Oh my God, the craziest thing happened, and I couldn’t get over it. Archie was offering a chance for me to be part of a threesome, no, a foursome. The whole idea of it sounded nuts.He thought that this was some kind of game.A joke.Just like all the others who were sending me messages and playing with my mind, they didn’t realize what was at stake, or rather they didn’t care. They just thought that I was after someone because I was some kind of perv. They didn’t care that I needed this to save the paper the one thing that meant probably more to me than life itself.Well maybe, not quite. But for sure, part of me would die if I didn't get what I needed to keep it alive.I was headed to class and feeling as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders when my phone rang. I didn’t even look at Caller ID. Something that I’d been doing lately in case someone else felt the need to call me up and insult me or offer me the chance to star in their home-made movie. Who does that?“Yes!”

I wasn’t as anxious as Archie or Pete over this new girl who may or may not enter our lives. Archie positively glowed with anticipation as he left the house yesterday morning while Pete was all but giddy. I frowned as I walked down the wet sidewalk to the hall where my class was held, annoyed that it was still raining. The sound of the rubber soles of my shoes made me wince every now and then as the rubber squeaked against a wet patch.I readjusted my bag against my shoulder and pushed hair off my forehead. I needed to say calm, I reminded myself, my brothers need me. It was something I’d reminded myself of often throughout our lives together. Archie was the daredevil, Pete was eager to measure up, though he was more careful than Archie ever dreamed about being.It was up to me to be the sensible one, to keep us from harm, and I took that job seriously. Our parents worked hard, and we’d often stayed with our grandparents, our dad’s parents, while our parents worked long hours in their

“Tessa.” Kim bent down and pecked my cheek as she came in with Cheryl. Cheryl followed to peck my cheek and I waved them both off. “Stop it,” I muttered as I typed into my phone. “Coffee?” Cheryl asked and headed to the bar without waiting for me to answer. She knew I wanted some. “Still texting?” Kim asked, and I just glanced at her. “Of course, you are.” “They won’t stop,” I finally answered, with a sigh. “But it is fun. Some of them are very…imaginative and besides, I’ve thought about what Dad said, about being part of the action…” “Oh?” Kim leaned over as if to look at my phone. I snatched my phone away from the table and frowned at her. “Yes,” I hissed at her and turned the phone over. We were at the Old Barrel again, and I was busy with a bunch of guys on my phone. “So, you’re going to be the Carrie Bradshaw of CU?” Kim asked. I looked at her for a second, wondering if this was the road that I was headed down, so I winked at her. I hadn’t decided myself, when I did the

Tuesday was Pete’s day, and he’d asked me to meet him that evening. I really wanted to meet one of them in person, so I agreed. I’d hoped to meet them in order, just to have something like a timeline for them, I was systematically thinking about how I was going to sleep with all of them. Before, it would have seen crazy, thinking about such things, now it felt normal and I was excited about my fantasy becoming my reality.I went home and followed the beauty routine that Kim had shown me over the weekend. I showered got rid of all those unwanted hairs from under my armpit to down my legs, then I straightened my hair once it was dry. I decided to try something new, after all if I played my cards right, I would be losing my v-card tonight. Something that I’d never thought about how I was going to lose it, till now. Then, I put on makeup the way Kim showed me to apply it. I put on the outfit I’d bought at a consignment shop, a long sweater dress, a pair of black leggings, and black leath

It was Thursday, Carlos’s day, I thought as I stretched in my bed the next morning. I’d let Ron drive me home in the early hours of the morning. We’d had another session of agonizingly slow sex soon after the first time, and it had opened my eyes to what I’d been missing out on. I’d had no idea sex could be so much fun, or that you could crave it that way. I also had no idea how sore you could be the next day. I winced, but grinned as I did it. At least I’d had fun earning that soreness, I decided as I got out of bed and headed to the shower. A nice, long shower fixed most of the soreness. I went out to the kitchen to see my two best friends waiting for me, both with expressions on their faces that screamed ‘tell us everything now’. “Hi,” I said, shyly. “Don’t give us that ‘hi’ lady, how was it?” Kim demanded and pushed a cup of coffee toward me across the table where they sat. I took a chair opposite them and took a sip of the coffee. It tasted so good I sighed. “Tessa,” Cheryl