Inception

by Ashley Suzanne

  Something about Mira makes me want to do things outside my comfort zone. I want to impress her and I want her to look at me like the girls always look at Skylar. I don’t necessarily want to screw her tonight, but that wouldn’t be bad.

  Getting settled on my GSX-R, I hand Mira the extra helmet and motion for her to get on. The girl is absolutely adorable, trying hard to remain cool and calm while her eyes are screaming she’s terrified. She’s finally seated behind me, legs on the outside of mine, and places her hands on the rear cowl. Casually, I reach behind me to grab onto her hands and place them around my waist and onto my stomach. She interlaces her fingers so she’s not holding onto me, but onto herself, and rests her head on my back.

  “Mira, are you okay with this?”

  “Yeah. I’m scared. I’ve never been on a bike before. I just don’t want to die.”

  “Don’t be scared. It’s fun. You just have to loosen up. I’m not going to kill us, I swear. Are you ready for the rules?” I laugh.

  “There are rules?”

  “Very important rules, yes. It’s for both of our safety. Most importantly, you need to keep your body centered. I’m in control of the bike, not you. When I turn, I have to lean into them, you don’t. If you do, we could wreck. If for some reason we do wreck, try to stay on your back and not tumble. It’s the tumbling that causes injuries. Road rash is better than a broken bone any day.”

  “Shit! Danny, are you sure about this? We can just go back to the dorms or your place, or anything else that doesn’t have rules.”

  “I promise it will be fun but if you really don’t want to, I won’t make you. I won’t even hold it against you.”

  “Do you promise, like really fucking promise you won’t kill me?” Mira says with the panic written all over her face.

  “Promise.”

  “You only live once, right? Let’s do it.”

  “Okay, if you reference YOLO ever again, I won’t talk to you,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Okay, I’m sorry. No more YOLO. Let’s just go before I change my mind.”

  With that last statement, I start the bike and nod to Skylar, letting him know we’re ready. Kylee looks awfully comfortable on the back of Skylar’s bike, nothing at all like Mira. Pulling out of the parking lot, Skylar takes the lead, heading toward the highway. I try to get his attention and tell him we should stick to the main roads and no highway, but he’s in his world. I don’t want to take Mira on the highway yet, she needs practice.

  I decide to speed up to Skylar, so we’re side by side, and signal him to slow down. As we knock it down a gear, to where we can hear each other, I flip up my visor and tell him Mira and I are going to stick around town. He nods and speeds up, still going for the highway.

  Cruising around town with Mira on the back of my bike is like heaven. She finally let go of her own hands. Her holding onto my waist, so close to my crotch, is doing evil things to my mind. It really is crazy the immediate spark we have.

  At a red light, I ask her what dorm she lives in and she tells me. It’s only been about an hour, but if I spend another minute alone with Mira, I can’t be held responsible for my actions. We pull up to her dorm within minutes. I park on the sidewalk, just outside Mira’s dorm; one of the best parts about riding a bike is being able to park where I want.

  Mira climbs off the bike first, allowing me time to adjust the issue beneath my waist band before I put the kickstand down and get off as well. I walk Mira to the main entrance of the dorm, where she stops and turns around.

  “Do you wanna come up?” she asks.

  “I would, but I don’t think I would be a gentleman. You’re awesome and I don’t want to ruin this before we even get started.”

  “Oh, okay,” Mira says, blushing.

  As I am getting ready to take her up on her offer, my phone starts buzzing in my pocket. Pulling it free from my pocket, I see a text message notification from Skylar lighting up my screen.

  Skylar: We hanging with the girls or going home?

  Looking back up at Mira, who’s looking at me nervously, I know I need to go home and not hang here. I really want to spend time with this girl but something tells me she’s not into me like that.

  Me: Home

  Skylar: OK. Dropping Kylee off in 10.

  “Mira, Skylar will be here in ten minutes to drop Kylee off. Do you want me to wait with you out here?”

  “I’ll be alright. I had a good time, Danny. Better than I thought I would’ve.”

  “I’m glad. I told you it would be fun. Loosen up a little,” I joke with her, nudging her arm.

