The sun was just coming up as Kate walked out of her dorm to head to cheer practice. It was the first week of her sophomore year at university and it was already off to a rough start. She had been so excited to be back on campus only to have a huge fight with Tom the first time she had seen him in two months.
She sighed, thinking back on everything that had happened as she started her walk across the campus. It was still quiet, letting her focus on how pretty the campus was. The air was cool as it almost always was in the Pacific Northwest. This campus was where she had met him. She had started dating Tom last year when he was a Junior and had gotten pretty serious before they had both gone back to their hometowns for the summer. That separation had strained their relationship for the first time. She had always thought that people exaggerated the difficulties with long distance relationships but not anymore.
They had talked on the phone regularly and texted each other constantly over the summer, but the physical distance was hard. Her hometown was in southern Cal and his family was from Michigan, so it was too far to visit as neither of them really had the money to pay for a flight. Not seeing him had been hard, but Tom had also started pushing her to send him pictures while they were separated.
She watched a squirrel run across the sidewalk in front of her and she took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind before she made it to practice.
Tom was very attractive, with dark hair, an olive complexion and a jaw that made him look like like he should be starring in movies rather than on campus. He also had an athletic 6-foot build with wiry, defined muscles. On top of that, he was a sweet and genuine guy who immediately swept her off her feet and charmed her parents. She had never been able to picture what her future husband would be like but if she didn't marry Tom, she was afraid he had set the bar too high for any other guys ever to measure up. After the first time her mom had met him, she joked that he must be a cousin to the Kennedys to be that handsome and well-mannered. It was true. He looked like he had walked straight out of a magazine and into her life.
Kate was also confident in her own looks though. That wasn't the issue. She had been blessed with her mom's looks and could have passed for her twin if not for the age difference. In high school, she had the unenvious position of being the kid that had the "hot" mom that every guy was obsessed with. She understood though. Her mom had naturally blonde, wavy hair and piercing light blue eyes framed by high cheekbones. She also had an amazing body, though Kate knew her mom had had a boob job when Kate was little. Being the spitting image of her mom meant that she got a lot of attention from guys too, even if she was a little self-conscious of her small B-cup breasts. They hadn't seemed to care since Kate had the same sun-kissed skin, blonde hair, blue eyes, flat stomach, and though it was embarrassing to admit, shapely butt. She had also been doing cheer and dance since she was little and had kept her petite 5'1 body lean while her legs were muscular and strong.
So, she was confident in her appearance. The issue was that Kate was very inexperienced... sexually and had been very nervous to take the next steps even as much as she liked Tom. It wasn't that she didn't want to be with him, it was just a huge step. She had always made sure to put an end to it before things got too far. Not that she was a prude either. It was just something that she felt was too special to share with just anyone. Tom wasn't just anyone though, was he?
She had played along over the summer to a degree but had stopped things before they could advance to where Tom had wanted them to go. She had sent pictures of her in workout attire and an occasional pic of her in a modest swimsuit, but had always held off on any pics of her in her underwear and had completely shot down his one request for nudes. He had not been happy about that and had pouted for a day or so before accepting it.
She had been so excited to see him last night and then everything went wrong. The second he kissed her, she melted into his embrace, kissing him back like they had been separated for years. He had wanted more though. His hands had started exploring her right away and finding their way to her skin beneath the edges of her clothes.
Her reflex to push him away to slow things down had led to a predictable reaction from Tom as it brought back all of of his frustrations from the summer. She felt bad about it immediately but that didn't stop them from fighting about it for twenty minutes before they decided to table it for the night. They hadn't spoken since he left her dorm the night before.
--------------------
Kate walked into the indoor practice area where a few of the girls were already talking and stretching to get ready.
"Hey!" Daria said to her as she ran up to Kate. Daria was a Junior on the cheer squad. She had some Native American in her, which gave her an exotic look with her naturally tan skin, raven hair, and a slender body. Kate and Daria had been fast friends last year as Daria had a wicked sense of humor and they shared a lot of interests outside of cheer. She was even the one who had helped set Kate up with Tom in the first place.
Daria wrapped her arms around her and hugged her, "Kate! It's so good to see you," she said while embracing Kate tightly. "Did you miss me?" she asked.
"More than you know," Kate answered. It was true. Daria had been like a big sister to her on campus last year and they had ended up being nearly inseparable by the end of the year. They already spent tons of time together with cheer practice, but they also hung out after class most nights where they would watch movies or binge their favorite TV shows. The weekends they would lounge by the pool at Daria's or go out to the local bars in the evenings. By far the most fun however were Saturdays during football season. It was a crazy experience helping lead cheers with fifty thousand screaming fans and it was that much better doing it with her best friend.
It didn't take long though to find out that Daria was a lot more adventurous than she was when it came to guys. Her friend practically had guys fighting over her on a regular basis and seemed to be turning down suitors left and right. No doubt Daria was hot, she had thought, but it was still just too crazy.
Kate had asked her about it when curiosity finally got the best of her. Daria had casually admitted that after she hooked up with the star running back her freshman year, it had apparently gotten around the football team that she gave the best blowjob on campus. Kate was shocked and terribly embarrassed as Daria explained with admittedly too many details. She had apologized profusely for asking, but Daria didn't seem to mind at all.
"As if being bad at blowjobs is something to be proud of," Daria had joked. "My dad always told me if I was going to do something, to do it right." Kate had found that so funny that it became an inside joke between them. If one of them had to do something, it was inevitable the other would say, "Well, my dad always told me..."
Kate smiled at the memory that was distracting her from her current dilemma. Her smile faded when she thought about Tom again.
Daria noted the expression on her face, "What's wrong, babe?" she asked.
"Tom and I had a fight last night," she admitted. She didn't really want to talk about it with anyone, but Daria especially was the last person who would understand why she was making such a big deal about this.
She watched one of the other girls walk by and waited for her to be out of earshot before she continued. "It's a little embarrassing," Kate whispered.
"Babe," Daria said. She loved to call Kate that and she said it in such an affectionate way that Kate had grown fond of it too. "You can tell me anything," she said, leading Kate to the side, further away from the growing group of girls.
