Chapter One

 

Getting through Business Finance was a killer. I had taken it before, in my first term and dropped it because I knew it would lower my GPA even if I passed. Which I probably wouldn't have. But it was a requirement, so I took it again second term. It was just as hard then. It had so many long, complicated formulas! Who was going to use these in the real world anyway!?

I put more effort into it second term but I could tell it was still going to be hard to get a decent mark.

And then came Jacob, riding to the rescue on his nerd horse - so to speak. Jacob was not the type of person I ever paid much attention to, normally - or even noticed, to be honest. I'd always gone for tall, handsome guys with square jaws and broad shoulders. Macho guys, in other words. Jacob was, well, the opposite of that.

To start with, he wasn't much taller than me. And I'm short, even for a girl. He was slender, with small hands and narrow shoulders. And he wore glasses. To top it off his sense of style was - absent. There was no reason for me to ever even speak to him.

I know that sounds snotty. I try not to be snotty. I really do! But look, it's human nature to get the best you can, right? If you have these big, handsome, confident, suave, sophisticated guys crowding around you why would you waste time on some short, skinny nerd?

There were nerd girls that would no-doubt make much better girlfriends for someone like Jacob, after all. And that definitely wasn't me. I didn't play any video games. I didn't watch science fiction or read much of anything for just pleasure. Why would I when there were so many streaming sites!?

And I did not love Math. What kind of a weirdo loved math!? Well, Jacob did.

I loved dancing. Okay, I lack the long legs, but I was a gymnast all through high school. I was athletic, limber, graceful, and moved well on the dance floor. And I looked good in a short skirt and high heels - even without the long legs.

Which is why I'm used to being looked at by guys wherever I go. I hardly pay attention to them anymore unless they stare. Whether it's on the street, in the halls at school, or in classrooms, guys look at me. I don't want to sound arrogant or anything. I'm attractive, okay? It's not like it's my doing. I mean, well, some of it is. But I didn't create or draw my facial features is what I mean.

And while I exercise a lot that had nothing to do with the size of my breasts. It helped keep them firm, despite their size, but the size itself, that came with the body, and the body came with DNA. I suppose if anyone should be congratulated on it it's my parents.

My boobs aren't huge or anything, but then I'm kind of petite, so on me they look - noticeable. Very noticeable, depending on what I choose to wear. I tend to wear short skirts to make my legs look longer. It's either that or wear like, five-inch stilettos to school, and I am so not doing that!

So anyway, I was in class, the amphitheater type. It was like a half-moon shape, with maybe twenty rows of tables each rising about a foot or more above the row in front of them and all facing the floor down below where the professor was.

There were over a hundred people in class. It's not a place to make friends. I barely noticed the people sitting on either side of me as I set up my laptop to take notes. Just about everyone else was doing the same since this was a killer of a course.

That's why I noticed Jacob. He wasn't doing much of anything but playing with his phone. He had no laptop, just a notebook and textbook. I didn't think much about it. Maybe he was poor, or maybe his was in for repair or something. Whatever.

While I and most others were frantically taking notes while Professor Chang spoke almost faster than we could hear he was kind of comfortably leaning back in his chair. His eyes roamed the class from time to time like he was bored and looking for something interesting.

I did the same in some classes. The easy, boring ones. Not this one, though!

I was aware that as his eyes roamed, they would often roam my way. Like I said, I'm used to it. I'm eye candy, as one boyfriend had once told me. In his defense, he'd meant it as a compliment.

I was wearing a cream-colored sweater over white pants. Not every girl can get away with white pants. I'm one of them. I won't say the sweater was tight but it was form-fitting enough that I knew full well I had a very nice profile, which was what he was probably contemplating when his head turned in my direction.

He wasn't staring, though, so I ignored it. I was a bit irritated, though, because it seemed like he was bored while I and a lot of others were trying very hard just to keep up with what Chang was saying down there.

Occasionally he'd lazily jot something down in his notebook, so he apparently was paying attention to more than my profile. And then about half an hour into the class I realized he was paying attention to the notes I was taking, too.

