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It was a fairly normal Friday. Gary decided that he needed to visit a couple of the art stores and replenish some of his supplies. Nothing out of the ordinary there, he typically did a run at least once a month and he preferred to spend his money locally rather than order everything online. Not to say he didn’t keep a good eye on the pricing and occasionally stock up on something that was on a good online sale, but most of the usual stuff was available at decent prices on the shelves. There was just something about shelves full of art supplies and bins full of pencils that made him happy. And, he admitted to himself, it actually forced him to interact with real people. It wasn’t that he didn’t like people, but he had gotten so out of the habit, It was almost as if his brain didn’t want to make the effort anymore. And he knew he had to get a lot better at it and soon.

There were certain items that he would get at the big hobby stores and there was usually a sale on some item or another that was good. He had to drive to get to them, they weren’t located downtown.

But he always made the local art store his last stop, he could walk there from his studio. It was close to the art school, so there were always students there, picking up the materials for their latest assignment. And because there were students as regular patrons, picking up known supplies for specific classes, the store would often have package deals with all the items needed for a particular class. And Gary would often pick up one or two of those when they matched his media needs.

Today he was hoping they had some ink sticks in stock. It was a hit or miss type item not required for any of the main classes and only used by students taking an elective or working on a special project. And never carried by the big stores.

He came around the corner to find the aisle occupied by a young woman. Well, he assumed she was young from her outfit, the woman part was quite obvious. She was wearing tall black boots with chunky soles. Black stockings with bats climbed her legs and disappeared under a black and white schoolgirl plaid skirt. That was topped by a white blouse peeping out from behind a short black leather like jacket. Straight black hair fell just below her shoulders and she was wearing black fingerless gloves in leather, with spikes across the back. She was probably average height, the boots adding a couple inches. She was perusing the inks.

Gary moved to that area, as that was where he had found the ink sticks before. He was looking across the shelves, looking for the small boxes they normally were found in. He was about to give up and resign himself to buying a small bottle of the pre-mixed ink and order the sticks online when he spotted a handful of the small boxes behind the pint size bottles of ink.

Reaching behind the bottles he extracted the boxes and looked at them. There were two brands there, the price difference between them was almost $2 a stick. He opened the box of the cheaper one and took a big whiff.

The sound caught the attention of the girl and she looked at him puzzled. After taking a good smell, Gary made a face. Then he opened the more expensive box, repeating the process, only this time he smiled.

“What are you doing?” Gary was startled, he had sort of forgotten someone else was there.

“I’m smelling the ink.” He looked at her and found himself looking at a pair of light brown eyes, they were almost gold. The white face with the black eye liner, black lipstick and black eyebrows completed the picture of a typical goth and it was underlined with a black choker with some rather nasty looking spikes. There was a single piercing on one of her eyebrows, a simple gold bar over her right eye.

“Does it make a difference what it smells like?” He caught a flash of gold in her mouth, probably a tongue stud.

“Well of course it does! Here, close your eyes and smell this.” He placed the first box under her nose. “What do you smell?”

“Um, it sort of smells like exhaust.”

“Exactly! Now smell this one!”

She took a big whiff from the second box and opened her eyes in surprise. The smile that came with it seemed contrary to every statement her outfit was making. “Pine! That smells like pine!”

“It does! The cheap ones are made with the cheapest materials they can find. In this case, they probably burned old car tires to create the soot, mix with a binder and press it into sticks. The pine one was made using pine wood and pitch to create the soot. I’ll always take pine over exhaust fumes!”

“So how do you use them?”

“I use it for sumi-e, you probably touched on it in one of your first year classes. Traditional Chinese and Japanese art form? You use an ink stone to grind the stick with water and make black ink. And you want the pine because the aroma is part of the centering process of making the ink. Apply it with a brush to traditional rice/mulberry paper.”

Now that she was facing him, he could see that she was pretty cute. The white blouse was tied in a knot to reveal her belly button, complete with a jewel encrusted bat. It also emphasized her cleavage, which was certainly above average.

“So, you do sumi-e paintings?”

“Well, I’ve learned most of the traditional topics, the four gentlemen and the seasons. I’m still trying to find something a bit new and different.”

“Me, too! Well, for my senior project, I have to come up with some original art, something I have envisioned and created. I like the idea of ink on paper, but just haven’t found something that hits me. Do you think you could teach me some sumi-e?”

Gary looked at her. She was certainly out of his league when it came to looks, and Goth Girls weren’t typically interested in the artsy types, but she was an artist. He decided to go for broke.

“I can certainly show you how it works and you can look over my portfolio to see if it gives you any ideas. How about we go up the street and get a cup of coffee? If you’re finished here!”

“I’d like that!” The smile broke through again, dispelling a lot of the dark side.

“Let me cash out here and we’ll go!”

Gary floated to the cash register. He’d actually asked a girl out for coffee and she said yes! If she was looking at her senior project, she was probably only a couple years younger than he was. He wouldn’t describe himself as good looking, but he was in good shape. After making his purchase they walked up the street together.

“I’m Gary, by the way!”

“Oh, yeah, hi, Gary! I’m Crystal!”

It didn’t take long before they were sitting at a hightop at the coffee shop with a beverage and huddled over Gary’s phone. He showed her some of his portfolio of sumi-e paintings. He didn’t know at that point that their conversation was probably the longest she had been a part of for years. Despite the Goth look, she was quite pleasant to talk with and she was scrolling through his pictures with her black nails. One of them had a bat in the design. And it hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Oh , I have an idea for you!”

“What?”

“Okay, you can see from the examples that a large part of sumi-e is what isn’t there. It’s almost as if you are painting the shadows and letting the imagination fill in the rest! Well, what if you did something like this?” He pulled up a picture and went into edit mode. After a series of changes and adjustments, he showed her the image.

“What if instead of black on white, you did it white on black?”

Crystal seemed to freeze. Gary knew the look and knew that her mind was racing away at light speed evaluating all the possibilities. He was even blown away about the things that could be done that way and the opportunities.

She eventually came back to reality and looked at him with her mouth open. “That is brilliant! I am so glad that I met you today! I can’t even see the end of this. I’m going to be able to provide my ideas to the professor without a problem. I owe you big time!”

“If I hadn’t met you today, I would never have come up with it! But if I do anything along these lines, I will keep it entirely under wraps until you have presented your project.”

“Why?”

“Well, um, I do know a lot of the faculty at your school.”

“Really? Wait, are you a graduate?”

“Not from here, but a similar school in Detroit. And I’ve been talking with a lot of the folks at your school.”

“Care to elaborate, or do I have to interrogate you?”

“Okay, okay, but you’ve gotta keep it quiet! Promise?”

“Promise!” Her eager face made her seem more like a schoolgirl than the Goth chick she was dressed as.

“Okay, so you know Professor Jamison?”

“Yeah, I had him for Intro to Media, first year.”

“Have you heard that he’s retiring at the end of this year?”

“Sure, at least that’s the rumor going around.”

He didn’t say anything and she looked at him. It didn’t take too long for her to piece it together. “You?”

“Me. They let me know last month and I’ve been learning the ropes. I’m learning the admin side of things right now as well as sitting in Jamison’s class. I’ll teach my first class next semester. Then in the Fall I’ll be teaching Intro to Media.”

“Wow. Um, so how old are you? You hardly seem old enough to be a professor.”

“Technically, I’ve been hired as an associate professor. When I finish my masters from the university at the end of this semester I’ll be promoted to assistant professor. Then it will take some time to make full professor with tenure. Oh, and I just turned 25.”

“So what class are you teaching next semester?”

“I think you could guess!”

“Really? You’re going to teach a class on Sumi-e? Hmm, I think I need to take that!”

Gary swallowed hard, he quickly thought about the information he knew and decided to go for broke. “Um, I wish you wouldn’t.”

“What! Why not?”

“Because a professor isn’t allowed to date a student.”

Crystal went completely silent, staring at the phone screen sitting on the table. She felt the wall of her social anxiety starting to close in on her. Finally she said “You would go out with a Goth Girl?”

“My primary qualification to ask someone out is that I think they are pretty. You easily meet the qualification for pretty. The second is that we have identified some common interest. And we do seem to share some of the same interests. You are a few years younger than me, I know you have to be at least 20, but I’d say probably 22 or 23, you seem a bit more mature than most college girls, though you do have a streak of childish glee in you when something really resonates.”

Crystal looked over at him checking him out up and down as she chewed on her lip. He was a good height and had a healthy build. Even though he was wearing a rather loose jungle shirt, it was tight enough she could see he wasn’t overweight. The forearms looked pretty strong and he hadn’t gotten winded as they walked up the hill to the coffee shop. Brown hair, brown eyes and a nice smile seemed to top things off. And he was still sporting a nice tan a month into the fall semester.

She’d gotten into the Goth culture in high school as a group she felt she could fit into, it helped avoid a lot of the complications of just being a high school student, she could appear to be outside the norms without totally alienating the rest of the world. It was a coping mechanism for her social anxiety that seemed to work. By the time she started college she was comfortable with the persona she had created and just kept it going, but every once in a while when she was comfortable with the person she was talking to she would slip and drop it.

“I owe you! So I will take you out to dinner this evening as a thank you. Do I need to come pick you up someplace?”

“Hey, I asked you out!”

“Um no, you didn’t, let me replay that, no, no, you mentioned dating, you correctly identified some common interests we have, you put out an estimated age on me, I’m 22 by the way, but nope, no invitation for dinner or any sort of date. So I beat you to it!” Gary liked the touch of sarcasm in her voice, everything she had said indicated a pretty smart individual.

He laughed, “Okay, you win! I’m slow and not too sure of things when talking with pretty ladies, so don’t be too hard on me! I have a combination studio and apartment in The Lofts just down the street.”

She picked up his phone and added herself to the contact list before sending herself a text and the picture he had manipulated. “There. Text me your address and I’ll meet you there at 6:30 and we can walk to dinner. Any type of food you don’t like or are allergic to?”

