What's Her Name? I Can't Tell You!

"Yes," Rachel said. "Always knew I could come just from having my breasts played with, but Eric never got me there. Thank you!" She kissed him deeply, and then sat up to unbuckle his belt. Desperately curious, Todd placed his hand gently between her legs for the first time. Her pants were damp to the touch. "Took you long enough to do that!" she teased. "Can you feel how much I wanted you to?"

"I can now," he admitted.

Rachel unzipped his jeans. "Stand up and let's get you out of these. And me too!" She took his hand and pulled him up, and without further ado she pushed his pants and boxers down. Todd needed no encouragement in returning the favor, and Rachel took him in a fierce embrace as the last of their clothes were kicked aside. After enjoying the tender moment, she took his erection firmly in her right hand and led him back to the bed. Lying back and spreading her legs, she followed his gaze to her bush. "I'm sorry I'm not very shaven," she said.

"Don't be!" Todd said. "I like the natural look!" To back up his claim, he reached in and ran his fingers affectionately through her abundant pubic hair.

"Really?!" Rachel made no effort to hide her surprise. "Wow, you're just getting better all the time!"

"Let me guess, Eric likes you bald as a coot," Todd said.

"Yeah, he all but begs me to shave or wax," she confirmed as he lay atop her and she slipped her arms around him. "I did it once and hated the way I looked, like a five year old with breasts, but he's never stopped bugging me to do it again."

"I never will!" Todd promised, nibbling at her neck.

"Thanks," she whispered, and she drew her knees up and reached down with both hands to guide him inside. "Does that feel like you thought it would?" she asked him as she felt him slide delightfully into place.

"Better!" Todd said breathlessly. "Much better!" he added, as he began pumping in and out with abandon.

"Wait!" Rachel said. "Nice and slow, nice and slow, please..." Once again, and still very much to her surprise, Todd obeyed her request, and soon she was enjoying his leisurely rhythmic pushing. "Much better," Rachel whispered. "I want it to last!"

It did last. Neither of them looked at the clock, but Todd proved to be a wonderfully slow burn and Rachel enjoyed two more orgasms before she finally heard his telltale grunts and clutched him close to her as he came. Her joy was tempered just a bit with concern that he might say he loved her -- it wouldn't do to complicate things with that just yet -- but to her relief, he didn't. When a suitably long afterglow had come and gone, his first words were, "So what do we do about Eric?"

"Let's worry about that tomorrow," Rachel said, kissing his cheek. "For now, let's just enjoy this!" She got no objection from Todd.

James stayed at the library until closing time, and managed along the way to get a lot of studying done. But all night long, his mind wandered back to the almost surreal hour and change he had enjoyed with Sarah at the coffee shop. The conversation had never grown any too intimate, but he was thrilled with the very fact of how mundane some of it had been. Remembering Brandy's concerns about putting her on a pedestal, he reflected that now he could say he wasn't doing the same to Sarah. Not when she was from a perfectly ordinary Chicago suburb whose name he had seen here and there, and she'd been a cheerleader in high school and was loath to admit it to just anyone now that she was a capital-F feminist, and she'd gotten a C in chemistry freshman year. ("Everyone thinks I'm first in my class -- I have no idea why!" she'd remarked at one point.) There was never any concern on his part that she might be idolizing him; that simply wasn't plausible!

As he walked home in the early spring midnight, brief snatches of conversation played over and over in his head, keeping his heart pounding and his hopes up.

Todd wanted to make love just before they went to Eric's room to make the second call, but Rachel vetoed the idea immediately. "He'll be able to smell it on us," she said. "Even he's smart enough to put two and two together if we both show up with that smell."

"Not if we shower right before we go to his room."

"Then he'll get suspicious about why we both showered in the middle of the day." Rachel gave Todd a hug to let him down easy. "I applaud your spirit here, but it's just a bad, bad idea, sweetie. I'll tell you what, though. After you make the call..."

"I'll feel too goddam guilty then," Todd whined.

"Why? We know James and Sarah did get together after all. The only one fooled here will be Eric!"

"This is going to confuse James, though, and it could mess things up with Sarah. He's going to want to know why she called to ask why he didn't show up when they both know she did."

Rachel thought on that. "Any chance you could send him a signal that it's really you? He knows about your vocal capabilities, doesn't he?"

