“Relax, B, nobody cares. If they’re not doin’ it in public, they’re doin’ the same thing in private. This is college . . . live a little!”

“I am relaxed, F. I’m the definition of relaxed,” she said through clenched teeth, her body rigid. “Look up the word ‘relaxed’ in the dictionary, and it will say ‘Summers comma Buffy’. There will even be a little picture of me next to it.”

Faith just glanced at the other girl in amusement.

“Keep telling yourself that, blondie.”

She chuckled as Buffy tensed up when she gave her a little spank on her backside.

Buffy finally released her death-grip on Faith’s hand when they entered their dorm room. She sighed heavily as she threw herself down on her bed, burying her face into her pillow.

Faith just laughed at the sight in front of her. She kicked off her boots before plopping down on her back next to Buffy. She crossed her legs at her ankles and rested her arms behind her head, making herself as comfortable as possible on the small bed.

“So, are ya gonna tell me what happened, or are we gonna play Twenty Questions here?

“Mmfphh,” Buffy answered, her words muffled by her pillow.

“Fine then, Twenty Questions it is. Kick your legs if I guess right. Okay, so let’s see here . . . you were in Psych, right?”

Buffy kicked her legs.

“Okay. And it involves Riley, right? Cos he was watchin’ you like a hawk when you walked outta the building.”

Buffy kicked again.

“So . . . okay, I think I’ve almost got it figured out: you’re in class, and you’re daydreamin’ . . .”

Kick.

“. . . most likely about me . . .”

A pause, then a small kick.

Faith smirked. “. . . and you don’t even realize class is over until you see everyone get up and leave . . .”

Kick.

“. . . which gives Riley the perfect opportunity to corner you . . .”

Kick.

“. . . and confess his undying love for wearing women’s underwear?”

She stole a quick glance over at Buffy and noticed that while she didn’t kick, her body shuddered as if she were laughing.

“Okay, so that wasn’t what happened. Let’s see . . . he corners you . . . and asks you out to do something lame, like get coffee?”

Kick.

Faith laughed. “Man, what a fuckin’ loser. Seriously . . . who asks someone out on a date to go for coffee these days?”

Buffy lifted her face from her pillow, which had left a series of funny little imprints on her face.

“Not everyone is as bold as you are, Faith. How many people besides yourself do you know that actually walk up to someone and say, ‘I’m hungry and horny. What say you and me get somethin’ to eat and then take care of that other part at your place?’”

Faith scoffed.

“Whatever, B. Let’s not forget the fact that unlike your boyfriend Riley, I have never been turned down before.”

“Except for by me,” Buffy added.

“Except for by you,” Faith repeated. “But I’m still workin’ on that.” She winked at the other girl.

Buffy just laughed and shook her head.

“Anyways, back to my problem.”

“Right,” Faith said, putting her game face back on. “So, he asks you out for coffee, and you do the smart thing and say fuck no?”

“Basically . . . just less with the ‘fuck’ part. Then he asked me to go bronzing with him, and I told him I had plans. Actually, I told him I was busy for the next week or so.”

Faith looked confused.

“So . . . what then? Beefstick couldn’t take the hint?”

“Well. . . he kinda got the impression that I’m seeing someone.” She nervously lowered her head and began to play with the hem of her shirt.

“Oh yeah? And how’d he come up with that little gem?” Faith asked.

“I, uh . . . well, he said that he hasn’t seen me with anyone besides you, and he kinda guessed that it was, uh, you,” Buffy responded quietly as if she was afraid to say it. She hesitantly looked up to gauge Faith’s reaction.

Faith began to laugh hysterically. She removed her arms from behind her head and brought them in front of her to clutch her sides.

“Man, that’s fuckin’ classic! So, what did you end up tellin’ him?” She asked, not catching on to the obvious.

Buffy began to blush a little.

“Well . . . I didn’t end up telling him anything. I, umm, I kinda let him think he was right.” She looked up at the other girl through her eyelashes, putting on her best innocent look.

An evil-looking grin appeared on Faith’s face.

“Oh ya did, now did ya? Is that some kind of deep, dark desire finally bubbling to the surface? I think your subconscious is trying to tell ya somethin, girlfriend,” she joked.

Buffy pouted.

“Oh, come on, Faith! I didn’t know what else to do. He was making with the moon eyes and that stupid grin, and I could practically feel my IQ dropping just from being near him for so long. It’s just a little white lie. Him thinking that I’m taken and that I’m kinda gay? Not the worst thing that could’ve happened. Maybe he’ll leave me alone now, at least for a while.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that, Twinkie. What are ya gonna do when he sees us out and about together and he doesn’t get a repeat performance of what he saw this afternoon? Or when he sees you or me dancin’ with some random hottie at the Bronze? Seems to me like your little white lie just turned into a big flaming disaster,” Faith teased, jabbing Buffy in the ribs a few times to drive her point home.

