All characters are over 18.
*****
Simon and Karen grew up within walking distance of each other's homes. They lived in a rural community and they were the only children their age around so they spent a lot of time together. They went to school together. They went to church together. One of them usually had either breakfast or dinner at the other's home. They also went about exploring all the wooded areas together.
When it came time to go to high school, Karen just went to the local high school but Simon got a scholarship to go to a very elite boarding school. From Karen's point of view that was the end of her relatively happy childhood and the beginning of problems heaped upon misery.
Karen lived with her grandparents because her parents were less than stable people. She'd gone her entire life not ever seeing them but then in high school they decided to show up. First it was her mom and then her mom left. Then it was her dad. He left and came back like three times before her mom got around to showing back up. Then there was the revelation that there was a very high chance that the man everyone called her dad was not really her biological father. Her mother wouldn't say who her real father was. Night after night Karen cried herself to sleep asking God why her family was so messed up, but more than that, why her friend had to leave her behind to deal with this alone.
At first Karen never entertained any ideas of going to college. How could she? She had the grades but she thought there would be no way her family could afford it. Then her grandfather pulled her aside and told her a secret. He'd saved up for Karen's mother to go to college but that never happened. He kept the money safe and added to it over the years and he thought there would be enough. If she could get a grant or a loan to make up the difference then she would be college bound. It was one bright moment in the middle of some very dark years.
In the middle of all this she kept a happy face for Simon. He'd write to her almost everyday and during summer break they spent everyday together. When he found out where she wanted to go to college he applied to go there too. He missed her and he wanted them to pick up right where they left off.
The day before she left for college her grandparents sat her down and had some very hard words to say.
"Don't be like your mother." her grandmother had told her at the beginning of a very long speech about how they hadn't raised her to be a slut. They told her she wasn't going to college to find a husband or to drink herself to death. She was going to college to get educated and learn job skills so that she would always have control over her own life and could decide for herself what to do with her future.
That was very different advice from what Simon's dad told him.
"Don't just settle for the first girl you date. There are plenty of fish in the sea." Simon's father had a lot of regrets about the fact that he'd only ever been with his wife and hadn't had more fun before he'd gotten married. In private he'd been pretty open to his son that if he'd had the chance to have sex with more women before meeting his mother he would have jumped at it. He went so far as to even make it sound like he'd gladly commit adultery if just given the chance.
College started and from the first moments that Karen and Simon were on campus together they immediately started to hang out together every moment they could. They also took as many of the same classes that they could. Karen was finally getting to a place where she thought her future would be good. It would be normal. It would be amazing.
It was coming to the end of freshman year when her grandparents dropped a bomb on her. They told her to stay away from Simon. Karen protested but her grandparents doubled down.
"He's about to go through some tough times. Word's going all over town about his father sleeping around with some waitress." her grandfather said.
"Molly going to file for divorce. You've had enough heartache in your life, dear. You don't need this. Let him deal with it by himself. Don't let him drag you down too." her grandmother said.
For most of freshman year Simon had not really had any luck with the ladies. There was the fact that he was a bit of a nerd and there was the fact that he was always hanging out with a girl and a lot of people thought that Simon and Karen were dating. It had taken almost the entire school year but Simon had finally reformed his image enough to maybe attract a girlfriend.
It sort of made Karen sad. Simon was going on and on about a girl named Susan but Karen knew that bad news was coming for him. The next day she saw him moping around and she knew it was time to talk about it.
That summer she didn't see much of Simon. That was partly due to the fact that she was going to summer school to try and graduate as soon as she could. But it was also because Simon didn't feel like seeing anyone. He didn't go home. In fact he couldn't go home. His parents were selling their house and all their land so it could be divided up. He went to stay with an uncle for a bit but that didn't exactly work out so he went and got a summer job in the city.
