Fallen Girls And Holidays Ch 03

Authors' note: This is my first attempt at a story. So feedback is certainly appreciated. It gets off to a rather slow start but hopefully will pick up a bit in later chapters. I have the first few chapters mostly done but I can't make any promises as to how quickly I'll be posting new ones after that. I can however promise that I'll finish it at some point if you're patient. Hope you enjoy the experience of reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Hats off to little_blonde_jug for her thoughtful editing.

Chapter 3: Back to the Couch

You know that whole game where you aren't supposed to seem too interested? You know the one where you pretend like you're too cool for a girl you know is probably too cool for you? The one where you make sure you're just nice enough to be likeable but not quite nice enough to make them really comfortable around you? Well according to the rules of that game I shouldn't have found myself walking back to the library after my workout.

Now I'm usually pretty good at that game, hell I even found it fun most of the time. But somehow I couldn't bring myself to pull that shit with Bree. Part of it was that she just seemed so fragile, but a big part of it was that I just didn't really feel like waiting another 4 days before I saw her again.

I don't suppose there was any real chance that I'd see her, it's a big library after all, but I couldn't help but hope as I walked in and looked around.

She wasn't anywhere to be found on the first floor so I decided to go upstairs. I was surprised at how disappointed I was when I didn't see her there either.

This as much as anything else convinced me that I needed to stop with the stalking and get some work done, so I sat down and started to study.

Maybe a half an hour later a rather striking girl sat down in front of me and started staring at me. I looked up and am pretty sure I did a double take. Not because of the nose and lip piecing or the edge of the tattoo that peaked out from the neck of her shirt, not because of her long black hair or her faintly oriental features, not even because of the long legs in skin tight jeans. Not that any of that wasn't worth a double take, but it was her intent look that really threw me for a loop.

So this is how a mouse feels.

I was trying to decide between 'do I know you' and 'can I help you' when she suddenly said "So you're Ty?"

'Do I know you' it is I guess.

I tried for a friendly smile as I said the requisite line, she returned the smile but it didn't really reach her eyes.

"Not really, though you do know Bree. We're around the corner and she saw you when you came in, so I figured I'd come by and meet the mysterious Ty."

Suddenly things made a bit more sense, this was the once over from the best friend. I couldn't quite hide my grin as I realized that Bree must have talked about me at least a little bit.

"Well I am Ty, though I'm not entirety sure if I qualify as mysterious." I said.

She looked intently back at me and raised an eyebrow. "Oh you're mysterious all right. She's probably said more words to you over the last week than she's said to all the guys she's met since she started school this year."

Now I couldn't hide my shock. "You're kidding me?" I said.

She shook her head. "Nope, you be real careful with my friend if you want to get through this year with your balls intact, capiche?"

She finally cracked a smile as I started to laugh. I was getting the impression that Summer and I would get along just fine.

I didn't get a chance to reply. As we were interrupted by Bree saying Summer's name. We both turned around to see her coming around the corner. She stopped with the most priceless look on her face, then I swear she stamped her foot. I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing, and so did Summer. Bree struggled to look mad but a laugh won out.

We got a few dirty looks for all the noise and I almost burst out laughing again at Bree's attempts to look angry as she walked over.

She sat down next to me, putting her hand on my back as she did. Summer's eyes got wide at that, though I don't think Bree noticed.

Bree looked at me with a slight smile and said, "So, what are you doing here?"

She then looked at Summer and said ominously, "...and what exactly are you doing here? Bathroom my ass!"

I could hardly hold back another laugh. Summer had the courtesy to look at least a little sheepish at being caught. She then got up with a slow smile and announced, "My work here is done, I think I'll leave you guys to it now."

She had a sassy little bounce to her step as she walked away.

Bree was pretty much all grin now, and she graced me with a cute little fake sigh. "You may as well join us, I'll never hear the end of it if you don't."

I just smiled as I grabbed my bag and my book and said, "After you," with a wave of her arm.

We walked over to her table where Summer had already sat down next to another girl. Bree introduced her as Summers 'significant other', Tammy. She had medium length brown hair and couldn't have been more than 5ft tall, her breasts probably weren't enormous in the larger scheme of things but on her they looked huge. She was wearing a little sun dress of some sort and a ratty pair of Birkenstocks. The whole package just screamed hippie chick and earthy goodness. I had to admit that Summer and her made an interesting pair. Appearance wise there were about as mismatched as could be, but I'd soon find out just how well their personalities meshed.

Tammy said "Hi." I returned the favor and sat down next to Bree. Summer and Tammy were both sitting across from us. I felt a bit outnumbered, then again what guy in his right mind is going to complain about being surrounded by three beautiful women?

There was a bit of banter here and there but everyone eventually settled down to study for a while. I'd catch Bree looking over at me now and again, though maybe it was her catching me sneaking glances at her and not the other way around.

