Winter Pears 6 (Patreon)

(BBW)

At the University 1/2

Still waters run deep…

Mario sat in the university’s crowded cafeteria, listlessly poking at his pasta salad. At twenty years old and studying media studies, he had actually resolved to finally take a more active approach to the semester—to make more connections and maybe even look beyond the confines of the lecture hall. He hadn’t done much at the university since he’d been there, and he hadn’t made many friends either. Of course, he got along quite well with some people from his classes, but that was really as far as it ever went. What he wanted most, though, was to finally connect with a woman again—preferably even to finally be in a serious relationship. Every day he saw a few pretty women who matched his tastes, but Mario had had his eye on one particular girl for quite some time. Since he knew he was good-looking—and that even though he was pretty quiet and usually on the reserved side, he could still be charming when he wanted to—Mario probably wouldn’t have had any trouble getting any of his female classmates to go out with him. Instead, his thoughts once again revolved solely around her: Emilie.

They’d known each other since the first semester. Every now and then, they’d exchanged a few pleasantries in seminars—about movies, TV shows, anime, or video games. Just like Mario, she was quite the nerd, and that had intensified his attraction to her beyond just her looks. Emilie had always been reserved, almost shy, but never dismissive. Mario thought she’d be a good match for his own personality.

Her voice was usually soft, and she preferred to avoid the spotlight. She could almost have been considered a weird, eccentric outsider, but she was still too friendly for that and spoke up too often in lectures. She seemed like the prototypical female nerd, and her appearance only reinforced that impression. She was always wrapped in baggy, oversized hoodies, the hood pulled low over her face, usually paired with loose-fitting pants that concealed almost every curve. Everything, of course, was preferably in shades of black.

From beneath the hood, which was almost always pulled over her head, only a few strands of light blonde hair would occasionally peek out, and when Emilie lifted her head, you could see her ice-blue eyes sparkling behind her large, somewhat old-fashioned glasses. The two small piercings in her full lower lip gave her face a rebellious edge that didn’t quite fit with her otherwise reserved nature. Mario found her fascinating and very beautiful, in a quiet, unassuming way. Emilie was neither a full-fledged goth nor an emo nor anything in between, but just like Mario, she was in love with all the games, comics, and countless fictional worlds out there, and he really liked that.

He’d had a crush on her for quite some time but had never dared to take it further. Emilie usually sat alone—during meals, during breaks—often with her smartphone in hand or poring over a thick book or her sketchpad. She seemed to like keeping the world around her at a distance.

Today, Mario had decided to just go for it and strike up a more personal conversation with her. His heart was already pounding as he set down his empty tray and scanned the rows of tables. He had already finished eating and wanted to go over to Emilie before his next lecture. There she sat, alone, as she almost always did, even in the otherwise crowded cafeteria. A book lay open in front of her—some kind of fantasy or science fiction novel, he guessed—and she was reading intently, her hood pulled low over her head. Next to her stood her empty tray, with empty bowls piled on the porcelain plate. Strands of her light blonde hair peeked out from under the hood on either side and fell gently over the edges of the book. Mario took another deep breath, wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans, and walked over.

“Hey… Emilie?” he asked as he stood in front of her table, clearing his throat when he noticed how much higher than usual his voice sounded. God, was he 14 again and about to go on his first date?

She looked up in surprise. Her ice-blue eyes widened slightly behind her glasses as she pushed them up a bit. What incredibly beautiful eyes, Mario thought, thrilled, and swallowed. Now that he’d finally worked up the courage, he realized just how strongly he seemed to be drawn to Emilie. The student was a lot more nervous than he’d expected.

“Hi,” Emilie said briefly but smiled warmly.

“Can I sit down? Or am I interrupting your reading?”

She hesitated briefly, but then closed her book and shook her head. “No, not at all. Please, have a seat.”

Mario sank into the chair across from her. His nervousness made his throat tighten. Emilie pulled back her hood, and a cascade of light-blonde hair spilled out. She shook her head and ran her hand through her hair once to brush the strands out of her face. Mario resisted the urge to stare at the young woman with his mouth agape just because of this everyday gesture. Like liquid white chocolate, her long hair now flowed over her shoulders and down her back. He could clearly feel his thoughts drifting away from simply finding Emilie nice, pretty, and cute, as a deeper desire began to stir within him.
After rearranging her hair, Emilie looked expectantly at the young man across from her. Even under the loose, black hoodie, Mario thought he could make out more feminine curves than he’d previously realized. He’d never looked at the young woman as closely or intently as he was now.

“You’re always here alone, and we’ve chatted a few times in class. And… well, I thought maybe you’d like some company.” A lame opening line, but what else could he say?

