Ostracism Pt. 02

Author's note: This story contains several anti-gay slurs. This is not meant to insult anyone, but they are necessary for the telling of this tale. I hope that the reader can see past any offense he might take, and understand why they are integral to the story.

*****

Danny was storming around the campus. He had already been upset that Mary Margaret had a date with some guy, and when she wasn't there for breakfast, he knew: she'd spent the night with him, had slept with that asshole.

There were some moments of rationality: he knew that he had had chances to ask her out himself, had opportunities to see if they could have been more than friends, and he'd let them pass without doing anything.

Heck, even Mary Catherine had told him that her sister was interested, and he blew that off. Trouble is, he'd already resolved not to hurt her reputation by asking her to date the fag whore. But still, that didn't mean she should go out and fuck some other guy!

Well, what the heck, there was really only one thing to do, and that was find a girlfriend himself! The girls in the dorm complex - Blanding had two towers and several low-rise dorms - were all out; his reputation had spread throughout that! But he'd just turned 21, and that meant he could get into bars, and maybe he could meet some chicks there who didn't know about his past.

Of course, if they were students at UK, he'd have to 'fess up about that, eventually, or any smart girl would find out eventually, but not every cute girl in Lexington went to UK. There were plenty who weren't students, even some who went to Transy or other colleges.

Fuck it, it was Saturday, and he was going out tonight. And he was going to get laid!

oo0oo

Mary Margaret had gotten lunch at the Blanding complex cafeteria, really just before it closed, and she looked for Danny, but didn't see him. Of course, he could have eaten earlier, but now she was worried that he was taking the fact she had a date badly. Still, if he had wanted to be her boyfriend, he should have had the balls to say something!

Then her cell phone buzzed: it was Brandon!

"What's up?" he asked her.

"Not much, just getting some lunch, and then laundry, and that's about it."

"I really enjoyed last night, you were really awesome. How about dinner tonight?"

"That would be nice. We cooking again?"

"We could, but I'd have to go to the grocery store, or we could just get pizza delivered."

"How can you do the grocery store? I didn't think you had a car, and it's not like you can carry stuff with your ankle."

"I can call my sister to take me. In fact, I ought to do that anyway, 'cause even if we do get a pizza tonight, I'll still need food for the rest of the week."

After hanging up, Mary Margaret was excited, but there was a nagging worry in the back of her mind: was she getting too involved with Brandon, too fast? He seemed like the perfect guy: handsome, athletic and smart, with what seemed like a great work ethic.

And then there was Danny. He wasn't as good looking though his angular features were interesting, certainly not fat - still too skinny, actually - but maybe not as athletic, intelligent, but with that dark part of his personality. If he had just said something, maybe they could have gotten together to do more than just study! Sarah had said that he looked pissed that she had spent the night with Brandon, even if he didn't know what really happened, and was sure to be assuming that they'd had sex.

Well, heck, she'd be home all afternoon, and if Danny had anything to say, she'd be available to talk. She thought about calling him, but then again, she'd already agreed to spend the evening with Brandon.

And the night? After last night, he had to assume that she'd want to spend tonight with him. She wasn't worried about birth control anymore, because she'd spotted a box of condoms in his bedroom. Of course, a Catholic girl wasn't supposed to think about birth control, but, then again, a good Catholic girl wasn't supposed to sleep with a man to whom she wasn't married, either.

Last night, waking up next to Danny, she'd - wait, she'd woken up next to Brandon, not Danny! - waking up next to Brandon was just thrilling. Mary Margaret wasn't a virgin, she'd had sex with a couple of guys before, but it was never great, and they were always gone before morning. It was just so special to see him laying there, next to her, barely visible in the darkened bedroom, hearing his steady breathing, imagining his heart beating, for her! as he slept.

Still, there was that box of condoms, that very large box of condoms, in his bedroom. Just how many girls had he woken up next to, how many other girls had slept with him, in that same bed? He was so good looking, so damned charming, that he surely never lacked for feminine companionship if he wanted it. Danny wasn't a virgin either, and there was that horrible gay porno in his past, but he didn't seem like there had been that many women in his past. It was one thing to know that Danny might have slept with four or five girls, and something wholly different to think that Brandon might have slept with a hundred.

