DALE [Ed Note: Manuscript- 550]
Kremin made a quick getaway Sunday morning.
A few of his relatives went to church. Most slept in. He had a light breakfast and was packed before his mom got up.
"You leaving already?" She asked him.
"I thought I'd get back early, I need to check my mail and see if there has been any development in the case."
His mom knew what was up. But she didn't say anything, much. "Was it that difficult this weekend?"
Kremin figured a lie was the best option. "It wasn't as bad as it was last year."
She smiled. "Considering that last year your brother threatened to sue your stepfather. No. It wasn't quite as bad."
In a few more minutes, Kremin was on the road. He had a couple of hundred dollars in his wallet. The contents of the guesthouse's bar in his trunk. And he borrowed the new video game system from the spare bedroom.
He had looked for Lin but she was nowhere to be found. Kremin turned up his tape deck and joined a light stream of traffic on the highway.
MARY
Cindy moved back into Cannon Sunday afternoon. The water wasn't on.
But she had gotten a couple of phone calls from girls coming back to campus wanting to know what was going on.
Cindy couldn't get hold of anybody. The plumbing crew had worked all day Friday and Saturday. And they were still working Sunday afternoon when Cindy carried her suitcase upstairs.
The head plumber told her they would try everything they could to get the water on that night. She smiled at him and told him how much she appreciated it.
She was taking yet another phone call from a girl wanting to know where she should go. "I'll know in a couple of hours." Cindy told her.
In almost exactly two hours she heard her toilet running. The phone rang.
It was Dr. Myersong. "I hear your water is on."
"Yes sir. It just came on. Thank you."
"Can you handle the girls that are coming back after the holiday'?"
"Yes sir."
"We will be back tomorrow to inspect the work." She heard him chuckle, "I understand there is a few rather sizable holes in your floor."
"Yes sir. It will be some time before the first floor can be lived in again."
"I would like to see those rooms."
They talked for a few more minutes, then he said he was looking forward to seeing her again.
Cindy spent the rest of the evening on the phone reassuring girls that they could move in tonight.
DALE
Sunday the ref put a damper on the 'Underrealm' game crew.
"You are almost a dozen turns ahead of the next several teams. You must allow them to get caught up a little before you can go on. Proceed to a safe zone and wait." Keith read the message twice.
"When can we move again?" Dale asked.
"After the others take a few turns."
They moved to an empty cave and set a spell to keep out bad guys.
Kalley suggested they have their wizard meditate to conserve energy. As soon as Keith typed in the command a message appeared on the screen announcing they had just received a hundred intelligence and reasoning points.
A note came in from the ref. "I told you to wait. Now you've gone and almost gotten the max in brain points."
The players laughed.
MARY
Kim saw Janet Sunday afternoon.
The younger girl called her at the house and asked if she wanted to shopping for a little bit.
At first Kim hesitated. She had had a great time with Janet. But she didn't want that to become a habit. But Janet told her about a show sale at a clearance center and begged for a ride out there.
They went to the shoe sale. Both of them ended up buying a pair of spike heeled shoes. They stopped for a cold drink on the way back to her house. And talked.
The talk soon turned to sex, primarily sex in cars. "How could two girls do it in a car? We need more room."
Janet smiled at her. "I've always wanted to find out." Janet smiled to her. She slipped one of the shoes on and rubbed her leg, pulling her pants leg up to her knee in the process. In spite of herself Kim watched.
They parked in the park overlooking the lake. It took a few minutes of giggling and maneuvering, but before long they began to steam the windows up.
Janet got her crotch between Kim's legs and they rocked the car.
Afterward they were both sweating and breathless.
"That was fantastic." Kim finally sighed, "But there is something to be said for having a man around."
Janet agreed, but took matters into her own hands and a funny looking inflatable she carried in her purse.
Kim didn't encourage her, but she didn't stop her either.
Back at Janet's house. Kim got herself together while Janet made supper for her mom. Kim was recovering from multiple orgasms, Janet had to drive back to town.
Kim needed a shower too, she took her soft drink and went upstairs.
MARY
Maggie was happy with her report. It was early Monday morning, and
Bonker was asleep curled up on the bed. She put her report in a folder and stuck it in her purse.
Maggie curled up next to Bonker. She was going to get a couple of hours of sleep before class.
The phone rang before the alarm went off. Maggie reached for the phone.
She mumbled into it and listened.
"Hey Mags. We got water!"
"Terrific." She said looking at the clock.
