Naivete

Chapter 14
Something New Everyday

“It is really, really hard to concentrate when you’re doing that, you know,” Mike said sternly, looking up from his textbook with a weak attempt at a menacing glare.

Sam’s eyes widened innocently. Looking down at herself, she tried to figure out what she could be doing to distract her study partner. She was lying on her side, holding her head up with one hand, while the other held the pen she was absently nibbling.

“What am I doing?” she asked after a moment, sweeping her hair off her neck and looking puzzled.

“God, never mind,” he responded, returning his gaze to his book.

Sam rolled her eyes and refocused on her notes, continuing to chew on her pen.

“Okay, so we were talking about Thomas More’s decision to stand against the king – “

“Jesus Christ,” Mike said suddenly, throwing his book on the floor and standing quickly. “I need to go get something to eat, or go…I dunno, jump in a cold pool or something.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Sam cried. “I’m not doing anything!” She couldn’t suppress a giggle as she took in the utter exasperation on Mike’s face.

“How can you not know what you’re doing?” he asked angrily. “Have you NO shame, woman?”

Sam just gaped at him, finding that there was very little she could say in response. Finally, after a few seconds, she returned to her studying, placing the pen deliberately between her teeth again.

“Fine,” she said, waving her hand absently in his direction. “Go get something to eat. I’ll stay here and keep STUDYING, which is, in fact, what we’d intended to do in the first place.”

She felt his eyes boring into the back of her head, and when she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to leave right away, she turned and looked back at him, the pen hanging from the side of her mouth.

“Oh, will you pick me up a burger or something? I’m starving.”

She had to hand it to him. The boy was fast. Within seconds, he had her pinned on the floor, straddling her waist and holding her arms firmly above her head. They stared at each other for a minute, until Sam finally broke into a wide grin.

“What, you weren’t going out for burgers? That’s fine, I’m not picky.”

There was nothing like the kinds of kisses he gave when he was frustrated with her. He got frustrated rather easily, but that only made it more fun for her. Over time, they had fallen into a game in which she provoked in every devious way she could devise, and even though he was quick to resist, with enough gentle poking and prodding, she could get him to break.

‘Breaking is fun,’ she thought, engaging Mike’s tongue in a rousing wrestling match. She moaned a little as Mike’s hand leisurely wandered across her breast. Before things could get anymore interesting, however, they were sadly interrupted.

“Get a fucking room,” Sarah said, barely even looking up from the mail she was sifting through as she entered the dorm.

“This IS a room,” Mike pointed out, a frustrated and begrudging grin on his face. He moved off of Sam anyway, helping her to her feet and wrapping an arm proudly around her shoulders. Sarah rolled her eyes and placed one hand on each of their backs.

“Not anymore, it’s not,” she said, ushering them both towards the door with alarming strength. “It has now become Sarah’s haven for play preparation. Opening night is Saturday, and I need to be able to relax until then.”

Sam barely had time to grab her purse and keys before they were out in the hall, the door locked behind them. She would have been mad, but truthfully, she was proud of Sarah. Ever since she’d gotten that part, she had mellowed out in a way Sam had never imagined. Random one-nighters had turned into a steady boyfriend in Eric, and she rarely bar-hopped anymore. Her attention was focused more on her studies, and Sam had caught her rehearsing some of her songs – she sounded awesome.

Mike, however, was very clearly unimpressed with Sarah’s new diva attitude. He was kissing her neck almost defiantly, and within seconds, he had her back pressed against the door.

“You know what we should do?” he muttered into her ear as he kissed her.

Sam closed her eyes and leaned her head back, wondering when the last time she’d so enjoyed being kissed was. “No, I don’t.”

“We should make love right here against the door. Fast and loud. And try as hard as we can to fuck up her ‘preparation.’”

Sam’s eyes widened in mock offense and she gently pushed Mike away from her.

“I have to say, I’m a tad disappointed that you only want to make love to me to annoy my roommate.”

“Oh,” he said matter-of-factly, leaning back in to place small kisses along her collarbone. “That is definitely…definitely…not the reason I want to make love to you. It’s merely…a bonus.”

He pulled back then and grinned wickedly. “But I suppose I can wait. And you said you were hungry, right?”

Sam grinned and nodded. “Starving.”

“Then let’s go eat.”

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“So I have good news,” Sam said suddenly before taking a large bite of pasta. Mike looked at her expectantly, and she mock-glared at him, indicating with a pointed finger that she was still chewing. He rolled his eyes and kicked her under the table. She raised a single eyebrow and began to chew even slower. Finally, she swallowed her bite and took a long drink from her iced tea.

Mike simply waited, an expression of utmost patience on his face, tapping his fingers together in front of him. Sam finished her drink and took a deep breath, shifting in her seat slightly until she was perfectly comfortable. She met Mike’s gaze and held it for just a moment. At the exact moment that Mike’s mouth opened to make some snide comment or other, Sam spoke.