  “Speaking of loosening up, I heard one of the Kappa’s talking earlier about an ABC party this weekend. Maybe you can to meet us there.”

  “What the hell is an ABC party?”

  Laughing, Mira responds, “It’s a theme party. ABC means ‘anything but clothes’. You have to make an outfit out of something that isn’t regular clothes. It’s gonna be fun. Please say you’ll come.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure Sky and I can do that.”

  “Do you and Skylar do everything together?”

  “I wouldn’t say everything, but we’re friends from home, so I guess you could say we stick together,” I respond, not understanding where her line of questioning is coming from.

  “Like two peas in a pod,” she jokes. I can’t get enough of the way her face lights up when she laughs.

  “Peas? Really? That’s not very manly.”

  “Oh, stop. It’s funny and true. You guys are totally two peas in a pod.”

  “You crack me up, ya know? I think you and I will end up being peas in a pod this year. I’m so positive of that fact, I’m just gonna start calling you Pea.”

  “So sure of yourself, huh?”

  “You know it,” I respond, feeling sure of myself, “But I should really get going. I’ll see ya around, Pea.”

  “Good night, Danny,” Mira calls from the door as I’m getting on the bike.

  “Good night, Pea.”

  Chapter Four

  Waking up feeling great, I find Skylar in the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee. Grabbing a mug of my own, I walk into the living room and sit on the couch with my laptop to check my email and Facebook. Seeing a friend request from Mira, it jogs my memory about the party she was talking about. I search the Kappa’s page and get all the details about the party, which is tomorrow night.

  “Hey, Mira asked if we wanted to go to the Kappa’s ABC party tomorrow. I guess ABC means anything but clothes. Wanna go?”

  “I’m totally down for an ABC party. Girls dressed in next to nothing? Count me in,” Skylar says from the kitchen.

  After I RSVP to the Facebook event, I start Googling what to wear to the party, since I can’t wear clothes. The images online are cracking me up. The shit some people come up with. Skylar comes into the living room, looks over my shoulder, and starts laughing.

  “Bro, I’m not going to make a costume like that. We should just say ‘fuck it’ and wear costume hula skirts over boxers. I think that counts,” he says.

  Agreeing with Skylar’s logic, I put my laptop away and spend the rest of the day thinking about Mira and her smile that’s seared into my brain. I can’t stop thinking about her beautiful, plump lips when they are turned up in a grin. I manage to put the Mira thoughts on hold for a little while to play a few games of Madden with Skylar.

  “So, are you feeling Mira?” Skylar asks as we finish playing the third game, which I won, of course.

  “Yeah man, I think so.”

  “Alright,” Skylar says as he walks into the kitchen.

  “Are you into Kylee?” I ask Skylar, trying to gauge his feelings.

  “Nah, she’s cool as hell, but I’m not into her like that. Mira doesn’t seem to be your type, though.”

  “What are you talking about? She’s perfect. I just gotta play it cool for a while. She has this innocence about her and I don’t need her thinking I’m like every other guy, ya know?”
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  “Trying awfully hard for a girl you barely know, aren’t you Danny?” Skylar says. What the hell is going on with this guy? He’s never cared who I dated before, now he’s hell bent on giving me grief.

  “Something about this one makes me want to try harder. When you find a girl that makes you want to be a better person, you’ll understand. I really don’t even know what it is about Mira, but I’m really into her.”

  “Yeah man, whatever you say. Let’s go get our shit for this party tonight. I need to see some half naked chicks that aren’t on my computer screen, if you know what I mean.” Skylar grabs a can of soda from the fridge and walks into his bedroom.

  “Leave in five?” I ask.

  We manage to find a costume shop fairly close to campus and pick up our hula skirts. I’m not too happy about wearing a skirt, but at least with Skylar looking like a fool with me, it won’t be so bad.

  The next morning, I run some errands, getting supplies and stuff for classes that start next week. By the time I get back home, I realize I never got Mira’s phone number to call or text her that we are going to meet her at the party. Thankfully the girl is smart and requested me on Facebook. I send her a quick message letting her know we will be there about nine, and start to get ready.

