Away Game

[ella_v]

The team practice was close to the end and everyone was working hard, since the season was still young and everyone wanted to make the team. The coach was shouting some angry instructions about some defensive tactical issues, but James Handerson was not really listening. He was distracted, because he had just spotted his girlfriend Ella at the side of the field. She was sitting in the shadow of one of the trees talking to another girl, who was obviously waiting for someone from the team as well. James and Ella had both just started at the university together and he was happy that she had not picked some school way across the country. That way they could still be together, and their one year lasting relationship would not be tested. The coach was blowing his whistle again and the team started to continue the game, James pulled his eyes of his girlfriend and tried to focus on the game again.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

Knackered. Simon was knackered. It was only the second week at University. He hadn't played football for months, he had quit his previous club as he had no other option, he had to move away for university. Understandably, he felt unfit but training was nearly over and his fitness would hopefully improve in the coming weeks. The university boasted around 8 teams, Team 1 being for the best footballers at the university and Team 8 being for the worst footballers. They held trials at the start of each year to determine who would be in which team. Everyone on the field wanted to impress so they could make the first team. But it wasn't that simple. A poor performance or - as university football is so political - not making the right contacts can mean you don't make the first team.

However, two players were heads and shoulders above the rest of the other players on the pitch - James Handerson and Simon Richards. They were playing on the right wing, James as a right-midfielder and Simon as a right-back. Their link-up play and understanding of each other's movements was excellent, it was as if they had been playing together on the same team all their lives. Their compatibility on the right wing meant they exchanged a few words every now and then, but nothing to make a full blown conversation. The main aim here was to stand out from the rest of the players and Simon and James had achieved this. Being the only black guy on the team, Simon had little problems in trying to stand out even before a ball was kicked. He noticed that James would look towards the girls sitting beneath the tree. He found this slightly irritating but kept his feelings to himself. He was at a point in his university career where he needed to make friends, not enemies.

 

[ella_v]

Ella Simic was watching the guys as they returned to their game. She had learned quite a bit about football in the past year, since James was pretty serious about his sport. She noticed right away, that James and that right-back seemed to harmonize pretty well, they were passing the ball well and were moving like they knew what the other was thinking.

The wind blew her blond hair into her view and she used her hand to move it behind her ear again. She noticed that the right-back was a pretty nice looking black guy, who seemed to be about her age. You could see right away that he had been playing football for quite some time, although he seemed not to be too happy with his performance himself.

Close to 5 o’clock, the coach ended the game and called all the players into the middle of the field. He was not satisfied with everyone, especially the left wingers had not met his expectations. “Guys you need to work a lot on yourself if you want to stay in this team. We are playing to win and not to have fun.” Next he pointed at James and Simon. “You two have been ok, keep that level and you might make the team. Thanks everyone and see you tomorrow! ” Everyone was moving slowly of the pitch and James went over to Ella and they kissed to greet each other.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

Simon started to evaluate the game as he took his shin pads off and headed off to the changing rooms. He was obsessed with his performances, after the game the analysis would start with a brief summary of how he has done, then an hour or two later it'd be a more comprehensive analysis where he outlined his strengths, weaknesses, what he needs to improve on, and so on. A good performance tomorrow and his place in the team would surely be sealed, he thought. The manager had tried to downplay his performance but that was to keep his feet on the ground. With his shin pads in his left hand, he shook hands with the other players but couldn't see the player that had impressed him most - James. When he finally pinpointed James he saw him kissing a short girl with sun-like coloured hair. He had seen this girl during the football but didn't really pay enough attention to notice her attributes. Two weeks and he had already got himself a girlfriend? Or was it just his girlfriend visiting? Simon asked himself.

How he longed for a girlfriend, it had been a long, long time. The majority of his relationships had been abrupt but he had appreciated the company on the whole. Then again, he wanted to be free and single at university. He didn't want to be tied down to one girl, he wanted conquer whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Additionally, his poor relationships had put him off having relationships. His confidence had taken a knock because of this but he was far too cocky to admit it to anyone. It's better to be single and seek casual, he had concluded a long time ago. As he made his way to the changing room he was moving closer and closer to James and Ella. He wanted to say something to James, perhaps praise him, when he got as near to them as possible but didn't want to interrupt anything. He hoped that the sounds of his stud making contact with the concrete would capture their attention.

