Model Student 3: Diva

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Second eBook edition

ISBN 978-1-939275-00-4

One

We were quite the crew at the Gala opening of PCAD’s student exhibition. I’d walked in with two little boys and eight stunning women. We were head-turners, for sure, but we happened to stumble in just as art critic Bob Bowers was talking to a group about our paintings. It wasn’t just about my painting. He pointed out the great interplay between it and Kate’s charcoal.

When I looked at my eyes in Kate’s drawing, I could see all the depression, the hope, the love, and the doubt I’d experienced this year. Standing where I was, I could even see her reflected in my eyes. Beneath the eyes were the shadowy shape of two fingers, pointing to them. “Look here,” they seemed to say.

I might have stood there for an hour with an arm wrapped around Kate and the rest of our entourage near us if it hadn’t been for the small voice that broke through the surrounding din.

“Mommy, I feel sick.”

With four little words our evening went to hell. They were barely out of Damon’s mouth before dinner followed them. Lissa bent to take care of him as I ran to the janitor’s closet for cleanup supplies. Mop, bucket, rags, water, and some of that foul smelling cleanser that’s guaranteed to make anyone sick who isn’t already.

Allison managed to step out of the way of her “date” quickly enough to avoid getting anything on her. Lissa rushed Damon to the restroom and I got back to the exhibit in time to hear Drew say, “Meddy…” and then throw up in the opposite direction. Amy was not as lucky as Allison and found herself standing in a liquid lake. Melody carried Drew to the ladies’ room as I flung rags onto the mess on the floor.

“Oh god, I feel…” Amy looked faint and Sonia slipped in beside her to prop her up. Before she walked away, I managed to lift each of her feet and thoroughly wipe her shoes and toes. Sonia motioned for Allison to help her and the trio moved out of the room rapidly. I looked around. Kate had gone with Melody, so my selection of assistants had instantly been reduced to Sandra and Bree.

Bree took one look, said, “Gah-ross!” and walked away. I was surprised to find Sandra down on her knees in her evening gown mopping up the rags and dumping them in a plastic bag. I grabbed the mop and started quickly cleaning the floor.

“Sandra, you don’t have to do that. You’re all dressed up. I can take care of it.”

“I’ve got five little brothers and sisters,” Sandra answered. “I’m used to cleaning up this kind of shit. We’ll have it all taken care of in a few minutes.”

About that time Jack arrived.

“You’re a little over-dressed for janitorial work, Tony,” he said.

“Jack! You just missed the excitement. Both boys just threw up.” He went pale.

“Where are they? Are they all right?”

“Women’s room with Lissa and Melody,” I said. Jack was gone in a flash.

Sandra and I finished cleaning up the floor and put out a “Wet Floor/Piso Mojado” sign. I wheeled the cleanup supplies back to the closet. We didn’t bother trying to rinse the rags, but just tied the garbage bag shut and I took it out back to the dumpster while Sandra held the door open so I wouldn’t get locked out. The whole thing had only taken about ten minutes and we headed for the restroom.

Crying boys, girls in formals, two guys in tuxes. You get the idea. It was chaos. The poor little guys were bad and getting worse.

“Jack, we need to get them to the doctor. Damon is burning up with a fever. How could I have missed him getting sick?”

“Both of them,” Jack said. “We should head to Children’s.”

“We’ve got the limo outside. We can take you,” I offered. Damon had grabbed one of my hands as soon as I walked through the door. Jack was holding Drew, but the younger boy hadn’t let go of Melody.

“We’ll take my car,” Jack said. “That way you aren’t stranded.”

“It’s okay. Melody and I will come with you,” I argued. Jack turned to me.

“Listen, Tony. I appreciate your help and Melody’s quick actions, too. But it’s a big night for you and you shouldn’t leave the party before it’s even started.”

“But…”

“Tony,” Jack spoke sharply, “these are Lissa’s and my kids. It’s our responsibility, not yours.” I stepped back, about ready to blast him. How dare he insinuate that I didn’t care? Lissa was my girlfriend, not his wife.

“Sweetheart,” Lissa said, “Jack’s right. I know how much you and Melody love Damon and Drew, but this is something their parents need to take care of and you should be out with your friends. Don’t forget, you’re leaving Sunday and everyone will be gone for the summer long before you get back. Help us get the boys to the car and then come back and enjoy yourselves. I’ll let you know as soon as we find out what’s going on.”

I bit back my response. Lissa didn’t need another little boy to distract her. She needed a man. Her husband. I picked up Damon in my arms and carried him to the car. Melody extracted the promise that they’d call as soon as they knew what was going on.

MELODY AND I walked back into the gallery. Other than the yellow sign on the floor and a lingering smell of disinfectant, the party was going on as normal. I caught a glimpse of Bob Bowers entertaining his group in front of the mural and supposed that Jack was right. I should introduce myself. We spotted our remaining dates in a corner by the punch bowl, listening avidly to Allison.

“My god! They kept me awake half the night listening and the other half imagining what had been going on!” she said to the girls’ laughter. “You should have heard him!”

“Oh they were probably just putting on a show for you,” Bree said caustically. “All fake.”

“Hey, I’ve had some experience with ‘fake’,” Allison responded. “I’d have known if it was fake. Let me tell you, if I could do that to a man, I’d charge rent.”

