Unburdened

Anna Grace was not what you would call a common girl. At least she liked to think so. Other girls in her college freshman year could not shut up about the boys they had seen in the halls or in class. She played along as best she could but she just couldn't quite understand it. The cute way Henry flipped his hair, or the way that Devins forearms had just the right amount of veins. What the fuck was that? Veins only made her think of drawing blood which made her feel sick. Stick her with a needle and she would faint within the seconds it took to pull it out. So no, she didn't connect with the girls around her.

She liked to study. Studies kept her mind away from what really pulled at her head. When she was done studying she found herself too easily distracted by her roommate Clara and the way she liked to bend down to pick up her unmentionables from the floor. Anna had made a scar on her palm from all the clutching she did at the cross around her neck, a present from her mother before she left for college.

"Remember, Anna. God is always watching. No matter what. Remember that."

Her mother said that a lot.

Clara like to party, a lot more than she did and she talked about the boys she met nightly. The way they liked to kiss her and their clumsy hands, which she always laughed about. When she talked about the curve of their cocks she always tried to change the subject, much to no avail.

Today Clara was in a rare mood and she was standing naked in front of the mirror. "My boobs are wonky."

Anna tried to focus on the paper she was typing up, "They seem popular, Clara."

"No, seriously. They're off balance. Check em out! Boys don't notice this shit."

Anna shook her head, "They're just like mine."

Clara scoffed at that, "Like fuck they are. Your boobs are stupid perfect. Big, perky, real knockers."

Anna blushed, hunching over a bit, "Shut up."

"You have got to lighten up! Roomies for a whole semester and I still haven't gotten you out to a party, have I?"

"I don't like parties," Anna said.

"Weeeeell..." Clara said in that sing songy voice of her, "There's one tonight. Come oooon it will be fun!"

"I need to study."

Anna jumped as Clara came from behind her, grabbing her breasts from behind, her fingers gripping them and bouncing, "Show. These. Off!"

Anna pushed her away with a feigned laugh. She stood, hands out, palms forward, ignoring the heat that was growing on her cheeks, "Clara!"

"How about we make a deal?"

Anna pressed her back to the wall. Their dorm room suddenly seemed so small and Clara so big. She couldn't see the trash in the corner or the clutter on Clara's desk. All she saw was Clara's body. Leggy, toned, breasts pointed at her covered only slightly by her flowing red hair. But mostly she could only see Clara's eyes. A deep green. They pulled her in like the ocean might.

"What deal," Anna said hesitantly.

"Come with me tonight and I won't ever ask again. Not for a week, not for a year. Never. Deal?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted to cuddle up in her blanket and watch true crime on Netflix. She wanted anything else. But she said yes and as the word came out of her mouth that crucifix on her chest felt heavier than ever.

The party was classic college. Anna even saw red solo cups being bandied about. Clara had dressed her for the event, part of the deal, as Clara said it. She was wearing black jeans that were far too tight. A top that stuck to her waist and showed far more cleavage than she would ever have imaginined. She even loaned her a bra, pushing her 34B breasts up like they wanted to be groped. It was a simple outfit, nothing too flashy, but she felt naked. Clara even looked at her like she was.

"Anna! Relax. You look hot and then after tonight you never had to this again? Clara giggled, touching her arm, her own outfit more reveleaing than Clara's. Her eyes dropped to Clara's cleavage and the way her body curved in her soft fabric. Clara pretended not to notice but her grin widened. "So let's go!"

Clara dragged her into the party, the noise hitting her like she was passing through a wall of water. She felt like she was swimming being tossed about by elbows and bodies. Laughter and cheers filled the house, music thumping against the walls, the bass reaching into her chest to match her heart beat. 185 beats per minute of pure chaos. Before she knew it there was a drink in her hand and Clara was introducing her to a lanky guy who was apparently named "Dan", not short for Daniel. Impressive.