 

[ella_v]

James was standing with the back to the pitch when Simon was approaching. He was making plans with his girl for the evening. Since he was tired from playing football, he and just wanted Elle to come over to his place. But Ella’s face showed clearly that she was not very much in favor of that idea. James was happy to hear someone stepping on the concrete close to them, so the turned and looked over to his team mate to evade the discussion with Ella. “Hey, good game! You really know how to play some serious ball.” They shook hands and got into a short talk about the game, while Ella used the opportunity to take a close - but secret - look at the strange guy, she did not want to look too obviously with him being black.

James turned to his Girlfriend and used his chance to show off a bit. “Oh, Simon, have you met my girlfriend Ella, yet?” Ella was a bit surprised by being suddenly included into the chat. She smiled at Simon and they shook hands. “Hi, nice to meet you, you guys looked pretty good out there.” Her blue eyes looked at Simon at first and then she let them drop to look at the hands. The contrast of the skins was interesting in her eyes. She quickly looked back up again and smiled.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

"Ha-ha," Simon laughed pointlessly, "thanks, we try our hardest out there so we can make the first team." He briefly scanned her. She possessed flawless skin, eyes which mirrored the colour of the ocean, and lengthy brown hair which complemented the black top which clung to her slender body. Simon felt uneasy. He found the look that Ella gave him intimidating, the handshake harsh and not so welcoming, it was like she was trying to judge him. Or was he just intimidated by her beauty? He was starting to get paranoid, even her smiles felt fake. Simon was from up north where a mixture of cultures lived happily side by side. At times there were tensions between people of different ethnicities but racism was rare in comparison to the south - which was stereotypical regarded as racist and backwards. Whenever he told his friends and family which university he was going to they reponsed with "WHAT? How are you going to cope there? You'll be the only black guy on campus!" before descending into fits of laughter. In fact, during his time at university so far he had only seen one black person.

James and Simon got into another chat about the game, excluding Ella once again. "You should give me your number, it'd be cool to hang out sometime...and we do have a Football Social pretty soon," Simon suggested to James. They swapped numbers, shook hands and Simon shook Ella's hand before he headed off. "See you soon, mate!"

 

[ella_v]

Ella was having mixed feelings about Simon, and she was relieved to see him leave finally. He had been looking at her in that strange way, that she usually only got when people thought that she was just a useless - but good looking - dress-up doll or trophy girlfriend. However, she was proud that she was way more than that, she had studied hard all her life to get were she was now. She had not gotten any public school education like James, nor did she or her family have any connection to get her into university. She was where she was due to her abilities, and people who looked at her like Simon had done made her furious.

The couple went home after James had gotten his bag and they spend the evening and night at James‘s place, who did not have to live in university housing and share a room, since his parents had a flat in the city. Ella would have liked to go out with him, but he was too tired and actually fell asleep pretty early, which was not really helping Ella‘s mood.

The next few days flew by pretty fast. James went to the football practice, but Ella did not come along anymore. She did not want to waste her time sitting at the side of the pitch, while she could the studying. James and Simon did continue to play well together, and the coach was very happy with their performance. Thus it was not really a surprise to either of them when they were accepted into the first team. After the coach had told them that they were in the select 23, Simon and James were in a celebrating mood and so they decided that they would meet later at a pub and watch Arsenal vs. Liverpool together.

Ella was not too happy to hear that she had to step into the second row behind football once again. Additionally she would have to meet Simon again in case she would come along, something that she had successfully avoided that last few days. She was racist in any way, but for some reason the thought of Simon was not appealing to her. But in the end she did decide to come along, because otherwise she would just stay at home and keep on studying, which was not ever exciting either.

Since she planned on staying with James for the night, and since she did not want him to be too tired again when they were getting into the bed, she decided to dress up a bit. She choose a skirt in a Burberry design and matched that with a tight black sweater with short arms. The outfit was completed by black semitransparent stockings and black boots with a two inch heel. Dressed up like that she walked into the pub together with James. They were running a bit late and so Simon and a few other guys from the team were already there.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

After he had had his post-football practice shower and meal, Simon went to knock on the room next-door to his. The other guys in the block had told him that a pretty girl lived next door to him. He had heard movements a few times but it was late at night but he felt by knocking that he’d only be disturbing her, not creating a good impression. He firstly wanted to see how pretty she is, is she worth all the fuss? He secondly wanted to know his neighbour, especially as he’ll be sharing the same kitchen as her. She didn’t seem to be in. Simon was adamant she was a myth or maybe a ghost.