"You got that one backward," he said out of nowhere.

His voice confused me for a moment. It's not like I knew him - or wanted to. And usually, only the confident, cocky, handsome guys tried picking me up in class. I turned my head to look at him, confusion evident on my face, and he pointed at the screen.

"You wrote equity financing instead of debt financing."

I was like, WTF?

"Excuse me?"

"You wrote the description of Debt Financing for Equity Financing. Debt financing is just like when you borrow on your credit card. Equity financing gives them a stake in the business itself."

I grudgingly realized he was right. I'd put them under the wrong descriptions. I cursed softly and changed it, muttered a thanks, and tried to catch up to what Chang had been saying during the interruption.

"You know his lectures are all online, right?"

"Yes, but then I'd have to take notes then anyway," I said.

"All you need to note for this class is what's going to be on the test," he said. "Most of the rest is junk you'll never see again in your life anyway."

"If only I knew what would be on the test," I said, a bit snippily.

"Chang's former tests are also available online. He changes them every year but the basics of what he tests for can be fairly easily discerned by studying past tests. He won't ask the same question but it will be on the same topic."

I was getting irritated because I couldn't concentrate on Chang. But at the same time, the idea of being able to focus what I needed to give attention to held the prospect of maybe actually passing this fucking course with a decent mark.

So that was my introduction to Jacob Patterson. And of course, I had to follow up on where these tests could be found, and he told me not to bother. He could tell me what topics would be on the test.

I'm used to guys being nice to me if I need to say that. Guys of all ages. It's something instinctive, I guess. Even guys my grandfather's age are nice to me and like me being 'eye candy'. So I wasn't very surprised at Jacob wanting to be helpful.

I was wary, though. Any guy near my age who was helpful was usually doing it to get into my pants. Or at least, to inch one tiny bit closer to the possibility of getting into my pants. And no way was Jacob getting into my pants. He just wasn't in my league.

Yes, I know that sounds arrogant as fuck! So what? How many handsome, macho guys date fat girls? Like, none, right? Why should they when so many hot chicks vie for their attention? Don't hate the player, hate the system. I didn't make the world the way it is. I can no more help what does and does not turn me on than guys can.

And Jacob definitely didn't turn me on.

But I really needed to get a boost with Business Finance. So I let him have his inch, and then another. I agreed to meet him for coffee in the cafeteria so we could talk about these previous tests.

It's a very fine line being nice back to guys without stepping over the line where you're 'leading them on' as my mother would say, or being a cock-tease as most guys would say. I was NOT playing up to him or cooing or flirting, okay? I was being nice the way I would to a girl! And I don't DO girls!

Over the next couple of months, Jacob was extremely helpful, and I let him slide into the friend zone, which was where I most definitely placed him. He wasn't a bad guy, after all. He was quite nice, in fact. Well, he was nice to me anyway.

I had to keep from rolling my eyes sometimes when he'd do his best to explain why I should watch the various Star Wars streaming shows, or how cool vampire books were. But generally, he was okay, and sometimes even funny.

And I deftly avoided any invitations to anything which seemed too much like a 'date'.

He was a talented guy with his pencil, though. By which I meant he drew things; people, animals, buildings, and stuff like that. I was really surprised when he shyly showed me a few of them.

"These are really good!" I exclaimed.

"I took art in high school," he said. "I'm pretty good with charcoal or pencil. But I don't think I've really got the talent for painting anything."

"You should at least try," I said.

"Most people with that kind of talent get into computer-aided design or animation," he said. "I am taking some computer animation courses as a minor, just for fun. We'll see. My parents are determined I get a degree that will make me money.

"Don't you make money with computer animation?"

"Sure. But it's hard to break into somewhere you have a steady job as opposed to various gigs. And you really have to hustle for the gigs."

It was like a week or so later he showed me a drawing of me. It really was very lifelike!

"I should frame this and put it on the wall at my dorm," I said.

I mean, it was just a head and shoulders kind of picture. Nothing sexy or sexual about it.