Emilie’s smile remained, and she said, “I usually prefer to be alone. But sure, no problem.”
Mario could feel his heart still beating way too fast as he sat in the chair across from Emilie. He tried to look relaxed, but he was having a hard time doing so right now. His hands were a little sweaty, and he discreetly wiped them on his pant legs. Emilie looked at him with her ice-blue eyes. Her small smile turned into a sweet grin when she saw him press his lips together slightly nervously and then part them again, as if he were searching for the right words. She found that kind of cute and also a little amusing, because otherwise he always seemed relatively calm and confident in the seminars whenever he did say something. She had always been a very quiet person herself, but now it was Mario who was the shy one.

“Well… I just thought it would be nice if we could talk sometime outside of class,” Mario said. His voice sounded a little shaky. He really hated that right now, because he’d felt so much more confident before he’d come here.

Emilie leaned back a little in her chair. She looked him over for a moment longer than was really necessary, then said with a soft laugh, “You’re pretty nervous, aren’t you? That’s kind of cute.”

Mario felt the heat rise to his face. He couldn’t help but laugh along, even though he felt a little silly. “Yeah… honestly, more than I thought I would. I don’t really know why, but somehow that’s just how it is.” But she’d said she thought it was cute.

Emilie tilted her head. Her grin grew even wider. “It’s okay. I actually think it’s pretty sweet. You don’t have to try so hard to say the right thing.” Not just cute, but actually sweet.
“How about we skip the awkward part and talk about something else?” she kindly suggested.

They chatted for a while longer about the lectures and then about the science fiction novel she was currently reading. It was part of Frank Herbert’s Dune series. As they shifted to topics like that, Mario could clearly feel everything relax and realize just how much he was enjoying the conversation. Besides, as he glanced at Emilie’s book, an idea came to mind about how things might proceed from here.

At some point, as the cafeteria slowly emptied and the next lecture drew near, Mario plucked up his courage. “Emilie… would you maybe be up for doing something together sometime? I mean, outside of school and stuff?”

Emilie blinked in surprise and looked at him. Then she asked quietly, with a slightly incredulous undertone, “You mean… like a real date?”

Mario nodded and felt his stomach tighten. “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. If you’d like…”

Emilie looked down at the table for a moment. Then she looked up again. A genuinely happy smile spread across her face.

“Yes… I’d love to. That sounds great.”
Mario was thrilled and beamed at her.
“Would you like to go to the movies? Because of your book… The new Dune is just coming out now.”
“Cool! Yeah, great idea—I’ve been wanting to see that as soon as I can. I was thinking of going with my sister, but this week with you works out great, too.”
Now it was Emilie’s turn to blush slightly, and she adjusted her glasses again while chewing on her pierced lower lip.
“Yeah, I’d really love to, Mario,” she added with a smile.

They made plans for the following Friday. Mario felt a wave of relief and, at the same time, anticipation. He could hardly believe she’d agreed.

In the days and weeks that followed, they saw each other more and more often at school. Their conversations became more relaxed, and they laughed together more often. It felt as if they’d known each other for much longer. Both realized that they really liked each other. They quickly exchanged phone numbers and followed each other on Instagram. In the evenings, they’d text each other, and the messages grew steadily longer and more personal. They talked about books, TV shows, and video games, and every now and then about little everyday things. Mario was happy every time his phone vibrated and a message from her came through.

From then on, they always ate together in the university cafeteria. Mario watched with a mixture of amusement and mild surprise as Emilie ate quite a lot—and especially a lot of sweets. She often ordered desserts and chocolate bars and drank lots of sugary drinks. He sometimes wondered where she put it all, because she still didn’t look particularly overweight.

But it didn’t bother him at all. On the contrary, he found it somehow charming how she ate with such relish and wasn’t ashamed of it.

As they spent more and more time together and sat next to each other more often or walked together through the university hallways, Mario occasionally noticed that, beneath her loose-fitting pants, Emilie actually had a rather large, round butt and quite wide hips to go with it. The loose pants mostly hid it, but when she sat down or when the fabric stretched, you could see it quite clearly. He didn’t find that unattractive—on the contrary. At the same time, he thought that otherwise she didn’t seem as heavy as one might expect given what she ate. Her upper body remained better hidden under her hoodie, but he imagined it to be soft, delicate, feminine, and beautifully curvy as well.

Friday finally arrived. Mario drove his car to Emilie’s dorm. He was a little nervous again, but this time in a good way—those familiar butterflies in his stomach. He parked in front of the building and saw that she was already waiting outside, talking on the phone with someone. She held the phone to her ear, smiling and nodding as she spoke. When she saw him, she raised her free hand and waved at him. She walked over and opened the passenger door of the car.
“All right, Mom. I’ll let you know, but of course I’ll be there. Love you.”
With a sigh, she hung up, slipped her phone into the waist pocket of her hoodie, and got into the car.
“Hi, sorry about that. Let’s go! I’m really looking forward to this!”