"Did I wake you?" Cindy asked.
"Nah, I've got to get up in a minute anyway." Maggie reached over and shut off the clock.
"I'll see you later."
Maggie said bye and hung up. She decided to wake Bonker up like he had done her a couple of times. She let her hand wander around and find interesting things to play with. He really wasn't awake, but she had his attention, she took advantage of it.
Things got going. But she made it to her class anyway.
DALE
Jimbo stomped his way into Wilson dorm late Monday morning. He cut his hand on a loose screw on the handrail then he nearly twisted his ankle trying to kick a laundry basket out of the way in the hall.
By the time he got settled in his room he was happily cussing up a storm.
He threw a garbage bag of clean laundry on his bed and pulled a beer out of his filthy refrigerator. Jimbo flopped into his chair and used his remote control to turn on his TV. Well, it was what he called a remote control. He reached behind him and plugged in the extension cord, the sports station came on.
He had no intention of going to a class that morning.
He had stopped at the campus in Galesburg to see an old friend of his.
Much to Jimbo's disappointment all that happened Sunday night was a real fine drunk on cheap rum.
"No sex. No violence. No nuthin." Jimbo had whined. "I might as well had gone to a Sunday school meeting."
Later they had watched the cleanup of a bad car wreck from the window.
"That'll do." Jimbo said. Already woozy from the rum he had been swilling by the mug full.
"After you pass out I'll set your clothes on fire."
"Promises, promises." Jimbo said drooling on himself.
He woke up after everybody else was gone. He made himself a breakfast and left the dirty dishes for his friend. He took two bottles from their case of rum and left five dollars in their place, he didn't leave any money for the beer he took and drank driving back to campus.
MARY
Jack was a nervous wreck at supper. He had played on TV before. It wasn't commonplace, but they were used to it. But this...
"This is different. The coach said this was national, here and in Canada."
Mary looked at him. "You'll do fine."
"But I'm the starting center. And team captain. If I screw up. Or turn the ball over, or even just look stupid..."
"You will do fine. You will play the best game of your life and make everybody proud. I bet pro scouts will be drooling over you."
Jack made a face, "Thanks, just what I need, more to worry about."
Mary smiled at him. "Besides, I have to worry about living with you if you go out and do something stupid."
Jack made a face. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means I love you." She kissed him.
"Yeah."
Dale
Peggy's parents had left Sunday morning. She was sorry to see them go. She really was. She had had a wonderful time with her mom and step mom. She wished her dad had talked to her more. And Ron, he had to be physically torn from the computer game to leave.
But after the hugs and tears, she was glad they were gone.
Peggy had a couple of new outfits, a new clock radio, and an extra twenty-dollar bill or two.
She went back up to her room and sat in the peace and quiet. She smiled at the outfit hanging on her closet door. It was cute. Very cute.
She couldn't resist.
Peggy went into her bathroom and took a quick shower, put on some light makeup and a touch of perfume. Then she put on the new clothes.
She thought the skirt was just a hair too short, but she was happy with the way it made her legs look. She slipped on some medium heeled shoes and went downstairs to see if she could steal Dale from the game.
She stopped by the small computer room, it was empty. She heard a muffled whistle behind her. She saw one of the house guys duck into the dining room. The butler turned the hall corner.
"Hi. Have you seen Dale?" She asked him as he smiled at her.
"I believe they are in the library, miss. Your new outfit is very flattering." He bowed slightly to her and went about his business.
Peggy walked into the library and brought a discussion about modifying a wall of fire spell to halt the unstoppable worm.
"Wow Peggy." Dale said. "You look nice."
Keith seriously considered the possibility that Dale had brain damage.
"Pssst, Dale." He whispered. "She's gorgeous."
"Yeah. She's gorgeous."
Peggy smiled.
DALE
Ralph was satisfied. His lesson plan was as done as he was going to get it.
He had decided to take what was scheduled all the way to the logical extreme. His first lecture was on the relative energy loads of sub atomic particles.
Colleen swept into the apartment and danced around the kitchen table.
"Let me guess. You're in a good mood." He said tonelessly.
"Yyessss..." She purred.
Ralph closed his folder. He had not shaved for several days, he was wearing a T-shirt that was a national disgrace, he had spilled beer on his papers, and the crust of a frozen pizza gave away what he had eaten for supper.
"Are you ready for your class tomorrow morning?" She cooed.
"Yeah."
She slithered up to him. "You need a bath and a shave."
