Alchemy and Algebra

Chapter 12

"Wow, Kennedy. This is a side of you I've never seen before. I honestly didn't know you had a side like this."

"Like what?" Kennedy asked, kicking her bathrobe out of the way as she walked to the bed.

"It's a little..." Charlie circled his hand in the air as he searched for the word, "It's a complete mess."

Kennedy glanced around her room. It was so not messy. It was a little cluttered, that was all. "Dorm rooms are tiny. I have a lot of stuff ti fit in here. Physics says it can't all go in the closet."

She glanced around the room, imagining how it would look to someone who had never seen it before.

Thesis notes were stuck all over her walls with that removable blue putty stuff. Her desk was piled high with notebooks, photocopies, print-outs, and other papers. Yes, there were piles of books on the floor, but her bookshelf was completely full. She'd had to give up an entire shelf of space for her little stereo, plus a few framed photos and the odd memento. Okay, her entire childhood collection of Beanie Babies. And maybe she hadn't kept up with putting her laundry in the hamper. Or putting away the clean laundry. But she knew which was which; the clean clothes were folded.

"How do you find anything in here?" Charlie asked.

He toyed with a bottle of nail polish that had been sitting on one of Kennedy's piles, then put it down on another.

"I know exactly where everything is. As long as no-one hides it on me." She snatched up the small pink bottle and returned it to its original spot. "I file using the entropy system. Stuff I use most naturally ends up at the top of the pile. It's quite efficient, actually."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I was surprised, is all."

"Disappointed, you mean?"

If the state of her room was such a shock, he must not have thought her capable of disorder. Maybe he was now thinking that she was like those vain girls who are all shiny veneer and no real substance, barely able to take care of themselves.

Charlie moved towards Kennedy, getting his foot caught in the string of her sleep pants, then shaking it free and embracing her. "I always hoped you had a wild, carefree side. I saw hints of it. All this," he gestured to their surroundings, "Is proof."

"You really don't mind?"

"That there's a part of you that embraces chaos, thrives in it? Are you kidding? I'm digging this."

Kennedy pressed her body flush against Charlie's. "Yeah? How much do you like it?"

He grabbed her butt and pulled her hips tight against him, then swayed back and forth with her. He led her in a dance to music she couldn't hear, but she could feel every beat of the heavy rhythm. She could soon feel exactly how much he liked it pressed against her belly. He dipped his head and brushed his soft lips against her cheek, exciting her skin in a kissless caress that moved to her jaw, her neck, and then her ear.

"Do that again," he murmured.

"Hmm?"

"That little moan you make when I suck your earlobe. I want to hear it again."

Kennedy hadn't realized she'd made a noise. "I'll do my part if you'll do yours."

Charlie gave her a wicked grin and bent his head to her other ear, and took a nipple between his fingers at the same moment his hot mouth touched her earlobe. Kennedy gave an unscheduled gasp of pleasure, but couldn't manage to moan, knowing that Charlie was listening.