Krupa Patel hummed cheerfully to herself as she waited for her webcam to switch online. In only a few more minutes, her weekly livestream would begin and all her thousands of followers would tune in to watch, listen or both. The young Indian American woman checked her headset for the fourth time, making sure that it was in working order. Audio issues were always embarrassing and she prided herself on having good equipment.
She was dressed casually in a sleeveless gray tank top and gym shorts. The neckline of the tank top exposed a generous portion of her full breasts, while her shorts left most of her slender, lovely legs bare. Krupa knew a lot of her followers loved to ogle her, but didn't bother her much. She knew was was beautiful, with a heart-shaped face framed by black hair and gorgeous full lips, along with curves that drew the eyes of men with ease.
Krupa liked being a streamer. For her, it wasn't about the money, or at least, it wasn't all about the money. Krupa liked having a little extra cash in her pocket, but what she really enjoyed was the attention. It was thrilling to know that hundreds of thousands of people all over the world were tuning in to listen to whatever she had to say, not to mention a big boost to her self-esteem. Krupa suffered from self-esteem issues for most of her childhood, but when she discovered streaming, she found a way to overcome her self-doubt and really break out of her shell.
That had been three years ago. Now, at 21 years old, Krupa was a much more self-assured young woman. She continued streaming because it was fun, but she didn't depend it for validation.
Perhaps I used to, Krupa admitted to herself. But not anymore. I'm a little older and a little wiser now.
A green light flicked on next to her webcam, letting her know the stream was now officially live.
"Hi, guys!" she chirped. "It's your girl Krupa here, coming to you live from Sunny Valley University! Hope you're all good and everyone's doing well. For my fellow college peeps, it's the beginning of yet another year." Her eyes flicked to the live chatbox where the viewers were already posting dozens of comments. "Good to see a lot of my regulars here...oh, that's a good question, Cinema957!" The user in question was a longtime subscriber. "I did register for classes already. Most of it's pretty boring, honestly--history, math, a few classes for my bio major, but there's one that I'm really intrigued about. I'll tell you guys about that in a moment, but first, I want to give you all a glimpse into my headspace. You all know how much I like to ramble about stuff, so bear with me, okay?"
She paused, letting the suspense build. "You know, I was at the beach this summer with two of my friends. We were swimming at the lake and my friend Tanya's top came off in the water We dove and dove trying to find it, but we never saw it again. Poor Tanya was just so horrified!"
"But here's the thing," the young woman went on. "My friend Tanya is H-O-T. Seriously, she puts cover models to shame. Her boyfriend is, like, the luckiest guy on the planet, I swear to God." Krupa's dark eyes flicked to the live chat again. "What's her boyfriend like?" she asked, reading aloud a question she saw there. "Oh, he's a sweetheart. I won't say his name to respect his privacy, but he's a good guy and he's always treated Tanya right. He hangs out with us sometimes. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Tanya's a knockout, and her breasts are, like, perfect. You ever see those statues of women from ancient Greece and stuff? I swear, they're shaped exactly like that. She won the boob lottery!"
Krupa laughed. "So when she lost her top, I turned to her and was like, 'Why are you freaking out so much? Your body is fucking amazing. Why be ashamed of it? Like, if you had a really nice car like a Corvette or something, wouldn't you want to show it off and let people see it? Honestly, I think society today is way too prudish. And it's not just women, either! Let me tell you, if I were a guy and I had some good muscles, I'd never put a shirt on. And no, OwlGuy24, I don't have a boyfriend right now. I'm just kind of enjoying the single life and doing my own thing at the moment."
She took a sip from a water bottle next to her keyboard. "So anyway, back to Tanya. Here's what I did," she said with a mischievous wink. "I took off my own bikini top and threw it away in solidarity! I spent the rest of our time at the lake completely bare-chested! And here's the thing: after about an hour, Tanya wasn't trying to hide herself anymore."
Krupa read another question and snorted with dry humor. "No, I'm not going to show you, silly. Well, perhaps not yet. If I hit a million subs I might do a very special livestream to celebrate, but until then we'll have to wait and see!"