"Yeah so?"
The signals Colleen was giving off didn't take a rocket scientist to decipher. Well, Ralph wasn't EXACTLY a rocket scientist.
He got up from the table. "But I don't feel like shaving." He smiled and walked to his bathroom. He started the shower and dug out what passed for his bathrobe from the hamper.
She let the shower run a long time, then she opened the door and stepped in, razor in hand. Ralph decided he wasn't going to let her shave him either, he got busy soaping her up and rubbing her down.
They got dirty in the shower, and Ralph's whiskers were still intact.
MARY
Monday the campus was swinging back into routine.
Mary went to her classes. In history Ms. Amberjoyce continued her group discussion of history.
Somebody had asked her a question about the industrial revolution.
She was now going into great detail about how one invention built on the work of others that came before and lead to other inventions later.
The radio could not have come into, being without electromagnet research and the invention of things like capacitors and finer wires with better conductivity.
The discussion went on to internal combustion engines and all the diverse technologies that had to combine to make things like steamships and later cars.
Even Jack grasped the importance of refining higher quality metals for pressure vessels of steam engines.
"One development lead to others, and even more diverse applications of the technologies." She summed up her speech.
MARY
Maggie was one of the few that turned in their reports in the class on Monday. They were not officially due until Friday. But the professor had a note in the class handbook that they would be accepted as early as that Monday, with each report turned in properly completed would receive five points per day bonus. Maggie got twenty points added to her grade by handing it in four days early.
A guy in the class had the logic that if he handed in his report on the last day, the professor would have a stack of them to read and he wouldn't be able to read them all closely.
"More than likely some graduate assistant reads them anyway." Another girl said.
Maggie shrugged. "Mine's in and done. Bibliography, notes, illustrations and all." She sat straight and proud.
"Note cards." The guy said. "Something else I have to do."
After class Maggie had a break.
She went to check her mail and find Cindy.
In her box was a check from her insurance company. She had submitted a claim to them under her student renter's insurance policy, but had forgotten all about it. She opened the envelope and found a check for five hundred dollars.
"Partial payment, final determination to be made at a later date." She read from the letter. Maggie couldn't stop smiling. In a few minutes she found Cindy and told her about her good news.
"The first thing I'm buying is some new underwear." She smiled to her friend. "I've been wearing the same four pair since the fire."
"eeeewwwwwww. I bet they stink!" Cindy held her nose.
Maggie pinched her upraised arm. "You wanna come shopping?"
DALE
The Greek Math class was supposed to meet in their regular classroom.
But when Harrison and Dale got there. Nobody else was around.
They went up to Varscroft's office, it was dark. Ralph had been in, but was gone. Nobody else had even been around.
"Ralph is teaching a class." Dale said after looking at the calendar.
"I think Varscroft had a doctors appointment today for something." Harrison said.
"So you two are here. Where's the rest of them?" Canney said from the doorway. "I got some calculations I want to run by everybody."
"You worked over the greatest feast day of the year?" Harrison asked the fat man.
Canney shrugged. "I went to visit my sister." He saw Dales questioning look. "She works for the computer center of a utility company. I told her about our work and we ran some figures through their mainframe."
"You're so dedicated it makes me sick." Harrison said.
DALE
Monday morning dawned on Ralph and Colleen snuggling in her room.
She smiled at the sun and got up to fix them breakfast. In a few minutes his alarm went off in his bedroom. She shut it off and turned on the TV news.
Usually that was enough to rouse him.
He smelled the coffee and heard the weatherman talking about a cold snap.
He rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. He emerged in a few minutes, still unshaven, but washed up.
He kissed Colleen gently and took the offered cup of coffee.
"Are you ready for your class?"
Ralph sipped the steaming cup before he answered. "I guess." He looked at the clock, "It starts in half an hour. I better get going."
She kissed him and wished him luck, then she gave him a paper bag.
"Breakfast in a bag. To go." She said cheerfully, actually feeling sorry for him.
Ralph shuffled off to class.
He peeked in the bag as he walked. "Fake-me-out eggs, turkey bacon and low fat cheese on whole wheat. With an orange. Maybe I'm getting used to this stuff." He fished the sandwich out and chewed away as he walked.
MARY
Betty got a call early Monday from the office of the President.
Dr. Myersong's secretary told her what was going on with the inspection did asked what would be a good time for the team to come by to look around.
"We'll both be here after lunch." She told the secretary.
