General Chemistry Ii Ch 03

List of Characters

Jack: Our point of view. Smart, corny, neurotic, Jack has few friends at school outside of his study group. White. Lifeguards in the summer and has a big dick.

Pri: Jack's ex(?). Brilliant and reserved, she plays varsity soccer with her best friend Liv. Indian-American. Short and athletic with ass for days, darkly tanned with thick black hair.

Liv: Pri's best friend and Jack's study buddy. Funny and dynamic, she plays varsity soccer and does what she feels. Jewish. Tall with a heart-shaped face. She has a deep tan, small breasts, and sprinter's legs.

Marco: Liv's boyfriend and long-time friend. Charming and almost offensively handsome, he teaches tennis and studies literature. Colombian-American. He's fashionable, with a lean, muscular body.

Sylvie: Liv's long-time frenemy and Marco's ex. Grim and sarcastic, she's pre-law at NYU. Pale, Jewish, and tiny, with a cute face and a bull ring septum piercing.

Kay: Sylvie's friend from NYU. Laconic and up for anything, they study film and play volleyball. White and non-binary, they're over six foot and covered with tattoos. Bleached pixie cut and dark eyelids.

Grace: Liv's friend from college. Perky and energetic, she's All-State softball and loves to party. Chinese-American. She's muscular but feminine, with thick legs, big breasts, and fun tattoos.

~

It'd been hotter than hell the day Pri arrived and today was even worse. After our last delve into the inferno, a beach trip that ended after two sweaty, miserable hours, no one even dared to suggest we leave the villa. We were under a kind of meteorological house arrest.

It was a damn fine place to be imprisoned at least.

Over the course of the morning, like atoms slowly bonding in the flask, the seven of us joined together by the pool. We did our best to enjoy it. Reading, swimming, painting toenails, the rare and courageous sunbather.

By early afternoon we'd grown tired of splashing around in the tea-warm water and pretending that it wasn't super fucking hot. We sat on loungers and cushioned chairs and clustered under umbrellas, sipping drinks from condensation-coated glasses, making conversation. Even in the shade, the slightest breeze caused everyone to moan in relief.

I spent most of the time in one spot, keeping my half-erection covered with a towel or a book. After an involuntarily celibate summer, I'd finally gotten to fuck again, and I'd expected my libido to be curbed at least a little. Maybe it would have been if the people around me weren't so ridiculously attractive.

Grace had switched from her conservative bathing suit to a more typical two-piece, showing off her large, creamy breasts and fat butt.

Despite not being at the beach or even attempting to catch a tan, Liv hadn't bothered with a suit top. She chatted on and on as if her high titties weren't in everyone's face.

The worst, in some ways, was Pri. Her one-piece may have been more restrained but it didn't matter. Her muscular ass, thick legs, and athletic stomach could not be hidden by anything. She was so fucking stacked that you could have dressed her in a garbage bag and I'd have requested permission to jerk off on it.

She at least had the decency to look tired. She'd spent most of yesterday traveling to Spain and the remainder fighting with me. Through tears she'd finally told me the truth: she'd pushed me away this summer on purpose. Her parents were already arranging matches, good Indian boys that would make good Indian husbands. There was no room in that reality for a white boyfriend. She figured that slowly fading from our relationship was less terrifying than the alternative.

For all the heartache she'd put me through, I believed her when she said she didn't want some dork-ass engineering student from Duke. It made much more sense to prefer a dork-ass bio major from State like me. We just didn't know where to go from there. We'd had sex, groping, physical, emotional sex, but resolved nothing. Our "break" continued into an uncertain future.

Tired or not, Pri managed to fit into the group better than I had with my two day head start. She caught up with each person with genuine, sustained interest. Liv was happy. Maybe it was just my obsession with the two of them but I thought that she had missed her best friend dearly. Whenever Pri laughed at one of her jokes or hit her with a sassy look, Liv almost glowed.

Grace ping-ponged between conversations, seemingly listening to everyone at once and jumping in with whatever spare thought she had, while Sylvie barely participated at all. The small, severe girl was in a typically dark mood, and she hadn't even bothered with a swimsuit. She reclined lazily in a striped pantsuit and read her phone from behind huge sunglasses.

Surprising us both, I ended up in a thoroughly engaging conversation with Kay about stop-motion animation, a subject about which they knew a hell of a lot, able to put names to all my hazy memories of golden-age sci-fi and fantasy movies. I could tell Kay was still wearing the chest binder under their t-shirt but it already felt normal to me. Their bright pink chubbies showed off their incredibly long legs. Their arm sleeve, black-and-white ink in gradient, kept catching my eye as they leaned forward in their chair, waving their hands to describe something called "dynamation."

