Theodore, a College Student

Theodore put his final meeple on the board and collected his tokens. He was probably not going to win, but you play the moves you have while you have them. Sarah had a commanding lead. Even with James and Ashe’s help, they could not block her. Lilly had stopped playing and was just spending time fiddling with her phone. Theo watched Sarah slowly place her meeples on the board, ready to get the victory tokens needed to take final victory. That was when Ashe played the Sneak Attack card and swept victory right out from under Sarah’s feet. It was a well played maneuver and Ashe ended up taking the win soon after, despite a new alliance against her.

There was no energy left for another game that night. James and Lilly split pretty quick. James thanked Theo for hosting and Lilly gave a small wave as she held her phone in front of her. Sarah went to her room in the apartment. Theo and Sarah decided to room together during university because of their friendship during high school. That just left Ashe and Theodore. Ashe started to help Theo clean up the snacks and game.

“That’s alright, Ashe. I got it.”

Ashe continued to help, “No worries. It’s the least I can do after you put all this together.”

Theo avoided looking at his friend. Ashe was cute and Theo had a small crush on her, but he definitely liked her too much to chance ruining things as friends. The two of them finished cleaning up.

As Ashe was leaving, she turned to Theo, “Hey. This is kind of awkward, but I’m doing some research work for my advisor and I need to find a test subject. I was wondering if you would do it?”

Theo nods, “Of course.”

“Really? Oh thank you! It is one hour a day for three days, specifically this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It’ll pay $50 at the end of it. Oh you’re the best!”

Ashe leaned in and gave Theo a quick hug. He tried his best to not pop a boner. He estimated her breasts to be about B cups. And as Ashe left, he snuck one quick glance toward her ass. It was nice and round. Ashe was pretty nerdy and did not work out much so there were some snack packs that went to her hips. Theo called after her as he closed the door, “I’ll see you Friday!”

Ashe got to her dorm and sighed. Why was it so hard to ask something so simple of Theo? She knew why of course. She had a bit of a crush on him, but she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. She hoped that this experiment Professor H was running would let her and Theo get a bit closer. Not that she had any idea what they were testing really. This was a double blind study, so Ashe wouldn’t know anything until afterward.

She passed by her roommate Freya passed out in her bed. Freya was a bit of a party animal. She and Ashe got each other by basically not knowing anyone at the university. Freya liked booze and loud music, Ashe liked fantasy and board games. Still, Freya wasn’t a bad roommate. She was also a transfer student, and Ashe definitely did not regret transferring. Now though, Ashe might ask Lily or Sarah or maybe even… Theo. She thought about Theo. He was about 5’10” and a bit on the chubby side. Not enough to be fat, but he had definitely put on his freshman 15 last year. His shaggy brown hair and green eyes were configured on a well defined face with a Roman nose.

Ashe shook her head and realized that she was daydreaming about Theo again. She got her toiletries and left to one of the dorm’s bathrooms to brush her teeth and all the other things necessary for bed.

Theo arrived at Yates Hall five minutes early. He didn’t want to seem ****, but he also didn’t want to be late. That would imply he didn’t value Ashe’s time. So he arrived early, and Ashe was there to greet him with a friendly smile.

“Thank you for coming, Theo!”

“No problem. Do you know what I’m going to be doing?”

“Yes, but I can’t tell you until the start. And also you need to sign a few things. Health disclaimer, non-disclosure, etc.”

“Is this dangerous?”

“Oh no! They wouldn’t let students do this if it was dangerous, but Professor H is being a real stickler for the rules on this one. Apparently, a vice president of the university is here to watch the test today. Oh, uh, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Must be an important test.”

“We’ll see. Do you mind waiting for a couple minutes? Also, when we get in there, I’m going to be ‘professional’ so no small talk or anything. Sorry.”

Theodore nodded at Ashe’s apologetic smile. He wasn’t sure if that was a hint or not. Well, maybe Ashe’s prof was going to be really uptight about her doing her job. Theo could understand; he was nervous about the vice president watching, not that he knew any of the university’s vice presidents or what they did or how important they were.

He stepped into the testing room.

The testing room turned out to just be like any other room mostly. There was a table and a desk, each with a stackable chair. The only thing weird about this room was the obvious two way mirror on one wall. The professor and the vice president must be watching from there. In fact, Theo thought he could see the red light of a recording camera through the mirror. That was weird. They must really not want to mess up the experiment.

Ashe pulled a box out of the desk and spoke in almost monotone, “Please have a seat, Mister Paz.”

She placed the box in front of him and went back to the desk where she pulled out a notebook and pen. Theo sat. Ashe continued, “Please open the box and place the ring upon your finger.”

Theo did as he was instructed. Inside the box, surrounded by wrapping paper, was a gold ring with a purple gem inset. Theo picked it up delicately with two fingers and slid it onto his left hand.

Ashe nodded, noted this, and continued, “Please repeat after me: the sky is blue.”

Theo resisted the temptation to look at the mirror. Was he being fucked with? Was this a prank? Whatever, nothing embarrassing about this so far. He spoke, “The sky is blue.”

