Note: This story is loosely connected to other stories through one of the characters, but it otherwise stands alone. If you enjoy this, you might appreciate the others. I welcome all comments. Thank you.
I.
Emily heard the scratching of a key against the lock and checked to see if Sophie needed any help. She put a hand on Sophie's shoulder to steady herself, leaning too hard and almost making her collapse. Her friend was in no better condition than she was.
Focusing was difficult. Her eyes ached, and they were somehow both dry and gooey at the same time. Every noise pounded in her head like a jackhammer, echoing in her skull before leaking out of her ears. Her mouth felt wooly and tasted like shit.
This was the early morning after a huge 'Fuck the Finals' party one of the fraternities had thrown. The party was crowded, a teeming mass of sweaty bodies smelling like body spray, beer, alcohol, and weed. Sophie was gorgeous with big tits, so she was welcomed wherever she went. Emily was her much less noticeable tag-along friend who got in by standing in Sophie's shadow.
Now they were both shaking off the effects of way too many hard lemonades. The evening had been so hot, and the icy cold bottles soaked their hands in cooling condensation. They often slid the glistening bottles across their sweaty foreheads to cool off.
After a few drinks, Sophie was making quite the show of sliding the bottle across her substantial cleavage, drenching the front of her cotton sun dress and making her nipples stand at attention. Sophie basked in the rapt attention of the half dozen college wrestlers surrounding her.
Emily had tried rubbing the bottle across her chest to cool off. It had soaked her simple t-shirt and sports bra, but her breasts were petite and unassuming. Even though her nipples were perky, they warranted almost no attention when she was near Sophie.
A surge of bile arose in the back of her throat, burning and harsh. She had to burp to keep from puking. She tasted stomach acid, lime, and peppery, too sweet paint thinner, bringing back stomach-churning memories of cheap tequila. Someone was pouring Cuervo shots and challenged them to throw one back. A hazy memory of doing at least two shots seemed to be banging around in her skull.
For what it was worth, she was starting her new position as a nurse right after graduation and studying to take her board certification test. Her entire upbringing had been aimed at this one objective, the big first step in her plan for life. Between studying and working to cover her expenses, it was a sad realization to have never allowed herself to let loose and enjoy the college experience.
Sophie got the door open, and they both stumbled into Martyn's apartment. She went straight to the big, brown recliner and plopped down into it, relishing the cool feel of the leather and its rich masculine scent as it enveloped her.
Emily sat on the somewhat stiff couch, but she was too respectful of another's property to recline on it. She did rest her elbows on her knees and lean into her hands, covering her face to hide the waves of nausea.
Martyn was Sophie's older brother. He had moved to a new, nicer apartment when the settlement from a car accident left him enough money to go back to university. He had earned a scholarship and an internship, so he was not working construction anymore. But he was still gone most of the time.
As a decent and cool brother, he gave her a key to have a safe place to hide out when school, life, or Mom got to be too much. As her senior year at university wrapped up, she found herself using it more and more. Like Emily, receiving her own B.S. degree in Nursing was now just a formality. She needed to blow off some steam.
Emily often came with her. Sophie always held a secret admiration for Emily. She was so cute and petite, with long, reddish-blonde hair. Fair-skinned and freckled, she had the sort of pert, pink-tipped nose that was so popular in anime. She looked like an innocent angel in her little student nurse uniform. The young doctors at the hospitals, where she did her rotations, already started noticing her.
Emily's mother had hammered since childhood, the primary objective of becoming a doctor's wife. As such, her true role as a woman is fulfilled when she met and married a physician. And, her mother had emphasized, a good medical doctor, the kind that made money. None of this 'Doctor's Without Borders' nonsense. The only poor people this physician/husband needed to help was Emily and her family.
Despite this, Emily was a romantic. She wrote prose about finding true love with a handsome young doctor. She imagined tales of sinister hospital administrators cornering her and threatening to rob her of her purity. At the moment of greatest peril, her chivalrous young physician came to her rescue. She used language like 'chivalrous' and 'peril.'
Her main objective, as a young woman, was to arrive at the newlywed suite pure and unsullied. She was, above all, to offer her virginity as a worthy gift. Her mother, fearful and overprotective, never allowed her to date in high school, and she carried that into college. Despite having Sophie as her best friend, she was still somehow innocent and sweet.
But there was one trait that made Emily more than a friend, Sophie thought. She was able to be quiet and listen. And because she listened, she heard the things that weren't said. The things that were important. Sophie depended on Emily to call her on her bullshit. Emily kept Sophie sane.
Sophie came out of most conversations admonishing herself for having diarrhea of the mouth. She panicked if there was any lull in a conversation. She always felt compelled to be witty, upbeat and fun. She never felt like was okay to turn her personality off in a crowd.
There was nothing subtle and coquettish about Sophie. Her breasts had developed early and continued developing for quite a while. With her slim waist, flared hips, and firm, round ass, she was one of those women that just exuded sexuality. People formed immediate opinions about Sophie's morality without knowing anything else about her.
She was built to draw attention, often dressing to maximize the impact. Her physical attributes became a very powerful tool for getting her way. This made Sophie very popular with men, including her professors and TA's. Other women steered their boyfriends in another direction when they saw her walking towards or away from them.
As she developed into an object of desire, she recognized the importance of making smart choices. She developed her own moral code, and it was stricter than anyone guessed. It was not a strait jacket like Emily's morality. There was value in the appearance of being attainable, not in being attained. Although she was often crass and vulgar, she had an undeserved reputation for being a slut.
Her mother assumed this as well. She made sure she understood the medical and personal consequences of sexual activity, but she wasn't interested in teaching her morality. She made it clear that she was more of a friend than a mother, and therefore it was not for her to judge. She also made sure she was on birth control and took every opportunity to keep her stocked with condoms.
Despite being more experienced than Emily in all the aspects of college life, Sophie was not a big drinker. After a couple of close calls with some jerks who tried to get her drunk and take advantage of her, she became leery of guys who kept handing her drinks. Often, she found a way to pour them out, or spill them by accident. This was a trick she meant to teach Emily, who until last night, refused to drink alcohol.
The party last night was Emily's first foray into being a bad girl. Last night had been special for Emily. It was her 21st birthday. Like Sophie, who turned 21 the previous year, she was now a full-fledged adult. And she could enjoy a few drinks as a responsible adult. Sophie knew it was her birthday, but Emily had not shared this with anyone else at the party. And she kept it a secret until after her fourth hard lemonade.
She climbed onto the pool table, of whatever fraternity this was, and made a very public announcement. The music was loud, and Emily slurred her words enough that none but those up close heard and understood her. Still, the crowd cheered for the sake of cheering.
