The Long Winter #23
Sex, Lies, and Digital Video Uploads 2 part two
This task isn’t going to finish itself!
Penny hammered away on her keyboard as she glared at the screen. Better to glare at her screen than to have to look up and see Lyle’s smug, smirking face, wherever he may be lurking. The fourth year TA gave her the worst assignments and made no mystery of his feelings about her relationship with Professor Fairchild. Thus she almost always found herself working pointless data entry busy-work, the sort of work that did not need to be done because it was several years old and hopelessly outdated. But Lyle said it needed to be done and since he was in charge on Monday afternoons she was the one he dumped it on, with his rage-inducing smug smirk.
This data isn’t going to enter itself!
Just relax. You’ll have time to work on the polymer project later this week. Isn’t Ash working with you on Friday, too? You two always work together on then.
No, only every other Monday and Wednesday. I’m stuck with this pointless exercise every Friday. And I don’t want to complain to Professor Fairchild because I can’t let him see me as any more of a spoiled child than he already does.
He’s just jealous because Professor Fairchild likes you more than him.
Everyone likes me more than him…
Marv chuckled inside her head and then she focused back on the work. Endless rows of numbers that needed to be entered into different boxes on different pages. There was no pattern to their location on the pages, no rhythm she could get into, just checking between paper notes and pages on the computer screen, click here, enter numbers, click there, enter alphanumeric code, no patterns, no rhythm, just infuriating, slow, pointless work—
“I can’t believe they let in someone like you.”
Penny stopped typing, yanking her fingers from the keyboard as though someone had slapped them with a switch. She looked up and saw the tall girl who had glared at her several times before standing beside her.
“Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t lie about it. I recognize you. I know where I’ve seen you. I guess it says something about me in a negative way compared to everyone else here, but that’s beside the point. I can’t believe they’d let you in. I mean, do the professors even know?”
“Know what? That I’m a lesbian? Of course. Professor Fairchild says it’s no big deal. I haven’t met anyone who cares besides you.”
“Lesbian? No. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Penny felt her back go cold with sweat and an uncanny heat build at the base of her skull.
“Yes. It looks like maybe you do know what I’m talking about.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“Yes. You do.”
Penny swallowed hard.
“How much did you make? Is that how you’re paying your way here?”
“What?”
“I know you can make decent money doing it, and you’re pretty enough, if you like scrawny Mexican girls—“
“I’m not Mexican!”
Although there were only three other people in the computer lab at that time, her exclamation brought all three pairs of eyes down on them. One look at the tall angry girl set them back to their work, however.
“Whatever. Look, is this you?”
The girl held out her mobi—her phone and showed Penny something she had hoped never to see again. She snatched the phone from the tall girl’s hands and scrambled to eliminate the image on its screen.
How did Noble get such a good shot of us?
He must have an eye for this sort of thing.
Shut up, Marv!
“It’s not what you seem to think it is,” Penny said, handing the phone back. The tall girl struck Penny’s hand as she took it back.
“Then what is it? Because it looks pretty bad. There are several of these, you know.”
“I know. I thought I had them all removed. Those are revenge videos.”
“Revenge?”
“My girlfriend, well, at least at that time, her ex-boyfriend hid cameras and recorded us doing that and posted the videos on every website he could find. We spent weeks trying to get them taken down, but once something’s on the internet, it’s there forever.”
“How do I know this is true? I mean, you could be a liar for all I know.”
“I’m not a liar. I can show you a police report and some papers showing the boy’s sentencing.” Penny stared at the phone, now back in the tall girl’s hands.
“Holy shit,” the girl said, looking down at the blank screen of her phone.
“I thought you hated lesbians.”
“You thought wrong. I guess so did I, and now I owe you an apology. Come on. I’ll get Lyle to stop giving you these shit assignments.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Come on.”
Penny stood and followed the tall girl through the lab.
“I’ve seen your classwork with the Stewart girl. You two do good work. Too good of work to be stuck entering ten-year-old, worthless data.”
“Ten years? I knew it was old, but—“
“Keep your damn mouth shut and I’ll relieve you of this duty.”
Penny smiled back, miming through locking her lips closed. The tall girl snorted and rolled her eyes and then they walked out into the more experimental portion of the lab. He was down there in his usual black clothes, his gaunt features looking more haggardly under the bright lights of the robotics lab.
“Lyle!” the girl shouted over the sound of the machines. “Get up here!”
Lyle glared at her and then shook his head at the young man he was talking to. He held up a finger after the tall girl shouted again and finished his conversation before stomping away from the confused young man before him.