Simon was glad to have met James. It was early days during his time at university but he had been sceptical about the friendships so far. As he was a fresher, everyone would be talking to everyone, everyone was desperate to make friends. But how many of these friendships were genuine and would stand the test of time? The high proportion of freshers’ were being their ‘withdrawn’ selves – they weren’t showing what they were like yet, they were all being as nice to each other as possible. They didn’t want to offend anyone; they didn’t want to make enemies when they hadn’t built a solid friendship base yet. Simon had a solid group of friends at home who he trusted and shared a lot of commonalities with, but he had doubts about the friends he would make during his 3 years at university. Would he ever be able to trust them as much as those at home? Will he always be comparing them to those at home? James was one of the few guys he had met who seemed more like his friends at home - he was into football, seemed into his education, and just generally seemed well-rounded. And despite him going to public school, he didn't give the impression that he was spoilt or snobbish. So far anyway, Simon didn't know him too well yet, very rarely did their chats extend outside the boundary of football. The only drawback about James was he had a long-term girlfriend which most likely meant that he behaved himself when they were out. Football socials revolved around having ‘fun’ and ‘banter’ and, with a lot of drinking, also hereby came the thrill of chasing after women, which was mostly unsuccessful. But the guys didn’t usually mind about being rejected, it was all part of the fun. Thus, James was missing out on a lot of fun, but Simon respected him to some extent.

"Waheyyyyyyyy Jimmy!" The football guys, in unison, greeted James in a laddish manner. "Don't call me 'Jimmy', stick to 'James', please!" James protested. Simon downed his drink onto the table before exchanging handshakes with James. As the guys occupied James, Simon turned his attentions to Ella. "Hey...How’s it going!?" He asked, briefly scanning her body again, as he had done beneath the tree. He wanted to compliment her on how good she looked but felt this was a no-go area, particularly after how uncomfortable he felt in her presence last time, but also because she was a taken woman.

 

[ella_v]

About ten guys were already sitting at a large table in the back of the pub and were watching the pre-game interviews on a big flat screen TV, which was attached to the wall. A sky reporter was just talking to one of the coaches about their tactics when Ella and James joined the group. To Ella‘s surprise there were no other girls around, which was not really helping her mood. In James‘s old team at home there had usually been a few girls at these team events, but it looked like this was not the case here at the university. The guys greeted each other loudly and Ella noticed even a few whistles and remarks about her appearance. She had seen only a few of the guys before at the training earlier that week and Simon was the only one she knew by name. All this made Ella feel terribly out of place, which was even enhanced by James leaving her alone while greeting all his team mates.

When Simon greeted her, Ella tried to swallow down the uprising bad mood and smiled at him. „Hi Simon, nice to see you. How are you? Looks like I am a bit out of place here.“ She also gave Simon a quick glance up and down his body. He looked even better, being out of his football dress and being freshly showered. „I heard you made the team as well, congratulations for that!“ James came over to join them. „Hey, Simon my man! How are you? Can I get you two something to drink from the bar?“ Ella was happy for James interruption of the very rocky conversation of her and Simon. „Can you get me a Gin and Tonic, please? And i guess Simon would not mind another pint.“ James nodded and made his way to the bar.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

"Yeah, I made the first team along with James...so...I'm really pleased about that!" Before the conversation could continue, James interrupted them to ask for what they wanted to drink. After James had left, Simon greeted other guys who arrived, discussing the tactics, line-ups and making predictions. Simon did not really care who won, he hated both of these teams equally, the overall feeling was that it'd be an Arsenal win. In an ideal situation, one of the teams would lose so he could wind up some of the guys and some of his friends back home. "So erm...Ella...what do you study? Are you living in halls or flat?" Before she could respond, he asked more questions. "Have you joined any university societies/clubs?" It was generic university small-talk which resulted in you knowing a little bit more about the person. The queue at the bar was lengthy so by the time James came back they'd hopefully become more comfortable with each other. "Ha-ha...sorry for asking so many...q-q-questions!" He commented with faint laughter.

Simon was feeling unusually uncomfortable around her for reasons he could not pinpoint exactly. Perhaps it all came down to him wanting to make friends, not enemies. His usual cocky and/or confident self hasn't always won him admirers. Another reason was he had always fantasised about the idea of cheating. It was a fantasy he had acted on a few times. Some of those times, the women in the equation had felt guilty and left their boyfriends for him, but the relationships had fizzled out. Directly linked to that, whenever he liked a girl, he would jump straight into her, without thinking it through. It's one of the reasons why the majority of his relationships hadn't been successes in the slightest. Ella was a taken woman and he had to be careful. He understood that there were fundamentally two types of 'taken' girls: those who were taken and happy (and if any sort of flirting/cheating ensued they'd tell their boyfriends) and those who were taken and unhappy who were the exact opposites. Ella seemed taken and happy. Whatever the case, he realised he was being naive and living in a dream world. James was his team-mate and the best guy he had met at university thus far.