There was a big laundry room in the basement, had to be big for sixteen floors of dorm rooms, and washing machines were sometimes hard to come by, but Mary Margaret got lucky: she needed two, and there were two available. She snatched then up quickly pushing her quarters into the slots to start the cycles. There were even a couple of dryers available, but who knows if that would be the case when her laundry was done. The smarter thing was to stay in the laundry room, ready to put your clothes in the dryer the second the washing cycle was done. A lot of students didn't do that, which was one reason washers got tied up, sitting there full of wet clothes long after they were done.

Mary Margaret had taken her iPad down with her, just to check on her Facebook and Twitter feeds. She'd considered herself lucky: for all of the razzing she'd gotten when she first started talking with Danny, no one had put some asshole message on her social media pages. She looked to see if Danny or Brandon had anything up, but there was nothing at all for Danny. Of course, if he'd had feeds, he'd probably have deleted them once the awful video had come out. She found a Facebook page for Brandon, but it wasn't too interesting: just a few ROTC posts. Still, when she looked at his Friends list, there over 300 of them, and it seemed like most of them were girls.

She wished she hadn't looked.

oo0oo

Danny was determined. He'd gotten back to his room, and went through his clothes. He had just turned 21, and was going to hit the bars tonight, and find a likely babe. He had money now, still holding on to most of the money he made from that awful porno, and if he had been hesitant to use it before, seeing it as tainted by that experience, well why should he be reticent to spend it on looking for girls?

Problem was, Danny wasn't all that great at chatting up women, and he'd been pretty much dateless long before the video came out. He thought about the few girls he'd been with, all of them a long while ago, but couldn't see asking any of them out. Nope! He was going to find someone new!

Danny knew that he wasn't ugly, but he wasn't the handsomest guy around, either. Best thing he could do is go for the dark, moody look, which wasn't too difficult with all of the black shirts in his wardrobe. He had black boots, and a couple pair of jeans which hadn't faded much. A plain black t-shirt, and, since he hadn't shaved since Friday morning, a two-day stubble beard, and he could pull off the look. His best jackets were too lightly colored, but he did have a dark blue insulated jacket; wearing that, with a short sleeved t-shirt, in December, might make him look tough. A quick shower, and he'd be ready.

The place was dark, as he expected, and loud. He'd paid his $10 cover to get in, but if the joint was crowded, it wasn't packed to the rafters. He figured that he'd survey the room, and pick out some really hot babes, but it was hard to see people clearly. Hell, only thing to do was belly up to the bar. Trace Adkins' Honky Tonk Badonkadonk was being played by the DJ.

Honky tonk badonkadonk!

Keepin' perfect rhythm make you want to swing along,

Got it goin' on like Donkey Kong,

And ooh well shut my mouth, slap your grandma,

There ought to be a law, get the sheriff on the phone

Lord have mercy how'd she even get them britches on?

With that honky tonk badonkadonk!

Yeah, that was right! If it was hard to pick out details, he was still able to see plenty of girls in painted-on jeans! It was kind of country, not Danny's favorite music, but the sexual tension was thick in the air. If he couldn't find a girl here, then he just couldn't find a girl!

Danny hit the bar, and got a cold Coors. He took the typical, back to the bar seat on the stool, surveying the room, trying to figure out how to find a woman alone, and approach her. Too bad he'd always been lousy at that!

Then this woman strode up, to the space beside Danny, not sitting on the barstool, just to order a couple of drinks. He looked at her, and she was a hottie! Skinny jeans, a sleeveless red plaid blouse not buttoned but tied up below her boobs, over a white camisole. It was dark, but it looked like she had on cowboy boots, and she had long, dark hair, deeply brunette or maybe even black, hard to be sure in the low lights. The side curls kind of hid her face from Danny's perspective, but he could note deeply red lipstick.

"Kiss me," he said to her, surprising himself with his boldness. He hadn't even gone through half of his beer yet.

She looked at him and laughed, "Well, that's blunt. Not much of a pick-up line, though."

"You're right, it's not, but I'm not much of a line-type guy. Kiss me anyway."

The woman laughed again, "My boyfriend's watching, and if I do, you're likely to get your ass beat."

"I'll risk it. I can handle myself."

"Well, then, big talker, take what you want."