Sylvie kept tabs on us out of the corner of her eye, at least a little bit pleased that her roommate had found another nerd to talk with. Kay was studying film at NYU and, though usually reserved to the point of sleepwalking, they were passionate about the topic. I fucked up only once, referring to the non-binary Kay as "she."

"Not a girl," said Sylvie and Kay at the same time. Kay shrugged it away and we carried on.

Sometimes I was pulled three different ways. Other times I was ignored, adrift between one liners and anecdotes. Whenever the conversation truly lulled, I stared off at the glittering ocean, watching sailboats slide across the water, leaving white vees in their wake.

"I'm officially dead," said Liv. "Deceased. Killed. Cooked. Can we go inside? Maybe watch something?"

"Actually," said Sylvie. "I saw

Sense and Sensibility

on the recommended tab."

"Maybe something less aggressively Caucasian?" said Grace, giving Pri a knowing look.

"But I like that movie..." she replied. "And you already watched P and P without me."

"P and P?" asked Marco before it clicked. "Oh right, the Jane Austen cinematic universe."

"I have a

bee

-rilliant idea," said Liv. "Why don't we start drinking?"

"Ooo, yeah!" Grace punched the air. "Pri's finally here. Let's celebrate!"

"We're already celebrating. It's someone's birthday, remember?"

"Okay, we can celebrate more than one thing. We've been here three days and I haven't even gotten drunk yet!"

I raised a finger. "Except when we drank wine on the patio and listened to Liv and Marco doin' it."

Liv inclined her head and gave me a serious sort of look. "It's like that, huh? Is that really how you want to play this?"

"No. I guess not. I'm sorry."

"Smart boy."

"Let's go then," said Marco, standing suddenly. "There's a liquor cabinet behind that big-ass ficus and we oughta find out what's inside."

Liv wiped at the tanned skin between her breasts. "Uh, I'm kinda yuck. Why don't we clean up and meet back downstairs in like thirty?" She reached out to Marco for a hand, then yanked him onto the chair and raced for the door. "First!"

~

Within the hour we'd reunited in the great room, the only place that could really fit us all outside of the home theater. Without planning it we'd all dressed up a little, and the group looked like we were getting ready to pregame before heading to a house party.

It was already late afternoon and the great room's impossibly large window glowed like a cinema screen. The ocean stretched on in high definition, twinkling blue. We still didn't have any beer, so we'd split into two camps: one drinking rosé from deep wine glasses, the other with mint juleps whipped up by Marco.

"Hello!" said Liv. She wore a smart blue top, with jeggings wrapped tightly to her long, beautiful legs. She uncrossed them and sat up, holding her glass high. The rosé swirled. "Hello, thanks! I wanted to thank everyone for coming on my birthday trip!"

"Speech! Speech!" I chanted before Pri slapped me on the arm.

"Well, I don't have a speech," she said. "But I wouldn't mind being toasted."

"I'm about to get toasted," said Kay. Laughing, everyone raised their cups and sipped.

"I meant, like, compliment me and stuff."

"No shit," said Marco. He threw on the charming Southern lawyer for a second. "You're the

finest

birthday girl there ever was, I do declare."

His shirt, patterned with lions, zebras, and other safari-type animals, was already half undone, giving a glimpse of his brown, well-developed chest.

"I can't even hear your condescension because it's true." Liv touched her chin with the back of her hand, batting her lashes and posing like a debutante.

"To Liv," I said. "Smart and pretty and occasionally very scary, we wouldn't be here without you."

The group drank deep.

"Let's play something."

"Oh, oh, I know!" said Grace. She'd squeezed herself into a low-cut sundress that exposed her muscular shoulders. Her big breasts were practically poured into the bust. I did my best not to stare as they wobbled back and forth in her excitement. "What about Paranoia!"

"I like Paranoia!" said Liv.

Sylvie tried to seem interested. "And that is?"

"You don't know Paranoia?" Grace was wearing contacts instead of her chunky glasses and her eyes went wide like she couldn't believe it. "What do you play at NYU?"

"We just drink."

"We get it, you're so cool," said Marco. Sylvie gave her ex the finger but he just smiled. "I don't think they have Paranoia in yankee-land. It's mostly beer pong, flip cup..."

"Kings," said Kay. "You play Kings?"