She was looking right at me when I felt something rub my leg, I couldn't help but jump a bit as I looked over across the table. Summer stifled a grin as she moved her foot away. Bree peaked under the table and gave Summer a glare and a little finger wag.

A few minutes later I about jumped out of my chair as a foot rubbed up against my other leg. This time Tammy grinned as she moved her foot away from mine.

Have you ever tried to study while two hot lesbians played footsie with you under the table? Well it starts out as a fun little game, but it gets awfully hard to concentrate after a while.

Fortunately Summer and Jenny's feet eventually moved on to tormenting each other rather than me, even though I think we all enjoyed it too much to really call it torment.

I'd finally settled down to do a bit of real studying when I felt a foot run along my leg, except that Summer and Tammy were back to studying now and the foot hadn't come from across the table. I looked up to find Bree immersed in her book, as innocent as can be. She really had quite the poker face, but her eyes sparkled when she looked up at me.

She looked just about as happy as I'd ever seen her.

The walk back to the dorm was uneventful, if entertaining. Summer and Tammy walked arm in arm and kept up a steady banter the whole way. Bree chimed in now and again and I just sort of hung back and enjoyed the spectacle not to mention the view. Both Summer and Tammy gave us quick goodbyes before making a beeline for Tammy's room as soon as we got to the dorm. I'm afraid I was a bit quiet as I walked Bree to her room. But the whole question of to kiss or not to kiss her goodnight was driving me crazy. I swear I hadn't felt this nervous about putting the moves on a girl since I was in grade school.

Actually it wasn't so much the question of whether I should kiss her or not, as I knew I shouldn't. For whatever reason, Bree was clearly uncomfortable around boys, and I knew I'd be pushing my luck to kiss her. But I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was this nervous about just giving a girl a hug at her door. What was I, eight years old?

Fortunately, the whole problem solved itself as soon as we got to her room, as the door had a real honest to goodness 'do not disturb' sign on it. Not that such was necessary since you could hear a bed banging against the wall and the occasional moan from inside. Subtle, Bree's roommate was not.

Bree's face fell as we got closer to the room and she was clearly at a bit of a loss. I, meanwhile, was doing a virtual fist pump inside my head. Not only had the whole question of to hug or not to hug been rendered moot, but it also looked like our evening didn't have to end.

She put a good face on things and said, "Looks like I'm doing some more studying tonight."

"Care to make that a we?" I asked.

Her face lit up. "I've got just the place," she said with a smile.

We ended up back in the same corner of the same lounge we'd first met at. No crying this time, though, and I even got to sit down on the same couch with her. I think we were both pretty much done with studying at this point, so the books didn't come out. Instead, we lounged on the couch and chatted. The conversation came just as easily as before and eventually the subject made its way over to music. I listen to just about everything, jazz, classical, pop, classic rock, you name it. But I have a special place in my heart for girls with good voices, twangy rock, and British pop tarts. She gave me no end of shit about all three with special emphasis on the pop tarts. I, on the other hand, got to give her a hard time about never hearing Miles Davis nor knowing much about many modern groups. I was pleasantly surprised to find she had a love for 70's Rock though. She talked about Pink Floyd and Zeppelin like they were the latest thing. It was really rather endearing.

The irony of her having a special place in her heart for Zeppelin vs. my pop tart thing was not lost on her.

"So big tough you likes girlie music while little miss cheerleader over here likes classic rock. Seems like a bit of a role reversal to me. I think we may have to pull your guy card," she teased.

Now, I'm not much of a tough guy and Bree certainly didn't strike me as the cheerleader type, not that she wasn't pretty enough or anything - just that she was a bit too withdrawn to really fit the role. Then again I really didn't know much about her history so who knows? Either way, I felt the need to justify my love of a good English accent.

"Well, I have to admit a love for the accent, there's just something about a hint of an accent that really does it for me... " I trailed off a bit there and gave her what I hoped was a subtle look. Maybe not subtle enough though, as she blushed.

"... Anyway, I also like the fact that they tend to be just a bit naughty, but a more refined naughty that you seem to find in American pop. Plus, I'm a lyrics guy and they tend to do some clever things with language." By this point she was looking at me like I was absolutely off my rocker and was clearly fighting not to laugh.

"I guess I over analyzed that a bit now, didn't I?"

A quiet little laugh escaped her at this. I finally gave up and reached for my phone. "Here, listen to this."

I scrolled through my playlists till I found Kate Nash's

Foundations

. God, I love the first few piano notes in that song. Anyway, we listened to the song with the occasional interjection on my part when we got to a place that I liked. The songs essentially about a couple who keep doing horrible, if funny, things to one another with the chorus being: '

My fingertips are holding onto the cracks in our foundations, and I know that I should let go but I cant

'

Once it finished, I turned the volume down, but let the playlist keep going. "I love that song, the tune is just infectious, and the story is funny if a bit messed up. The thing is, I can never figure out if the whole fingertip metaphor is about someone trying to hold onto something that's messed up or if it's actually about someone not letting go of the bad things and making something messed up in the first place. Is it about someone who can't let go of something that's already bad, or is it about someone undermining something that's otherwise good?"

