Tyler pulls his motorcycle to a stop in front of my dorm building in the predawn darkness. I reluctantly unwrap my arms from around his leather jacket, slide off the back of his bike, and take off the helmet he gave me to wear. Tyler’s UCLA sweatshirt is mammoth on me. I hug it to me, reveling in the softness of the fleece against my flesh and the deliciousness of Tyler’s scent wafting up from the fabric.

I feel drugged. High on life. High on Tyler. On his skin. His smile. His tongue. His laugh. I feel intoxicated by our night together, especially that incredible third time we had sex tonight. “Now I know what all the fuss is about,” I said to Tyler after that third time, and he laughed.

Tyler pulls off his helmet and kills the motor on his bike. “So I’ll see you tonight around eight?” he says.

“I’ll be there with bells on,” I say. “And hard nipples.”

He laughs again. God, I love his laugh. “You had fun tonight?” he asks.

“Best night ever.”

“Just imagine if I would have fucked you at the party the way I fucked you that third time.”

“I just didn’t know what I didn’t know.”

Tyler bites his lip. “Well, now you know, little freshman.”

“I sure do.” I hold up three fingers. “Three times.”

“I knew you’d be a little vixen once you got comfortable. But I had no idea you’d get that comfortable that fast. That third time, you went full-throttle sex kitten on me. Damn.”

I giggle. “I can’t wait to do it again. I feel addicted.”

We linger for a bit, cooing at each other, giggling, whispering, neither of us wanting this magical night to end. Finally, I pull myself from his soft lips and intoxicating scent and glide on air through the front entrance of my dorm building. Once inside, I forego the elevator in favor of the stairs, just because I’m so happy to be alive. What a night!

I reach the door to my room and open it slowly, not wanting to wake Clarissa. But when I step inside the darkened room, I’m shocked to see what appears to be two intertwined bodies gyrating on Clarissa’s bed.

“Gah!” I blurt, spinning around and bonking my forehead smack into the door. “Ouch! Sorry! Gah.”

“It’s fine, Zooey,” Clarissa says softly behind me. “It’s just Dimitri. We’re fully clothed.”

I turn around. My eyes have adjusted now, and I can plainly see Dimitri and Clarissa lying, clothed, on top of her small bed.

“Hi, Dimitri.”

“Hi,” Dimitri replies sheepishly. “Sorry I’m here. I meant to be gone before you got back. We were watching a movie and I fell asleep.”

“And then you woke up,” Clarissa says suggestively.

“And then I woke up,” Dimitri agrees, his tone equally suggestive. He kisses Clarissa on her cheek and pops up from the bed. “I’ll text you later.”

“You’d better.”

“I take it things went well with Tyler?” Dimitri says to me. “After the way he lost his shit about you today on campus, I figured he’d turn on the charm.”

“It went great.” I exchange a loaded look with Clarissa. “He’s sweet.”

“Yeah? Glad to hear it. He’s got a rep for being a bit of a cocky dick sometimes, actually.”

“Not at all. He’s wonderful. He made me dinner. We did our homework. Made out a little. I’m seeing him again tomorrow night. Well, actually, tonight, I guess. We’re assigned to work on two class projects together, so we’ll be seeing a lot of each other this quarter.”

“Cool.” Dimitri heads toward the door. “If he’s ever a dick to you, though, let me know. I’ll beat him up for you.”

Clarissa and I giggle.

“Oh, hey, Dimitri,” I say. “I almost forgot. Tyler and I have to do some experiments for Social Psych, and we were wondering if you’d help us out?” I explain briefly what we’re planning to do, and both Clarissa and Dimitri say they’d be happy to assist us.

Finally, Dimitri leaves and Clarissa immediately leaps out of her bed, her face aglow.

“Did you and Tyler do it?” she asks.

“Three times.”

Clarissa squeals. “My little girl’s all grown up! And? Was Tyler’s T-shirt truth in advertising?”

“One hundred percent. He was a sex god, Clarissa. I couldn’t have picked a better de-virginizer if I searched the world over.” I sigh happily. “Tonight was sheer perfection.”

We plop ourselves down onto Clarissa’s bed, and I proceed to regale her with details of the night, and she oohs and aahs and squeals enthusiastically throughout my story. When I’m done talking, Clarissa tells me about how she and Dimitri hooked up tonight to “watch a movie”…and how midway through the opening credits that nerd shocked her by taking her into his arms and kissing the heck out of her.

“So are the rumors about nerds true?” I ask.

“I don’t know yet,” Clarissa says. “We just made out. But it was really hot and heavy. I’ve got high hopes it’s going to be damned good when it happens.”

“Oh, Dimitri’s been promoted from an ‘if’ to a ‘when’?”

“Definitely. But enough about me. I want to hear more about you and Tyler. Do you truly think you can handle sleeping with him for five whole weeks?”

“Well, if you mean will I die of sheer pleasure after five weeks with him, that’s a very real possibility.”

“No, I mean do you think you’ll be able to handle being his friend and nothing more after the five weeks are up?”

“Oh, that.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “Yeah, I think… Hmm.” I twist my lips, deep in thought. “Can I ask you something, Clarissa? When you had all that mind-blowing sex with that basketball player douchebag in high school, was there ever a moment when you felt like maybe you were falling for him? Not all the time, just when you were in the midst of pure ecstasy and—”

“No.”

“Hang on. I mean, not in real life, but when you were in the throes of ecstasy, and your toes were curling, and his voice was in your ear, and he smelled so good, and everything he did turned you on, did you ever think—”

“No. Not once, Zooey. Never did I ever think, even for a nanosecond, I might be falling for the douchebag.”

My stomach drops into my toes. “Oh.”

“You think you’re falling for Tyler?”

I shake my head. But then slowly nod. “Maybe?” I sigh. “I think if I’m not careful here, I’m in serious danger of turning into a Stage Five Clinger on him. Like, seriously.”

Clarissa twists her mouth. “Then I guess you’d better be careful, huh?”

I flap my lips together. “Crap.”