Sara and Abby (Sara's Summer Abroad) by C. E. Todd Page A

That
sounded to Sara like just a hook up, but it didn’t feel like one.  It felt …
deeper.  It was reassuring somehow to think about David.  Why?  He didn’t give
her anything, actually.  Maybe what felt reassuring was actually a sense that
he would be reassuring if the relationship continued.  But why?  Why was
reassurance floating around this guy at all?
     
                “Sara? 
You there?”  Abby tugged on Sara’s forearm as they turned into the college. 
     
                “Sorry. 
I was just thinking,” Sara said, “I can’t put my finger on why it was so
different with David.”
     
                “Uh
oh.  So it’s ‘David’, eh?  This sounds serious.  Let’s go talk about it.”  Abby
led Sara down the hallway to Abby’s room.
     
                Sara
was a bit surprised at Abby’s ease about the whole situation.  It seemed odd
that Abby would want to help Sara sort through it all.  They were lovers, after
all.  Sara decided to welcome the courtesy.  Maybe Abby had some perspective to
offer.
     
                They
eased into Abby’s room, a smaller version of Sara’s.  There was a bed against
the far wall, under a window, and a desk against the adjacent wall.  The walls
were the same aged, stucco-ish plaster as in Sara’s room; they made Sara wonder
what secrets they contained.  Sara pull the chair out from the desk, and sat
down.
     
                “I
really don’t know what to make of it.  It was so sudden, but there was
something different about it – something deeper.  I’d like to think it isn’t
just because he’s a man, but I’m just not sure.”
     
                “Well,
neither am I,” Abby added as she hopped up off the bed, and bounded to the
dresser on the opposite wall, and pulled out a clean halter top.  “It was just
icky out there.  I need to change my shirt.  You need one?  You have to be as
uncomfortable as I am.”
     
                Sara
hadn’t quite acclimated herself to the humidity at Oxford.  Back in Kansas,
when it was dry, it was dry, and when it rained, it usually rained buckets, and
then it was over with.  Here, though, it seemed to drizzle most days, which
only made them feel sticker, and more uncomfortable.  “Yeah, I could use a
change,” Sara admitted.  Sara got up and pulled her t-shirt over her head.
     
                Sara
felt a bit strange, standing there in her bra and jeans, staring at Abby’s
braless breasts, but decided she should just “broaden her horizons”, as her
mother put it, and stay quiet.
     
                “Like
what you see?”  Abby caught Sara staring. 
     
                “I’m
sorry.  I didn’t mean to stare.”  There was a lump in Sara’s stomach as she
lowered her head and admitted, “They’re just so … beautiful.”
     
                Abby
smiled.  “Don’t worry.  It’s okay with me if you look.  It’s even better if you
touch.”  Abby reached out and tweaked the tip of Sara’s bra lightly, sending a
shockwave through Sara, and causing her nipples to swell immediately.  Sara
swallowed hard.
     
                “Gimme
that shirt.”  Sara snatched the t-shirt and pulled it on.  “I need to figure
this out.”
     
                “What? 
The David thing?  You fucked him.  What’s so complicated?”  Abby said.
     
                “Well,
that’s just it.  I don’t think I ‘fucked’ him.  There was something more to
it.  I can’t figure out what it is.”
     
                “You
like him.  That’s all.  Maybe he’s considerate.  Maybe he’s hot.  Maybe he’s a
surrogate father.  Maybe all of those things.  The problem is, Sara, that you
keep analyzing it, as if it wasn’t okay.”
     
                Sara
cocked her head and sat back down at the desk.  She was truly puzzled.