Deadly Chemistry
14 Thinking About College
“MAMA MARILYN and Anna-Mom, can I ask you something?”
“You just did, Samantha,” Anna laughed. She was in a very good mood. Not only did she have Mom and Dad, she also had fresh bread.
“Go ahead, dear,” Mom said, poking Anna and then kissing her. Right there at the kitchen table. In front of Courtney, Jennifer, Samantha, and me. My mom kissed Anna. On the lips. With tongue. I guess there was no more hiding their relationship. Samantha squirmed a little and waited for them to come up for air.
“Well,” she squeaked. “Brian has a very busy schedule this week. He has a taping session almost every morning with both these foxes on Monday. He has basketball practice every afternoon now that he’s on varsity and a game Friday night. Brenda has scheduled a party at her house on Saturday. But knowing the way things are going to go, I’d guess there would be a pretty steady parade of girlfriends through the house this week.”
“Oh, yes. It’s all Anna and I can do to keep Hayden calm. You know he has a weak heart. All that girl energy in the house keeps it racing.”
“Mmmhmm. Brian, too. Um… That’s why I thought I could help. Well, there’s sure to be a few extra tasks, mouths to feed, the horses to take care of, and generally directing traffic. So, if it’s okay, I thought I would just stay here for the week and… um… help keep things under control so you and Anna-Mom and Hayden-Dad aren’t bothered all the time by… you know… naked girls running through the wrong part of the house or something. I could sort of keep the schedule and make sure they all behave. Especially these two.” I looked at Sam then at Jennifer and Courtney. We all cracked up. Dad looked at us and rolled his eyes then went back to the newspaper.
“I see,” Mom said. “How very thoughtful of you, Samantha dear. You would be like the mother-in-charge.”
“Oh yes. That’s a good way to put it.”
“And I assume that in order to ride herd on these three, you’d need to sleep upstairs this week.”
“Well, yes.”
“Samantha, dear, how is your mother taking all this? You know, she and I haven’t had a good talk in a while. Should I be concerned?” Samantha rushed to Mom and gave her a big hug. Before she could escape, Anna grabbed her and hugged her, too. Samantha looked at them and then plopped down in Dad’s lap, crushing the paper and giving him a warm hug. “What brought that on, dear?” Mom asked.
“You guys have been so good to me, letting me stay here the past two summers and encouraging me to talk to my mom. It’s been so different since that day we all went to the dude ranch. Mom has been taking Lexi and me out for a girls’ lunch once each week and we all talk about what we are doing and feeling and everything. Dad has even been taking Lexi and me out to lunch once in a while and encouraging us. Our grades are the best they’ve ever been and they see my relationship with Brian and with you guys as being part of the reason. Mom commented on the fact that she hardly ever cleans house anymore. Lexi and I just do it. She has decided it’s okay for me to stay here with Brian if there are other girls here, too. And believe me, there will be other girls here all week!”
“I’m so glad, Samantha,” Mom said. “Under those circumstances, assuming there will be other girls here all week, too, you would be a great help if you stayed and coordinated the horde.”
“I love you guys!”
We went out to play with the horses and Samantha spent the night in bed with us—as naked as we were. She was seventeen now and I could only describe her as hopeful. She was certainly possible.
Monday morning, we all headed to the studio. I did a show with Jennifer first and Courtney second while Samantha sat in the audience with whoever wasn’t on camera.
“We want you back again, Samantha,” Miss Polly told her. “If Brian ever runs out of girlfriends this season, we want him to ask you and Rose to come back. We’re so much better at this now than we were when we filmed the pilot.”
“It seems like there is always another willing girlfriend,” Samantha sighed dramatically. “But we’ll work it out somehow. Maybe we can all be on one show together.”
We were finished filming by two and at two-thirty I was dressed and on the court for a new workout. Now that I understood Coach Mitchell’s strategy a little better, I fit in with the team dynamics more. The rest of the guys also started feeding me the ball when they saw I was clear for a long shot. I had the most fun, though, when it was Josh and me at guard, Doug and Carl at forward, and Lionel at center. We just had something that clicked. I had a little fantasy that maybe next year we’d be the first five. I was sure, though, that Coach wouldn’t put himself in the position of losing all his starters at once.
Whitney was waiting for me and gave me a bone-crushing hug.
“Varsity! Way to go!”