Anna tried to keep a good conversation as Clara circulated. She was popular. The kind of woman who could go anywhere and immediately fit in. Anna found a wall to lean against and simple Dan left after only a few minutes of conversation realizing he wasn't going to get laid. Anna looked out over the party, sipping at her drink, trying to get her mother's voice out of her head. God was always watching. Every sip a sin. But alcohol felt night right now and no matter how anxious Anna was feeling she did feel like a rebel. She had never rebelled, not towards anything. Tonight though, watching Clara dance and glad hand her way through a crow of strangers she felt something...different. Odd. Herself almost.

But odd.

She made her way to the kitchen, nervously pushing her way through a throng of chatting sorority and fraternity type idiots. The house party itself was held in the Phi Beta Kappa house and it held everyone you would expect to be there. She didn't think she had seen that many backwards baseball caps in her life.

She found the sink, pushing aside a stack of cups that smelled like beer and made her wrinkle her nose. She tried to find a new cup but ended up pouring water into hers after she dumped out the booze. She was pretty sure it was rum...or vodka. Whiskey? All three? Who knew what Clara actually plied her with. She chugged the water in a few gulps then leaned against the counter, sighing.

Another boy came up, tall but not too tall, that tell tale shadow of a beard on his face. He looked like he had just stepped out of some CW show with mystical teenagers. His smile probably mad girls swoon and he acted like it.

"I like your shirt," He said.

"Oh, it's not mine. But...thanks," Anna managed, trying to take another drink to realize her cup was empty.

"Can I get you another?"

"Another? Oh! The cup! Uh, no it's just water," Anna replied, filling it up with another round.

"You are really going hard huh?" He asked, stepping closer.

She tried to back up but realized she was already pressed to the counter, making her body shove forward in a rather enticing way. Not what she intended.

"Um, not really."

"Well, look. I've noticed you, like right when you walked in. You blow anyone else here out of the waters."

Anna giggled nervously, "Well...thanks. Thank you. You have...my thanks." She was babbling so she took a sip to shut herself up, her eyes darting left and right.

"You know there's a room upstairs that..."

Clara barelled in out of the side room, clutching Anna's arm, "Anna! My dear! You must simply come with me now. You are leaving our dates alone!"

"Clara! What dates? What uh...why the weird old timey accent?"

"Oh, hush you! You know, Brian and Adam. Our dates? Come come come," Clara pulled her arm into the other room.

The man watched them go, mouth opening and closing like he didn't quite understand what had just happened. It made Anna smile. Clara whirled her away onto the dance floor, taking her cup and setting it aside as she wrapped her arms around Anna's waist. Anna laughed for the first time that night. She laughed for real. She laughed as if she hadn't laughed in a long time which...maybe she hadn't.

"Clara, what..."

"Hush. That guys a jerk, I'm just keeping you from the wolve's grasp, ya know? Also...I was. You know. Jealous."

Jealous. That single word hit Anna like a strike of lightning. "Why?"

Clara pouted, her words slurring just a little. She was tipsy nearing the edge of drunk, "You know..." She dragged her index finger down Anna's chest, "I just...don't like seeing you. With that guy. Or guys like him."

"I don't...Clara, I don't get it." Anna grabbed her finger, pulling it up gently.

Clara smiled a wicked smile, leaning forward suddenly to press her lips to hers. Anna blinked. Soft. They were soft. They were...perfect. Her first kiss. It was perfect.

"I need to talk to you," Clara said in a hushed voice, pulling Anna away from the party and up the stairs before she could say no. They found themselves in a dark room, posters of bands she had never heard of on the wall. Clara shut the door and locked it, turning to her with a certain flare to her eyes.

"Clara, what are we doing here?"

"I...fuck. I'm nervous. I'm never nervous...fuck. I...just. Want...I want you, Anna."

"You want me?"

Clara sighed, pressing her hands to her head, "I'm drunk. Ignore me. I just thought you know, you should know. Know that I...I've just been teasing you for so long and I thought that you were noticing and I felt like you could have just...maybe been understanding what I felt and..."

