Ivy League at Any Cost Pt. 12

"Vicki, what a surprise. A pleasant surprise. Come in," he said, letting her in his home. Vicki felt like a vampire, a great evil, wondering at the stupidity of a man who would let her in his house willingly. She liked the feeling.

"Bring me your computer," she said. She remembered a laptop from the day she cleaned his house.

"Why?"

"I need the video from the night Liz dropped me off," Vicki said. Vicki studied every movement of his face, watching him process, watching him decide he wasn't going to provide it, not without a price.

"Well that's a problem," he said. His posture shifted, became more languid. "If you want to see my computer, you'll have to do something for me."

"Get it now, and the police don't get involved."

He took a step toward her. Vicki wanted to leave, but not run. At any moment she could just walk out and let Sarah handle it. Broken fingers sounded nice. He would never know that it was this exact moment that sealed his fate.

"One more step and I out you as a rapist," she said. Her voice did not shake.

"That never happened," he said. "Not like you think. You're just a girl I fucked who doesn't like feeling rejected, the kind of girl who decides she'd rather cause me trouble than deal with her own decisions. Even if you believe it, no one else will. A hundred people watched you get fucked in the middle of a sorority party. You're not exactly credible."

"I'm OK being called a whore. Are you OK being called a rapist?" Vicki took a step forward. "You may not even do jail time. This world's pretty fucked. If I'm the only girl who you got too drunk to say no, then you'll probably get away with it. I am the only girl right?"

"You're crazy," Steve said. He took a step back. "You're making all this shit up."

"Get the laptop," Vicki said.

"It doesn't even show what you think it-- you know what? Fuck it," he said.

He scampered off to his bedroom. The house had reverted to a near disaster since she had cleaned it. She dialed Sarah and put her on speaker, then dropped the phone in her jacket pocket.

"He's getting the computer, just listen," Vicki said.

"OK," Sarah responded.

He brought the laptop out, and Vicki had him set it up on a TV stand by the door. The file structure wasn't difficult to figure out. The videos were index by year, month, day, time, sequential number.

What time had Liz dropped her off? After midnight for sure. She told Steve the date from the blackout party and added a day.

"Give me the first video. After midnight, before six am. I want to see Liz dropping an innocent, drunk girl off to a piece of shit rapist" Vicki said.

He flinched when she said those words.

"Did you know she was blackmailing me? That she used you to get to me?"

Steve stared at the screen.

"Were you in on it the whole time? Or were you just taking advantage of an easy situation?"

He turned and looked up at her. "I didn't know..." he said.

"Play the fucking video," Vicki said.

He played a file. A delivery man with a package. Well after dawn.

"Back one," Vicki said.

Another video. Days before. A cute girl ringing the bell. No one Vicki recognized. Day time.

"Where is it?" Vicki asked.

"I tried to tell you," Steve said. "Nothing happened. You just--"

"Did you delete it or did Liz?"

"Nothing happened. You were drunk. I shouldn't have done what I did, but I didn't know how drunk you were. You always seemed to like me. I thought there was a vibe. Pretty fucked up because of Liz's crazy power trips, but..."

He droned on. What if he was telling the truth? A lifetime ago, when she was just an innocent college girl, she had found him attractive. Small moments where they made eye contact. She remembered how she had actively stayed away from him, because deep down she knew if she was around him long enough, she would fuck him.

"Show me the video where I ring the bell," Vicki said.

"What?"

"If I somehow walked here under my own power to fuck you, show me the video. The video where I rang your doorbell," Vicki said.

Steve stared at her, hesitated. "You knocked."

Vicki took a deep breath. He was lying.

A weight lifted. The file was gone. The evidence she needed was deleted, at least for now. Vicki knew he was lying. Liz set her up. Vicki didn't do this. Didn't ask for it, didn't want it. No matter what foggy moments and flirty memories might suggest, this wasn't her fault.

She could just leave him for the goons. He deserved it, but that would end her life on campus. Any violence would get back to Liz, who would take it up the chain. Vicki had to at least try to win within the structure of the House.

Vicki took the mouse and checked the trashcan. Emptied.

"When Liz dropped me off, did she have to carry me?" Vicki asked.

Steve didn't answer. He looked away. Shame?

"I'm taking this," Vicki said.

--

It took days for the private investigators to find the other assholes, but they did. Vicki had the impression that Sarah didn't have the means or the will to torture a confession out of them. That was probably a good thing. Probably.

