****Every character in this story is 18 or older****
I stared at the stucco wall, exhaling loudly, ridding myself of the toxic energy I'd built up during the week. Finals were finally over, so I stole a moment for myself. I sat down in the lobby outside the lecture hall and did nothing but breathe. Seconds before, I was a student crumbling under pressure of academia, and in the final stroke of a pen, I was a person again. I closed my eyes and embraced the darkness that followed. In its place, my image appeared, glowing with the passion I had to put away for the sake of academics. With a beat up, nylon-stringed guitar in my hand, my soulful eyes gazed back at me, giving back all the energy I lost. Just behind, hidden by my form, Taya peered from behind my shaved head, lightly gripping my firm chest with both hands. She locked eyes with me, her slender, brown face weathered by stress and sleep deprivation.
Behind her docile eyes was a knowing stare; she needed my touch to relieve her stress. I gave an affirming nod, both in my vision and in reality, then I reopened my eyes. I stood up from the cushioned chair, and made my way across the tiled floor to the exit, moved by purpose.
Discovering that Taya, the pastor's daughter, was having sex with her meat-headed cousin came as a shock, but one that presented a life changing opportunity. I blackmailed Taya and Marcus, demanding that Taya be my sexual outlet in exchange for my silence. As teenage boys go, my hormones were raging and I was too impatient to form a steady relationship, so in anticipation of my first sexual experience, especially if it was with Taya, I threw the possibility on the table. Marcus was an easy sell. The way he saw it, he didn't have to give anything up and what happened to Taya wasn't his problem. Taya's reaction was harder to read at the time, her silence and unwilingness to look me in the eye seemed mysterious. I recognize now that she was too embarrassed to refuse, and too hurt to protest. I was her "friend", a beta that provided a shoulder to cry on and a fresh compliment here and there. In a way, I was betraying her, and I'm not proud of it, especially with the attitude I had going in to our arrangement. I then became her "owner" and she became my sex object. After the one-sided negotiation with Marcus and Taya, Marcus spoke for a speechless Taya, agreeing to the deal.
"Good, no need to rock the boat," he said, with his crooked grin. Without acknowledging Taya, he scurried away from behind the church, scuffing his sneakers as he went. I watched as he hurried into his Kia and swung it out of the empty parking lot.
I turned to see Taya staring at the ground in defeat, her dress still hiked up and her makeup running from sweat and tears. I took a few confident paces until I was close enough to feel her body heat. "You're mine every Friday night, from 7 to 10," I asserted. She didn't look up, but she gave a slow, single nod. This began our...relationship. I planned to forbid Taya from fucking Marcus anymore, but it he ended up leaving for good. He told Pastor James he'd give Cleveland a try. With him out of the picture, I forbade Taya from fucking any other guys. She could date, but she had to save herself for me.