Thawing of the Ice
It was quarter past midnight when Mick leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes. He was having some trouble focusing and contemplated if he should try to continue to work or just call it a night. All things considered, he felt fairly satisfied with the progress he had made that evening and figured he was at a good place to stop.
Mick pulled the buds out of his ears as they were irritating him anyway. A few seconds went by before he realized that there was silence in the house. "All's quiet on the Western Front," he said softly to himself. For a moment, Mick considered quickly checking his email and Facebook page before going to sleep but instead shut his laptop down and placed it on the floor next to the bed.
He was gathering up his notes when there was a faint knocking on the door, so light that at first he did not hear it. "Come in," announced Mick said when he finally did hear it, expecting to see Abigail open the door.
"Hey," Victoria said as she poked her head inside his room. "Could I speak with you for a minute?" she asked in a timorous manner. Obviously by his expression, she was not the person he was expecting to see, or wanted. It made her feel like a pestilence which was not too far off the mark actually. Stupefied, Mick motioned for her to enter and as she did, he could not help but notice how her bountiful breasts jiggled side to side behind her tank top that seemed a size too small.
Victoria had not even closed the door entirely before saying, "I want to apologize for the way I've treated you." Mick nodded slightly not really knowing how to respond to her unexpected appearance and atonement, although he certainly had already begun to respond to her enticing form. "Honestly, I really mean it," she implored, sensing he was not very convinced.
"First dad walks out on us and then Lucas dumps me," Victoria continued, beginning to sound upset. "All of it has really stressed me out and now my grades suck because of everything," she admitted with her voice quavering. "I know you don't care about any of that and I don't expect you to," Victoria said before asserting, "None of it is justification for my behavior. I've treated everyone horribly and I wish I could turn the clock back and start over."
There was a long, awkward pause as each of them waited for the other to say something. Victoria broke the silence first by saying, "Speaking of grades, I know you had a project you really wanted to work on while here and I've already disrupted you from that enough, so I'll leave you alone." As she began to open the door Mick offered his first words telling her, "I appreciate you apologizing, thanks."
Victoria paused, and then turned back around and acknowledged his acceptance of her penance with a faint smile. Once again to his chagrin, Mick found himself appreciating what an attractive girl she was, at least physically.
"I'm sorry about your parents, I'm sure that isn't easy," Mick said to Victoria.
Gently she pushed the door back shut and asked him, "Are you close to your mom and dad?"
"Well, I am here instead of being home for the holiday, aren't I?" quipped Mick.
Victoria nodded and leaned her head against the door. There was another moment of silence before she admitted in an unsteady voice, "My mom has never slapped me before." Victoria closed her eyes tightly like she was about to cry.
"Can I ask what it is you are working on?" asked Victoria as she tried to regain her composure.
"My final paper for English Literature," responded Mick. "You want to talk about sucky grades? Well that's mine," he told her before further adding, "If I can turn in the best paper I will receive extra points towards my final grade, which I certainly could use." Victoria nodded her head. "And the girl who sits next to me probably has the best average in the class and is a condescending... bitch...," stated Mick, with his voice trailing off realizing who he was having a conversation with.
Victoria's eyes rolled up and across the ceiling as she raised her hand seemingly to signify, guilty as charged.
"Sorry," he quickly added, "no dig meant at you." She nodded but still could not help but feel a bit hurt by the comment even though she knew it was unintentional.
"This girl and I sort of have a wager on who will get the extra credit, so I feel even more pressure over my paper because of that," admitted Mick.
"I struggled with that class too," Victoria confessed before stating, "but that's right up my sister's alley."
Mick responded by saying, "If I was the religious type, I'd go to church and thank god for your sister. She's probably the only reason I am passing."
Victoria asked hesitantly, "So... you and Abby--"
"Are just friends," he quickly interjected and adamantly.
She did not press the issue any further but the question still made Mick feel weird compounded by the fact that for all of Victoria's exhibited faults, he thought she was a piece of ass as illustrated by the stirring of his penis.
"I hear that you are the only guy in Abby's dorm," said Victoria.
"That's true. There was a mix up because of my name with the registration--" he replied before Victoria this time chose to interrupt.
"Then you are probably used to a bunch of stupid drama," she said laughing while taking a step away from the door and towards him, now definitely feeling a bit more at ease.
"It may sound good in theory," said Mick, "but there are some downsides."
Attempting to steer away from the topic Mick stated, "Abby told me you are a mathematics wiz."
"My sister said that to you?" asked Victoria in a surprised tone, to which he nodded in response. "I can hold my own," she said, "but the problem is I'm not sure what to do with it."
"What can't you do with it?" he answered assuredly.
"I don't know," Victoria replied, sitting down on the side of his bed unexpectedly.
There he was, suddenly having a friendly exchange with Victoria who was seated next to him and being very pleasant. Mick realized that he was not actually minding her company, no doubt in part because of the proximity of her buxom display which was causing his rod to swell whether he wanted it to or not. "Damn it," Mick thought, "If she had just come in a minute earlier my computer would still be on my lap." His shirt was partially covering his boxers but Mick knew it would not take much more before he would be unable to hide his arousal any longer.