They sent the laptop off to data recovery experts. The missing file would be reconstructed. Just not instantly.

Vicki stayed at a hotel on campus. She went to class. Avoided the house. Frank was weird, but she was beyond caring about hurt feelings and awkward moments. He'd get over it.

She got a phone call from McKayla.

"Your trial is this weekend," she said. "During the event."

Vicki was out of time.

--

She wasn't done fighting, but Vicki wasn't stupid. It was already over.

Without evidence, it would be Vicki's word against Liz's. The trial was never meant to be impartial, never meant to be justice. As far as the board was concerned, she was already expelled. It took something extraordinary just to get an audience. McKayla had come through.

The trial itself was meant to be humiliating and sexual, something they could sell to rich old perverts. You had to display obedience just to get in the door. She would be stripped naked at the very least. Would she have to suck some old man's cock just to plead her case? Not impossible.

Sarah had been explicit. The trial wasn't about finding her innocent or guilty, it was about getting a desperate young woman to beg, to ask for punishment, to be grateful for their abuse, to get humiliated and fucked, and to thank them for it and ask for more. Promises had already been made.

The only good news was that the "who" of it didn't much matter to these men. One of the two girls was about to get fucked, and it was going to be Vicki unless something changed.

She needed a miracle.

Vicki returned to the house to pick up her things. She could apply to a state school. Sarah wasn't wrong. Her life wasn't over, but it was just that she had sacrificed so much. Too much.

"You're leaving?" Janette asked, a hint of concern and confusion in her voice. She was frozen in the doorway, wearing a tank top that cutout way too early and shorts that cut in way too late. She was showing off every inch of her perfect stomach and more. It was way too cold to be dressed like that.

"Seems so," Vicki said. She stopped packing. "Aren't you cold?" She instantly regretted it. So much to say to her sweet roommate, words of kindness and reconciliation. There was so much to fix and not enough time to do it. Why did she always pick a fight?

Janette chuckled. Nervous.

"It's not cold out there," she said. "You're just not from Minnesota."

Vicki smiled. An exhausted smile, but a smile none the less.

"You coming back?" Janette asked.

"Unlikely," Vicki said.

"OK," Janette nodded, processing something. Something bad. "You don't have to leave. It's better if I leave, since it's my fault."

Vicki stopped. Janette was always so cool, with a easy smile and a twinkle in her eye. She wasn't smiling now.

Vicki had been holding a grudge for weeks, against her sister and also Janette. Good intentions with bad timing and bad luck had lead Vicki to this moment. It wasn't Janette's fault that Liz hated her. Her sweet roommate never had the capability to protect her. It wasn't fair to put this on her. Janette was a good person who was also getting fucked. She hadn't been able to rescue Vicki because she was drowning too.

Vicki took in a breath and let it all go.

"How is any of this your fault?" Vicki asked. Janette squirmed. It was an accusation Vicki was pointing at herself.

"I knew you didn't like me that way, and we were drinking. I wasn't really drunk, and you were far gone. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. We were all getting fucked, and I figured why not do the thing I wanted to do, why not find something for me in all of that... darkness," she said. "So, I'm the one that should leave. Not you."

Vicki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then another.

"You think I'm leaving because of you?" Vicki already knew, but she had to say it. There were so many things unsaid. How much of her hell was just due to bad communication?

"You're not?" Janette said. A note of hope was in her voice.

Vicki was so tired of telling this story, but Janette deserved to know the truth. Deserved to know and needed to know.

So Vicki told her story. Again. She started with the blackout. Liz had gotten her drunk on purpose then dropped her off at Steve's house to get fucked. Then the blackmail. Vicki eluded to the torment but didn't give any detail. She wanted to spare them both that trauma.

Along the way Janette had started crying. Vicki wanted to console her, but kept her distance.

"And I'm out of time," Vicki said. "Tomorrow we all fly out to a secret Illuminati sex party, where they will put me on trial and find me guilty. I'll be kicked out of school unless I let them torture me some more, and you want to know the sick part?"

Janette shook her head no. Tears streaked down her perfect cheeks. Her crystal blue eyes were crestfallen. Her hair was messy, but also somehow perfect. Janette didn't want to know, but Vicki was going to tell her anyway.

"I think I'm going to do it," Vicki said. "I've--"

That was when Vicki's strong facade cracked, and she couldn't hold back the tears.