“I love the hug, but kiss, girlfriend. I haven’t seen anywhere near enough of you lately. In any way.” I’d missed her team winning the girls’ sectionals Saturday as I tried to support my former teammates in the game I thought I’d be playing. Fortunately, we had enough people that Whitney had her own cheering section on Saturday. This week, though, I’d be able to watch her in the semi-state. There weren’t enough girls’ teams in the state to have a four-weekend tournament. Winning the Sectional meant they were already in the final sixteen. Whitney laid a kiss on me that had the other girls cheering before she was finished. I melted.
“Mmm. Now that’s what my boyfriend tastes like. All you other tramps get the floor tonight. I want my guy to myself for a change.” There was a bunch of dissent and a little arguing and it was finally decided that Whitney would start together with just me in the bed, but after the first hour the other girls reserved the right to join in. Jennifer and Courtney had cooked dinner and the five of us sat with Mom, Dad, and Anna at the big table. Not wanting to appear eager to go to bed, I gave the girls rides on the John Deere, huddled against me as I drove out into the fields and back. When it was dark, we brought the horses in and gave them a thorough grooming. Whitney wasn’t as keen on the horses as the other three, but she brushed Jingo while I picked his hooves. Jingo hadn’t had such a good job done on his back since he came to live with us. He loved Whitney. We made sure they had food and water and gathered in the aisle of the barn. It was eight-thirty.
“Either you take me to bed or to the hayloft,” Whitney growled at me. “Either way, you do it right now. It has been way too long since I’ve seen fireworks.” We all laughed. I looked at the other girls.
“Whit, honey, I want to make you see those fireworks, but you know these other girls are going to be with us no matter where we go. Are you okay with that?”
“I don’t care. If any of them get a charge from me waving my heels in the air while you bury your tongue in my snatch, good for them. Just because I don’t want to eat them doesn’t mean I care if they watch. We’re girlfriends, you know.”
That settled it. We trooped into the house and the girls all took showers with two at a time in the bathroom before I was given a turn. We were trying to be circumspect for the parents’ benefit, but I don’t think any of them noticed. When I came out of the bathroom in my pajamas, I went to the family room to say goodnight. I learned a new trick. Both Anna and Mom were cuddled up with Dad in his big chair. They were so tangled together that I couldn’t really tell whose leg was whose.
“Uh, ’night, parents. Just wanted to let you know we were all going to bed now.”
“The girls all came through already, but Brian, it’s just past nine o’clock. Isn’t that awfully early to bed for you?”
“Oh, you know us, Mom. We’ll probably be up talking till one. But it was too cold to be outside and… well, you’re kind of occupying the family room. We didn’t want to embarrass you by cuddling in front of you.” I said it tongue in cheek, but they got the message completely.
“Brian, come here,” Dad said. As soon as I was in front of him, both Mom and Anna wrapped me in their arms. “Do we embarrass you and your friends, son?”
“Dad. Mom. Anna. Is that what you think? I was teasing. I’m so happy for you guys I could bust. I’m kind of hoping that when Jennifer and Courtney go off to college in the fall, Anna will move in with us for real. I got over my panic about parents having sex when I was a freshman. Dad, every one of us loves you guys. And if you try not to be too loud tonight, we’ll try not to be too loud.”
“Oh, go ahead and make them scream,” Anna said. “It really does something to him.”
“Anna, that is too damned much information. Goodnight!”
I ran up the stairs and, of course, the girls wanted to know what I was talking to my parents about and I told them.
“My mother said that?” Jennifer exclaimed. “Well! If it helps her love life, make me scream.” We all laughed and cuddled together.
Whitney had been wearing pajamas when she came out of the bathroom before I took my shower. But now she was wearing a basketball jersey. And nothing else. The girls were all giggling and joking around. Whitney leaned forward to whisper something in Sam’s ear and raised the arm closest to me. The shirt armhole gapped open and I could see her petite breasts clearly. I just wanted to reach in and touch them, but we hadn’t really exchanged any permissions yet. I started tenting my pajamas.
Whitney moved around next to Sam facing me. She sat cross-legged which exposed her pussy to me. It was wide open, framed by her dark, trimmed hair, and glistening with her juices.
“Brian,” she said. “I asked you a question. You are supposed to pay attention to me.”