"Yeah, for sure," I said. I wasn't an amazing drinker but abstaining wasn't much of an option if you wanted to actually meet people. "Flip cup too, but that's for beer, not what we have."

"I played flip cup with wine once," said Pri. I looked at her, the sweet little drink-sipper, with some shock. "Emphasis on

once

. Y'ever throw up so much wine that you think it's blood and you're positive you're dying?"

"Yes to the second part," said Sylvie.

"Okay, I'll explain it," said Grace. "We sit in a circle--"

"Done," I said. The couches, already arranged in a U, had done that part for us. "Wow, I'm great at this."

"Mm, you're funny," said Grace in a way that said I wasn't. "Anyway, we sit in a circle--but we need to move around a little. Split the couples up to start. Um,

the couple

, I mean." Pri and I had sat next to each other without thinking. "Uh, just try to sit between people you don't know that well. Don't think too hard about it..."

Liv looked confused. "But I know everyone?"

"I said don't think too hard," laughed Grace. "Just stay there. No, Marco honey, sit next to me..."

Like musical chairs, we cycled around the room until the order was just right. Pri switched to the opposite couch to sit next to, of all people, Liv. So much for splitting the couples up; the two were basically in love with each other. I ended up with Sylvie on the cushion to my left and Grace on the couch to my right.

"So, like this: I'll whisper a question to the next person over, like 'Who is the biggest slut?' or 'Who still sleeps with stuffed animals?' and--"

"They don't have to be rude," said Pri. "They can be anything, like 'Who is most likely to help a stranger?'"

"But they're so much better if they're a little mean, or a little sexy. Here, I can start." Grace curled her finger in a come-hither motion and leaned in. Her breath tickled my ear. "

Who has definitely had an STD?

" she whispered.

"Oh, I'm not doing that one."

"What she'd say?" asked Liv. I just shook my head.

"Okay, fine," said Grace. "I'll do something else. You can refuse one time. Only one! Let me think..."

"What'd she say though?" said Liv again.

"You know the rules," I said. "Drink and I'll tell you." She made a grotesque face.

Grace motioned towards me again. "

Who is most likely to fuck in public?

"

I thought for half a second and pointed to at Sylvie.

"What does that mean?" she said. "Do I drink or something?"

"This is the paranoia part. If you want to know what I asked, you need to drink. If you don't care then you can just pass."

Sylvie looked around blithely.

"Bitch, just drink," said Kay.

"Fine," she said, taking a sip. She winced and smacked her lips. "Jesus, Marco, did you forget the mint

and

the julep? This is just whiskey." As though preferring pain to the taste, she bit her tongue for a moment. "What was the question then?"

"She asked me who was most likely to have sex in public..."

"And you picked me?" She actually looked insulted. "What the fuck?"

"Syl," said Kay tiredly, picking at their own sleeve. "You told everyone you did it with Marco in Central Park."

"Oh. Yeah. But that was years ago. I don't do that any more."

Liv's eyes went wide and she made a goofy smile, as if to say

Silly kids!

If she was at all threatened by hearing about her boyfriend's previous escapades, she didn't show it.

Grace made a get-on-with-it motion. "You get it now, right? You were the target, so you get to go next."

Sylvie stared up at the ceiling for a moment, absently tapping on her knee. She'd gone for the full costume change, switching from her pantsuit into black leggings and a sleeveless red blouse. Her socks were so perfectly white that they looked like they'd just come out of the package.

"Okay, okay." She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and turned to Liv instead.

Liv's lips curled into a smile when she heard the question and pointed across the coffee table at Marco. He cocked his head and drank.

"Who is most likely to send nudes?" repeated Liv. Marco groaned and everyone else laughed. We all knew that he'd mailed naked polaroids of himself to Sylvie back when they were dating.

We ended up pretty engaged with the game.

Who'd be able to chop up a dead body?

Marco pointed at Liv. "What can I say? I believe in you."

Who believes in astrology?

Sylvie pointed at an indignant Pri. "I dunno, she has a kind of crystals-in-my-water-bottle vibe."

Who eats the most junk food?

I pointed at Grace. "Just a guess," I said.

"Fig Newtons are my addiction," she admitted.

Before long we needed to refill our drinks. The back of my neck was hot and I held my glass in both hands, hoping to melt the ice a little. The finger-pointing went on and on around the circle. No one even joked about refusing, happy instead to drink and find out the dirt that was said about them.

Even the taciturn Kay had started to turn up. When Marco whispered in their ear, they slapped their knee, red-faced, and waved their finger at Sylvie. Wearing a flowery pink button-up tucked into black trousers, Kay's outfit was a hip, David Bowie-esque look that accentuated their wide shoulders and narrow waist.

