Stripped

by Mia Archer

  Not that I minded the surprises she was dropping on me on this particular morning. They’d all been surprisingly pleasant so far.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Are you sure? Do you really want my help? Because I keep trying to set you up with this girl and you keep telling me why it’s impossible,” Charlie said.

  “If you have a way that you think you could set us up then sure, I’m willing to listen,” I said.

  Charlie crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. The thing creaked under her weight which was surprising considering how petite she was. It was the sort of chair that looked like it had been sitting there for a couple of decades, though, so it was entirely possible it was literally on its last legs.

  “Willing to listen? Oh ye of little faith. That’s something you English majors say, right? Old fashioned language and all that?”

  “We also say ‘cut to the chase and stop wasting my time.’ So are you going to tell me what you’re going on about or not?”

  “I suppose I could help you out because you’re asking nicely,” Charlie said. “I just so happen to be part of a group of grad students in the chemistry department who hang out sometimes outside of work.”

  “You hang out with other people outside of work?” I asked.

  Charlie rolled her eyes. “Well I have to have something to do while you’re out there sleeping through the entire lesbian population on campus every weekend, don’t I?”

  I blushed ever so slightly. Sleeping around was nothing to be ashamed of, but the accusation that I was leaving my friend high and dry while I was out having a good time was.

  “Sorry about that,” I said.

  Charlie waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t be. If I could pull in the number of hotties you do on the regular I’d be out doing that instead of hanging out with my boring friends too. The point is I have another social group that I’m part of.”

  “A social group that Ashley is part of too?”

  Charlie grinned. “See how smart you are? You picked up on that right away!”

  “So you’re saying that maybe if I didn’t have anything to do some weekend you could maybe make me part of this social group that you’re part of that I’m not part of or something?” I asked, trying my best to sound innocent and knowing the entire time that I wasn’t doing a good job of it.

  Charlie stared at me for a moment and then she went cross-eyed.

  “Would you stop doing that English major thing please? You know I’m not good with the words like you are,” she said.

  “What English major thing?”

  “That thing where you use all those fancy words and try to confuse me. I don’t like it and I’m not going to help you if you keep trying to get me all mixed up.”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes to let her know what I thought of that. I knew she was a smart girl. She wouldn’t be in the program she was in if she didn’t know how to string a couple of words together.

  “Could we please get on with this? Are you going to do an introduction or not?”

  “Maybe I can,” she said. “I know Ashley usually hangs out with a bunch of the other grad students at least one night a week. Usually Friday or Saturday.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Only one night a week? That’s it?”

  “She’s pretty hardcore about getting into medical school, and she’s been hitting the books pretty hard on top of all the work she does for her classes,” Charlie said. Then she gave me another odd look. “Not everyone can look at a book and memorize it like some people in the room.”

  “I can’t help it I have a good memory,” I said. “So what night are we doing this?”

  “How about we go ahead and do both nights? If she’s there Friday then you get to have your chance. If she’s not there Friday then you get to know everyone and you can come back on Saturday and it won’t be as obvious that the only reason you’re there is because you want to get into your TA’s pants.”

  “You make it sound so sordid,” I said.

  “Sordid, true, whatever. You’re using your fancy words again, but no fancy words can cover up the fact that you want to get with her. Bad.”

  I opened my mouth to deny everything and realized there wasn’t much point. She was right. Seeing that girl was enough to make me know I had to have her. Especially if she was into the ladies.

  It’s not like I needed to lock her down forever or anything like that. That wasn’t how I operated anyways. The string of broken hearts following behind me on campus was proof positive of that.

  It could be interesting getting with her for a little while though. Yeah. The uptight pre-med TA and the naughty student. The more I thought about it the more I liked it. The more I liked it a lot.

  Plus I was sort of interested in meeting some of Charlie’s friends. My group of friends hadn’t been very friendly lately, and I’d been thinking it was time for a change. Maybe this was the change we needed.

  “You’ve got that weird look on your face,” Charlie said.

  “What weird look?” I asked.

  “The look you had when you were telling me about that girl you met who worked down at the pizza place,” she said. “The one you were so head over heels for until you hopped into bed with her and then you weren’t anymore?”

  “What’s your point?” I asked.

  “The point is if I’m going to help you get with my friend then I have to know you’re not going to screw her over,” Charlie said.

  The grin on my face must’ve said it all. That was a really poor choice of words considering what she was asking of me.

  “And I’m not talking about screwing her over in that way,” Charlie said. She picked up a pen off of her desk and threw it at me for good measure. “Damn. Fucking English majors and your wordplay. I get so sick of that.”

  “Yeah well what about that time you went up to the bio guy at the bar and told him you were DNA helicase and you’d like to unzip his jeans?” I asked. “English majors don’t have the monopoly on cheesy lines.”

  Charlie colored at that. Good.

  “The point is if I’m going to help you then I have to know this isn’t another one night stand,” Charlie said. “Ashley is good people, and I’m not going to be your wingwoman if you’re doing this to take advantage.”

  I thought about that. I knew who I was. I knew what I tended to do when I was dating. I also knew how much fun it would be to get with this Ashley girl. The more I thought about playing the student and the naughty TA the more that had to happen. So I decided to fib a little.

  “Fine,” I said. “I promise I’ll give her more of a chance than I do the other girls.”

  Charlie regarded me with suspicion, but she had no way of knowing how much more of a chance I was going to give this girl. I figured a couple of dates might be enough to get Charlie off my back.

  I just hoped it wouldn’t make things too awkward in class. Then again it’s not like she could fail me for loving her and leaving her. Not when she had to worry about me bringing the reason for the failing to the attention of the people running the chemistry department.

  I was getting ahead of myself though. For now I needed to get with her in the first place, and that meant playing along with Charlie long enough to see if I had a chance.

  I had a feeling my beautiful TA was going to be a tough nut to crack, but that only made her all the more alluring as far as I was concerned.

  I couldn’t wait for Friday night!

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