"Now, concerning my classes...like I said earlier, most of them are pretty standard. But there is one that I'm really curious about. It's an anthropology course offered by Dr. Lillian Harwood, who's only, like, eight or nine years older than me! She's one of the youngest professors on campus. I bet she gets mistaken for a student a lot! And yes, before you ask, she's a stunner." She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I saw the listing for the class, and what kind of surprised me is how vague it was. Like, it said something about "the study of pre-Columbian peoples" or something, but it didn't offer, like, any real specifics or details. I went by Harwood's office during her office hours to ask her and got a bunch of non-answers and more vague generalizations. And I was all like, 'what the hell is this class all about?' so I went ahead and signed up for it as an elective. Our first class is tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have the deets by the time of my next stream."
The stream continued for more than hour. Krupa talked about everything and anything that popped into her head, answered questions, teased her viewers a little, and finally called it a night around 9:30. Once her webcam switched off, she made herself a bowl of microwavable macaroni and cheese for dinner. Krupa loved her mother's traditional Indian food, but macaroni and cheese had always been a weakness of hers.
Krupa set aside her bowl with a satisfied sigh and undressed with languid grace. She did so, she took a moment to admire her gorgeous body in the full-length mirror hanging from her closet door. It had been a long time since she got laid, Krupa reflected ruefully. Too long. Her loins ached from lack of use, and teasing her streamers about livestreaming naked turned her on.
Krupa bit her lip, fondling her left breast for a moment. A moan escaped her. It felt great, but there was no substitute for the real thing. Krupa bit her lip and whimpered in frustration.
That's it, she thought. My dry spell ends here.
Of course, she wasn't just going to throw herself at any guy who'd have her. Krupa wasn't above having casual sex, but she liked to have it with people she already knew rather than complete strangers. The fact that she was able to confidently go out and look for a sexual partner was itself a sign of how far she'd come and how much she'd grown as a person. Once, such a thing would have been unthinkable for her.
Krupa picked up her phone and scrolled through her contact list, reading down the list of names until she finally settled on a guy from one of her biology classes last year. They'd worked on a project together and got on well enough, though they hadn't seen much of each other since the end of the summer.
She fired off a text.
Krupa: Hey, this is Krupa! We worked on that project last year. Wyd?
Alex: Not much. Just chilling. You?
Krupa: Same. Wanna come and hang out? It's been a while.
Alex: Sure. What dorm you in?
Krupa: Alders Hall room 214.
As soon as she sent off the last text, Krupa dressed hurriedly in a T-shirt and flannel pajama pants. She didn't bother putting on underwear. Given what she was inviting Alex over for, it would just be in the way.
Alex showed up less than ten minutes later. "Hey!" Krupa said, smiling as she opened the door for him. "Glad you could come."
"Yeah, me too." Alex wasn't handsome in the classical sense, but he wasn't ugly either. Krupa especially liked the color of his bright green eyes. "Did you have a good summer?"
"You know it! Went to the lake with some friends, went camping for a week, it was lots of fun. What'd you do?"
"Work," Alex said drily.
"Awwwww." Krupa cooed sympathetically. "Why? You deserve to relax, Alex. I saw how hard you worked in Dr. Johnson's bio class last year."
"Tell that to my parents," he snorted. "According to them, having free time is a sign of laziness."
Krupa couldn't help a sneer of derision. "That is such bullshit."
"Yeah." He gave a wry grin. "Tell me more about what you did over the summer, Krupa. Let me live vicariously through you, yeah?"
Krupa giggled. "Okay, sure!"
They talked for about twenty more minutes, Krupa inching closer toward him throughout the conversation. At times she placed a hand on his shoulder or his bicep or his lower leg, a sign of comfort and familiarity that helped ease whatever awkwardness still remained between them. Then, during a lull in the conversation, Krupa made her move. She placed her hands on Alex's chest and leaned up to kiss him. Alex gave a muffled sound of surprise, but that soon vanished and he pulled her closer for a passionate embrace.
