From Famine to Feast:

Chapter 19: An Intriguing Proposition

I entered the art history lecture hall relaxed and happy about my chance encounter with the kinky photographer in the meadow. I smiled at Lefty and Righty as I sat in the seat that they had saved for me. Unfortunately, the professor quickly changed my attitude. The class was a review for the upcoming final exam, and the more he talked, the more anxious I became. As I walked back to our dorm, I worried about the end of the school year. The spring term was almost over and Alexis, Ty, Chris, and I would soon graduate. While past final exams were stressful, this time was different. It was difficult to focus on the material and also worry about what was going to happen next, once we entered what everyone euphemistically called 'the real world.'

"Hey beautiful!" Alexis greeted me as I walked into our room. Long time, no see. You didn't come home last night. Where have you been? Hmm? Got any gossip to share with your roomie?"

I sat down on my bed and exhaled. "Actually, yes, I do have some stories to share with you."

"I knew it!" She leapt out of her chair and sat next to me on my bed. She held my hand in hers. "When my little vixen doesn't come home all night there has to be a juicy story to share!"

"There is. Are."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "'Are' as in plural?" I giggled. "Oh my god! You hussy! I love it. Tell me everything." Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Shit. Now? Really?" Alexis complained quietly. Then, in a loud, perturbed voice, she yelled at the door, "What do you want?"

"It's me. Can I come in?"

"Hello, Ty. Come on in." I answered, recognizing his voice.

Ty opened the door and walked in. "Hey Layla." He patted my thigh. "Hi, babe." He kissed Alexis on the lips.

"Sit down," she said impatiently. She patted my bed next to her. He sat by her side. "Layla was just about to tell me the reason—no, the

reasons

—she didn't come home last night," she said excitedly.

Ty arched his eyebrows and smiled. "Oh, I see. Then I got here just in time! Don't let me interrupt. Please, continue!"

"This is so embarrassing." I hid my face in my hands.

"What? Honey, you've been plenty naughty with us more than once! How can you feel embarrassed? We won't judge you. Right, babe?" She elbowed Ty. He grunted in affirmation and nodded his agreement.

"I know, I know. I feel very comfortable and supported by you two. It's just that, well, it has been a particularly, um,

active

24 hours."

"Oh, really?" exclaimed Ty. "Well, let's hear it!"

There was another knock on the door. "Fuck! What now?" Alexis shouted.

"Sorry," said a sheepish voice. "I can come back later if it's a bad time."

"No, it's fine. Come on in, Chris," said Alexis in an exasperated tone. The door opened slowly and Chris peered in. "I'm sorry for yelling. It's not you." She stood up and gave him a hug as a compensatory apology. "It's just that Layla has been trying to tell me a story and we keep getting interrupted."

"Don't let me stop you. What kind of story?" He sat down next to me and kissed my cheek.

"A juicy one, apparently," she answered.

I hid my face in my hands again. "Oh my god! I can't believe this. A few minutes ago, I was just going to confide in my roommate. Now I have a full-blown audience."

"Point of clarification," said Ty. "You have an eager audience; a fan base that is anxiously awaiting your every word with rapt attention."

Just then, my own attention was distracted by my phone pinging. I picked it up and looked at the screen. It was a text from Camera Man. Out of habit more than good judgment, I tapped the screen and the message opened. We all looked. There, in front of all four of us, was a close up of my breast. "Shit!" I turned my phone over so no one could see.

Alexis grabbed my hand and turned it back over. "Not so fast," she said. Everyone stared at the picture in silence for a moment while I squirmed in discomfort. The picture really was very well done, I had to admit. Everything he said about the contrast between light and shadow, as well as shape and form, was spot on. He really was talented. I laughed to myself, as I thought about what other kinds of talents Camera Man had. He certainly was an artist, alright.

"Is that your boob?" asked Ty.

I nodded silently.

"Who is 'Camera Man'? asked Chris in a serious tone, looking at the sender's name.

I started to panic. "Babe, don't be mad. He's just a photography student I met."

"And you posed for him?

"Yes."

"Naked?"

"Not at first..." I paused as I realized how suspicious this sounded. It had felt so fun and spontaneous at the time, but now it seemed like I was confessing to having done something bad. "But, yeah, eventually I did pose nude."

"That's quite common in photography classes. Art classes too. They have nude models in the studio all the time," Alexis tried to defend me by playing down my transgression.