“Oh, he’s paying attention all right,” Courtney laughed. “He just wasn’t listening. Look.” She pointed at my lap and the evident erection with a damp spot of lubrication already spreading at the tip. Whitney grinned at me.
“What did you ask me?” I said faintly. If anything, her jersey crept higher and made the view even more spectacular.
“I asked if you were going to get up to work out with me in the morning. But it looks like you are already up and ready to work out with me, so let’s just go to bed.” She unfolded to stand up and that just shifted the view around some more. Unbelievable. Just incredible. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get in a position where you can take a much closer look. I give you permission for everything that’s legal in the agreement. May I have the same?”
“I love you, Whitney. Yes. Of course you can. But don’t take the shirt off just yet, okay?”
Sam, Court, and Jen moved the foam pad to the other side of the room and sat with their knees together as they whispered and pointedly ignored Whitney and me. I lay down with Whitney on the bed the girls had already turned down for us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Courtney kiss Jennifer as Sam unbuttoned her top. That was the last attention I paid to them.
“You know I still fantasize about you dressed like this?” I said.
“What do you do in your fantasies, lover?”
“When you leaned forward I saw your breasts and just wanted to reach through the armhole to touch them.” I demonstrated and Whitney moaned a little.
“You’ve seen them before. Why does a little peek turn you on?”
“It’s like it’s especially naughty. You’re wearing clothes and I keep getting glimpses of you under them. I imagine it is a secret. Sometimes, a secret that I can see you and am afraid someone else will spot me, or that they’ll be able to see you, too. Sometimes, I think it’s your secret that you are exposing yourself to me with no one else knowing. Either way, it leaves me throbbing to touch you, to lick you.”
“Only my nipples? There isn’t much else there.”
“Your nipples and all the rest of your body. I saw up your jersey when you sat down and you aren’t wearing any panties. I just wanted to crawl toward you and bury my face in your pussy.” We kissed some more and I kept playing with her little breasts.
“Why didn’t you?”
“We hadn’t given each other any permissions yet.”
“We have now.” I got the hint. I ran my hand up her leg and pushed the jersey up above her mound. The Celtics had suddenly become my favorite team in the world. Their jersey would be forever emblazoned in my mind as the one I took off Whitney. I knew she owned jerseys from nearly every professional team and wondered if I might get the opportunity to work my way through the whole league.
I licked up the inside of Whit’s thighs and marveled at how muscular she was. She loved basketball and was some kind of martial arts master that I didn’t understand. She was my master when it came down to it. She could probably kill me with any muscle in her body. As I was approaching the muscles of her pelvic floor, I was thinking that wouldn’t be such a bad way to go. I used my tongue to clean her juices off her hair and smooth it out flat to either side of her labia. She was whimpering and I reached up to fondle her breasts as my tongue penetrated her folds and teased her clit. Unlike Jennifer, Courtney, or Samantha, Whitney didn’t keep her feet on the bed but raised them in the air, exactly the way she’d said the girls would see her. I heard a moan from behind me, but I didn’t stop to look at what they were doing or even to find out who the source of that moan was.
Whitney’s position caused her muscles to tense up and open her even further all the way down to her little rosebud. It was my first time tasting Whitney from the source and I loved the slight tang of her juices. She wasn’t seventeen yet, so I wasn’t supposed to put my finger in her vagina, but I figured my tongue wasn’t really long enough to call it penetration. I licked from behind her taint all the way up until I settled on her clit. She gasped and her feet shot straight up in the air as she began to come. I focused on her clit and she made little mewling sounds as her body spasmed and then relaxed.
After Whitney comes, it seems like every muscle in her body relaxes. Her feet fell back to the bed and her knees flopped outward almost to the mattress. I continued my assault but her response was more like aftershocks and not a build toward a more massive second orgasm. Eventually I kissed my way up over her mound and her hard, flat tummy, pushing the jersey up until I could lift it off of her. I sprawled on top of her as I kissed her, knowing that this was one girlfriend who could take my full 160 pounds and not collapse under it.
“Why are you still wearing clothes?” she whispered. I’d been so intent on Whitney’s pleasure and attacking her under that jersey that I was still in my pajamas. She pulled the shirt off and pushed at my waistband until I lifted it over my erection and wiggled out of them. Then we rolled together and simply held each other, my cock trapped between our bodies. I stroked and petted her as we kissed lightly and teasingly.
“I love you, Whitney.” She pulled away and looked me in the eye.