“I’m good with pretty much anything.”

“I gotta go, but I will see you this evening!” And she was gone, popping off the stool and was gone before he could even say yes. In one respect he was glad, as he never could figure out how to end conversations, particularly with women. But he did admire the way her skirt flipped around her butt as she swirled out the door.

————————–

She felt sick to her stomach as she almost ran back to the dorm. Crystal was one of the few seniors that still lived in the single large dorm on campus. It was just so much easier to get to class on time and it avoided having to deal with transportation. No roommates to worry about. And there was a lot less partying going on in the dorms, so less pressure to deal with.

But when she got to the dorm and took the elevator to her floor she just sort of collapsed in the lounge with her face buried in her hands. She was excited about the ideas running through her head for the senior project, but a bit overwhelmed with the idea of going on a date. Most of her social interactions had been as part of a group. And her few sexual encounters had all been rather hazy experiences with lots of alcohol involved.

Marlene came through the lounge, “Hey, Goth Girl, are you okay?”

Crystal jumped. “Oh, yeah, I suppose so.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, um, I have a date tonight! I have no idea what you do on a date! I’ve always gone out with a group of people, never one on one!”

“Wow! Never gone out on a date? So who asked you out, do I know them?”

Crystal moaned, “I asked him out! I don’t know what I was thinking! But he was so nice!”

“Well that answers that question. Alright, let’s figure this out. Look, it really doesn’t matter, but, are you experienced sexually?”

She shrugged, “I’ve had sex. It just usually involves a lot of alcohol and splitting off from the group for a bit.”

“Let me get some of the other girls out here, we can help you with this!”

It didn’t take long for a dozen girls to surround Crystal. They asked lots of questions, including finding out her real name, about where they were going, what brought the two of them together, and how did she see the evening ending. Before she knew it they had her in the bathroom, using a depilatory on her legs, helping to wash her hair and getting her all cleaned up.

The biggest question was what was she going to wear? Her date had only seen her in Goth, so half the group was all for staying with that, maybe he was into that. The other half was looking at a softer sort of look. They opened her room and started ***********ing things. Eventually they agreed that she should stay with the Goth outfits, but include something more colorful such as a blouse and a color palette for her make-up, definitely not black lipstick and go much lighter on the eyeliner. The shoes ***********ed were black ankle boots. The stockings were sheer black with a nice geometric design on them. A leather miniskirt with a nice chain belt was topped by a red blouse, opened to show off her cleavage with hints of the black bra in a supporting role. Several of the girls helped her with her makeup, using a dark red lipstick rather than something bright, keeping with the Goth scene. They softened her eyebrows a bit with a brown pencil rather than black, used a light eyeliner with some hints of red in it and just a touch of blush. They added some curls to her hair to give a softer look. When done they all agreed that she looked amazing and any guy that didn’t like it didn’t deserve her. No gloves this time and they tied a thin red ribbon around her throat instead of a choker.

During the whole time they carried on a running commentary, about things to talk about, subjects she should probably avoid, and don’t drink too much. A couple of them decided that they were going to go to the restaurant and sit at the bar and have a couple drinks, so there was a safety net she could run to if she panicked or things went really badly.

Crystal looked at herself in the mirror. There was no question it was her. She liked the look, it was certainly different from her normal self, but it was a special occasion and the changes seemed to reflect it properly without going to extremes. They had ruled out anything with spikes. Only the red blouse seemed to conflict with her normal wear and the ankle boots were her usual class wear, though usually with black jeans and someone appeared to have polished them up. When Gary had texted his address to her, all the girls had jumped on the phone, but were disappointed that there were no pictures involved.

Several of the girls added their contact information to her phone and told her to call or text if she needed help. They even double checked that her phone was charged, the lipstick was in her small over the shoulder purse and went so far as to slip a couple of condoms in and double checked that her ID and credit cards were there. Crystal was overwhelmed by how nice all the girls were being to her. They hardly knew who she was, but were spending their time helping her out. And weren’t judging her at all, just doing what they could to help.

She nervously walked the three blocks to the apartment building. Part of the way Bella and Sheryl were with her, peeling off to head to the restaurant bar if she needed them. In the apartment lobby she pushed the button for his apartment and the door to the elevator lobby buzzed open. She arrived at his door and after taking a deep breath, she knocked.

Gary had been waiting with some anticipation. He hoped she wouldn’t back out, while there was a part of him that wouldn’t have minded. When the buzzer went he quickly pushed the release button and checked himself out in the mirror. He had decided to go with a darker theme, to match a bit better with her Goth style. He had a light gray shirt and a dark gray jacket. After a great deal of debate with himself, he had finally put on a dark blue tie. Black pants with his black boots and he was set. He had to hold himself back and not run to the door when he heard the knock. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and froze.

It took a few moments before either one of them moved.

“Wow!”

She actually blushed. She wasn’t used to being looked at this way, not as the freaky Goth, but it was quite obvious that he liked what he was seeing.

A few moments more of staring at each other and he finally moved. “Oh, please, come in! I think I want to make one change before we leave!”

He held the door open for her. “Just wait here a minute!” He dashed to the bedroom and returned quickly, holding a couple of red ties. He held them up next to her blouse and took the one that most closely matched. A couple of quick flips and the blue tie joined the others on the counter and a few motions and he settled the red tie under his neck. “There, better?”

She smiled and straightened the tie a bit. “Better!”

And as if drawn by a magnet, they kissed. It wasn’t a hard passionate tonsil dive or even a quick peck. It was a nice gentle connection and they were both smiling when they pulled away.

“I think not being able to take your class is going to be a good trade off!”

“I think you are right!”

They went down the elevator and hit the streets, Crystal setting the direction. And after a bit of silence she pulled one of the suggested questions up in her brain, “So, you’ve seen me in two outfits, which do you like best?”

“Oh, so you’re going to give me one of those test questions right off the bat? Okay, I like them both. I think it has more to do with who is wearing them than what they are wearing. I will say I like the shorter boots, more leg showing. I love patterned stockings, it doesn’t really matter what the pattern is, they draw attention to the legs. I think both skirts were pretty sweet, this one shows more contour, but the other one was more of a tease. Both blouses do a nice job of, ah, shall we say, showing off your assets. I like dark lipstick of any shade. This shade appears to be a bit more approachable. And let’s face it, none of it matters once you flash those golden eyes with a smile.”

She looked at him. “You know, you’re pretty good at that. I think you’ve done it before, which in one respect really worries me.”

Gary laughed, “Think more along the lines of I’ve learned from a very long series of mistakes!”

Crystal stopped and looked behind them. “You know, those buildings would make a good background. Here!” She pulled out her phone and lined the two of them up before snapping a selfie. “I’ll send you a copy!” and proceeded to share the picture with him as well as sending it to a couple of the girls from the dorm.

Dinner was in an old steak house, one that had been located in the downtown area for over 100 years. The ambiance was great and he went light on his meal, not wanting to strain her budget. He stuck with the draft beer, they had some good ones, so that made him happy. But mostly he enjoyed her company. They talked art, what they liked to make, what they liked to look at. It was without a doubt one of most pleasant evenings he had spent in several years, certainly since he had started grad school.

She wouldn’t let him split the bill with her, but after pushing she agreed to let him take care of the tip. They had spent a good two hours at the table by this point, so he was pretty generous with the amount.

“Look, Crystal, I’m not really ready to end the evening at this point, I’m enjoying your company too much. But I don’t know that we want to push things along too fast. How about we walk over to the English Pub and I’ll buy you a drink, and then walk you back to the dorm. I can’t very well hang out in the dorms if I’m on the faculty. Believe me, the next two semesters could be a bit tricky.”

“I think you are probably right. My brain tells me that you are right. My body is telling me some other things though. Let me check on something and I’ll be right back.”

He watched her walk away, admitting to himself that her ass was pretty spectacular, just the right size for her. She stopped at the bar and talked with a pair of girls sitting there before returning.

“Okay, let me tell you what happened this afternoon. I went back to the dorm after leaving you in the coffee shop. I sort of fell apart. Look, believe it or not, this is really the first date I’ve ever gone on. Everything I did in high school was with groups of six or more people. I haven’t even been to a party here.” She summarized the events of the afternoon. “Those two are part of the gang that helped me out. I was terrified, but they bucked me up and supported me. And made sure I felt I had a way out if I needed it. I have never felt uncomfortable with you at any time or been anything other than happy. So, you are going to take the three of us to the pub and buy us a drink. Then the three girls will walk back to the dorm together.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good support system going!”

“They were amazing! But, please, I need you to actually do what you started this afternoon.”

“What did I start to do?”

“You were slow on the uptake and I beat you to draw.”

“Got it! Miss Crystal, may I take you out to dinner tomorrow?” To his surprise, she didn’t answer him right away.

“I will go to dinner with you, but I don’t think I want to wait that long to see you again. How about we do something tomorrow afternoon before dinner, too? They have a new exhibit at the art museum. And I want to talk about my project!”

They moved over to the bar and Crystal introduced him to Bella and Sheryl. They gave him a pretty good going over with their eyes as they closed their tab and the four of them walked a block and a half over to the English style pub. It was actually fairly quiet and they were able to slide into a booth after placing their orders at the bar. Crystal sat next to him and pressed in tight, at one point she took his hand and placed it on her thigh, right at the edge of her skirt. The contrast between her warm skin and the cool leather was pretty sensual and he worked hard to keep his cool. He wanted to grab her and take her back to his place, but given the personal experience she had shared, he knew he had to go slow. He did a bit of gentle caressing. He didn’t want to scare her off and certainly didn’t want to seem like an animal in front of her friends.

It was almost midnight when they decided it was time to leave. Gary walked the three of them to the edge of campus. They looked at each other for a moment and then he stepped in and kissed her. There was definitely more passion in this one than that first one in the apartment and their tongues made contact. He even bycasino felt the tongue stud that was there. But he held back from going too deep, just enough to convince her that he wanted her. Then he stood and watched them until they reached the door to the dorm. With a wave he headed back to his own place.