"That's worth a try," Todd said, but he said it without much confidence.

Rachel made him promise to wait at least five minutes after she left. Todd needed no convincing, and in the end he barely stopped himself from skipping out on Eric altogether. Doing everything Eric wanted was still his only chance at avoiding real trouble, after all, and he was already in so deep.

When he arrived in Eric's room, Rachel was curled up on the couch looking like she'd been crying. Todd felt his heart bounce off his throat, but it quickly became clear that Eric suspected nothing about the two of them. "Never mind her, that's none of your business," Eric said with his usual smirk as he handed Todd the phone. "Women are moody. You wouldn't know that, though, being a queer, would you?"

Todd did his best to ignore the entire scene as he reluctantly dialed James' number.

"Hello?"

"Todd. This is Sarah."

"Hey! How've you been?"

"Fine, thanks. But --"

"I've been thinking about the other day nonstop! I really had a lovely time!"

"Never mind that, James. Why didn't you show up on Wednesday?"

"Why didn't I show up? What do you mean?!"

"We were supposed to meet, remember? I waited for you! Do you think you're out of my league or something, James?" Todd could only hope James would pick up on his own catchphrase.

"What on earth are you talking about, Sarah? Are you feeling okay? You don't quite sound like yourself."

"Men! You can never count on them for anything! And don't change the subject! Anyway, James, listen. I'm going to be at the library again today at five o'clock with my friend Jill, and we can try again. Can I count on you this time?!"

"What the hell is this, Sarah?! We had such a lovely time..."

"Okay, I hope you'll show up this time," Todd said. He noticed Rachel getting up to collect a bath towel from the closet. She mouthed the word "shower" at Eric and made her escape while he couldn't say anything and risk being overheard by James. James hung up without another word just as Rachel shut the door behind her, but Eric didn't know that. "Apology accepted, James," he continued. "Just don't let it happen this time. Bye."

He set the phone down and glared at Eric, who was now free to let loose with a roar of laughter. "Good job, kid," he managed to say while gasping for breath. "That bastard's never gonna trust anything in a bra again!"

"Now how do I know you're not going to write to my mother?" Todd demanded.

"You don't, you fuckin' queer. Live with it. Now I plan to user-abuse Rachel when she gets back from the shower, so why don't you get lost? Maybe you've got someone of your own you can go screw around with."

"As a matter of fact, I do," Todd said. Without another word, he left.

Rachel was waiting for him, curled up nude on his bed with a big smile. "You did it!" she squealed, jumping up to greet him. "Five o'clock...he knows she'll be at track practice then! When he sees her there, he'll know it wasn't really her and the joke will be on Eric. Again!"

"I sure hope you're right," Todd said, letting her undress him. "By the way, Eric is expecting to..."

"Do what we're about to do, right now?" Rachel asked.

Todd nodded.

"Fuck him!"

"No, fuck me," Todd rejoined with a grin. "Please."

"That's more like it!" Rachel kissed him hard on the mouth. "There's the Todd I'm falling for! Forget Eric, now, not another word about him." And for the next half hour and change, there wasn't.

James stared at the phone in utter confusion. Was his crush insane? It wouldn't be the first time he'd cast his lot with someone who turned out to be nothing but trouble, and Brandy had been warning him all along about putting women on pedestals. Perhaps he'd done it again.

Or perhaps not -- he couldn't help hoping not. He played the conversation over again...five o'clock? Right in the middle of practice. Sarah would never skip practice for a meeting she didn't even trust him to come to, and she wouldn't expect him to skip a practice for her either...would she? The truth was, James didn't know. He'd had one lovely afternoon with Sarah, but he didn't really know her all that well yet. If she was nuts, there was still time to get out of harm's way, and James made up his mind to do that. He would go to practice, and of course Sarah would be there, and she would probably have a perfectly reasonable explanation for the entire thing. He had no idea what that explanation would be, but he made up his mind to trust Sarah until she had proven he couldn't trust her.

"Was that you I saw with Sarah at the coffee shop the other day, James?" Tom asked a few hours later as James laced up his sneakers in the locker room.

James did his best to hide the pride he felt bubbling up. "Yes," he said with his first real smile since the bizarre phone call -- it felt good to have it back.

