Chapter 5
A single bonfire blazed in the middle of the beach and around it milled hundreds of students. From the area away from the fire, Kurt Wiley watched the others as they sang and circled the fire in a chain dance, each holding to the waist of the one ahead of him.
Kurt could not understand why he had not entered the fun with the others. For some reason, he had felt disinclined toward it. He thought about it and soon settled on the reason. It was Laura Standard. He had become infatuated with the girl and it was like nothing he had ever before experienced. He rubbed his chin meditatively, remembering the fun of his past, recalling how he had entered Funston to continue the fun under the secure disguise of pleasing his father. And now he found himself confused about a pretty girl who was like none he had ever known.
A wild chant went up from the bonfire and Kurt saw that the circle of students who had moved around it had stopped. In a moment they drew back altogether to make room for a figure moving toward a small platform that had been erected for dances and entertainment. When the figure nimbly jumped upon the platform, gay and enthusiastic applause broke out. Then Kurt saw that it was the president of Funston College himself who faced the student body.
Interest sparked alive in Kurt. He had not yet met Arthur Fleming. He had heard all manner of stories about the head of the college, but Kurt found it hard to believe many of them. They seemed too outlandish for a president of a college. Still, he always reasoned, Funston was different, therefore its president must also be different.
Kurt pushed away from where he was standing and walked to the outer fringe of the circle of students that had formed around the platform. Tongues of flame shot high from the fire, crisscrossing the features of Arthur Fleming, casting him in a kind of devil image and making it difficult for Kurt to see his true features. But soon his eyes adjusted to the contrast of fire and darkness and he saw that the president of the college was a handsome man, perhaps fifty years old, but with the appearance of a much younger man. His hair was dark and his eyes were deep brown. They darted furtively, as if he were seeking pleasure wherever they touched. His build was strong and muscular and Kurt guessed that the man followed a regular program of physical fitness. His clothes were casual; slacks, an open-throat shirt. And his smile was as gay as that of the gayest undergraduate.
Silence fell upon the group. President Fleming held his hands high over his head, then let them drop with a swoop. He let his eyes roam over all his students, creating, Kurt felt, a togetherness with each person they viewed. Kurt felt it himself. He could not deny the feeling.
"Students of Funston," Fleming said, opening his arms to them all. "Are you having a good time?"
Cheers rose to the sky. Kurt smiled, thinking how much the remark and the manner was similar to that of a nightclub master of ceremony.
"Good, good," Fleming continued when the cheers died. "That's the purpose of any get-together, you know. Fun. Fun and Funston College are synonymous."
New cheers; higher and longer lasting.
"Now, this stuffy old teacher who happens to be the head of your alma mater isn't going to take up a lot of time talking," Fleming continued. "But I do have a few things to say."
Fleming paused and looked around, creating a new mood of quiet.
Kurt acknowledged that the man was an impressive figure, both in looks and in manner. His voice was deep and attention-holding and Kurt guessed that public speaking had once been his specialty.
"There are good things in store for all the students of Funston College," President Fleming said, opening his arms again. "We have many things planned. There are going to be new courses to eh stimulate you."
Laughter mixed with cheers to interrupt.
"And we're going to try and arrange a bit more leisure for all you hard-working undergraduates, too," Fleming said, sounding like a pitchman in front of his medicine tent. He paused, looked around, then added a somber note, saying, "But we have some problems here at Funston, too. And I hope the problems are those that we're all going to work together to defeat." Again he paused and looked around, creating an atmosphere of apprehension.
Kurt took a quick glance around him, hoping once again that he would see Laura Standard. She was no place in sight, and he guessed that she had decided against attending the beach party. But there were many others. Kurt saw Penny Smith and Rodney Madden standing together, Penny in front of the boy, his arms wrapped around her waist and she holding them tightly at a place just below her large breasts. She wore a bikini. She looked more wanton than if she had been naked. And Madden wore only bermudas, showing off his muscular body. A quick sweep of the rest of the group revealed to Kurt that most of the girls wore bikinis and most of the boys were only partially dressed. With the bonfire shooting its rays upon them they seemed like creatures from hell. Kurt thought that that was a good description for he, along with all the others, was motivated by hell's desires. And Arthur Fleming looked for all the world like the devil-leader of the group.
"Lately, we've been having problems attracting students to Funston," Fleming announced somberly. "That is, attracting the fun-loving, not-too serious type of students we want at our little old school. And we've been having a lot of trouble attracting coeds. That's been a real shame and I'm sorry to report that at Funston the male population still outnumbers the females by about three to one."