Crystal felt giddy. She had gone out on a date with a really nice guy. He had been an almost perfect gentleman, but had crossed the line just enough that she knew there was more there and that he was interested in going further. And neither one of them had been drunk.

By the time the three of them arrived on the floor, the lounge had a handful of girls wanting to get all the scoop.

“Let me just say that she picked a good one! And that was a pretty good kiss for the first one!” Bella commented.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly the first one.” A chorus of ooo’s followed with everyone wanting the details. She told them what had happened when he opened the door. They were impressed that he changed ties, agreeing most guys wouldn’t have even noticed the color contrast, had to be the fact he was an artist. And they all agreed that the first kiss was pretty cool and natural and showed a bit of a romantic nature.

“So, are you going to go out again?” Bella didn’t pull any punches.

Crystal blushed. “Yeah. Tomorrow afternoon. I think we’re going to the Art Museum and then to dinner. We’ll work out the details.”

“So, should I text him before I go to bed?” The consensus was ‘of course!’ And there was some discussion of what she should say. But Sheryl whispered something in her ear that made her eyes go a bit wide, but then brought a smile to her face.

Gary was back in the apartment and was actually putting his ties away. If he planned on getting Crystal back here sometime he needed to pay more attention to the neatness factor. He wasn’t normally too bad with things, though his laundry did tend to pile up and he wasn’t very good about taking care of the dishes. His phone chimed an alert and he jumped. He wasn’t used to getting messages and certainly not at this time of night!

He pulled out his phone and saw that it was from Crystal, he had expected that. But he didn’t expect the picture that was attached. “Thank you for a wonderful evening! I’m very excited about tomorrow!” Anyone that saw the photo would not have known who it was, but because his eyes had spent a lot of time checking them out, the rather revealing black bra supporting a pair of large breasts neatly framed by the red blouse obviously belonged to Crystal.

It took a number of tries to compose a response, he didn’t want to come across as creepy or as a prude. He decided against including a photo. “Thank you for dinner and the best date I’ve ever been on! And for what is now my favorite piece of art!”

———————————————

He was up early the next morning. The date kept running through his mind. There were so many ideas and thoughts and images flashing through his brain that he felt he needed to get them out before they burst his head open. He taped four pieces of paper onto his drawing table and began sketching with pencil. He popped back and forth between them as he frantically laid out the start of four different pieces.

An hour later the throbbing in his head reminded him that he hadn’t had any coffee yet. He fired up the coffee machine and five minutes later was standing there sipping from his mug and looking at what he had done. Each of the four pages was labeled in pencil at the top. There were outlines and rough shapes and vanishing points laid out. The first one was labeled, “Goth Girl in the Art Store” and the outline included a row of shelves and the figure standing in front of them. The second was “First Date at the Coffee Shop.” It was a sort of whimsical outline of the coffee shop with some vague figures at tables through the window. The next one was titled simply “At the Door” and was a face framed by the door. The fourth one was the outside of the steak house. Gary sat down his coffee long enough to add a sticky note with “The English Pub” to the row of paper.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent doing laundry, five loads of it. And spent a long time doing dishes and straightening out the apartment. The studio was the only area that didn’t need a lot of work, he kept his supplies and work area pretty well organized. When he needed a break he would work a bit on one of the art pieces he’d laid out earlier.

He dressed a bit more casual than he had the evening before, no tie, but a lightweight sweater and a sportcoat with his jeans and boots. Crystal was a bit less Goth than the last two times he’d seen her. She wore black yoga pants which was unusual, with a number of layers up top, a combination of black lacelike blouse over a white lacy blouse over a black shirt. And it was topped off with a short leather jacket that has some lacy trim on it. Her face makeup was similar to what she wore when he first met her, but without the white base.

They met at the edge of campus and walked the three blocks to the museum. It was considered one of the top art museums in the country, so it had lots going for it. The conversation was pleasant, they learned more about each other, where they grew up, what they’d done in school, what they were hoping to do as they move forward.

“So, how about sushi?”

“Umm, I haven’t ever had sushi, raw fish does not appeal to me at all!”

“Ah ha! And there is the single most common misconception about sushi. Sushi actually refers to the rice and how it is prepared. Let me introduce you to sushi! And I will guarantee that you will not have to eat a single piece of raw fish!”

Gary took her to his favorite sushi place. He was pretty well known there, having lunch and dinner there at least once a week. After getting settled at the small counter, he explained what he wanted in fluent Japanese, she was totally impressed. The plate placed in front of her was beautifully arranged. He explained every item for her. There was a California hand roll, a small roll of kampyo, Crab stick, egg, eel and a couple of pillow inari.

Having introduced her to a new cuisine, they left feeling pretty satisfied from a food perspective.

“So, what would you like to do now? Shall I walk you back to the dorm?”

“I think it’s a bit early for that.” She stopped and he looked at her, she was returning his gaze squarely, though she was chewing on her lower lip. “I think you need to show me your studio.”

“Well, it isn’t much, but I would be delighted to show you the mess that is the center of my creative endeavors.” It didn’t take long for them to walk the couple of blocks to The Lofts and take the elevator up to his place. He opened the door and ushered her in, glad that he had spent a lot of time cleaning that morning.

“Wow, that’s interesting!” She was looking at the large mechanic’s tool chest that was standing in the corner. He had picked it up at an estate sale and used it to store the bulk of his art supplies. The flat drawers were good places to categorize his paints, brushes, pens, pencils. The biggest ones at the bottom were filled with a wide variety of paper and sketchbooks. The doors at the bottom concealed bottles of paint in caddies. On top he had an artist’s box for his ink pens.

She turned to the drawing table and saw the results of his morning creativity. After looking at them she turned to him. “Wow, we’ve been on one date and you are already drawing pictures of me?”

“Mmm, it seems I found a new muse. I think the first one has a lot of potential. The 2nd and 4th ones are going to be fairly easy for me, but the third one is going to be a real challenge. Not sure I can get the eye color right.”

She followed his narrative and spotted the sticky note he had posted at the end. Crystal looked for the note pad and grabbed it and a pencil. Writing on a couple of the notes she added them below the sticky note. He read Art Museum and Sushi on the two she slapped on the table.

“I suppose it would help if you had a live model for the third one?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” She looked at him a bit incredulously.

“Well, it might be a problem, because I might want to do this rather than draw.” He stepped in and with his hand behind her head kissed her, long and deeply. She tasted of sake and ginger, with a touch of salty soy, but she was returning the kiss with as much passion as he was.

He wiggled out of his jacket and helped remove hers, all while trying to maintain lip contact. A few steps and they plopped down onto the couch that served as a divider between his living room area and his studio area. Crystal wiggled around onto his lap facing him, continuing to kiss him as she began peeling off the layers she had one. Gary’s hands were firmly grasping her ass through the yoga paints, kneading the firm flesh that they covered. A couple of layers later she slid them off her arms and sat there with just her bra, the black lacy one she had been wearing when she took the picture the night before.

Gary moaned, his face just inches away from the breast that had been the subject of the photo he had been texted. He pulled his lips away from her long enough to gently kiss the fleshy mounds that were overflowing the two cups. Meanwhile she was trying to get his sweater over his head. Fighting each other with their desire to keep their lips in contact with each other.

He surprised her, standing up with his hands under her butt and started to carry her to the bedroom. He didn’t seem to strain at all as he moved across the room. “Mmm, mmm, wait! My bag!” He stepped around to the counter and she snagged her bag off the top and he proceeded into the bedroom. Gary was really glad he had washed the sheets that morning.

It didn’t take too long for them to strip the rest of their clothes off and she stretched out on the bed. Gary stood there looking at her laying there. The choker was still on, her black hair flowed around her head. Her nipples looked like bright red cherries capping off the top of snow covered peaks. He was almost surprised that there were no piercings on her nipples, but fell to his knees beside her and gently kissed each of the breasts and gave them a small lick before collapsing alongside her and kissing her deeply again. “My god you are beautiful!”

Crystal looked at Gary, the removal of his shirt revealed a pretty impressive physique. He didn’t have a six pack, but his abs were solid, his shoulders were broader than she thought. And his legs, once she got past the rather impressive shaft that was bobbing in the air, were solid and well defined. At this point she thought he had to be the most handsome man she had ever seen.

Gary wasn’t going to wait any longer, he stood up and then flopped down between her legs and buried his face into the junction of her thighs. Her hair matched the black hair on her head. It was neatly trimmed and her legs were smooth. An aroma of female arousal was competing with a touch of pepper as his tongue started to explore her. She gave a deep groan as his cheeks rubbed her inner thighs and his nose parted her mound and his tongue began to slide deeper and deeper. It took only a couple of minutes before Crystal was thrashing around the bed, making it difficult for him to continue with his ministrations, but he held tight and a minute or so later she locked up tight, squeezing his head between her thighs as she shuddered and screamed.

“Damn, girl! That seemed to hit the spot for you!”

“Oh my god!”

He curled up with her and gently stroked her hair as her breathing settled down and she relaxed.

“Look Gary, I am not a virgin, but no one has ever done anything like that for me before! Or if they did, I don’t remember! Every encounter I’ve had before has involved large amounts of alcohol and some of them probably involved some drugs. It is probably one of the reasons I haven’t gone out on a date in years and sex has never been a driving need for me. But I think you may have changed that!”

She reached over and grabbed her bag, and after digging around for a minute pulled out a condom. “My friends have been making sure I’m up to date on all the important stuff!” She was still pretty shaky, so he took the condom and opened it, sliding it onto his very rigid shaft. Crystal was looking at the pole rising from his groin. It wasn’t huge, just short of seven inches, but he’d never had anyone complain about it, unless they were trying to swallow it.

“I think you need to be in full control at this point. So I’m going to do my very best to just lay here and let you control the depth and speed of what happens next. I know whatever you do, it is going to feel amazing to me.”