“Oh,” Kate moaned. “I wish I could inspire passion like that.” I looked at Melody and we both nearly choked. If only Kate knew! We made some noise and walked up to the group.

“Hey guys. Had enough excitement for the evening?” I asked casually. At least three of the girls blushed.

“Exciting is still to come, baby. I like art, but enough is enough, already,” Bree said. “Let’s go party!” She was starting to get on my nerves. What the hell was wrong with her? She raised her arms in the air and started to wiggle her hips in what I assumed was supposed to be a dance move.

“Tony, Melody, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend,” Sonia said. “This is Thor. Thor, I’ve told you about Melody and Tony.”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “You sure have. It’s nice to meet you. And I just want to say thank you for Sunday night.” Sonia blushed a very pretty crimson beneath her blonde hair and playfully punched her boyfriend on the arm. Thor. What an appropriate name. He looked like a Scandinavian god. He was a six-four, 230-pound blond—built like a rock. Thor and Sonia together looked like wet dreams for both men and women.

“Nice to meet you, Thor,” I said, letting him crush my hand in his. “What do you play?”

“Bassoon,” he replied. I looked at him quizzically. “Yeah,” he continued. “Everybody figures I’m some kind of football player. I march in the band. I’m a music education major.”

“No kidding?” Melody said. “Welcome to PCAD.”

“I’m not that good,” Thor said. “I like to play, but I really want to teach.”

“If people like you didn’t teach, kids like us would never go into the arts,” I said. “Speaking of which, I don’t suppose I could get you two to pose for me, could I? I don’t mean anything… you know… I mean kind of a classic composition… if you aren’t opposed to doing something nude.”

“You’ve already done her,” he laughed. Sonia wasn’t getting any relief from the blush that colored her. I wondered if I could capture that with paint. “Adding me shouldn’t take much,” Thor continued. Except in the amount of paint, I thought. “Hey, I tell you what. If you can get me an invite to the next posing party like the one I heard about Sunday night, I’ll pose any way you want me to. I got a blow-by-blow description, so to speak, after Sonia got home Sunday night.”

“I think that might be arranged,” I said. “It would probably make the night a little easier on me.”

“Yeah. I can imagine how hard it could get.”

We laughed. I know—but no matter how old it is, male erectile humor is always funny. I turned to the rest of the group and singled out Kate.

“Ms. Holsinger, may I ask you to accompany me? There is someone I’ve been told we should meet,” I said. Well, Jack had said I should meet Bob Bowers, but after I heard what he said about Kate’s charcoal, I realized she should meet him, too.

Kate took my arm and we walked out to the mural hallway where the art critic was working his way down the various focal points in the mural. She had one hand beneath my elbow, but as we waited politely for a break, her other hand softly stroked up and down my bicep. When Mr. Bowers came to a break and people started to move on, Kate and I stepped forward.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bowers. May I introduce Ms. Kate Holsinger? She is the artist who did the charcoal portrait you were admiring earlier,” I said.

“Ah, Ms. Holsinger. I’m so pleased to meet such a great talent. Do you have other pieces on display?”

“A few, Mr. Bowers. Nothing I like as much as the portrait. Your review this morning was very kind.” I’d forgotten all about the review. In fact, I never got around to reading it.

“Well, please give me a tour,” he said. Then he turned to me. He looked into my eyes and held them. “And I assume you’re Tony Ames.”

“Uh… yes, sir. Pleased to meet you. How did you know?”

“You are in each other’s eyes, just as I could see you in Miss Grant’s eyes in your mural painting. I hope you weren’t disappointed in what I said in the review this morning.”

“I guess I didn’t read it,” I answered. “Sorry.”

“Good! Never put stock in what critics say anyway. We’re paid to criticize.”

“We learn from criticism,” I said. “But please, I know you’ve spent plenty of time on my works, and I do appreciate the letter of recommendation Jack passed on to me. Please let Kate show you her other pieces. She’s got a pretty amazing talent.” Kate beamed at me. Damn, she looked good in her evening gown. She was wearing the orchid I’d given her last week, apparently kept fresh in the dormitory refrigerator. She was keeping a tight grip on my arm.

Mr. Bowers leaned in to speak to me in a whisper, intentionally blocking Kate from hearing.

“Tell me, Tony. Do you make love to all your models?” What the fuck? Did he just say what I thought he said? I calmed myself before I answered. It was obviously rhetorical.

“Only on canvas, sir.”

Two

We left the gala a little after nine and the limo drove us to an over-eighteen club near the University of Washington. The music was good with a popular local DJ spinning the tunes. No alcohol was served so the club could handle underage partiers. All the way there, Melody and I were trying to reach Lissa to see how the kids were doing and if we were needed. I was pretty much ready to ditch everyone and just catch a cab to the hospital. It was driving me crazy, not knowing what was going on.

“Maybe we should just go over there,” I said to Melody. “God, I hate not knowing how Damon and Drew are or what’s wrong. Why did they have to take them to the emergency room?”

“Oh, lighten up, Tony,” Bree broke in. “We’re supposed to be partying. They’re not your kids, after all.”

“You’re really a bitch, you know, Bree?” I shot back at her. “I’m not interested in listening to you put down the people I love. Shape up your attitude or go home.”

“Listen, you little prick. I’ve been playing the game and waiting my turn. If you’re not interested in me, maybe I should tell the athletic director a little more about your lifestyle and parties. I’m sure he’ll be interested in the new talent’s ability to represent SCU.”

