Flashlight Study Party! (Open for 1 other)

[ZACK CHARMING]

Location: Austin Research Center at Barrie University


Multivariable Calculus homework was quite an alluring concept. By which Zack Charming meant that the assignment he’d been assigned today was completely and utterly brash by even the standards of, say, lampposts and rhododendron plants. Zack had literally spent two and six sevenths seconds glancing at this page of partitioned intervals and hyperrectangular domains before knowing for certain the criteria and solutions to each of the first twenty-six problem sets. Honestly. Had these utterly maladroit faculty members ever in their lives been acquainted with the concept of “challenging coursework”? It certainly did not appear as such from this problem set.

“If D is normal with respect to the y-axis and f:DR is a continuous function, then a(y) and B(y) defined on the interval (a, b), are the two functions that determine D…mhmmm…” Zack muttered the words aloud to himself as he scrawled across the paper. There was literally nothing in the world that could make this situation exciting, at the moment. Maybe he should just return to his dorm…

And then the lights went out.

For a minute, Zack was sitting in complete darkness, conscious of the fact that he was alone in the very back of the Reference Center. For a minute he stared into the darkness and silence, allowing his vision to adjust and his pupils to dilate appropriately. Then the yelling began.

“Everybody remain calm!” shouted the librarian from her desk at the front, desperately trying to maintain order. But it was in vain. Girls began to scream from across the room, high-pitched squeals that made Zack’s ears ache. Someone began to cry in the Computer section concerning a lost paper or something, while a man in the reference section just ahead of him swore as he walked straight into a wall. Then came the pounding of feet upon the floor, a stampede towards the door.

In the darkness, Zack Charming rifled through his backpack, pulling out a flashlight. He’d been planning on using this to find his way back to his dorm later that night, but it would do wondrously at present. He propped the flashlight on the table beside his notebook and continued his homework, wondering if any of his classmates would have the incredible sagacity to remain here, in the peaceful silence of the empty research center.

[MELODY JAMES]

Melody was lonely as hell. Her shift at Sahara wasn’t until tomorrow. Sitting the library, she was supposed to be studying art history but the temptation of many hot nerds was distracting her. And they just keep coming in. She found her self in a fantasy land where they were all hers and—Okay she needed to wake up. Maybe if she took a few home and had her fix, she’d be back to normal in time to finish her homework and go to work.

There was one in particular she had her eye on. He looked about her age with amazing hair and a cute smile. He kept talking to himself back in the corner of the room. He was probably doing his Thermodynamics homework or something. She appreciated math as much as the next nerd but if he could just look up at her!

Melody thought about a plan to get him away from his work and back to her dorm for the night. Everything was possible especially with her sexy ass. The come hither approach was not going to work on this one. She’d have to go to him. She looked down at her outfit and decided it would do. Right when she was about to get up the power went out. She rolled her eyes when the girls screamed and walked in her heels torwards the flashlight.

She decided to start with a small chat and move from there. He looked even cuter close up! She leaned down to look at his homework and asked, “Which professor do you have?” First she’d see his reaction and move from there. The whole library seemed suddenly get silent after everyone piled out. Melody wasn’t even sure the librarian was still in here. Perfect.

outfit: cheetah!

[ZACK CHARMING]

Zack squinted into the dim light of his flashlight, gritting his teeth. Double integrals and computational volumes. Did these teachers realize that they were teaching undergraduates at one of the nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, not children in a preschool? Zack could integrate these multivariable functions in his head more expeditiously than, he assumed, this commiserable excuse for a mathematics professor could calculate his multiplication tables. The curriculum this year was sure to be quite elementary if Zack’s mathematics professors continued to display such nescient tactics.

“Which professor do you have?”

Zack looked up, absorbing and processing the voice’s face in less than a millionth of a second. Brown hair. Rather tantalizing, azure eyes paired with a skirt and shirt wound tenaciously around her body. And that voice. Something about that voice. He recognized it. Where had he heard it before?

”Michaelson, why?” he replied, looking back at his book and trying not to sound overly partisan. After all, he and Charley were…well…there was something to be said for things like that, at any rate.


Outfit

[MELODY JAMES]

The boy looked up and Melody noticed he had gorgeous brown eyes. She glanced at his homework and recognized multivariable calc. She took that freshman year before her fascination for the human brain came about. Now she was studying anatomy and psychology. Art too, but that was easy.