"I've already given up so much. What's just a little more torture?"

Janette stepped in to the small room and wrapped her long arms around Vicki, pulling her into an embrace. It was the first human contact that didn't make her skin crawl.

Vicki cried again, wrapped up in Janette's love, snuggled up against her neck. Janette didn't say anything. She just held her.

When Vicki was done crying, they sat on her bed together, their legs touching. Janette held her hand.

"Your memory of that night is not exactly correct," Janette said.

--

They got dinner. It was the first time in a week that Vicki actually felt hungry. More than that, she had hope.

Vicki could win. It was a long shot, but it wasn't hopeless.

And Janette was just wonderful. She had always been wonderful. They ate at the fanciest restaurant Sarah could find. Janette was probably going to get a "B" or "B-" in Calculus, but she was OK with that. She wasn't in it for the GPA. Her younger brother back home had a recent DUI. She was going to kill him if her parents didn't do it first.

They avoided discussing the House, Vicki's fate, and their plans to avoid it. Whenever Vicki would trail off, Janette changed the topic or would say something stupid or something funny. She talked when Vicki wasn't able. She listened when Vicki needed her to.

As dinner was winding down, Vicki sat in the knowledge that the next twenty four hours would decide the rest of her life.

And she realized something profound. Vicki didn't want this night to end.

"Earlier," Vicki began, "you said I wasn't ready to be with you."

"Yeah," Janette said, prepared to apologize again.

"Well I'm ready now," Vicki said.

--

Sarah volunteered her apartment and then made herself scarce. She was cool enough not to say anything, not to even hint. Nothing in her sister's words or tone of voice betrayed that she knew what Vicki was up to, but she knew. Sarah just wanted her sister to have space and comfort and time-- room to find herself with no audience or expectations.

"Make yourself at home," Vicki said. It took her a moment to find the light switch.

"Very smooth," Janette said. She drank in the apartment, small kitchen breaking into wide open living room. A sunken floor feature and a leather couch.

"This place is amazing," Janette said.

"Yeah, the gold at the end of the rainbow. Power and money and connections."

"Why don't you make us some drinks," Janette said. "And I'll get ready."

Ready for what?

Everything, Vicki hoped.

Vicki had butterflies in her stomach as she raided Sarah's liquor cabinet.

When Vicki came back, the lights were out and Janette was looking out the window, facing the city. She was topless and her back was turned. The light from the city illuminated her mostly naked body.

Simple pink cotton panties hugged the cheeks of her tight ass. Her legs were long and pale. Most of her back was obscured by the darkness. Vicki could mostly just make out her perfect outline against the backdrop of the city.

Janette was the opposite of Vicki. Tall and straight in contrast to Vicki's curves. Even so, Janette's form tightened around her waist before gently flowing into mildly thicker hips. Her body was... pleasing. Vicki had spent many nights being jealous of Janette's body. Tonight she felt fortunate.

"Got the drinks," Vicki said.

Janette lingered against the window for a moment, oblivious to the possibilities that the city could also see her back.

"Come look," Janette said.

Vicki crossed the distance in twilight and approached the window, approached her friend. Janette kept her eyes on the city, to the neon signs and cars and people below, and Vicki kept her eyes on Janette. She saw the wonder in those blue eyes, and that wonder filled her with hope.

"It's beautiful," Janette said.

"Yeah, it is," Vicki said. Vicki wished she had done this sooner, had taken Janette up on those offers of exploration and acceptance, before her life had turned cruel. "Drink?"

Janette turned to her, Vicki could see more of her body now. Saw the moment when her eyes turned from the wonder of the city to Vicki's face, saw how those eyes shifted from wonder to comfort, to longing.

Janette leaned forward and kissed Vicki. Vicki didn't try to stop her. She closed her eyes and let it happen, felt those soft lips on hers, smelled a hint of vodka and citrus from the drinks at dinner. It felt like home. How long had it been since someone had kissed her?

Stay away from the the past, she told herself. Focus on the present.

Janette pulled away. Her eyes sparkled. She smiled. Vicki looked down at her friend's mostly naked body. Not judging, appreciating. Janette was tall but graceful, delicate even. Pale collar bone into small breasts. Pink nipples. A smooth stomach into hips and thighs.

Janette watched Vicki touch every bit of her body with her eyes. Not awkward. Warm. She reached out with delicate fingers and tucked Vicki's hair behind her ear. Janette leaned in, cheek to cheek, and whispered to Vicki.

