Chapter 8 (In Which Betsy grows up and graduates from university)

It still hitched her breath, every time she caught view of it in the mirror. It has been six years since that twenty four hour period that had changed her life… and not exactly for good, either.

Now she was finally old enough. She was graduating from college next week, and she was completely legal in the eyes of the law. She was ready to begin that part of her life where people paired off, shacked up, and started their own little family units.

But thanks to that mark, Betsy was doomed to remain a spinster for all eternity. It was either that, or find some gay guy to marry who couldn’t manage to come out of the closet.

But babies? The thought of touching a man long enough to produce the desired results made her skin crawl. Their touch was like slime, cold clammy, and something she’d rather be without. The only time she could feel anything at all was in bed, alone with her memories of Adeo.

The Jerk.

Six years of growing up had really blown the cover off the little girl who had been about to happily charge off with a handsome prince to save the world. The little girl who had been happy to spend her one night of happiness before her prince snuck out of bed and disappeared forever. The frustrated young woman realized one night of absolute pleasure didn’t quite in reality stand up against a lifetime of pretty good pleasure.

Betsy sighed and tugged on her shirt. There was about two inches of skin between it and her low cut jeans. She grabbed her bag and tiptoed out of her room. Merry was probably still asleep on the couch. No point in waking her friend up if she didn’t have to get up. Sure enough, there was wrinkled hump of blankets unmoving on the couch. Betsy turned to grab a bowl out of the cupboard.

“Whoah, showin’ off the tramp stamp today?” Betsy put the bowl on the counter and continued making breakfast.

“Might as well while I can, if I’m going home next week.” Betsy had managed to hide the mark from her mom for two whole years. Once she was away at college it was easier, but her mom would still probably flip if she thought she got a tattoo… especially such an odd one.

Most people at college knew she had a tattoo… but only Merry knew the exact circumstances. Merry seemed to think her nickname for the mark was also quite clever, since Betsy was the least tramplike person on the face of the earth. All of her other friends were reaping in the benefits of college life and the “freedom to experiment” away from their parents. After a few weeks of trying to experiment (with both genders, she might add), Betsy gave up. Most of her roommates just thought she was an uptight virgin. Merry took her behavior as a perfect excuse for her to take all the men on their jaunts to pubs and bars.

Betsy had met Merry the year before when Merry had taken pity the floundering American and taken her under her wing. Betsy had been under the incorrect supposition that a change of country might make her happier so she’d applied to spend her Junior Year Abroad in England.

It turned out that the only difference between her university in California and the one in England was that Betsy had a lot more free time on her hands to be miserable… and it rained more.

Enter Merry who had plucked her out of doldrums and shown her the marvelous sights and sounds of London. From then on, Betsy had been too busy or too drunk to contemplate her failure at connecting sexually with anyone.

The school year had ended and the two of them had gone back packing across Europe until it was time to start classes back in the U.S. Merry had gone back to live with her parents for a year, working in her Aunt’s B and B, while Betsy had finished her last year of school.

It had taken less than a minute to convince Merry to fly out for Betsy’s graduation, followed by a road trip through California.

“Just behave yourself while I’m gone,” Betsy said. “I should be back from my final around noon.” Three down, two more to go.

“Don’t worry. There’s this bloke down the hall that said he needed some help loading his trunks.”

“How do make anything sound dirty?”

“It’s a gift. Don’t be late to your exam!”

Betsy finished off her cereal and grabbed her bag. It was a short walk to campus where they were already setting up the tents and chairs for graduation. The weather was going to be perfect and sunny. It was southern California, after all.

Betsy entered the lecture hall and took her normal seat. She pulled out her composition book and waited for the professor to hand out the exam. At least this was something she was good at. She had aced her first three exams, and was pretty sure she’d be getting straight A’s her senior year.

Three hours later, Betsy exited her exam with the same confidence she had left. Whether or not she could find a job, at least she was an excellent student in English Literature. She hadn’t been in much rush to find a job, though. She kept telling herself that it was simply Merry’s philosophy that it was better to be a bum for a year or two when you’re young. Too many people waited until they were old, grumpy and retired to see the world.

It was a great plan, except for those things called student loans. Sure, scholarships had paid for most of her education, but there was quite a steep pile of debt she was going to have to start paying off after six months.

Betsy opened the door to her apartment. Merry handed her a glass or red wine.

“It’s noon. On a Tuesday?”

“Yeah. It’s a celebratory drink.”

“You know you’re an alcoholic.”

“I prefer the term lush. Now that wine would have been a nice Guinness, if I could have gotten a nice one without a car.”

“I hate Guinness.”

“So it’s a great thing that I didn’t have a car!”

“I still have one more to go.”

“And you’ll do fuckin’ great on that one too!”

“And how many celebratory glasses have you had already?”

“Out of this bottle? I think I’m going to sit down.”

Merry sat down right in the middle of the floor. “Got any pillows?” Betsy reached over and hoisted her friend up. With a little effort, she managed to plop a now giggling Merry onto the couch. Throughout the whole maneuver, Merry had kept a steady hold on her wine glass… until she decided to lie down. Then the entire contents were launched sideways and directly into Betsy’s cleavage.

“Just great.”

“Ha, ha, you’re boobs are wet.”

“Thanks for the update. Give me that.” Betsy took the glass away from her friend before she ended up breaking that as well. “You are officially cut off.”

“Daaa-rling.”

Merry really was a darling friend, but sometimes Betsy felt like the grown up among the two, even though they were the same age.

“I’m gonna go change my shirt. Are you going to be all right in here?” Merry’s response was a snore. “Yeah. You’re good.”

Betsy went into her bedroom, and took off her shirt. She then used it to pat the excess liquid off her breasts. The wine had already soaked its way into the lining of her bra.

“Why do I always seem to find you with your shirt off?”

She didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. Just the huskiness of his voice set her whole body on a fiery trail she’d not felt for six years.