“Two plus two equals four.”

The next fifteen minutes were spent repeating obviously true statements. Then Ashe flipped her sheet and started with the next set of repetitions, “The sky is orange.”

Theo felt unbelievably bored. How long could fifteen minutes be? Well, the faster he said this stuff the faster he was done, right?

“The sky is orange.” Theo felt the ring heat up a little.

Ashe nodded, “Two plus two equals five.”

“Two plus two equals five. Um…”

Ashe looked at him with her best ‘professional’ face.

Theo felt awkward, “This second set won’t go through all the same topics as the first. Right?”

The ring heated a little again. Ashe looked passive, “We only have a couple more repetitions, but please refrain from interrupting. Now, I hate spicy food.”

Theo remembered the ‘I like spicy food’ line. That was about half way through the list. There really weren’t a lot then. “I hate spicy food.” The heat again. This time there was also a small growl from his stomach and his mouth felt a little dry.

Ashe ignored his stomach if she even heard it, “You love the taste of apples.”

Oh yeah, Theo had to say a few things true about Ashe. He hadn’t known she didn’t like apples until then. “You love the taste of apples.”

Ashe nodded, “Classes were canceled Tuesday.”

That was near the end of the first list, “Classes were canceled Tuesday.”

“Prostitution is legal.”

That was practically the bottom of the list, “Prostitution is legal.”

Ashe went to the next page of her notebook, “That is it for the repetition portion of this test. How did you feel during that test?”

“Bored. What do you want me to say?”

“We simply want truthful answers, Mr Paz.”

“Well, I was glad that the second part went quicker.”

“Any other feelings or thoughts during the second set?”

“Eh. Maybe? Oh, my stomach growled. Does that help?”

“Any information is useful. Please continue.”

“Look, you’ve had some fun with me today. Is anything else I felt all that important?”

Theo misses a subtle change in Ashe’s demeanor. She had been just as bored by the questions but now, somehow, Theo being there made it fun for her, “Even if that is your belief, we wish for everything to be on the record. Please continue.”

Theo looked nervous, “Ok. I suppose I enjoyed having you run the test. You… you’re attractive.”

Theo looked away embarrassed. Meanwhile, Ashe’s face cleared up and a few minor features Theo had never liked fixed themselves. It was all small changes, but her face became more symmetrical and inviting. Theo didn’t notice anything about this when he looked back. Instead, all he saw was Ashe’s blush, “Look, you said you wanted everything down. I’m a man. I…”

Seeing him look lost, Ashe interrupted, “It is alright. It is completely understandable. Any such transgressions will not be held against you.” Inside, Ashe was doing somersaults in excitement, but she remembered her professor watching her and tried to be professional all the while.

Theo was incredulous, “You won’t mind me looking at you, at any part of you, in any way. Do I have that right?” He had begun ignoring the warming ring.

Ashe thought he was trying to weasel something here, but she honestly could not think of what. Now that she knew he found her attractive, they might be able to date! So if they dated, who cared if he looked at breasts or butt? Hell, even as a friend, Ashe found she didn’t care anymore specifically for Theodore. She may have found that weird if she thought about it, but she was in love and also remembering the watching eyes behind the mirror. “That is correct. Now that seems to be satisfactory for this question. Now let us do the written portion.”

Theo almost groaned and responded sarcastically, “Naturally, the written section is much shorter than the verbal.”

“Of course.”

And it was true! Theo finished it in five minutes. It was basically the same five questions as before. He handed it in and sat back down. It had only been 30 minutes out of the hour he was supposed to spend here. Ashe asked again, “How did you feel during that test?”

“About the same as last time: bored, a little horny, and I guess a little nervous about this whole thing being recorded.”

Ashe wrote all this down, than looked to the mirror. Theo looked too and saw the little red light go off. He thought he heard arguing from the other side, but it was too quiet to make out any words. All the tension left Ashe as she started packing up.

“Thanks again, Theo. I know that must have been a drag.”

“No worries. Hey, are we cool?”

“What? Of course! Why?”

“Well, the attractive stuff, I…”

“Theo, I find you attractive too!” Ashe blurted out.

Theo was stunned, “Uh.. great! Do you want to go on a… date?”

Ashe nodded, but said, “I never want to lose our friendship though. So you have to promise that even if we don’t work out dating, we will still be friends.”

Theo held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, “Ashe, we will always be the best of friends.”

He had to immediately let go as he felt his hand burn on something. Ashe was taking a deep breath as the thread of destiny wove through the two of them, not that either one felt it. Then she looked at his wave as he waved it in pain, “Oh right. You need to put that back in the box. We’ll use it again tomorrow. I know today was boring, but tomorrow should be more interesting.”

“Yeah. You sure owe me big after today,” Theo joked before taking off the ring and closing it in the box. He does not realize the change that comes over Ashe as she worries how she’ll pay him back for this.

“So you want to grab a bite to eat?”

Ashe jumped at the chance, “Yes! But I’m paying!”

“Progressive. You know we could go Dutch?”

“I insist.”

Theo shrugged. He wasn’t going to argue himself into a bill.