"I asked who was the most stuck up," said Marco. He put on an apologetic face but he was also a little too pleased with the answer.

"Ok, fine," said Sylvie with an evil glint. She whispered her question to Liv who snorted and quickly pointed at Kay.

"Who wallows and listens to sad music after a breakup?"

"She was a

musician!

" said Kay. Their face had flushed, and they looked around with an almost desperate look. "She made me a fucking mixtape! I'm supposed to throw it out?"

"Who dumped who?" I asked.

"Her me."

"Oh, you definitely don't need to listen to that shit. That's just cruel."

The next question was Kay's for Marco. He licked his teeth in thought, and after a moment he pointed at me.

Kay looked very interested. "I asked who would start an OnlyFans."

"Explain," said Pri. She'd already undone a few buttons on her shirt and rolled up her sleeves, exposing a wonderful amount of smooth, brown skin. She waved Marco on. "Or it is because of...? No, explain."

"Because of what?" asked Sylvie, but Marco talked over her.

"I dunno. Scholarships don't cover everything. He's got a good face. Got a gay-for-pay kinda look--"

"That's good, right?" I asked. "Or is that bad?"

"It's good," said Sylvie. "Marco, you

think

he would or you

want

him to?"

"He's cute," he said. "I told him. I'm not shy."

Kay nodded sagely. "The world needs more soft bi boy action."

"I'm not bi," I said, though I was determined not to object too much. "Flattered of course though. Thank you, my significant brother."

He smiled and tipped his glass at me.

"Okay, I've got one ready," I said. I leaned conspiratorially towards Grace, exerting a huge amount of self-control not to look down at her tits. "

Who has the highest body count?"

"Ahhh," she said, like it was one of life's great mysteries. Looking around the room, she chewed on the thought. Eventually she pointed at Liv, who smiled and drank deeply from her rosé. Grace sighed, already apologetic, and said, "Body count."

"Why do people think that?" asked Liv with some sincerity. "Do I seem like a slut? I'm, like, boyfriended up."

"Noo," said Grace. Her already rosy cheeks had gone bright red, from embarrassment and alcohol both. "You just seem so confident. I really meant it as a compliment."

"That's almost sweet. If you're talking about how many

times

, you'd be on to something, but I've only done it with like four guys. Johnny P, Ryan, Marco..." She trailed off and I suddenly realized she had caught herself before saying my name. I wasn't the only one to notice.

"That's only three."

"And it seemed like Marco wasn't last on the list..."

Liv tilted her head to the side. "So

suspicious

. Catty bitches, I was just embarrassed about the other one. It was some guy named Morrison."

"Jack's roommate?" asked Grace with a start. "The fucking accordion guy?"

Liv, glassy-eyed, made a seated bow, flourishing with her hands. "I love all my haters."

"Is he--Should I go out with him?" Grace looked at me. "He's single right?"

"Don't," I said. "Do not. Even if she's not lying, you can do better."

Marco slashed a cross over his chest. "Damn, rip Morrison."

"Keep going," said Pri. "Go, go. More questions."

Liv made a show of recoiling from Pri's energy. "Okay, you little animal. I got one for you." She leaned to Pri's ear, but she shrugged at the question.

"Pass. Please."

"No no no," said Grace. "We're in too deep to be passing."

"It's not good?" asked Liv.

"Not really. Ask another."

"Just pick somebody," said Grace. "It's not a big deal."

Bashfully, Pri pointed at Grace. "The last person to get dumped."

I clicked my tongue, wincing.

"Isn't that Jack, actually?" said Kay. "Not for nothing."

Liv cringed. "Oh... frick."

"Ha," said Pri, laughing flatly. "I guess it is Jack. Or maybe it's me?"

The mystery of our break slash breakup persisted. The room went quiet until Marco, angling his cup in an attempt to lick a mint leaf off the bottom, received a small avalanche of ice in the face. He calmly brushed it off his chest and looked around as though nothing had happened.

"Anyway..." said Sylvie.

"I mean, I did just get dumped," said Grace. She seemed a little defeated. "I'm not great at... dating. Or I'm not good at picking guys, I don't know."

Sylvie waved her finger in the air, swallowing a heavy mouthful of wine before finding the air to speak. "Why--

excuse me

--why is it always that the woman 'has bad taste in men' and never that 'disgusting men tend to be skilled liars and hide their red flags until it's too late?'"