shoulders.
 
"Why the primping?" Sharon said casually.
 
"Huh?" I froze and looked over.
 
"Why bother, you're not having a good time." Sharon twisted the bottom of 
the tube and the lipstick disappeared into it's container as she evenly 
rubbed her lips together.
 
"What? Who says? I'm having a fine time." I shook my head with dismay at 
Sharon's analysis of me.
 
"Oh, then could you do me a favor?" Sharon leaned away from the mirror and 
straightened her dress a little.
 
"What's that?"
 
"Could you share some of that good time with Will, he looks miserable." 
Sharon dropped the lipstick into her case and turned to face me. I watched 
Sharon's jaw clench tightly and her head pivot forward, a classic sign of 
irritation.
 
"I am not going to throw myself at him or paw all over him." I slowly 
turned to look at Sharon, my voice low and tense, with a hint of 
defensiveness.
 
"I know you don't want to be here Corbin, but he's been nothing but polite 
to you, so you could pay a little attention to him. Is that too much to ask? I 
mean the poor guy is miserable, just take a look at him when you go back 
out there! Whatever you decide to do is fine with me, but do something!" 
Sharon leaned in and tugged on my left arm.
 
Taking a deep breath I rolled my eyes, "Okay, okay, we'll see." I slipped 
my purse over my right shoulder.
 
"Thanks!" Sharon smiled and gave me a slight hug before turning around to 
walk out, "And don't roll your eyes at me, I hate that." Sharon said as I 
opened the door.
 
"Sorry" I said, following Sharon out into the bar. We navigated past a 
series of pool tables that were part of the back of the bar area. Actually, 
the entire establishment was nicely segregated into a Bar, Restaurant, and 
Pool area. But we were unable to make it back to our seats without several 
comments and lingering stares as we walked by the groups of college guys playing 
pool.
 
Closing in on the table I eyed Will closely and I did in fact notice his lack of 
an upbeat mood which had been there earlier. I frowned a little, and 
realized it was my fault to some degree, I could easily make or break guy 
with a few kind words and some kind attention.
 
"Hi Will, sorry we took so long." I said softly and sat down, he sat up and 
smiled, but it was forced, that much was evident, so I scooted my chair a 
little closer to his and then he sat up some more. His darting gaze bespoke 
of some confusion as to what that meant not to mention that one minute he 
looked ready to verbally trash me. But by me simply moving my chair closer to 
him I had caused his mood to lighten, although he still had not totally shaken 
the funk off. I smiled across to Sharon, who smiled back.
 
"You guys want to bounce some pool balls around and maybe hit a club?" 
Kevin looked around the table.
 
"Oh yeah, sounds good." Sharon perked up and looked at me for support.
 
"Okay" I smiled and looked at Will who agreed and seemed to perk up a 
little, although it was obvious he still was in slight slump. Sharon was up 
first and I had moved over to stand next to Will, something that seemed to 
improve his mood and when my hand touched and rubbed his back, his whole body 
seemed to shiver in a good way. 
 
"Huh?" He quickly turned his head to the left, thinking her heard 
something.
 
"You're up." I said and he blinked.
 
"Oh shit, yeah." Will suddenly stepped forward shaking his head. 
For the rest of the evening I became a little more touchy feely, allowing 
him to hold my hand on occasion, while keeping things a little at arms 
length. But overall, it kept his spirits up and he was after all a nice guy I 
told myself. At the end of the evening, as he went for a kiss I gave a 
lingering, but quick peck on his lips and pulled back, but he immediately 
went to follow up for more and I turned my head, offering my right cheek. 
I smiled and he laughed a little, he got the hint;
"Would you like to go out again?" He asked with a little more confidence 
then he had shown all evening.
 
"Sure, that could be nice." I smiled and took a step back, signaling the end 
to the evening. 
 
"So how do you think it went?" Sharon asked as we drove home.
 
"Fine" I said, but smiled when I saw Sharon grip the steering wheel with 
frustration, I knew Sharon was looking for a better answer and continued, 
"Well, I mean, Will seems nice you know, I don't know what he thought of 
me. I was kind of quiet most of the evening."
 
"Oh, I don't think he minded, he couldn't take his eyes off you, especially 
when you more attentive to him later in the night." Sharon looked over.
 
"Yeah, that seemed to lift his spirits. Was I still too quiet?" I looked over 
with concern.
 
"No, not too bad, do you think you want to go out with him again?" Sharon 
followed up.
 
