The One Who Got Away

I had been in love with her since the day I met her, in my beginning acting class. It was my freshman year of college, and everything was new and exciting, and a little scary. She was a sophomore and exuded confidence; tall and athletic, wearing a short skirt and tank top, she breezed into the room, head held high. I was slouched in one corner of the basement classroom, trying to shrink, not wanting anyone to notice my 5'10", slightly pudgy body. She sat down next to me and stuck out her hand.

"Hi," she said, "I'm Sara."

"Mandy," I said, shaking her hand.

The professor came in and told us to break into pairs. Sara scooted a little closer to me, and I smiled: it seemed I had made my first college friend. We were told to stand up and face each other, and I was surprised to see that she was even taller than me, yet seemed to own every inch of her height, even wearing heels that added another inch or two. The professor told us to mirror each others' actions. She took the lead, and I followed along, finding myself standing a bit taller as I mirrored her movements. When it was my turn to lead, Sara gave me an encouraging smile. Soon, we were moving as one, and I wanted to get to know this amazing woman better. I was sad to part ways after class, but I didn't have the courage to ask her to go to coffee or something.

The next day, I was running a little late in getting to class. When I got there, I was disappointed to see that Sara was already sitting between two people, but she smiled and waved when she saw me. The professor lectured for a little while, and then it was time to pair up for exercises again. I started to walk across the room to join Sara, but someone tapped me on the back. I turned around to see a short, geeky guy. He said his name was Josh and asked me to be his partner. I didn't want to be rude, so I said yes. We did the trust falls that made up that day's exercise. When it was time to leave, Sara walked out talking to her new partner.

The next day, the professor assigned us partnerships for our first scene, and I was delighted to discover I was partnered with Sara. We spent the rest of the class looking through the scene options to find one we liked. I wanted to do something safe, but let her talk me into doing a scene from "Real Again", a play about teen girls from abusive homes, who are dating and decide to run away together. It was a challenging thing to portray and included a kiss.

I was nervous about the scene, not only had I never acted, but I also had never kissed a girl before. I was also excited. The scene was dynamic and seemed like it would be fun to perform. Plus, it meant kissing Sara, and who wouldn't want to kiss Sara.

When we asked the professor to approve it, she enthusiastically said yes. She was excited that we were taking a risk, instead of playing it safe like the majority of the class was.

We decided to meet up for coffee on Saturday to read through it a couple of times and get to know each other a bit, since we were going to be acting like we were girlfriends. I was ecstatic to be getting coffee with Sarah. She seemed like she could be my dream girl.

An hour of barely reading the script, and mostly chatting about ourselves had me more sure than ever that Sara was the girl for me. I was enthralled by her. I was trying to work up the courage to ask her out when her phone rang.

"Sorry," she said, "I need to take this call. It's my girlfriend."

Her girlfriend? Of course, she had a girlfriend. She was perfect, after all. I'm sure she never stayed single for long. I was crushed, but I had managed to put on a fake smile by the time she got back.

"She had a job interview today," Sara said, "and wanted to tell me it went well."

"That's great," I said, fake cheerfulness pushing through my voice.

We went back to reading the play, and spent some time discussing our thoughts on the characters. By the time we were done, I was feeling better, she might have a girlfriend, but we could still be friends.

The next day, Sara saved me a seat. I was excited to continue getting to know her better and had a blast doing that day's exercise with her. The day after that, I got there first and saved her a seat. Soon, it was our routine, and people started just assuming we would partner up for everything. We had run through the script a few times, everything but the kiss. I wasn't sure why we were putting that off, but I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to initiate it.

After class on Friday, she invited me to a party the next day. I happily accepted. I spent far too long the next morning deciding what to wear and fixing my hair and makeup. I tried to tell myself that I was just excited about going to a party, but I knew I wanted to look cute for Sara.

The party was pretty low key. It was at the apartment of one of Sara's friends, a junior. We all kind of just sat around talking for a while. I kept watching Sara in order to try to figure out who her girlfriend was, but while she was friendly with everyone, she didn't give particular attention to anyone. That changed an hour later, when a short pixie looking girl walked in. Sara's face lit up, and she hurried over to the girl, kissing her.

