This is a sample of my new novel, The Secret Lives of College Co-eds, now available on Amazon.

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The Secret Lives of College Co-eds

By R. Pines

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Prom Night

Chapter 2: “I’m sorry.”

Chapter 3: You're my new roommate?!

Chapter 4: You really don't get it, do you!

Chapter 5: What the hell is wrong with me?

Chapter 6: ”I really am a total bitch, aren't I?”

Chapter 7: “... Shit”

Chapter 8: “I like to be the one in control.”

Chapter 9: “Trust me.”

Chapter 10: “I always get what I want”

Chapter 11: “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

Chapter 12: $50,000!

Chapter 13: “I have pictures”

Chapter 14: "All I want is the money... right?"

Chapter 15: "Video! What video?"

Chapter 16: “Lick.”

Chapter 17: "I have nowhere else to go!"

Chapter 18: “Wait? What am I saying?”

Chapter 19: A Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 20: “If we can’t trust her, who can we trust with our secret?”

Chapter 21: She was not going to let her go

Chapter 22: “Yes, Mistress”

Chapter 23: “Excuse me. Is this thing on?”

Chapter 24: “It’s okay... I liked it.”

Chapter 25: "We're definitely going to need a bigger bed now that there's four of us."

Epilogue

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Chapter 1: Prom Night

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High school can be a long and arduous time for any teenager, let alone a young girl trying desperately to discover themselves.

In the case of Alexia Wittaker, high school had been one challenge after the next. A free spirited, but ultimately timid young woman, Lexie had always let her creativity and artistic talents speak for her, whether that be her sketches and portraits in art class, her poetry in creative writing, or the parts she performed in the school plays. On stage, Lexie did her best to shine, even when, at all other times, the petite young woman seemed to disappear into the background.

Still, life has been good. Even as the young artist began to embrace goth culture, dying her hair green, wearing black, and embracing the macabre, she could still rely on a small, loyal group of friends to get her through any crisis.

Friends like Kaitlyn Ward, for example. An athletic young woman, Cait was the very definition of beauty. Sun-kissed skin, enchanting blue eyes, and long, silky blonde hair, she turned heads wherever she went. Despite all of this, she never saw herself as some sort of beauty queen. Rather, the laid-back girl had a zest for life and a thirst for adventure.

She dreamed of traveling the world and seeing what it had to offer. From surfing to skydiving to mountain biking or whatever, Kaitlyn never met a challenge she couldn’t conquer. To her, the world was wide open, and she couldn’t wait to see where the journey of life would take her.

In contrast to Kaitlyn, Lexie’s other friend, Samantha Rivera, had micromanaged her life down to the smallest detail. Every aspect of her future had been carefully and meticulously thought out. Before she even entered high school, she had already decided which college she would attend, which courses she would take, and which law firm she would inevitably join after she got her degree.

Her friends even assumed she planned her campaign strategy for when she eventually runs for president.

Together, these three girls successfully braved the social minefield that was high school. They survived every challenge, conquered every onslaught, and defeated every villain that came their way.

Speaking of villains...

Demi Williams had been a thorn in these young girls’ sides since high school began. An arrogant, overbearing diva, Demi believed she was the best at everything, and would often find herself butting heads with Lexie and her friends. Often, she would go up against Lexie for the lead in school plays, only to lose to the young goth, whose underlying charm and charisma would often outshine Demi’s ham-fisted over-acting. She was then forced to settle for being class treasurer when Samantha successfully ran against her for student council president, and while she did manage to become head cheerleader, star-athlete Kaitlyn quickly became the talk of the school when it came to sports.

A jack of many trades, but a master of none, Demi could not stand the fact that she constantly played second fiddle to a trio of girls who she believed were beneath her. Still, she did her best not to get too angry, and always took these perceived slights against her with quiet dignity and grace.

I’m just kidding! She went out of her way to make their lives a living hell!

First, there was the time Demi stole Lexie’s diary and read it out loud in the middle of the cafeteria.

Then, she stole Kaitlyn’s clothes while she was in the shower, forcing the young woman to slink around the girl’s locker room in nothing but a towel for almost an hour.

Of course, the coup de gras was the time when Demi convinced the rest of the student council to blow off their job of decorating for the school dance, forcing poor Sam to do the whole thing herself.

When you consider all of the abuse these girls went through, you might be wondering just how they managed to survive four years of high school.

Simple, they had each other.