"I guess so, are there any other guys that would want to go out?" I asked.
 
"What?!" Sharon looked over at me while we sat at the stop light, "You're 
joking, right? I can't believe your asking that question!"
 
"What do you mean?" I looked over, not quite following Sharon.
 
"Fuck almighty! Do you know how many guys are in line to go out with 
you!" Sharon was flabbergasted and slumped back in her seat.
 
"Really? I guess so, I don't know." I sighed with a faint smile and looked 
out the window to my right. Sharon was still shaking her head in disbelief. 
 
"So many to choose from." I looked over and laughed a bit.
 
"Oh no, I've created a monster, look out!" Sharon laughed.
 
"No, no." I quickly muttered and glanced out the window, "I've got so 
much work to do and with practice and going to the gym, I really need to 
focus."
 
"On getting a social life!" Sharon interjected.
 
I just let out a big sigh, "We'll see."
 
**********
 
But in the days and weeks to follow, I never made any real effort to follow 
thru on those social commitments, seemingly more content on falling back 
into my regular routine. Sharon however did continue to focus on her own 
social priorities, and the two of us felt the growing distance in our 
friendship was going to have to run its course. I decided I was going to let 
things 'ride out' for the next few weeks or even months, 'Just try to be the 
best friend that you can' I would tell myself, even though it was tough as 
Sharon was spending more time and even nights at the Sorority house 
now, but I got used to going bed alone, after all I grew up as an only child.
 
**********
 
"Damn girl!" The voice called out from behind me, causing my whole face 
to light up. Even before turning around, the voice was unmistakable as I 
saw Sharon standing there, sunglasses on. It was an unusually warm day 
and for the first time that fall, I was wearing a tank top out on a sun 
drenched patio while reading. Sharon removed her sunglasses and leaned 
down, I guess she had never seen me in this a great a shape. My 
shoulders, arms and abs that rolled distinctly under the tight top were 
impressive I suppose. My book practically fell to the ground as I reached over 
and hugged her as if I had not seen her in months, when in fact it had only been 
a few days. A few guys looked over and watched, in fact they had been stealing 
glances at me for the past several minutes as I sat reading. (Okay I admit, on 
occasion I do enjoy some attention.)
 
"I know..." Sharon sighed, "...I've been a terrible friend, but you wouldn't 
believe the schedule I am on..." I sat and listened as Sharon talked on and 
on about everything, it was just like that, we just chatted and talked. But 
underneath, despair had taken root within me as I knew our friendship was 
under a strain, although neither of us seemed inclined to admit it, in fact we 
had both become weary of discussing it at length. I watched Sharon's hand 
reach over to grab my tank top near my stomach, "Hey!" I smacked 
Sharon's hand away before she could get a grip. 
 
"Come on, let me see." Sharon teased, "I see something under there".
 
"See what?" I growled.
 
"Those abs, that's what, your time in the gym is paying off big time!" 
Sharon leaned down poking her fingers at my stomach.
 
"Stop that!" I looked around nervously to see if anyone was watching and 
continued to swat Sharon's fingers away.
 
"Not until you show me." Sharon demanded leaning back placing both 
hands on her hips.
 
"Jesus Sharon..." I looked around and rotated my body away from where most 
everyone was lounging around on the large common area.

"What are you doing? Just lift it up." Sharon watched me turn away.
 
"Not in front of everyone." I hissed, "If you want to see then step around 
here." I whispered.
 
"You're sad you know that, nobody gives a shit if you lift up your shirt, it's 
not like your flashing your tits." Sharon shook her head.
 
"Not so loud!" I blushed and looked over my shoulder, but I did watch 
several guys staring in my direction and honestly did feel stupid, stupid all 
the way around for being bashful.
 
"Holy shit." Sharon sighed and leaned as her right hand rubbed up and 
down the rolling abdominal muscles of my stomach. "Don't flex, just 
relax." Sharon sighed.
 
"I am relaxed." I sneered impatiently, "This is flexed!" I sighed, feeling 
ridiculous watching Sharon perform some inspection like she was shopping 
for something. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the transformation 
take place from what was simply obvious before to something seemingly 
etched and hard. Sharon's fingers reached out again, moving from side to side 
following the deep cuts that separated the muscles along my and my waist. 
 
"Serratus anterior" I said quietly.
 
"What?" Sharon glanced up.
 
"What your touching now." I said.
 
"And this?" Sharon looked down and back up.
 