 

[ella_v]

Ella was surprised by all the questions that Simon fired at her, because so far she had thought that he would not even care about her a bit. She pushed a wisp of hair behind her ear and smiled once again, but this time is looked more genuine. „Oh, I don‘t mind your question at all Simon.“ She really didn‘t, since there was no one else to talk to at the moment and since the game, which had started by now, was not really of any interest to her. „I just started to study economics and management, which so far has been a lot of fun. What are you enrolled for?“ She usually was used that people looking of very interested when it came to economics, but Simon did not seem to mind her choice. James, who was studying law would have liked to see her choosing the same classes as himself, but she had been not interested in law at all. „I am living in one of the halls, I don‘t have the money to rent an own flat. But I am lucky my neighbours are pretty quiet and they seem to be clean as well. Before I moved in i was afraid that I might get to live right next to a messy heavy metal fan or a guy with with a very vocal girlfriend.“ She giggled at that though. „But so far it is nice, and in case it gets worse, I can still go to James‘s place, who is lucky to live in his own flat. Where do you life, by the way?“

James was still waiting in the line at the bar. He looked around and saw that Simon and Ella seemed to be in an animated chat. Actually he was thankful that Simon was talking to his girlfriend, since there were no one around that Ella knew. And he had already feared that she might not enjoy the evening and get into a bad mood. Finally he made it to the bar and could place his order.

Ella was getting into a better mood as she continued to answer Simons questions. He seemed to be really interested into her and her answers and was not just asking out of courtesy. „I do visit an aerobics group and i joined a swimming team, but that is just for fun and we only meet once a week. I am not as competitive as you guys are and would not be able to fit all that practice into my time table.“ Simon could easily tell, that Ella was serious about her studies, and did not want to risk anything. „And a girl from my class asked me to join a theatre society with her, but I am not sure if I can make enough room for that in my schedule. But I guess that would be a lot of fun. Do you do anything besides playing football?“

James came back from the bar and handed them their drinks. „Here you go.“ He was about to join their chat, when Liverpool scored the first goal of the night and he went of to the shouting and screaming team mates, who were either celebrating or cursing.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

"I read Geography, it is rather interesting, we’ve coloured a lot of maps in already!” He said sarcastically, followed with laughter. “I’m living in halls, which ihas been decent so far, everyone in the flat seems to get on, but it’s only the kitchen that we share. I've met all my flatmates but one, who lives next door to me. Everyone seems to have met her but me. I think she's a myth...or a ghost...haha."

“I don’t do anything else besides football.” He admitted. “I have joined other societies, like badminton and rowing, but I don’t intend to be a regular for them. I just went a bit mad at the freshers’ fair and signed up to societies I won’t go to!” He shook his head, before smirking. “But once you have football...you don’t need anything else.” Ella had made a more positive impression on him this time around. She didn’t seem spoilt or judgemental, like he had first assumed when they met, quite far from it based on this performance. Her answers to his questions were lengthy, not one-worded, and she hit back with questions of her own. She was regularly smiling and laughing at his jokes – even when they weren’t funny. Simon now assumed that she was interested in him – as a friend, of course. She seemed like a confident, level-headed girl with a keen interest in her studies, but also several interests outside of her studies as well. She and James appeared to be the perfect fit on the outside – both well-rounded individuals with enthusiasm shining through their personalities. It was no surprise that they had lasted more than a year together; the ingredients of the relationship were there for all to see. It was times like these that Simon cursed his luck, he hadn’t found a girl who was compatible enough with him to sustain a long-term relationship, but it was not something he would dwell about. He was still young, after all, and now definitely wasn’t the time for a long-term relationship.

Simon cheered half-heartedly when Liverpool scored the goal. “He took that goal well.” He commented, clapping softly, before taking a gulp of his drink. James was engaged into the football, with him being an Arsenal, and they being behind, he was more focused on the game, desperate for his side to level and hopefully go on to win the game. Not caring that much about the game, Simon turned his attention back to Ella, moving closer to her so he wouldn’t have to disrupt the others who were focused on the game deeply, while trying to keep his voice down. “I don’t think you have told me which halls you’re living at...or if you have I have forgotten...which halls are you at again?”

 

[ella_v]

Ella was not happy about Liverpool‘s lead. She did not care about Arsenal at all, since she did not like the coach. But since James was such a big fan, hence she would have to deal with his bad mood and probably some excessive drinking if the gunners should really loose. At least Simon seemed to be more interested in talking with her than watching that game. That way she did not have to listen to James complaining about the ref and about Liverpool was cheating by their unfair play.

