Terms and Conditions

It was **** waiting until after school on Wednesday. As I walked to the library, I was met with a mix of dread and excitement. Emma said she was going to meet me today, but I wasn’t sure if she was going to show up or not. We hadn’t spoken since the text game we’d played and I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. If she showed up, would she be mad at me or would things be like nothing happened?

My thoughts were a mess. Not even my tried and true method of studying failed to stem the thoughts that **** their way to the front of the line. All I could think about was Emma and I was starting to worry I was getting obsessed. Every spare moment, every daydream I had featured her. I hated the giddy feelings it gave me. The way it built up the hope inside me that something might actually come of all this despite my rational side screaming against it. The only thing that kept everything in check was the equally massive fear. Fear that I was reading too much into things and that all I was to Emma was a study partner.

Setting up in my spot, I pretended to be studying as I waited. My stomach was too busy twisting itself into knots to get any actual work done. I found myself staring off into space, daydreaming about Emma shyly confessing that she was interested in me.

I was almost to the good part when the person herself showed up. Giving me a smile, she plopped into the seat across from me.

“Afternoon, Isaac.”

It seemed like we would be going the ‘pretend nothing happened’ route. Maybe that was for the best.

“Hello, Emma.” I noticed she wasn’t unpacking her things like she normally did when she sat down. “What are we going to be working on today?”

“Surprisingly, I don’t have anything at the moment. I got my homework mostly done and I’m pretty confident about the upcoming test I have.”

“O-oh,” I said, disappointed. Looks like our time together was going to be short.

Leaning forward against the table, she stared over at me. She had a small smile on her face, curiosity dancing across her features. “Too bad about the other day, eh?”

“Huh?”

“A fifty-fifty chance, and you,” she mimed someone swinging a bat, “swing and miss.”

I felt my face redden. It was apparent that she was enjoying my embarrassment. Her smile had grown into a full one and her blue eyes were twinkling mischievously.

“Maybe I didn’t want them anyway.”

She quirked an eyebrow. Pulling her phone out, she did something before turning the screen so it was facing me. “Really? You don’t want any of these?” she asked as she quickly swiped at the screen. It was hard to see what exactly with her moving through them so fast. I caught the sight of her in her panties. Maybe another with her holding her bra to her chest. A few where she was posing on the bed. I… I didn’t think there were any clothes on for those last three.

Emma flipped the phone back in her direction before I could see anything of the last picture. “Man, I thought these were fairly good. But if you don’t want them… guess I’ll delete them.”

“What?!”

She looked up, giving me an innocent look. “What’s that?”

“N-nothing.”

Holding my gaze, she made a point of tapping her phone with her finger. “Gone.”

Fuck.

“It’s a shame you didn’t like my game.”

“I never said—”

“It’s fine. Everyone has things they like and dislike. You can keep the photos that you have though, use them however you’d like. I only ask that you keep them to yourself. I took those especially for you, so please keep them that way.” Her smile made her eyes crinkle in the cutest way, a slight tilt to her head.

I hung my head. This was going a lot worse than I feared. It sounded a lot like I fucked up my chances with her. Was that why she was here? To put an end to this whole thing? Man, that hurt a lot more than I thought it would. Shit. Even though I knew better. I knew better than to have a crush on her. This was always the inevitable end, and yet I dove out of the plane anyways knowing I didn’t have a fucking parachute on. I suppose the fall was fun enough. Too bad the landing was going to be painful as hell.

The silence hung over us as I waited for her to get up and leave. After a minute or so, I worked up enough courage to look up at her. She was still looking at me, the same grinning smile on her face. I felt my throat tighten at her gaze.

“You look like someone kicked the shit out of your dog.”

“Do not,” I muttered.

“Totally do.” She leaned closer. “Were you that excited for my nudes?”

I quickly shook my head. “That’s not—”

“You do know I can take more, right?” Her grin grew as I gave her a surprised look. “Oh! That got your attention.”

“Emma—”

“Stop,” she said holding her hand up. “Before you say anything, I need to clarify some things.” I went to say something but stopped at her gaze. When she was satisfied I wasn’t going to stay anything, she continued. “You can’t ask for them. I will give you pictures I want, when I want, until you tell me to stop. If I find out you showed anyone, even by accident, it’s over. Doesn’t matter if it was a PG-13 picture or something more risqué. No second chances. Follow so far? Nod if you do.” I nodded. “Good. Every time we meet like this and study, I’ll send you one by the end of the day. None of those will ever be nude, but I promise to make them interesting. You may be wondering how to get actual nudes, right?” she asked with a knowing grin. I nodded again, afraid saying anything would mess things up.

