The alarm screeched its blaring song at six am sharp. Casey groaned and rolled over to snooze the alarm. She took in a deep breath and went to sit up, but Derek's arm kept her firmly in place. Casey tried to lift the arm from around her middle to no avail.
"Derek, Come on, I have to get up to make it to my orientation on time." She croaked, still half asleep herself and too weak to put up much of a fight. Derek mumbled something into the pillow that sounded like 'skip it and stay here. Casey huffed, slightly annoyed, but Derek looked so cute asleep and his hair a mess. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, enticing a sigh and a relaxed arm. Casey took her opportunity to escape and got up from the bed. Her clothes were dry enough from getting dunked into the pool last night, and she quickly dressed. She gave the bed one last look before scurrying out the door and down the stairs of the frat house. It was cleaner than Casey had imagined, sure there was sports equipment everywhere, but they were placed in semi neat piles to be retrieved easily.
Casey hadn't thought there would be anyone else up and nearly ran into a blonde girl clutching her purse and heels. Both women yelped in surprise.
"Sorry," Casey said and gave the blonde a shy smile. The blonde looked upstairs and then to Casey.
"You want to join me on this walk of shame?" The blonde said in a nervous laugh. Casey shook her head and took the girl's arm that was not holding the clothes.
"There is no shame in being women that enjoy themselves. I would love the company." The blonde's light brown eyes shone, and she nodded.
"I'm Brenda." She said.
"Casey. Do you live in the dorms?" Casey asked, and Brenda shook her head.
"Nah, I wanted my own bathroom. I live in the BrightFront apartments close by, though." Brenda said. Casey squealed happily.
"That's where I live. I am on the first floor." She said and happily picked up the pace. Brenda laughed at the woman's energetic glee.
"I am on the third floor. My mother encouraged me to get to know my neighbors. Good to know at least one is friendly." She said. The woman chatted happily and stopped to get breakfast smoothies before taking the final kilometers to their apartments.
"So, who did you 'visit' last night. It was such a blur at Brian's party. I am surprised I even made it to Scott's room." She said before sipping from her peanut butter banana smoothie. Casey flicked a concerned glance at the woman. She had to bite down at the urge to tell her she shouldn't be getting so wasted at parties that it was dangerous. Casey just met her, so she just let the comment slide into the back of her mind.
"I went to Brian's with Derek. We were actually the ones that were dunked into the pool." Casey said and reached to touch her hair; it felt like straw from the chlorine. She began to calculate the amount of time she had before orientation when Brenda fell into a coughing fit.
"De-Derek?" She gasped, and Casey's face flushed. She was waiting for it. The reveal that Brenda and Derek were a fling once upon a time ago and that he was a campus player.
"Y-yes," Casey stuttered, and Brenda grinned and nudged Casey lightly.
"Derek Venturi has been unattainable for months. Truly it was a tease because he was such a flirt last semester. Have you guys been talking for long?" Brenda asked, and a small bubble of relief deflated in Casey's chest.
"Um, for about a month," Casey said after doing the calculation in her head.
"Did you know him before Queen's? Sorry to pry, but this is just so fascinating. Scott always said Derek was pinning over this girl from home for a while that didn't want anything to do with him, but he finally wore her down. I can see it wasn't just talk." Brenda explained as they reached the vestibule of the apartments. Casey was pretty sure you could cook an egg on her burning cheeks.
"I guess so. I have heard Derek say that Scott is a great goalie and that he is really smart." Casey offered, desperate to change the conversation. Brenda shrugged.
"He is sweet and smart is an understatement. I was flunking chemistry before he started tutoring me. I finally got the guts to ask him out last week." She said while hanging by the stairs: Casey unconsciously but her hand to her heart.
"That is so sweet. Well, I am glad to have met you; Brenda and I will see you around. I have to get ready for orientation." Casey said quickly before opening and disappearing behind her door. Brenda giggled at the excitement Casey had about orientation.
Casey quickly showered and towel-dried her hair while picking out her outfit. She decided on a black pencil skirt with a sleek black camisole and seafoam green cardigan. All the while, Casey tried to focus on her schedule and being ready for orientation and her first class at 12:30 pm, but her mind kept going to what Brenda had said. Had Derek been pining over for a while. How long was a while? Did that even matter at this point? She shook her head and tried to focus on her current task of lining her eyes with her liquid liner.
By eight-thirty, Casey was standing anxiously at the admissions building with her schedule at hand. There was a bored-looking teacher's assistant at the front desk.
"You know that you're thirty minutes early." He said, and Casey shrugged.
"I just like being early," Casey said. It looked like the TA was retaining all his willpower not to roll his eyes. Thankfully at nine, the rest of the freshmen appeared, and they began the tour of the school. Casey was taking meticulous notes as they passed Quad. More than a few heads turned her way as she passed.