„I assume you are neither an Arsenal or Liverpool fan, or you would be over there with those guys instead of asking me for my address. Don‘t let James or your girlfriend hear that, or they might get angry with you.“ She laughed and took a sip from her drink. She was quiet for a moment before she continued like she had not made that last statement. „I am living in St. Edmund Hall, it is a nice place and not too far from the library. Do you know it?“ Simon seemed a bit surprised and Ella just continued. „Isn‘t the geography institute somewhere in that area as well? I think I once walked by it when i was checking out the neighbourhood.“ In this moment the people in front of the TV got louder and started cheering and shouting. Ella looked past Simon and saw that the ref had just awarded a penalty to Liverpool. „Oh no, James will not like that,“ was Ella mumbling to herself and took a mouthful of her drink.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

Tension. The air was filled with tension as the game clock hit 40 minutes, 5 minutes before half-time. If any goal was to be scored by neither side during the next 5 minutes of play, the team-talks of the managers would be changed completely, as well as the mentality of the players and fans. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” Simon said matter-of-factly. He pondered over why she had assumed he had a girlfriend: Did he give an aura of a man who had a girlfriend? Was he so good-looking that girls had automatically assumed that he had a girlfriend? Or was she just testing the waters? At the same time it also appeared as if she was telling him off for asking her address. Or maybe she has an air of self-importance? It was simply a question about her address, not a question about where her address is so he could give her a visit and fuck her all day long. Simon couldn’t stand girls who thought they were more important than they were. They were definitely not worth the hassle, in his eyes. “Put a girl on a pedestal and he will walk all over you, Si,” his Father had always said to him. “YOU LIVE IN ST EDMUND HALL!? I LIVE THERE!” Simon uttered surprisingly, ignoring the question about the geography institute. “What is your room number?”

Liverpool scored the penalty, which made at least half of the bar cheer wildly, drowning the Ella and Simon’s conversation. James buried his head into his hands as his team-mates teased him. He was the most passionate Liverpool fan, there was no doubt about that.

 

[ella_v]

„Shit!“, was Ella cursing to herself when Gerrard‘s penalty was dancing in the back of the net. She knew right away that James would not be in the mood for anything later on and that she even might be better of considering to sleep at her own place tonight. James did not look to happy as he went of to get another beer from the bar to drown his disappointment.

Turning her attention back to Simon, Ella had been surprised to hear that Simon did not have a girlfriend. She thought that he was looking pretty good and that a guy like that could easily score with the girls. However, the look on his face had changed when she had touched that topic. Something was obviously bothering Simon about her indirect question about his relationship, thus she decided to drop the topic for the moment. But the thoughts about that were blown away when Simon told her that he lived in the same hall as she did. „What you live in St Edmund as well? Why have i never seen you there?“ Ella was not sure about Simon‘s intentions. Was he just making some conversation or was he after her room number for some reason? But he did not look like he was following a devious plan, thus she answered: „I am in room 214, that is on the second floor and on the left hand side. What is your room number?“

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

Half-time soon arrived, prompting applause from the Liverpool fans. "Easy! Easy! Easy!" They chanted joyously. The game was good as over but the magic with football was it wasn’t over ‘til it’s over, or ‘til the fat lady sings, as others liked to say. James remained seated, solemnly discussing the match so far with a fellow Arsenal fan. He had the air of a defeated man, his shoulders lowered, his facial expressions packed with annoyance.

His eyes widened and his mouth half-opened with shock, preceded by a smile of utter disbelief. "It can’t be...Ha-ha...you've got to be kidding me." Ella shook her head at him. "I'm in room 213...which would mean you're next door to me. I think you are lying, though, James obviously told you my room number...it can’t be!" Ella shook her head again. Evidently, it wasn’t impossible that Ella did live next door to him. After all, he didn’t know who the hell lived next door to him. Was she really the mysterious next-door neighbour that everyone had seen but him? “Don’t ask me why you’ve never seen me there...I’m always there. I think it’s you who spends more time...erm...” Simon stammered as he tried to find the right words. “Who spends more time...erm...erm...DOING STUFF...at her boyfriend’s flat than in her own room...studying.” He didn’t know how Ella would react to this, but he was starting to regret his words as soon as they left his mouth.