”Michaelson, why?”

Melody noticed the way the boy looked away from her. He wasn’t the shy type it seemed so there was the second option: he wasn’t interested in her or girls at all. There were a few guys who fell under the spell of Love and gave their hearts to some girl. So all Melody would have was the shell leftover. She wasn’t much for shells but the guy seemed interesting enough for her to keep talking.

“Ahhh, Rick. I had him as a freshman. He taught Calculus. It’s pretty easy to get an A in his class. Just pass the tests and offer to grade his papers. Then you’re immune to the grading curve,” she advised. She had coffee with Professor Michaelson once. For a math professor in his mid-thirties he sure did know how to chat up a lady. Though Melody had stop seeing him since she saw a picture of his wife hanging out of his wallet.

“Although, you seem to have it down,” Melody said leaning over to look at his work. “You probably set the curve in his class hmm?” she asked stroking his ego. If there’s one thing boys like best, it’s a good stroking.

[ZACK CHARMING]

Zack’s eyes probed the girl before him, swiveling up and down and side to side across her delineation. Interesting indeed, he thought to himself. This young woman-Zack placed her in her early twenties, if that, more years his elder than she ever needed to know-seemed authoritative, inserting credence into each and every word that she spoke. Her voice was clear and clean, every syllable carefully chosen. She was playing upon him, Zack knew. But he certainly didn’t mind. He couldn’t have minded less if she’d just offered him free tuition at Harvard.

And Charley…well…Charley.


But this girl had chosen to stay behind in a college computer lab, on a very dark night, in the midst of a torrential thunderstorm, with the power gone. Perhaps she’d be worth a reciprocal action or two.

“Ahhh, Rick. I had him as a freshman. He taught Calculus. It’s pretty easy to get an A in his class. Just pass the tests and offer to grade his papers. Then you’re immune to the grading curve.”

"Rick indeed.” Aha, so she’d experienced the abominate phenomenon known only as Richard Michaelson. “I’m sure I’d have to make a valiant attempt to achieve anything less than a One Hundred in his class. And even then, the venture would probably be doomed.” He gave what appeared to be a sheepish shrug, though in reality it was carefully calculated to elicit the most desirable response from his current compatriot. ”Grading his papers, eh?” What a terrifically clinquant idea, something he’d never even considered. He was liking this girl more and more with each passing sentence. ”Indeed. I’ll try that, if I ever find myself with a shortage of points in my Grade Point Average.” He was fairly certain that he wouldn’t.


“Although, you seem to have it down,” Melody said leaning over to look at his work. “You probably set the curve in his class hmm?”

”Something to that effect.” He shrugged again, flipping the page in his book. ”Wouldn’t say it’s one of the more stimulating classes of my college career.”

”So what brings you to the computer lab in the middle of a blackout?” he asked, positioning the flashlight vertically so that it shone eerily upon his face. ”Wanna hear a ghost story? I’ve got plethoras.”

[MELODY JAMES]

Melody, even in the darkness, knew she was being sized up. The boy was looking at her all over thinking that she couldn’t see him. Not that she really minded. The way she made money is by having men and women come and stare at her and her gorgeous body. She stood up and pulled out a chair for herself. The sound echoed throughout the library and made Melody realize they actually were alone.

"Rick indeed. I’m sure I’d have to make a valiant attempt to achieve anything less than a One Hundred in his class. And even then, the venture would probably be doomed.”

Melody laughed. “I still got a ninety-nine even after helping him out and everything. When I asked him why he said, ‘Nobody’s perfect, Mel. Not even you.’ It’s pretty funny when I think of it now.” Melody chuckled a little bit more and sighed.

”Something to that effect. Wouldn’t say it’s one of the more stimulating classes of my college career.”

“Eh, it is pretty simple stuff. I usually did all my other classes homework during his lecture,” Melody agreed thinking back. Freshman year she spent all of her free time partying.

”So what brings you to the computer lab in the middle of a blackout? Wanna hear a ghost story? I’ve got plethoras.”