“Listen to yourself, Bree! Jesus. The man is your father. He’s the athletic director, not your pimp.” That earned me a slap across the face, and it stung.

“Bree!” Sonia yelled. She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her away from me mouthing something at me over her head that I couldn’t understand. At least she was gone. My face hurt.

“Really, Dude?” Thor said to me. Shit. Was he going to get on my case now, too? “That was awesome. Somebody’s needed to take her down a peg for a long time. Welcome to SCU.”

“Thanks, I think,” I said. Melody reached up and kissed my cheek.

“I’m not doing anything tonight to ruin our night with friends,” Melody whispered. “But next time I’m alone with her, I’m going to kick her freckled ass into the next county.”

“I’m not justifying her or anything,” Thor said, “but I think she might be on something. She’s not acting normal, even for Bree. She’s a pushy slut, but she’s not usually that crass. Something must have set her off.”

“She’s just realized what different worlds we live in,” Amy offered. “Aside from her being hot for Tony, we’re probably as much to blame as her about polarizing things. She’s an athlete and we’re artists. This was the first time she saw what Tony’s art world really looks like. Sunday it was just a guy partying with a bunch of naked girls. She’s trying to get him back there.”

“Wow! Are you studying psychology, Amy?” I laughed. It was good to have friends around me, especially when I was feeling bad about causing a scene. I knew she didn’t mean anything.

“You need to add a ‘u-s’ in that word and then you’ve got it right.” I wasn’t getting it and looked at her strangely, I guess. “Pussychology,” Amy laughed. “I’m making a career of analyzing as many of them as I can.”

We all laughed and I was thankful that Amy was there and that we were mostly all friends. We were finally at the head of the line to get in and Sonia and Bree returned to stand opposite Thor from us. Bree refused to look in our direction, but her mascara had run and there was a black streak on her cheek. I gave Melody a squeeze, took a deep breath, and walked over to Bree.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you, Bree,” I said. “I can’t blame you for not understanding a weird situation.” I reached up with my handkerchief and wiped the smudge off her face. She looked at me and her lower lip started to quiver, but she kept the tears back. “Friends?”

“Thank you,” she said softly. She reached up and patted my cheek where she’d hit me. “Sorry I can’t wipe that off.”

Well, that was as good as it was going to get for tonight. We got into the club, got sodas, and danced. I could see that we weren’t really an integrated group any more. Amy joined Bree, Sonia, and Thor on the dance floor and the four seemed to trade partners regularly if partners were called for. Most of the time, it was just everyone dancing together. Amy was working hard at comforting Bree. Hmmm. Was Sonia intentionally trying to get between them?

Melody, Allison, Kate, and Sandra were with me. Kate looked like she was in heaven when she was dancing with Melody or with me. In fact, neither Melody nor I missed exactly how heavenly she looked. There might have been just a little more touching and brushing against each other than the dances called for. But she looked like she was near heaven even when she danced with Sandra and Allison. It was nice to see her having fun.

Melody and I checked our phones every few minutes for messages. Between the pounding bass of the music and the crowd noise in the room, it would be impossible to either hear our phones or feel them vibrate. At midnight, we called an end to our little prom and asked our limo driver to take us the long way home, whatever that was. We had an hour left on the rental and were determined to use it all.

It was bittersweet. My freshman year was over. Classmates that I’d met just nine months ago were now my lover and friends. I had another lover sitting with her ex-husband and two kids in a hospital. A cute student from Kansas had become a close friend. Two cheerleaders and a Norse god were friends from a new school. It was hard to remember why I’d been so depressed just a few weeks ago.

Sonia would be returning home to LA. Her plan was to spend the summer in the surf as she had done for the past several years. Thor was planning to visit his parents and then join Sonia. We were, of course, all invited to come down to visit.

Bree was staying put. She’d sobered up and was quiet in the car, but said she usually helped her dad during the summer when he went out to recruit athletes who had not yet committed. Most of it would be in the Northwest because SCU simply wasn’t big enough to draw athletes from further away. Being a Division III school wasn’t much to brag about, but the program was growing and she was determined to do her part.

“And no, I don’t recruit athletes by fucking them,” Bree said. “We just talk and, if they come to visit, then they know someone who will show them around. I’m not always a slut.” Melody was still pretty pissed at her, but even she tried to be enthusiastic about Bree’s job.

“I’m going back across the mountains after next weekend to fend off the breeders for the summer. I’ll be… oh god, you just wouldn’t believe what I do in the summer,” Amy said.

“Come on, Amy,” I encouraged. “Fess up. I bet you paint houses.”

“That would be a great job!” Amy said enthusiastically. “Especially compared to what I really do.” She waited for us to egg her on a little more and then continued. “All right, I live in a resort community in the mountains. Everything has a Bavarian theme. I mean everything. At the local drive-in, you can order schnitzel. I know, because I work there.”

“Do you cook or wait tables?” Sandra asked.

“God, this is so embarrassing. It’s a drive-in. An old fashioned one. I dress in a cute little Bavarian maiden outfit and roller skate to people’s cars to take their orders. When things are slow, we do trick skating in the parking lot. That usually brings people in.”

“Wait. You do roller skating tricks in a little Swiss Miss costume for the summer?” Melody howled. “You know if you’d have pulled that on me last fall you might have gotten lucky!”

