These two girls are flirting, and only one of them knows it. Cat is eighteen and smiling and a freshman; this cozy box of a room on whose carpet she lounges is the dormitory residence of Ellie, the junior, whose legs are very long. Ellie lies across the bed, and she peeks down at her companion with two extra years' worth of knowingness. Her toes dance behind her in a small, lacy pile of laundry. The window is dark, the hour late, and the sounds of chattering partiers and passersby drift in only sporadically. But in this room, two girls spend their time together, and no one is looking at the clock. Their conversation has paused. They look at one another, and something starts to pass between them.
Ellie shows that she is aware of it. "You wanna have some fun?" she asks, lifting a voluminous brassiere by its strap with the ball of her foot.
Cat isn't blushing yet, so she must not know what this means. But she is smiling like a drunk person, as all the goodwill that cool, friendly Ellie and her exciting, awesome group of friends have been lavishing on her this evening radiates freely from her soft face. Her bare arm stretches out luxuriously against the soft carpet; she sprawls and basks beneath the candly light of the dorm room, and of Ellie's gaze. She floats in the afterglow of her first true experience of adult freedom and fun, and in this moment, she'll say yes to anything.
"Okay," she says, her normally husky voice catching a little as she releases herself to this mystery. Ellie shifts forward, and the bra drops onto its mates.
"Yeah?" says the tall girl, in a tone Cat hasn't heard before, though the two have been chatting and joking off and on since they departed from a nearby party together an hour ago. "Stand up," she commands, and Cat cocks her head coquettishly. She is confused but totally game, and when she sees Ellie nod, she gathers herself up straight with a little flourish. "Good girl," says Ellie. "I should give you a treat." Cat giggles, knotting her fingers behind her in unconscious anticipation. She isn't thinking about anything. For this moment, she just waits.
Ellie smiles and rolls onto her back, letting her amber curls stream off the mattress. "Ahh, pretty Cat, pretty kitty," she coos, taking on some of Cat's giddiness. "Now close your eyes, and I'll give you your prize." Her long, narrow thighs are clenched together with unusual pressure. Things are moving fast in this dorm room.
Cat's unquestioning confidence in this game hasn't quite expired; she closes her eyes, and another, slightly crazy giggle escapes her. She probably feels butterflies in her stomach. The mystery is all around her.