“Really, Brian? Do you really love me?”
“More every day, my sweet. I love you.”
“But I haven’t even given you a blow job yet. I might be terrible at it. How can you say you love me?”
“Loving you doesn’t have anything to do with how good you are at sex or even if we have sex. I desire you for sex, but that’s not why I love you. I think maybe you beat the love into me. I don’t know. I know that sounds weird, but there is something about when we are exercising and sparring that is so profoundly intimate that my heart just overflows. Even when you knock me on my ass.”
“You’re funny. Brian, will you… I have something to ask you. Well, I started to, so you probably already know I want to ask something. Can I… It’s so much easier to just give you permission to use my body and pleasure me in any way that you want. I don’t know why it should be so hard to ask this… I want to be your first, Brian. We’ve held onto our virginities all through three years of high school and I just dream of being the first girl you ever make love to. I know I’ve been slow. I didn’t start my period until I was fifteen. We’ve done little things, progressing to you giving me the most delicious orgasm of my life tonight and I’m about to suck you and ask you to come in my mouth—or on me if I chicken out at the last minute—but I’m ready. It’s not that I’m anxious, but my body has caught up with all the love I feel and I’m ready to make love to you.”
I looked at Whitney in amazement. Rose hinted that she might be the one and all of a sudden, it seemed like the right and most natural thing in the world. Of course, holding a naked girl in your arms tends to enhance that feeling, but… Whitney. Ten inches taller than me and able to outplay me in basketball and take me down on the mats, nonetheless, she was also the first person I thought of when I just thought of my friends. Do I want her to be my first? Abso-fucking-damn-lutely!
“Um… sweetheart, you aren’t seventeen yet. We can’t do that right now. But oh, how I want to.”
“Less than two-and-a-half months, Bri. Can we wait that long? Can you hold off to put your virgin cock in my virgin pussy?”
“I can wait for you, Whitney. In fact, now that I realize it, I’ve been waiting for you all along.” We kissed again and she began working her way down my body. When her mouth engulfed my cock, she left me breathless in a way I’d never been before.
Whitney.
She beat the shit out of me when we sparred Tuesday morning.
Sugar and my ‘Shorty’ friend Judy taped with me on Tuesday in another long double session. Judy got there with her mom well before Sugar and I finished and between shoots, while we were eating the chicken parmesan, she sat down at the table with us. Her mom signed the release and left.
“So how does this work when you have two in one day?” Judy asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I was told that part of the deal was that the girl who demos with you dates you that night. So, which of us are you taking out?”
Sugar laughed.
“Honey-chile, do you see that big, long hunk of man sitting over there?” She pointed at Lionel who had been watching while Sugar worked with me. Judy nodded. “Well, Brian is my boyfriend, but Lionel over there is my boyfriend. Not only that, but he turned seventeen almost two weeks ago and we’ve devoted this week to working our way through the entire Joy of Sex. I like Brian, but we just got to some really good stuff!”
Sugar got up and went to greet Lionel with a very wet, sloppy kiss and led him out of the studio. I looked back at Judy.
“Seventeen means sex, huh?”
“I thought you had a copy of the agreement.”
“Sam wouldn’t give us the revised version. We got the one that says ‘no skin-to-skin genital contact.’ How soon do we get to do that?”
“You need to talk it over with your group and set your own standards,” I said.
“Poo. You’re no better than Samantha. So, I get to be your date tonight.”
“Judy, you know I have to leave here as soon as we’re done for basketball practice. I won’t get home until nearly six and I have three girls who are staying with me this week. Maybe more. I don’t keep the schedule.”
“Just drop me off at your house after the show. I’ll take care of everything else,” she said firmly.
We had a great taping session. Judy had really progressed in her cooking skills, partly because she spent the summer as cook at my house for Samantha, Lexi, Mom, and Dad. She asked good questions about the breaded pork tenderloin I was cooking and made the right noises when she bit into the sandwich at the end of the show. I dropped her at my house and rushed to practice.
When I got back, Judy had dinner ready to put on the table. In the three hours I was gone, she’d whipped together a great lasagna, my own Caprese salad, and a nice peach cobbler for dessert. Apparently, she got someone to take her shopping because I was pretty sure we didn’t have all the ingredients. Samantha, Jennifer, and Courtney were very complimentary. Mom, Dad, and Anna were ecstatic. They already knew Judy and were happy to have her cook. She didn’t insist on any additional dating privileges, like going to my room, and after we had all pitched in to help clean up, I took her home. She sat in the car until I’d come around to open her door for her. I walked her to her door.