With half-a-beer's worth of courage, Danny stood up, put his arms around her waist, and pulled the woman in for a long, deep kiss.

"And stay out!" rang in Danny's ears, as the bouncers threw him and the other guy out. It hadn't been much of a fight, because the bouncers saw it coming, and got in the way just as the first, ineffective punches got thrown.

The other guy was there, getting up at the same time. He was shorter than Danny, but heavier, and looked like he might have been in a few fights before tonight. Luckily, his girlfriend grabbed him and yelled, "Roy, no, it's not worth it!"

Danny was on his feet, ready for the fight, but the woman stayed between them while the men yelled challenged back and forth between them. Finally, she convinced him, and he turned his back and stormed off. The woman then smiled at Danny, and, making sure her boyfriend's back was still turned, quickly blew him a kiss before hurrying off to catch up to her man.

Man, what a night! He hadn't gotten laid yet, but his blood was up, and he felt tough. Time to find another bar to hit!

It was only a block to the next saloon, with a similar country-western vibe. No cover charge at this place, as there was no dance floor, just a bar and tables and smoke and beer. There was a big screen television on the wall, with an LSU football game on; the UK game had been played in the afternoon. He liked LSU, being one of the few teams that wore their white jerseys at home, and while UK was doing better than usual in football this year, he thought that their uniforms looked like clown suits.

The bar was full, so he'd have to squeeze his way in to get a beer. Then, walking up, he saw three girls, at a four-sides stand-up table, a pitcher of dark beer in the center. All fairly cute, but one caught his eye: she was every bit of six feet tall, maybe a touch more, with a half-sleeve tattoo showing out from her white wife-beater tank top. Feeling confident, Danny tried the same tactic, walking up to her, putting his hand on her chin to turn her head to him, and said, "Kiss me."

It sure worked better this time! The other two girls laughed, and the woman he'd picked out smiled, and came closer to kiss him. It was a quick kiss, but she was smiling and laughing, as he said, "I'm Danny," then picked up her mug to take a drink of her beer.

Oh, man, this was great! He'd just moved in, confident as can be, and it was working great. Apparently the waitress saw this, and just stepped in and put an empty, frosted mug down in front of Danny. "Y'all going to drink another pitcher?" he asked, and a chorus of yeses made him call the waitress back and order another.

"Shannon," the tall girl told him, "and this is Marsha," pointing to the woman on the left, "and Cindy."

"Very pleased to make your acquaintances, my ladies."

That line got giggles, followed by Marsha replying, "As are we, my lord."

They all laughed at that, when Shannon explained that they'd been binge-watching The Tudors, a Showtime series on King Henry VIII. "Oh, OK," replied Danny, "though I must say that I'm not exactly up on my English history."

"Well, my lord, 'tisn't completely accurate, historically, but 'tis fun to watch."

Oh, man, if I'm expected to respond in courtly English speech, I'll fail at this." Danny was still smiling; he thought that this was going well.

"You do realize, my lord," Shannon was laughing at him, "that we might not be behaved quite as ladies of the sixteenth century?"

"Certainly not, my lady," Danny was catching on fast, "as the centuries have passed. One doesn't think of ladies these days as being the possession of their lords."

"Ooh, you are learning fast, my lord." That was Marsha again. "But, whilst that is certainly true, ladies today may behave quite differently in other ways," she said, before kissing Cindy full on the lips.

The three of them burst out laughing, as Danny realized: he was really barking up the wrong tree. Of course, just because Marsha and Cindy might be gay, Shannon had kissed him. Thing is, he'd already ordered another pitcher for the table, and it would be rude to bail out now.

Then he got lucky, as Shannon said, "Look, just because my girlfriends are gay doesn't mean you don't have a chance with me. That was a nice kiss, and I like your nerve. That was a gutsy way of introducing yourself."

Things were really looking up for Danny, and Shannon was cute. Long, dark hair with some definitely feminine styling - a few curls on the sides to frame her face just right - hung to her elbows, and Danny definitely liked longer hair on girls. The sleeve tat made her look an interesting combination of feminine and tough girl, and she was standing a bit taller than he was, though at least part of that was due to her boot heels. Danny found her just intoxicantly sexy.

