Winners Don't Pretend to Use

Wednesday September 6th

Andy had decided not to bother with any of his classes that week, apart from the one he needed to go to in order to meet Sara. They were only introductory lessons, and once was enough to get all the information he needed out of any of them. To put it bluntly, anything he did this week that didn't have the potential to eventually lead to sex was time wasted - as fun as this time loop might be for a while, he didn't want to be stuck in it forever.

To that end. Andy found himself approaching Kara when he spotted her trying to load some heavy boxes into her vehicle in the car park next to a lecture hall he should have been in. Going after a hot professor would feel extremely ambitious for any student, let alone one as sexually inexperienced as Andy, but he couldn't see the harm in trying. The worst that could happen was nothing, which would be exactly the same result as if he ignored her plight. Besides, this was surely the exact kind of unlikely sexual conquest that infinite time loops were designed for.

"Here let me help you with that"

"Oh, thank you. What a gentleman!"

Kara ed one of the boxes to Andy, who immediately began to struggle with it more than she had been. Nonetheless, he was able to get it where it needed to go.

"It's Andy isn't it?" the Professor asked with a smile "It's so nice when I get a student who takes my class because they have a genuine interest in political philosophy, rather than because they think it will be an easy credit for some insane reason"

"Yeah, those people are the worst" Andy pretended to agree, despite being exactly the kind of person she was talking about.

"I'm not living out of my car, by the way" Professor Wellington assured Andy "All of this crap belongs to my ex boyfriend. I'm taking it back to his place since we just split up"

"I'm sorry to hear that"

"Don't be, he was a total idiot. Actually, he still is. He's causing me so much grief at the moment, which is why I just want to give him his shit back and be done with him forever" the Professor paused a moment as she caught herself "Sorry, you really didn't need to know that"

"No, it's fine. Is there anything else I can do for you? It sounds like you have a lot to deal with at the moment?"Andy asked as he awkwardly bundled the final box onto the back seat.

"It's okay, I think I've got this from here" Kara smiled "Thanks for your help though"

Andy was about to walk away when his professor suddenly thought of something.

"Hey, I'm not sure if you're interested, and it's very short notice, but I run a book club at my apartment every Thursday. It's an intimate affair, just a handful of us book worms, but Sara will be there - it looked like you two were really hitting it off in class yesterday. And it's not just politics or philosophy we read, it's all kinds of things. For example, tomorrow We'll be discussing The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

God, even the title was boring.

"Oh awesome. I've been meaning to check that one out"

"Great, here I'll give you my address. Please don't share it with any of the other students" Kara scribbled something down on a Post It Note and ed it to Andy "We begin at eight. Bring a bottle!"

Eight was perfect. Andy could meet Gemma at the bar, then head to the book club once she had to rush off to deal with her emergency text. Everything was falling nicely into place. He now had a good couple of hours to memorise online reviews of the book he would be discussing before tomorrow. The next event he needed to show up for wouldn't happen until late afternoon.

---

Andy's timing was impeccable as he walked along the corridor of the floor below his own in the direction of a room he had already visited. Just as he had anticipated, an angry looking Aurora was outside of it, kicking at her door in frustration.

"You okay?" Andy asked.

"I locked my fucking in my room" she huffed "And before you say anything, I'm pretty sure the spare is in there too"

"Don't sweat it, I can help you with that"

Andy produced his trusty all access card and swiped it in the reader on Aurora's door, which immediately gave a green light.

"Holy shit, you're not supposed to have that" Aurora's expression quickly shifted from completely uninterested in Andy to unexpectedly impressed by him "It's pretty fucking awesome you managed to nick it. Although it does mean you could sneak into my room and totally perv on me"

"I wouldn't dare" Andy promised her.

"Damn right you wouldn't!" Aurora was still holding the door half open with her leg "So are you coming in or what?"

Andy had to act like he didn't recognise Aurora's room from before. Not that there was anything remarkable or surprising about it - all of the dormitories were pretty standard looking.

"Do you smoke?"

"I can't afford to, it's like fifteen quid a pack"

"I meant weed, dipshit"

"Oh, uh, yeah" Andy lied.

Aurora sat down on her bed and rolled a t with the speed and skill of someone who had clearly done so many times before. She lit it, took a drag, exhaled with a satisfied expression, then ed it to Andy. He inhaled deeply, then started coughing and spluttering, causing Aurora to laugh.

"I see you're quite the seasoned smoker. Were you trying to impress me by pretending you'd done mild recreational **** before when you haven't? Because lets get one thing straight, I'm not going to fuck you whether you have or not"

"What?" Andy protested as he got his breath back.

"I invited you into my room for a smoke because you did me a solid, but you have no idea how much I'm never going to fuck you"

"I didn't think you were. Why do you always have to be so rude?" Andy complained.

"What do you mean, 'always', we only just met?" Aurora asked, a little confused, before taking a more sympathetic tone "Anyway, there's no need to get butt hurt, I was only messing with you. Take another toke, just go a little easier this time. Like this, watch" Aurora moved closer to Andy, placed the spliff to her lips and sucked gently on it before returning it "You'll like it once you get used to it"

It turned out Aurora was right, and soon Andy was feeling happy and relaxed in her company, though he was struggling to contribute anything meaningful to the conversation. Still, it was quite a turnaround from the first time they had met. He now felt a little guilty about his shower prank on her, though it was hard for him to truly regret it.

As Aurora spoke - and it seemed she talked a lot when she was high - Andy was too dazed to concentrate on her words. However. he found he was able to picture her naked quite accurately, which he did instead.

It was a bit of a shame for Andy that he wasn't able to retain anything his new friend was telling him, as he got the sense she might have been opening up a little, but he was happy enough to sit and ire Aurora's imagined nudity, until she began raising her voice at him.

"Hello? Earth to Andy? Are you still with me?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry" Andy apologised, his dopey smile vanishing as he was brought back to reality, facing a fully clothed Aurora again.

"Okay, well that didn't totally suck. It's actually been kind of fun. I think you might be the first person here I haven't hated on first sight" Aurora complimented Andy, in her own way, as he remained sat in place opposite her "That was your cue to leave, by the way. I like to masturbate after a t, and I really don't need you hanging around for that"

"Oh, right" Andy blushed at her bluntness as he stood up from his chair.

"Hey" Aurora called out after him as he shuffled towards her door in a daze "Maybe we'll do this again next time I lock my in my room"

Andy smirked to himself, and not just because he was still high. The punk girl had no idea how prescient that statement was going to be.