Chapter Two: Study Hard. Get Good Grades.
I practically fell through the door into the lecture hall, panting from my (perhaps unwise) choice to sprint the last leg of my trek to class. As I leaned against the back wall to catch my breath, I noticed that a TA was in front of the lectern addressing the class, instead of our normal WWII History lecturer, Dr Keller.
"...study session. Your attendance will be noted, so you are asked to remain in the theater for the full hour. Again, Dr Keller apologises for his unforeseen absence."
Just. Great.
I sighed heavily, and willed myself to walk to my seat. I found my usual perch in the back corner of the theater, and fell into my seat with a thud. Someone handed me a clipboard and a pen, and I wrote 'Jasper Hale' in a hurried fashion. I scuttled to the edge of the aisle and passed it to the person in the next row. I scuttled back into my seat, and tried to figure out the best way to kill an hour-long 'study session'.
I only had my notebook with me in my bag. I'd done all the reading, so I didn't have any textbooks with me. I didn't even have a regular book to read, since I'd just returned the one I'd been reading to the library this morning. I knew I'd be hooking up with Alice tonight, and likely some of the wekeend, so I didn't bother getting anything else to read. Now what?
I was still a little out of breath from the run...and a bit unsettled from the "un-fight" with Edward Cullen. I figured it was probably best to just chill, and try to get my breathing back to normal.
I stretched out in my seat, closed my eyes and tried to relax, breathing slowly in and out. I took stock of the noises around me. I heard the door open a couple of times... random footsteps...shuffling papers...a bag zipping open...random whispers...the tinny echo of an Ipod leaking quiet noise from earbuds....two girls murmuring about their plans for the evening. Very exciting stuff.
My thoughts wandered to Alice. Had to remember to call her. Ugh. From my home phone. Because what was left of my cell phone was now in Edward Cullen's jacket pocket. Edward Cullen. Those weird eyes flashed into my mind.
Damn it.
I opened my eyes. It was clear that my mind couldn't be trusted to calm me down. I need a distraction. Something. Anything. Music! I fumbled for my bag and began fishing around for my ipod. I located the headphone cord and tugged gently. Out came the ipod, dangling from the one end of headphone cord that was also deftly woven around my car keys, two pens and a tire gauge. I grabbed for the ipod just as it broke free of the headphone jack and clattered to the floor.
Again? Kick my clumsy fucking ass. Goddammit.
I quickly scanned the floor. The Ipod had skidded to a stop against a shoe two seats over from where I was sitting. A boot, actually.
Huh. No-one was sitting there before...
A long fingered hand reached down to pick it up.
Wait. I know that hand.
Edward Cullen palmed the Ipod and handed it back to me with a big, shiteating smirk.
"I'm not replacing this if that's what you're thinking."
I somehow managed to grin and shrug.
"I figured it was worth a shot." I took the Ipod from him, surreptitiously inspecting it for damage.
He smiled, stretched in his seat, leaned back and closed his eyes.
I don't remember ever seeing him in this class. Hell, I honestly couldn't remember seeing him go to ANY class all year, let alone this one. Then again, I'd never paid much attention to him before.
Before now, you mean. Man, this was a weird day.
I looked back over at him. His eyes were still closed. I noticed that he had kind of a long neck. I blinked.
What the fuck did I care what kind of neck he had?.
His right eye opened slightly, and he raised his eyebrow. Didn't say anything. Just watched me watching him. With a smirk. I looked away, pretending to further inspect my Ipod. He was still watching me. I could feel it.
He's probably totally gay for me. He's keeping my phone as a memento for his stalker scrapbook. Surrounded by a big pink lacy heart and shiny unicorn stickers.
I grinned at the thought and busied myself searching for something to listen to on my ipod. Assuming that it still worked. I needed something intense to distract me. Something to fill my head. Nine Inch Nails. Downward Spiral. Just what the doctor ordered. I plugged in the headphones, set the buds in my ears and hit play. 'Mr. Self-Destruct' blasted into my ears. Whew. It played! I stretched back out in my seat, closed my eyes and returned to the task of trying to calm down. I turned up the volume. Less than a minute later, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and turned my head, pulling a bud from my ear.
Edward had his arm stretched across the empty seat was leaning towards me with an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry. Would you mind turning your music down a little? It's so quiet in here, and the noise is a little intrusive. If you wouldn't mind..."
I nodded, turned it down and put the bud back in to my ear, mouthing 'Sorry' as I did.
Yeah, sure. Would YOU mind telling ME what you're even DOING in this class? Lame.
I relaxed back into the music and slowly, slowly started to chill. I was just on the verge of dozing when I felt something warm near my shoulder. I opened my left eye a crack, and saw that Edward's arm was still slung across the back of the empty seat. He had taken his jacket off and hung it over the armrest, and his long, pale but somewhat muscular arm stretched towards me, the tip of his long fingers now just barely touching my shoulder.
Not on purpose, I hope.
