As we always do, the whole gang assembled at the Union after classes on Friday. We sat around, had a few beers, threw some darts, then went off together for pizza. After dinner, almost everyone had to leave to go see a hockey game. We were playing North Dakota that night, and I guess that's a big deal. Personally, I despise hockey. Most of my friends, on the other hand, think it's the greatest sport on Earth, so after they left there were just three of us left. Craig, Shelly, and I stood on State Street trying to decide what to do next. I suggested hitting a bar.
"Nah," Craig said. "The bars will be jammed tonight. I really don't feel like dealing with crowds."
"But what else is there to do?" I asked.
"I have an idea," Shelly said. "I got a new game for Christmas that I want to try. I think you guys will really like it."
"Sounds good to me," Craig agreed, so we headed for Shelly's apartment. On the way we stopped at a liquor store and Craig and I went in and bought a big bottle of wine. Shelly had to wait outside because she is still under age. A light snow had started to fall, and the walk to Shelly's place was very pleasant. It was like being in some old movie. Shelly has a beautiful one bedroom apartment facing Lake Mendota. She's here on a scholarship and can afford that kind of thing. We went inside, hung up our coats, and Shelly went to find the game while Craig and I went to the kitchen and poured three glasses of wine.
Shelly came out of her bedroom holding a game box. She started to take off the shrink-wrap and explained, "It's called
Therapy
. I played it at my cousin's house over Thanksgiving and enjoyed it so much that I asked my Mom to get me a copy for Christmas. Basically, we sit around and analyze each other. What do you think?"
"Sounds great!" Craig said. I thought so, too. We were certainly an interesting group. Shelly is a nineteen year old sophomore math and computer science major. Craig is twenty-four and studying economics in graduate school, and I'm twenty-two years old and a senior in nursing. A more diverse set of "therapists" probably couldn't be found anywhere on campus.
Shelly went to her stereo and turned on some mellow jazz. We set up the game on the floor and started playing. You win
Therapy
by collecting six pegs on your playing piece, which looks like a little couch. There are six categories, and you need a peg from each category. There are two ways to get a peg. One way is to answer a scientific, psychological question in one of the categories. The questions are like:
True or False: A baby whose mother responds quickly and consistently whenever it cries will end up being a chronic crier
; or
What percentage of American women admit they wear uncomfortable shoes because they look good? 10%, 24%, or 45%
.
If you get one of these right, you get a peg in its category.
The more interesting way to get a peg is by "curing" another player, either in one-to-one or in group therapy. In this case the "therapist" reads a question, and the "patient" writes down her response. The therapist then tries to guess what the patient wrote. If the therapist is right, the patient is cured and the therapist gets a peg as her fee. If the therapist is wrong, the patient remains in therapy and they try again next turn. The therapy questions are things like:
So tell me, which player do you think would be most likely to sneak into a movie?
or
So tell me, on a rating scale of 1 to 10, how moody are you?
or
So tell me, which player do you think would be most likely to have a dream about a large snake?
This last question raised a couple eyebrows. I was the therapist, and Craig was the patient. I guessed that he had said I would be most likely, but he had written "Shelly." I guess his opinion was confirmed a few turns later when Shelly was his patient and the question was: "So tell me, on a rating scale of 1 to 10, what is your level of sexual appetite?" Shelly had written "10" and Craig guessed right.
As you might imagine, a lot of the questions dealt with sex, and I think all of us were already feeling a little fresh. For instance, "Therapist" cards became "The Rapist" cards, and whenever a question about sex came up, we always gave the highest possible answer. Actually, we learned a lot about each other's personalities and feelings. In the end, I won the first game. We were having so much fun we decided to play again, after we got up to get more wine.
I suppose I should have seen it coming. When we sat down to play the second game, Craig and Shelly sat down quite close to each other. Their knees were touching, and every now and then they'd find some excuse to rub each other's back or legs. For my sake, they acted like it was all in good fun, but I could tell, by the way they looked at each other, what they each had silently planned for later that night. I would have left then, but we had already started the second game.
