Charlotte goes to Scott's House

While driving to Scott’s place, all she could think about was the Gem Ladies App. Maybe there was some way to get rid of it? She realized if there was, it wouldn’t be easy. Whoever designed the App appeared to possibly be omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent all at once. She couldn’t figure out why someone with all that power would choose someone like her to fuck with. She just prayed that Scott wasn’t a pervert and wouldn’t ask her to do any physical things, as she knew that she wouldn’t be able to say no.

It took Charlotte roughly 45 minutes to reach Scott’s place. She parked her car on the street. She knew if she didn’t get out of the car soon and walk towards Scott’s place, the App might take control of her body again. She really didn’t want that.

She quickly plugged the ear plugs in her nose, looked in her car mirror and laughed at how ridiculous she looked and exited the car. Charlotte approached Scott’s small house and rang the doorbell. She only had to wait a couple of seconds before Scott answered.

Scott was taller than Charlotte imagined. Charlotte had only ever seen him over zoom. Scott had short brown hair and was pretty skinny. He was definitely geeky looking. His best feature, Charlotte thought, was probably his smile. It was kind of awkward looking in a way, but when he smiled, you knew he was being genuine. It made one happy to see someone smile like that. Charlotte figured that if he put more effort into his appearance, she would rate him higher than a 6/10, but as of now, he was still a 6/10. Which of course, was bad news for Charlotte.

“Hey, come in.” Scott said with a smile.

Because this was a physical request, Charlotte’s body moved on her own before she even realized it. This was unsettling, but Charlotte did a good job of hiding it on her face.

Scott closed the door behind her and said “It’s so great to finally meet you in person. I’m glad you could make it. I’m nervous about this test on Monday.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem. It’s good that I’m setting time up specifically to study for this test.” Charlotte responded.

“Hey, I have a question for you though.” Scott said with a confused look on his face.

“What is it?”

“Why do you have those things in your nose?” Scott said as he pointed at Charlotte's nose.

“Ah, yeah, I was gonna explain.” Charlotte said. She was glad she prepared for this question in the car while driving over here. “You see, I had a nosebleed earlier today and this helps stop the bleeding.”

“Hmm, that’s weird. I have a genetic condition where I am predisposed to have nosebleeds quite often and I’ve never heard of such a thing” Scott replied.

“Shit, I wasn’t prepared for that” Charlotte thought to herself.

“Ah, well I don’t know, I just read something online that said these would help.”

“Well, whatever floats your boat.” Scott said still with a confused look on his face.

Charlotte didn’t give a damn how she looked. The ear plugs were working as far as she could tell. She wouldn’t be able to smell shit even if it was directly under her nose.

Scott led them into the living room. It was pretty messy. There were clothes scattered across the couch and some on the floor. There were dirty plates and old magazines on the coffee table. It looks like they were going to be studying on the couch.

“Sorry, I really didn’t get a chance to clean up.” Scott said as he cleared a space on the couch and the coffee table.” I worked out before you came over, before that I had our class on zoom and before that I had a morning shift at my job.”

“Oh, what do you do?” Charlotte asked.

“I work in a warehouse. It’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills. I have to pay my way through college somehow. Do you have a job?”

“Thankfully I don't, I have a scholarship that pays most of the bills for me. The rest I cover with a small inheritance I got from my grandfather.”

“Oh good for you, that’s nice.” Scott said with a smile. “You’re lucky!”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” Charlotte said with a fake smile.

Charlotte knew that she had been recently anything but lucky.

“I’m gonna turn on the projector so we can go over the notes the professor provided for the test.” Scott said. “Do you need some water or anything?”

“Nope, I’m good.” Charlotte said as she sat down on the couch.

Scott got the projector working and they started to study. Charlotte was happy everything was going to plan. The ear plugs were working perfectly and Scott was more on the quiet side. Additionally, he had chosen to sit on the edge of the couch very far away from her. Charlotte realized he probably didn’t get much, if any, action and was nervous to be sitting so close to a girl. She occasionally glanced over at him and he appeared to be wanting to say something but looked like he was too afraid to say it. Oh well, the quieter he was, the less likely she would have to follow any commands tonight.

This went on for about 30 minutes. They made polite small talk, but mostly stuck to studying. And then it happened. Charlotte felt a sneeze coming. Before she could stop it, she sneezed. Both of her earplugs flew out of her nose and onto the floor. Scott said “Bless you.” and laughed at the situation. Charlotte turned her head away from Scott, clasped her nose with her fingers from one hand and tried not to breathe. She tried to grab the earplugs from off the ground with her one free hand but was having trouble finding them due to the darkness and some dirty clothes on the floor. She found them eventually, they had slipped beneath some gym shorts. She quickly stuffed them up her nose. She still hadn’t breathed yet, but looked at Scott and smiled to signal that she was okay.

“Well, I think this is a good time for a break," Scott said with a smile. "I’ve got to go to the bathroom. Be right back.”

Charlotte gave him the thumbs ups sign. She had yet to breathe. She could feel that the earplugs hadn’t fully inflated in her nose yet. Once he was fully out of the room, Charlotte felt that the earplugs were completely blocking her nostrils, so she took a breath. To her horror, for the first time that night, she smelled something. It was the scent of Scott’s gym shorts the earplugs had gotten mixed up with when the earplugs were on the floor.