  I’m a little nervous to see what outfit she comes up with. As much as I want to see what she looks like wearing next to nothing, I don’t want other guys to see her. I know we just got to college but I wouldn’t mind having a steady girlfriend. My parents met in college and were happily married until he passed away. I’m not anywhere near ready for marriage, but the thought of building a relationship that will last for a long time, is nice to think about.

  Dressed to kill in our skirts, we decide to take Skylar’s car to the party. Something about riding to a party, wearing a skirt on a bike, didn’t sit well with me.

  The fraternity and sorority houses are nestled in a small neighborhood just off campus. Greek letters adorn almost every awning on this block. The Kappa house isn’t hard to find, but parking is. The street is littered with cars on both sides. We end up parking a block and a half away and walk to the house with music pouring out of the windows and doors.

  Mira and Kylee live on campus, so they probably walked, which will give us an opportunity to give them a ride home. Smoothing out the grass on my skirt, Skylar and I make the walk up the stairs and into the house. There are bodies everywhere. Wearing next to nothing is an understatement. Girls are walking around with paper circles being held together by thin rope-like material covering their tits. Another girl is wearing a newspaper dress.

  Who comes up with shit like this? Why can’t we just wear regular clothes and play beer pong?

  Every thought in my head escapes the second I see Mira who’s standing in the kitchen area with Kylee. It looks like the two match perfectly, down to the shoes. And Skylar and I are two peas in a pod? Yeah, right.

  Mira has her hair loose around her shoulders. But it’s the outfit that has me about to break out of my fly. The girl is beyond sexy, wearing caution tape tightly wrapped around her figure -- starting at the top of her tits and ending mid thigh -- and bright yellow heels. Unable to keep my distance, I move behind her and lean down to her ear.

  “Nice dress, Pea,” I whisper.

  Startled, she turns around quickly, almost spilling the contents of her red solo cup. She examines my outfit before she bursts out in hysterical laughter.

  “I love me a man in a skirt,” she says, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Oh God, Kylee, look. Skylar is wearing a skirt too. I fucking love this night. Let me take a mental picture, hold still boys.”

  Skylar wastes no time coming up next to me and posing for a picture, even if it is just a mental picture. Oh wait. Kylee pulls out a cell phone that was carefully concealed in her cleavage.

  “Smile pretty,” Kylee says, taking the picture that I’m sure will haunt me the rest of my life.

  Just as I’m about to ask Mira if she wants to go outside and talk, Kylee pulls on her friend, frantic about the song that’s coming out of the speakers.

  “Mira, come on. I fucking love this song. Dance. Let’s go.”

  “Ky, I’m gonna hang back. Go ahead.”

  Kylee places her cup on the counter and summons Skylar to where she’s standing. She whispers in his ear and a slight grin comes across his face as he lifts Kylee onto the kitchen counter. And there she goes. Dancing like a maniac on the counter top, singing whatever pop song is playing. This girl has no shame.

  “I didn’t see that one coming,” I say, shaking my head.

  “Oh, this is nothing. Just wait until she starts drinking,” Mira responds, laughing at her friend.

  “She’s not drunk?”

  “She’s sober as shit. This is just Kylee. Carefree.”

  Laughing, I pull Mira toward the back door, leaving Skylar on ‘Kylee Duty’. We have to maneuver around the drunken bodies spilling into the backyard. We finally reach a few lawn chairs that are unoccupied; I motion for Mira to sit down. She looks really confused, as she looks down at her caution tape dress.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “I’m not sure I can sit. I think if I do, I will pop right out of this thing.”

  Just staring at her, I can’t form words. I want to tell her to sit and not care, it will be okay but the other part of me, the gentleman side, kicks into high gear.

  “Would you rather stand or go for a walk?” I ask.

  “A walk sounds nice, but I’m not wearing these damn shoes.” She takes her shoes off and carries them in one hand.