“My sister is coming to visit this weekend.”

Mike froze, his mouth halfway open and his frustration melting into pleasant surprise.

“Oh really? So I finally get to meet someone from your family, huh?”

Sam nodded. “She’s a senior in high school, and she’s taking a college visit day to come check out Berklee. She’ll be in on Thursday night.”

“So, where will we be taking her on Friday night?” Mike asked casually.

Sam looked at him suspiciously. “Well, I was planning on taking her somewhere, but to be perfectly frank, I don’t think you’ll be invited.”

Mike’s mouth dropped open, and he looked genuinely hurt for a moment.

“That…that injures me, Sam. Why, oh why, would you NOT want me around when you show your sister a good time?”

Sam shrugged non-chalantly. “Well, the place I’m planning on taking her – it really isn’t your scene, if you must know.”

“Oh, come on, I think I can handle a few naked men.”

Sam almost choked on the sudden bout of laughter that erupted from her throat. “Wh-what?” she stammered incredulously.

“I assume that the only reason that you wouldn’t invite me is that you’re going to a male strip club, right?”

“No, Mike,” Sam said firmly. “I’m not taking my 17-year-old sister to a male strip club.”

“Well, where then?”

Sam paused a moment, thoughtfully chewing on another bite of food. “Tell you what, Mike. You can go with us if you want to. But I’m not going to tell you where we’re going until we get there.”

Mike eyed her suspiciously. “Why not?”

“Because that way it can be a surprise for both of you,” Sam responded pleasantly.

‘This is going to be so much fun,’ she thought gleefully.

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“Sam!”

“Jordan!” Sam cried, pushing her way through the crowded baggage claim toward her sister. Sweeping her into a giant hug, she laughed loudly. She pulled back and began admiring Jordan’s hair, which was apparently a great deal different from the last time they’d seen one another.

Mike hung back in the crowd, grimacing a little. They were cackling like hens. They were laughing far too loudly. They were talking at exactly the same time.

‘I’m fucking stuck all weekend with two Texas sisters.’ The thought slammed into him like a sack of bricks.

He waited only a few more minutes before approaching the two with raised eyebrows. “Are you two ready to get the bags and go? The traffic is going to be awful getting back to campus.”

Sam turned to Mike with a wide grin on her face, and his heart was instantly warmed by the sight of it. It hadn’t occurred to him how much she missed her family, even though they weren’t entirely supportive of her college choice. Knowing how happy she was at this moment automatically made the entire weekend worth it.

“Mike, this is my sister, Jordan. Jordan, this is….uh, this is Mike. My…” she trailed off, looking at him questioningly. “You know, I guess we really haven’t determined that for sure, have we?”

Mike gave her what he was certain was a funny look. “Well, I’d hoped you would introduce me as your Latin lover, but I think under the circumstances ‘boyfriend’ would do.”

Sam smiled again and linked her arm through his. “Okay, then. Jordan, this is my boyfriend Mike.”

He certainly wasn’t going to say anything about it, but hearing her refer to him that way made his heart speed up just a bit. He willed it to slow down, and stuck his hand out in greeting. Jordan took it and shook it firmly.

“Nice to meet you, Mike,” she said with a very strong accent. It was, in fact, so strong as to cause Mike’s eyebrows to raise a little before he could stop himself.

“It’s okay,” Jordan responded quickly. “We get it all the time. Why do I have the thick accent and she doesn’t? Well, let me let you in on a little secret.” She leaned forward conspiratorially and Mike did the same. “It’s because Sam here is the snobbiest little bitch in the state of Texas. She’s too damn good for the lousy pronunciation, y’see.”

Mike laughed out loud, even in the midst of Sam’s glares and snide comments. He liked Jordan already.

It didn’t take them long to get Jordan’s things (she packed extraordinarily light for a girl), and the ride home was just about as pleasant as Mike had expected. He was asked immediately to turn down his music because it was “too loud,” only to be assaulted by the shrill, unbridled cackling of two Texas girls who had too much to talk about.

He couldn’t suppress a small smile, however, when he noted that Sam’s voice had slipped back into what he supposed was her natural accent. It was fucking adorable.

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“So here’s where you’ll be staying,” Sam said happily as they entered her dorm. Sarah was not there, and had arranged to stay with a friend while Jordan was in town. Jordan dropped her bag on the floor and looked around with an appraising eye.

“This is…nice,” she said unenthusiastically. Sam gave her a disapproving look, and Jordan laughed. “Okay, it’s the size of a shoebox.”

“Perfect,” Mike said dryly, addressing the very large collection of shoes near the closet. Sam slapped him on the arm and began to usher him toward the door.

“It’s time for you to leave, my dear,” she said, with absolutely no hint of disappointment in her voice. “Jordy and I have a great deal of catching up to do, and there’s just no room for boys here anymore.” As they reached the door, Sam glanced back to see Jordan wandering around, preoccupied with opening her bag and sorting through it for something. Pulling Mike along with her, Sam stepped out into the hallway and shut the door. Before he could say a word, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close for a heated kiss.