She rested her head on her fists as she leaned forward against the table. “Easy. When I get an A on a test or quiz I know I would have done badly on, you will be given a choice. I will expose one thing for you. Boobs, pussy, ass… or I can send you a picture of my smiling face if that’s what you’re into,” she said with a teasing smile. I flushed but stayed silent. “The other way is similar to what we did the other day. It could be a question, riddle, scavenger hunt, whatever strikes my fancy. Complete the task or answer correctly, you’ll get a reward. It will be my choice what is given as the reward. No complaining or requesting something else. If you do that, it’s over. Everything clear? Nod if so.” Even though I nodded, everything was not clear. Why the hell was she doing this? Why me?

“The last thing, and this is the most important Isaac, so listen closely.” I leaned closer and gave her my full attention. “Doing this does not mean we are dating. It doesn’t mean there is a possibility in the future of it either. Our relationship is exactly the same as it was when we started meeting here. You can think of this whole thing as me thanking you for helping me improve my grades if that makes it easier, but at the end of the day, I’m doing this because I want to.” Her hands rested against the table as she looked at me with a serious expression. “It is important that you _really _understand this last point. It’s what always fucks things up. Our relationship hasn’t changed since the first time we met up. The rules are simple.” Holding her hand up, she ticked off on her fingers as she spoke. “Don’t tell people. Don’t show people. No feelings. Be honest.” Her serious expression broke as she ticked off her last finger. “Enjoy.”

With a deep breath, she sank back into her chair. “Now with all that out of the way, you still interested?”

I wasn’t sure what to think as I processed all that. The ‘rules’ were simple enough. That there were rules suggested that this had been happening for quite a while. I was beginning to understand where the rumors about her being a slut came from. I was clearly not the first guy she had done this with, or the only one she was doing it with. She could have offered this exact thing to a dozen other guys and I wouldn’t know. I suppose that didn’t matter. As she said, we weren’t dating and she seemed to stress that it wasn’t going to happen in the future. Painful as hearing that was, it was a good reality check. Her putting that out in the open at the beginning made it possible to squash that unchecked hope that had been gorging itself off daydreams and fantasies for the past week.

Was it weird? Yes. It was like some exhibitionist version of fight club.

Was I going to decline because of some sense of morality? Hell no. I didn’t know what was in store for me in the future, only that the end result was getting nudes of a stupendously hot girl. I would have to be the biggest idiot on the planet to turn that down.

“Yeah.” I was glad I managed to not embarrass myself with that single word answer. Gathering all my courage, I continued, praying that I didn’t fuck things up before things even started. “I do have one question.” One of her eyebrows raised and she gestured for me to ask. “You said our relationship is the same as when we first started.”

“Right. We are just study buddies.”

“I… don’t want that.” I braced myself for her response. I expected her to get angry or be disappointed that I broke the rules so quickly. Neither materialized. Instead, she tilted her head and looked at me.

“And what do you want?” A simple question that held a hint of a warning in it.

Trying to swallow the lump in my throat, I realized how warm the library was as I tried to shift to a more comfortable position in my seat. “Well, I… I don’t have many friends. I-I don’t mean we be best friends or anything. But… Maybe…” I was quickly burning confidence. The longer I spoke, the more I floundered and caused a feedback loop. Embarrassed, I couldn’t even finish. I couldn’t even look her in the eye. Only after a few seconds of silence did I work up the courage to see how she was reacting. She seemed to be thinking and I felt a bit of hope. Emma didn’t immediately dismiss the idea. The longer she thought, the more interested she looked. Finally, a smile broke out on her face.

“On one condition.” I blinked, surprised there was a condition involved.

“Uh… Okay?”

Smiling victoriously, she looked imposing in her chair, like a ruler handing down a decree to their subjects. “You play Dungeons and Dragons, right? I want to play too.”

The shock stole my ability to speak for a moment. “What?” I asked dumbly.

“Dungeons and Dragons. Always sounded fun, but no one I hang out with would ever think about playing it. You play Saturday, right? Why don’t I come over early, we can study a bit, then we play? Sound good?”

“Sure?” I said on instinct.

“Great!” She laughed lightly. “I’m looking forward to this.” Hoisting her bag, she stood up. “I gotta run, Isaac. Probably won’t be meeting up before Saturday so… I’ll see you then? You can text me an address and time when you have one that works.”

“O-okay.”

“See you Saturday,” she said with a tiny wave. Turning, she paused and quickly looked back. “And I haven’t forgotten. You’ll get your picture tonight.” Winking, she turned and headed off.

I watched her leave, mind still processing what I’d just agreed to. Emma was going to come to my house… and play DnD with me and my friends. My friends…

Shit.

What the fuck was I going to tell them?