She kissed him and slowly rolled over on top of him. It took her a couple of tries to get him started, but her orgasm had provided more than enough lubrication. With a slow rocking motion he was being worked into her tight tunnel. He was enjoying the feeling, but even more he was loving the expression on her face as she settled down. Once she had buried him in herself, he reached up and began fondling her large breasts. Gary was doing everything he could to prolong the pleasure. Keeping his eyes closed was a big help, removing the stimulus of the jiggle of her nipples, the flipping of her dark hair against the pale skin, the tip of her tongue peaking out between her dark lips.

Her breathing was starting to increase and the sound of her thighs slapping on his pushed him over the edge, his back arched up and he unloaded into the condom, which had no hope of holding that amount. He was glad she was on top, otherwise it would have all run right into her. He reached down and was intending to fix the condom in place so he could pull out, but his fingers encountered the top of her slit and rubbed against her clitoris and it pushed her over the edge again. Crystal collapsed on him making little mewing sounds. Working carefully he got them untangled and got himself up. Grabbing a couple of towels he cleaned things up as best he could. He worked the sheets back and got her under them and tucked her in nicely. He grabbed a water and set it by the bed and then hit the shower. Drying himself off he saw a pair of eyes looking at him from the bed.

“Hey you! That was pretty amazing!”

She smiled, “It was! What time is it?”

“It’s not quite 8 yet.”

“That early? I feel like it’s 2 in the morning!”

“Well, multiple orgasms will have that effect on the body.”

“So, how did you hide that incredibly handsome body from me?”

“I suspect it was some distraction, such as those golden eyes of yours preventing me from recognizing what an amazing ass you have! Want to get cleaned up before we head back to your dorm?”

She looked at him for a minute. “Do I have to go?”

“Not on my account! I’d be delighted to have a sleepover with you! Anyone going to care if you aren’t back tonight?”

Crystal giggled. “Well, there are likely to be some folks waiting in the lounge to get the dish on our second date! Oh, and last night, Belle made the comment that she thought the kiss we shared was a pretty good first kiss for a date! I then confessed that it wasn’t our first. They were quite impressed hearing about the real first kiss and that you actually changed your tie to match me.”

“Well, you better let someone know so they don’t come hunting me down!”

She pulled her phone out of the bag and started clicking away. “Oh! Um, I have an idea! Take your shirt off! Remember the picture I sent you last night?”

“Are you kidding? I’ll gladly carry that picture burned into my brain for the rest of my life! Ah! I get it. Hang on a minute.”

Gary walked over to the couch and reached under it and pulled up a couple of dumbbells. He did a dozen reps with them of a combination of curls and presses. Then he walked over to the bed and flexed his pumped muscles. She carefully snapped a picture. “Okay, you alright with this?” She showed him the photo with the caption. “Don’t wait up for me! See you tomorrow!”

“Sure!”

Within a minute of Crystal sending the text she was inundated with texts from her new friends. Most were simply smiley faces or hearts, but there were a couple a bit more skeptical. “Let’s see you both.”

She looked at Gary, “You game for a selfie with both of us?”

“I’m game for anything that we get to do together!”

Crystal set it up. She wrapped a towel around herself and leaned over his shoulder, reaching out with her hand to take the picture. It was a pretty cute photo and showed off his muscles. He made sure she sent him a copy.

“I didn’t wait until the third date. What, does that mean I’m easy?”

“Hmm, technically, we’re on our third date.”

“How do you figure?”

“I asked you to go for a coffee! In my world that counts as a date!”

“Ah! Okay, I can see that! Third date it is!”

“Hungry?”

“Yeah, I am. Guess sushi doesn’t stick to your ribs.”

“Well, we could order Chinese, or pizza. Or I could make breakfast for supper.” They finally settled on Chinese and had a nice dinner while watching some old movies.

She woke in the morning and was a bit disoriented. But the feeling of contentment that filled her when she realized where she was at was wonderful. The sounds of feet on wood could be heard in the studio, so she wrapped the sheet around herself and padded out of the bedroom. Gary was there in his bare feet, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt moving around in a pattern. He was sweating and breathing heavily. There was a grace in his movements, but there was power as well. He came to an attention position and bowed and then turned to her. “Good morning, beautiful! I hope you slept well!”

She shuffled over to him and using her free arm wrapped it around him and kissed him. “I slept very well. So what were you doing?

“Well, let’s see, we’re coming up on a full 48 hours that we’ve known each other. What things about me have surprised you the most or do you consider most notable?”

“Obviously the sumi-e is a passion of yours. Your speaking Japanese yesterday was probably the biggest surprise, though seeing you without clothes on was pretty special!”

“So it came as a surprise that the guy that loves the Japanese art of sumi-e speaks Japanese?”

“Okay, good point. It still surprised me.”

“I get it. So we have sumi-e and Japanese, as well as a love of sushi. What might we extrapolate from that to help figure out what I was doing?”

“You were fighting! A martial art, obviously a Japanese martial art!”

“Excellent! No wonder you have the best GPA in your class! I have been studying and training in a style of Okinawa Karate for over 10 years. I have visited Japan and Okinawa a couple of times, both to study art and to study karate.”

“And that’s why you have such an amazing body!”

“Um, well, thank you! But I think Goth Girl has the amazing body!” He picked her up and carried her back to the bedroom and then peeled the sheet away. He bent down and kissed the two beautiful breasts before spending a couple minutes kissing and sucking on each of them.

Slowly moving down her body he spent a minute or two at her belly button, teasing the rather modest stud she had there before continuing to his main goal. If last night had been a good indication, she was going to go through the ceiling again. And he dived in with anticipation of her reaction to his tongue. And she didn’t disappoint, she was writhing and kicking in only a matter of minutes.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Gary pulled his head away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong! It’s just so intense! Let’s try something different, Can we do that?”

“Crystal, we can do whatever you want! I only want you to be happy!”

“Okay, roll over!”

He laid on his back and she quickly sat on his face. “This is going to teach me to have some control. If I get too animated, I’ll lose contact with you. Is this okay?”

“Hey, Goth Girl, this is fantastic!” And he went back to work, his tongue dancing along her slit, touching on the entrance to her hot tunnel and working its way up to the clit and back again. There were times when she vibrated out of reach, but quickly lowered herself into position again. Just another five minutes or so of ministrations and she once again locked up tight, squeezing his head between her thighs as she shuddered and screamed before collapsing beside him. Gary crawled up the bed and lay beside her, again stroking her hair as she came down from her orgasmic high.

When she had recovered she decided it was time to put her tongue stud to work and moved down the bed. He was definitely ready to go, his early breakfast munch just made him harder. Crystal was rather interested in his equipment, never remembering having gotten a close look before and taking a rather close look, swirling the glistening bead of pre-cum around with the tip of her finger. He smelled pretty clean having showered last night, so there was just a bit of masculine aroma from his workout. A few tentative strokes and he was bouncing. A gentle knead of his balls had the same effect. And then she kissed the tip and he was bouncing even harder. A few rather tentative licks gave her a bit of a taste and his moans were rather musical.

She shifted on her elbows and he pulled a pillow under his head so he could look down the bed at her. A big smile crossed her face when he caught her eye. And he was actually quite delighted to see not only her eyes, but the rounded mounds of her gorgeous ass. She wrapped her hand around the base of his shaft and covered the rest with her mouth. The combination of all the visual stimulus, the knob of the tongue stud and the look in her eyes brought him to orgasm in just a couple minutes. He was barely able to give her a warning. She choked on the quantity and splashed some over his crotch. And didn’t hesitate to immediately go about using her tongue, stud and all, to clean him up.

She crawled up beside him and they snuggled for a bit.

“I suppose we need to close out the weekend. We both have classes tomorrow! Have you got your assignments all done?”

“Yes, professor, but I do have some reading to do before my Monday afternoon class.”

“Hmmm,mmmm. Crystal, am I really your first date?”

“Yes. Well, I guess I should quantify that, it is my first date with a single person. In high school I had many group dates, usually one a week. And even went to prom with four other girls. But you are the first man I ever went out with one-on-one.”

“You mean I’m the first man you ever asked to go out with you.”

“Well, okay, but let’s face it, we both asked each other out within 24 hours of each other.”

“So I’m a new experience that you shall dally with until graduation?”

She looked at him seriously. “I don’t think so. Oh, you are a very new experience, one I like very much. As for it ending at graduation, I think that remains to be seen. I’m not a fortune teller, though people often think Goth Girls have that ability. I plan on enjoying every minute to learn as much as I can about you and how you work and what you like.”

“Fair enough. As for my part, I don’t think I could possibly look at those amazing eyes and that incredible ass and not be totally smitten.”

They got cleaned up and Gary actually found himself starting another load of sheets. And they went out for a bit of lunch on the way back to her dorm.

“Look, there are rules regarding professors dating students. Essentially, there is to be no relationship between someone teaching and anyone whose learning process can be affected or is under their control. Essentially we have to be sure that there is no appearance of impropriety. You not taking any classes from me is a big one we can avoid easily enough. I believe we should avoid any interaction on campus. I won’t tell you that you can’t tell your friends, if you have any first years on your floor, it is possible they recognize me from your pictures and seeing me in the classroom for Intro to Media. But it is probably not a good idea to brag about it.”

“Yeah, I get it. We separate at the entrance to campus and go our separate ways.”

“I have it a little bit better, essentially I have no friends here and at this point just a few acquaintances. The good thing is that there are less than 9 months until graduation. I plan on doing everything I can over the next 9 months convincing you that I’m worth hanging around with. I’m really glad that we are only a couple years different in age, we avoid that creepy 50 year old dating a teenager vibe. And look, you are allowed to go to any professor for help or advice on projects and assignments. I would gladly help you in any way I can, but I can’t do the work and I can’t talk to another professor for you. So, think we can do this?”

She kissed him. “Yes, we can do this. I appreciate your willingness to help me and I understand the lines you have drawn. I get it.”