Derek and a few of his hockey buddies were walking by when Scott smacked him on the chest and motioned his head toward the small group of freshmen.
"There are loads of hot chicks starting this semester. Look at the legs on the black skirt." He said and eyed the woman hungerly. Derek followed the general direction and stopped when he saw it was Casey in one of her short skirts and frilly blouses. Derek was very aware she was gorgeous and would attract a decent amount of attention, but the way Scott was looking at her made him feel a bit prickly.
"Off-limits, man," Derek said quickly and tried to steer the practically drooling man towards their physics class. Scott planted his feet firmly.
"What? Why? You got dibs or something?" Scott asked. Derek shrugged and hadn't anticipated his next words to come out of his mouth.
"You can say that. She's my girlfriend." He said cooly. Derek schooled his features to not react to what he had just said. He and Casey weren't publicly going by labels. Heck, they weren't even going by labels in public, but he knew the title of girlfriend would keep Scott away from her.
"Oh, man. I didn't know. No worries, dude. I won't move in on your girl. But damn, Derek, I knew you pull game, but this chick is next level." Scott said.
"I'm aware. Let's go before we're late." Derek abruptly. He tried to focus on the lecture and at least passively take notes, but his mind kept swimming to Casey. He knew she could fend for herself, but he didn't like the predatory look Scott had given her. Scott had been a chubby nerd back in high school, but he got into fitness in the summer and went to a dermatologist to clear up some of his acne. The transformation had gone straight to his head and now thought he was god's gift to womankind. He was still wicked smart, but he would use tutoring to get girls. It seemed that his phone was constantly buzzing with text messages from all of those girls he tutored.
Casey was leaving her first humanities class, and she was glowing. The professor was brilliant, and she had an excuse to bust out her new pens and highlighters for notes. Casey hadn't realized how much she missed learning until she stepped into the classroom. She had about an hour and a half to kill before her Physics class, and she spotted Derek heading toward the Cafeteria. He looked over and spotted Casey and waited for her to catch up. He draped his arm across her shoulders, and they walked over to the Cafeteria.
"Looks like you're enjoying your first day. Did you pester the professor with so many questions that he had to physically ignore you the rest of the class?" Derek asked, and Casey pinched his side.
"Har. Har. No. I will have you know that I didn't ask any questions. Instead, I wrote them all down in my question notebook and will email them to him later tonight." She said confidently. Derek snorted at that. They picked out their food from a sandwich shop in the cafeteria, turkey pesto for Casey and a Philly cheese for Derek, and found a table.
"So, I met this girl this morning, Brenda, after leaving the frat house. She lives in my apartment building, and we are planning on doing a movie night on Thursday." Casey announced happily. Derek nodded indifferently. Of course, Casey had made a friend mere hours before her first day.
"She was leaving the house too? Who was she with?" Derek asked after a large swallow of masticated sandwich. At that moment, Scott and Peter sat in the seats across from Casey and Derek with their food.
"Hey, Der. When were you going to introduce us to your girl? I'm Scott, by the way," Scott said and reached across the table to shake Casey's hand. She accepted but gave Derek a quick confused look.
"Casey, nice to meet you. I have heard good things about you, Scott, and nice to see you again, Peter," Casey said, recognizing the freckled man from last night that dragged them to the party. Peter smiled at Casey.
"So, you have heard things about me? All good, I hope." Scott said with a crooked grin. Derek had stopped eating and staring down the man across the table.
"Yeah, Brenda said you were kind and tutored her in Calculus," Casey said warily. She could sense the intensity in the air between Derek and Scott. Scott let out a booming laugh.
"Oh, Brenda. Yeah, she was something last night, but from what I hear, she usually is." He said smugly and nudged Peter, but the freckled man looked to Scott with mild annoyance.
"You shouldn't talk about her that way. She actually really likes you. Though I don't see much of the appeal." Casey snapped. Derek squeezed her knee to try and calm her down, but the young woman was staring daggers at Scott.
"Oh, you don't?" Scott asked, a bit taken aback.
"Please, if you were any slimmier. You'd slide off your chair. Get a life, Scott, and stop ruining Brenda's. She is way out of your league anyway." Casey said and marched away from the table. Scot tried to laugh off Casey's outburst, but his ears were turning beat red.
"You go yourself a firecracker there, Der," Scott commented. "I wonder if she has as much of a tight ass as she acts like." He said and made a motion with his hand that looked like groping. Derek's delicate control vanished, and he kicked out Scott's chair from underneath him. The man had been sitting across from Derek and leaning on the chair's back legs anyway.
