"Arrrghh, I am never going to be able to keep these straight! Graham Rudman Hollings, Budget Enforcement Act, the Budget Impoundment and Control Act, they're all the same!" Terry groaned as she flopped back on the bed.
Vanessa smiled, "It's ok, we've got a week till the midterm; trust me, you can get this stuff."
"Yea yea, miss smarty pants." Terry teased as she sat back up. "I bet you don't even need to study for this test."
"Nope, all I need to do is go down on Professor Bullingsworth."
"God, that's a vile thought; I bet that man hasn't gotten laid in years. Besides, we all know you're after our lovely TA instead."
"What can I say, grad students with glasses drive me wild. Look, we're not going to get anything done right now, let's take a break, maybe grab a snack and then come back to all of this."
"Sounds good, but since you're tutoring, I'm buying."
The two girls headed out of the dorms and up the hill to the campus store. It was all ready 9pm and both of them had had a long day of classes, gym time, meetings and rugby practice. They had a rough game last weekend and thus were behind on their studying, but Terry was right. Vanessa really didn't need to study for this test, she was only helping out Terry, who was vainly hoping it was out of more than just friendliness. Terry was completely in love with the cute brunette: Vanessa (Nessa to her friends) was about 5'6" with an athletic body that served her well on the field. She was one of the team's high scorers, known for her aggressiveness as well as her brilliance in calling plays. Terry was one of the bigger girls; more respected for her skillful application of strength and power than for her agility. She was also a biology major, taking the budgeting course to get in extra credits. It was a bonus for her that Nessa was in the course.
She had had a crush on her since they were rookies together, but for a long time Nessa was always in a relationship with some girl. Usually someone from another team, but none of them lasted very long. It seemed as if she was looking for something that she just couldn't seem to find; however, apparently she had lately given up the search. Vanessa had been single for a couple of months now, although not for lack of offers. It seemed every season some rookie would fall head over heels for her and she would have to deal with the awkwardness of unrequited emotion. Nessa was just vibrant that way. People were attracted to her confidence and easy smile and they stayed because of her wit and compassionate honesty. Terry sighed, as it was all of those qualities that had made her fall for Nessa almost two and a half years ago. Now that they were halfway through their junior year, Terry had almost given up. She and Nessa had been friends since they met at the rookie meeting for the team; it helped that they weren't in competition for the same positions. What didn't help, was Nessa's crying on Terry's shoulder about her asshole boyfriend for two weeks their freshman year. Terry became stuck in the role of confidant and even helped Nessa come out to her family. She had held her hand while Nessa was on the phone with her half brother, a staunchly conservative older man who was ever so slowly becoming less homophobic. Terry didn't mind, in fact, she would have done it for any of her friends. It just made it bittersweet every time Nessa smiled at her, or hugged her, or kissed her on the cheek.
Despite her feelings for Nessa, Terry still managed to date other women, and with good reason. She was an attractive butch, and on a campus where lipstick lesbians seemed to be the norm, she was in high demand. Known for her loyalty to her friends and her unwavering support to the queer community, Terry actually could have had her pick among the baby dykes on campus. She dressed fashionably, packed more often than not and was a renowned flirt. The two girls were often seen in each other's company and made such an attractive couple that they were always deflecting rumors that they were together. Yet another pull on Terry's heartstrings.
As they entered the campus store they were greeted by a multitude of people and it was twenty minutes until they got their food and headed back to the dorms. Nessa stopped briefly to stretch out her back, causing Terry's comment, "You ok?"
"Yea, it just got a little tweaked from this weekend. I think it might have been Mary trying to get some sort of revenge." Nessa had dated Mary, a player on the opposing team, for about a month before realizing that Mary was too immature to handle an out relationship. The ensuing breakup had not been pleasant.
"And don't say 'I told you so!'"
Inwardly Terry grinned, she had warned Nessa about Mary, knowing all too well the signs of youthful infatuation. Outwardly she commented, "Wouldn't have dreamed of it. Don't worry, I'm sure there'll be someone else soon enough…"
"Well, it's not like it's happened lately."
"Oh, come on, you could have half this campus, men or women, just by snapping your fingers."
"It just all seems so boring lately, you know? I don't want to be invited up to someone's dorm to watch the latest All Blacks/Wallabies game or to see Better than Chocolate one more time. I want someone I can connect with."
"You and me both, babe, trust me."
Nessa wasn't dumb, although at this point she felt like she had been slow on the uptake for years. After dumping Mary, she had decided to take a brief hiatus from dating to figure out what she wanted from herself and from a relationship. Without any conscious plans to do so, she had started to look at the people around her a lot more closely and her thoughts had focused lately on Terry. She had suspected that Terry had a thing for her, but since Terry was always her friend, she had never wanted to say anything. Besides, what if she was wrong and it made things awkward. For all of her confidence, Nessa had never been willing to risk the friendship she valued so much. Lately, however, she had looked back at the patterns and realized that Terry was usually single when she was, that Terry rarely had long term relationships and that she was always there for her. Always. Even when Terry was out on a date and Nessa had needed to escape an overly amorous suitor, Terry had rescued her. She never asked to be thanked, in fact, this study session was one of the few times that Terry had asked for her assistance at all. Nessa had long believed Terry to be an immensely attractive woman; now she was beginning to realize that she wanted to act on that attraction. Her thoughts of Terry as a lover had become decidedly distracting lately.
Nessa shook free of her pornographic thoughts as she unlocked the door to her room.
"So, back to the bowels of budgeting history?"
Terry groaned, but sat down on the bed and picked up her notebook. The two girls went over the material until almost midnight, figuring out acronyms, creating mnemonic devices and committing various facts to memory. It was long past dark when Nessa stood up from her side of the bed to stretch again.