The next drawing he did of me was something else, though. I had these sharp incisors in my mouth like a vampire. And I was wearing this sleek, skintight black gown as I crept across some kind of sofa looking... hungry.

It was really good, though! I mean, I was kind of amazed. Okay, there was some cleavage in that gown, but not a huge amount or anything. My boobs were definitely noticeable in the gown, though. They were, uhm, pretty big, in fact.

"My boobs aren't that big," I said in a lighthearted way, after complimenting him on the picture.

"I never noticed," he said.

I snorted. Of course, he'd noticed. He was a guy. And straight.

"I mean, I've never seen you wearing anything sexy," he said.

I raised my eyebrows and he flushed.

"I mean, not that what you wear at school isn't uhm..."

"Attractive?"

"Yeah, attractive. You look great! Honest! But, like, I've never seen you in something like, uh..."

"A skintight gown with cleavage? Yeah, I don't have one of those. I'm not a gown type person."

"Well, maybe if I saw you in a bikini," he said hopefully.

I snorted in amusement again. "It's March, Jacob. It's like barely above freezing out. And, I'm not likely to wear a bikini to class."

"Too bad," he said. "Classes would be a lot more interesting if the hot chicks wore bikinis."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd think so."

So would every other guy, of course.

He wanted to do a picture of me as Lara Croft from a series of video games. She was a kind of female version of that guy who did the temple of doom movies. I thought that would be cool. So when we were more or less alone in a corner of the cafeteria I leafed down through the pictures I had on the laptop and found one with me in a midriff-baring crop top.

I looked hot in it, but then, I never saved pictures of me if I didn't look pretty good in them. Anyway, I let him see it and he made admiring noises which I appreciated. I do like having a really flat stomach and abdomen. I work at it, after all. And it wasn't uncomfortable like having guys who are only friends say you have a nice ass or something.

I liked the resulting drawing a lot! Jacob really had talent. Of course, he 'joked' about drawing me nude. And I joked right back as if I thought he wasn't really interested even though I knew damn well he'd love the chance to do just that. And more!

I won't say the thought didn't tease me at times. I'm not exactly shy about my body. In fact, I'm kind of proud of it, though you're not supposed to admit that. I wasn't afraid he'd jump me or something. But I thought that might be giving him too much hope of more. I didn't want to be a cock-tease to him.

"Sorry, I have no naked pictures of me to guide you," I said.

"Really? I thought all girls were narcissistic about their looks and took lots of pictures of themselves looking hot and sexy."

Jacob was not entirely well-socialized about what he should and shouldn't say to others. I mean, he wasn't totally wrong either. Don't get me wrong. I had definitely taken lots of pictures of myself in lingerie, bikinis, and yes, naked. But I wasn't about to let him see any of those!

The next picture he did of me was of me in a metallic bra top and a kind of long, lacy loincloth thing. With a slave collar around my neck. I'm not much into science fiction but even I recognized the picture as being from Star Wars. Especially since there was a chain attached to the collar held by some big, ugly monster thing.

"I don't think my stomach is quite as ripped as hers," I said, kind of jokingly.

"Sure it is. When you see it in the right light you have really strong, underlying muscle development," he said enthusiastically.

Which confused me because I'd never worn anything that bared much of my midriff to classes or anywhere we'd met.

"How do you know?"

"Uh, I must have seen it in one of the pictures you showed me."

I nodded and accepted that, but it did confuse me. I'd only shown him the crop top picture. And I hadn't thought the pants I had been wearing were very low riding. Anyway, it was a good picture, though a bit odd from my perspective. I mean, sure the loincloth bared my hips, er, her hips, but it covered me more than a bikini would.

I had been getting really good marks on my assignments, and then on the mid-term. And I was looking at either a strong B+ or possibly, if I was lucky, even an A- on the final! I was thrilled! And it was really all because of Jacob.

He'd drawn several more pictures of me, one as a superhero, wearing a super tight leotard thing with a lot of cleavage, one of me as some kind of prisoner in a dungeon clad in strategically placed rags, which was - weird - and another of me in at the beach playing beach volleyball.