“Art history research. The blackout was just my saving grace,” Melody said. She smirked when the kid did the whole scary flashlight face trick. He was pretty amusing if not totally oblivious to her come-ons. “I could stand a few while I’m stuck here. I’m Melody by the by. What would your name be?” She wasn’t really sure why she wanted to stay. Her good self-control was the only thing that was keeping her from reaching over the table and making out with the guy. She was really hoping to get laid tonight. Although she also liked the way he talked. It suited him in the most unusual fashion. So that was it. Half of her wanted him to shut up so she could kiss him already and the other half—the winning half—was very curious about his ghost stories.

[ZACK CHARMING]

Zack was impressed with this girl. He really, really was. The way she held herself, presenting her words with an eloquent, almost musical manner, was at a level that Zack couldn’t help but envy. Convivial and gregarious endeavors had always been Zack’s greatest impediments in life, as he’d always found the others with whom he shared this planet irritatingly vacuous at best. But this woman-Melody-seemed to be at ease with it all: she’d sliced through his flagrantly peremptory demeanor without a second thought. If she wasn’t what others would dub a “people person”, she was certainly adept at masking that fact. It was something Zack could learn from, assuredly. Something to observe and to emulate.

An observation. As in a science experiment. Question, hypothesis, performance, observation, conclusion, application. Simple.

“I still got a ninety-nine even after helping him out and everything. When I asked him why he said, ‘Nobody’s perfect, Mel. Not even you.’ It’s pretty funny when I think of it now.”

Zack grimaced, sympathizing, for once. ”Ninety nine?” He whistled. What an abomidable prognosis: to be less than an inch from perfection, but further away than any distance one could ever hope to overcome. ”I know the feeling. An impetus to strive for more though, eh?” He turned a page in his book, though he’d long ago lost interest in the purportless dribble scattered across the page.

“Eh, it is pretty simple stuff. I usually did all my other classes homework during his lecture.”

”Likewise.” Zack nodded. ”Though I’ve learned next to nothing in his impecunious excuse for a class, I cannot deny that it has been an invaluable asset in terms of my Statistical Methods homework. I’m a mathematics major, so as you can imagine, an hour of uneventful time has done wonders for my grade.” He drummed his fingers on the table, visualizing the empty homework bag that was ostensibly sitting in his bed back at his dorm. It was a wonderful feeling, really, the knowledge that your schedule was devoid of any and all homework for the rest of the day.

“Art history research. The blackout was just my saving grace.”

”Art history. Interesting.” It wasn’t, particularly, but Zack had been enjoying this interaction thusfar. ”I’m getting a head start on my Multivariable Calculus set, in fact.” He glanced down at the page of numerals sprawled before him. ”Though really, there’s no need. The processes we’re learning are so facile, I wouldn’t be surprised if the curriculum was lifted straight from a second-grade textbook.” He rolled his eyes, indicating the page before him. ”We’re studying volume integrals in cylindrical coordinates. As simple as mathematical processes can get.”

“I could stand a few while I’m stuck here. I’m Melody by the by. What would your name be?”

”Zack Charming. Sophomore here at this fine institution, contrary to what my age may indicate.” He smiled coyly, trying to come up with a scary story on the spot. Creativity was not his strong suit, but he could certainly remember one that an idiot in his Comparative Philosophy class had told him the other day.

”Well,” he began, cracking his knuckles. ”Legend has it that once, in this very library, on a night not unlike the one before us…” He paused for effect here, winking cheerily as he glanced around the pitch-dark chamber. ”A group of Juniors was watching a movie on a laptop. Suddenly, the screen disappeared and the face of a teenage girl appeared, blood dripping from her empty eye sockets.” He made blood-y motions with his fingers. ”The four of them screamed and shut the laptop, but decided it was nothing. They put the laptop away and began to read a magazine…” He paused again, raising his eyebrows. ”Well? Shall I continue?”

[MELODY JAMES]

Usually Melody would enjoy small chat with a fellow intelligent pupil but with this man’s looks she couldn’t help but want to just stop talking and have some fun. Her self-control was waning in the best worst way. Did she mention she was lonely? She nodded her head attentively but didn’t really hear a word he was saying up to his name.

”Zack Charming. Sophomore here at this fine institution, contrary to what my age may indicate.”

“Charming, indeed,” Melody said with a lustful smile. She licked her lips and let him continue his chatter. She hoped that eventually he would get it. If not she might have to go for a more direct approach.