Once the next semester started Karen hoped that Simon would have dealt with his feelings but he was still acting distant. She wanted to go to him and be with him. However, she had her own problems to deal with. Even though Karen would never hurt anyone on campus and she always just left other people alone, there was now a vicious campaign being launched against her. She was being called the ice queen and every manner of foul negative thing was being associated with her. All freshman year, once the word had gotten out that Karen and Simon weren't dating, a lot of guys had asked her out. She'd always told them no.
Karen didn't want to date in college. It wasn't like her grandparents had made a rule or anything but she figured the best way to do what they'd asked her to do was to not date. So she turned every guy down. Apparently they weren't going to take that lying down so the rumors started. The worst one was that they said she had some sort of STD. They framed the story as one not of her rejecting these guys but of the police telling her they'd arrest her if she dated because they didn't want her to infect anyone else. It wasn't just guys saying it either. Once the rumor was out there, the girls at the college all seemed to revel in it. Karen had no peace.
This was total bullshit. She just wanted to learn and finish school and get a good job. That was the plan and a guy was not part of that plan. Why couldn't they leave her alone? While all of this was going on Karen saw Simon talking with one of the heartless bitches who reviled Karen the most. At first she was going to just leave the situation alone. After all, if Simon wanted to date that was his business. But she knew that girl had a boyfriend and she knew the girl had cheated on both her current and previous boyfriends. She'd be a terrible friend if she stood by and just watched her friend fall under that girl's spell.
There was also the added pressure that the message was relayed to her that she could get all the rumors and harassment to stop if she just went out with a certain guy. But of course going out with the guy would not really be enough. She'd have to also put out for the guy. Deep down, on some level she kind of just wanted to give in. The guy was hot, with big muscles, and he was cute too. She found herself thinking that and got disgusted with herself. No, she would not give in. Instead, she had a plan.
"What's up?" Simon asked as he arrived at the meeting Karen had called. They were in a classroom that was never used on a hallway that was seldom even visited by the janitorial staff.
"I wanted to offer you something."
"Great. What is it?"
"A pact like we used to do when we were little."
"Ok. What sort of pact?"
"Why are you going to college?"
"Huh?"
"What's your goal? Why are you here? What do you want to accomplish?"
"I just want to get a degree."
"So it's just about a piece of paper for you?"
"No, of course not. That piece of paper represents something. It means I did the work. I put in the time."
"Good. Now do you think that dating in college will help you to get that goal or hurt you?"
"I don't think it matters."
"Doesn't it?"
"Well, ... I guess if I think about it maybe it could. If you had a bad relationship then it could matter a lot. But so far I'm just trying to get any relationship."
"What if I asked you not to date? Would you?"
"Why would you ask me not to date?"
"Dating can be a distraction."
"Still I don't think it would be right for you to tell me not to date."
"I'm not telling you not to date. I'm asking you to make a pact with me."
"What are the details of the pact?"
"The main one is that we look out for each other. We keep each other from getting into any bad relationships as you call them."
"So you want a veto on who I date?"
"Actually, I was hoping we could get to a point where neither one of us dated at all."
"I'm sorry but that just doesn't sound like a pact I want to get into."
"I wouldn't be asking you to be celibate."
"There are so many things wrong with what you just said."
She was about to defend herself but he launched into his explanation.
"First of all, you are in fact asking me to be celibate because celibate specifically means not getting married. I had no plans to get married in college anyway but even if there was the possibility of getting married that would only come about if I dated someone which you are asking me not to do. Now you probably thought celibate meant not having sex. A lot of people think that. And to that I just have to say ... WHAT? So you don't want me to date but you're fine with me sleeping around? Is that right?"
"What I meant to say was I know ... I learned in biology class that ... you know ... about the brain producing chemicals to regulate certain things in the body. The human body can try to counteract a process it doesn't like or it can try to speed up a process it does like. Our bodies are going to want to have sex and the longer we go without sex the more of those chemicals the brain will make to try and force us to just sleep with the next person who shows interest."
"So, what are you suggesting?"
