When Jenny woke up, she saw that Kristin had fallen asleep with the computer still in her lap. Its battery had long since died, so Jenny took it to the desk and plugged it in, then kissed Kristin on the forehead and tiptoed out of the room.
After breakfast she decided to take her promise to Kristin literally and go explore the campus. It was enormous and there were quite a few parts she hadn’t seen yet, so she bundled up in her warmest clothes, put some snacks and water into a backpack, and set out.
It was still pretty early on a Sunday, so no one else was around. Jenny found herself walking through a pristine dusting of fresh snow about an inch high. Looking at a campus map on her phone, she decided to walk from where ABD House was — which was near the western edge of campus — all the way to the eastern edge, which was mostly undeveloped woods.
In the course of her walk Jenny encountered an enormous abstract sculpture with curvy, feminine lines; an abandoned chapel with amazing stained glass, still mostly intact; the biggest tree she’d ever seen, a towering sycamore; and an old wooden mill wheel. As she continued the terrain grew more and more wild, and for a while she had no idea where she was — though she always had a cell signal, so was never really lost.
When she finally decided to turn back, Jenny got out her phone and reoriented herself. Just as she put it back on her pocket, she saw a pair of eyes looking at her from the shadows. She froze and after a minute the figure of a fox seemed to materialize around the eyes. For a long moment Jenny and the fox just stared at each other, and Jenny got the strangest feeling, like they were kindred spirits of some kind. Then the fox turned and gracefully loped away.
By the time Jenny got home the sun was almost down and the temperature had dropped considerably; even dressed as she was she was starting to shiver and her teeth were chattering. And so when she walked in the door she headed straight to the living room to get close to the fire.
When she got there she found Alexis White sitting with a teacup in her hands, staring thoughtfully into the flames. Everyone at ABD, including Jenny, had noticed a difference in Miss White of late — though no one except Jodie and Miss White herself knew that the change had coincided with their tete-a-tete with the Dean. Many of the Sisters had remarked to each other that she seemed less strict and more friendly.
Upon seeing Jenny, Miss White’s eyes went wide. “Good God, girl,” she said. “You look like an icicle.”
Jenny smiled, which was slightly painful because her lips had been chapped by the wind. “It’s a little frosty out there.”
Setting down her cup Miss White said, “You sit down right here. I’ll bring you some hot chocolate.”
Jenny smiled weakly, in no condition to protest. “Thank you, Miss White,” she said, opening her coat so the heat could get in. She could feel herself starting to defrost by the time Miss White appeared with a huge, steaming mug of cocoa.
“What were you doing out there?” asked Miss White.
“Exploring,” said Jenny, and told Miss White some of the things she’d seen.
“Well, you’re quite the intrepid one, aren’t you? But next time maybe plan things so you don’t risk getting frostbite.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Jenny.
At that moment Jodie walked into the room. Seeing her in the snug, revealing maid’s uniform, Jenny immediately felt a throb in her loins; aside from the previous night’s go-round with Kristin, she’d been relatively sexually deprived lately.
Jodie walked up to Miss White, leaned in, and whispered in her ear. Jenny, like all the Sisters, was quite aware of the close relationship that had developed between Jodie and Miss White. As a result, despite her theoretically lowly status, Jodie was now generally treated with respect, even deference.
After hearing Jodie out, Miss White nodded and took her by the arm. “Excuse me, Jenny,” she said politely, and the two of them left the room.
Jenny shucked off her coat and sat back to finish her hot chocolate. By the time it was gone she felt refreshed, even invigorated. She decided that she would continue her theme for the day by exploring all the nooks and crannies of ABD House, many of which were still unfamiliar to her.
She thought she would start at the bottom and work her way up, and so descended the dimly lit stairs to the basement. The first thing she passed was the small but amply stocked wine cellar, which was clearly a relic of another time. She imagined well-dressed young women from 50 or 100 years ago enjoying fine wines from this cellar; some of the dust-covered bottles appeared to have been there that long.
As Jenny approached the basement room that Jodie had occupied until Miss White brought her above ground, she saw that the door was cracked open. A thin shaft of pale yellow light was emanating from inside, as was the sound of music — something soulful and sexy; was it Marvin Gaye?
Overcome with curiosity, Jenny approached the door and tried to peer through the crack. At first she saw nothing but the furniture, but after a few seconds she made out a figure on the couch with a book in hand. There was something familiar about it, and one by one the details came into focus — smooth, light-brown skin, slightly kinky dark hair, high cheekbones under bright golden eyes — until she finally realized who it was.
“April?” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the music. April looked up from her book, momentarily startled, but she immediately recognized the voice.
“Jenny? Hey, come in here, girl.” They hadn’t seen each other lately, and Jenny had assumed that April was spending all of her time with Emma. But as they talked, Jenny learned that April was in a similar position to herself; Emma was preoccupied with schoolwork, leaving her freshman lover at loose ends. April detested the dormitory, finding it noisy and crowded; so noting that Jodie didn’t seem to be using this room anymore, she had ensconced herself there.
In truth, April had been feeling a bit bored and was delighted to see her ex-roommate. She had previously helped herself to one of the less fancy bottles of wine from the cellar, and now invited Jenny to have a glass with her.
Jenny agreed and soon it was just like old times as they drank and talked, and laughed, and then danced. As it happened the same song that had been playing the first time April had tried to kiss Jenny, back in their dorm room months ago, came on. She tried again now, and this time Jenny didn’t resist, but kissed back eagerly.
One thing led to another, and soon they were both naked, getting reacquainted with each other’s bodies with hands and then with mouths. They made love slowly and tenderly, making use of all the skills they had learned in their time at ABD to bring each other numerous and delicious orgasms. Afterward they snuggled up on the couch, and April pulled a blanket over them as they killed the last of the wine.
Only after the fact did Jenny realize that this was the first time just the two of them had been together, without either of their seniors involved. It was kind of amazing after all they’d been through. Jenny rested her head on April’s shoulder, feeling warm, comfortable, and contented.
But as they were laying there Jenny realized that she and April were really just friends with benefits; there was no deeper connection like she felt with Kristin. In a way this was a relief — there was no conflict about where her true priorities lay. On the other hand, as Kristin had just reminded her, the older girl would graduating at the end of the year. Jenny was going to have figure out how to deal with that.
Well, there was more than half a year to go till then; a very long time, considering all that had happened in the last couple months. Jenny moved her head to rest on April’s chest under the covers and took a deep breath, inhaling the mixed odors of their various bodily secretions. It amazed her to think that, not long ago, she would have considered what she and April had done together that night terribly wrong; what exactly was the big deal?
April invited Jenny to spend the night but she declined; there wasn’t really enough room on the couch for two to sleep comfortably. And more importantly Jenny could easily see herself falling into a routine here. She didn’t want to do that; she had just started exploring.
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