A Gift Amongst Friends

This story directly continues after the events of the fifth chapter and will make numerous references to previous events in this series. Although I hope each chapter is able to stand up as an enjoyable tale on its own, I strongly recommend starting at the beginning if you haven't already done so. It will just make so much more sense that way.

**********

The door handle began to turn.

Hand shaking, Mandy released the blanket and closed her eyes. Naked, sprawled across the top of her sheets, she pretended to sleep.

Nothing will be the same now

, she thought.

She tried to lay motionless as the door opened, but it was difficult to fight her body's instinctive urge to hide itself. Terror filled her mind as she heard the door creak softly and felt the presence of another in the room. There was an immediate silence as the intruder evidently spotted her.

"Oh fuck..." She heard Megan whisper by the door at the foot of the bed.

Mandy felt relieved to know that it was just her roommate coming home. Her newly discovered attraction towards women had begun with feelings towards Megan. The thought of now exposing herself to her roommate got her heart racing.

Is she still looking?

Mandy wondered.

I wonder if she likes what she sees, and—

"Oh shit!" exclaimed another hushed female voice, surprising Mandy. "Looks like your roommate had a wild night."

Mandy wanted desperately to open her eyes, but she could not.

After a brief panic, she recognized the voice as Kelly. Kelly was one of Megan's close friends that lived in the same dormitory. Mandy did not know her very well, but they saw each other frequently in the hallways and in the meal hall.

"Yeah," Megan responded, "I don't think I even want to know. I'm just going to grab my books and then we can get going."

For a short time, the only sound was Megan moving around the room. Mandy tried to mask her anxiety, not knowing what was happening around her.

"You know," Kelly began, "she has a pretty nice looking pussy."

Mandy feared that she may have flinched at the comment.

I had no idea Kelly was a lesbian

. In retrospect, it was not that surprising. Although she had a small frame and a cute face, Kelly's short hair and boyish personality should have been a dead giveaway. All Mandy could do was try not to blush as this girl examined her naked body like a piece of meat. She was on her side, and without looking, it was hard to tell just how much of her shaven womanhood might be showing.

"Oh god," Megan laughed quietly. "You pervert. I guess I wouldn't know."

"Well, she does. Looks like I will have to get to know your roommate a little better."

"Good luck with that. I don't think she's into girls."

"We'll see," Kelly answered confidently. "What's her name, again? Amanda?"

"Mandy."

"Right, Mandy..." Kelly repeated.

Mandy listened to the girls moving around the room. Megan seemed to be taking forever to gather her things, and Mandy could not tell where Kelly was. Finally, she heard the door open and close again. Soon after, she heard the sound of keys and the click of the door locking.

Carefully, she opened one eye. With the coast clear, she slowly got up.

It seemed like she should have been embarrassed to be exposed like that to Megan and a girl that she hardly knew. However, after everything that she had done over the past month, embarrassment and shame hardly registered in her mind. If anything, they had become triggers for her arousal.

Wrapping herself in a towel, she headed down the hall towards the showers. She had long passed the point of caring who saw her so modestly dressed in the hallways. Modesty was a distant friend from a past life, long forgotten.

As she washed away the events of last night, she thought about what Kelly had said.

To her knowledge, Mandy had never been lusted after by another woman before. And while Kelly was not exactly the type of girl that Mandy had been daydreaming about, it turned Mandy on for another woman to talk about her so crudely.

She looked at me like an object...just like the guys do

.

The more that Mandy thought about it, the cuter that Kelly seemed. Her short blonde hair barely reached below her ears on the sides, but her long pointed bangs were dyed a deep shade of blue and hung down alongside her right eye. She had a small frame, but she was athletic—rumor had it that she regularly attended kickboxing. Although Mandy had often found her masculine temperament off-putting, in this new context it seemed almost sexy.

Up until now, Mandy had almost exclusively fantasized about her close friends, Megan and Sarah. However, when it came down to it, any woman could fulfil her bisexual curiosity.

Wouldn't it make more sense to experiment with an actual lesbian?