When Samantha needed help decorating for the school dance, Cait and Lexie were there to lend a hand. When Kaitlyn’s stuff went missing, and her tanned skin was turning beet red with embarrassment, Lexie and Sam rushed off to find their friend a spare set of gym clothes.

When Lexie was standing in the cafeteria, about to die from embarrassment... Well, that time, Samantha just socked Demi square in the face, but it sure made Lexie feel better!

For four years, this trio of girls manage to survive Demi’s constant abuse and high school in general, and tonight was the night to celebrate. Tonight was the night everything had been building to.

Prom night!

“Party!” Kaitlyn cheered as she walked into the school gymnasium, arm in arm with her boyfriend, a laid-back “bro” named Trevor.

“I can’t wait to get out on the dance floor!” She said gleefully.

Lexie and Sam, on the other hand, had decided to go stag. Lexie had never been much for dating during high school, and Samantha had just gotten over a bad break up with a real jerk of a guy named Kyle.

As meticulous and planned out as Samantha had been her entire life, the one thing she was absolutely terrible at was relationships. She would constantly pick the worst guys to go out with, leading to absolutely awful break-ups that would leave the young girl devastated. If she didn’t have her friends beside her for moral support, who knows where she’d be?

Kyle had, at first, appeared to be an okay guy. Kind of a “loner bad-boy” type, Samantha had been roped in by the veil of mystery that seemed to surround him, only for the veil to be yanked away, revealing an arrogant, selfish prick who would often put his own feelings ahead of others.

The only reason Samantha stuck with him as long as she did was because her friends seemed to like him, especially Lexie. The goth girl and the loner seemed to hit it off pretty well, and Samantha figured that Lexie was a pretty good judge of character. Eventually, however, Kyle’s selfish antics became too much to bear, and the young overachiever had no choice but to cut him loose.

Not that it really mattered to her. So what if she didn’t have a date for prom? Samantha had her best friend by her side. Who could ask for anything more?

“It’s beautiful.” Lexie said as she looked around at the magnificently decorated gym.

“It better be,” Samantha quipped, “after what those morons pulled during homecoming, I made them work extra hard for this!”

Homecoming had been the dance that Demi almost ruined, and that the girls worked feverishly on in order to finish on time. They were so exhausted after the decorations had been put up, they could barely enjoy the party.

“God! Don’t remind me!” Lexie sighed. “Still, it was kind of fun.”

“Define fun.” Samantha asked incredulously.

“Well, spending the day with your best friends, putting together something beautiful, and letting your creativity shine through,” Lexie continued, “Sounds like fun to me.”

“Yeah, and also collapsing in a sweaty heap when we finally managed to put up the last decoration. Was that fun?”

“Well...”

Lexie looked at Samantha in her elegant prom dress. A wonderful purple number which highlighted the 18-year-old's amazing curves, with a neckline that revealed quite a bit of cleavage and a hem just above the knee, showing off her long, beautiful legs. For someone who normally dressed conservatively, Sam had decided to leave very little to the imagination tonight, exposing quite a lot of her dark skin to the public.

“You do look a hell of a lot better than last time.” Lexie chuckled.

In contrast to Samantha, her fair-skinned friend was the definition of a gothic beauty. Lexie looked incredible in her intricate black lolita dress with matching gloves and thigh-high stockings, complete with a pair of high-heeled boots, which added a few extra inches to the small girl's height. While she normally chose to blend into a crowd, for once, Lexie wanted to stand out in ways besides her artwork.

After all, it was prom night; a night which marks that amazing transition between childhood and adulthood. So, why not go ahead and flaunt what God gave you?

Speaking of...

“Woooo!” Kaitlyn and her boyfriend were busy strutting their stuff on the dance floor, partying to their heart’s content. Cait looked stunning in her stylish blue dress, complete with a matching boa and pearls. The naturally athletic girl simply assumed those for the prerequisites for dressing fancy.

“Those two look like they’re having fun.” Lexie chuckled.

“Yeah, it’s too bad we didn’t have any dates to the prom, or we could join them,” replied Samantha.

“Well... we could always hit the dance floor ourselves.”

“You mean by ourselves, without any dates?”

“Well, yeah,” Lexie fumbled, “or, you know, it could be us... together.”

Samantha blinked and stared at her fair-skinned friend.

“Are you asking me to dance?”

