Mindy closed up her shirt as they reached campus, and Selene put Excalibur away with a pout. No one had gotten an orgasm, but they seemed pleased with their fun. They dropped Selene off first at the campus bookstore, then Rani and Mindy at their dorm. Each time the girl would get out of the car, grab her bag from the trunk, and head off with a blown kiss to Arthur and a wave to the others. Kat smirked.
“Okay, where to, Miss?” Arthur asked with a smirk and a glance in the rearview mirror.
“The library. I have work at the tutoring center.” Kat sighed.
“You got it.” Arthur nodded and pulled away from the dorm. The library wasn’t far away and shared a parking lot with the admin building where Arthur worked. Kat wasn’t sure if he had work or class first, but she didn’t pry. She didn’t care, really. She just wanted to try and think of something to say to break the silence that was starting to feel awkward now that the others weren’t here to distract Arthur.
“I’m uh… looking forward to tonight.” Kat said, finally.
“I am too.” Arthur smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “Do you want to grab dinner at the cafeteria before our session tonight? Give us something normal to do before I take you home and show you the ropes?”
Kat rolled her eyes at the pun. Arthur was nearly as bad as Selene. She was so busy disdaining it that she forgot to answer and realized he was waiting for one when she looked up and saw his eyes in the mirror.
“Sure.” Kat shrugged. “But… can it be just the two of us? Maybe we can get dinner at the cafe instead or somewhere not on campus?”
Arthur seemed to think about it for a moment, but only a moment. “Of course.” He said with a nod. “You want to go somewhere nice or somewhere just okay?”
“Somewhere nice.” Kat answered. “Spoil me a little, and I might show you how good a girl I can be.” She teased him but judging from the look in his eyes, she wouldn’t regret it.
“Somewhere nice it is.” Arthur answered.
He parked the car and opened the door for Kat before she stepped out, which she appreciated. He retrieved his bag from the trunk and passed her hers as she approached the back of the car to join him.
“Should I meet you here for dinner?” Kat asked.
“No.” Arthur shook his head. “Meet me at the doors up there.” He pointed up to the doors by the library entrance. “I’ll drive up and pick you up.”
“Oh. Okay.” Kat said with a nod. “What time?” Kat asked.
“Five.” Arthur answered.
“Okay. Well, uh… have fun at work, Sir.” Kat said. She couldn’t resist the chance to get one last tease in.
“You too.” Arthur smirked. He seemed hesitant as if he wasn’t sure if he should hug her farewell or not. Kat mimicked the others and blew him a kiss as she walked away. He watched her go momentarily and then headed up to the other entrance where he worked. Kat turned her attention back to the library.
The tutoring center in the library was off to the side, away from the silent sections but closer to the tables laid out for group study sessions and meetings. Few people utilized it at this time of day, but commuters and others were always looking for help.
Kat clocked in and got to work on her homework in the back corner, interrupting it with tutoring others, primarily by looking over their work and providing editorial services. It wasn’t an overly laborious job. The trickiest part was figuring out the idiosyncrasies of the different professors and styling each paper or assignment to match their quirks in addition to standard grammar. Still, she had multiple cheat sheets at the ready.
She was in the habit of turning her phone notifications off at work, so she didn’t see any until she was packing up to leave for lunch. She pulled her phone from her purse and checked to see that she had several. The Harem Chat was popping off with notifications.
Kelly asked how things went last night, and Selene, Mindy, and Rani took turns informing her of everything. Selene’s job was pretty standard retail, so she had a lot of time to stand around and wait for customers to come in at this time of day. Kat didn’t know what Mindy and Rani’s schedules were like.
She also had a notification from Katelyn, her friend on the intramural volleyball team and Kelly’s roommate.
Kate:
Girl. Kelly just told me what’s up with her and her boyfriend, and apparently your boyfriend too? What the fuck is happening right now? Has the world gone insane?
Katerine read the text and sighed. She didn’t know how to respond to it right now, so she didn’t. She checked her other messages instead.
Mom:
What’s this I hear from your landlord about the two of you moving?
Kat sighed and started texting her mother back as she walked from the library to the cafeteria for lunch.
Kat:
We found a deal to rent a house with some friends of ours. Cheaper rent, better place, safer area, semester-long lease instead of month to month, so everyone wins.
Mom:
You didn’t think to ask me about it first?
Kat:
I didn’t think we needed to? I thought you’d be proud of us for taking the initiative to get better housing for cheaper.
Mom:
And who are you moving in with?
Kat:
Some girlfriends of ours.
Mom:
No boys?
Kat:
Everyone renting is female, don’t worry.