Moans from the males issued through the night, sparked lighter and brighter by the feminine cheers from the coeds.
"But we've started offering scholarships and I hope before too long we'll be about even in numbers," Fleming added quickly. "But there is something else that is disturbing to all of us who love Funston College. Something very disturbing, indeed, and that is the disinclination upon the part of some members of the accreditation committee to approve Funston for some of the grants that are now available."
Fleming paused dramatically. His features turned sour looking. Slowly, he turned his head, viewing all those students in front of him as if he accused them.
Kurt looked around again and noticed that all of the audience was held spellbound before the dramatic ability of Arthur Fleming. He noticed that even he awaited the president's next words. They came in an enthusiastic shout.
"But we're going to change that, too," Fleming called out.
A long series of shouts acclaimed his words.
"So, be prepared for your president and your school to call upon you for your utmost cooperation," Fleming said, obviously building toward his finish. "Be prepared, for we all have a stake in the future of Funston all of us want to see us become the recipients of grants that will make new buildings available, new courses offered, and new opportunities for all of us to enjoy life on the campus in a fuller way. So, be prepared you'll be called upon soon to cooperate in a program that will assure accreditation for Funston. But for now, thank you and have fun."
Cries of appreciation filled the area as Arthur Fleming jumped down from the platform. Immediately, he was surrounded by students and Kurt had the impression of a quarterback who had just made a last minute winning touchdown. And despite the objectivity he had vowed to himself to keep, Kurt found himself liking Arthur Fleming and wanting to aid him in anything that he desired. He wondered what it was that the student body would be called upon to do, how they could effect accreditation. He wondered what his part in the process would be.
Guitars and bongo drums picked up a beat that sounded through the night. Again, Kurt looked around the area, hoping to see Laura Standard. And again, he was disappointed. He shook his head, surprised and disappointed with himself that he felt no inclination for a good time without the sober-acting girl. But in a moment he saw Penny Smith headed in his direction and he decided that he might change his mind, that he might be open to fun, especially the kind that Penny so obviously offered.
Penny stopped when she was still about twenty yards away from Kurt. She looked around, making a complete circle, then she waved to Kurt and hurried forward.
Watching Penny Smith approach him was a delightful sight, Kurt decided. She wore a bikini that barely covered her body. Her breasts jiggled riotously. Her stomach muscles were lined and moving as if she were already involved in great sexual excitement. And her naked thighs were purposefully striding toward him as if they would snap and demand and take him.
"Well, Buster," Penny said, smiling and stopping before Kurt. "Glad you made the scene."
"I am, too, I think," he replied, moving his eyes from her face to the three-quarter bareness of her breasts.
She moved a few inches closer, then said, "What about getting me a drink?"
"Good idea. Where?"
"There's a cooler near the lake."
"Let's go," Kurt said, reaching for her hand. Then he stopped and looked seriously at her.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Where's the boy friend?"
"Rod Madden?"
"Yeah, Madden."
"Oh, around, I guess," she said casually. "But don't let him worry you."
"He doesn't."
"Good." Despite her casual attitude, she looked around again before taking Kurt's hand.
They weaved their way through the bodies of students, some of whom, quite removed from the others, were already stretched on the sand and on blankets and involved in deep embraces. Kurt tried not to stare for the sight of others involved in love-making quickened his own pulse and desires.
The cooler, one of several that had been brought to the party, was at the water's edge. Strangely, there were no other students around it.
When they reached it, Penny released Kurt's hand and immediately stooped and removed the cooler's lid. The motion caused her breasts to loom outward, nearly free from the narrow bra that had held them. Kurt could not help staring. Nor could he help but wonder what it would be like to touch that bareness, play with the hard nipples, then mouth all of it as he lost himself to everything but the feel of Penny's body.
"Not much left," complained Penny. "But there's a little gin and no mix."
"Gin it is then," Kurt said, lowering to his knees beside the girl.
Penny took two paper cups and a bottle from the cooler. She filled both the cups to the top with the gin. She handed one to Kurt, then replaced the bottle in the cooler.
"Cheers," said Penny, swishing her full cup in front of her.
"Cheers," repeated Kurt.
They downed the gin in one long swallow. Then Penny giggled and said, "Man does that ever burn when it hits bottom."
"Burn it again," said Kurt, handing his cup to her.
Penny refilled the cups. They drank again. Then she filled them a third time and this drink they conserved, sipped slowly from the cup while they traded glances and bold looks, made conversation with their eyes alone.
Kurt stretched upon the sand. Penny looked over all the length of his body, then moved a little closer. She raised a hand to the top button of his sport shirt.