”Well, Legend has it that once, in this very library, on a night not unlike the one before us…A group of Juniors was watching a movie on a laptop. Suddenly, the screen disappeared and the face of a teenage girl appeared, blood dripping from her empty eye sockets. The four of them screamed and shut the laptop, but decided it was nothing. They put the laptop away and began to read a magazine…”

Melody tensed up a little and looked around the room. She knew it was all a bunch of fun but she wanted Zack to think he was getting to her. She did enjoy a good story too. He was wonderful with telling it but Melody didn’t get spooked easily. After a year of dancing around shady figures she really didn’t think too much of it. Yet she had to keep up the act for this handsome Mr. Charming.

“Well? Shall I continue?”

She nodded her head but got up and sat down next to him. “May I make a suggestion?” She leaned over and clicked his flashlight off. Leaning in really close to him she whispered in his ear, “Scary stories are better in the dark.” She then scooted back and laughed. She always heard people comment on her laugh. Even as a child they called it--what was it? Refreshing? Angelic? It was just flattery of course but what girl didn’t mind a little bit of that.

With him so close, Melody could easily silence his lovely story with a kiss. Though, like she said before, Melody liked his voice and wouldn’t mind hearing more of it. As long as he could talk to her like that in bed also.

notes: makes me wanna sing "YOU LOOK BETTER WITH THE LIGHTS OFF, BETTER WITH THE LIGHTS OFF OOOOO"

[ZACK CHARMING]

Zack Charming was already feeling the exhilarating thrill of adventure wash over him. He was currently in the Barrie University Computer Lab with a very attractive college-aged woman. Yes, there was Charley Harper, eating away at the back of his mind like some crestfallen conscience. But Charley Harper was across the city at a high school that was also, presumably, without power. She would never know.

And it wasn’t like there was any sort of contractual obligation suspended between the two of them. Hell, Zack could amalgamate himself with any female specimen he desired. Charley Harper was nothing to him. Right?

Right. Of course. It had only been a single kiss. She'd probably forgotten it already. Right?

“Charming, indeed.”

”Aren’t I though?” He raised an eyebrow, his signature sly grin sidling across his face. ”Luscious? Ambrosial? Beguiling?” His teeth glimmered. ”I cannot deny.”

“May I make a suggestion?” She leaned over and clicked his flashlight off. Leaning in really close to him she whispered in his ear, “Scary stories are better in the dark.”

”Mmmm.” Zack shrugged in the pitch darkness, feeling a tickle of discomfort wash through him and wondering what it was about the nebulous milieu that unnerved him so. It was probably the lack of certainty he’d always abhorred. ”Lots of things are better in the dark though, aren’t they?” He almost felt strangled from the tight hold he had on his vocabulary filter: a slip of the wrong word, and his libidinous demeanor would be utterly thrown off.

He cleared his throat and continued the story. ”Well, suddenly they began to hear a noise emanating from the closed laptop. It was quite…mac…od…ugly,” he finished, cursing himself for not having used these past seventeen years to become adequately proficient in a simpleton’s vocabulary. ”They tried to ignore it and continued to read their magazines, when suddenly…”

Her lips were inordinately close to his. He could smell her lipstick’s slight tinge upon the air. But Charley Harper. You cannot simply…

He leaned forward and gently kissed her.

[MELODY JAMES]

”Aren’t I though? Luscious? Ambrosial? Beguiling?” His teeth glimmered. ”I cannot deny.”

A girly giggle escaped from Melody’s lips. He was right but she decided not to say anything because at that moment she was certain she had him. There was a look of excitement in his eyes that she could recognize from a mile away.

”Mmmm. Lots of things are better in the dark though, aren’t they?”

“Why yes,” she said in an alluring tone. “I can think of certain activities that a fun in the dark.” She smiled knowing he would get her drift. He was a teenage boy after all. She was sure he would soon abandon this run around and give in with pleasure. The feel off the night had her feeling a bit more patient than usual. Her work wouldn’t be happening which meant no one to snag. Also, this Zack Charming seemed like a better man than any of them. Not that she would want anymore than a few romantic nights but he could definitely make them interesting.