They sat it up for one.
Betty knew the place was always fairly clean and well kept, but there were a few nagging maintenance problems that seemed to always need attention.
The window in the second floor east bathroom constantly leaked when it rained. No amount of caulking and paint had been able to stop it. Some rooms had heaters with minds of their own. And Betty's own kitchen light went through light bulbs at a rate that made her stock them by the dozen.
Betty went to her three classes, then sat in the Union and waited on John.
They had lunch and talked about the inspection and things they wanted to show them.
"I want them to see that bomb crater in the driveway." John said.
"You mean Lake Frank?" Betty laughed, referring to the resident that had gotten stuck in it a few months ago.
"We can't forget about the door to 320." John said.
"I don't want to be there if anybody gets that door open. Somebody may have been in there for the last eight months." Betty chuckled.
John laughed. "I've been wondering what happened to Joe Sessions."
Betty looked at him seriously for a second. "I hope you are kidding."
MARY
Kim had spent the night in one of the guestrooms at the independent house.
The basement rooms were dead quiet and dark. She slept like a rock.
In the morning she laid in bed a while and remembered the events of the day before.
Janet had been there when Kim got out of the shower. The younger girl helped her dry off. But then they needed another shower later. They ate a sandwich and Kim left for the campus. She promised Janet she'd be in touch.
But now she was having some reservations. Her adventures with Janet had explored everything she ever imagined two women could do together. And she had to admit there was a certain attraction to the relationship. They were equals, and were able to share intimacy on a level she had never had with any man. But Kim was hetero. She felt she needed the male element in the mix.
But that night, she didn't want to mix with the male element tonight so she got her stuff and told Ramsey she didn't feel well and crashed in the basement.
Kim finally got up and went upstairs to change for classes. Her first class was at nine. Ramsey was still asleep when she opened the door. She got dressed and added her dirty clothes to the growing pile in the corner.
Looking at him asleep, she knew she would have to break it off with Janet.
But Kim was worried how the girl would take it.
DALE
Colleen wasn't thrilled to be back in front of the introductory art class with the students with little interest in, or talent with, art.
Except for Jimbo.
Colleen pulled out his folder. There were several things in it. One of them, a watercolor, had been given two grades, a 'B+' for the work itself, a 'D' for attitude in class by the other assistant that was teaching the class.
Colleen was almost sure Jimbo had some sort of talent. But she wasn't sure how to approach a man who once missed class because he wanted to visit his parole officer in the hospital from a car accident.
The next assignment was a watercolor. She decided to give them a challenge she knew would be up his alley.
Before the end of the class she told them that this week they would be study more detail with water colors.
"I want you to sketch and then color with the paints a work that you think will offend me in some way." She told them smiling.
Jimbo was expressionless. But he had a few good ideas.
She passed out their sketches from the week before the holiday.
Jimbo's she had kept a photocopy of. It had been graded as an 'A' . Jimbo looked at the grade on the back of his paper on a sticky note.
"Why didn't you write on it?" He asked her.
"I thought you might want to frame it." She told him with a straight face.
Jimbo looked at the sketch. "I think I will."
DALE
"So you see if the out pressure of the energy exceeds the level of gravitational pull the star itself would cease to exist." Canney was in preach-mode.
"Supernova." Dale said drawing a picture on the small marker board in the office.
Harrison really didn't care. "We know all this. So what's your point?"
The fat man dropped his notebook on the desk. "Think about it."
"You're asking for a miracle." Dale grinned and rummaged in the small stinky fridge for a cold drink.
Harrison didn't think about it, he sucked on his teeth and flipped through an aging girlie magazine on his desk.
Dale shut the refrigerator door and washed some slime off the top of a soda can with water from the cooler. "Equilibrium." He said slowly.
Harrison made a face and snorted at him.
Mr. Blumn walked in. "So desert the room and take over my office."
"You were late, so we moved." Harrison said drawing a mustache on a girl in the magazine.
"Dr Canney was explaining how the overall energy output of the star is dictated by its gravitational well." Dale told him.
Mr. Blum nodded and gave a glance to the printout Canney handed him. "But is the percentage of that output consistent through star classes the visible spectrum?"
"Yes." Canney said.
"No!" Harrison shouted.
"Yes." Canney said again. "If you define star classes by mass and stage of fusion evolution it is consistent."
"No. If you look at cephid stars and variable binaries..." Harrison put away his magazine and was digging for his star sequence chart.