Needing something to do with his hands, he emptied the first pitcher into his mug as the one he'd ordered arrived, and took a long pull on it. The girls were talking and laughing, with him only tangentially part of the conversation, before he started in again, trying to find out more about Shannon. Working his way through all of the banter, he found that they were all roommates, sharing a house a few blocks away, and had perfectly respectable office jobs downtown. Cindy and Marsha liked this bar, because it wasn't quite the type frequented by their office colleagues, and while they weren't exactly hiding, they figured it would be the wiser career move to keep being gay to themselves.

Shannon? She acted straight, but, naturally, with the mind of a horny 21-year-old, Danny wondered if she didn't bat for both teams every once in a while. Still, her hand frequently touching his on the table, not insistent, not overly grabby, but just enough to show him that she was still interested. She was laughing along with his jokes, and was drinking as much of the pitcher as he was. Shannon was tall, and certainly not fat, but with Danny's natural skinniness and weight loss after the porno became public, she might have even had a few pounds on him.

A big plate of hot wings and another pitcher of beer came and went. Marsha and Cindy had had enough, were getting handsy amongst themselves, and more than ready to leave. So, the four of them headed out the door to stagger back to the women's house, and it just seemed perfectly natural for Danny to tag along. He'd told Shannon that he lived in the dorms - kind of a long walk away dorms as it happened - so if she intended to carry on the evening's activities, there was no reason for her to suggest his place.

The four of them were walking up North Broadway, directly away from the UK campus, arm in arm either as a foursome, when the sidewalks were wide enough, or two couples when the walkways narrowed, laughing, singing stupid songs and just being, in general, perfect examples of public drunkenness. Naturally, this attracted the attention of two of Lexington's finest, and they got lucky when the cops let them go. The girls were all older, mid-twenties, and the one male cop gave Danny a wink when he saw, from Danny's ID, that he had just turned 21. No sense messing up the guy's good luck his first time legal after a bar; the officers just told them to keep it down until they got back to the house, which was just a couple blocks away. Managing to make it the rest of the way, and after some fumbling in trying to get the key into the deadbolt, the four spilled into a nice, older home.

Damn, that sun was bright! The window of wherever the Hell he was had the sunlight spilling directly into the bedroom. His head killing him, and his bladder about to burst, Danny had to look around and see where he was. He was still wearing his black t-shirt and his boxers, but his jeans were down around one ankle, his shoes gone. Shannon was laying sort of beside him, her shirt and some boy-leg panties on, her long hair a kind of mess around her. Getting out of bed, his vision blurry with his glasses gone, he heard the girl mumble, "Second door on the right," obviously telling him where the bathroom was.

It was a nice bathroom, older style, with small white hexagonal tiles on the floor and an old clawfoot tub with a shower curtain hanging into it from a metal ceiling rack. After taking a monster piss, Danny's head was still throbbing, and, seeing shampoo and soap on a rack, took the liberty of just taking a shower without asking.

He hadn't been in the shower long when he heard Shannon's voice, "Don't get out until I'm done," and he heard her plop down on the toilet. The thought of her joining him in the shower would have been a pleasant thought if his head didn't have a marching band inside, practicing. After he heard her flush, he announced that he was done and she responded to leave the water running. He stepped out, and she stepped in, Danny admiring what she looked like naked; that left arm sleeve tattoo went kind of far down her back as well.

Danny toweled dry, ran his fingers through his hair to sort of comb it out - he was alert enough now to realize that he couldn't just use someone else's hairbrush - and then stole a finger-full of toothpaste to do what he could to take care of morning mung mouth. A splash of the Scope that was in there helped. He wanted to wait in there until Shannon got out, but had to worry that, in an older house like this, this might be the only bathroom, and there were two other girls who might need in there. Grabbing his t-shirt and boxers off the floor, he headed back to Shannon's room.

Well, that had been a heck of a night, but it hadn't been one in which he'd gotten laid. He was willing, and Shannon had certainly seemed willing, but pitchers of dark beer, followed by the four of them killing a bottle tequila after they got to the house, left the couple too drunk to do much more than fall into bed; they barely made it into the bedroom! He was sober now, but hungover like a big dog, and even if Shannon was interested, Danny didn't know how good they could be, especially if her head hurt as badly as his did.