Buffy remained quiet for a minute, trying to work out in her head what Faith had just explained to her. Feeling defeated, she once again collapsed face-first onto the bed.

“Shit!” she murmured into her pillow. “Am I cosmically destined to be the tragic girlfriend of that corn-fed meathead?”

Faith couldn’t help but laugh at her. In a last ditch effort to give the girl a little comfort, she ran her hand along Buffy’s back and played with her hair a little before speaking.

“Listen, B. I may have a certain lack of inhibitions and morals, but I don’t lack a heart, especially when it comes to you. If you really want the Beefstick off of your back, I’ll go along with the whole charade for a while.”

Buffy lifted her head from her pillow just enough to look at the other girl.

“What . . . what do you mean? Like, if we’re out and we see him, you’ll pretend to be my girlfriend . . . like hold my hand or kiss me?”

“Yeah, somethin’ like that, B.”

Buffy smiled.

“You’d really do that for me?”

“Yeah, really. I don’t mind . . . you know I’m always tryin’ to kiss you and embarrass you and stuff when we’re out as it is. I love testin’ your limits. Now I’ll have an excuse to do it without you getting all bad-moody at me,” Faith replied.

Really, she wasn’t lying. Since she and Buffy had become roommates, she was always pushing the line a little, trying to see how far she could get Buffy to go before her inhibitions popped back up.

On more than one occasion, she would sneak in small kisses while they were dancing at the Bronze. Sometimes, if Buffy was in a particularly good mood or had had enough to drink she would let Faith get away with it. Heck, once or twice Buffy had even initiated it. But other times she would push Faith away and just say, ‘not here’ or ‘find someone else to take your hornies out on.’

Still, Faith had never tried to hide her feelings toward Buffy. She pretty much made it perfectly clear that if Buffy was willing, then she was more than happy to meet her halfway. She was just waiting for the day when Buffy would finally listen to her inner experimental college-girl voice and just give in to the temptations around her.

Suddenly, Faith’s eyes got wide and a smile crept over her face as if she had realized something.

“Faaaaith?” Buffy asked, a bit uneasy at the look on the brunette’s face. “What’s with the look? You’re scheming, aren’t you? You are, you’re scheming. Should I be scared?”

“B, I think this might be the perfect little intro to that challenge I promised you,” she said with a glint in her eyes.

Buffy rolled her eyes a little.

“I shudder to think. Do I dare ask?”

Faith put on a wicked little smirk and rolled onto her side to face the blonde laying next to her.

“Okay. So, I’m always tellin’ ya that ya need to loosen up a little, shed some of your inhibitions, and to just . . . live, right?”

Buffy just nodded her head, not entirely sure where this was going. Faith continued.

“Right. Now, like I said before, I’m willing to keep up the charade that we’re dating for awhile. But this is where the fun part comes in: we’re not gonna pretend, or fake it. For the next . . . oh, let’s say ten days . . . you’re gonna be my girlfriend. And by girlfriend, I mean the hand-holding, the smooches, the public-displays-of affection, and whatever else we can come up with that couples do.”

Buffy’s eyes went so wide they nearly popped out of her head.

“Faith, I don’t think that I can . . .”

“Exactly!” Faith interrupted. “You don’t think that you can do something like that with me, a girl. You’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do it, and that you don’t want it. But do ya remember that wicked little ability that I rocked your world with this afternoon?”

“Yeahhhhh?” Buffy responded.

“Well, not only am I gonna prove to you that you can do it . . . I’m gonna prove to you that you want it just as much. And even further? I think that after those ten days are up, you’re gonna find that those inhibitions you cling to so dearly have flown out the window. You’re gonna want to continue this thing, and not just to fool the Beefstick.”

Buffy’s surprised look turned to one of amusement, and with a smug tone she asked the other girl, “You’re so sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Abso-fuckin-lutely. You won’t know if you’re coming or going by the time that I’m done with ya. No wait, I take that back. You’ll definitely know if you’re coming, I’ll make damn sure of that,” she stated, waggling her eyebrows.

Buffy put on her best self-righteous smile.

“Alright, Faith. You’re on. You’ve got ten days to make me realize that I want this,” she pointed back and forth between the two of them. “I hope you don’t take defeat too hard, cos this is one challenge that I am not going to lose.”

As a gesture of good sportsmanship, she held out her hand to Faith, offering her a handshake on the deal.