“What!? No! That would be silly.” Lexie chuckled awkwardly. “I was just saying, we're here, alone. Maybe we should—“

“Okay,” replied Sam.

“Really!? Are you serious?” Lexie exclaimed.

“Yeah, why not?” Samantha scoffed. “I mean, it’s no big deal, right?”

“Yeah! No big deal.” The goth girl chuckled as she held her hand out awkwardly, waiting for Samantha to take it, her pale skin turning the most adorable shade of red.

With a smile and a wink, Samantha took Alexia’s hand and started to move towards the dance floor. For the fair-skinned young woman, time seemed to slow down as Samantha started walking.

“Well, are you coming?” Samantha smiled as Lexie stood there, practically frozen in place.

“Oh. Yeah.” She whispered as her legs slowly began to move.

Next thing Lexie knew, Samantha and her were on the dance floor, shaking their bodies to the beat.

“This is amazing!” Lexie cheered.

“I know, right?” Samantha yelled as the two danced the night away. “Thank you so much for suggesting this. I’m having such a great time!”

“Me, too!”

After a while, the music stopped, and the principal made his way to the stage.

“Attention everyone. It’s time to announce this year’s prom queen!”

The seniors gathered around as the principal announced the results of the vote, not that it was a surprise who was going to win.

After all, she had been campaigning nonstop for weeks, and every other girl in school realized what a headache it would be if she didn’t win, so they all got together and basically agreed to just let her have it.

So, it was no surprise when the principal announced the winner... Demi Williams.

“I won! I won!” The prom queen feigned surprise as she accepted the tiara.

“Thank you! Thank you all! This is such a surprise.” She said as she read from her prepared notes. “I am so happy to know that you think so highly of me!”

“Oh god, she is so full of herself,” Kaitlyn commented as she, and everyone else in the room, waited for Demi to finish her long, rambling acceptance speech.

“Tell me about it.” Samantha chimed in. “Doesn’t she realize everyone hates her guts? The only reason we even gave her the stupid crown was because she would make our lives miserable if we didn’t.”

“You could have beaten her easy, Cait.” Lexie added. “Everyone knows you’re the most popular girl in school.”

“Me?” Kaitlyn replied. “Oh, no, no, no! There’s no way I’d go up against that nutcase!”

“I thought you liked adventure.” Samantha chuckled.

“Adventure is one thing. Going toe-to-toe against that lunatic is... suicide. Who knows what she would end up doing to me if we were ever alone!” Kaitlyn explained.

“How about you, Samantha?”

Samantha looked up at Demi, who’s ridiculous over-acting was almost sickening. “Going on stage like that and spilling my guts in front of the entire school? Not really my style.”

“It’s not so bad, Sam.” Lexie commented. “At least, I feel good when I go on stage. Sometimes, it’s nice to get up there and just express yourself.”

“You do you, drama club.” The future lawyer smiled. “I’ll save my speeches for the courtroom, thank you very much.”

Eventually, Demi’s speech came to a merciful end, and she made her way off stage.

As she left, the lights around the gym dimmed low, and the music began to play once again.

“I guess it’s time for a slow dance.” Alexia said as couples began heading to the floor.

“I guess so.” Samantha smiled.

Lexie looked around anxiously. “Do you want to get a drink or—”

Suddenly, Samantha held her hand out towards the goth girl, who froze in surprise.

“Um... what are you doing?” Lexie asked.

“Don’t you want to dance?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Well, then, come on!”

Cautiously, Lexie took Samantha’s hand, and the two girls began to slow dance around the room, their bodies moving in sync as the world around them seemed to just... disappear.

The whole night had been perfect, absolutely wonderful! The two friends were having the time of their young lives, hand in hand as they looked deep into each other’s eyes.

The girls danced in silence for a while before Lexie finally spoke.

“Samantha, this is the best night of my life!” The goth girl said proudly. “I never want this to end!”

“I know. This is incredible!” The class president replied.

Lexie’s hands trembled as she worked up the courage to tell Samantha what she desperately wanted to say.

“Samantha, I just want you to know...”

“Yes?”

She paused, unable to say the words.

“I just want you to know, you’re my best friend.” The goth girl stumbled.

Samantha laughed.

“You’re my best friend, too, Lexie.”

Sam then brought her face close to Lexie’s ear, which made the fair-skinned beauty tingle with excitement.

“Don’t tell Kaitlyn.” She giggled.