“Well, it’s never too late to try. You know, Tony, just because I won’t do you doesn’t mean we couldn’t double-team the little brat,” Amy said.

“I don’t know, Amy,” I said. “The very thought of you in that little short skirt and skates just makes me want to yodel.”

When asked, Sandra said that she was going to spend her summer being the chauffeur to her five little brothers and sisters and try to give her mother a break. She was the oldest by five years, then the rest all came fast and furious. All five were between 10 and 14 years old with one set of twins.

Allison would go with Lissa and me to Chicago Sunday night and watch National Singles and then head back to Kansas for her summer job as entertainment director at a YMCA camp.

“Kate, where will you spend the summer?” Melody asked.

“Oh, I’ll be around. I’ve got a job as a docent at the Art Museum. Mostly, I’ll be giving groups of kids, about Damon’s age, tours of the children’s collection. I think it’ll be fun,” Kate said. “Or I’ll be dead. I’m not sure which.”

“Okay. What about you guys?” Sonia asked. “Planning a summer full of art and naked slumber parties?”

“You guys all have the wrong idea,” Melody said. “We really aren’t that wild.”

“We were there, you know,” Allison said.

“And exactly how big an orgy did we have?” I asked.

“Well, we didn’t actually do anything,” Kate agreed. “But that doesn’t mean we weren’t thinking about it.”

“Kate!” Sandra exclaimed. “My, the girl has come out of her shell!”

“I’m flying out to Chicago to join Allison, Lissa and Tony as soon as my last final is done on Thursday,” Melody said. “Then I’ll sit with Saul and Deborah and my parents to watch my boyfriend win a national championship. I can’t wait to meet them in person, Tony. And it will be so weird to have my parents meeting your parents.”

“We’ll spend the weekend in Chicago,” I continued. “Then Melody has to go home to Boston for a while and Lissa will have to get back here to work and take care of the boys. I’ll go back to Nebraska for a while and then I’m coming back out here so I can start helping Lissa get ready for Opens. As soon as Melody gets back we’ll all be together again.”

The limo pulled up in front of Bree’s house and the three SCU students got out. Well, we all got out, because you can’t just say goodbye without hugs and kisses. Bree’s kiss was a little tentative and less aggressive, but she did hug me pretty fiercely. She hugged Melody, too, and said something to her that I couldn’t hear. I glanced at Thor in time to see Amy go into a lip lock with him, so I used that opportunity to plant a good one on Sonia. She giggled.

“I hope you’ll be seeing more of us in the fall,” she said, and laughed as she got swept up in an even more passionate kiss by Amy.

We piled back into the limo and took the next three back to the dorm. Sandra came at me for a big open-mouthed kiss, but I stopped her and used my fingers to close her mouth.

“Kissing is about the lips,” I said as I leaned in and caressed her lips with mine, then brushed my tongue against them. I gave her a squeeze and backed away. She didn’t move, but just stayed there with her face upturned and a look of bliss. Melody used the opportunity to kiss her just as sweetly. We could see her chest heaving in deep breaths and her huge nipples straining at the fabric of her gown, bra be damned.

“Why didn’t anybody ever tell me that before,” she said dreamily.

Allison hugged her new friends and I hugged Amy and gave her a little kiss that she accepted as one good friend to another. Melody wasn’t so demure, however. She gave Amy the works.

“Holy shit,” Amy gasped. “What finally came over you?”

“I just had this image of you on skates in that little skirt and peasant blouse,” Melody laughed. “It was just so hot.”

Melody and I stood in front of Kate while Allison was hugging Sandra and Amy and suggesting that they come to Kansas for a visit. We closed in on her at the same time and kissed her cheeks. Kate smiled and turned to Melody. She kissed her tenderly, then turned to me and did the same thing. She sighed.

“I wish Lissa were here,” she said softly. “That would be just right. I hope I’ll see you guys later this summer. Call me?”

“Oh yeah,” Melody said. “This is from Lissa.” We both moved in on Kate with what had become practiced precision in three-way kissing. Kate could hardly kiss us back, she was grinning so hard.

“Wow! That girl can really kiss, can’t she?” Kate giggled.

We promised we would call her as soon as we were back in town. Everyone verified that we had everyone else’s phone numbers in our contacts and the last three of us returned to the limo.

I sat between Melody and Allison and they snuggled up to me on either side. It was pleasant having the two there, but it just wasn’t… right. Allison was sweet, but she wasn’t Lissa.

Three

Melody’s phone rang at 1:01 a.m., just after we’d walked into the house. We were headed to the boys’ room to see if everyone was there. No one was, but Lissa greeted Melody on the phone and asked her to put it on speaker so she could talk to both of us.

“We’re still at the hospital, but will probably be leaving soon,” Lissa started. She sounded drained.

“How are they? What’s wrong?” Melody asked.

“We’ve been worried all night,” I added.

“It turns out there’s a nasty bug that’s hit in past couple of days and is spreading like crazy through the pre-school and elementary schools. We must have seen a dozen people we knew in the emergency room. It’s crazy here. Their temperatures peaked at 104 degrees and the doctors pumped them full of antibiotics, but it will be at least a couple of days before they are fully healthy,” Lissa said.

“When will you be home? Should we come and get you?” I asked.

“I’m not coming back tonight,” Lissa said. Melody and I looked at each other and I could see worry creasing her brow.

“Lissa?”