“I think that given your thoughts on the senior project that your advisor is going to suggest you talk to me, I’d recommend being honest with them as to why it may not be a good idea. I will certainly discuss this with the dean and make sure he doesn’t get blindsided.”

“Good idea. bycasino güncel giris So, what would you say to me talking with my floor mates about this? I had this thought that tonight I’d order in a bunch of pizzas for the floor as a thank you for all their help this weekend. I can sort of address them about it.”

“Well, it probably wouldn’t hurt. I suppose most of them have already seen my picture with you.. It might be a good thing.”

He kissed her goodbye at the corner, right at 48 hours after they had first met. It had been a very busy 48 hours and he savored every minute of it. Gary didn’t move until he saw her walk into the lobby of the dorm.

She got up to her floor and wanted to consult with Bella and realized she had no idea what room she was in. So she texted her, ‘got a minute? In my room.’

She had barely gotten her jacket off when Bella stuck her head in. “Everything okay?”

“I think everything is very much okay, well, except for one little thing.”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing is really wrong. It’s just that there is a bit of a complication with the two of us.”

“Don’t tell me he’s married!”

“No, no! Nothing like that. Hang on.” She pulled up the school website and went to the facility page. She scrolled down a bit and then slid out of the way. “Recognize anyone?”

“Oh my god! He’s a professor? Wow, wish I was taking a class from him!”

“Look, I want to thank all of you for the help you and the others have given me the last two days and was thinking about buying a bunch of pizzas for dinner tonight. I kind of want to address this in some reasonable way and aren’t really sure how to do it.”

“Order up the pizzas. I’ll spread the word. I’ll help you if you get messed up. But, how big an issue is this?”

“Gary says it isn’t that big as long as we aren’t doing anything that affects my classes or grades. I can’t take a class from him, for example. We need to avoid any impression of impropriety and should probably not be seen together on campus.”

“Hmm, tricky, but yeah, I get it. We can certainly help with that! I have a couple of ideas. Hmmm.”

—————————-

There was a monthly faculty meeting on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Gary made an appointment with the Dean immediately following. This was only his second meeting, he was very much the new guy, so not too many people reacted or really noticed when he walked in and took a seat in the corner. The crowd seemed a lot more animated than at the last meeting.

Evidently the dean noticed as well. When he came into the room, he commented, “So, what’s all the hubbub about?”

“Something is going on in the student body that we’re in the dark about. There seem to be more groups moving around, where in the past seeing more than two people walking around was unusual. And they were exchanging hand signals.”

“Has there been anything overt or dangerous happening? Have we seen any bullying going on?”

“No, dean, as far as we know there have been no complaints and no one has seen any evidence of any harmful activity.”

The faculty had worked through about half the agenda when they took a break. Gary had an appointment with the dean after the meeting, but he approached him during the break. “So what’s up, Gary? Having second thoughts about all this?”

“No, look, I made the appointment to make sure you weren’t caught off guard. I think I can provide a bit of an answer regarding the activity in the student population, but I’ll need to cover the reason I made the appointment to start with.”

“Okay, do tell.”

“I guess the simplest way of putting it is that Goth Girl had a date.”

The dean looked at him incredulously. “Really? Well. She has been a bit of an enigma. Great student, perfect grades, works hard, no one has ever had anything bad to say about her other than she doesn’t interact with anyone. The professors say that even when she comes to them with questions or for critique she hardly says anything. So is that it?”

“Um, no. Goth Girl had a date with me.”

This caught the dean off guard. “You and Goth Girl? How did that happen?”

Gary filled him in on how they had met. “Look, I’ve spent some time going over the faculty handbook and understand the concerns. And the two of us even talked about setting some boundaries. I don’t believe there is going to be any issue with the relationship. I’ve already told her I will not talk to anyone else on the faculty on her behalf. Her response was why would I have to? She’s already got perfect grades, as long as she just passes the rest of her classes she’s going to graduate. And if she doesn’t take a class from me, we should be good. Unless there’s something else I don’t know?”

“No, I don’t think so. You and Goth Girl, no wait, her name is Crystal, right? Shouldn’t be an issue, but it probably shouldn’t be advertised.”

“We’ve agreed to keep our distance on campus. And that is what leads to what is being observed by the rest of the staff. She had a sit down with her dorm floor about the whole thing. What started as a dorm floor of girls with a mission to make Goth Girl successful with her professor boyfriend expanded to the whole student body.”

“I don’t follow?”

“Well, in order to help us avoid each other, the students have actually put together an app. It has both Goth Girl’s and my schedule in it and has some limited tracking ability. When someone sees the hand signals, which are explained in the app, they are letting others know that we are moving and to help keep us apart. I’ve had a student suggest I take the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator. I’ve had five students crowd into my office door to ask an inane question only to disperse moments later. The entire student body has made it their job to make sure we do not interact on campus. They want this to succeed. I’m not sure why, but they do!”

“I’m amazed! This is extraordinary! You want to share with the others?”

“I think it might be a good idea, if nothing else but to keep them from worrying about what is happening.”

The meeting resumed a bit later than expected, but Gary found himself in front of the entire faculty.:

“Good morning, for those that haven’t met me yet, I’m Gary Gregory. I will be teaching a course on Sumi-e next semester and in the Fall will be teaching Introduction to Media. I’m here to explain some of the strange things you’ve been seeing in the student body over the last week, and confess to being the cause of it.”

“I’ve had a brief conversation with the dean about it and, well, I’d like to enlist your help. If you haven’t reviewed the section in your faculty handbook regarding student/faculty relationship, this might be a good time! I know I have pretty much memorized it over the last week. Completely and totally by happenstance, I have found myself totally enamored with a student. There are some easy boundaries to maintain, she will not take any classes from me. I will not be involved in any activity where I have any input or ability to affect any of her academic learning or results. That is an area where your help will be appreciated. If you think I might be crossing the line, I would rather have you call me out than create a problem. Note that she is a senior and will graduate in May, so we aren’t talking about several years of walking a tightrope.”

“We also agreed that we would not interact on campus. And this is where the students have taken charge. Her dorm mates have gone so far as to create an app that allows them to know when we are both on campus. It is a pretty small area, only seven buildings, so maintaining distance is not as easy as you might think! So the hand signals are just students giving each other a heads up that one or more of us is on the move and to sort of stay alert. Over the last week I’ve had students suggest I take a different route, like use the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, or cut through the gallery on my way to the library.”

“In one respect, it seems a bit of an invasion of privacy. In another, when I see her, I really don’t care as long as it allows us to be together.”

A voice from the back, “Would we recognize the student?”

“All of you know this student, I can guarantee it! I have fallen head over heels for the student you all know as Goth Girl. Interestingly enough, the app that was created actually has a pretty comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section that has both of our bios and a surprisingly large amount of other information. The app is available by invitation only, I’d be happy to suggest that if a member of the faculty were to request it, it would be okay. You’ll find a list of the hand signals they’re using as well, evidently there is some military experience in the population.”

After the meeting several of the faculty had some questions for him, most were quickly answered.

Then he met the dean in his office to finish their discussion. Gary laid out the high level narrative of what the girls had done for Crystal. “And you know, dean, hearing about this sort of teamwork, this sort of giving nature in the students, really underscores the strength of a small campus like this. I’m kind of proud to see a group of students supporting a classmate, without judging, and it makes me glad to be associated with the school.”

“That is an interesting perspective. I really do like hearing you say that. So, assuming there is no flak from anyone, we should be in good shape, and I think if you keep the boundaries you’ve set, we should be good. And we can make sure the defenses are lined up if someone should lodge a complaint. So, on a personal note, what’s the age difference?”

“Less than three years. I just turned 25 and she will turn 23 in a couple months.”

“And how did you two connect?”

“Over art naturally enough.”

“And the Goth didn’t intimidate you?”

Gary laughed, “I guess the Goth part sort of faded into the background when the connection was made in the art area. If anyone had bothered to look past the pointy spikes and stark makeup, they would have seen an amazing pair of eyes. Look, there’s more to her than that, but she has even shared why the Goth personna, but I think I should keep that private. Thanks, dean, I just figured it would be better if I just let you know up front, rather than trying to back track six months from now. Of course, she may get tired of hanging around this old fogie and go back to her loner ways in a month. Fortunately, with nearly perfect grades already and the basic safeguards in place, she can’t blame bad grades on anything I do.”

For the next two semesters it was the secret that everyone knew, faculty and students alike, but no one really talked about it.

—————————

It had only been two months since their first date. But they decided that it was time for him to meet her family. After classes were over on Tuesday, school was closed for Thanksgiving. Gary was going to drive her to her home, drop her off and head over to his folks. He’d come back on Saturday, spend the night and they would go back to school on Sunday. He was going to be sharing the bedroom with her brother, he still had a set of bunk beds there.

Her dad was at work, her brother was going to arrive later in the day, so the drop off was a quick hello to Crystal’s mom and back on the road.

On his return on Saturday he arrived bearing flowers for the ladies. Crystal hadn’t been overly specific about how he earned his living. The key she decided to focus on was that he was also an art student attending the nearby University and would complete his master’s degree next month. That would avoid the other trains of thought.

After a great fried chicken dinner, Mr. Forester and Robert grabbed Gary and they headed out in the truck. A few miles down the road he pulled into a small bar. The parking lot wasn’t overly full. They walked in and the guy checked his and Robert’s IDs.

“Evening, Mr. Forester. Good to see you, Robert!”

“Evening, Fred.”

The bouncer was probably 6’ 3” and built like a tank. He looked at Gary, “Hey, do I know you?”

“There does seem to be something familiar about you, but I’ve never been to this area before.”

“I don’t know, something about you is triggering something. Keep your nose clean.”

“No worries!”