I must admit I was pretty jealous; partly because at the beginning of the evening we had been three friends on equal footing, and now I felt like an outsider. I was mainly jealous, however, because ever since I met him, I have had a big crush on Craig, but he never asked me out. I didn't blame Craig for picking Shelly. She is uncommonly pretty with lustrous blonde hair and big blue eyes. And I couldn't blame Shelly for wanting what I wanted.
What bothered me was that I had known Craig for over a year and he had never seen me as more than a friend. We had met Shelly only a few weeks before. Now she was going to be taking him to bed that night. It really frustrated me that she had only gotten him to notice her by using this game to indirectly, yet unquestionably, let him know she was interested. I had the same opportunity, but I have never been able to do that kind of thing. I'm too shy, and at that moment I blamed Shelly for my shyness. No one ever said jealousy was rational.
I couldn't help myself. I just got more jealous as we continued playing and they got continually more friendly with each other. I virtually burned when Shelly read: "So tell me, which of the following parts of your body would you most like to have attention paid to? a) legs, b) lips, c) ear lobes?" and when Craig answered "c" she leaned over and gently bit his ear lobe. I felt even angrier when Craig asked Shelly: "So tell me, what sense do you derive the most pleasure from?" and she practically moaned her answer "Touch." They obviously had almost forgotten my existence, interacting with me only when the game required. I was answering the same kinds of questions as Shelly, and many of my answers showed that I too was available and interested, but Craig never noticed. I was just too shy to expose my feelings with my body and voice the way Shelly did.
A few turns latter, reading from the card, Craig asked Shelly: "So tell me, which player do you think will most likely dream tonight of being bound in chains?" She wrote down her answer and Craig said: "You."
Shelly held up her paper and answered: "That's right. Me, of course."
I guess that was the last straw. I started yelling. "Like Hell he's right! You're both wrong. I'm the most likely to dream about being bound in chains. Bondage is my biggest fantasy. I do have dreams like that, and I love each and every one of them!"
I don't know what caused me to confess my secret like that. I had never even told any of my boyfriends about my fantasy. I guess I was so jealous I just had to do something to call Craig's attention to me.
Craig and Shelly weren't looking at me, but each other. I was afraid they would start laughing. Instead, Shelly turned to look me in the eye and said, her voice husky: "How about tonight?"
My jaw dropped, but my nipples sprang up and I felt moist heat between my legs. It was like I had lost control of myself. My common sense told me to get up and leave, but my true desires had taken over.
"Yes!" I heard myself whisper.
The game forgotten, Craig and Shelly each took one of my arms and helped me to my feet. They led me into Shelly's bedroom. Shelly let go of me, but Craig took both of my wrists and held them together behind my back. No one spoke, we were united in a common purpose. Shelly rummaged through her closet and came up with four long sashes from various robes and dresses. She took these and started tying them to the bed frame at the corners of her full size bed. As I watched her carefully tying good strong knots, I grew hornier and hornier. My panties were becoming absolutely soaked!
While she finished attaching the sashes to the bed frame, Craig pulled off my sweater and took off my bra. Then he reached down and pulled down my jeans and panties. I stepped out of my jeans, leaving my socks in the crumpled legs. I was completely naked. Craig picked me up and set me down in the middle of the big bed. He spread my arms as far as they would go and started tying the sashes around my wrists, making sure there was no slack. Then, together, he and Shelly pulled my feet toward each corner of the bed. When they had me spread out as far as possible in all directions, they tied the sashes around my ankles. I was totally spread eagle, face up on the bed. It was actually quite comfortable, perhaps because of the equal tension on each of my limbs. I tried pulling against the sashes. Those knots were strong! There was no way I could ever free myself.
Shelly turned to Craig and said: "Well, she's not going anywhere. What do you want to do now?"
"We could go in the other room and make love. You know, I've never even kissed you yet."