"Was she that mystery girl you were so wound up about?" Tom probed. "Not to pry, but I mean, if she is, good for you! You're a lucky guy!"

"Thanks," James said. Looking around to see that other inquiring minds wanted to know, he confessed, "Yes, it's her. I finally asked and she said yes, but..."

"But?!" called out Greg Hynes. "There's no 'but' when a gal like that says she'll go out with you, man!"

"No kidding," chimed in Jack Larman. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, guys," James said. "But, listen...some of you know her better than I do, or at least you've known her longer. Is she...all there?"

"What?" asked Tom. "What do you mean 'all there'?"

"Well," James said, "I'm getting this vibe about her now that she's kind of weird, and it's got me a little concerned, maybe she's crazy or something and I just couldn't see it because I had a crush on her."

"No!" Greg exclaimed. "I've known her since our freshman year, and she's always been totally down to earth. Why would you even wonder about a thing like that?"

"I've...got my reasons," James said.

"They'd better be good reasons if you're thinking of throwing a gift like this away, man," Jack said. "Don't do it!"

James thanked the guys and said nothing else on the matter as they all headed out to the gym. He was confident that he would find Sarah there laughing with her friends as they waited for warmups to begin, and the whole silly issue could be forgotten.

But she wasn't there. Greg scanned the gang three times and looked back hopefully every few seconds at the women's locker room door, but there was no sign of her at all. He did see Laura, who as usual looked delighted to see him. "James!" she exclaimed, and treated him to her usual kiss on the cheek. "So I hear your meeting was a big success!" she said with a knowing grin.

"Thanks," James said. "Yeah, I guess it was. Speaking of which, do you know why she isn't here?"

"Who, Sarah?" asked Erin, who had arrived with Laura and now took her turn kissing James. "She wouldn't just skip practice," she said, looking throughout the crowd of stretching friends just as James had done."

"Oh, wait," Laura said. "Yeah, she said she...might be late, or might not make it at all. Something about an emergency meeting."

James felt his heart sinking, but he kept his brave face. "Oh, okay. Thanks, Laura."

"She also said she's really looking forward to Saturday," Laura said. "She had a great time talking to you. Again."

"That's sweet," James said. "Thanks." And he was off to join the guys.

"You're a bad liar, Laura," Erin said as soon as he was gone. "She didn't say anything about being late, did she?"

"No," Laura said. "At lunch she was talking about practice like she planned to be here. But she really did say she couldn't wait for the date with James. That's why I made that up. I figure she's probably planning some kind of surprise for him, and I didn't want to spoil it."

"That's sweet." Erin looked mollified. "I'm sure he'll think so too."

He didn't.

James almost didn't even go to the student union on Saturday to meet Sarah for their rendezvous. Through the sleepless night before, he hadn't been able to come up with one decent explanation that reflected well on her in any way. But he didn't have the willpower to give up without one last chance to have her explain herself, and so he somewhat reluctantly put on his ironed blue shirt and khakis and went to the patio by the TV lounge at the appointed hour.

He saw her from a safe distance, beaming at him from halfway across the green in a cute knit top and blue pants, waving at him when she knew he could see her. He waved back with a halfhearted smile, scarcely able to believe he was now dreading the moment he had been fantasizing about for all these months.

"Hey there!" she said as she arrived on the patio. Before he could protest in any way, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Ready to go?"

"Not just yet, Sarah."

"Oh, okay." She looked concerned now. "This sounds serious."

"I'm afraid it is," James said. "What was up with that phone call yesterday?"

"What phone call?"

"Come on, Sarah. I'm sorry I missed the meeting yesterday, but I figured it must be some kind of joke! I mean, I did make it to the meeting on Wednesday, and you kept asking why I'd missed it when you knew perfectly well I was there!"

Sarah was flummoxed. "I have no idea what you're talking about, James! What's your problem?"

"What's my problem?! We had a wonderful time on Wednesday, then you give me this crazy phone call demanding to know where I've been...I don't get it!"

"That makes two of us!" Sarah said. "I never called you! Why would I when we already had plans set for today?!"

"You told me to meet you at the library at five yesterday! And then you weren't at practice, so I've got to think you really did go to the library expecting me. But I can't figure out where this whole where-were-you-on-Wednesday thing comes from!"