“Brian, I know I’m not actually one of your girlfriends, even though I’d kind of like to be. I do have a dating group and we’re all getting more comfortable with each other. We don’t do a lot, though. I really like Ross and Monte, but I’m not ready to be molested by boys at this point. So, I know that we’re still at very different stages if seventeen means sex, and I know you turned seventeen in the fall and I only turned fifteen in December. But the agreement says we can date outside our group as long as we maintain the limitations in the agreement and since you are my date tonight, I give you my explicit permission to kiss me like I was really one of your girlfriends. Just for tonight? Please?”
“Judy, I’ve always liked you. You are offering me something very special that I will always treasure. I would love to kiss you.”
Judy was still short, but I was pretty sure she’d make it to five feet eventually. It was also obvious that she hadn’t done much kissing. She was a willing learner, though, and by the time we were through she was a lot better.
Later Tuesday night, Jennifer, Courtney, Samantha and I cuddled naked in my bed and among us we gave Jennifer an orgasm loud enough to inspire my dad.
I had a slight break on Wednesday with no taping, but when I got home from practice I was practically bowled over by the redhead that bounced up and wrapped her legs around my waist while kissing me like she wanted to make sure I hadn’t forgotten. Elaine was home.
“Spring break isn’t for two more whole weeks,” she complained, “but I told my adviser that I needed a mental health break to take care of a family emergency.”
“We don’t need any family emergencies,” I said. “Let’s stick with the mental health break.”
“How about if we stick with some healthy physical stuff tonight,” Elaine laughed. She turned to my three bedmates. “This is an advanced warning. Tonight’s program will include kissing, sucking, chewing, touching, and direct skin-to-skin genital contact. It will inevitably include the insertion of tongues and fingers into body orifices in a sexual manner. This may be accompanied by moans, whines, screams, and occasional vulgar expressions of a sexual nature. If you are offended by sexual conduct you may wish to sleep elsewhere. Like a different county.”
“Somebody’s asking for it,” Samantha giggled.
“No, somebody’s demanding it,” Elaine said. “This has been the most frustrating winter of my life. I need my boyfriend’s tender, loving touch. And my girlfriends who are willing, too.”
We practically carried Elaine upstairs.
“Can we take that statement as blanket permission?” I asked.
“Fuck, yes.”
Four sets of hands undressed Elaine and four pair of lips covered her entire body with kisses as we got our own clothes off. For the next two hours, we just tended to Elaine, starting with a full-body eight-hand massage. She was limp as a noodle when we finished, but her entire body went stiff as a board when we played ‘Guess whose tongue this is.’ As we jointly and by turns pleasured Elaine, we made sure each of the others was also well cared-for. When we finally settled for sleep, Elaine rolled on top of me and continued to rub her wet pussy on my cock most of the night. That’s where I found it early on Thursday morning and we rocked with each other to a mutual climax before we went to the shower and washed each other thoroughly.
By six o’clock, we had breakfast going. We headed for the studio at nine and were ready to shoot when the day’s broadcast of The Homemaker’s Hour finished.
“You know, The Galloping Gourmet used to keep a glass of wine next to him and he would take a celebratory drink periodically as he completed steps in the menu,” Elaine said as I put the chopped onions into the pan to caramelize.
“Yes, but we’re underage, Elaine,” I reminded her.
“That’s why we should have a celebratory kiss at each stage,” she smiled. I pecked her lips.
“Let me remind our viewers that Elaine and Brian met at a Fair Demo on The Homemaker’s Hour almost three years ago and Brian said that Elaine wouldn’t kiss him if he didn’t remove the core from the garlic,” Miss Polly laughed. She looked a question at Harvey who was just nodding his head.
“That was our first date, Miss Polly,” Elaine went on. “Of course, I didn’t actually kiss him then. I wouldn’t do that on a first date.”
“Oh, but the second one,” I sighed. I didn’t have to talk much with Elaine on set with me. The motor-mouth kept running. I interjected a couple instructions as I put the clams in the sauce and then got the pasta in the water. Each was followed by another kiss.
“Being away at college, I don’t get to see Brian as often as his other girlfriends. So, forgive me if I get carried away and just want to kiss him all the time.”