I wasn't wearing a whole lot in any of these, and I couldn't help wondering just what other kind of pictures he'd drawn of me, if you catch my meaning. Because I knew guys well enough to know that if he could draw pictures this good of me and they were all of me wearing kind of not very much, well... I knew he must have drawn naked pictures. Or at least, what he imagined I looked like naked.

But I was feeling generous as the term came to an end and I kind of liked him. As a friend, of course. Yes, I knew he had the hots for me. But most guys did. Well, except for the gay guys.

"I can't thank you enough for all the help you've been, Jacob!" I said after I got the results of the mid-term.

"As my reward, you can let me draw you naked," he said slyly.

I snorted in amusement. "Sorry."

"C'mon! It's not sexual. I'm an artist!"

He was an artist but I was far from convinced it wasn't sexual.

"I don't want naked pictures of me getting around, even if they're just drawings."

"I wouldn't show anyone!"

"Of course, you would. Why wouldn't you if you were proud of the drawing?"

"Well, I can draw you so that nothing is showing."

"Huh?"

"I'd love to draw your back!"

"My back!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Why would you want to draw my back?"

"You have a great looking back. And your hair hangs down just perfectly."

Well, I do have nice hair.

"You just wanna see my boobs."

"I'll stand behind you."

"Uh-huh. Sure," I said in disbelief.

"So why would I have to be naked to draw my back?"

"Well... you could wear a thong, I guess."

"Ha. You're so generous!" I said in amusement.

"I want to draw a beautiful picture of you that shows how sensual you are, but isn't remotely pornographic."

"I don't think so."

"Come oooon. Your face won't even be in it!"

I really should have been firmer about saying no. The truth was I had mixed feelings. I really owed him! He'd put in a lot of time helping me. And what had I done for him? Nothing. What could I do for him? Nothing. I kind of felt I owed him! And like I said I didn't fear Jacob. He was way too timid and law-abiding and careful to do something nasty if I said no.

And to be honest I am proud of my body and love showing it off! The problem is I don't get nearly enough opportunity to do that. I don't want to wear something hot and sexy just anywhere. That would just get me all kinds of harassment from guys I wasn't interested in. Not to mention all the other girls would think I was a slut or that I was desperate for attention.

So I eventually let him wear me down. But I put certain absolute rules he'd have to agree to. The first was he stayed behind me. The second was that he would stop the instant I said to. The third was he showed the drawing to me afterward and if I told him to he had to destroy it in front of me.

Unlike me, Jacob was a local boy. He was still living with his parents at home. Of course, he didn't have a car, so we had to take the bus. But it wasn't far. It was an old Victorian house with red bricks and a steeply slanted roof. I was feeling a little nervous and constantly second-guessing myself. But he was so eager to do it I didn't have the heart to back out.

"We'll do it in the basement," he said.

He let me in and I looked around a bit anxiously. What would his parents think if he brought a girl home to draw naked?! What would they think of me!? Probably that I was a slut!

When he said basement I pictured some nice, finished basement with a pool table and sofas or something. But when he opened the door there was a steep, narrow wooden staircase leading down to a stone floor. I followed him uncertainly and found myself in a completely unfinished basement with a line of bare bulbs dangling from the ceiling.

"You want to draw me here?!" I asked in consternation.

"It's the perfect contrast! The soft and warm, with the cold and harsh."

I was just hoping I hadn't gotten him all wrong and he didn't have some kind of dungeon down there where he kept helpless girls! Still, I went carefully down the stairs and looked around me at the dark, kind of oppressive basement.

He indicated the walls, which were not of poured concrete but actual stones, then headed away from the stairs. I followed doubtfully. We went way to the back, past the washer and dryer, past the furnace and oil tank and water heater to a cleared area in the corner.

He had a couple of lights set up on tripods and turned them on, and kind of grabbed me by the shoulders and eased me around to where he wanted me to stand.

"Just here?" I asked, looking around with a frown.

"It's perfect!"

He'd set up an artist's easel about ten feet back from the corner and beamed excitedly at me.

This is nuts, I thought. I should tell him to forget it.