“What do you want?” he said, glowering up at her.
“You need to stop giving Stark here these bullshit assignments.”
“They’re not bullshit, they need to be done.”
“Says who?”
“Says I.”
“Fucking ten-year-old fucking data? Really? Give me the schematics for Professor Lee’s project. She can work on that.”
“No, Druthers is doing that tomorrow.”
“Druthers can barely tie his own shoes and he’ll have to buy his grades—“
“The same way you did?”
“Fuck off and die, Lyle. I mean that, too.”
“I have diplomatic immunity,” Penny said. Lyle and the tall girl stared back at her. “I could shove him into the machines and get away with it because I’m a Capital-D Diplomat and can’t be arrested.”
“Fine. Not because Stark here is another empty threat away from expulsion, but because if you were a bigger bitch I might actually like you.” Lyle shouldered past the tall girl and jabbed his finger at the computer lab. “Today is a study day. Monday I will have something more stimulating for you to do. Go back to work and do not bother me again.”
With that Lyle tossed his head, moving his dark hair back from his face and stomped back past them and down to the floor of the robotics lab. Penny glanced up at the tall girl and she motioned for her to go back to the computer lab. Penny led the way this time and then they were back at her station.
“So. Looks like you’ve gotten yourself two new friends.”
“Two?”
“Yes. Lyle no longer hates you so much, and probably actually respects you for talking back to him like that, and I know you’re not the whore I thought you were.”
The tall girl turned to leave.
“Wait!”
She stopped.
“What’s your name?”
“We’re not that good of friends yet. I’ll see you around, Stark. Tell Rosedale I don’t appreciate her flipping me off every chance she gets.”
And then she was gone. Penny leaned back in her chair and turned in a lazy circle twice. The tall girl did not hate gay people. She hated AV actresses. If they ever became friends—real friends who both knew each other’s names, that is—perhaps she would have an opportunity to ask why. Until then, the tall girl had a place in Penny’s head, if not her heart.
***
“Do you surf?”
Sandra frowned at Penny. Penny frowned back. The walked down the path with the lake lapping at the sand just past the grass.
“What?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“I was only asking—”
“No, I don’t. I grew up over an hour away from Lake Huron, and last I checked it wasn’t exactly Big Sur.”
“Big Sur?”
“Never mind. Do you surf?”
“Yes, I started the summer before last and my gi—ano, my friends and I went almost every day last summer before I left.”
Sandra raised an eyebrow at her. It was more difficult than she imagined to be close to this girl. This girl who liked other girls. Did she like Sandra, too? The brunette shoved the thought to the edge of her consciousness, but was unable to banish it completely. She continued on beside the bubbly half-Asian girl.
“Your friends, hm?”
“Yes.”
Sandra glanced up at the trees. They were mostly bare, only a few dry, brown leaves hanging on as she and Penny passed beneath them. They had left Penny’s room and wound around behind the dorm in the cold lake wind with the intention of walking the edge of campus before circling back to enter The Ad for a swim. It had taken some doing, getting her mind prepared for such a thing. She wondered how Penny would take it if Sandra chose a different area to change into her swimsuit. Then she decided just to wear it under her clothes. She did her best not to shudder at the thought of disrobing before someone who potentially found her sexually attractive (she was with Clark, after all) but knew she had to go through with it anyhow. Penny made her feel uncomfortable. Well, that was not quite the truth. Penny herself was a studious, nerdy little girl with far more in common with Sandra’s roommate than Sandra herself. Still, Leah was not unpleasant company, and it was nice to be surrounded by dedicated, diligent people who had (so far) not stabbed her in the back. Even Maddie.
Ugh. Now there was someone infuriating to be around. Maddie and her unrequited love for Clark. And her idiotic boyfriend was totally oblivious to it. Or at least he said so. Sandra wondered what would happen to her and Clark should Maddie’s relationship with her fiancé fall apart before he even had a chance to come up to school.
“Maddie loves Clark,” Sandra said. She saw Penny react in shock out of the corner of her eyes, but did not turn to face her.
“What are you talking about?”
“She does. She hates me for it.”
“Well, to be honest you do kind of come across a little, like, mean sometimes.”
“You can just say it. I’m a stuck-up bitch.”
She smiled as Penny blushed and looked away. How could someone so worldly, so experienced, so perverted be so naïve and innocent?
