Authors note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Rutwell College Chronicles:
Three Spoons of Sugar
Introduction:
Welcome to Rutwell College.
A place of learning. A steppingstone for all who enter its halls in the great journey of life.
For over two centuries, students at Rutwell have found themselves growing, stretching their limits, encouraged to try new experiences, to embark on paths they never considered before.
In these lecture halls and libraries, this haven of scholarship, the faculty find fresh minds to mould, empty vessels looking to be filled. Youth and experience coming together in creative and unexpected ways with astonishing results.
As the motto of the college says, 'Mens Aperta, Corpus Saturatum'... 'Open Mind, Sated Body'.
Before:
The wet hacking cough seemed to go on forever. It had started out as a series of breathless gasps before catching deep in the chest, the wheezing cough becoming raspier, degenerating further into a grating choking sound, bile and sputum no doubt expelled by the force of the throat clearing.
Megan Richards lifted the pillow from where she had been holding it tight against her head and spun round in her bed, black hair flying with the speed of her turn. She could see her roommate, barely, as Donna sat at the end of her own bed, her body shaking beneath a towel as she bent over a basin on the floor.
"Jesus, go see a doctor. You're sick."
"Imb finbh." Donna snorted out.
"You aren't 'finbh', you're ill and you are gonna get me sick by ignoring it. Fuck's sake, what's the big deal anyway?"
Donna lifted the towel from her head, her normally vibrant auburn hair was lank and listless, her beautiful skin had taken on a waxy appearance and the brown eyes that she turned towards her friend were red rimmed from illness and exhaustion. Megan found herself scooting back against the wall in response that belied her normal kind nature.
"I can't blee... be sick. Too mudge... fuck. Too much to do." Donna spoke as clearly as she could, wiping at her now streaming nose with the edge of the towel.
Megan resolved to stay at a hotel for the next few days at that point. Unlike her friend Donna, Megan came from money and her choosing to share a dorm room at Rutwell College was from a desire to have the complete, authentic college experience. Her father had offered her an apartment of her own but this just seemed better. Anyway, an apartment wouldn't be as close to the lecture halls as the dorms were.
She had come to Rutwell to study English Literature and although it was still her first term, she was already loving both the course, the college and her new best friend Donna... well until now. Donna had been a bit stand offish to Megan at first, perhaps because of their different upbringings. Megan's parents were wealthy Maine lawyers, Donna's parents were factory workers from Pittsburgh. Megan however hadn't let up and within two weeks they had become comfortable with each other, before the first month was out, they were all but inseparable.
Donna was studying International Relations and Political Science and as far as Megan was aware, she was on top of, in fact ahead of all her course work and requirements.
"What do you mean, too much to do?"
Donna looked like she'd swallowed a fly, Megan flinched back once more on the bed expecting her friend to begin hurling up vomit at any moment. It took a moment for the dark-haired girl to realise that the expression on Donna's face was because she felt she'd said too much and not something connected to her health.
Megan scooped a box of tissues from the top of her locker and tossed them underhand to Donna.
"Blow your nose and then spill girl." Megan said.
"Id's money." Donna started to explain after she'd tidied herself up some. Megan had moved a bit closer but was still maintaining a 'safe' distance from her friend for the moment.
"Money?" Megan queried.
"Yeah, money. It's different for me than you. My Dad isn't rich, I got three brothers who all need to go through college still. So, I..." she paused to cough into a clenched tissue for a moment, clearing her throat and sniffing loudly after.
"I gods to make... got to make, some money myself. I can't take on a really big loan, I'll never pay it off."
"So, what? You got a part time job?"
Donna shook her head and for the first time since Megan had seen her that night some colour entered her face as she blushed in embarrassment. Megan cocked her eyebrow in anticipation. Donna stalled for a heartbeat before sighing dramatically, which triggered yet another coughing fit.
Finally, she croaked out, "I got a Sugar Daddy".
It took Megan most of the next half an hour to drag all the details from Donna, the other girl's reluctance and coughing spasms slowing the process considerably.
Donna had been put onto the scheme by a friend back in Pittsburgh. She'd been loath to do it but the fees for her first year in college and the projected cost for the full span of her time in higher education convinced her to try it.
Because of her International Relations study, which included a second language, Donna had reached out for an internationally based Sugar Daddy. Partly as an aid to her study but also because she hoped that this might mean never actually having to meet face to face. That had been all well and good until her Sugar Daddy announced he would be in the US in the next two days and was expecting to meet her.
"Fuuuck!" Megan said, drawing out the word. Her brow wrinkled in concentration as she ran the situation through her mind once again.
"Yeah exagedly... exactly." Donna agreed.
"Ok, let me sum up. You got a French Sugar Daddy. He's coming here in two days, staying about a week on business and as part of the deal he's expecting you to show up as a dinner companion, to kind of hang on his arm, act like eye candy, entertain him... yeah?"
"Yeah." Donna confirmed.
"And after that this old guy, he'll cover all the fees for this year?"
"Uh-huh." Donna said before blowing her nose like a trumpet. "Except he's not an old guy, he's forty-eight."
"Donna, my dad is forty-three and trust me, he's a fossil." Megan said laughing.
The other girl fumbled in her bathrobe, removing her phone. She flicked through the gallery before handing the phone to Megan. Megan collected it, holding the possibly infected device gingerly between finger and thumb. On the screen was a picture of a handsome black male. He was bald with a stern countenance and appeared to be less than impressed with having to take a selfie of himself.
"Yep, old." Megan said, tossing the phone back. "Hang on..."
Megan trotted into the dorm rooms small bathroom, she ran a brush through her hair, splashed some water on her face to freshen up and then returned to the main room. She picked up her own phone and shot off a clutch of selfies. Megan then scrolled through them, picking the best which she then immediately sent onto Donna.
"Kay... this is what we'll do. Send him a text to explain that you are sick. It's...." Megan checked her phone quickly, "It's eight in the morning there so he should be awake. Tell him you can't meet but that I'll meet for you, send him my picture."
Donna gasped and shook her head. "No, Meg, no. I can't ask you to do that".
"That's right, you can't. Lucky for you I offered then, isn't it? Hey, we're friends and anyway, some dinner dates with a boring ass old guy talking business, it's not a big ask."
"Still..." Donna protested.
"Still my ass. Just send the message. Oh, and since I've just proved what a great friend I am, don't go getting upset when I stay away the next few days, I am not catching the plague off you." Megan finished this with a laugh, her green eyes sparkling merrily.
Megan was throwing some clothes into an overnight bag when Donna's phone pinged. Donna had crawled back into bed to lie down so her voice was muffled when she spoke to Megan.
"Wait...what? Say that again." Megan said.
Donna lifted her head up, spitting a lock of hair from her mouth. "I said he is okay with the change of plans."
"Told ya!" she replied before striking a pose, "Nobody can resist my charms." Megan laughed at her own joke and threw the last of her belongings she'd need at the hotel into the bag. She zipped it up and started walking out of the dorm room when a thought suddenly struck her. Megan turned back and tapped the end of Donna's bed with her foot. A tousled head emerged once more from beneath the covers, exhaustion adding a rolling droop to Donna's attempts to keep her head up and pointed toward Megan.
"Does he even speak English?" Megan asked the question worriedly.