R + C

A Learning Experience

Christine Waters did not know what to do. She was beginning to get desperate for answers, but she did not want to just go throwing herself at some guy, hoping he would genuinely respect her boundaries. All the guys in her freshman classes were either immature pigs, too inexperienced to know how to treat a woman, or, in many cases, both.

She had already experimented with a couple of the girls in her sorority, one of whom was gay, the other simply curious, and that had only confused her more. So now she was trying to think of a guy to ask for a little help while she waited for her math tutor, who, she suddenly realized, was running a bit behind.

As quickly as the thought entered her mind, she heard a slightly raspy voice hurriedly fumble out, "Sorry I'm late, my dog broke the food dispenser, and then while I was cleaning up the mess, he decided to pee on the carpet, so I had to clean that up, too." Christine remembered that Isaac and his roommate had just gotten a puppy, and they were apparently struggling through house training.

"It's not a big deal, I don't have any plans after this anyway," she responded agreeably, glancing up into his eyes to see them staring intently down at her. Not for the first time she noticed the depth of intelligence that shined out from the emerald green of his irises, and suddenly wondered if he might be willing to help. He was a senior, and had mostly left his immaturity behind, so she might just trust him enough to treat her well without necessarily expecting to even go past first base if she was not ready for it.

"So what did y'all start working on in calculus this week?"

"Something called integrals. The teacher said it was basically the same as differentiation, but I don't understand how it could be," Christine complained.

Smiling, Isaac explained, "Well, it is pretty much the same thing, but it's going in a different direction of powers..." He carried on putting things more in layman's terms for her as he marveled that someone so bright in the natural sciences could struggle so much in math, but she was one of his better students, always trying to put the pieces together.

Once they wrapped up, nearly an hour later, she finally worked up the courage to ask, "So do you have any big plans for the evening?"

"Well, the Braves are in the playoffs, so I was thinking about watching the game tonight. Why? I think you've got a pretty decent grasp of the material now, if that's what you're worried about."

"No no, that's not it at all. Just... well, okay, I'll just be direct about it. Do you find me attractive in the least?"

Curious as to what her motivations might be, Isaac replied honestly, "Yes, I do. In fact, there aren't a whole lot of women on campus at Auburn that I wouldn't go on a date with, so long as they have the right personality."

"And do I have the right personality for you to be willing to fool around a little bit?"

Knowing he could be treading on thin ice, he responded, "So long as you aren't looking for a long-term commitment or anything. It's been more than a year since my last girlfriend and I broke up, and I'm still not over it. But if you want to use my body for experimentation, I won't complain."

Sensing the need to set expectations a little bit, Christine chuckled at his joke and smiled as she replied, "Well, the thing is, I might not want to do anything past kissing, so I don't want you to be expecting anything more than that. I've only ever had one kiss that made me want to go any further, and that's why I'm so confused right now."

"How about this: you've got a roommate in your dorm, so we'll go to my apartment. CJ is writing something for the school paper, so he won't be home for at least a few hours, meaning we'll have the place to ourselves to do whatever you're ready for. And even if he comes home, we can just go in my bedroom and shut the door, no problem."

"You promise not to be disappointed if all you get is a little tongue?" she asked, blushing as she realized even that little bit might imply more than she meant for it to. "I mean..."

With a patient smile, Isaac raised his hand in between them to stop her fumbling explanation. "As long as you'll promise to actually stick around and talk with me some if the kiss is awkward or whatever, I promise I will not touch you in any way that you don't want me to."

Finding this agreeable, Christine smiled, then nodded her head in agreement. With that, they made their way out to the parking deck, where Isaac's car resided.
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