"Aren't you awfully hot with all those clothes on?" she asked.
"Hot. Very hot," he said rather dazedly, beginning to feel the effects of the gin.
Very slowly, very deftly, Penny undid the top button of Kurt's shirt. Then her fingers freed the other buttons. When the shirt drooped open, she tugged it outward and away from his slacks, causing a total view of his hard, brown chest.
"Oh, my, you have a nice chest," she said, purring happily.
Kurt smiled.
Penny rested her hand just beneath his neck, then let her fingers slowly trail over his chest, moving them like a patrol from shoulder to shoulder, then downward to where his navel indented just above his waistband.
Penny sighed and dropped her hand.
Kurt looked at her for a long moment, then finished his drink, tossed the paper cup to one side, and reached out his own hand. He wound his fingers around her neck. She strained happily against the strength he exerted, raising her chin as she pressured backwards.
"Ummmmm," she said softly. "That takes all the strain away."
"What kind of strain?" he asked.
"All kinds. Problems. Everything."
He released her neck. He brought his hand to her throat. "And does this relieve strain, too?"
"Ohhhh, yes." She arched her breasts high.
Kurt's hand lowered. First he cupped her right breast, lifting it as if weighing it. Then he did the same to the other. The weight of her felt good in his palm. It made him want more. And when he looked at her face and saw that she had closed her eyes to make a pleasurable mask of her expression, he knew that he would have more of Penny Smith. Much more. As much as he desired.
Kurt let his fingers trail down her front, moving over the big mounds of her breasts to below them, then still lower until he stopped them at the very dip of her bikini bottom.
Penny shivered delightedly and made a slight adjustment of her position. She stretched her legs in front of her and braced her hands at the side, offering a full presentation of her body. She even hiked her hips a bit as Kurt rested his hand on her bare, flat stomach.
He feasted his eyes upon her body as his hand rested lightly upon her. Although his desires were urgent and ready, Kurt felt a patience, a kind of wish for teasing, that was usually not a part Of him. He raised his hand to her breasts again. This time his fingers hardened, and he pulled the bra top of her bikini downward to reveal all of her breasts as they bunched high with the nipples long and waving.
Penny uttered a new sigh, one of desire. Then she reached one hand behind her and undid the bow of her bra. It fell on her lap. She whisked it away as if she hated it.
Kurt fingered her nipples, being careful not to make any deliberate touch of the mounds of flesh, much as if he were saving that for later, saving it as the dessert of earlier touches. But finally, he could wait no longer. He pinched each nipple a final time, like kissing them goodbye, then he cupped each breast fully in his hand for a moment, moving from first one to the other, then back again.
Penny moaned some delicious sounds. But then they changed abruptly, became a single, short cry of urgency as she moved quickly forward, both arms outstretched and reaching to hold Kurt within their circle.
Kurt rolled on his back as she crushed against him. Penny's mouth opened, then snapped upon his as his arms shot around her back and pressed her close. Penny cried a hot song into his mouth, then flattened her body to his, thumping her thighs in a demanding way. Kurt answered the demand, made it his own, arched, lowered, and re-arched his hips so that he could grind against her thrashing thighs. Their teeth clicked sharply as they kissed. Their tongues made combat out of their caresses. And their hands worked feverishly upon each other; Kurt's at her back and buttocks, hers around his neck, pinching, nipping, digging, scratching the signs of her hot lust.
Finally, Kurt could stand the submissive position no longer. He tore his mouth from Penny's, clamped it to her neck, then pushed her off his body and to the side. It was as he gripped her bare breasts and fought to attain her thighs that he saw the figure standing less than twenty yards away. The moon ray struck across the beach and framed itself fully around Laura Standard as she stood watching, one hand raised to her mouth as if she had become awe-stricken by all that she viewed. Then the figure turned and ran into the darkness of the night, ran fast just as she had run away from Kurt's embrace and out of his cottage.
Penny's hands clamped tightly around Kurt's neck, urging him closer as she settled to receive him. He did not move. He remained looking at the spot where Laura Standard had stood.
"Come on, darling," Penny said breathlessly. "Come on, come on hurry or I'll burst...,"
Kurt pulled back, straining against her hold around his neck, then, when Penny did not release him, he reached and unclasped her hands from their grip.
"Darling...," Penny said, questioning, fearing, wanting.
"I'm sorry," he answered. "I'm-I'm well, I'm sorry."
Penny's hands went slack. Kurt pushed up to his knees, waited a second, then leaped to his feet and quickly moved to the direction from which Laura had disappeared.