In the depths of the water, her body floated. Her nipples hardened in the cold air, her mind in a familiar haze. The warmth that surrounded her brought a tantalizing sensation to her lower body, the heat burrowed between her legs. The rocky bath beads lay undissolved scraping her rear end. Josey's eyes were closed to the world.

She felt light like she was floating on air. The bathtub was filled with warm water and laced with bath beads. Josey's eyes were closed to the world.

She pushed her hand into the crevice of her thighs, wiggled her fingers in her slit. She silently moaned in the darkness. She had never known love nor a man's touch. She yearned for it. The water slouched and splashed around her as she sought gratification.

Over the past couple of months, she found herself touching herself more often. When she wasn't embroiled in an hellish nightmare, she dreamt of touching a man's body, having his length in her hands or her mouth. She didn't understand her fascination because Nethersigh didn't allow students to read about sex, it wasn't even shown on television. They were expected to figure it all out once they were married.

Her body started to tremble as she climaxed, then reality kicked in,

"When did I get here? How long have I been in this tub?" Josey pondered. At that moment, she came to the stark realization that she had lost track of time and space. Her eyes shook back and forth under her eyelids.The deep lustful tingling she felt became faint like a distant memory. She attempted to open her eyes but she could not. The subtle smell of copper surrounded her. Fear encased her.

"Am I breathing?" She thought to herself.

She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. Her mind was scrambling to find a solution to the madness. The light jazz music that was once playing in her bedroom had risen several decibels. Josey flailed around in the tub in a state of panic. Unable to grip the sides, her body slid around in the slippery solution.

"Open your eyes!" She screamed within, attempting to free herself from the darkness.

Her eyes finally opened. She saw the tub was filled with red solution. Her erratic movements had pushed the goo onto the bathroom floor. The music in her bedroom changed once more, becoming louder and faster. The lights above the mirrors beamed as if the sun was powering them.

"Somebody help me!" She mouthed her scream. She couldn't hear her voice. All she did was strain in a feeble effort to reach the light.

"Wake up! Wake up Josey!" Her mother called to her while her dad stroked her hair. Josey's eyes opened onto the real world. Her nightmare was finally over.

"What's going on? What happened?" Josey spat out in a confused manner. The terror she felt from her dream still lingered on her heart. She could not help but cry out in frustration.

Her mom started to cry also.

"You were screaming so loud." her voice trembled. Josey and her parents sat in her bed crying and holding each other. After all seemed calm, the alarm shook violently interrupting their peace.

"Honey, are you well enough for school? I can make you another appointment with Dr. Keller?", Her dad asked with a worried look on his face.

"I'm okay. I promise." Josey sought to reassure them and herself.

After her parents gave her one more hug for the road, they left her room. Their concern was plastered vividly all over their faces.

Josey had been having nightmares that could challenged any horror movie, for the past 2 weeks. Doctor Keller insisted that it was stress.

'College life can be more stressful when you enter it at a very young age' He had said at their last meeting.

Josey was a 20 year old university student. She was already working on her PHd in interdimensional analytics. The thought of Doctor Keller's statement made her shrug her shoulders.

After she pinched herself multiple times. Josey got out of bed and commenced raiding her closet. She didn't put much effort or thought into her outfits because she was very aware of her physical differences. Most of her bottoms had to be handmade. Nethersigh was a place filled with slim, pale people. The sun shone only through the clouds. Josey was dark tan and boasted a beautiful set of purple and green eyes. Her black hair stood tall, if it was left untamed. The curls were large and when straightened, touched the back of her knees. Her father would always say that their ancestral kingdom was small and filled with people like him and her. Their hair was considered sacred and should never be cut or touched by others.

She quickly threw on a t-shirt, mid length skirt and flats. She took a good look in the mirror and pulled her hair back into a big ponytail.

"My shirt is a little snug but I look pretty good" She smiled and winked at herself in the mirror. She then applied lip gloss to her thick lips.

"I may be different but I love who I am." She said in an attempt to hype herself up for the day.

Nethersigh was a wealthy province in the country of Lichter . The buildings extended high into the clouds like high tech mountains. Most of the residents had drivers.There was an abnormal amount of hatred for the people of Sambofah. Josey and her father were descendants of Sambofah. The island kingdom was filled with beautiful jewels. The land basically sprouted currency. But since they were proud people, they considered their land sacred determined it should remain untouched by foreigners. In order to get there, outsiders would have to have ancestral rights. Therefore there was no trading, nor tourism. The people of Sambofah were thought to be evil because of their genetic differences. Josey's dad was only allowed to live in Nethersigh because of his research and subsequently his brain, per her mother.