Through the corner of my eye I sneaked a glance at him.
Stretched out, eyes closed.
Meh. These seats are uncomfortable, and he's a pretty tall guy. He's just relaxing. Or he just decided to leave his hand there after he leaned over. Quit flattering yourself. Maybe YOU'RE gay for HIM.
Yeah right. I closed my eyes and started to lose myself in the music again. And tried not to think about the warm hand that was still almost-sort-of-touching my shoulder.
The music was working, I could feel myself relaxing by degrees with each song. The lyrics were a little hornier than I remembered, but for the most part it worked. I relaxed a little more into my seat and tilted my head to rest on my shoulder, hoping to maybe catch a few z's while I was here.
I was sure that I felt Edward's hand move slightly. Slightly...closer. His fingertips were now touching my hair.
I kept my eyes firmly shut. I was kind of annoyed by the distraction. But I was also curious. Maybe I wasn't flattering myself after all. Maybe he WAS trying to touch me. Which led me to wonder where exactly this was going. I decided to bait my line.
I straightened my head, and scooted up in my seat a little so his hand was near my shoulder again. Then I slowly lifted my arm and positioned it so that it was draping over my armrest into the empty seat, so that my upper arm was now directly beneath where his hand was resting.
Part of me hoped he'd pull away.
But another part (the weird part that was thinking about his eyes and babbling to him and generally acting like a fuckwit) was still...curious, and hoped for. Well. Something. I wasn't sure what. I worked out regularly, so I knew that I had good muscle tone. And my t-shirt fit pretty close. Not tight like a nightclub bouncer, but close-fitting. But it was thin cotton, and it stretched in the right places. If he was into me, this was all the bait he would need. I was impressed by my deviousness.
Bait taken. He moved his hand so that his four fingers and palm were resting against my upper arm, his thumb on my shoulder.
Against my thin t-shirt, his hand was even warmer than I expected. I started to feel a little uncomfortable in my seat. I had wanted to see what would happen. Now it was happening. Turns out, he did want to touch me. I had no idea what to do next.
Excellent plan, Jasper. Well done.
The part of me that had hoped he'd pull away was now ready to leap out of the chair and bolt for the door. My heart started pounding again. I tried to calm myself down. I wasn't really doing anything. Not really. And neither was he. Well. He was. But we're just chilling. That's all.
Uh huh. Sure. Two guys. Just chilling. One of them enjoying the close physical contact.
I shifted in my chair a little and sighed deeply, trying really hard to concentrate on Trent Reznor's increasingly horny music, and not on the heat from Edward's hand that was now burning through my t-shirt.
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. Stretched out. Eyes closed. No expression registered on his face. Then he pressed his hand just a little more firmly against my arm, like he could tell that I was watching him. I didn't avert my eyes this time. I don't know why. But right then, I wasn't quite as unsure of myself. It was like I felt calmer when I was watching him, and then I freaked out when I looked away. So I kept looking. I figured, well, he's a good looking guy, and this was like appreciating good art.
I glanced at his arm and noticed he actually had a decent amount of body hair. I kind of envied that, since despite my muscle-tone I was kind of lacking in the manly body hair department. Girls always thought I waxed. No, just a naturally girlish chest, that's all. A little more hair would have been nice. I wondered if he had a lot on his chest too.
I pulled my eyes off him and stared into my Ipod screen. His hand was still pressed firmly against my arm.
Maybe I did find him...attractive? Something beyond art appreciation maybe. The physical contact was definitely doing something to me. It wasn't my imagination that my jeans were getting a little snug in the groin region.
FUCK.
I gave him another sidelong glance, and then stared back at my ipod.
His thumb began to gently rub my shoulder, back and forth. Barely moving, but enough that I noticed. We were sunk pretty low in our seats, I doubt anyone could see us...but it freaked me the fuck out. My lap got very warm very quickly, forcing me to shift in my seat to free up some space in my now overcrowded crotch.
Don't get a boner. Don't get a boner. Aunt Mary. Barbara Bush. Carol Channing. Needlepoint. Christmas shopping...
I ran through my mental list of un-boner material. None of it was working.
Hummel figures. Roseanne Barr. Doctor Phil. Perry Como. Kathy Lee Gifford.
I couldn't stand it. He was still rubbing his thumb against my shoulder. No faster, no slower, just continual pressure that I did. not. need. I should have swatted his hand away from the beginning. But now? Honestly I kind of liked the sensation, I just wished it wasn't him ...or a him...doing it.
This was very bad. Very. Very. Bad. It did feel really, really good.
Then as if on cue, almost in sync with Edward's thumb rub, the porno slap-bass of 'Closer' started playing on my ipod and Trent Reznor crooned, 'You let me violate you/ You let me desecrate you'...
AGH! Shut the fuck up,Trent! You're on your own with that 'fuck you like an animal' shit right now.
I stabbed the pause button on my ipod.
Anything but that.
