“It’s a crime to be sexy? You sound like Brenda. I can’t help it if she’s ugly.”
“But you can stop your behavior.”
“And what if I don’t want to?”
Houlihan was still sweating. “I went to Georgetown, you know.”
This caught Monica off guard. “Really? That’s my top school! I so want to go there!”
Houlihan regarded Monica for a moment. “I know some people there who owe me favors. I could probably get you into the school no problem.”
“Really? Oh my God! That would be so great!”
“But—what are you willing to do for Georgetown? This harassing of another student isn’t going to help your case. And giving out lap dances for boys sounds, well …”
“Would it make you feel any better if I told you I was saving some of that money for college?”
“Your parents have good jobs. I know Georgetown is expensive … but lap dancing?”
“Sure. Why not? And maybe I’ll get a gig as a dancer to work my way through school.”
Houlihan’s forehead was starting to bead with sweat. “Do your … boys satisfy you?”
Throughout this whole conversation, Monica was wondering where this was leading. She was used to guys hitting on her. But Houlihan had that indignant, “you must behave” vibe going on…but there was something else too. The way he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Something clicked in her mind.
“Well,” she started, slowly crossing one leg over the other, and nonchalantly sliding the short skirt even higher on her thigh, “sometimes. I mean, I have to really tell them what I want, and they think it’s weird, so we do it the usual way.”
“What way?”
“You know, guy on top. Missionary. Sometimes they touch me the way I want them to, but other times … it’s like they’re not listening.”
Houlihan shifted in his seat. He noticed his heart rate was up. “What if …” he stopped.
“What if, what?”
“What if you tell me what you want?”
“For real? I’m not telling you that.” Monica laughed, but there was a thrill of excitement inside of her.
“You want to go to Georgetown, right? I can make that happen. I can make that happen, but, you’ve got to give me something in return.” Now the bridge was crossed; now he could get into trouble. But he’d read her file; he’d read her essay on her choice of college. It was just one, unlike the other seniors who had listed their college choices with the clinical detachment of a scientist. Monica’s essay had fairly oozed with passion about Georgetown and its alumni and so forth. It was like she’d written a love letter to the school.
“What do I have to give you?”
Houlihan stared at her. “To be honest, I don’t like your attitude. I’ve met plenty of girls like you; spoiled princesses, you pick on other girls who aren’t as pretty as you are. You wrap boys around your finger for the fun of it. If you want Georgetown, you’ll get it. But you need to keep your mouth shut about it. About our deal. If you agree to be punished for your behavior, punished my way, I’ll make sure you get into Georgetown. But you have to give up the lap dances, the photos, the shenanigans with the boys.
“You can really get me into Georgetown?”
Houlihan thought about the frat initiation he’d gone through. He’d had to crawl through the legs of his frat brothers, who were all lined up, each armed with paddles. He’d had to make his way down a sidewalk on a street lined with frat houses, and crawl a block, while he crawled through each of his brother’s legs, and got a smacking from each and every one of them. The first one smacked his bottom, then ran down the street to get in line behind the last frat brother. Then the second one did the same thing, so that all the way down the damn block, he was on his knees, getting smacked.
At the end of it, he’d collapsed on his belly. His bruised bottom ached for days. But what he was most ashamed (but fascinated by) was the erection he had at the end of it all. He had managed to hide it by taking off his sweater, and tying the arms so they draped in front of his crotch. That, plus he bent over, because the pain was so excruciating, he thought he’d vomit. That memory had flashed through his mind in about two seconds. Looking into Monica’s beautiful face snapped him back to attention.
“Yes.