 

[ella_v]

Ella was just drinking from her Gin Tonic when Simon told her that he was living right next to her. She choked and started to cough from the news and his assumption that she was all the time over at James‘s places getting laid. Her face turned red out of a mixture of lack of air, same, and anger about Simon making such assumptions about her. It was right, she was at his place fairly often, but sadly she did not get as much sex as she wanted over there. However, that was something that she would never reveal to anyone and especially not Simon, who she had just met. Instead she looked at him in a strict way, to show him that she stepped over a line. „I guess it is not really your business where I am when I am not at home.“

Ella realised that her reaction had been a bit harsh, and Simon did not look too happy as well. She did not want him to think bad of her, so she tried to look more friendly again. „It is nice to have you live next door, and it surprises me that James did not find this out earlier. Maybe we should have a coffee together some time. I like that Pret A Manger down the road, and having a sandwich and coffee alone is not as much fun as with company.“

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

He knew he had stepped over the line, his stomach sunk in and he shivered, hoping she would not make a scene and embarrass him in front of everyone, her words followed after time had stood still.“I guess it is not really your business where I am when I am not at home.”

Simon was glad that was all she had to say. It was assertive enough to make him sit upright, to let him know that she doesn’t take any bullshit. The eye contact was awkward momentarily before she smiled and carried on the conversation, as if nothing had happened. Phew! Simon sighed with relief.

"Piet A Manger? That would be cool, as long as James is okay with it." He said, fidgeting with his thumbs, the awkwardness still evident. "But...errr...I'm not really sure...I am busy a lot of the time...I’m not really..erm...err...a sandwich or coffee person." Of course, he was not busy, he was just making excuses. He was a fresher, he was free the majority of the time and this year counted for nothing, all he had to do was pass. He felt embarrassed for stepping over the line, he wanted to avoid her if possible. She was a taken woman who took offence to jokes which went over the line. Perhaps if he made any more ill-fated jokes, she would have no inclination in getting her boyfriend involved. And then there would be trouble. He had managed to get away with it this time, James was hooked on the football, he didn't even come over to speak to them during the 15 minute half-time break.

 

[ella_v]

The second half had just started and every one was back in front of the TV screen, but Simon and Ella, who were still standing at the side talking with each other. Ella had been leaning on one of the tables all the time. She could see the TV screen and the guys when she looked to the side, while Simon was standing with his back to his team mates. Ella‘s feet were hurting from standing all the time in her two inch heel boots, thus she sat down on the table and let her legs dangle. Doing so, her skirt rode up a little on her legs revealing some of her thigh.

She actually felt a little disappointment from the lack of enthusiasm in Simon‘s reply to her offer to have a coffee some time. She did not know why, but she felt drawn to him in some way, even though she had disliked the black guy until about 60 minutes earlier. He looked handsome and he had given up the company of his friends for chatting with her, something that James had not done. She even felt slightly attracted to him, although he was quite different to her usual choice in men, and that was not just the fact that he was black.

Simon‘s polite decline of her invitation had missed his usual confidence and cockiness. Ella picked that up right away, she had learned painfully that people often said one thing and then did exactly the opposite, especially when they thought that they were dealing with a dumb girl. She did not think that Simon perceived her as stupid, but he was hiding his real feelings from her. „Oh, that is too bad. I am sure that James would not mind at all, but he does not own me and I am free to do what i like anyway. And i am sure that you can squeeze a short coffee break somewhere into your busy schedule. So, if you ever change your mind, just come over and knock, that should not be a problem, since you now know where I live.“ She smiled and emptied her glass, while letting Simon think about her reply. She looked over to James and saw that his eyes were still tied to the screen, Arsenal seemed to do a bit better in the second half. Then she leaned closer to Simon and whispered into his ear. „And if you feel uncomfortable because of James, he does not need to know a bit.“

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

Simon couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of Ella’s thigh as her skirt ascended a little on her legs. The bare skin that was revealed was of sheer quality, possessing absolute smoothness that was not manipulated by make-up products or the weather conditions, her natural colour was unmistakable. It was a picturesque sight to behold. It was obviously remarkably different to his skin; he found the differences in the complexion of the skins fascinating. The longer the football game went on, the more he found Ella’s personality attractive. Simon had always dated white girls. The black girls at home were all the same to him; they dressed the same, acted the same, and listened to the same music, and so on. Simon was aware he was generalising, but 99% of the black girls he had met had not shown that they were that different from one another. In his mind, white girls were fun, vibrant, focused and self-assured. Ella seemed fun, vibrant, focused and self-assured. Naturally, there were also other reasons why he found white girls so damn attractive.