“How is that working?” Miss Polly asked.
“Oh the usual way. We put our lips together and hold them there, you know. Do you want another demonstration?” Elaine kissed me on the cheek. I was monitoring the clams and couldn’t turn my face to her. Miss Polly broke up laughing.
“I meant, how is your long-distance relationship working? I think most of us understand the mechanics of kissing but many of our young viewers have husbands, wives, boyfriends, and girlfriends who have to travel for business or are absent in the military. Do you have any advice?”
“Oh yes,” Elaine said. “Brian gives it every week. Just remember, girlfriend: no matter what, he still loves you.”
Friday, Renee was with me for the taping. It was great to catch up with her and find out how she and Lamar were doing. Lamar was having a good first season at IU, but he was riding the bench more than he was used to. They were taking it slowly, which didn’t mean they weren’t dating each other, but that they both realized college was a big place and they shouldn’t isolate themselves from all the other action. Renee had pledged a sorority and was pretty happy with her social life.
Friday night we absolutely owned Wakarusa. Coach sent me in on a regular rotation and we mixed up whether I shot from outside or passed inside. It was like practicing plays. I hit three threes in three tries. Our guys dominated the boards and when Wakarusa came out to challenge me beyond the three-point line, Doug and Carl laid it up from the baseline. It was a great way to end the regular season. The next weekend we’d be playing in the Sectionals.
Renee insisted on sleeping with me and the other girls Friday night after the game, but we didn’t play around much. we just cuddled together naked and held each other.
Saturday, we spent at the girls’ semi-state in Fort Wayne and cheered for Whitney as she dominated the game and Potawatomi took home the victory. It was strange to be sitting in the stands and cheering for a school that was a rival for the boys’ team. But the other fans for Potawatomi welcomed us into the cheering section and we were all happy that Potawatomi had their first basketball team ever to make the state finals. After the last game, we all headed to Brenda’s house. It was the first time we’d had all the signers of the agreement together in one house for the night since last June. The only ones missing were Sarah and Hannah. Even Cassie was there as she’d told her father the girls were having a sleepover at Brenda’s after the game. She just didn’t mention that the boys would also be sleeping over. It was nice to have Louise and Nicolette with us for the first time with everyone together. Nicolette grabbed me and dragged me to a corner to sit down.
“I like all these people,” she said flatly. “But if one of them touches me I’ll kill them. I can’t help it, Brian. I want to run away before I do something crazy.”
“Nikki, if you need to leave and go home, I’ll take you any time, even if it’s in the middle of the night. We all love you, but there isn’t anyone here that will force you to be near them.”
“I know. But I can’t help it. I can’t believe I’m holding your hand. Please don’t leave me alone.”
I agreed and sat back. Everybody had drinks and snacks and when Whitney finally arrived we all cheered. There was a lot of cuddling going on. Rose settled between my legs after asking Nikki if it was okay. Cassie sat on my left but didn’t try to get too close. Nikki edged away a couple inches but didn’t let go of my hand.
“Okay, everybody,” Brenda said. “Sadly, we’re not going to put anyone in the closet tonight. If you want seven minutes in there, you can just go, but the rest of us won’t be paying attention.” We all laughed. I breathed a sigh of relief. All I’d need would be to get locked in a dark closet with Nicolette for seven minutes. They’d open it to find a madwoman and a corpse. “The real subject is college. Some of us want to stay together, but that means coordinating our plans and applications. Jen and Court have already sent several apps out and have early acceptance to IU, Notre Dame, and DePauw. Renee’s at IU with Lamar. Elaine is at UIndy. Who else has plans already?”
“I’ll be going to Bethel,” Cassie sighed. “My Dad graduated from there and he’s already told me that it’s the only school he’ll pay for. Barring a miracle, I’ll be living at home for another four years.” Bethel was a small religious college just a few miles from us.
“What kind of a degree will you get from there?” I asked.
“Probably a teaching degree with a specialization in English. Frankly, so far nothing appeals to me.” We all had a few minutes of commiseration with Cassie; she leaned on my left shoulder.
“I’m getting recruited already,” Lionel said. “These guys are already wanting a letter of intent from me. Of course, IU is really pushing to have me join Lamar. I don’t know if I want to play in my big brother’s shadow again, though.”
Nobody else was getting recruited for sports.