"True, but it wasn't actually in the studio," I clarified.

"Where was it?" asked Chris.

"In the meadow of the nature preserve."

"On campus? Out in public?"

"Yeah." It felt so risky and exciting in the moment. Now it sounded kind of crazy. "But there wasn't anyone around. No one saw me."

"Except for Camera Man," Chris pointed out. I nodded. "How much of you did he see?"

"All of me," I admitted. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well, I think it is a beautiful picture," Alexis declared. "Let's see it again." I reluctantly tapped my phone again to open the image. "I think it is very artistic. Don't you agree?" She elbowed Ty again.

"Uh, yeah," said Ty, "That's hot. I could look at that all day long."

I winced. That was not the helpful type of compliment I needed at that moment. I wanted him to downplay it, but instead he was adding to the sexual aspect of it. Alexis rolled her eyes. Ty doubled down. "Dude, you're a lucky dog to have a girl that's so damn sexy. Man, you better appreciate her, because if you don't, I'm going to be hitting her up for nudes every hour on the hour. In fact, can you send that to me real quick? I want to add that to my spank bank!" Actually, maybe Ty was helping after all.

"Ty!" Alexis slapped him playfully on the cheek. "Why do you want to look at

he

r boob, when I'm right here next to you?" She thrust out her chest and squeezed her arms against her tits to create more cleavage.

"Babe, you've got great tits. You know I love your boobs. But you never send me any nudes, no matter how many times I've asked."

Her face turned sad. "I would, but I get too self-conscious. I've taken some pics, but they never look nearly as good as that one. Look at the lighting. See how the curve of the breast lights up and the nipple causes that dark shadow. Look at the unusual angle. That's not a perspective I can get by myself. It creates an artistic landscape. Look at the lines and shapes. The focus is so sharp that you see the bumps on her areola. It's captivating. My snaps just look like random body parts, with poor lighting, using a cheap cell-phone camera. They don't come out sexy at all. I wouldn't want to share them with anyone—not even you. I just delete them and give up. I would send you nudes if I had good ones to share, but I just don't."

"Well, Layla has Camera Man's number..." Chris pointed out. Maybe he was coming around after all. I hoped he wasn't too mad.

"Do you think he would take pictures of me too?" asked Alexis.

"I don't see why not." I answered. "Would you want to pose for him?"

"Hell, yeah. If he can make me look that good, of course I would."

"Including fully nude?" I clarified.

"Girl, I would strip bare and suck his dick in exchange for a folder full of photos of me looking that hot." I turned red and covered my mouth with my hand. "What? No way! You didn't!" I closed my eyes and nodded. I glanced quickly at Chris and then looked back at Alexis. "You stripped bare and sucked his dick?" I nodded again. "Did you fuck him?" I nodded again. "Girl! I don't know who got the better end of that deal. He got pussy, but you got dick

and

pics. How many pictures did he take of you?"

"I don't know. Dozens, at least. Maybe a hundred. Maybe more. I wasn't counting."

"Well, let's see the rest! I want to see more. Don't you guys want to see more?"

"I want to see all of them," enthused Ty. "Don't you, Chris?" I could tell Ty was trying to encourage him to forgive me. Chris had been silent for a long time and I didn't know what he was thinking. Earlier, I thought Ty's comments weren't helping, but now I realized that he was probably more effective than Alexis because he was speaking to Chris man-to-man, as only a dude can, and it was probably way more convincing than a girl could ever be.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I do."

"Well, he only sent me this one so far," I deflected.

"Well, ask him for the rest," urged Ty.

"I already told him to send them to me one at a time, randomly. I wanted to be surprised," I answered. "You'd want to see them too?" I asked, looking at Chris.

"Only if you want to show them to me," he answered gingerly.

"I'll send them to you. Do you like this one?" I held up the phone to give him a better look.

"Yes."

"Here. I'll send it to you right now." I copied it and texted it to him.

"Thanks."

"Of course, babe. I'll send you as many nudes as you want. Do you want to see all of them?"

"Yes."

"Will you add them to your spank bank?" Everyone laughed and the mood grew much lighter. "Hmm?" I asked, not allowing him to dodge the question. "Do you have a spank bank too?"

"Every dude's got a spank bank," chimed in Ty.

"What's in your spank bank?" Alexis asked Ty.

