Author's Note: Welcome to Freshman Week's second decimal chapter. What does the decimal mean? These are chapters that are shorter than full chapters and take themselves less seriously. This chapter probably could have been a full one, but I've become obsessed with making this story symmetrical, and since Ch. 5 marked the halfway point of this mini-saga I needed another decimal chapter to mirror 4.5.
Not that any of that really matters. I just felt like explaining my system. Please rate & review!
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January 10th:
Snow was still on the ground when Charlotte returned to campus. Break had been fun, but she couldn't pretend like she hadn't been anxious to come back. Canterbury U had already earned a special place in her heart. It was the only place in her life where she had even the smallest taste of independence. And it was where she had met her first real friend, Sarah.
And this semester they were sharing a dorm.
Charlotte arrived pretty early in the afternoon, so it was by herself that she moved all of her belongings down the hall to room 315. She didn't own anything too heavy, but it took a couple hours nonetheless. The sun was setting by the time she was done, and Charlotte decided to do some decorating.
The room had belonged to Sarah first, so maybe she should have waited and asked about her opinion. Charlotte was willing to bet though that it would be a fun surprise. She had seen on Pinterest how some girls decorated their rooms with Christmas lights. Technically the holiday season was over, but it was really cute and she thought it would make the place more homey. Not to mention it would make the room feel different, and that would make Charlotte feel less like she was stealing Nadine's place.
She didn't go overboard (hadn't brought enough lights to), but she strung one string of yellow LED bulbs across the wall over her bed and facing Sarah's. She had some fun putting them in different arrangements and patterns before she used tape to stick them in place. Even without the main lamp on, the lights provided enough calming illumination to see. It was like having candles, minus the fire hazard and violation of dorm policy.
Charlotte had finished with the lights and was organizing her stuff when she heard the dorm's main door slam open.
"Chaaarrr!" Sarah's too loud voice cried from the living area.
Sarah turned the corner and ran into the bedroom, and into the waiting arms of her friend.
Sarah was a little bit taller than Charlotte and had light brown hair that she kept in a bun. She had relatively tiny tits but a fit physique. She was wearing her usual black hair band, an oversized blue sports jersey which reached halfway down her thighs, and tiny black shorts that exposed her toned legs.
"Oh my God I missed you!" As Sarah threw herself into Charlotte's hug, she failed to at all slow the momentum she'd gained running into the bedroom. And she did
throw
herself. When the pair embraced, Sarah lifted her legs off the ground and wrapped them around the smaller girl. (A habit she had cultivated from greeting her boyfriend.)
Thanks to the exercises Sarah had convinced her to do, Charlotte had put on a significant amount of muscle since the two became acquainted. She was still a slim young woman though, and the sudden impact plus having to support her friend who outweighed her by at least twenty pounds sent her tumbling onto her bed.
Suddenly Charlotte was on her back with her best friend clutching onto her for dear life. She could smell Sarah's lavender shampoo. Charlotte tucked her nose close to the other girl's hair and took a good whiff.
Sarah loosened her grip so that she could rise up and look Charlotte in the eyes. "Sorry," she chuckled, "I may have had one too many."
Charlotte smiled. She could smell the beer on her friend's breath. She didn't hate it. It reminded her of another night, after her first party. The first time she'd had beer herself, and the first night the two of them had shared a bed.
Charlotte found her eyes drawn to Sarah's mouth. With their chests against one another, she could feel as Sarah's breathing changed. They were both thinking about it. That time, in November...
Someone in the doorway cleared his throat. "Uh, hey Char."
Charlotte looked over Sarah's shoulder. A tall boy with broad shoulders and messy hair stood in the bedroom entrance holding a mostly depleted twelve pack of beer. He wore a jersey identical to Sarah's, but his muscular build made him look more like an athlete than a fan. It was Ross, Sarah's boyfriend.
Charlotte gently pushed her friend off of her to sit up on the edge of the bed, smoothing out her skirt as she did so. "Ross, hi!"
This was the first time Charlotte had seen Sarah's boyfriend in many months, and the reunion was a tad uncomfortable. They got along fine, but since their last in-person meeting the friendship between the two girls had become increasingly intimate. During that time Charlotte knew the boy had seen pictures of her body. And she knew from Sarah that he did not find their situation to be disagreeable.
Charlotte felt suddenly more aware of her body language and what she was wearing. She had on a white, spaghetti-strap top with a short blue skirt. The top was meant to be worn beneath a jacket, but she had taken that off during the strenuous work of unpacking. Seeing as the girl was very well endowed, it showed off more cleavage than she normally would in a boy's presence. But he had seen more than that already.
Ross took a seat on the bed across from Char and Sarah followed him. He handed her a beer as she sat down, cuddling up to his side. Sarah popped the tab of her beer and took a drink. "You already got everything set up! If I'd known you were going to work on decorating I would've been here to help."
Charlotte shook her head. "It's cool. I knew you two would be at the game. I wanted to pull my own weight. Get things off to a new start."
"I like the lights," said Ross. He took another can from his twelve pack and gestured to the girl. "Want a beer?"
"Um, okay." He tossed it and Char only barely stopped it from slapping into the wall. "We've gotta be subtle though. I still have two months before I'm twenty-one and Sarah's only nineteen. If the RAs catch us, we'll get tossed out for sure."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "That's a little dire. Calm down. I think we both have plenty of experience keeping things quiet."
Sarah spent the next thirty minutes explaining a game which Charlotte had no knowledge of or interest in as the two girls demolished the last six cans of beer. Ross abstained since he would be driving home.
As Sarah talked, Ross continued to enjoy her proximity. Quite actively too. Charlotte watched as his hand lingered on his girlfriend's breast, absently squeezing. This did not interrupt Sarah, but the girl wasn't oblivious to his advances. She pressed her body closer to his, rubbing her hand up and down his thigh.
"Well it sounds like it was a good game," said Charlotte, finally interrupting Sarah's spiel.
Sarah stopped and laughed at herself. "I'm sorry. You're right, I've been on this way too long. What's been happening for you?"
Charlotte answered, but barely heard herself. She was too busy watching Ross slide his hand down the neckline of Sarah's jersey. Sarah shook a little bit as the boy's hand stopped over her bra. His arm around her tightened, dragging the girl even closer to him. Ross lowered his head and kissed the side of her neck. She purred.
"-and other than that it's been okay," Charlotte finished.