Lexie smiled awkwardly. Inside, she cursed herself for not being able to tell Samantha what she so desperately wanted to say.

The next few hours were a blur.

There was an after party at Trevor’s place. As usual, Lexie seemed to disappear into the background, occasionally chatting with Samantha or Kaitlyn when they came around, but ultimately playing a background role in a story that wasn’t hers.

At some point, Demi came around to rub in the fact that she was crowned prom queen, but Lexie didn’t care. In her mind, she missed out on a much bigger prize, and she could only pray that one day she would get another chance at it.

But who knows when that would be?

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Chapter 2: “I’m sorry.”

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After a while, the party began to die down.

Kaitlyn decided to spend the night at Trevor's place. His parents were out of town, and it was clear the young couple wanted some “alone time.”

“Well, I guess we’re on our own.” Samantha said as the two girls left the party. “It would be a shame to end the night so early, though. Got any ideas?”

Lexie perked up at the thought of some “alone time” with Samantha.

“I know! Why not come over my place?” The goth girl suggested.

“Really? Are you sure your parents won’t mind?”

“Please, you’re my best friend! Besides, they’re probably asleep already.”

“Well, I suppose it would be fun to hang out, just the two of us.”

“Yep,” Lexie smiled, “just the two of us.”

Sure enough, Lexie’s parents were fast asleep as the two girls shuffled towards the bedroom, trying their best not to wake the house. For the rest of the night, the two girls hung out and did all the things you assume a pair of teenagers would do alone on a Saturday night.

By that, I mean eating junk food, watching trash TV, and talking into the early hours of the morning about their hopes and dreams for the future.

“But, you’re so talented!” Samantha exclaimed. “Why not become an actor?”

“Because the chances of making it big are practically zero!” Lexie laughed. “Only an idiot would waste their time trying to become an actor. Besides, I only took up acting because of how shy I get around people. It’s not like I want to be famous or anything.”

“Speaking of college, do you know which school you want to go to yet?” Asked Samantha.

Lexie shook her head. “I still haven’t decided, but it’ll probably be somewhere on the west coast. I don’t want to be too far from home.”

“Our little goth girl enjoying the fun and sun of California.” Samantha laughed. “Meanwhile I’ll be braving the snowy winters up at Yale.”

Lexie couldn’t help but sigh at the thought of her friend moving to the other side of the country.

“Are you really going all the way to Connecticut? You know, there are a lot of great schools right here?”

“I’m sure there are, Alexia, but unless those schools are called Yale, I’m not interested.”

Samantha knew that leaving for Yale meant leaving behind every thing she knew; her family, her friends, everything! Still, it was her dream to graduate from Yale with a law degree ever since she was a child. She wasn't going to give it up now, no matter what!

“On the plus side, living on the east coast means I won’t have to deal with my jerk of an ex anymore.” Samantha laughed.

Lexie recoiled at the thought of Samantha's ex-boyfriend, Kyle. When she first introduced him, he had acted so nice, so sweet and sensitive to all of them. Lexie really thought Sam had found a winner, but after a while, he started blowing off his dates with Sam for no reason. He would constantly get into fights over the smallest things, and all the while, acted like he was some kind of victim, when in reality, he was just being a jerk. At first, even Lexie believed his sob stories. She remembered the time Kyle came to her, depressed, talking about how he and Samantha had just broken up, how he didn't know what he did wrong, and how they would never get back together after this. Looking back on it, he seemed pretty pathetic. She did her best to console the poor idiot. They spent most of that night talking, and then...

“Please, can we not talk about Kyle.” Lexie sighed.

“Do you know that moron still calls me from time to time, hoping we’d get back together?” Samantha continued.

“He does!?”

“Yeah, can you believe it? I mean, he knows I’m leaving in a few months. Why even try and get back together?”

“How long has this been going on?” Lexie asked.

“I don’t know, a couple of weeks now.”

“That fucking bastard!” The goth girl cursed.

“Whoa! Lexie, what’s got you so riled up?”

“What? Nothing! It’s just... Never mind.”

Samantha could see Lexie‘s expression begin to sour, but just assumed her goth friend was still broken up over the fact that she was leaving.

“Lexie, you know going to Yale has been my dream ever since I was a kid.”

“What?” Lexie asked. “Oh, I know, it’s just, I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, but we’ll keep in touch. We’ll face-chat and keep up to date with each other, and we’ll hang out on holidays and during the summer.” Sam said, wrapping her arms around her friend. “Besides, you’ll be so busy at whatever college you eventually decide on, the time will just fly by!”