Mandy dried off and returned to her room. After getting dressed, she started her computer and found her image folder still open from the previous evening. In another window, she found her email application.

Message Sent

, she read the words displayed across the screen. Sure enough, David, Jacob, and Mike were all listed as recipients.

So he really did send those pictures

. After some hesitation, her finger finally clicked on the message in her outbox.

The message inside was brief, but it froze Mandy to her core. "Hey mike this is david. take a look at these pics! mandy and sarah naked. Im serious. Jake and I are with mandy now. she fuckin wants it man. text you later."

Shaking, she closed the browser and turned off her computer. Part of her wanted to avoid the guys as much as possible. There were only another couple of weeks until exams were done and she would be going home for the summer.

It would be easy enough to avoid David, but Jacob and Mike live in the same building. It would be harder to avoid them...if only it was that simple.

Things had gotten out of hand last night, even for her, and she was afraid of how quickly this would spread through her circle of friends. This was a fire that needed to be extinguished before it escalated.

Furthermore, this was not just about Mandy anymore. The events of last night were still hazy, but one thing was clear: the guys had acquired the private photos that she had taken for Sarah...the photos that showed both girls in a very exposed and very compromising position. Mandy felt guilty for the betrayal of her best friend, but she also felt a nervous excitement. She tried to examine the situation objectively, trying to push emotions from her mind.

I can't let her get dragged into this

, Mandy knew. At the very least, she needed to ensure that the Sarah was left out of this. This had all been a big mistake, and the guys needed to delete those pictures before somebody else saw them.

But Mandy was afraid to make the first contact. After how easily she had put out last night, the boys might expect for her to be a different person now. She had accidentally shown them another side of herself, and she was not sure what would come of it.

It took some time before she worked up the courage to send Jacob and David each a text. She copied and pasted the same message to each guy.

"Hey...last nite was kinda crazy. i was really drunk. can we please pretend nothing happened? and I seriously need u to delete sarahs pics please? u shouldnt have copied those. thanks!"

She tried to keep the email polite, but made it clear that the guys needed to delete any pictures of Sarah. It could not be interpreted as a joke, and she could not appear weak.

For Mike, she sent a much simpler message. "The guys stole those pics without permission and sent them to u. I seriously need u to delete them. thanks."

Several minutes passed before she received her first response from Jacob. "Don't worry, we won't show them to anyone ;)"

Mandy paused.

That's not good enough

, she thought. Maybe if they were only pictures of herself, but that was not the case. She typed back frantically.

"Seriously. I need u to delete them."

A long pause followed before her phone chimed.

"Do I get anything in return if I do?"

Shit

. This was not going well. It was clear that she would not win this easily.

"Fine u can keep the pics of just me. delete the ones with sarah" she conceded.

Fuck, I'm already giving them ground. So much for not showing weakness.

"Anything else?"

Mandy was fuming. She could not believe that her own friend was doing this to her.

What should I expect though?

Last night, she had been putty in his and David's hands, doing whatever they wanted. Of course they would expect no less from her now.

This is all my fault.

She should never have let things get so out hand. Up until now, she had always convinced herself that despite all of her slip ups, she was still ultimately the one in control of what was happening. Now, she was starting to wonder if that was still the case, or if it had ever been the case. Should she bite the bullet for her friend and allow herself to be used like this?

Shamefully, the prospect was not without its own thrill. However, Mandy felt like her head was spinning and she could no longer tell right from wrong.

"Let me think about it," she finally answered.

"Ok"

She put the phone down and exhaled. She needed to put some time between herself and last night before she could think about it clearly. For the time being, she trusted the guys to keep the secret to themselves. She did not immediately hear back from either David or Mike, but she knew without doubt that the boys were communicating with each other. Buying time with one of them would equate to buying time with the others.

At least, I hope so...

With classes finished, there was little to do until exams begun. Mandy spent most of the afternoon in her dorm room. Her goal was to study and catch up on material that she had fallen behind on. However, she could not seem to focus, and instead she regularly found herself watching television to keep her mind occupied.