A few minutes later, Sara came over holding the hand of the pixie girl.

"Mandy," she said, "I want you to meet my girlfriend, Tess. Tess, this is the girl I'm going to be kissing."

I blushed and started to say something about it just being for acting class and no big deal, but Tess laughed as she stuck her hand out.

"It's nice to meet you, Mandy," she said. "I find it is always a good idea to know who else your girlfriend is making out with."

"It's just a little kiss," I said, "you know for class."

"I know," Tess said, "but I also know how good of a kisser Sara is and that you are not going to want to stop there."

I blushed and started stammering, but Sara spoke up.

"She's just giving you a hard time Mandy," Sara said, "she has read the script. and knows that I would never do anything that could hurt her."

"Seriously," Tess said, "I'm glad Mandy got such a cool girl for her scene partner, and I completely trust her."

Just then, someone announced that a game of "truth or dare" was starting. Tess looked at Sara, who smiled and looked at me.

"Dare you to play," Sara said.

"Haha," I said, "You're on."

We each grabbed another drink and headed over to the group forming in the living room. They had two decks of cards that would provide the challenges. The first few people picked truth and told us little things like who they had a crush on and how old they were their first time. Then it was Tess's turn, and she picked dare. She turned over the card, getting some catcalls as she showed it to everyone. It said, "remove an article of clothing." She smiled as she took off her shirt, revealing a cute little bralette. She looked perfectly comfortable as most of the guys in the room whistled. She shrugged and gave Sara a kiss, which made for more catcalls.

Sara chose truth and had to tell us her most embarrassing memory. She told us about this trick the cool girls had played on her in 5th grade. There had been a dance, and all of the girls promised to kiss the boy they liked all at the same time. They walked across the gym in unison (because the boys and girls were standing on opposite sides of the gym). Sara didn't have a crush on any of the boys, but wanted to fit in, so she just chose a random boy. She confidently strode across the floor, and gave the first boy she came to a kiss. All of the other girls had stopped 3/4 of the way across the floor, not even going up to the boy they liked. Everyone teased Sara about kissing a boy, tormenting both her and the poor boy for the rest of the school year.

This story made me like Sara even more. I could have never been that brave.

Tess gave Sara another kiss and said, "Lucky for me, she figured out that kissing girls is more fun than kissing stinky old boys. Everyone laughed, and when a boy suggested she could do both, and she threw a pillow at him.

It was my turn. I decided to go for a dare, thinking that there were a lot of truths I didn't necessarily want to share with everyone. The dare said to kiss the person who just had their turn. This brought catcalls from the boys again.

I looked at Tess, but she just shrugged saying, "You were going to do it for class anyway."

Sara puckered up, and I leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the lips. The boys all jeered.

Tess said, "That isn't a good enough kiss for truth or dare. You can do better than that."

I blushed as I leaned over to kiss Sara again. I was so enamored of her and had wanted to kiss her from the first moment when she walked into class. However, I hadn't planned on my first kiss to happen while her girlfriend watched us. Sara met me halfway, her lips soft and sweet. As we kissed, I felt sparks of electricity through my body. I forgot where we were, and put my hand behind her head, pulling her into me more. She gently parted my lips with her tongue, and the flavors of our wine coolers mingled in our mouths. I could have kissed her forever, but a cough from next to me reminded me where we were.

I sat back up, blushing harder than ever, and scared that I had taken things too far, but Tess was laughing and Sara had a huge smile on her face.

We played a few more rounds, with me ending up topless and admitting that I was a virgin, so I didn't have a first-time story, but none of it was as exciting as the first round, at least for me.

After we broke the ice with that truth or dare kiss, adding the kiss into our acting scene felt natural, and we started practicing with the whole scene intact. Practicing with Sara had become the highlight of my week, with the acting class following closely behind.