"Oh, you know. Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Alexis persisted.

"Pictures, videos, stories. That kind of stuff." He was deliberately vague.

"Am I in your spank bank?" she asked coquettishly.

"No, but you would be if you sent me some nudes."

"Am

I

in

your

spank bank?" I asked Chris.

"Well, you will be, once I add this picture. But, honestly, that pic skews more artistic than sexy. No offense. I mean, it's erotic, but are the other ones, you know, more... I don't know, more explicit?"

"I'll tell you what, I'll send them to you as soon as I receive them. And you can tell me how sexy you find them. Fair enough?" Chris nodded with a smile on his face. I felt better. "And one more thing." I leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "I want you to tell me if you jerk off while looking at them. Okay? That would be so hot!"

"I heard that!" Alexis squealed. "I heard what you said!" Both Chris and I turned red. I leaned into Chris' chest and covered my face with my hand.

Chris put his arm around my shoulder and laughed. "Maybe we could look at them together, and you can help me with that!" This time we all laughed.

"Text Camera Man right now!" Alexis instructed me. "Tell him you have a friend who wants to pose for him. I need some nudes that I can send to my boyfriend. I want him to add them to his spank bank and jerk off to me. Do it now!" Just then my phone pinged. "Is it another one? Alexis practically shouted with enthusiasm.

"Let me see!" said Ty eagerly. Chris leaned in too.

"Actually, it's from Lance. He wants all of us to meet him at Rendezvous this evening. He has a proposal for us."

"Mmm. Intriguing..." said Alexis.

--..--

We studied for our final exams together for a few hours. Then Chris and I took a walk, just the two of us. I told him that I had hooked up with Desiré the night before. I didn't tell him all the details and he didn't ask. I just told him that she had visited me in the restaurant, asked me if I wanted to get together with her, and then we went back to her place where I spent the night. He was surprised that I had slept with someone else, in addition to Camera Man. He teased me about having two hook-ups in less than a day, but he wasn't mad. That was a big relief.

That led us to talk about our relationship more generally. We agreed that we both wanted to be able to sleep with other people, but also agreed that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. We loved each other and would remain primary to each other, but we wouldn't be exclusive. We both admitted to feeling jealousy, but agreed that clear, honest, timely communication would help mitigate those feelings. On the whole, I was glad to have talked, glad that we were on the same page, and glad that he seemed to love me as much as I loved him. I gave him a long, passionate kiss before we met Alexis and Ty in the dining hall.

At dinner, we had another serious discussion. I told them how I was feeling anxious about what was going to happen after we graduated in a few weeks. I told Alexis that I loved being her roommate and how sad I was feeling about having to move out. She had tears in her eyes and hugged me tightly. I told Ty that I loved him like a brother and wanted him in my life still. He teased that he hoped that I loved him more like a step-brother so we could still sleep together. That got a good laugh and he was pleased when I agreed to change the term more to his liking. When I turned to Chris, and was about to tell him how much I wanted to stay together, he cut me off to inform us that he had just received a job offer in another city. That's why he had originally come to our dorm room. He was going to tell me earlier, but the conversation got derailed by the text from Camera Man. That brought the conversation to a stand-still.

By the time we met Lance and Yasmín at Rendezvous, we were not in the festive, adventurous mood that they expected us to be in. They were happy to see us and greeted us warmly, but they could tell that something was off.

"What's wrong?" He turned to me. "Layla, tell me what's going on."

"We're all about to graduate in a few weeks and we're sad about our friendships potentially splitting apart." My voice cracked.

"You want to stay connected with each other?" We nodded. "And you want to stay in this city?" We nodded again. I looked at Chris. He looked back at me and nodded with intention. "Then all you need is gainful employment and steady housing, right?" We nodded again. "We might be able to arrange that." He made it sound so simple.

Just then, Desiré brought us a tray of drinks without us even having ordered. She set out everyone else's drink first. Then she picked up mine, took a sip, and leaned down to kiss me. She opened her mouth and squirted the liquid into my mouth. I swallowed hard and she broke off the kiss. She stood up straight, smiled, spun around with her short skirt swirling, and then walked away.

There was stunned silence for a moment. "I think I ordered the wrong drink!" gushed Yasmín.

"It appears as though one customer has enjoyed some off-menu selections," said Lance slyly.