Why was she insisting that they met up for a coffee? Simon wondered. In any other situation he would have read a lot into that but he decided not to. It was understandable; most people wanted to know as many people as they could during the opening few weeks. You never know which friend will become useful later on. Hell, she possibly even felt sorry for him, possibly being the only black guy she had seen during her time at university and he was from a completely different part of the country.

“And if you feel uncomfortable because of James, he does not need to know a bit.“

Time stood motionless once again. Was she suggesting that they go behind James’ back? Was she suggesting that whatever they did, it’d be discreet? Was she advocating this discreetness to trap him and then reveal all to her boyfriend? But, if she didn’t mean it sexually, why did she lean into his ear and whisper it oh so softly? Simon had enough experience with woman to know that this was an indicator of sexual attraction. He didn’t mirror her actions nor try to whisper back into her ear. Heaven forbid if James saw that, or any of his team-mates for that matter. Trying it on with a team-mate’s missus? That’s an unwritten rule, you never do that. He did respond with a whisper, however. “Are you suggesting we should do ungodly things, Ella? I’m not a man who messes around, Ella.” He remarked, his eyes fixated into hers. He was testing her once again.

 

[ella_v]

Ella could not stop herself from laughing out loud, so that some of the guys were looking over to Simon and her. „Oh, what are you thinking of me, Simon. I was just interested in getting to know my new neighbour. You are a nice and fun guy and i like chatting with you. I assure you, that I was just thinking of coffee and not ... coffee.“ She was making quotation marks into the air to underline her interpretation of the word coffee some more.

But Simon‘s question had placed an idea into her head that she had not even dared to think about earlier. She and James had been pretty happy over the last year and she would never have cheated on him, but something about Simon was making her head spin and question all the old boundaries. Until now she had never even thought for a moment to consider dating a black man, but obviously Simon had thought about her in some way, or he would never have come to the conclusion that she might have ungodly ideas. She would have to think about this when she was back at home, but for now she would have to play along the lines that were expected of her.

„Sorry, if I got you confused by my behaviour, but I was just trying to be friends with you. I think you would not have rejected my offer if we had just met as next door neighbours. But I guess the fact that you know James and that you two get along very well makes you think that you would not be allowed to meet me in a friendly and neighbourly way. And all i wanted was to offer you a way out of that.... Sorry, if that got out the wrong way.“

She waited for a few seconds to let her message sink in. „But I think, we better drop that topic for now. If you ever change your mind, just come over and knock. I guess we will be living door to door for a while and I intend to be friendly with my neighbours, and that includes you, no matter that you are in one team with James.“ She smiled at Simon and turned back to the TV, just in time to see Liverpool scoring the third goal of the night.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

His confidence was shot down completely. "Haha...it didn't get out the wrong way...I get it...it's cool." He touched his forehead with his fingertips and avoid eye-contact yet again. He was naturally confident, bordering on arrogant at times, which made rejections very difficult to take. He had assumed something was there based on her mannerisms but, in the end, Ella had friend-zoned him and ruled him completely out. He felt stupid. The fact that she laughed at him compounded the misery. He will be living next-door to Ella for the next year at least and he’ll most likely be seeing her around campus for the next 3-4 years. She will tease him relentlessly about it, he feared. He appreciated that she hadn’t embarrassed him in front of everyone but also feared word would get around that “Simon tried it on with Ella but she rejected him flat-out.” Simon knew what girls were like; it’d only take for Ella to tell one person for the rumour to catch fire. Soon enough everyone would know. And there would be serious consequences.

Simon was now adamant that Ella was taken and happy. She would never cheat on James. Never. He was naive to have thought otherwise. If she had been willing it would have said a lot about her and their relationship. That said, the girls he had engaged in cheating with had taken a long time to finally cheat. They weren’t keen on cheating at first, but then the more they became comfortable, the more Simon promoted his discreetness, the more unhappy they became, the more willing they finally became to the idea of cheating. These women had expressed their unhappiness from the outset, though. Ella hadn’t. Simon had pledged to stay single during his time at university but being next-door to someone who is attached would only remind him of what he is missing. Sounds of pleasure will certainly be travelling through, and bouncing off, the wall that acts as a barrier between their rooms. He was a soft sleeper; minimal noise would wake him up. Could he handle the sounds of James and Ella making love in the middle of the night?

It was the 70th minute when Liverpool scored their third goal. The game was surely over now. The best Arsenal could have hoped for was to score a goal or two in order to make the scoreline more respectable, but they didn’t even look like scoring. “Easy! Easy! Easy!” The Liverpool fans chanted once again, this time with more assurance and oomph. James arose from his seat, his shoulders lower than they were at half-time. He made his way to the bar, again.