“We’re taking the boys to Jack’s house. I can’t bring them home with all of you there. The doctors say it’s really contagious. You can’t risk being sick the last week of school and at National Singles. We’ll be lucky if you haven’t already caught it,” Lissa explained. It was logical but we weren’t happy.

“But Jack’s there. You could come home,” Melody pled.

“Sweetheart, I can’t leave my boys tonight. They won’t let go of me and I wouldn’t leave them when they’re sick anyway. I’ll stay there.”

“With Jack?” I blurted out before I could stop my mouth. I was worried sick about the boys, and I understood that Lissa needed to be with them, but she’d be there with the boys and with Jack. It was like they were still married.

“It’s not about Jack, Tony,” Lissa said sharply. “I can’t expect you two to understand, but please just accept that I need to be here. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Melody recovered first and managed to stop Lissa before she hung up.

“We love you, Lissa. And we love Damon and Drew. Give them a hug for us and tell them we love them. Please?”

“We love you, too, Little One. I’m sorry I snapped at you, Tony. It’s been a hard night. I love you both.”

After a little peck on the lips, Allison had gone straight to the guest room and Melody and I retired to our bed. Our bed—but Lissa’s bed. It felt so strange to get ready and crawl into Lissa’s bed without Lissa in it. Even when Melody came into my arms, she seemed hesitant and unsure.

It wasn’t like we hadn’t made love without Lissa, nor that Lissa hadn’t made love with each of us without the other. But it was strange being in this bed without her. Even with two of us sharing it, it felt big and empty.

“Tony?” Melody said in a very small voice.

“What is it, Meddy?”

“I’m afraid.” I didn’t need an explanation but we both needed to give it voice. I could feel the fear gnawing at me.

“So am I, dear.”

“Are you afraid Lissa won’t come back to us?”

“Yes. Afraid that she is sharing this crisis with Jack instead of us and that anytime Damon and Drew are involved, she’ll be with Jack. Afraid that we aren’t as important to her as we want to believe.” Afraid that she was with him right now. No, I didn’t imagine that they were having sex while Damon and Drew ran a fever in the next room. Just that he was the one holding her and comforting her while she watched over her babies. I was afraid we could never compete.

“I keep thinking of how she tried to break up with us and we wouldn’t let her. Are we clinging to a fantasy?”

“No, sweetheart. That can’t be. What we have is real for all three of us. We just need to be patient and show her how much we love her.”

“Tony, would we…would we…still be together without Lissa?” Tears were flooding down Melody’s cheeks and I held and rocked her trying to ward off the dark clouds that threatened to engulf me. I couldn’t answer. I held her fiercely and kissed the tears escaping from her eyes. I found her lips and we devoured each other—not hungrily, but desperately—hanging on to what was real in the face of what was imagined.

I wasn’t quite hard and she wasn’t quite wet, but we forced ourselves together, needing to be joined. As we rocked back and forth, our bodies took control and we slid more freely, my hardness penetrating deeply. I rolled her on top of me so I wouldn’t crush her and held her to me tightly. Our climax came, as the poet said, not with a bang, but a whimper.

“You guys are sure a lot quieter when there’s only two of you,” Allison said when we appeared in the kitchen Saturday morning. She’d already made coffee and was staring at a bowl of cereal when we finally pushed ourselves out of bed. Neither of us wanted to get up, but we couldn’t bear to stay in the bed any longer. Allison looked at us long and hard as I poured two cups of coffee and got out the milk and sugar for Melody.

“Oh, you poor kids,” she said after a minute. She came around the table and pulled both of us to her and squeezed. We no longer had tears to shed. We were too exhausted. We both just rested our heads against Allison’s ample bosom. “You are really in love with her, aren’t you! And the boys. I saw it the last couple of days, but now it’s written all over your faces. Don’t worry; it will be okay. You’ll see.”

It was funny, being comforted like little kids by a woman who was only a couple years older than we were. This was going to be a long hard day if we didn’t snap out of it. Hey, the boys would start getting well and then Lissa would come home and we’d all be fine again, right? I smooched Melody while Allison kept hold of our shoulders. She smiled a little and her eyes shifted up toward our comforter. I grinned and, as if on cue, we both turned our heads toward Allison and nipped at her nipples, prominently standing out in unfettered glory under her t-shirt. She yelped.

“You guys! I almost wet my pants! You scared me.”

“Oh,” I said. “Sorry about that. Next time we suck on your nipples we’ll try not to startle you.”

“Next time? Oh, shit!”

“Sorry we’re so sour this morning,” Melody said. “Thanks for helping us and giving us a hug.”

“You’re welcome,” Allison said, starting to breathe again.

“But, yeah. Next time,” Melody finished. Allison rolled her eyes.

“My god, what did I get myself into? Just come out to play some racquetball for a week. We’ll have a couple of parties. So sure, I thought to myself. Sounds like fun. I wonder why they didn’t tell me I’d be running around in a house full of naked women, listening to the most incredible sex I’ve ever imagined, and getting my boobs bitten by not just a boy, but a girl, too! Why didn’t they mention these little details before I got here?”

“Oh, Allison,” Melody complained. “If we’d told you all that it would have spoiled the surprise and you might not have come.”

“Oh I think I’d have come… several times. I just might have packed lighter.”