Josey walked, engulfed in her own thoughts. When she snapped out of her day dream she was in front of the campus. Their family manor was only 5 blocks from the school.

"Josey! Wait for me!", Leon called out to her.

Leon was one of two people in the physical realm engineering department that interacted with Josey. She was not allowed to talk to him first just in case the driver was still around. They tried their best to avoid drama. He didn't want to believe that people avoided her because of where she was from but it was quite apparent.

"Can I walk with you?", Leon asked from with a toothy grin.

"Of course you can my fellow nerd... who am I to deny your access to bask in my-"

"Okay let me stop you before you trip head first over your ego!" Leon bursted into laughter.

"You are hilarious, Josey!" he continued. His loud giggles and snorts drew unwanted attention in their direction.

They walked to the classroom still enjoying their morning giggle. The class only had 2 females out of 27 students.Sheila, the other female, was the daughter of a Duke. She did not communicate with Josey.. [Which is fine with me.]

"Leon! Josey!" Collin interrupted her thoughts to show them that he saved them some seats toward the front. Their seating was 'first come' seating but students rarely sat at the front. So Collin was just embarrassing in a good way. Collin and Leon were both small built with glasses that fit their astute faces.Their personalities were fun but they did not cut corners when it came to their education. It had been 3 years since they met. All 3 of them were graduating in the 3rd carrion.[**carrion is the start of the summer months]

Class time flew by. As soon as the bell rung, Leon, Collin and Josey made haste to the library. After classes let out the chances of being pushed around increased. Consequently they never congregated in the halls or eating areas. While making their mad dash, Josey turned to check on Collin's pace because he was starting to slow down. In that moment she was knocked off her feet. The few books she was holding went flying into the air. Josey sat visibly dazed, stunned on the ground. The students in the vicinity started to laugh at her.

" Their lack of decorum angers me. " Josey muttered to herself. Her friends were already picking up her stuff so they could get back on track.

"Are you alright, my lady?" A sweet voice sung to her. Josey looked in the direction of the voice.

"Yeeesss." She sang. Her eyes were checking every corner, every curve of his body. This man had a brawny build but he wasn't very tall. His hair was shaved down on both sides of his head leaving long locs scattered in the middle. He had 2 piercings in his right ear.His pale skin bared darkness around brilliant yellow and orange eyes. Josey sat entranced. She could hear the wind blowing and birds chirping in the distance.

She wanted to see him naked. She wanted to feel his skin against hers. Everything about him made her think, "Mine."

Her heart beat increased, her palms became sweaty. She inhaled him and exhaled a feeling that was new and exciting.

"I am so sorry! I am in a rush though! Please accept my apology love!" He yelled as he ran off into the distance.

"I don't think I have ever seen him in this area before", Josey said under her breath.

****

"Dang it! I am going to be late! But who was that beautiful girl though." Cofer mumbled to himself.

Before he could sit at his desk, the Director of Genetics called for him,

"Cofer get in my office now!"

"I am coming!" He yelled back. As he gathered his research notes and ran into the office, he couldn't stop seeing a mental picture of her.

Cofer took his seat next to Willingham. The director talked about upcoming events but Cofer was unable to focus after bumping into Josey.

"I wondered where SHE is from. Not here obviously. Her exotic nature was unorthodox and would have been under scrutiny the moment she was born. NeSighers took pride in their lack of vibrant skin tones, which is fine but anything different must be reviewed, understood and documented. Even then you may still meet those who can't see your beauty because they are blinded by ignorance. All I know is the current that surged down my spine when I touched her hand, gave me life. Her eyes reminded me of lilyfillies that only grow in the mountains. The long purple leaf plant with a sparkling green stem had definitely met its match with her. I couldn't help notice the slight jiggle her supple breasts did when she hit the ground. Wow. That's in poor taste. I could've hurt her", Cofer thought to himself.

He was snapped out of his daydream by a wispy voice.

"Dr. Cofer Kingston the III, please say hello to my new second chair", the director said.

"He will be working in the office next to yours, please be courteous", the director requested then cleared his throat. "This meeting is to make sure I do not scare off the new guy. Gotcha! ", Cofer scoffed. "I'm not some crude vagabond." He stared intensely at the director.

"I understand Dr. Kingston. I just don't want a repeat of the previous misunderstanding", The director's voice seemed to plead with him this time.

"I will be more considerate", Cofer swiftly assured him.

When the meeting let out, there were only a few hours of low light left in the day. "I should run over to the cafeteria before they close." He whispered to himself.

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