You find out more about the book on the internet

Of all the things you did unpack, which was admittedly very few, your computer was one of the first. You are excited to test the speeds here, as you expect a significant increase from your dial-up internet at home. It doesn't take long before you are up and running, through the university portal and out onto the world wide web.

You pull the book out and look it over once more before stashing it back into your pack. You don't want Bella, or anyone else, to see it just yet. Using vague descriptions, you enter some search terms and begin to hunt through various historical and encyclopedic sites. Just before you give up on one of the pages, you see an image that looks very similar to the one on the cover of your book.

You click the hyperlink, And it takes you to a page… that loads surprisingly fast… of various high renaissance relief wood carvings from northern Germany. You scroll down, hoping to find the image again, and you do, near the bottom of the page! It's a slightly larger image, still very pixelated, but unmistakable: a large demonic form rising above a woman held in chains with lesser devils all around her. No known artist was credited, but there was a title: "Enthralled by Mephistopheles".

"Whatcha looking at?" comes Bella's voice from behind you.

You spin around on your seat, and see her leaning against the door frame. She's using her towel to dry her hair, but it's still glistening wet. She's wearing a white t-shirt that extends just to her thighs. You assume she's wearing panties, but you're certain she's not wearing a bra.

Noticing you looking her up and down, Bella says, "Oh, I just figured I would change for bed after this. You don't mind, do you?"

You shake your head, (as you hardly mind this at all) and do your best to not gawk. You turn back to your screen after getting one last look. You're still unsure what she's wearing underneath.

"Yeah, it's just a little research I'm doing for class," you tell her.

"Look at you, already hard at work!" She smiles, and then pounders for a moment. "You know, I might know of a few message boards that have some people talking about this stuff."

She directs you to a sketchy looking website with animated GIFs and a design aesthetic that you can only describe as eclectic. You scroll for a bit and are not able to make sense of most of the topics.

"Wait, wait, that one!" Bella says suddenly, moving in behind you and placing her hand over yours. She moves your mouse and presses your finger down as she clicks through one of the threads.

With her leaning over, you can confirm out of the corner of your eye that she's wearing nothing on top under that shirt. Your eyes wander down her back, to the bottom of her shirt, where you can just make out a sliver of red panties peeking out. This pose lasts just for a second, though, and Bella let's go of your hand, and leans away.

"Sorry," she smiles, "It was just easier if I did it."

On your screen, you see a correspondence between some academic researcher in Britain and what appears to be a native German speaker.

"So, this is actually kind of a long thread," Bella says, You might want to download it or print it out to read later. But the basic gist is that that image you were looking at earlier supposedly comes from an ancient medieval bound book called Mephisto's Tome. There is not a lot of first-hand accounts of the book, but some of the related stories are pretty crazy!"

She smiles, and moves a bit closer. "Like, kind of kinky stuff," she whispers, raising an eyebrow. "...if you know what I mean! Which class is this for again?"

You tell her that it's related to some homework you got for European Lit. She seems satisfied with your answer, and is even a bit impressed that you're already taking the assignment seriously. She suggests going to the library on campus, and you nod in agreement.

"Hey, that reminds me," she says, "Part of the reason I wanted to come here, aside from hot running water, was to ask what classes you were taking." She pulls out a little sheet tucked into a notebook and begins to list off a bunch of classes. After each one you shake your head, and you get the sense that she is growing disappointed with each negative response.

"Mathematical Principles? Advanced Spanish?" she continues.

"Wait, I have that one!" you say, finally.

"What?" Bella says, confused. "You don't know Spanish."

"No, I think we have math together," you reply.

"Oh, that makes more sense," she says, smiling now. She glances down at her sheet. "Tomorrow's Wednesday, so, I guess I'll see you at class?"

You nod, and she moves in for a hug. You embrace her warmly and I reminded of old times. Unlike in the past, however, Bella is wearing decidedly less clothing, and you can feel her nipples against your chest. You could get used to college life!

You let her go, and she grabs her gray bag, winks at you, and heads to the door to leave.

"Oh, I should mention," she says, a bit tentatively, "I noticed that your bathroom door doesn't close all the way."

"Yeah," you shake your head in agreement. "That door tends to be ajar."

"Oh really?" says Bella, surprised. "It doesn't look like a jar to me, at all. It looks like a door. I know what jars look like!"

She chuckles, and you simply shake your head.

"I'll just let myself out," she quickly replies.

She turns, opens the door, and sticks her head out looking both ways to see if the coast is clear. As she leans out into the hall, her t-shirt rises all the way up over her ass and you get a perfect view of her red panties. You're not sure, but you think she may have just wiggled her butt for you before she heads out the door, spins back around and pokes her head in one last time.

"Bye!" she says, before quickly whispering, "and thanks for the shower!"

Then she's gone and the door shuts. The imp waddles across the room towards the door.

"That one is going to be fun," he says, pointing towards the door with his thumb. "She's a hottie!"

"And she's my friend," you insist. "So, can you lay off a bit?"

You save the message board thread to a file on your computer, then turn to the imp, only to notice that he is no longer in your room. You open the door to the bathroom, and push the shower curtain aside, but he isn't there either. You notice a small heart under an "X" and an "O" drawn in the bottom corner of the fogged up mirror. Bella has always teased you, even leaning into jokes about both of you being romantically involved. Something about tonight felt different, though.

You wonder: maybe you and Bella could be more than friends? Maybe friends with benefits?