 

[ella_v]

An awkward silence was building up between Simon and Ella and they just watched the game for a bit. James are looking pretty drunk by now, and he did not show any intentions to cut down his beer consumption. „Oh, poor James, he had been looking forward to this game, and if the keeps drinking like that he will be totally wasted by the time the game is over.“ Ella knew that she did not have any possibility to make him stop getting totally drunk, because in front of his team mates James would not be able to listen to her without looking weak. James was a proud guy, he was rather willing to accept some nasty headache and a night without his girlfriend than looking less manly to his team mates. Ella checked her watch and noticed that she and Simon had not talked for about five whole minutes. „Maybe I should get going. James will probably want to drink some more with you guys when the game is over, and I have no intentions to stay around to watch that.“

Ella jumped down from the table and caught James off on his way back to his seat. After a short discussion and a quick kiss Ella came back over to Simon. She knew that she must have stepped over some line with him, since he did have a less confident aura than before and he had become pretty quiet. She did not want to make anything worse, so she had decided to give Simon some space. „Ok, I will be off. Thanks for the chat, it was really nice to talk to you. And my offer for that coffee is still valid.“ She hugged him and placed a light kiss on his left cheek. „See you!“ Then she turned to the exit of the pub.

 

[PhunkyPhuck]

It was the first time in months that Simon had received a kiss on the cheek and a hug from someone other than his mum. However, all things considered, that hadn't ended well. For an hour they were interacting more than well, the conversation flowing and full of smiles and questions, but after his misinterpretation the conversation was filled with nothing but silence. There is nothing wrong with silence but it was an uncomfortable silence, which made both of them feel uneasy. His middle finger and thumb met in an automatic motion at the centre of his forehead as he engaged in deep thinking over what had gone on. His confidence had taken a huge knock and he was feeling sorry for himself. At the same time, as she watched the slender frame of Ella leave the pub, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her to some degree. She was powerless and claimed defeat in trying to stop James getting wasted or at least having a word. Simon would be in a foul mood himself whenever Man Utd lost, but at least he’d never drink himself into oblivion. That was never the solution. The wonderful and not-so-wonderful thing about football is it made people do crazy things.

Simon took his seat nearer his team-mates as full-time approached but it was difficult to focus due the other thoughts on his mind, not that the football match had any fire anymore. They should have just blown the whistle when Liverpool scored the third goal, he thought. “Guys, I think I better head off, I’m knackered.” He said, just loud enough for the team-mates not deep in conversation or focusing on the match to hear. He shook all their hands before finally getting to James. “Unlucky mate, better luck next time.” He commented as he shook his hand. James mumbled something in return but Simon couldn’t make out what he said.

 

[ella_v]

It was not very far from the pub to St Edmund Hall so that Ella could walk home and did not have to wait for the bus. The evening air was still pretty warm and Ella was not in a hurry to get home. She was thinking about the evening, her chat with Simon, and her relationship with James in the last few weeks. She had expected that university would get them closer together since they would be able to see each other more often and since they did not have to care about their parents or other family members. But she was getting the feeling that James was not interested in deepening their relationship. And tonight was the first time in their relationship that Ella had felt attracted to another guy. She was not sure what about Simon made her feel that way. Maybe it was his well trained body, his confident and cocky behaviour, or the fact that he was black. Probably it was a mixture of all those things, that make her stomach feel like it was filled with butterflies.

She felt bad about her unfaithful thoughts when she finally arrived at home. Ella had been always happy with James, but her lack of sex in the last few days had left her being worked up. She got into her room and locked the door behind her for the night. She was not feeling tired, but striped anyway of of her close down to her panties and placed her cloth in be bathroom. She hated the smell that her cloth would gather in the pubs, thus she wanted to ban them from her room as fast as possible.

Ella was still thinking about Simon when she set down on the bed just in her panties. She had planned on putting on her sleeping shirt and to read until she was tired, but her mind did not stop spinning around the events of the night. Had Simon really been thinking that she was hitting on him? And had he been interested in her or not? She was thinking about all the rumours that people told about black guys and their abilities between the sheets. She did not have any black friends or friends that had dated a black guy, so she had no knowledge if anything of that stuff was true. But all of that thinking made her getting more and more aroused.

Finally she could not resist the temptation and her hand slid down her body into her black panties, passing the small patch of short hair until her fingers reached her wet sex. Ten minutes late she had her panties off and was getting her favourite toy from the bottom drawer of her nightstand to give her the release she needed. Luckily the walls of her room were thick enough to stop any of her soft moans to make it into the neighbouring apartments.