  When I say that I can’t get enough of this girl, I really mean it; she’s so interesting and genuine. She tells me about her family and her life before college. She has a great physique and I figured she played sports but I didn’t expect her to tell me that she was a gymnast. Swimmer, yeah I can see that. But gymnastics?

  Stop thinking of bending her up in a pretzel, asshole.

  “How long have you and Kylee been friends?”

  “Since we were kids. We grew up together. Went to elementary, junior high and high school together. It was nice we got into the same school. I really don’t know what I would’ve done without her. She’s just like me but loud and obnoxious. How about you and Skylar?”

  “About the same. Our parents were friends, so we kind of started hanging out really young. When my dad died a few years back, we got really close. He’s basically like my brother. He’s a good guy.”

  “He seems like it. You both seem like it.” She’s blushing again and it’s adorable.

  “We’ve been gone a while, we probably should head back. I wouldn’t want Skylar to piss off your friend. He’s kind of good at pissing people off when he drinks.”

  Mira nods in acceptance as we both turn to walk back to the Kappa house. As soon as we open the front door, even more people are here, if that’s even possible. I pull Mira into me to guide us into the kitchen where we left Skylar and Kylee. I have a really bad feeling that shit is about to get real. You can’t have this many people in one house, drinking and barely dressed, for it to remain calm.

  As soon as the thought passes through my brain, it happens.

  Shit. Gets. Real.

  Someone shoves Mira from behind. She would’ve fallen over if I wasn’t holding onto her so tightly. As I turn around to confront whoever pushed her, they grab a hold of the caution tape wrapped around Mira’s body and pull. The tape begins to unravel and Mira’s eyes scream pure terror.

  “Hey man, cool it.”

  “I wanna see why I should take caution. Come here girl, show me what’s under this shit,” the man-child slurs, obviously drunk out of his mind.

  “Stop!” Mira screams, trying to pull away from him. This probably isn’t helping her cause, the more she pulls, the more tape unravels.

  “Dude, calm the fuck down. Leave her the hell alone!” I yell as I shove the guy hard as hell.

  “You let your girlfriend walk out of the house dr
essed like this and expect her not to have this kind of attention?” He swings his fist in my direction.

  I dodge his drunken attempt at getting the first swing, but the first swing is the first swing, right? My mama always told me to never swing first but if someone else swings off first, it’s fair game. As I cock back my fist, ready to unleash my fury, Skylar comes out of nowhere. Well, he came from somewhere, I just don’t know where. He grabs the drunken man-child in a head lock and pulls him toward the front door.

  “I got this man, enjoy your night,” Skylar says, wrestling the guy out of the house.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Mira asks, looking worried. Is she worried for Skylar or the drunk guy?

  “He’s going to be fine,” I answer just to satisfy her, “Let’s get Kylee and get out of here. Knowing Skylar, he’s going to lay into that guy and I don’t want to be around when the cops get here. We could all lose our scholarships.”

  We find Kylee and all move toward the front door when Skylar reappears.

  “Are you good, man?” I ask, noticing Skylar’s already bruising knuckles.

  “Perfect. You guys ready?”

  “Yeah, we’re good. Let’s go.”

  Since Mira and Kylee walked to the party, we decide to give them a ride back to the dorm. The same issue of sitting comes up again when Skylar opens his trunk and gives each of the girls a hoodie to put on. Leave it to Skylar to leave clothes in the trunk of his car, just in case.

  The girls put on the sweatshirts and climb into the back seat. Mira is telling Kylee about everything that happened while Kylee stares at her in shock.

  “And then, Skylar grabbed the guy in a headlock and drug him outside and beat his ass,” I hear Mira telling Kylee, almost as if she’s proud of him.

  “Shit, Sky. You’re some kind of bad-ass, huh?” Kylee asks.

  “I just don’t like to see guys fucking with my friends. That kind of shit irritates the fuck out of me,” Skylar responds naturally.

  And it’s true. Skylar took me under his wing a long time ago and I hope the girls know how lucky they are to have a friend like him behind them. He can come off like an asshole sometimes but the kid has a heart of gold and I’m proud to say he’s my brother. There isn’t a whole lot I wouldn’t do for him.