Dale listened intently, he loved what he thought was astronomy. He was about to become familiar with a new term... Cosmology.
MARY
Jack sat and brooded. Basketball season was upon them, and the team was still in limbo with the conference. Yes he was the team captain. But the latest rumor had it that he would be the captain of a team that never got to play.
Mary told him not to believe every rumor he heard, but he couldn't help it. The locker room thrived on rumors and he had even added to them.
"James, heard the latest?" He had baited his friend.
Blackthrawn tried in vain to get a comb through his hair, "What?"
"We're supposed to play our full schedule but none of the games will count. We could go undefeated and not even win the conference."
"That really sucks." James said running his hand through his hair.
MARY
Maggie bought underwear like she had never had before. All frilly and very feminine. But she wondered out loud how long it would fit.
"Planning on porking out?" Cindy asked her.
Maggie smiled and unconsciously put her hand on her belly.
Cindy read the expression like a bad novel. "You're not...
Maggie could only smile and nod.
Cindy went through a range of emotions from shock to relief to wonder in the space of maybe two heartbeats.
"Well?" Maggie asked her.
"Bonker?"
"Of course. What kind of question is that?"
Her friend waved and shrugged and tried to get out of it.
Finally Cindy picked up a pair of maternity panties in Maggie's size and handed them to her. The package boasted a reinforced front panel and extra absorbency where it counted most. "You might as well get these now."
In the end, Maggie swore Cindy to secrecy. "I don't even want Mary to know."
"Does Bonker know?" Cindy asked, Maggie nodded. "Do you think Bonker can keep a secret?"
"He said he was going to leave it up to me."
Cindy shrugged. "I'll keep it a secret for about say, four months, but then I think everybody will know." She poked the package of maternity undies.
DALE
Ralph was sorely disappointed in his class. The class was made up of what seemed to be people that couldn't pass any other class on the science curriculum. He thought they had been sorry on the roster, they were worse in person. After ten minutes he put his outline aside.
"You all think science is about the dullest thing on the planet right?" He said levelly with a straight face.
It took a minute for the question to sink in.
One of the ones off to one side that had been drawing pictures in his notebook looked at Ralph, "You want us to answer that?"
"Yeah."
"Well. I like science stuff. But it ain't never going to do me any good."
"What's your major?"
The kid sneered a little at the question, but he answered. "Speech."
Ralph smiled, "You ever hear of acoustics?"
"Yeah."
"How about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?"
The others laughed.
"Well. That's different." The kid said.
MARY
The inspection team was impressed by the condition of the Married dorm as a whole. They saw the problems and the things that needed done. Even though they were very interested and helpful Betty was glad to see them go.
The tour went on to some fraternity buildings. Then they walked to the Cathedral.
The huge old church building was in the best overall shape of any on the campus. They toured the building with the vicar marveling that no lights were burned out, every toilet worked, not even a hinge squeaked.
"We have people come in and do service to the Church by working on the building." He explained.
"Who pays for the supplies and hardware?" One of the inspectors asked.
"Much is donated, the rest we buy from the building fund."
They all looked around and nodded. "Is there anything you need that you cannot do for yourselves?" The superintendent asked.
Without batting an eye the vicar said. "More parking."
That was the one thing he was the least likely to get.
DALE
Ellen caught up with Dale after lunch. He was almost happy to see her.
"Could you tell me something sweetheart?" She said to him. Canney, nearby, smiled broadly and snickered.
Dale nodded and said sure.
Ellen got real close to him and suggested they get away from prying eyes and ears. "Some people are too nosey for their own good." She said to Canney with a sneer.
She led him to an empty study cubicle and closed the door behind them.
Before Dale could ask her what she wanted she threw herself around him for one of her full body kisses.
He wasn't as stiff as he used to be, but Ellen didn't get the response out of him she would have gotten out of your average football player.
Dale held his breath and did something he had thought about doing since the last time he had been with her.
As she kissed him and ran her hands all over him, he reached up inside her sweater and managed to just barely touch one of her breasts. He was shocked she was not wearing a bra.
Ellen was almost as shocked as he was. But she didn't say anything, she enjoyed his tentative touch and responded with a groping hand of her own. Her right hand dove down the back of Dale's jeans like it had done it a thousand times. Well, maybe not a thousand, but several hundred anyway.
He almost realized she was firmly squeezing his butt cheek, but most his brain was keyed on the fact he finger a real girl's real chest.