"I slept through practice, if you must know!" Sarah said. "Haven't you ever fallen asleep?"

"But Laura said you told her something about a special meeting!"

"I told her all about our plans for today," Sarah said. "She also could have told you I was really excited about the whole thing. I talked about it a lot more than I probably should have at lunch yesterday." She now sounded near tears. "But I'm starting to think that was a mistake. What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me is all of a sudden I don't know what to think of you," James said. "I mean, I was looking forward to this like you can't imagine, but I can't make any sense of that phone call."

"There was no phone call!"

James looked at her, dumbfounded.

"You're really kind of freaking me out here, James," Sarah said. "I'd better go. See you at practice Monday. I hope you have your head out of your ass by then." She turned and stomped off where she'd come from, leaving James as heartbroken as he was confused.

Brandy was cooling her heels in her room, waiting for Paul to come back from an errand in town so they could go to dinner. So it was with no small pleasure that she bounded to the door with a spring in her step when she heard the knock on it. She opened the door eagerly. "Paul! Thank heavens, I'm starving..." Her voice trailed away as she saw James standing in her doorway, looking for all the world like his dog had just died. "Oh, hi, James." Her own mild embarrassment turned into empathy for her friend as she realized he was crying. "What's wrong? Come here!" She pulled him in and shut the door behind him, and took him in her arms. When James responded only with sobs at first, she took a guess. "Sarah?"

"I don't even know what happened!" James snapped. "I mean, I got this weird call yesterday asking why I wasn't at our meeting on Wednesday when I was there and she knows it, and she says she never made the call, but...Christ, I don't even know what to think! Should've known this was too good to be true. She's --"

"Don't say 'out of my league,' James!" Brandy ordered. "She isn't. If she's playing games with you, then she's the one with the problem, not you!"

"You know, she even said that herself on the call yesterday, the one she says she didn't make. She accused me of thinking I was out of her league! How could I ever think a thing like that?"

"She sounds like nothing but trouble all of a sudden," Brandy said. "I know you won't see it this way now, but really, you're better off without someone like that, James."

"I guess." James sank to the floor and sat miserably against the foot of her bed. "Listen, are you expecting Paul? I can leave..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Brandy said. "You need your friends, and Paul wants to be your friend just like I am. You're joining us for dinner, no guilt and no excuses!"

She had James somewhat calmed down when Paul finally arrived several minutes later, offering apologies to them both for his tardiness. "Amazing how slow things always run in town," he said as Brandy and James got their coats on.

"Funny, I've never found that," James said. "Just lucky I guess."

"Or maybe just more efficient than Paul here," Brandy teased.

"Could be," Paul said with a grin, careful to betray nothing. He took his confidentiality duties at the Campus Ethics Board seriously, so even Brandy was never to know "an errand in town" was just his cover story for being summoned to the dean of students' home for an emergency meeting. This particular meeting had involved credible accusations of a student worker in the dean's office violating the privacy of none other than James himself, so Paul resolved to be even more circumspect than usual. It was rather a challenge to keep to himself the newfound respect and admiration he had for James, though, now that he knew James had been the hero of last semester's Pi Delta caper.

As the three of them were arriving at the dining hall, Todd emerged with a woman James didn't recognize. "Hi, Todd," he said, forcing a smile as he didn't care to explain the afternoon's travails to anyone else just yet. Meanwhile, Brandy and Paul exchanged perturbed looks; they did recognize Todd's new friend.

"James!" Todd looked and sounded almost effusive. "Hey, sorry I haven't returned your call! It's wonderful news. I'm really glad everything worked out for you. I've just been...really busy."

"Haven't we all," James said. "I understand." Looking to see Brandy was already standing by the card-checker to get into the dining hall, he added, "I think I'd better go. She's really hungry!"

"All right, then," Todd said. "See you soon!"

"You think he suspects anything?" Rachel asked.

"Nah, why would he?" Todd said. "Surprised to see he's out with Brandy and Paul, though. He said he had a date with Sarah. I figured it'd be tonight."

Brandy held her tongue until they were settled with their dinner. "James, do you know that girl Todd was with?" she asked gently.

"No. Who is she?"

"We don't know either," Paul lied -- having seen her file photo in the meeting that afternoon, he knew exactly who she was: the one accused of giving out private information on James himself.