It only took a few minutes before they had a high top with a pitcher of beer and were half watching the game and making a few side comments. Robert was going to graduate that spring, he was a couple of years younger than his sister, but had gone right to college. There was a bit of a stir when the front door slammed open and the bouncer narrowly missed getting smacked by it. The guy that came through had a big grin on his face and just pointed at the bouncer and laughed. He had a buddy with him, but he was a lot more sedate. They got a beer each at the bar and started wandering around the tables, talking with all sorts of people. Most were glad to see them go. Robert groaned, “Jack Trubin, our version of the community asshole.”

He got to their table, “Robert! Hey, where’s your Dyke sister at, probably out . . .”

“Hey!” Gary’s voice was sharp and loud, cutting through the noise. Gary’s left hand was squarely pointing at Jack. “If you insult Goth Girl, you are going to wish she was a dyke, because her boyfriend is going to kick the shit out of you!” The flashing eyes in Gary’s face were boring right into Jack. Jack’s eyes got big and he backed off, trying to brush it off, but they went off to a table and sat quietly.

The bouncer came over. “You folks okay? Dude, that was probably the coldest line I’ve ever seen delivered here! Wait a minute! I recognize that face now, I’ve got it!” He rolled up the left sleeve of his t-shirt, not easy to do with his muscles, and revealed a tattoo. Gary looked at it and smiled. He pulled back the left side of his jacket to reveal a logo that had the same symbol on his shirt. “Yeah, Okinawa, 2018, how could I not recognize Tiny?” Their rather animated and friendly conversation was observed by Jack and his friend and it wasn’t making Jack any happier. By the time Tiny returned to the door, the bully and his friend followed him and left the place. About half an hour later, the three of them had finished the pitcher and decided to head back to the house. As they got to the door, Tiny stopped them. “Ah, guys, why don’t you wait a few minutes before you leave?” “Hey Sherlie, give these guys a beer on me.” He pointed to the camera monitor that was beside him. They could see two figures leaning against a truck, one of them waving a pole or bat around. “Let me make a call, shouldn’t take more than a few minutes!”

Fifteen minutes later, they saw Tiny chatting with a couple of police officers at the door. He showed them some video and they were smiling. A few minutes later they left and Tiny came back around. “They are gone, the cops came and picked them up. Original charges were going to be drunk and disorderly, but, evidently Jack has been doing some other things. Looks like there are going to be some other charges involving illegal substances. But they really liked the video of you telling Jack off, the audio is actually pretty good as your initial shout silenced the rest of the noise in here. Give me an email and I’ll copy you on it when I send it to the cops. It’s safe for you to leave whenever you want! Too bad, I think I would have liked to see what would have happened if he had swung that bat at you!”

The three of them didn’t talk, just rode along in silence. Gary wasn’t sure what the state of things were. He’d lost his temper, but hadn’t hit anyone. They got to the house and went in. Mr. Forester motioned for them to follow. He went into the kitchen, Mrs. Forester was standing at the counter talking with Crystal sitting on a stool. He then picked up his wife and moved her to the side and placing her back on her feet and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed. Robert and Crystal were looking at their dad with their mouths open.

He opened the corner cupboard and reached back into the corner and pulled out three small glasses, one at a time. He ran them under the water and dried them carefully, wiping them down and looking at them in the light. Once satisfied he stood on his tip toes and reached back into the cupboard and pulled out a bottle. It was a 20 year old bourbon that showed up and he carefully poured a shot into each of the glasses. He handed one to his son and one to Gary. Raising his glass, “Gary, I have never seen anything like that! You are welcome in this house any time and I’m damn glad you are dating my daughter.”

Robert filled in the events of the evening. Including Tiny and the police. And of course Crystal was absolutely thrilled with his defense of her honor. And by the time the narrative had slowed down, Tiny had sent a link to the video clip which he shared.

“Gary, based on the discussion with Tiny there, I take it you have some training?”

“Yes, sir. Third degree black belt.”

“You still train?”

“I get to the dojo a couple times a week. And practice everyday.”

“Well, I think I’m with Tiny, I’d like to see what would have happened if Jack had taken a swing at you!”

“The results would not have been pretty.”

They left just after lunch the next day. Robert and her mom both gave him hugs and dad gave him a good handshake. And promises to come back over Christmas. Once out the driveway, Crystal opened up.

“Okay, first of all, we’re going to the bar and see if Tiny is there. I want to thank him. I should tell you that we ran in the same crowd in high school. It is possible, and I don’t know if either of us knows for sure, that we even hooked up once or twice. Like I told you, there was always a lot of alcohol involved and there may have been a roofie or two involved, though I doubt Tiny would have done it.”

As she directed him to the bar she also explained that seeing their dad pick up their mom and then kiss her the night before was definitely out of character. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw her parents actually kiss in front of anyone. And neither she nor Robert had any clue that there had been a 20 year old bottle of bourbon in the corner of the cabinet. She had asked her mom whether she knew it was there. She had told them that she did, but only because she had used a stepstool to put new shelf paper in. In the ten years since she first found it, she had never seen any indication that any of it had ever been drunk.

Tiny was working and it was nice to be able to chat in a bit quieter environment, there were only half a dozen folks watching football. Hugs, hand shakes and thanks, they declined a drink, they had to get Crystal back to school.

Tiny pulled him off to the side. “Look, I don’t know if Crystal told you, but we ran in the same crowd in high school. Not all the guys were very nice. There were at least two times that I know of that someone roofied her. In both cases I recognized what was going on. I put her in my car and took her home and Robert even helped me sneak her into her bed. I know she’s got vague memories of me carrying her to bed, but I never took advantage of her. That is not to say we didn’t ever do anything, god knows she’s still beautiful. But never when she was drugged. But I suspect she’s got some strange memories and I’m glad she’s willing to even talk with me.”

“Yeah, she told me you ran together. And she wasn’t sure, but thought you guys may have hooked up. I’m just glad she had someone that cared for her and looked after her.’

“Yeah, I’ve got no tolerance for those types of guys. I’ve caught a couple of guys trying it here. They won’t be back. And I’m not sure even a roofie would help them any more!” The look on Tiny’s face was pure evil.

————————————

Christmas was a rerun of the Thanksgiving visit to start with. He dropped her off a couple days before Christmas and went on home. This week was going to be the longest time they had been apart since the start of the semester. Gary wasn’t sure how he was going to last that long without any sexual relief. For someone that had such limited experience, Crystal was sure making up for it.

He returned New Year’s Eve mid-day with a Christmas gift for each of the family, well, for mom, dad and Robert. Crystal had already gotten her gift before they left school. Crystal was out grocery shopping with her mom when he got there. As he set down his bag and went to put the gifts by the tree, Mr. Forester picked up his bag. And led him down the hall past Robert’s bedroom and into Crystal’s room. “Look, Gary, after the bar incident, the Mrs and I decided that if you were able to put up with our Goth Girl for another month and came back at Christmas, we were going to allow this. She’s an adult and we aren’t going to pretend there is nothing happening between the two of you. We didn’t say anything to Crystal about it yet! But do try to keep the noise down!”

The arrival of the grocery shoppers was a bit of a shock. He was totally surprised by Chrystal, she wasn’t wearing black to start with and her hair was up in a ponytail, she had on blue jeans and a colorful sweater under a big puffy jacket and the snow boots were white. After the initial hugs and kisses were resolved the groceries were carried in and he started helping unload and sort things.

As he stacked some cans in the pantry, Chrystal came in and whispered in his ear, “Why is your bag in my room?”

He whispered back, “Because it is exactly where your father put it!”

Her eyes popped out of her head and her mouth fell open. He just nodded and sort of shrugged before lifting up her jaw and giving her another kiss.

The New Year’s Eve celebration wasn’t anything big. They sat around and watched the ball drop. Robert was out with friends so it was just the four of them watching the television. Gary was happy just having his arm around Crystal. And it was even better when they went to bed and he still had his arm around her. He slept pretty well, even without any sexual relief.

Classes didn’t start for several days, so they decided that they would head back on Friday afternoon and have the weekend to get re-settled and organized for the semester. He had a brand new class to teach, he’d already gotten the basic supply list packaged at the bookstore. Crystal’s biggest focus was her Senior Project, but there were a couple of classes she needed to take for the credits.

————————————

Thursday morning he was just starting to wake up when Crystal ran into the room and locked the door. “What’s going on?”

“Mom just left for the grocery store, Dad’s at work and Robert went to the gym!”

“Okay.”

“Oh please! You aren’t that dense! I want to make all the dreams I had laying in this bed masturbating in high school to come true!” She wasn’t wasting any time and had already pulled off her pajamas and was pulling all the blankets off of him. He stood up long enough to get his own sleepwear off before she flopped back on the bed with her legs spread. “Hurry up and eat me out!” Gary didn’t need any further encouragement and dove in tongue first. He found himself competing with her fingers as she was stroking herself, so the fingers and tongue fluttered over the slit. He was in a better position to slide a couple fingers inside and it was barely two minutes before she was writhing uncontrollably. The rather strange squeak that emerged from her mouth was obviously an attempt to stay quiet.

But she wasn’t done, the shudders had barely settled down and she switched places with him, pushing him back on the bed and started swallowing him. There was no subtlety to it, she swallowed him in one quick gulp, burying her nose into his belly. She gagged a few times but swirled her tongue around and around his shaft. Coming up for air, “God, so much better than a cucumber!” and then made him trade places with her again. She paused long enough to roll a condom onto his shaft and then pulled him into her, he slid in quickly and without any effort, she was obviously juiced up for this. “Pound me hard!” He proceeded to do just that.

It had been almost two weeks since they had been able to really go at it and he really missed it. And with her being all worked up about doing it in her bedroom, the site of so many of her fantasies, she actually reached a second orgasm before he had bottomed out in her, something she had never done before. And seeing her beautiful body shuddering below him, her breasts quivering and her face in the throes of ecstasy took him over the edge and he dumped his load pretty quickly. He was barely able to stand and she jumped up and started running around. The bed was stripped and their bedclothes were all bundled up. “Into the shower with you! Get clean, I’ll bring you some clothes! And make sure that rubber is wrapped up well and buried in the trash!”