“I was a bitch to you when I found out you were a lesbian. I’m a bitch to Maddie because she’s in love with my boyfriend and is too big a coward to say it. I’m a bitch to some of my classmates, too, because I find half of them incredibly boring and the other half too stupid to put into accurate words.”
“That implies you think I’m neither boring nor stupid…”
“That is correct. Not all of us get visited in the library by CIA agents or hitch rides with flying cosmic beings.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“I’m trying to come to terms with your, well…”
“My sexuality?”
Sandra grimaced at the word. Or rather, at the way Penny had said it.
“I read some people think that we must have had some sort of childhood trauma or whatever. Oh, and daddy issues. I don’t.”
“You did say your school was attacked earlier this year, though. That counts as traumatic.”
“And it was. I had nightmares afterwards, for like weeks. But I was gay long before that. I started figuring it out when I was dating my boyfriend last year.”
“You’ve mentioned boyfriends. How many did you lead on?”
“A few,” Penny giggled at Sandra’s cheeky question. “I got along well with my last one, but we knew our days together were numbered, and by Halloween last year I was going out with a girl.”
“I just don’t get that. I mean, I’m working past my disgust at it, but I just can’t wrap my mind around being with another girl.”
“I won’t talk about it around you if it really makes you so grossed out.”
Sandra snorted and glanced down her nose at Penny (easy to do since she also had a good four inches over her).
“It’s fine. I’m working through it. Partially because Clark thinks you’re too fun to stop hanging out with.”
“I really like him, that’s nice to hear.”
“Yeah, but I’m also a huge bitch and that makes me jealous, Penny.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“I won’t go so far as to tell you to stop hanging out with my boyfriend since you seem committed to being a lesbian—“
“Committed? It is what I am!”
Sandra nodded.
“It is! And I tried to be “normal” too, you know.”
“Yes. I’ve tried feeling bad about saying that to you, but I don’t.”
“Jeez, Sandra, you really are honest, aren’t you?”
“I’m a stuck-up bitch, Penny. But I like this weird relationship because it’s kind of exciting. You’re friends with a member for The Best Defense. I don’t know a lot of people like you, and the ones I have met are interesting. You’re interesting, too.”
“Interesting could be just a nice way of saying weird, though.”
Sandra laughed. Perhaps she was not as innocent and naïve as she let people think.
“It’s fine, though. I know I don’t fit into the normal demographic of this place.”
“Normal demographic?”
“Everyone but me is rich.”
Sandra laughed again.
“You’re rich.”
“I have some money, my dad is very successful, but if you came home with me you’d never be able to tell. I don’t know what he’s doing with his money, but he’s not spending it.”
Penny nodded.
“So I’m probably more middle-class than everyone here except for you.”
“All your clothes are designer labels and fit perfectly. Not that I’m checking you out or anything—“
Sandra did her best not to glower at Penny, but whatever look was on her face killed whatever words were in Penny’s throat.
“I’m sorry.”
“You look sorry, but if I walked ahead of you you’d be staring at my ass, wouldn’t you?” Sandra winced as soon as she finished speaking.
“Why did you want to go swimming with me? Swimsuits aren’t exactly modest.”
Sandra shrugged.
“I don’t want to have sex with you, you know.”
“I guess.”
“You are pretty. But you’re a straight girl. More than that, you’re a straight girl who’s grossed out by lesbians. That’s not appealing to me, so don’t worry, I’m not like, going to try anything.”
“That’s not a thing? Trying to “convert” straight girls to your ways?”
“You know, I’m absolutely certain there are girls out there who love to do that sort of thing, but it just seems like so much work and I’m up here to focus on school. It’s more than enough to just fantasize at night by myself.”
Sandra surprised herself by laughing. She glanced over at Penny again. The girl continued along beside her with that girlish bounce in her step. Her pace was quick, but not fast, and the set of her shoulders was casual and friendly. Despite the coolness of Sandra’s words she was having fun, and Sandra decided the occasional cheeky comment was part of it. They rounded the corner and neared the entrance of Adler Gymnasium.
“Do you need to change?” Sandra asked.
“Well, I’m not going to swim in this,” Penny answered with a flat look. Sandra laughed.
“Okay. Let’s get ready.”
Penny for the first time turned apprehensive, her shoulders hunching up and her eyes narrowing.
“You’re wasting time.”
