The week went by fairly quickly, save for a few lab sessions that seemed never ending. It was Thursday evening which meant the boys would be over soon for movie night. I was fluffing pillows on the couch when I noticed what movie Mal was setting up.
"Friends With Benefits, seriously?" I asked as Mal stepped back from the TV.
"Oh come on, it's so good. Plus Mila Kunis is hot as fuck." The blonde said as she headed to the kitchen to get the snacks.
I helped her place the popcorn and Doritos into bowls as I judged her movie choice, "You know Hunter is totally gonna freak out. He hates anything that doesn't have at least one action scene."
"Well that's too bad." She said, placing the bowls on the coffee table, "I sat through Fight Club for him, he will sit through this for me."
A knock at the door stopped me from telling her that I too was not happy with the movie choice. I opened for the guys who came in carrying beer and chocolates.
"Alright let's see this amazing movie choice then." Said Xander as he made his way to the couch.
Hunter started laughing when he saw the movie queued up on the screen, "You're kidding, right? This is a joke? Amalia Lance there is no way I'm watching this crap."
Mal let out an angry grunt and stomped over to Hunter. She was over a foot shorter than him and looked like a child when she yelled, "Listen here mister, this is my week! That means I get to pick the movie and you get to sit quietly on the couch and watch it. If I hear so much as a peep from anyone, I'm kicking you out. Got it?"
The boys spoke in unison, "Yes ma'am."
I laughed as I helped Atlas put the beers we weren't drinking in the fridge. Mal was a force to be reckoned with.
I started the movie as everyone got comfortable on the couches. We had been doing this for a while now but there was no set seating plan, it changed every week. Hunter and Atlas sat on the main couch with Mal squished between them and I joined Xan on the smaller sofa. Our apartment was significantly smaller than the guys' and so we were packed in quite closely.
We were about 30 minutes in when I felt Xan nudge me under the blanket that covered us. "So, would you ever do it? You know, the whole friends with benefits thing?"
I thought about his question before answering, "Depends. The sex would have to be really good. What about you?"
He answered a lot quicker than I did, "No way. It's too complicated. I mean you can definitely have sex without love but, I feel it makes it better."
I loved my boyfriend when I slept with him, and even then it was bad. The few casual hook-ups I had since then weren't worse but they certainly weren't better. I had come to accept that good sex for women only existed in porn.
"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Hunter's voice cut through my thoughts.
Xan answered, "I asked Izzy if she would have a friend with benefits."
"What'd she say?" Atlas asked, cutting into the conversation
I could see Mal getting annoyed at us for not paying attention to the movie. "It doesn't matter what I said." I answered. "Now stop talking before Mal kills us."
Hunter wasn't going to let an opportunity to not pay attention to the movie slip away. "Well personally, I think it's a neat little arrangement." He said, "The only problem is finding a girl who's not gonna fall for my dashing good looks and charm."
Atlas laughed at his friend's overly confident statement before giving his own input on the subject, "I'd be down too. Relationships are a lot of work and sometimes you just need sex without the emotional attachment, you know?"
"What about you Mal?" Xander asked
Mal rolled her eyes, "If I answer will you stop talking and focus on the movie?"
After we all agreed to Mal's request she gave us an answer, "No, I think its only gonna end one of two ways: either one of you catches feelings and the other doesn't, ruining the friendship, or both of you catch feelings, date, breakup and ruin the friendship. It's why we have The Rule."
We came up with The Rule a couple weeks after forming our little friend group. In order to prevent any complications between us, we weren't allowed to sleep with or date each other. So far it's been pretty easy to stick to it.
"Agreed. So 3 for and two against." Said Xander after hearing Mal's response.
Hunter gave me a shocked look, "Wait. Izzy is for?"
"I said it depends on the person. Now shut up and watch the movie."
I could see Mal hit Hunter's knee before he could try and continue the conversation.
*****
I woke up the next morning with my head laying on Xan's chest. After the movie ended last night we drank a lot more beer and got into a heated debate over who was hotter between Rihanna and Mila Kunis. In the end Rihanna won and we must have fallen asleep in the lounge because I don't remember anything after that.
I got up slowly and looked around the room. Hunter was passed out on the floor and Mal had her feet on Atlas' head as they slept on the couch. I tried to make as little noise as possible as I headed to the bathroom to have a shower.
It wasn't uncommon for us to sleep over at each other's places, in fact, it happened quite often. I turned on the hot water as I placed my towel on the rack. The warm water soothed my aching muscles from sleeping on that couch last night.
By the time I got out the shower and got dressed, everyone was up. Xander and Atlas were making breakfast while Hunter cleaned the lounge with Mal.
"Good morning sleepy heads." I said as a came out my room. I had put on a pair of jeans and a sweater as I had a 10 a.m. lecture to attend.
"Good morning Iz." Xan said as he flipped a pancake. I didn't even know we had the ingredients to make pancakes.
"Mmm Xan that smells amazing." Mal said as she entered the kitchen with the empty bowls from last night.
"Not as good as your gourmet deliveries though, I'm sure." He responded
Mal smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Oh please, you know you're my favourite chef."
"Yeah, me too." Atlas said, mockingly repeating Mal's gesture and planting a kiss on Xan's cheek.
I grabbed a pancake from the plate next to the stove and took a bite of the warm and delicious food. I had 10 minutes to get down to campus for my lecture.
"Hey! We're not done yet." Atlas yelled as I grabbed my bag.
"Sorry guys I got to go to class. I didn't want to leave without trying one, they looked so good." I headed out the door and walked as fast as I could to my lecture hall. I was probably going to be late but nothing in this world would motivate me to run.
*****
My lecture ended 3 hours later and I headed to the Law lawns to meet Atlas like I usually did on Fridays. He had an 11 a.m. lecture that ended the same time as mine, Hunter had a 1 p.m. lab and Mal and Xander had Fridays off.
The lawns were a grass covered section on campus behind the Law Library. Birds often flocked there and it was very serene and beautiful. Atlas and I shared a loved for nature. While I chose to take the scientific route and study the biology and chemistry behind it in order to protect it, Atty chose to go the legal way and specialise in Environmental Law.
I sat down on the grass next my friend and took in the fresh air and sunshine.
"You excited for the party tomorrow?" Atlas asked me.
"Definitely, I'm so ready to be done with this block." I answered. "Have you seen how many decorations Hunter and Mal got? It's insane."
"Yeah we probably shouldn't have sent them alone. I'm pretty sure they're not even going to fit in our place"
The guys threw a party at the end of every block to celebrate. Most of the time it got really crazy with people we didn't even know showing up. Booze and bad decisions were always present in the bucket loads at these events but it was a nice way to celebrate surviving another 2 and half months of university.
"I hope that girl from last time doesn't show up." I said." The one who kept telling everyone that she was too hot to be at such a lame party. Like okay, then leave."
Atty laughed as he remembered the egotistical girl who showed up at the final block party last year, "Well she did keep saying she'll never come to these lame college parties again so hopefully we won't have to hear her complain."
Atlas and I spoke about outfits and pregaming for another half an hour before leaving the Lawns. We agreed that we would all meet at the guys' place for shots before everyone showed up.