She knew it was a lie by omission but didn’t care. There was no way she would explain to their mother that she and Selene were moving in with their shared boyfriend to his parent’s house. She had no idea how they would keep it from their mom long-term, but… she didn’t need to know. And she was across the state. So they would figure something out by the time they had to deal with her wanting to visit.
Mom:
Good. When are you moving?
Kat:
Before the end of the month. Hopefully, next week over fall break. I have to make sure Selene starts packing soon.
Mom:
Oh. I’d hoped you’d come home for Fall Break.
Kat:
Sorry. I don’t think we’ll be able to with the move.
Mom:
Well, how is your sister doing? Is she keeping up with her schoolwork?
Kat:
Honestly? She’s been slacking on her homework, but she’s set apart sometime tonight to dig in and get it done.
Mom:
Good. See that she does.
Kat:
Of course.
Mom:
Love you.
Kat:
I love you too.
She knew Selene would have said something like Luv u 2, at least to someone else, but Kat had never brought herself to text with chatspeak. She texted in complete sentences with proper grammar. She was an English major, and she couldn’t help it. Not that Selene would ever text that to their mom. The two of them got along about as well as two wet cats, and it was easy for Kat to see why. For one, they were too similar in personality sometimes, and for two, their mom was a bitch sometimes, and Selene was too rebellious against her rules. It was almost amusing, then, that Kat was the one who’d earned the nickname “Brat.”
She didn’t look up from her phone until she got to the cafeteria and heard her name. She looked up to see Katelyn in the line ahead of her and waved. To her surprise, Katelyn shuffled out of the line and dropped to the back to stand beside her.
“Hey.” Kate said quickly. “Can we talk?”
“Sure. How are you?” Kat asked.
The look on Katelyn’s face was one of surprise and a touch of anger. “I’m good. I was worried because I didn’t hear back from you this morning.” Kate explained.
“Oh, I was at work.” Kat explained. “And then got pulled into a text convo with my mom. You know how she is.”
“Right.” Kate nodded and stepped forward as the line moved. “So…”
“So.” Kat said, curious to see if Kate would be brave enough to broach the topic she so clearly wanted to ask about in the middle of a public mind. She was.
“So you, your sister, Kelly, and two other girls are all dating the same dick?” Kate asked.
Kat sighed as a few heads in front of them in line turned their way and then turned back, pretending they weren’t listening. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”
“The same dick who was over at my place last weekend?” Kate asked.
“For his date with Kelly, yeah.” Kat nodded.
“Okay, but… why?” Kate asked. “You could date other guys if you wanted to, so why Kelly’s guy?”
“He’s not-” Kat started to protest his designation as “Kelly’s Guy,” but she knew it wouldn’t be any use. She also knew Katelyn and her ex-boyfriend had broken up for his cheating on her, so she wasn’t in the most receptive or accepting place right now. “Well, it’s… complicated.” Kat started. “But uh… maybe this isn’t the place to hash out my love life. You know?” She looked ahead at the people with the faux decency to continue pretending not to eavesdrop.
“Katerine.” Katelyn said sternly. “I’ve been dying to talk to you about all this. Kelly wants us to move in with this asshole. You’re dating him. Selene’s dating him. Kelly’s dating him. And seems totally fine with this whole… arrangement. She’s been really excited about it and him for days now. And I’m just… scared for her. For you. I’m freaking out.”
Kat sighed. “Fine. But… can it wait until I at least hit the salad bar?”
Katelyn rolled her eyes and stamped her foot. It was a cute little gesture of frustration from the tall, willowy, and coltish brunette. Even in flats, she was nearly a foot taller than Katerine, who had to look up at her as they spoke. She was flat everywhere Kat was round, but she had the Taylor Swift build of a little flare at the hips, a slight bump in her upper torso for her breasts, and long legs that still made her attractive, especially in short skirts, shorts, or dresses. Her ex-boyfriend had cheated on her with a girl who looked a little more like her roommate, Kelly.
“Come on.” Kat said, taking her hand. “Take a breath. I promise everything is above-board and okay.”
Katelyn huffed. “That’s what Kelly said too. I don’t know how you can be so… so okay with it. He could be making out with Kelly right now, for all you know. Doesn’t that bother you?”
Kat shrugged. “No, not really.” She was surprised to find it was actually true. The idea of Arthur making out with the others didn’t bother her. Seeing them get the attention she wasn’t getting might set her off, though. She wasn’t sure. The bit of jealousy she had the other day was him fucking some bitch she didn’t know. Someone not in their circle that she couldn’t trust to have her back in their arrangement.
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