"Oh my god! That's the other story, isn't it?" Alexis pointed her finger as if accusing me. "This morning you said there were two stories to share, and you only told us about Camera Man. Desiré is the other story, isn't she?"

"Yes," I admitted. "Desiré and I kind of got together a few days ago."

"'Kind of'?" exclaimed Ty. "That kiss looked a lot more definite than 'kind of'."

"Wait a minute," said Yasmín, holding up her hands to pause the conversation. "I know who Desiré is— and good for you, by the way—but who is Camera Man?"

"Oh, just some guy she sucked and fucked in exchange for a boudoir photo session," explained Alexis.

"Really?" asked Yasmín.

I nodded, blushing. I gulped my drink and gripped Chris' hand under the table.

"Layla," began Lance, "I have to say..." he paused and I started to feel concerned. "I'm proud of you." Everyone smiled. "When we first met about 9 months ago, you were reserved, shy, and reluctant. Now look at you. You have blossomed into a confident, open, and adventurous young woman. You've transitioned from deprived hunger, to developing an appetite, to nourishing your needs. It is gratifying to witness. I'm confident that you are now ready for my next invitation. Actually, I think you are not just ready for my proposal, I'm sure you will truly enjoy it."

"What are you proposing for me?"

"Not just for you, Layla, for all of you. For all of us." He made a gesture with his hand to include everyone at the table. "What's more, it might just help you resolve your impending challenges with housing and employment."

"Really? How? What is it?" My interest was piqued, though I was also skeptical. "Are you going to pimp us out for cash?" I said jokingly, though I wasn't so sure about Lance.

"Not exactly," he said cryptically. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. We leaned in too, eager to hear the reveal. "I would like to extend an invitation to the four of you to apply for memberships at Club X." We were silent for a moment while what he said registered in our brains.

"You mean the private club that you and Yasmín belong to?" clarified Alexis.

"Yes, that club," answered Lance.

"Isn't that a sex club?" asked Ty.

"I'm afraid that information is confidential and can't be shared with non-members," said Lance, smiling. Yasmín giggled. Then she stared at Ty and licked her lips suggestively. "It will be up to the Membership Committee to answer such questions during the interview process. Should they recommend you for initiation for membership, more will be revealed at that point."

"But I remember you saying that three current members had to recommend new members," said Alexis.

"Yes, that is accurate," confirmed Lance.

"But you and Yasmín are only two. Who is the third person?" asked Alexis.

"Another round to quench your thirst?" Desiré again appeared with a tray of drinks and set them down in front of us, collecting our empty glasses from the previous round.

Lance smiled knowingly. "Thank you, my dear. You always arrive on time with exactly what we want."

Desiré smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. "Well, I enjoy serving my favorite customers." She winked. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"Indeed, there is."

Desiré tucked the tray under her arm, cocked her hip to the side, and looked at him expectantly. "Does it involve Ty grabbing my ass again?"

"Yasmín and I have just invited our four young friends to apply for membership at Club X."

Desiré, in an uncharacteristically enthusiastic display, clapped her hands and jumped up and down. Then she leaned in and lowered her voice, as Lance had done earlier. "That's so exciting! Are you going to do it? You'll love it! I promise. The initiation can be a little, uh, intimidating, but it is so worth it. Did you say 'yes'?"

"They haven't had a chance to answer yet. But Alexis does have an important question first."

"What's your question, sweetie? Maybe I can answer it."

"Well," began Alexis, "Lance said that three members have to recommend applicants. But Lance and Yasmín are only two. Wouldn't we need a third?"

"Oh," gushed Desiré, "I always enjoy being a third!"

Yasmín giggled. "I can vouch for that!"

"But," began Lance, "members can only recommend members with whom they have had direct personal experience. Can you recommend our friends here?"

Desiré smiled. "Well, I can certainly recommend Layla. But I can't recommend Chris, Ty, or Alexis." Their faces fell. "Yet." They looked up. She smiled. "I get off soon. Maybe you three can help me get off soon after that?" Alexis and Ty looked at each other and smiled. Chris looked at me. I nodded. They all looked back at Desiré and smiled. "Great. It's settled then. I'll come around when I'm done and then the four of us can walk up the street to my place. It's close, as some of you already know." She winked at me. "Lance, honey, I'll have an answer for you by tomorrow morning. Or maybe by afternoon. I might need to sleep in."