Mike mumbled something in surprise, but even he wasn’t sure what he’d said. He squeezed his arms around her waist and pulled her so that their bodies were flush against each other. Almost without realizing it, he began to very gently grind his hips against hers, and she moaned a little into his mouth.

‘Christ, she needs to stop doing that,’ he thought, feeling himself grow hard at an alarmingly fast rate. After another moment, Sam pulled back gently and reluctantly, looking into his eyes.

“Thank you for putting up with us so far.”

Mike only smiled and kissed the tip of her nose before releasing her and heading toward the stairwell. “See you in class,” he called over his shoulder, secretly loving that he knew she was watching him the whole way.

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U&D class the next day was terribly interesting, especially with Jordan involved. Sam was quickly reminded of how completely not shy her sister could be, and it wasn’t long before the teen had the entire class in stitches, including the professor, who pulled her aside after the lecture and quietly informed her that he very much looked forward to seeing her the following school year.

Jordan was buzzing about it the whole way to the coffee house. “I can’t believe school can be that much fun,” she gushed. “Why can’t high school be more like that?”

“Because if it was, nobody would want to leave,” Mike responded immediately.

“Well, I definitely wouldn’t, I can say that for sure.” Jordan was obviously quite taken with the entire campus, and after a quick coffee break, they’d be giving her a tour of the entire campus. Sam hadn’t stopped smiling since the moment her sister had arrived. They gave each other a lot of shit, but it was always in the most loving way possible. Sam had missed her so much.

“Hey,” Sam asked suddenly, her smile vanishing for the first time in 18 hours. “How’s…well, you know. How’s all that going?”

Mike looked at Sam and Jordan sharply. He knew Sam well enough to know about all her different tones of voice, but this one was completely new. It sounded like a cross between concern, dismay, and disgust.

Jordan rolled her eyes. “Exactly the fucking same,” she said harshly. “The bastard won’t even look at her straight anymore. It’s driving us all insane.”

“Christ,” Sam spat out. “What a fucker. She needs to just…to just…”

“Ditch his ass? Yeah. He’s complete garbage.” Suddenly, Jordan stopped, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s getting really bad, Sam. The other night, he…well, he hit her again.”

Mike almost had to back away a few steps. The heat rising between the two girls was intense, and he almost cringed at the look of hatred that flashed in Sam’s eyes. A very strange instinct began to kick in, and even though he knew it wasn’t Sam who had gotten hit the other night – in truth, he had no idea who they were talking about – he felt the same anger rising in him that he’d felt when he’d spied the bruises on her arms weeks ago.

Sam continued to say nothing, her jaw set grimly. Jordan reached out and grabbed her sister’s hand. “Sam, I hate to say this, but I really don’t think you should come home for Christmas this year.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Sam replied sadly, and Mike’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Okay, okay,” he said, waving his arms in the air distractedly. “Somebody needs to keep the clueless boyfriend in the loop here. Why is Sam not going home for Christmas?”

Jordan and Sam looked at each other guiltily. It was a long moment before either of them said anything. Sam spoke first.

“My mother married this…complete asshole a few years ago.”

“He’s cheating on her,” Jordan supplied quickly.

“And after she found out and confronted him about it…”

“He started beating the shit out of her.”

“And she’s just been…” Sam broke off, a look of complete devastation on her face.

“Putting up with it.”

“For years,” Sam finished.

Mike was floored. If the subject matter had been any different, he might have found their ability to finish each other’s sentences adorable and hilarious. But this particular subject made it impossible for him to feel anything but rage at their stepfather, and empathy for the two girls sitting with him.

“That’s why I’m not going home for Christmas,” Sam supplied.

“And why I’m going to be on a ski trip with my new boyfriend and his family,” Jordan added. Sam looked at her in surprise, and then, as if nothing negative had been spoken of all day, the two resumed chatting about boys, and reminiscing about their childhood. Mike just stared at them both, only half-listening to anything they were saying. Sam’s family was obviously very important to her, and he felt a strange ache when he thought about her having to spend such an important holiday not just without her family, but completely alone in a city that was still very strange to her.

He excused himself, smiling a little at the fact that he was completely ignored, and headed outside, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. He pulled up his jacket collar as he scanned through his phone book for a number. He found the one he was looking for, and pressed “send.”

He smiled at the warm voice that greeted him at the other end.

“Hey, Mom,” he said. "Listen, I wanted to ask you something..."



A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had posted a new chapter, but it got eaten by the glitch. Once I realized it was gone, I decided that I didn’t like what I’d written, so here I’ve introduced a new character for you, as well as a little bit more development between Sam and Mike. I hope everyone’s not too mad at me for waiting so long on this, but as someone pointed out recently, I’ve actually had something very nice going on in my life to distract me. Read and review!