“When you take the PSAT, you have the option of sending your scores in advance to schools you are interested in,” Rhiannon said. “I got a real nice letter from my reach school, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. They’ve got a great architecture program. They’re so expensive, though. And just having good test scores and grades won’t get me into the program. I’d need a whole portfolio of projects to be reviewed.”
“I’m waiting for Brian to decide,” Sam said. “Sorry, honey, but wherever you go, I’m going.”
“Me, too,” Rose said.
“You’re stuck with us,” Court said.
“I’m good with just about anything,” Carl said. “But Louise and I want to go with Brenda and Brenda wants to go with Brian.”
“I want to be with you, lover,” Whitney said. “But it’s pretty certain that I’m getting a lot of help from IU and Coach Lou is recruiting me pretty heavily. I might have to go there no matter what.”
“What’s it going to be, Brian?” Liz asked. “It doesn’t make any difference to me because I’ll probably go to a technical school, but I’m not leaving you if I can help it.”
“Why do they all want to go with you?” Nikki whispered in my ear. “Are they stalking you? You should go to California or something.” I chuckled at her and she frowned at me.
“This is really hard,” I said when everyone had spoken up. “I don’t want to screw up anyone’s career or college plans just because you want to go where I go. I’m not going to get recruited for my athletics or even for my academics in all likelihood. I know you all joke about me being ‘Brain Trust’ but I got that C in Debate. I’m still sorry I got you that lousy mark first semester, Cassie.”
“Oh, don’t worry. Ms. Hammer went back and changed my grade. I got an A. She just wanted to make sure that we knew that the stakes were high enough to do our best.”
“That’s terrible! She didn’t change my C to an A,” I squawked.
“You earned your C,” Cassie said innocently. I sighed.
“Well, anyway, I’m getting more interest from cooking schools because of the TV program than I am from universities. I don’t think any of you would follow me to Chicago to go to Le Cordon Bleu.” Five hands went up in the air. Liz, Samantha, Rose, Jennifer, and Courtney all nodded that they’d go.
“Actually, the University of Chicago has a good Architecture program, too,” Rhiannon mused. She glanced at Doug and they both raised their hands. Then Carl, Louise, and Brenda joined them. Whitney looked like she was ready to cry. Nicolette was just staring at me.
“Um… guys, let’s be practical about this. I love cooking but I’m not sure I want it for a career. And talk about expensive, Rhiannon. It would be almost impossible to get scholarship help there. I’ve always been pretty targeted on either IU or Notre Dame. There’s two reasons for me to choose IU first—besides the fact that my sweet girlfriend Renee is already there.” That got some chuckles and Lionel reached out an arm to give her a hug.
“First, it’s less expensive for in-state tuition than going out of state or to a private school. Notre Dame is really expensive and it’s so close to home that we’d all end up living with our parents for the next four years after high school. I’d like to try being independent. Sorry, Cassie. I understand you don’t have a choice. The other reason that I think IU is a better choice for me is that I’ve already started taking the required classes at the extension. Nicolette and I spend every Tuesday and Thursday night there taking care of the required English Comp class. You all might consider doing that next year while the school district will still pay for it. And our high school paying for classes is also significant. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jonas have both been working with me on my class schedule for next year. It looks like—the same as Whitney—I won’t be going to St. Joe Valley in the afternoons.” There was some moaning and complaining about that, but everybody thought it was pretty cool.
“I have plenty of credits toward graduation and just a couple required senior courses to take,” I continued. “So, I’ve already got my application complete and have been accepted to take two required courses for a Chemistry major in the afternoons next year. It’s going to be a bitch taking Calculus at St. Joe Valley and Mathematical Modeling at IU at the same time. But I’ll have Senior English Lit with the Battleaxe and the only other class I’ll take is the new elective Advanced Life Science Foods. I’m not giving up on my cooking career. I’ll also be taking Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry at IU. Between that and Sora’s and my work in AP German, I’ll enter college in the fall with 25 college credits, all of which are accepted at IU. That’s almost a year of college finished when I show up next year as a freshman. If I do a summer class this year, I could be a considered a freshman with full sophomore standing.”
“You’d catch up with us!” Courtney squealed. I grinned at her.
“The question is, are you all okay with me choosing IU?”
“Yes!” It was pretty much a group scream. It looked like I’d be headed to Bloomington after graduation.
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