By the time he got out of the shower and dried off he could hear the washer running and she had brought him clothes, pushing right past him and climbing into the shower herself. He looked at the clock beside the bed and realized that less than 30 minutes had gone by since she had woken him up. And there they were, fully dressed, clean and drinking coffee. The only evidence that bycasino deneme bonusu anything had happened were the sheets already in the dryer.

———————————–

They headed back the next morning, it was only a few hours drive, so they made it to campus about lunch time. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

“Oh, it’s pretty straightforward. We’re going to your place first. You’ll get your boxes out of the back and I’ll wheel your suitcase. We’ll go up the elevator, you’ll set the boxes down, unlock the door, let me in and pick the boxes up. Once inside the door, you will set the boxes down again, shut and lock the door and turn around to find me bent over the couch. I think we can play it by ear from there.” She had come a long way from the shy girl that could hardly talk to someone.

She was back in her Goth Girl mode, wearing pretty close to the same outfit she had been when they first met. When he turned back from the door after locking it, there she was bent over the couch, the black and gray plaid skirt riding up pretty high and the tall boots helping highlight her ass and putting her at the perfect height. He slowly ran his hands from the top of the boots to the hem of the skirt and raised it up over her waist, pausing to kiss each of the globes of flesh. Then he slid the almost transparent black thong down her legs, placing a few more kisses on her ass. He stripped himself, pausing briefly to caress and kiss her as he went.

He moved into position, “Damn! Hang on, I’ve gotta grab a condom! We don’t want any accidents to start the new year!” He dashed into the bedroom and grabbed what he needed, having the foresight to grab a couple of towels in the process. By the time he returned he had already rolled the latex on and moved into place, slowly working his way into her. “God, you are so beautiful!” Gary started slow, but he picked up speed, each stroke feeling better than the one before. As much as he wanted to prolong his pleasure, he knew it wouldn’t be long. It was a bit of relief being able to shout out his joy as he pumped his load into her, savoring the warmth that rushed along his shaft as her tunnel squeezed him hard.

They moved to the bedroom and Crystal didn’t even take her clothes off as she sat on his face, the skirt concentrating her aroma and the darkness highlighting his other senses. When she finally locked up with her own orgasm, she collapsed on the bed beside him, shuddering from the aftermath.

“Oh, god that was good!

——————————–

The college president asked him to stop by. Gary expected some other assignment that might include an opportunity to make some more money.

“Hey Gary. We need some more judges on the senior projects. Several of the other professors liked the idea of pulling you in, but all seemed to hesitate. So, I’m curious as to why they both like and dislike the idea.”

“I better lay all my cards on the table, sir. Yes, I’m interested, but I’ve been dating one of the Senior students.”

The president looked at him for a minute. “Are they in your class?”

“No. I did talk it over with the faculty dean last fall and we made sure everything was above board. The two of us connected last fall, and I made it clear I would not be comfortable having her in class. Based on the employee handbook, as long as there is not even a hint of impropriety and there is no connection between me and her learning stream, there shouldn’t be a problem. So I’d not want to taint the judging.”

“Did you help her with her senior project?”

“No! I helped her discover the concept she used, that’s what brought us together. I was buying some supplies at the art store and she was looking for inspiration, asked some questions about my materials and that triggered the idea. I haven’t even seen what she did with it, though she’s mentioned a few things about it. I haven’t quite figured out where she’s gone with it, something about doing the opposite of what I’m doing. A professor has to sign off on their project and students are encouraged to seek out faculty advice while working on them, but it wasn’t me.”

“Do you know who she went to?”

“I don’t, but I could ask her and find out pretty quickly.”

“Hang on” The president checked some things on his computer. “Ah, got it. Her senior proposal was signed off on by Dr. Glendon. Let’s see what she has to say.”

The president dialed the number, “Gary, I don’t think this is going to be a big deal, I just want to make sure all the T’s are crossed and the I’s dotted. It sounds like you’ve followed the rules and done everything you should, even talking with the dean.”

“Glenda? Yes, I’m fine, thank you. I wanted to check on a senior project you signed off on. Crystal Forester. Yes. Well, actually, yes, that was the question. You did?” There was a pause as the dean listened. “Okay, no I don’t see any issues at this point, I think everybody did the right thing and were honest about what was going on. Thank you, Glenda! Oh, and I think Gary would be very interested in hearing your reactions to the proposal sometime. No, I haven’t seen it. Really? That could be interesting. Thanks again!”

“Well, Gary, that was interesting! Evidently, Glenda actually suggested Crystal consult you on the project, knowing what you were teaching this semester. But Crystal explained to her why that probably wasn’t a good idea and she understood. She also said that she visited the studio space on numerous occasions and saw her progress on several of the pieces. Let me check one more thing.” The president typed away on the keyboard and after a couple minutes nodded his head. “Okay, I think we’re pretty ironclad here. There is no record of you ever having entered the studio building.”

“No, my class meets in the main building and the students do the assignments on their own time. I critiqued and demonstrated in the classroom and not the studio.”

“So, aren’t you concerned about the age difference?”

“She’s only a couple years younger than I am, older than most of the students. She just turned 23 and I’m 25.”

——————————

It was a couple of weeks before the end of the semester and graduation. He was holding his normal office hours. Typically he’d have a handful of students that would show up and ask for a critique or suggestions about their project. Once in a great while there would be a student just looking for another opinion, most of them would be students from the Intro to Media course. Only the third person in the door today was Crystal. The students waiting had been a bit shocked, after all, they had been working to prevent this sort of thing from happening accidently all year. But she smiled and let them know it was okay. “Just listen!” she whispered to them. “No academic content here!”

“Well, hello! I wasn’t expecting you here!” He was a bit concerned, as they had agreed not to interact on campus, but here she was.

“Professor, I wanted to get your input on some job offers I’ve received. I’ve gotten three of them I’m considering and trying to decide which one to accept. Here’s the summary of the three and I would value your opinion.”

She handed him the three sheets she had put together. Gary looked them over. He wasn’t totally surprised about her having three offers, graduating with top grades meant that she was a pretty hot commodity. There was one for a job in a city a few hundred miles away working advertising. Another was a large manufacturing company on the west coast. The third one was with a local printing company in assisting clients with creating their material and marketing packages. He looked at the compensation packages. Most of the benefits were pretty similar, health and wellness, 401(k) plans. And the salary levels seemed appropriate for the cost of living in the areas.

“Three very different job de***********ions. Based on what I know about you, I think this third one is your best bet. It appears to have a wider scope and will allow you more variety and creativity which appears to be your strongpoints. As far as the compensation goes, this other one pays the most, but the cost of living in that area is much higher than the other two. I’m guessing there are no relocation expenses being provided, so you have to get yourself there, but you probably don’t have anything to move other than yourself. This one is here and you already know the area. You don’t have to move across the country and re-establish yourself, that will make it much easier to transition from school to the working environment. And as a final bonus, I’m pretty sure you can find someone you know and like to share an apartment with in the local area.”

“Thanks, professor! That was what I was leaning toward for some of the same reasons, but I hadn’t thought about sharing a place. That actually could make a big difference financially.”

“As long as you can find someone you are compatible with and trust!”

She smiled, “I already have an idea of someone that I could ask! They work in this area and might welcome sharing the costs. And I do trust them. I’ll have to ask if they would consider it!”

She left the office feeling more sure about her future. Anyone listening outside the door wouldn’t have made much of a connection and would not have seen the looks being exchanged. And the next student came in to talk about their assignments.

—————————-

Graduation finally arrived. All of the seniors had the opportunity to have their senior art project on display. Crystal was clearly in the top tier of the graduating class. Each year the faculty would judge the senior projects and the top ones would have the opportunity to display a ***********ion of their works in the campus gallery.

It was normal that new professors would have an exhibit of their works displayed in the campus gallery at the start of their first year. He had been essentially an adjunct for the Spring semester, so he officially started the fall of the next year but his work was mounted in one of the small side galleries at the same time as the graduating senior works were put up. And he had no problems choosing the set of works to display. He started with a rough pen and ink sketch he had done of the campus from the main entrance. Followed by all the pictures he had done of Crystal and their dates and activities over the last year. Goth Girl in the Art Store was still one of his favorites, the stark black and white appealed to him and he was working on creating prints of it.

They had been pretty much connected at the hip over the last couple of weeks before graduation, even on campus. Of course she opted for the local job and had formally asked if she could move in with him and cover half the rent. Given that all the grades were in, there was little risk of any sort of scandal. Whenever she came to his place she would bring a box of clothes or books or materials. She’d lived in the dorm for four years, had no furniture of her own, so the move was pretty low key. The only thing they had to shop for was a good dresser for her things.

Crystal’s parents and her brother were coming into town for the graduation ceremony. They were very excited to learn that she had been unanimously ***********ed by the faculty to represent the graduating class and present a small speech at graduation. Crystal was terrified about the prospect. After she had shown them the dorm room, she had each of them grab a box or bag and they walked off campus and to Gary’s apartment. He met them at the door and immediately grabbed the clothes her mother was carrying, shaking hands with her dad and brother, planting a quick kiss on her cheek and leading the way up to his studio.

He had ordered some Middle Eastern food for a quick lunch, they were going to go out for dinner that evening. When the door buzzed that it had arrived, rather than have the guy bring it up he asked her dad to come with him to carry the food up. They got in the elevator and Gary went for broke.

“Mr. Forester, I believe you and your wife are okay with Crystal moving in with me, but I want you to know I am still deeply in love with her and I’m going to do right by her.” He pulled a ring box out of his pocket and showed the gleaming diamond. “I plan on proposing in the next 24 hours, actually, everything is already in place. Depending on what Crystal decides we’re doing this afternoon, it could happen today, but probably tomorrow morning. I think she is amazing and I love her very much.”