Around 3:00pm, she received a text from Sarah, asking what she was doing tonight.

"Not much," Mandy responded. "Probably studying. u?"

"I dunno... might go out with eric and sum of the guys. u should come."

That did not sound like a good idea to Mandy after everything that had happened at last night's toga party. "I dunno sarah... I dont think i should go out again tonite. still recovering from last nite."

No need to go into details

, Mandy thought. Sarah had not been around for Mandy's most humiliating moments, and she was not sure if her friend had heard any stories.

"I wont be there late. its supposed to be more chill than lasnite. theyre heading to the piper"

Mandy bit her lip. This seemed like a really terrible idea, but that was part of the allure. The Shady Piper was a pretty relaxed bar, dark, and usually had a live band on the weekends—an easy place to go relatively unnoticed. However, she had accidentally flashed a large number of guys at the party last night, and it was unlikely that any of them had forgotten her. "I dont think so..." she texted.

"Please."

Mandy felt a pang of guilt as she remembered betraying her best friend's trust with the photos. Even though Sarah was unaware of it, Mandy felt like she owed her big time.

It is a public place after all... it should be pretty safe.

"Maybe," she responded. "Yah, ok." She immediately wished that she had stopped to give it more thought.

"Ok," Sarah answered. Something seemed unusual to Mandy. Her best friend did not seem like her usual boisterous self.

Maybe she is just busy...or hung over.

"Are you coming here first?" Mandy asked.

"I don't think so. i think im going earlier with Eric."

Great

, Mandy thought.

I get to awkwardly go over there myself.

Feeling desperate, Mandy knocked on Jess' door to see if she wanted to go with her to the Piper later. Much to Mandy's surprise, Jess informed her that she already had plans—a date.

Defeated, Mandy returned to her studies and an uneventful afternoon. When dinner came, she decided to avoid her male friends by eating at the meal hall across campus. It was a short-term tactic, but for now, she had enough to think about.

After dinner, Mandy spent an unusually large amount of time deciding what to wear. She could not wear anything too revealing after the show that she had already given, else the guys would assume she was a slut.

How ironic, if after all of the games I've played this month, last night's accidental exposure is what gets me labeled as a slut

.

However, try as she might, she could not convince herself to wear anything too conservative for an evening at the bar.

It would just seem too unusual

, she told herself.

Better to act as if nothing happened

.

After scrutinizing everything in her closet and checking twice to confirm that her curtains were securely shut, she settled on a purple tank top and a pair of black Lycra leggings. She chose a matching black bra and thong, the latter of which had a pair of red lips printed across the crotch—a previously innocuous image that had recently taken a devilish turn since Mandy's newfound interest in women.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she loved the way that the spandex material showcased her butt. The choice of a thong also minimized the appearance of panty lines. However, she hesitated as she looked at her bare shoulders.

Self-consciousness got the better of her, and she grabbed her hoodie to wear over her top. She rationalized that she could always take it off later if she felt warm or overdressed.

It was almost 9:30pm by the time that Mandy exited the cab and stepped into The Shady Piper. As expected, there was a band on the small stage near the entrance playing an acoustic set. The tables were largely full of college students, talking over the background music as Mandy waded through the crowd, searching for her friend.

In the far corner, a hand shot up that caught her eye. Looking down, she saw Sarah, waving her down from a booth against the wall. Seated next to her was Eric, and they seemed to be surrounded by a bunch of figures that Mandy did not recognize from a distance. As she came closer, she found that the group had pushed three tables together, and there were currently eleven of them crowded around the four empty pitchers on the center of the tables.

Aside from Sarah, there were two other unfamiliar young women. One gave Mandy a long look as she approached the table before returning to her conversation. Of the eight guys, Mandy recognized a few other than Eric. She vaguely remembered Chris and Brian from the party, along with a couple of other familiar faces.

Each guy she recognized filled her with a sense of dread, as she could not recall who had seen her toga fall last night. Except for Eric. Eric had definitely seen her in nothing but her panties last night, and now he was the first after Sarah to recognize and greet Mandy enthusiastically. Others turned in their chairs to look up at her and followed suit.

