Randall."

"Randall?" E-Beth immediately dragged her chair closer to us. "Who's

RANDALL?" she asked in her intrigued-rumor-mill voice.

“Just a guy..." Amber drawled. "I've seen him a couple of times."

“He try to grab your tits every time he sees you?" I asked while obviously ogling Amber's chest.

"No!!!" Amber retorted. "Well, maybe... But he's discreet about it. I think he's the kind of guy who'd even take me to the museum..."

"Wow," E-Beth whistled. "Sounds Like a keeper."

“Well, I told him to meet me at the dining hall for dinner. I need to get the friend approvals.”

“Hmm..." E-Beth wondered. Amber had dated a few guys over the course of the year, but this was the first one she wanted us to meet. "The dining hall? Thought you didn't eat there..."

“Yeah, well... the food's not THAT bad..."

Half-an-hour later, Kevin, Jen, E-Beth, and I joined with two of

Amber's friends in the dorm dining hall. My gang and Amber's remaining friends were on good terms with each other, and we all wanted to meet the new guy. For a few minutes, speculation about ‘Randall’ dominated the table conversation.

And then the new couple made their appearance. They were both carrying their food trays and space was made to let them join. By coincidence,

Amber was next to one of her friends and Randall was next to me as they sat across from each other.

Amber made the introductions, her eyes bright with eagerness. Randall politely said hello to the girls and reached his hand out to shake with

Kevin and me.

I had to admit, the guy passed with flying colors. He was outgoing, charming, and pretty damn handsome. He even had the occasional snooty comment about his dad's yacht or how good he was at golf without quite sounding Like a Jackson- type of asshole. Those elements might have turned off a girl like E-Beth, but I honestly thought he fit right into

Amber's ‘Heights’ world.

By the end of dinner, everyone was relaxed and completely oblivious to the exams starting tomorrow. Unfortunately, Jen brought the subject up.

“Well, I've got a 9am final tomorrow. We'd better get going." She turned to Kevin and the two of them got up.

“Later dudes..." Kevin flashed his hang-loose sign and they walked away. That pretty much ended the evening as everyone got up and started heading off.

E-Beth and I waited outside the dining hall as everyone said their goodbyes. Amber even leaned up and kissed Randall on the cheek before hurrying to catch up to us.

I tried not to notice Amber's nipples poking hard through her shirt.

Five minutes later, we were back in the girls’ dorm room and trying in vain to get back into study mode. I felt pretty confident going into the Chem final, but I figured it was best that I keep reviewing the material.

Unfortunately, Amber was now almost useless. She Lifelessly Looked over her textbook while staring off into space, clearly daydreaming. Her nipples were still hard as well. So when I asked her a question about our shared classwork, it took her a few seconds to snap back to reality and blindly ask, "What?"