“Well, suddenly they began to hear a noise emanating from the closed laptop. It was quite…mac…od…ugly,”

His struggle for would made her snicker. He really was trying to lower his intelligence for her. Melody learned how to turn that off and on a long time ago. It’s surprising how many men get turned off by her thoughts of the creation of the universe. Although it really wasn’t. Cavemen don’t like to be outsmarted. This Zack was obviously not like them but still accommodating to the less intelligent people around him. He was a rare breed for sure. Though this also made him easier to woe.

“They tried to ignore it and continued to read their magazines, when suddenly…”

A slight pause and then a small kiss. It was romantic really. She kissed him back slowly and pulled away with a smile. “Why Mr. Charming. I wasn’t expecting this!” she said in an innocent voice. Then another giggle escaped her and she kissed him again. She could see he was a bit uncertain but Melody could erase that very quickly.

[ZACK CHARMING]

Are Charley and I a thing?

The question ran through Zack’s head as he brushed his fingers against this woman…what the hell was her name again? Melody. Melody’s face. And what, particularly, did the designation “thing” indicate anyway? Did that bar one from cavorting of any sort with miscellaneous parties? The concept was simply foreign to Zack Charming, who but a few weeks ago had known about as much about the apprehension of the human female as he knew about the vice-president of Iceland. There must have been some sort of enchiridion for this sort of thing. There must be a concrete answer. After all, it was two concrete questions. Were he and Charley Harper a thing? And to what extent was it an iniquity to interact with other women when one was part of such a “thing”? No question had no answer. Zack simply needed to find this particular answer.

“Why yes,” she said in an alluring tone. “I can think of certain activities that a fun in the dark.”

”Mmm. Astute observation indeed.” Zack winked. ”But you know what else?” He felt a jolt of ambivalence in his gut. What if they were, in fact, a thing? What if he were about to do something completely and utterly wrong. No, no, of course he wasn’t. He was fine. And no matter what, it wasn’t as if Charley Harper was going to find out about this, was it?

No. Of course she wasn’t. She didn’t even attend this institution: she attended a school on 68th Street, he a university across the island on 61st. And the power was out in both locations. She would never know. Nobody would ever have to know. No strings attached. Wasn’t that what they said in movies?

”I can think of a certain special activity that doesn’t require caparison of any sort.” He winked again, laughing slightly and feeling her lips gently against his. Feeing the air in the room heat up around him, he pulled her closer and kissed her harder, harder, harder. ”And they were never…seen…again…” he whispered, reaching over to switch the flashlight off.

[MELODY JAMES]

Melody could feel the indecision fall away from his face. She smiled like a cay who had finally caught her mouse. He was a very handsome mouse. She brushed her fingers across his beautiful face and casually wondered why anyone would think men of intelligence were ugly.

”I can think of a certain special activity that doesn’t require caparison of any sort.”

“I think we’re on the same page now,” she remarked with a lustful glint in her eyes. She loved the way he kissed so romantic and sweet. She wanted him closer and he obeyed quite well. She pulled away for a short few seconds to sit onto the table. Though she’d probably performed the act many times in her twenty-two years of living, Melody could help but love the feeling of their fast heartbeats and needy fingers as they undressed each other. The adrenaline rush of the moment was better than any roller coaster.

”And they were never…seen…again…”

A full-on laugh escaped Melody’s mouth as the light clicked off. She found his lips easily and kissed him harder with still a faint smile. There was nothing more fun than free love.

--------

When her breathing finally went steady, Melody sat up and looked around. “Hm, the lights are still out,” she thought a loud. Her faith in the electric company wasn’t really that high but one thing Melody did know was that, time could fly when having too much fun. It could have been hours past the time she entered the library. She didn’t bother looking at her phone but instead she looked at the face of her lover. He looked positively worn out. She giggled a bit and smiled.

“We probably should get out of here before you fall asleep,” she said. She leaned down and kissed his cheek softly and asked, “Your place or mine, charming?”

Not waiting for an answer, she sat back up and hopped of the table. Melody smoothed down her hair and looked around again. Now where was her skirt?

notes;; this is terrible. my apologies ;-;

[ZACK CHARMING]

And they were never seen again.