Sandra strode ahead of her into the gym. It was brightly lit and clean inside with none of the standard smells of old sweat and ineffective cleaning agents. They walked past the main desk, tapping their cards on the readers just inside the doors. Penny gasped as soon as they were inside and Sandra turned back to see her stopped just past the threshold. Her eyes were fixed on a tall man in a fine suit with graying blond hair standing with a group of mismatched administrators in tracksuits and business suits. The man looked over and his face lit up in an insincere smile. He broke away from the administrators and strode up to them.
“Penny Stark, my diplomatic friend. How nice to see you again, and so soon after our last meeting.”
“Agent Marcotte, what are you doing here?” Penny’s voice was strangled by shock.
“Why, the Institute contacted me to step in when one of their instructors was unexpectedly called away on other business.”
“Unexpectedly? Really?”
“He was going to teach a self-defense course, but they like to employ active professionals here and unfortunately this time their man was lost to his other commitments. Fortunately, however, I was in the area, certainly no longer surveilling you, and they reached out to me and offered me the job.”
“Fortunately, neh?”
“I understand there are still openings in the class. I wouldn’t be so bold as to suggest you enroll as well, but vulnerable young women in positions such as yours would be wise to take such a class.”
“Self-defense?”
“Penny, who is this? Agent Marcotte, you said?”
“Agent Marcotte.” Penny’s face was darkened with an uncharacteristic glower. “We met a couple of weeks ago.”
“Wow, is he CIA, too?”
“FBI, actually,” Agent Marcotte said. “I’m regional director. It’s no wonder they reached out to me.”
“Very convenient.”
“Fortunate, I believe is the word I used.”
Penny sighed through her nose. Sandra smiled at the man.
“We’ll sign up. When’s the first class?”
“What?!”
“Great. It will be a six week class beginning the first week of November. It’s aimed at young women, but young men are absolutely welcome to join as well.”
“Okay. We’ll sign up and see you then!” Sandra grabbed Penny’s arm. “Let’s go. We’re wasting time again.”
“But—“ Penny glanced once more up at the FBI agent, confusion and anger in her eyes. “But—“
“Come on.” Sandra looked one last time up at Agent Marcotte. “Thank you. We’ll see you again soon!”
Sandra grinned at Penny as she hauled the half-Asian girl to the locker room. She continued smiling even as she undressed right beside her unhappy friend. Penny frowned at her as she pulled her swimsuit from her bag (thankfully a one-piece more suitable for exercise than a little bikini).
“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Say we’re signing up for his class?”
“What, you don’t want to? You two seemed to know each other, plus he’s an FBI agent. I’ll bet it’s going to be a useful class.”
“Whatever. You just like it when I’m upset.”
“I don’t.” Sandra watched Penny slip her legs into her suit. The foreign girl had a very nice body, and she spared a moment to wonder just how Penny kept herself so smooth and hair-free Then she giggled and met Penny’s eyes. “Well, maybe a little. But it’ll be fun. Or at least, it’ll be interesting and maybe a little exciting. Wait, do you hate him? Why?”
“I don’t hate him, but, well, I can’t really talk about it, either. He helped me get diplomatic immunity. It’s also his fault Cosmette flew me back to campus.”
“Wow.” Sandra tossed her clothes into a locker and turned to face Penny. “Did he interrogate you for something?”
Penny could not meet Sandra’s eyes.
“Come on, Penny. I won’t tell anyone.”
“There’s nothing to tell. Just let me not like him, and please don’t force me to take his class.”
“I think he’s right, though. We should know something of how to defend ourselves. You’ll be going back to Port Matthew after graduating, right? Well, it’s not exactly known as the safest place in the world. I guess it’s not New York, but still, you should know something about how to fight. You have the body for it.”
She paused to admire Penny’s muscle tone, but stopped short of reaching out and squeezing her biceps, or pinching her ass. No point in leading the gay girl on.
“Let’s go swim.”
“And then after you’ll sign up with me, right?”
“I just want to swim, Sandra.”
“Well, at least tell me you’ll think about it.”
“Sandra…”
“Please?”
Penny made a helpless sound and sulked as they exited the locker room.
“Come on. Be a sport, kiddo.”
“Don’t call me kiddo.”
“I won’t.”
She spared Penny a moment of relief.
“But only if you sign up with me.”
“Sandra!”
“It’ll be fun.”
“Fine! I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Yes!”
What luck, Sandra, thought, that a relationship that started with verbal conflict would escalate to physical combat. Penny was proving to be a much more exciting friend than she anticipated. She wondered what other exciting things she would experience throughout the rest of her college days with this exciting new friend of hers.
Follow The Long Winter into #24 Sex, Lies, and Digital Video Uploads 2 part three here.