March 03, 2005

My brain was still throbbing from my gruesome stats midterm when I ran into Laura. She kissed me warmly in empty rooms to make the pain disappear and I held on to her as we fell to the floor, my hands tangled in her hair. Daringly, I flicked the lights off and our clothes fell from our bodies like dead skin.

Public spaces aroused us. “You’re naughty,” I whimpered, dripping with excitement and whispering ohs and ahs of abandon.

We felt safe in the dark until we heard a key turn in the door. Panic. Lights. Footsteps. We stopped breathing and trembled in our nakedness, afraid of getting caught in our moment of weakness. The room smelt like sex. I never lost an erection as fast as when I heard those footsteps approach our door. Our hearts trembled and our hands shook while we searched for underwear and socks.

The footsteps hesitated, then turned and entered into a different room. We sat hunched against the door until we heard the door close and saw the lights go off again. Our muscles relaxed and our snarls turned into smiles.

I pulled up my pants as she straightened her top, and we rushed out to play Scrabble with visionary Indian friends and pretty girls from Virginia. In the middle of the game we exchanged dangerous smiles.