"What the hell?" Scott shouted from the floor.
"Whoops," Derek said with a grin. He squatted down to Scott's level on the floor. "By the way, we aren't friends, just teammates, and that's barely since Coach has benched you twice this month. But I will say this. You won't come around Casey anymore. You just won't, because if you do. I'll wreck that pretty face you think you have. Capeesh?" Derek whispered with a few firm taps on the other man's face. Scott just stared up in horror. Derek wasn't really the violent type. Hockey was a great outlet for that. But Scott had stepped out of line. He texted Casey to find out where she was, but she was still fuming and said she would take a run before her last class. They agreed to meet up at her place later.
Derek was just about to enter the apartment vestibule later that night when he heard loud voices. He leaned forward to hear.
"What gives you the right to tell Scott to stay away from me? I literally just met you." A young woman Derek assumed was Brenda shouted.
"Brenda, the guy is scum. I am sorry if I overstepped-"
"Yeah, you way overstepped. Do what you want here. I don't care, but stay out of my business." Brenda shouted, and then there was the sound of heavy footsteps going up the stairs. Derek unlocked the door to see Casey, white-faced and crossing her arms across her chest.
"Did I go too far in telling her she shouldn't see him?" Casey asked. Knowing full well that Derek had been eavesdropping. At that moment, there was a loud slam of a door upstairs.
"Maybe a bit," Derek admitted. Casey sighed and went into the apartment. Derek followed her inside.
"But seriously, how can you stand him?" Casey asked, and Derek gave her a pinched face look.
"I don't. He just hangs around me because we are all on the hockey team. But he is way too cocky. He was hitting on you right in front of me even after I told him you were off-limits." Derek said and clicked on the TV.
"Off-limits? What am I your property?" Casey growled, and Derek shook his head.
"It's not like that. Guys have a code that a girl is off limits if she has a boyfriend." Derek explained as he was flipping channels before settling on a wrestling match.
"So, are you?" Casey asked. Derek tore his attention away from the screen for a second to look at her watching him expectantly.
"Am I what?" He asked, and Casey rolled her eyes.
"Am I your girlfriend?" She asked, annoyed. Derek let out an exasperated sound.
Case, can't we just watch the match?" Derek whined, wanting to avoid the discussion altogether. Casey looked at him and remembered him leaning over Scott after he 'fell' out of his chair. She had been just far enough that she couldn't hear what Derek said, but the fallen man looked horrified. A part of her was annoyed that Derek acted so brutishly, but he had defended her. He was looking out for her, and it gave a rush to Casey's chest. It was a bit hot, too, though she would never admit it.
"Fine, but I am going to shower first," Casey said, and Derek gave her a quick glance before returning to the wrestling match on tv. Casey stared at herself in the mirror. Tonight would be the night. She took a quick shower and had stared at the pairs of lace underwear she owned. She settled for a cheeky black lace and decided on a silky top, no bra. She looked at the mirror again and tried to hype herself up just to turn the doorknob and head into the living room. After a few deep breaths, she went for it. She didn't say anything and just sat with her feet tucked underneath her.
"What's up, Case? Forgot to wear pants," Derek teased, and though she blushed, she didn't retort anything further than a shrug. Derek kept looking back and forth from the tv and her incredibly long legs.
"What's up, Der? Forgot how to watch Tv." Casey said in a huskier voice than even she anticipated. Derek turned up the volume before placing the remote on the coffee table. He then turned and pulled at her tucked ankles, so she was laying flat on the sofa, and he loomed over her.
"Is this what you wanted to get at, Casey?" Derek asked softly in her ear. Casey shivered and looked up into his dark brown eyes, and smirked.
"Maybe," She said and ran a smooth leg against the outside of his leg and torso. Derek held onto the leg and let his hand trail up till it was only a few centimeters from her hip. He squeezed, and she blushed. Casey ran her hands underneath his shirt. Derek looked down at her light blue eyes and searched for any hesitation or fear.
"We don't have to do everything tonight," Derek reassured her. Casey smiled and tilted up to kiss him chastely.
"We can try," She said and ran the tips of her nails down his torso in the way she knew would make him shiver.
"Just let me know if we need to stop." He said, and she nodded before tugging his shirt over his head and capturing his lips once more.
Whoo. It's about to get steamy in this next chapter. The overlying theme for these two has been Casey is afraid to have sex because it has been so painful in the past. This is actually quite common for many young women, and I just want to say that if you are having this issue, please speak with your doctor or Gynecologist. There are many reasons that sex can be painful, and it shouldn't be! My sister had to fight to get a reason for her pain during sex, and it was discovered to be Endometriosis. Remember, you are your number one advocate, and thank you to everyone that follows this story and reviews. It means so much to me.