A booty call for a purpose

Three calls to Leo's number produced no answers. Neither did a message from each of them to his Instagram account. He's going to think someone died, thought one side of Rachel. Don't be stupid, he doesn't care if anyone lives or dies, argued the other.

What he did care about proved to be just as important a motivator. After a few more minutes of commiserating, a message appeared on Rachel’s phone.

“You down to meet up?”

She looked up at Melly. “He thinks I'm trying to sleep with him,” she said, and started typing out a fresh batch of insults.

“Wait! That's good,” said Melly, leaping off the bed and rushing to her side of the room. She grabbed Rachel's phone out of her hand.

“What?” said Rachel, alarmed.

Melly turned around with the camera open, adjusting the view until they were both in frame. “Smile,” she said, throwing up a peace sign and giving a pouring smile. Rachel's old agreeableness reared its head and she put up both hands in peace signs. She managed to smile seconds before the flicker went off.

“What's that supposed to be about?” she asked, watching Melly tap away at her keyboard.

Her friend handed the device back. “If he thinks you're only trying to get a hold of him to call him an asshole we won't see him for a week, minimum. But if he thinks we're trying to arrange something…”

“Oh,” said Rachel. She hadn't even considered it. And she was supposed to be the smart one.

Melly's theory was validated in seconds. “Fuck yeah,” he replied to the selfie. “You know where to find me.”

They did indeed. Dorm rooms were alright for one night stands and impromptu meetings, but debauchery of the kind they'd been getting into together required a little more privacy - when it didn't require some more publicity. Melly's family was rich, but compared to Leo she was basically homeless. One of Leo's TAs was a nebbish business major who really hoped he could score a job under Leo's dad after graduation. Leo had been taking full advantage. The TA was a shining star of the department and had his own office in a secluded part of the campus. To stay on the freshman's good side, he had agreed to give Leo a key, and hadn't asked any questions when he'd brought in a pull out couch.

“We're going to need some nicer clothes,” said Melly.