We all got a chuckle out of that and began the process of pulling ourselves out of the morose depths and back into daylight. We had work to do. Lissa, Allison, and I would be leaving for Chicago on Sunday. I wouldn’t be back until summer, so I needed to clean out my dorm room. We wanted to rush over to Jack’s house and visit the boys, but we knew they’d all had a hard night, so we decided to wait until later in the day. We didn’t want to disturb desperately needed sleep, so moving out of the dorm was the first order of business after breakfast.

It wasn’t that big a job to move because most of my stuff was already at Lissa’s. Melody and I found some comfort in the fact that we were moving things to Lissa’s house and Melody decided that she was going to move the rest of her things at the same time. That was more challenging because she still had things in my dorm room and in her original dorm room, as well as what she’d already moved to Lissa’s.

Sandra came to help us gather things from Melody’s dorm room and load them into Lissa’s SUV. She said that Kate had convinced Amy to take her roller skating around Green Lake and show her Amy’s dance moves. We decided that when we were all loaded we’d cruise by that direction and see if we could spot them.

We didn’t see them and finally Allison, Melody and I got things back to Lissa’s house and took all our crap downstairs.

“Geez, you guys have a lot of stuff for living in a dormitory. I forgot what it was like to have to move out in the spring.”

“Where do you live now?” I asked.

“I rent a two-bedroom apartment with three other girls. It might as well be a dormitory with two single beds in each room and no weekday overnight guests allowed. The only good thing is it has two baths—or I guess they call it one-and-three-quarters. There’s only a shower and no tub in the en suite. But I’ve got good roommates and the gal I share my bedroom with has a boyfriend with an apartment, so most weekends she’s at his place and I have my own room.”

It was fun to hear more about Allison’s life at KSU.

“You don’t have to move out in the summer?” I asked.

“No. We just re-upped our lease so we don’t have to move out until after we graduate. It’s a real relief to have a permanent home instead of temporary housing.”

Melody and I looked at each other. It was the big question on both our minds. Were we moving into permanent housing?

Lissa, Melody, and I had talked about it a lot. We all three said we wanted to live together, but we had our family obligations, as well. After the tournament, I’d be headed to Nebraska to spend time with my parents and reconnect with old friends. Melody’s mother and father planned to meet her in Chicago next weekend and spend a day with my folks before they went back to Boston. Lissa, of course, had a job and two kids. She’d be coming home from Chicago and we’d be in three different parts of the country for the first time.

We had agreed that Melody’s and my things would stay at Lissa’s house until we got back and then we would decide on permanent living arrangements. I just hoped I wasn’t moving back to the dorms.

“Maybe I should stay in the car,” Allison said when we pulled up in front of Jack’s house. It was located close enough to Lissa’s place that they were in the same school district, but in vastly different neighborhoods. Jack lived in a small, older home that looked like it was out of a 1950s TV show, complete with a big front porch and storm door. We grabbed Allison’s hand and dragged her along with us as we approached the door.

We knocked and waited. Finally, Jack opened the door. He looked terrible. He held up one finger in a wait-a-minute gesture and lowered the glass pane on the storm door so he could talk to us through the screen.

“I’m sorry, guys, but you can’t come in. Lissa’s orders. This bug is really bad and she doesn’t want you exposed to it.”

“Is everyone all right?” Melody asked. Well, of course not, if what Jack was saying was true.

“It’s pretty bad,” Jack said. “Neither of us have had much sleep. One or the other of the boys has been up all the time.”

“What can we do to help?” I asked. “Can we see Lissa?”

“Lissa will come out as soon as she can. Are you guys willing to run an errand for us? We could use some groceries. I wasn’t prepared for a siege and I don’t think I should go out if I can help it.”

“Of course!” I said. At last, I felt like we could do something! I really didn’t care what. Jack hadn’t unlocked the storm door, so there was no way I could even sneak in. He left and came back a few minutes later with a list and a hundred-dollar bill.

“Lissa’s in the shower with Drew,” Jack said when he got back. “Having the steam helps keep his nose and lungs open. She said she’ll come out when you get back with the groceries. There’s also a new prescription that the boys’ pediatrician called in to Walgreen’s. Here’s my insurance card. It should cover the costs, but if anything costs more than what I’ve given you, just tell me.”

“We’ll be back soon,” Melody said.

“You guys are real friends,” Jack said warmly. “I know you want to be with Lissa and the boys, but Lissa is adamant about not exposing you if we can help it.”

We went to the grocery store and picked up several cans of chicken soup, especially the kind with little letters in it that the boys like so much. Milk, juice, cereal… with three of us shopping, we were in and out of the store in fifteen minutes. It was a longer wait at the pharmacy. I couldn’t believe the line of worn and tired looking parents who were standing in line for prescriptions and there were even a couple of whiny, sniffling kids being towed along. Melody insisted that Allison and I go back to the car because we had to travel the next day. Melody said that if she got sick it would have less impact.

“Maybe I could move in with Jack, too,” she joked. It wasn’t funny.

When we got the medicine and groceries back to Jack’s house, Lissa answered the door and took the bags from us, but didn’t allow us in. I touched her hand lightly when she took the bags and when she came back from the kitchen she brought a bottle of hand sanitizer and insisted that I use it immediately. She squirted some on each of us and then closed the door again quickly.

“I miss you,” Lissa said, looking at Melody and me. “Sorry to expose you to all this mush, Allison. I’ll get more hand sanitizer if it’s too much.” We all laughed a little. It was so good to be back with Lissa, even on opposite sides of the storm door.