"I'm yours," she said. "Anything you want. No expectations. No pressure. Everything you want. Nothing you don't." She pulled away and looked into Vicki's eyes.

Vicki felt strangely emotional, melancholy and wistful as much as lusty. She nodded. "I want you," Vicki heard herself say.

They kissed again. Not passionately, not rushed. Languid. Patient. Tongues dancing back and forth, finding the right distance and pressure and heat.

Janette lead Vicki to the white leather couch that dominated the space. Vicki didn't make it more than two steps without Janette's lips on her neck or lips or back.

"I'll be right back," Janette said.

"Where are you going--"

"Right back!" Janette said again, laughing as as she ducked into the hallway. Vicki watched a cascade of lights flip on and off from down the hallway.

Vicki took a breath. Don't think. Just do. She peeled off her clothes. Shirt and bra, skirt and panties until she was completely naked. She was freshly shaved. Always shaved. She vowed to grow it out, to ignore convention and outside pressure. This was her body.

She was standing naked in the darkness, light from the city bouncing off and around her. Invisible to outsiders, but still able to see.

"I'm back," Janette said. Vicki could just make her out in the darkness. As she got closer, the ambient light danced across her body.

The panties were gone. Janette was... angular. Sharp elbows and hips. The vague outline of her hip bone. Slender ankles and calves. Her breasts, thighs, and smile were the only soft things about her.

And when she saw Vicki standing naked she froze. Vicki watched it register. Her smile getting just a little bigger. Her eyes lightning up. Not just happy or horny. Happy for Vicki too, happy her friend was able to let some of her baggage go, to stand naked before the city.

Vicki was naked but didn't feel it. She felt ready. She wanted Janette's eyes and fingers and lips on body.

"Is that a... towel?" Vicki asked. Janette was indeed carrying a peach bath towel, folded over her arm like the world's naughtiest butler.

"We need to be good guests," Janette said. She laid it out on Sarah's white leather couch.

"Lay down and put your butt here," she said.

Vicki followed orders. The leather was cool against her skin. The bath towel was soft and fuzzy. She spread her legs and looked up at Janette, every moment more and more vulnerable.

"You think we'll need it?" Vicki asked.

"Better to be prepared," Janette said. She laid on the couch next to Vicki. It was large and both girls were petite. There was plenty of room for them to do whatever they wanted.

"Janette... there is something you need to know. Something bad happened, with men outside of the program. I'm on drugs, but I just don't know yet."

Janette brought her lips down to Vicki's, brushing them more than kissing. "It'll be OK," she said.

Janette stared into her eyes, then they were kissing again. Lips pressed together while their fingers went exploring. Vicki's fingers traced down Janette's spine. Her friend's fingers were grabbing and squeezing Vicki's ass.

Janette pressed her leg in between Vicki's, the top of her leg rubbing Vicki in just the right way.

"Can I kiss you?" Janette asked. What had they just been doing?

"Of course," Vicki said.

So she did.

"On your neck?"

"Yes," Vicki said.

Janette bent over her, breathing and kissing on the area just under her ear. Vicki's body was awake and ready for more.

"Collarbone?"

"Yes," Vicki said.

"Nipples?" Janette asked.

"Yes," Vicki said. Every question answered was foreplay. Each yes building momentum for the next kiss or lick.

Janette lowered her face down to Vicki's breasts, running her lips around the outside of her nipple, then flicking it with her tongue. The sensation sent a jolt through Vicki's body. She gave a warm moan in response.

As Janette teased, Vicki unwound, stretching her arms above her head, disentangling from Janette's legs, laying on her back.

Janette moved her attention over to the other nipple, dragging her tongue along the way, across Vicki's full breasts and everywhere in between. She licked just the end, then sucked it gently against her teeth with the perfect amount of pressure.

"Thighs?" Janette asked.

"Yes," Vicki hissed.

Janette danced her soft fingers up Vicki's legs.

"And in between?" she asked.

"Yes," Vicki said again. Each yes adding to Vicki's desire.

Janette ran her fingers across Vicki's pussy, caressing and rubbing, feeling for Vicki's clit.

Vicki froze. Those fingers were not so different than Liz's. Vicki had a flash of all the times Liz had shoved her fingers inside of her, always after she had been beaten or degraded, as if it was proof that Vicki wanted it, that she brought it on herself.