Author's Note: This is the second part, and likely the conclusion of this story. You will likely be lost if you don't read the first part. That part starts with an age disclaimer, but no one got younger in this part, so everyone's still at least 18. Again, constructive criticism is most welcome.
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Luckily, the next day was Saturday. After that night, I would have died with an early morning class. When I finally woke up, I opened my e-mail to see what the day would have in store. I received an e-mail saying that I was to expect Toni, at my dorm at 2p.m. Glancing at my computer clock, I realized it was 1:30. At 1:35 I returned to my room from the shower, and began to frantically clean. I shoved the last of my stuff in the closet as my alarm, set to 1:58, went off. I disabled the alarm, and sat down at my desk. I surfed the Internet, checked my favorite websites, and at 2:15, there was a knock at my door. I opened the door to see Toni, standing in a T-shirt, and sweatpants.
"Hey there, Romeo," she said, smiling.
"Howdy." I stood there, looking at her.
"So, can I come in?"
Oh, yeah, absolutely." I stepped to the side, allowing her to enter my closet-- I mean dorm room. As I only had one chair, and no other seating, Toni plopped down on my bed, and situated herself so that she was sitting Indian-style.
"Well, I don't know what you're expecting, but I want to start by asking you questions, which you will answer to the best of your ability."
"Kay."
"First: what is your favorite animal?"
"Really? Your question is what is my favorite animal?"
She grinned. "I never said they'd make sense. Now answer."
"Um, koala bear, I guess."
"Why?"
"They're absolutely adorable, and I mean come on, who wouldn't want a trained koala bear that would ride on their back?"
She giggled. "Ok, real question time: why did you choose to pursue Miranda, instead of me."
Oh, boy. From favorite animal, to a question I don't have an answer to. As I pondered my response, she raised an eyebrow.
"Well, honestly, I wanted to go out with you first. But, it seemed that you didn't really like me that way. And the more I found out about Miranda, the more I started to fall for her. She seems like enough of her likes match up with mine, and we have enough differences to provide variety. You and I seemed to have a lot in common, as well, but at the same time, you seemed like you wanted to be my friend, not my girlfriend. And then, as I looked back at some of our encounters, it almost seemed like you were trying to set me up with her. I didn't mean to snub you, but it just felt right when I thought about her, whereas it almost seemed forced with you." I don't know whether or not I had offended her, as her only response during all of this was to bite her lip and slowly nod her head.
"And why do you want to date Miranda?"
"Why wouldn't I want to? I mean, she's smart, funny, has a beautiful voice, seems to share interests with me, and actually I can't stop watching her. I could keep going and going. I find almost everything about her attractive, looks and personality inclusive,"
Toni cocked her head to the side. "Almost everything?"
"Well, I haven't found anything yet, but that doesn't mean I won't. My mom taught me that absolutes were very dangerous, and I mean, no one will ever be completely perfect. There will always be quirks that anyone each other, or mistakes that are made. But in my opinion, if you have a solid starting point, and you love the other person, overcoming those things together will just strengthen the relationship. But you both have to be willing to try to change and accommodate. You can't love someone out of a bad habit or trait; they have to want to change, too.
"I dunno, I just feel like the way I feel for Miranda is enough of that "starting point" for me to want to act on it, to find out whether she felt anything similar or not. I felt like if I never asked, I'd never know."
I don't know how Toni was taking my response, because her face was, and had remained impassive throughout my entire response.
"Ok, Jeff. Why are you willing to submit to these trials that Melinda outlined?"
"Because it was made clear to me that it was the only chance I had to date Miranda, pure and simple. I've never understood "sharing" and I really don't feel like it's a good way to start a relationship. But if it's the only way I can get Miranda, it's what I'll do, because I think she's worth it. If I'd been dating her already, and I was given the same opportunity, just as a 'let's have some fun' thing, I'd turn you down. Whether it was you, or you and Melinda, or all three of you. It wouldn't matter to me. I wouldn't do it."
Toni nodded again, and reached into the pocket of her sweatpants, pulling out her cell-phone. "Ok, girls, I've heard enough. What's the verdict?" I stared incredulously at her. She smiled innocently back at me. "Ok, yeah, I understand. Give me about 10 minutes, then we're go." She hung up the phone."
"Did you just have your phone on for that entire conversation? Who was on the other end?" I asked.
"Yes, and the other three girls. Your responses were apparently the right ones, because I've been instructed to tell you the truth.
"When we came here, Miranda, Tiffany, and I were already really good friends and we had requested each other as roommates. Melinda was assigned to be our fourth, and we're really glad she was, because we all get along really well. Anyway, Tiff and I were somewhat bi-curious, and it turned out that Melinda was a lesbian, and she was interested in us. The only one of us that had no interest in the situation was Miranda. So one night this guy from a couple floors down asks Miranda out. She says yes, knowing that the three of us wanted some alone time. Well, a few hours later we hear a siren, and as we look out the window we see a police cruiser pull up, and two cops run inside. They come out with the guy in handcuffs, and they're leading Miranda by the shoulders, and help her into a second squad car."
"He raped her?" I was stunned, since our campus violent and sexual crime rate tended to run in the almost non-existent percentages. But then again, I guess someone has to be that .03%. I just wish it hadn't had to be her.
"No, not quite. It ended up being sexual assault, as she managed to yell for help, and the RA came to see what the problem was. He pulled him off of her, and called the cops. But she still felt incredibly violated, and we felt responsible. So we decided that we would do whatever it took to protect her. As the weeks went by she started to recover, but she still didn't want anything to do with us, or guys. Then we all noticed her watching you during rehearsals. We decided to find out more about you, and so I started to interact with you while all three of us asked around the choir. After we determined that you were practically a friggin' boy-scout, we decided that we were to a point where we'd be okay with you, provided you were who you really seemed to be. But we hadn't told Miranda, and had already established that she wasn't allowed to date anyone, until we gave her the okay. So we came up with the "trials," and decided to abduct you, to make them seem more believable. Then we decided that your response to those would be insufficient to determine whether you should or shouldn't be allowed to date her, so no matter what you response was, I was going to interrogate you the day after the proposal. You actually took the harder path, because we realized that the whole moral dilemma would have probably been a good thing for you to have, and decline because of that, but at the same time, we wanted to know your reasoning. By saying yes, you had to prove that you weren't just looking to get some action, and that you were actually doing it to try and 'win' her from us.
"We didn't tell Miranda about any of this until she told us that you had asked her out, and she asked our permission to date you, since she felt that she would be safe with you, and that you'd respect that 'no' meant 'no.' So, congratulations. You've passed with flying colors, and have the blessing of the group. But know this: I swear to God, that if you hurt her, when the three of us get done with you, you will wish that all we had done was castrate you." Her eyes were hard as rocks, and simultaneously oozing venom. I believed the threat whole-heartedly.
"I couldn't dream of hurting her," I assured Toni, trying to make it sound as not-cliche as possible.