“Well, at least we’ll all be back together tomorrow,” I said. “Do you want us to pack for you?”

“About that, Tony,” Lissa said, looking down at her feet. “I’m not going to Chicago with you.”

Four

Of course it all made sense. Logical. Not to mention, the only thing we could do. Not only were Lissa’s kids sick, she was coming down with it, too. She simply wouldn’t—or couldn’t—travel.

I decided on the spot that I wouldn’t go either but the heated argument that ensued left me at three to one against my canceling the trip. Lissa said she would send instructions to Allison on coaching me through my first round. Sam would be headed out on Tuesday, but there was no way he’d make the early matches and it was pretty much guaranteed I’d be playing in one of the first two flights. Pairings would be announced Monday morning.

“So how would you like to be Ice Queen for a day?” Lissa asked Allison. “I’m depending on you to make sure Tony settles in, gets to the right places at the right time, and wins his matches, got it?”

“You’re really going to risk sending your boyfriend across the country with me?” Allison said. Lissa looked at me and smiled, then looked at Allison.

“Tony knows what to do,” she said simply. “Right, Melody?” Melody smiled and nodded.

“Oh, he sure does!”

It was a four-hour flight and we lost two hours crossing time zones, so it was already after eight in the evening when we landed. With the baggage fuck-ups and waiting for a taxi on Sunday night, it was ten by the time we got to the hotel downtown and got checked in.

It was all of five minutes later when I realized Allison and I were staying in the same room.

The room had two queen beds in it. When Lissa originally made our reservation, she decided to keep costs down and share one room. Rooms cost a lot more in Chicago than in Tempe.

But that arrangement was made when Lissa was going to be with us. Now it was just Allison and me.

We went about our nighttime routines, taking turns in the bathroom. I was nervous. I didn’t know what to expect from Allison and I still wasn’t sure I wanted anything to happen between us, even though both Lissa and Melody assured me that they expected something to happen and to enjoy myself. I was in a three-way text session with my girlfriends when Allison came out of the bathroom in a short terrycloth robe, drying her dark hair.

My lovers wished me goodnight and pleasant dreams, complete with a few giggles. I set my phone aside and turned in the bed I’d labeled ‘mine’. Allison was still standing between the beds in the robe. Her bed had not been turned down yet.

“Uh… Allison,” I began. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. I really like you and all, but…”

“Exactly what would the right impression be?”

“That we’re just a couple of friends sharing a room, right?”

“Yes, we’re just a couple sharing a room,” she teased.

“Allison, it’s not…”

“Shut up, Tony.” That brought my eyes up to focus on hers. She held me with a serious look and then, to my amazement and fear, she unfastened her robe and let it fall to the floor.

I can’t deny my body’s reaction to the sight not three feet in front of me. I was too close to take in all of her at one time, but as the robe fell, so did my eyes. Like Lissa, Allison is muscled and toned. She’s an athlete. Her breasts are bigger than Lissa’s. Hell, I think they are bigger than any of the girls’ I’d seen over the past few weeks except Sandra. She has small dark areolae that are high enough on the curve of her breast that the hard nipples almost point toward the ceiling. Beneath these perfect mounds is a flat stomach and deeply indented navel. The swell of her hips and the rise of her mound are a counterpoint to the shape of her bosom. Her landing strip is as precise and neat as the rest of her body, her labia smooth and glistening.

As I looked at her, she slowly turned around, modeling her backside as calmly as if she were a manikin in a store window. Beautiful as her front was, her back was where her real power showed—maybe because there were fewer distractions. She had great muscle definition in her shoulders and back and she flexed her glutes to show that if her butt wiggled, it was definitely on purpose and not the result of uncontrolled fat. I could trace with my eyes the line of muscles I’d drawn in my first sketch of her as she raised on her toes and the muscles in her legs shifted beneath her pale skin. She continued her rotation until she was facing me again.

“So, Tony,” she said casually, “do you see anything you haven’t seen before?”

Well, I’d noticed a small mole just below her left ass-cheek, but I was pretty sure she was referring to the fact that she’d been naked in front of me twice before—once for most of a day. I was working my mouth, but words weren’t coming out.

“Look, guy, I’m here as a substitute for Lissa. I’m going to do my best for you like Lissa does. I may not be her, but I’ll still do whatever is necessary. Now, as your coach, exactly how much sex do you normally have before a competition?”

I thought back to Tempe, the only competition I’d been in since I started having sex at all. Lissa had been firm in not having sex before the match. I had my defense.

“I never have sex before a match,” I said with relief.

“And that is exactly how much you can expect to have tonight,” Allison said firmly. She reached behind her and took her t-shirt off the bed. She slipped it over her head and pulled it down. It only reached her waist. Yes, her magnificent tits were covered, but that landing strip was like an arrow pointing to the Promised Land.

“Tony.”

“Huh?”

“You’re still staring at my pussy.”

Well, Christ, Allison! It’s right at eye level. If it was any closer, I’d need reading glasses. What do you expect? Okay. I needed to get myself in focus and lighten up a bit.

“Oh yeah. Well, you see, Melody’s always talking about you being a girl with real balls and I was just checking to see if I’d missed something.” We laughed and the tension left the room. What a relief! She turned toward her bed and pulled the covers down, bending so that I had an absolutely clear view from the other side.

“Well?” she asked as she crawled into her bed. “Find anything?”