It took too long for Anna to notice what Clara was saying. She wanted her. Wanted to...oh god, she could barely say it. But Clara wanted it. Her necklace felt like a thousand pounds and her mothers voice was shouting so loud in her head. Always shouting. Always talking. Her head so busy at all times. Before she knew it she had stepped forward, kissing her room mate. The woman she couldn't ever take her eyes from as much as she wanted to.

Clara froze as much as Anna for the briefest of moments. Then her arms were around her. Pulling her close. Her tongue was dancing with hers like a brave tango, each movement making Anna's mind reel. Her mother's voice receded into silence. Instead all she could focus on was Clara's body on hers. Her breasts pressing to hers. Legs, pushing her body forward until the back of her knees hit a bed. If she was in her right mind she would have thought about the sheets or the pillows and how this bed wasn't her. But right now all she could see think or taste was Clara.

Clara's hand ran up under her shirt, caressing her right breast, applying pressure, her lips running from hers down to her jaw and her neck. No one had ever kissed her neck. Anna gasped, raising her torso forward to press her breasts against Clara's hand without realizing it. She felt a warmth rocket through her, chest to toes, a single unavoidable flame sparking between her legs. On instinct she gripped the back of Clara's shirt and crumpled it in her fingers, eyes rolling back then closing as Clara worked farther downward.

There was nothing to be said. No conversation that needed to be had. Only the two of them falling into each other while the sound of the party faded into the background. Eventually only the sharp breath of Clara was all she could hear mixed with the small moans she didn't realize she had started to make.

Clara's fingers gripped her shirt and it began to raise. Anna didn't know what to do with her hands. They had ended up just above her head, clutching and unclutching into a fist. She didn't know what to do. Instinct had only gotten her so far. But Clara...well, Clara was busy as ever. Her lips had always gone past her stomach, playfully ticklish. Clara looked up at her and Anna's eyes locked with hers. Suddenly that anxiety left and she was enveloped in that gaze. Pure, unrequited desire. Anna hoped hers matched that look and they must have at some level as Clara unbuttoned her jeans, her lips parting with a small moan as she saw her panties. Anna raised her hips and bit her lip until it bled.

She helped Clara by wiggling out of her pants, her hands tentatively reaching down to tangle themselves in Clara's red hair. She gripped the strands tighter as Clara bit the hem of her panties and dragged them down, her lips kissing back up until her hot breath hit between Clara's legs. A place no one else had ever touched. She gasped. Then Clara was on her. Lips pressed against her pussy, tongue flicking out to drag up from her slit to her clit, pressing harder, swirling in a slow and appreciative circle.

Anna threw her head back, letting out a deep moan. She had never felt anything like this. She wanted to do something, anything, but her body was locked in place. At the mercy of Clara's tongue as it dance, swirled and attacked her clit. She pressed Clara harder against her, grinding without knowing it, a surge of warmth and pleasure running around her body like a hurricane.

Pressure came then. Pressure that rose higher and higher like waves on a wall that slowly started to break. Then suddenly it was gone. Broken. Intense. Anna came. Her body shook, her fingers curling, her eyes open wide then closed tightly as she bucked against Clara's mouth. She laid there gasping afterward as Clara kissed her thighs affectionately, finding her way up past her breasts to her throat. She planted both hands on either side of her body, hair tickling her face as she looked down at her. Anna looked back, unbelievable at what had just happened.

Clara leaned down to kiss her and she kissed her back. They stayed like that for a long time until breathlessly they pulled apart, Clara running her hands down Anna's cheek. Anna smiled, truly smiled.

"You...want to go back to my place?"

Clara laughed, a deep throated husky laugh, "I thought you'd never ask."

They got dressed and left the party, giggling with anticipation. As they walked back to their dorm Anna's necklace didn't seem heavy at all. In fact, it felt light as a feather. She barely noticed it nestled in her breasts. All she could notice was Clara's hand in hers.