His thumb was driving me crazy and I couldn't stand it a moment longer. I pulled away from his hand and leaned forward in my seat, my head in my hands down by my knees, drawing a couple of deep breaths as I tried to clear my thoughts.
I can't leave. Even if this dude humiliates me into full boner status, leaving now will just draw attention and raise more questions than I want to answer.
So. I grin and bear it?
Well. Maybe. What's the worst that could happen?
I had visions of Edward Cullen jerking me off and nearly choked.
Okay, fine so not exactly a bad scenario given my current state, but way further down the yellow brick road than I was prepared to skip. In fact, let's just lock that door right now because I am so NOT going there. If anyone's doing any jerking it's me, and of my own cock, thank you very much.
I sighed deeply again, still hunched over in my seat. There really was nothing compelling me to get up and leave. If anything, I felt compelled to stay. I was beginning to think, crazy as it sounds, that Edward had some kind of magnetic pull. Whether that was directly related to my growing boner, or to some kind of animal magnetism he had..who knew. But I was starting to get why girls behaved so daft whenever he was near. There was definitely a...pull.
Another reason to stay put was my bizarre and twisted thrill for the unknown. Sure, this was unknown territory that was most likely to turn out to be gay territory, but I've always had a certain daredevil quality, a 'what the hell' attitude when faced with a challenge and an unknowable outcome. And sure, it had gotten me into hot water, the county lockup, the emergency room and one time, naked up to my neck in a quagmire (long story). And this was definitely one of the craziest situations. But for a nice change of pace I wasn't doing it to impress a girl...I wasn't risking physical injury (at least I hoped not)...and while it was totally weird and completely unforeseen, and a little uncomfortable, I didn't feel like I was in any immediate danger.
So...what the hell, right?
Happy with my convoluted reasoning skills (and briefly wondering just how directly my cock was linked to my brain), I raised my head, leaned back in my chair and turned to Edward, and laid my most winning smile on him.
Edward's arms were folded across his chest and he was regarding me with something like genuine concern when he got a load of my smile.
His face changed immediately. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows questioningly at me, a faint smile playing on his mouth.
I gave him a neutral, 'What are you gonna do?' shrug, and smiled happily.
Next thing I knew he was sitting in the seat next to me, smiling (not smirking) at me.
WHOA. I hadn't counted on the sudden escalation.
He must have seen me flinch because the smile faded, and he held my gaze firmly. He kept his arms folded, hands tucked under his armpits. He was expresssionless, but in that weird hypnotist way of his he seemed to radiate calm, his breathing measured, not moving, not even blinking. Just regarding me in that even, calm manner. It was like he was searching my mind.
I relaxed a little, though my heart was practically throwing itself against my chest.
I sat back in my seat again and stretched my legs in front of me, sinking in my chair a little lower. Edward shifted in his seat, arms still crossed and legs bent, and he angled his right leg so that his knee was resting against my thigh.
Okay. I can handle that.
I gave a sidelong glance at his folded arms to make sure he wasn't going to try anything funny with those hands of his, and then picked up my Ipod again and started flicking through my albums, trying to find something less horny than Nine Inch Nails to listen to. I settled on Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks and pressed play on 'Tangled up In Blue.' The music swelled to a start, and I relaxed a little more. Bob Dylan. Definitely not horny.
I closed my eyes, enjoying the faint warmth and pressure of Edward's knee. I found it kind of reassuring. Comforting, even. My boner was still threatening, but nothing that I couldn't handle.
I must have dozed because I suddenly started awake, opening my eyes and looking around dazedly.
Edward's knee was still against my leg, but his body was slightly turned in his seat towards me, leaning back with his elbow on the armrest, chin in his hand and index finger across his top lip, regarding me somewhat studiously, like a mathematician staring down a perplexing equation on a chalkboard.
I rubbed my neck nervously as I attempted to casually regard him back, not sure whether another smile would have him sitting in my lap.
He bit on his fingernail. There was no expression on his face, but he seemed...nervous?
I decided to go with a half smile back at him, cutting my losses somewhat. Then I leaned back again and closed my eyes.
He pulled his knee away, and then slid down in his seat and stretched out next to me.
Whew.
Then I felt his hand on my leg. My upper thigh, to be exact, his thumb pressing into my inner thigh, rubbing gently, the way he had on my shoulder, but this time with far greater effect.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have boner.
I moved my Ipod to my lap and tried not to freak right out.
I knew the half-smile was a bad idea. I just knew it. Fuck fuck fuck. I can't sit here. My zipper will burst. I have to find a way to get out of here.
Then, right on time, the TA approached the lectern and said, "Okay guys. It's 10 minutes to 2, but I think you've all put in enough study time. Thank you all for staying, you're now free to leave at your leisure. Dr Keller will be back here next week to continue classes as normal. Thanks again, guys."
That was my cue. I leaped out of my chair, grabbed my bag and clambered over my seat onto the walkway and made a fast beeline for the exit. I didn't look over my shoulder.