“No… but… don’t you wear panties or something to bed?” She finally pulled the covers up and my eyes started to settle back into my head.

“Naw. After having been exceptionally naughty and wantonly displaying all my womanly charms to a horny guy a few feet away from me, I might need emergency access before I can get to sleep,” she said, turning out the light. “’Night!”

That definitely wasn’t meant to make my night more relaxing. In fact, I ended up soothing myself quietly in the bed across from her, imagining exactly what kind of emergency she might be experiencing as I came in my shorts.

Five

In the morning, Allison was all business, and she proved herself an efficient coach/manager. We were up early and headed for United Center where the Bulls play basketball and the Blackhawks play hockey. They bring in big boxes to set up each racquetball court complete with floor and ceiling. The one at center court was Plexiglass so spectators could sit around on three sides. The end wall was solid. With the seating pulled back to the hockey boundaries, there was room to set up twelve courts, plus an open area in the middle for the glass box. Tempe was great, but this was massive and unbelievable. Only half the courts were fully set and operational when we got there at half past eight and they were already full with athletes who were there early.

Registration went smoothly as far as I was concerned. Allison just told the person at the desk that Coach Grant was sick and she’d been sent by SCU to fill in for her. Since racquetball is a club sport and not an official NCAA sport, there’s no clear demarcation about who is and isn’t qualified to be a coach. I could have brought Mr. Miyagi. In addition to the rigidly set times on the official courts, six local athletic clubs had facilities available for practice and even some matches. With more than 350 competitors in town, court time was at a premium. The practice schedule was already set and we discovered my court reservation was not only at a club miles away, it was twenty minutes ago.

Then I saw Allison go into action.

“This is not acceptable. You can’t assign a practice session before registration opens in the morning.”

“All the athletes currently on the courts had practice before registration opened. We just got them in and they register afterward.”

“And how did they know to be here at that time?”

“They were all notified.”

“Tony Ames was not notified.”

“We sent the information to his coach.”

“His coach is ill.”

“Not our problem.”

“Do you know who his coach is?” That stopped the conversation. The registration person shuffled through the papers.

“Someone named Lissa Grant,” the woman said. She looked blankly at Allison.

“Would you please call someone to the registration table who knows racquetball?” Allison said coolly.

“There’s really no need,” the woman answered. “There’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

“I’ll call the tournament director then. I have his private number,” Allison said, pulling out her cell phone. “Unless you can get someone over here with some authority.” The woman looked at Allison carefully and got up from the desk. She was out of her depth and knew it. They didn’t hire her to deal with this kind of crap. She was only supposed to take names and issue credentials.

“I’ll go get my supervisor,” she said as she left.

“Tony! How are you, man?”

I turned around to see who in the world would know I even existed. I found myself face-to-face with Karl Higgendorfer, the reigning A-division champ.

“Oh… hey, Karl. Good to see you.” We shook hands. We hadn’t said much to each other in Tempe and I was surprised that he even recognized me here.

“You getting ready for your practice court?”

“Trying. They tell me my practice court is in someplace called Cicero and it was twenty minutes ago,” I said, trying to make light of it.

“No way! Is the Ice Queen with you? She’ll rip them a new one,” Karl laughed.

“Unfortunately she’s sick, but Allison’s doing a damn good job on my behalf.”

Karl looked around me and noticed Allison for the first time. They held each other’s eyes for a moment and I could see Allison fighting not to smile at Karl.

“Al-li-son?” he drew her name out emphasizing every syllable. “What have you got yourself into?”

“Hey Karl. I’m substitute Ice Queen today,” Allison answered. She was no longer able to hold back the smile and stepped up to Karl. They hugged like old friends.

“Tony, I heard it was this girl who got you in trouble in Tempe. You trust her here?” Karl asked.

“We’ve gotten to know each other a little better since Tempe,” I said. “Lissa picked her to chaperone me in Chicago.”

The registration lady was back with an official looking guy in a sports coat and open collared blue shirt. He had a tag on that said STAFF. He pulled us aside and Karl stepped up to the table to register.

“I’m sorry,” STAFF said. “I don’t know how this could have happened, except that Tony is unseeded and it’s pretty automatic to send them to the furthest clubs. We sent Ms. Grant an email on Saturday telling her to take her athlete directly to the club and just give his name for admission.”

Allison explained that Lissa had been sick and unable to look at email over the weekend. My phone vibrated as Allison was explaining and, appropriately enough, it was a message from Lissa. It just said, “Sick sick sick. Glad you aren’t here!” I showed it to Allison and she turned it so STAFF could see it.

“Please express my sympathy and good wishes to Ms. Grant,” he said. “Let me see what I can find later in the day. We may have had a cancellation or a late flight. This will take me a few minutes. We nodded and I turned around to almost plow into Karl.

“I’ve got an idea,” Karl said, “if you guys don’t mind. I heard what happened. I’ve got court time for an hour at eleven. Why don’t you join me?” I looked at him blankly.

“Me?” I squeaked. Karl laughed at me and turned to Allison.

“Ms. Perkins, I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to play against your boy here in Tempe. I’ve beaten Rob Snyder every time we’ve met. While I was watching Tony play in the semis I thought sure I was going to get some fresh meat for the finals. Really a tough break with the ankle.” He turned to me. “Fully recovered?”

That was a preview of Model Student 3: Diva. To read the rest purchase the book.

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