I don't know if they remember me or if they are just happy to have another girl at the table

, she thought, pulling a chair up to the far corner.

She and Eric exchanged eye contact for several seconds, and Mandy immediately suspected that this was a bad idea. He had seen much more than just her drunken incident last night. Sarah had given him the whole set of photos that the two girls had taken together, and those were far more embarrassing than a brief flash of her tits.

Even so, she sat and tried to fake interest in the guys' passionate discussion of a movie she had never seen. Slowly, the awkwardness decreased, and after three double rum and Cokes, Mandy was feeling brave enough to start talking loudly across the table to Sarah.

The guys also took notice of her increased sociability. The boy to her left, a younger looking guy that she did not recognize, seemed particularly interested in her life story. He asked numerous questions about her major, her courses, where she was from, and if she liked such-and-such bands and movies. Meanwhile, on the right of her sat Chris, who was funnier and more charming than Mandy remembered. He had a tendency to turn everything into a dirty joke, and after each one, he seemed to give Mandy a quick look and a smile.

More people began to arrive as the evening progressed, and soon, members of the group were branching off into other nearby tables.

Scanning the bar, Mandy's eyes stopped two tables over. At first she thought she was seeing things in the low light, but surely enough, there was Kelly, seated with a couple of the guys from the boys' dorm.

You know, she has a pretty nice looking pussy

. Kelly's words from that morning echoed in Mandy's head. She remembered the crude tone that Kelly had used and the tingle that she had felt as she lay helpless and exposed in her bed.

Mandy stared at Kelly from afar, unable to break her gaze. Kelly did not seem to notice her, and Mandy felt that was probably for the best. The number of people that had seen her naked was skyrocketing over the past weeks, and she could hardly manage it all.

She was startled from her gaze when Sarah dropped into the seat next to her. "Hey," she greeted again, now that the two girls could hear each other clearly. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean for you to get stuck here at the end."

"It's okay," Mandy replied with a smile. It had seemed like an annoyance several drinks ago, but now it felt pretty unimportant. Even her anxious embarrassment was starting to subside.

"Well, I appreciate you coming." Sarah slurred the last two words a little. No surprise, considering the number of times the guys filled her glass from the last pitcher. "It was kind of awkward before you got here."

I'm sure it was more awkward after I got here

. "Why is that?"

"Long story..." Sarah trailed off. "Remind me tomorrow and I'll tell you about it."

"Okay..."

Sarah could sense Mandy's confusion, and she leaned in close. "Let's just say that... things got a little crazy in Eric's room last night." She paused. "...With his roommate there."

Mandy was shocked—and somewhat relieved—to hear that she was not the only one that had experienced a wild night. However, Sarah would say no more about it, and Mandy allowed the topic to drop for now.

The two girls talked for a while, and Mandy tried to gauge if Sarah had heard anything about what had happened at the party, or after. If Sarah knew, she gave no indication, which set Mandy's mind at ease.

It sounds like she has her own stuff to worry about.

Their conversation did not last long before Sarah disappeared to find Eric, leaving Mandy alone once more with the boys.

She looked at her phone to get the time—11:04pm. She had been at the bar for only an hour and a half, but Mandy was already starting to think of possible excuses to leave.

Just as her fifth drink was finished and Mandy was getting ready to flag the waitress for her bill, someone pulled up a seat next to her.

"Hey!" Kelly greeted as she sat down.

"Hi," Mandy returned, almost dumbstruck from the surprise.

"You're Megan's roommate... Amanda, right?"

"Mandy."

"Right! Mandy, sorry!"

"No problem," Mandy replied. "People call me that all the time. I'm used to it."

"What's up? I didn't know that you knew these guys," Kelly inquired warmly, leaning in to talk above the noise of the bar.

"I don't really. I'm here with a friend who knows them. Not really sure where she went." Mandy scanned the bar from her seat. "Is Megan here too?"

"No, I think she's with Alex."