“Still, it won’t be the same,“ Lexie sighed. “I just wish...”

“Well, you could always come with me,” suggested Samantha.

“To Yale? I don’t think I have the grades.”

“Well, how about I just hide you in my luggage and sneak you in!” Samantha joked as she pulled her friend in close. “Look, you’re so tiny, and you barely weigh anything!”

Samantha lifted Lexie up off the ground as they giggled and laughed.

“Stop that! You know I’m ticklish!” Lexie laughed.

“I could hide you in my closet. They wouldn’t suspect a thing!”

“Very funny! Now, let go!”

As Lexie struggled to free herself from Samantha‘s grip, the two girls fell backwards onto the bed. They continued to laugh and tease each other, their faces only inches apart. They were so close that Lexie could smell Samantha‘s berry flavored lipgloss in the air.

“I really am going to miss you, Samantha.” Lexie said, somberly.

“I’ll miss you too, Lexie.” Samantha replied as she started to yawn. “Wow! Would you look at the time? It’s almost morning.”

It had been a long night, and only now that the two girls had a chance to lay down and relax did they realize how exhausted they really were. It wasn’t long before the pair would drift off to sleep.

As Lexie was about to close her eyes, she looked over and saw her best friend already fast asleep.

“Sam?” She whispered. “Are you asleep?”

No response.

Alexia was too afraid to tell her friend how she felt back at the dance, too afraid of how she might react, but now, she wouldn’t have to worry about Samantha‘s reaction, and Lexie wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t tell her the words that she had been dying all night to say, even if her friend would never hear it.

“Samantha... I love you.” She whispered.

With that, Lexie laid her head down to rest.

The next few days continued on normally as the school year wound down to a close.

Soon, Lexie and her friends would be pulled in opposite directions. Lexie would be staying on the west coast, while Samantha would be heading off to Yale in August. Kaitlyn would be taking a year off to travel the world, and then who knows where the globe-trotting teen would eventually wind up?

As for Demi, she decided to forgo college life altogether and try her hand at, of all things, acting. She had apparently already made plans to move to Los Angeles.

“Can you believe it?” Lexie said as the trio gossiped by their lockers.

“I know,” Sam chimed in. “Her parents must be pissed!”

“I heard they were ready to disown her.” Cait explained. “Plus, did you hear she broke up with her boyfriend? Apparently, she’s not going to have time for him anymore because of how famous she’s going to become.”

“She can’t possibly believe that!” Lexie replied. “How is she going to afford this? Without her parents to bankroll her, she’ll barely last a week in LA.”

“Apparently, her parents have been saving up a ton of money for her to go to college,” Cait continued, “and now that she’s 18, she can cash in without them being able to stop her.”

“That’s so irresponsible!” Samantha cried out. “If I was her parents, I swear I would—“

“Hey, babe.” A voice came from down the hall.

Lexie turned around, only to receive a shock. There, standing in the hallway, was Kyle, Samantha‘s ex-boyfriend, or so she thought.

“Oh, hey Kyle.” Samantha smiled as she walked over to him and gave him a kiss.

“Wait!” Lexie shouted. “Since when are you two back together?”

Samantha smiled and shook her head. “We figured we’d give it another go. After all, there’s only a few more months until college. If worse comes to worst, we could just—“

Samantha paused as she noticed Lexie shaking with rage.

“Are you okay?” Kaitlyn asked as the goth girl stormed towards the couple.

“You son of a bitch! How dare you go back to her after what you did!” Lexie screamed.

“Whoa! Chill out, Lexie!” Kyle replied.

“Lexie, what are you talking about?” Samantha asked.

The goth girl frowned and looked over to her friend.

“Samantha, there’s some thing I need to tell you.”

Lexie had tried to hid it from her friends. She pretended like it didn't happen, but if Sam was actual thinking of taking him back, she couldn’t keep it to herself any longer.

“A couple of weeks ago, after you two had broken up, Kyle came over my house and we hung out for a while.”

Lexie was shaking in both anger... and fear.

“He was telling me how sad he was that you two were over, how you would never get back together. One thing led to another, and we... we...”

“We... What?” Samantha asked.

Lexie looked into her friend’s eyes. She felt terrible.

“I’m sorry.”

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If you enjoyed this, please consider purchasing this novel on Amazon.