"Abdominal oblique." I replied and actually felt proud of my body and the 
effect it was having on Sharon and me! Sharon didn't say anything but 
simply dragged her fingers over my warm, smooth skin until she stopped 
and looked up again. "Rectus Abdominis" I smiled and a chill went up my 
spine at how Sharon's touch lingered and caressed my skin, gently probing 
my definition. She withdrew her touch and straightened up, shaking her head 
in disbelief, "Wow I, that's impressive, I mean I knew you were 
built, but..." Sharon smirked, she seemed actually at a loss for words for 
once.
 
"DAMN!" A guy's voice suddenly interrupted the moment and my whole 
body jumped as I watched a guy walk by, but he quickly come to an abrupt 
stop staring at my exposed stomach.
 
"Shit." I complained and yanked my shirt down, quickly reaching for my 
books feeling stupid.
 
"I meant that as a compliment." The guy looked on, but I kept walking 
away, head down and embarrassed.
 
"I didn't mean anything." The guy waved his arms out to his side with a 
smile.
 
"Corbin wait!" Sharon chased me down.
 
I suddenly stopped walking to face Sharon, "Hey, can we have dinner 
tonight?"
 
"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry, I would love too but I have this..." Sharon's 
voice trailed off as the look of disappointment washed over my face, a look 
that I fought to hide, I didn't want to throw any attitude in Sharon's 
direction. "...I'll see what I can do" Sharon said seriously, but I knew it was 
bullshit. Her entire social and dating life was a priority. Sharon gave me a 
somewhat reluctant hug, as it felt like the next time they saw one another 
might be a long time. Sharon paused as she went to leave and put her 
sunglasses back on, I froze and recognized the hesitation and I got 
somewhat excited with anticipation.
 
"Look," She said seriously, "...I have to tell you something." 
 
"Yeah? What is it?" I stared blankly.
 
"Look babe." Sharon gripped my right arm, "You know I've been staying at 
the Sorority house more and more often now, but once my pledging is 
up." Sharon paused, which gave I time to think, wondering perhaps if 
Sharon was going to say that they would have more time to spend 
together.
 
"I know things have been crazy Sharon." I smiled.
 
"Oh yeah, totally..." Sharon said, but I detected a little hesitation behind the 
smile and maybe this wasn't good news and I felt that 'sinking feeling'.
 
"...but once the pledging is up, and I get accepted...well, I'm pretty sure I'll 
get accepted, I'll be spending more nights at the Sorority house. Basically, 
I've gotten a few hints they are going to offer me a room at the house, it's 
a really big deal!" Sharon tried to perk up and emphasize the importance 
of this to me and gripped my arm tighter. But, Sharon could tell by the way 
my smile began to fade that her news wasn't being received so well.
 
"I'm sorry." Sharon frowned.
 
"Sorry? About what? I'm busy with school work, practice and all that stuff, 
nothing as exciting as your schedule." I shrugged and half heartedly smiled, 
"But that's okay Sharon, really I know it means allot to you."
 
"You sure?" Sharon stepped in and hugged me.
 
"Oh come on!" I leaned away with a perplexed look, "I'm a big girl, its not 
like I can't handle being on my own!" I laughed a little but I was falling 
apart inside, but would never admit it. I felt closer to Sharon then almost 
anyone and had started to envision our friendship falling apart day by day. Yes, 
I did have Nikki, but there was something going on between Nikki and I that were 
messing with my head.
 
"Okay" Sharon quickly hugged me again, but I didn't return so enthusiastically. 
Pulling away, Sharon leaned in close, "I promise babe, I'll make plans for us to 
get together and we'll spend loads of time together, just like we used too."
 
"Yep, sounds great." I sighed watched Sharon walk off as another chip seemed to 
crumble away from our friendship. Nikki was the only saving grace along with my 
sports, thankfully, holiday break was coming up and I thought a few days back 
home would be nice and I would be able to nurture a friendship with Sharon which 
seemed to be falling apart. 'Who the hell am I kidding' I was skeptical, Sharon 
had not mentioned one thing to me about getting together over Christmas break, 
an obvious sign that Sharon had no intention of slowing down her activities at 
College. I paused upon entering my dorm room and glanced and Sharon's tidy, well 
made bed wondering if perhaps it would be the last time I would look over and 
see my friends' collection of stuffed animals and other belongings.
 
"This sucks." I whimpered and tossed my backpack over onto my own bed.



  
College_10