It's usually at this point that the girl is looking at me like I'm crazy or is otherwise bored out of her mind. Not Bree, though. She just had a thoughtful look and then asked me to play the song again.

After another listen she cocked her head to one side and said softly, "They're both in it for the cracks. They treat each other badly so it won't be too good. The cracks give them a way out and make it less painful when it ends..." She trailed off when she got to the part about things ending.

Wow. Speechless- that was me.

Okay, not really, but almost.

"So what's your opinion on cracks, Ms. Harper?" I said equally softly.

She looked at me intently and said "Overrated."

She relaxed back on the couch and stretched out a bit so that her leg was within reach and I found myself rubbing her foot and calf without even really thinking about it. She tensed up for the briefest moments before she leaned back with a sigh and told me how good it felt. We shifted around a bit and ended up stretched out on opposite sides of the couch with our legs all tangled up in the middle as I rubbed her legs and feet. I was careful not to go too far above the knees, though I confess I was really hoping she'd tell me to do her thighs as well. No such luck though, so I struggled to be nice and not push things. She never really got around to returning the favor, though after a bit her hands were resting on my legs and her fingers were inscribing idle little circles here and there.

Now, I've never really thought about feet as being particularly sexy, though I suppose I've always appreciated a well turned leg. But between footsie at the library earlier and now this, I was giving serious thought to developing a minor foot fetish.

"So, what's your favorite song?" she asked after a while.

"That's a hard one. Depends on my mood and what the song category is."

"Song category?" she asked, with the question mark obvious in her voice.

"You know, song category- love song, happy song, dance song, studying song, driving song, etc..."

That got a raised eyebrow. I think she was starting to clue in on exactly how seriously I took my tunes.

"Okay, favorite driving song"

"That's an easy one," I said. "

Radar Gun

by the Bottle Rockets. How about you?"

She thought for a second and then said "

Radar Love

by Golden Earring," with a just a hint of mischief in her voice.

That got a laugh from me. "Hey! Stop what with the copying, girl!"

She ignored my feigned outrage.

"How about dance songs?" she asked.

"That's a tough one, I'm not much of a dancer. It doesn't fit with my tough guy image."

"Like the British pop tarts do?" she quipped back.

I supposed she had me there. Damn, but my face hurt from all this smiling.

"So, does your face hurt?" - It was out before I really thought about it.

She actually brought both her hands up to her cheeks on that one and blushed a bit. She looked a little surprised, maybe even a little disbelieving.

"You know, it really does. Yours too?"

"Yep, I'm not complaining though."

"I suppose I can't either, then. So back to our music, I kinda like this game. You owe me a dance tune."

She wasn't letting me off the hook on that one I guess.

I thought for a second.

"I gotta go with the

Chicken Dance

, its been a favorite since a grade school dance with Kelly Zinkin. You?"

"Whatever smartass... you don't get to hear mine if you won't tell me yours. How about love songs?"

That one was easy.

" Tie between

Collarbone

by Poi Dog Pondering and

Thirteen

by Ben Kweller."

"I haven't heard of either one of those. Are ties even allowed?" she asked.

"Not normally, but this category is a special exception. Plus, they're just that good. The Poi song has this line in it:

'The only thing that speaks the truth is the eloquence of passing time, the spoken word is a jacket too tight'

and the Ben Kweller song pretty much tells you how that eloquently passing time should be spent. They're a pair and since the category is love songs I think it's appropriate that they come as a couple."

She gave me an appraising look and then asked me to play them for her so I pulled them up on my phone. We started with Collarbone and followed with Thirteen. Now the former is a pretty upbeat, if thoughtful, song, but the latter is just haunting. It pretty much describes the ideal relationship; the melody is soft and rather sad, while the lyrics describe perfection - or rather a series of perfect moments. The whole thing ends with the line

'It was in the back of a taxi where you told me you loved me... and I wasn't alone'

.

She teared up a bit as the song ended and simply said, "That's beautiful."

I just nodded. God only knows how many times I'd listened to this song, but it still got to me.

"Do you think it's real? Do you think that really happens?" she asked.

"I don't know. People disappoint you, you know? Stuff happens, things change. Kinda makes you wonder if there really is forever..."

At this she nodded emphatically. She didn't seem to want to say anything though.

Neither did I, and with anyone else I wouldn't have, but with her?

The thought of 'with her' made me smile.

"Sure would be nice if there was though, wouldn't it? How can you not want that?" I said softly.

She just nodded again and for the briefest moments her hand reached out and touched mine.

We sat listening to music for a while as I rubbed her feet, neither really talking much aside from the occasional comment here and there. She fell asleep soon after, laying there on the other side of the couch. I have no idea how long I sat looking at her before I nodded off myself - all the while wondering at how beautiful, how peaceful, how absolutely perfect she looked.