When we performed the scene in front of the class, I got nervous and froze as soon as we started. Sara took my hand and looked me in the eye to deliver her first line, which wasn't what we had planned, but thankfully worked for our scene. Looking into her eyes, the audience melted away, and we were just two girls getting ready to run away together. I couldn't tell where I ended and my character began. I think Sara felt it too, as she slipped her tongue into my mouth during the kiss. It felt right, like I should always be kissing her. The applause at the end of our scene jolted me back to reality,

After that scene, the acting class moved on to monologues. Sara and I decided to rehearse together. It was only for our final scenes (in which we were partnered with other people) that we stopped getting together to rehearse, which I missed horribly. She must have missed it too, because the day after our first rehearsal apart, she asked me to join her for coffee.

Thus began our friendship. By the end of the term, we were quite close, and even though I had feelings for her, I was thrilled to just be her friend. Tess often joined us for coffee, and I discovered that I liked her almost as much as I liked Sara, only without the desire to kiss her. They made a cute couple, and soon the three of us were close friends, so much so that we ended up becoming roommates for the next two years.

They move away after they graduated. We tried to keep in touch, but they were busy with new jobs and building a life outside of school, and I was busy trying to finish all of my senior year requirements. So, we soon lost touch. I did attend their commitment ceremony a year later, and made a point to always send a Christmas card, but in many ways, life moved us in different directions.

So, when Sara sent me a Facebook message, saying she was going to be in town and wanted to see me, I was overjoyed. I hadn't seen her in ten years, but we had kept track of each other through MySpace and then Facebook. We had seldom talked though, and hadn't met up at all. I knew that she and Tess had broken up a couple of years ago, and I wondered if she was still single. I was single again after a couple of long term relationships, and Sara had always been the one who got away.

When the day of our coffee date arrived, I spent all morning trying on clothes and fixing and refixing my hair. I doubted that this would be anything more than old friends catching up over coffee, but there was a tiny spark of hope that it could be more. I was overly conscious of the fact that time hadn't been as kind to my body as I would have liked. I was carrying a little extra weight and had a few wrinkles forming around my eyes. Judging by the pictures on her Facebook profile, Sara hadn't changed a bit since the day we met.

I got to the coffee shop a few minutes early, thinking that I could find us a table and get settled in before Sara arrived. However, when I walked in, Sara was already at a table, looking nervously at the door. When she saw me, her face lit up in a huge smile and she stood up to greet me. She had somehow become more beautiful with time.

"You look amazing," she said, hugging me.

"Thanks, but you're the one who looks better than when we were in college," I replied, kissing her on the cheek.

"That's nice of you to say, but I sure don't see a twenty-year-old staring back at me when I look in the mirror these days," she said.

We laughed and I ordered my coffee. After I got back to the table and sat down, I sighed, taking a moment to really drink her in. That's when I noticed that she was staring down at her coffee, and fidgeting with a napkin. That was odd. She was the most confident person I knew.

"So," she said, not looking at me, "who do you have in your life right now?"

"Well, I have some great friends, and my brother lives nearby with his wife and kids," I said, "but there isn't anyone special in my life since Terry and I broke up last year. What about you?"

"I dated a bit after Tess and I broke up, but there hasn't been anyone serious, and I quit trying to play the field a few months ago."

"So, how long are you going to be in town," I asked.

"Well, my company has asked me to relocate here," she said. "Right now, I'm only here for two weeks, but if everything works out, I'll be moving here."

"You must come stay with me for these two weeks," I blurted out without thinking, "We could be roommates again."

She smiled, "I would like that."

We finished our coffee and I put my address into her phone. She went back to the hotel to get her stuff, while I headed home. I had said we were going to be roommates again, but I wondered if it could be more. That idea danced around in my head, as I went about tidying up. I kept my house fairly neat but I hadn't been expecting company today.

I put clean sheets on the bed in the spare room, wondering if she was going to end up using it. I didn't want to presume anything, but why else would she have asked about someone special in my life, or acted so nervous.

I heard her rental car pull up into the driveway and went out to help her with her bags.

"It feels like just yesterday that we were moving out of our tiny apartment, doesn't it?" she said as we walked in.

"Yes, but now it's just the two of us," I said.

We sat down on the couch, me comfortably tucking a foot under myself and Sara sitting stiffly. It was strange to see our roles reversed. She had always been the confident one.

"I had the biggest crush on you in college," I said.

"I...um...I liked you too," she said. "That's why I wanted to do that scene in beginning acting class."