Her Dad nodded and stuck out his hand. “Crystal has always been strong willed and has always done whatever she wanted, so I don’t think how we felt about it mattered to her. But we are very happy that she has been happy since meeting you. It is obvious that she has changed a lot over the last school year. And I mean a lot! I think her mother will be very happy to know. Can I share it with her?”

“Your call, sir. If she can keep the secret, no worries. If you think she will give it away, probably not.”

The next morning, an hour or so before the ceremony was to take place, they went to see the exhibits. He let Crystal walk her family down the row of his art work in the small gallery. She had seen them before and many of them at various stages of their creation. And she was the subject of many of them. There was a change in what was on the wall from what she had seen a couple of days earlier. He’d worked with the curator to add a canvas. Toward the end there was a canvas that had a large question mark on it. Arrows shot off the canvas and pointed to other canvases. There was one that showed her new job. A couple of others were sort of jumbled clouds, but there was a new one with a picture of a ring captioned “Please say yes!”

When they got to the end Crystal saw it and froze. He could almost see her swallowing hard. She turned slowly and looked at him with wide eyes. Gary held out the small box, the ring glinting in the gallery lights.

“You would marry a Goth Girl?” she asked in a whisper.

“Not A Goth Girl, THIS Goth Girl!” And as their lips touched, she thought, “How does he always know the perfect level of kiss every time?” He slid the ring onto her finger.

Then he walked over to the picture with the question on it and hung another picture beside it that had been sitting on the floor and facing the wall. The background was black and there was just a silhouette in light and feathery white and silver lines. It was obviously a bride, with long flowing train and a vail, all hinted in the reverse type of sumi-e picture that she had made the focus of her senior project. The caption was pretty simple, “She Said Yes!”

Graduation Address

“We have quite a crowd here today. It is more than our usual turnout. Part of that is I recognize a large number of current students that have put off studying for their finals to be here to celebrate the graduating class.“

“Each year the faculty ***********s the class representative, the individual that has made the biggest difference to the school and their class. Often it is the individual with the best GPA, but there are other factors involved. It typically requires a great deal of discussion and multiple votes. This year was very different. Twenty seven of the twenty eight faculty members voted for the same person in the first round. The 28th member abstained. What typically takes up a large percentage of the semester’s last staff meeting was completed in less than five minutes. And the entire faculty was thrilled, yes, even the member who abstained.”

“For three years this student was present. I deliberately use the term present in that they were always in class, always on time, attended every guest lecture or special presentation. Within hours of any new exhibit being put on display, she was there to see it and evaluate it. Her grades were pretty much perfection. Every project was completed with as much precision as possible. And everyone knew who she was, faculty and students alike, but no one knew anything about her. Other than she was present.”

“Suddenly, last fall, she burst out like a blazing comet and within a couple weeks she became a key part of the student body. Not in a leadership position, but as a focal point for what was probably one of the most interesting projects this campus has ever seen. It wasn’t an art project, but it had a lot of potential to be beautiful. And I think that is what attracted everyone. There was often a line of students outside her dorm room looking to both get and share critiques and opinions, suggestions and help. And there was an entourage of support for her, helping her with all sorts of things, but most importantly a specific goal. The faculty was aware of this change but had no idea what had caused it at first. The entire student body seemed slightly more excited, more connected. And when the faculty learned about the goal and what was going on, they, too, did everything they could to support its accomplishment. So it is my pleasure to introduce to you this year’s student representative, the individual known to faculty and students for three years simply as Goth Girl and is now known by us all as Crystal Forester.”

“Crystal!” The dean stepped back and pulled down the step for her to stand on and one of the Marshals helped her up the steps. She was shaking as she stepped up behind the podium. A couple of squeaks came out of her mouth and she turned away. The crowd was restless, but a couple of voices called out encouragement. A faculty member quickly stepped up to the podium and faced her.

Gary looked at her in her beautiful eyes, welling with tears. “Deep breath! Remember, be curious. Where are your parents out there? Where are your dorm mates? The entire floor, hell, I think the whole campus is here to support you, find them! This is your chance to thank them. You’ve written a beautiful speech, all you have to do is deliver it. I believe in you, I love you and you’ve got this!”

He stepped back to his seat. A couple of deep breaths and she faced front and began.

“Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Parents, Students, My fellow Graduates

“Nine months ago, I never would have imagined how much my life would change in this last year of school. And I certainly couldn’t have imagined myself standing here in front of you. I would never have imagined that I would suddenly become the focal point for the girls on my dorm floor and a project that incorporated the entire student body and faculty. It would have been beyond my comprehension that anyone would share my passion for art and even elevate it. I don’t know what to call it, kismet, fate, happenstance, a miracle. I think I’ll call them miracles.

“Looking at me and my makeup and even the collar I’m wearing, it should come as no surprise that for the three years I was ‘present’ as the president said, I was known by most of the students and faculty here as the Goth Girl. I was a loner, shy, unsure of myself and, as you may have noticed, suffering from some pretty severe social anxiety. Goth Girl was a facade created in high school that helped insulate me from people. A hard shell that surrounded me and the outfit and spikes helped make sure that no one tried to break through it. Most people didn’t even know my name, I was just the Goth Girl. I have done well in my classes, driven by curiosity. Some of the success was due to my love of art, and probably too much of it was because I didn’t have anything else to do. I had no friends. Few individuals would approach my prickly exterior, which was fine with me. I very seldom found myself one on one with anyone. But that changed one afternoon last September when in less than 12 hours my hard shell completely disintegrated.

“The second miracle. I know! We’ll get to the first miracle, I promise. Like all of us in our last year, I was struggling to find the topic for my senior project. So I was wandering the aisles of the art shop where so many of us have spent so much of our parent’s money!” That got a pretty good chuckle from the crowd.

“My frustration was interrupted by a large sniff. I looked at the figure standing next to me as he made a sour face. He closed the box and opened another one and took a sniff. And smiled. And one of the things that has been the most important trait in keeping me moving through life took control. I was curious, the one emotion that could overcome my reluctance to interact with people. So I actually had the courage to ask a question of a complete stranger.

“Are you smelling that box?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

“Here, close your eyes. Now sniff. What do you smell?”

“Um, exhaust?”

“Exactly! Okay, now sniff!”

“Pine, I smell pine!”

And then I learned about ink sticks and how some are made of burned tires and others are made using pine pitch. The next thing I know I’m sitting in a coffee shop head to head with this stranger looking at artwork on his phone. And he made a comment and my senior project was suddenly right in front of me! And for some unfathomable reason, I was so excited about my project that, oh my God! I asked him out to dinner! I asked him!”

“I put my number into his phone and what I had just done really hit me. I was so shocked I ran out of the coffee shop and ran back to the dorm. I collapsed on the couch in the floor lounge with my head buried in my hands on the verge of tears and scared and sick to my stomach.

And then the third miracle occurred. One of the girls on the floor asked me, “Hey, Goth Girl, are you alright?” I suddenly found myself spilling my guts, again, to another complete stranger! I had never been on a date before! Twenty two years old and I’d never been on a one on one date! Ten minutes later, there were a dozen girls in the lounge. They raided my room and were pulling out clothes, debating whether I needed to still be the Goth Girl or if something needed to change. They coached me, they encouraged me, they dressed me, they did my makeup, they nurtured me. They were a host of angels. I love you girls! They sent me off in a mostly Goth style outfit with no sharp pointy bits and some splashes of color. And devised a complete escape plan for me that even included a couple of them being at the bar in the restaurant to help me get home if I got overwhelmed.

They walked me to the address and made sure I got in. When I finally got up the courage and knocked on his apartment door, he opened it and froze. I felt like melting into the floor. After what seemed an eternity he simply said, “Wow.” I don’t think a single word has ever had such an impact on me. A guy, admittedly a really good looking guy, simply saying, “Wow.” He invited me in and said he wanted to make one change. He went into the other room and came back with a handful of ties and after comparing them with my blouse, picked the one that was the closest match. After he replaced the tie, I reached over and adjusted it a bit. And we had our first kiss. Less than five minutes into the date and we had already kissed!”

“Okay, let’s get back to the first miracle. The key miracle was that I found and was accepted to this school. When he introduced me, the dean made the comment that the first vote for who was to be the class representative was 27 with one abstention. There had never been such a consensus before. A school where everyone, students and faculty accepted me and my personality without trying to push me into a mold. And they were still willing to help a Goth Girl. And not just in class, not just during office hours and not even just on campus. A couple of my fellow students created an app and it was downloaded and used by pretty much every student and faculty member on the campus.

And it’s entire purpose was to help them assist the two of us stay away from each other on campus. But a sniff in the aisle of an art store led me to more learning and growth than I could ever have imagined.

“It is a miracle that so many of the faculty knew who the Goth Girl was and felt that she had made her mark at this school. And it is pretty amazing that faculty, staff and students had a common goal in mind for this year, beyond the one of learning and education. I know which professor abstained from that vote. I know exactly why they abstained. Every other member of the faculty knew why he abstained. That professor knew the rules, and went to great lengths to make sure there were no possible violations. For almost two semesters, everyone on campus did everything they could to nurture and protect the blossoming romance between the Goth Girl and the Professor.

“So, there is no question that the biggest miracle is that I found this school. And it led me to the love of my life. The professor who abstained from the vote, was the one who stood in an art store aisle sniffing boxes, was passionate about sharing his knowledge, the one who moments ago coached me through this speech.“

“Miracles are out there. You never know when or where they are going to occur, it may be a sniff in the aisle of a store, but when you find friends and teachers like the ones here, miracles are going to happen! Thank you all for being such an important part of my learning and my growth! Today I graduate and head out on new opportunities, a new job awaits me. And to answer the biggest question in your minds, I think the school project was pretty successful. The professor said that he wanted to marry this Goth Girl earlier this morning, and I said yes.”

The crowd pretty much went wild. Standing ovation. Gary stepped over and helped her off the step. As he did so, one word was picked up by the microphone. “Wow!”

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