Zack Charming couldn’t help but acquaint this entire unfortunate affair with the setting of one of his self-contrived horror contes. After all, this was clearly a dark and very stormy night. The darkest and the stormiest he’d ever seen in his life, in fact. And this was where things always happened in the stories, in the darkness of buildings like this library, with their nooks and crannies and shadows that flitted about corners like bats or black-clad criminals. Here, swathed in complete and utter ambiguity, was where the literary monsters invariably arose.

And this particular horror story, the chronicle of Zack Charming and Melody James, was certainly no exception to the convention, for if there were a monster anywhere out in the great citadel of New York, New York tonight, it was here, in the Austen Research Center. Zack could feel it, the way he felt an answer to a mathematical question growing closer and closer. But was the monster within him, or was it this young woman, whose allure shone through like rays of sun even when buried in the depths of the night? Or was the monster more of a recondite monster, the energy that flowed between them, strong yet hesitant, like an Olympic swimmer testing the waters with an indomitable yet diffident toe, or was it this feeling in the back of his head, this feeling of an erroneous aspect to this affair, of something fallacious, beguiling about his actions tonight?

Could it be that he’d left the true monster some five miles downtown, in a musty debate classroom and desks and chairs that reeked of lassitude? Could it have stirred between them as their lips touched, roared as their tongues rolled across each other and their hands clenched uncomfortably, unsure of where to perch themselves? Could it be that it had trailed behind him as he’d walked, then jogged, then run down the dark hallway of doors and doors and doors and not a single exit, pupils straining like bicep muscles for a glint of her blond hair and grasping not a single one?

No. Of course not. What an absolutely gelastic notion.

“I think we’re on the same page now.”

He felt his fingers fly down the buttons on her shirt, like ballerinas with minds of their own. ”Mmmm. And whatever’s given you that idea?” But he was cut off by her lips, intercepting his words like a baseball glove on a hurtling ball, and as he was sucked into her magnetic kiss again, his bare skin was bombarded first by the coldness of the air around them, then by the warmth of her body, enfolding him like a blanket.
--------

“Hm, the lights are still out.”

Her sharp voice jerked him from his state of requiescence. ”Hmmm, are they?” he muttered, scolding himself inwardly an instant later. How perfectly articulate of you, Zackery.


“We probably should get out of here before you fall asleep,” she said. She leaned down and kissed his cheek softly and asked, “Your place or mine, charming?”

Zack excogitated for less than a second. ”Yours,” he murmured somnolently, groaning as he rose. ”If you’ll have me. Mine will be a bit…cramped, if you know what I mean,” he added, visualizing his diminutive excuse for a dormitory. He ran a hand over his face, exfoliating a staggering amount of diaphoresis. ”And luckily,” he added, watching her scan the room with his well-adjusted eyes, ”I doubt you’ll be needing your clothing there either. Blackouts tend to be rather convenient in that regard.” He winked soporifically, sliding himself off the table and extending a hand to assist her in doing the same.

[MELODY JAMES]

She took his hand and smiled looking around. What a gentleman. Chivalry was indeed still alive and she loved it.

“I see,” she said smoothing down her hair. She took a moment to wonder where he lived. A dorm obviously. Ugh, her days in the dorms were thankfully over. The astounding lack of activity in them bored Melody to tears to say the least. Even her roommate was almost put off by her nightly rituals. Oh well, an apartment was much nicer even if it did take a lot of saving up to get. The warm showers were a handsome reward for the extra utility bill. She could use one of those right now. The cold was seeping in from the walls of the library.

“It’s not far of a walk from here,” she added dressing slowly. Clothes were annoyingly necessary in public. “So you’ll only have to be patient for a short while,” she said with a smirk. The promise of more made her heart speed up. Hopefully he’d hold true to his statement. Though if she knew anything about teenage boys, it was that their libido was unmatched by even the sexiest of playboys. Her night was not in the slightest bit over.

She handed him his shirt and rubbed her arms. The tight fitting fabric was thin and did nothing for her predicament. Though again, necessary. She preferred the well proven method of body contact to get warm on chilly winter nights. “Follow me,” she said leading him out into the street. It was eerily quiet for a night in New York. Melody stuck close to Zack as they walked back to her apartment. She hummed softly to herself and opened the door. “Welcome to my humble abode,” she said tossing her purse on the couch. “Would you like a drink?” The temperature hardly varied from that of the outside but her skin still itched to be free of the clothing.