"But you were with Tess," I said.

"Yeah," she said. "That's why I left it in acting class, instead of pursuing you."

"I still have a crush on you," I admitted, blushing.

"Me too," she said, daring to look up.

I leaned forward to kiss her, our first real kiss, one that wasn't a dare or while acting. It was just a small one, as we were both feeling timid, but when I pulled back, her face followed mine, and we deepened the kiss. I felt her tongue gently parting my lips, and opened my mouth to welcome her, wrapping my arms around her to draw her in. I don't know if I leaned back, pulling her, or if she leaned forward, pushing me, but somehow we ended up laying on the couch, her weight pushing down on me.

I don't know how long we lay there kissing. It may have been five minutes or five hours, but eventually, Sara sat back up, and I followed suit.

"I don't want to rush this with you," she said.

"We've already waited 15 years," I said, jokingly.

"True," she said, "but, seriously, I think there could be something real here, and I don't want to ruin it by jumping into bed."

"That's probably wise," I said.

We got comfortable on the couch again, this time with Sara leaning into me, and spent a couple of hours just catching up. A lot had happened since we were both college kids, and we talked about all of it.

I noticed that it had gotten dark, so we stopped to order some take out for dinner. By the time the delivery guy arrived, we had decided that not only did we want to give this relationship a real shot, but that we were way past the point of casual dating. I was just getting ready to tell Sara I loved her when the doorbell rang.

We spread the Chinese take out across the kitchen table and ate out of the containers, the same way we had when we were in college. She got a bit of sweet and sour sauce on her face and I leaned in to wipe it off, but when I got close to her, my desire took over, and I licked it off instead.

She giggled and kissed me, our tongues meeting. I couldn't wait anymore. I had wanted this moment for 15 years. I stood up, taking Sara by the hand, and led her to my bedroom. We kissed again as we slid our hands over each other's bodies. She pulled back and took off her shirt. I stood frozen for a minute, staring at her lace-covered breasts. It's not like I had never seen her in her underwear, but now it was different. She was getting naked for me. I removed my shirt, my nipples hardening in anticipation. She ran a finger along the scalloped lace edging my bra cups, causing me to shiver.

I leaned into her, my tongue exploring her mouth as my hands ran along the skin on her back. I unhooked her bra and felt her unhook mine. I kissed my way down her neck, sliding her bra straps down her arms. I let out a gasp as her bra fell to the floor. Her nipples were a beautiful rosy pink sticking out from her cream-colored breasts. I kissed down her breast, and gently took her nipple into my mouth, licking a circle around it. She let out a moan as I pulled back and blew cold air across the spot that was wet with my saliva. I kissed across the center of her chest, and up the side of her other mound. I took the nipple in my mouth, and flicked it with my tongue, before blowing on it.

"Oh God, you're good at that," Sara moaned.

She dropped my bra onto the floor and took my caramel-colored nipple into her mouth. She sucked on it, as she flicked it with her tongue, sending a jolt of electricity through my body. I let out a whimper. She pushed me onto the bed and took my other nipple into her mouth, flicking it hard.

She kissed down my stomach, nibbling along my waistband before pulling my pants down. She kissed up one leg, until she reached my satin and lace clad pussy. I moaned as she kissed my lips through the satin, before pulling my underwear off to join my pants. She kissed up the inside of my other leg. When she reached my pussy, she kissed it, parting my lips with her tongue in much the same way she had kissed my mouth.

I moaned and grabbed the back of her head, pushing her into me. She slid her tongue up to my clit, encircling it several times. When she finally flicked it with her tongue, I came with a scream. She licked up juices and slid up my body to kiss my mouth. I enjoyed tasting myself on her tongue, but couldn't wait to taste her.

I flipped her over onto her back, before sliding down her body. I had waited 15 years to do this, and didn't want to wait a minute more. I slid her pants and underwear down in one fell swoop. I buried my face in her pussy, working her as much with my nose as with my tongue. She tasted amazing, a luscious combination of sweetness and musk. I slid my tongue up to her clit, as I inserted two of my fingers into her vagina. I flicked her clit and tapped on her g-spot.