Finally it dawned on him she had wanted to ask him something. "Aahh, you wanted to ask me about something?" He managed to say in a bit.
MARY
Maggie was satisfied with her purchases. She had a whole new set of underwear and something special for Bonker.
"So how are you doing with Steve?" Maggie asked her as they walked into the Catholic dorm.
"I'm not going to get pregnant." she said rather defensively.
"I think you're becoming a nun." Maggie grinned. She took her new frilly lingerie out of the package, and held it up.
Cindy smiled at it. She had some things like that, but she hadn't worn them for a long time. She knew she looked good in it.
"When's the last time you got all sweaty with a guy somewhere besides a volleyball court?"
Cindy didn't say anything.
Maggie grinned at her friend. "I bet you haven't gotten any this semester."
Cindy made a face.
"Longer?" Maggie was incredulous. "This year?"
"No. When I went home in the summer I went out with Brian."
"Over four months?" Maggie said in shock. "Girl I'd be itching like nobody's business."
Cindy shrugged. "It was a little lonely for awhile, but I've gotten passed that now."
"You enjoy being celibate?"
She sat quietly for awhile. When she did answer she was serious. "Well, I don't have to worry about getting pregnant or catching a disease, and there isn't any pressure from some guy to get into my pants."
Maggie thought about it. "Yeah, until I got serious with Bonker I had thought about giving it up for awhile. Things were getting too complicated.'
"So you had given up your famous quickies?" Cindy wanted to know.
"Hell no! Are you crazy?" She smiled broadly.
DALE
Ralph sat in the office and ignored the others. He had a headache from his class. He poured some generic gin into a dirty coffee cup and clicked on his computer.
The Greek Math class was discussing in some detail the finer points of the progression of the Star Sequence. Canney and the others wondered about energy loads of photons from super giant stars. Ralph drank straight gin and cruised porno sites on the WEB. Slowly his headache faded and he paid some attention to the discussion.
Dale came in. He was disheveled and dazed. But he was smiling. "Our boy had an audience with Ellen." Canney told Ralph. Harrison smiled broadly and demanded details.
"She just wanted to know where Sam Jules had moved to." The others looked at him.
"It looks like she tortured it out of you." Harrison said.
Dale smiled.
DALE
Kremin was happy with the way things were going. His new bank accounts were going well. He had made extra sure there was only one card for them and the only other person that had any access at all to his accounts to remove or transfer funds was his mother. His new PIN number was so secret he didn't even have it memorized yet.
Kremin stopped and checked his mail after class and walked back to his room leafing through a catalog of videos and CD's. He gets to his room and finds the door closed, which was not unusual in the daytime, but it is also locked, which was.
Kremin knocked and shouted, then getting no answer he unlocked the door and peeked in. The room was in half-light, but he heard music from his steno.
"Hello?" He said wondering and turned on the light.
As he walked in he heard something to his left. He looked quickly not knowing what to expect.
Lin stood there smiling. She was wearing a very short skirt and a Prairie Dog T-shirt. "Do I look the part?" She asked him.
"You registered today?" He asked happy to see her.
"And moved in to an apartment close to campus."
He pushed the door shut and locked it. "This needs a celebration!" He said.
She smiled and picked up the wine cooler she had helped herself to. "What did you have in mind?" She tugged at the hem of her skirt a little.
MARY
The basketball practice was aimed at one thing. The Canadian man defense.
They watch the tapes, they run the plays, they discuss substitution in particular situations.
Jack is run through plays to call, defenses to set, formations to break for the basket with.
Finally in the scrimmage they see how it all works. At first they are a little rough with the man to man after playing the zone. But after several run throughs, they get it together and it seems to work.
"In two days you're going to be on live TV in Canada. I want them to think the Prairie Dogs are the best College Team in the USA."
The players cheered their coach.
Then they had to run some sprints and the cheers died away.
Later in their room Jack had knots in his stomach but he did his homework anyway. When Mary came in he tried to talk her into taking a shower with him, but she declined talking about how she had over a dozen pages of economics to read.
Jack sat and pouted. Mary ignored him for awhile. Then she surrendered and without a word picked up her towel and shampoo. Jack gleefully followed.
DALE
The discussion boarded on the absurd at times. But somehow they always brought it back to what they were supposed to be talking about. What Dale did with Ellen in the study cubicle.
He blushed from his hairline to his armpits.
"She just kissed me and put her arms around me and I kinda hugged her back." Dale said.
The men looked at each other.
"He's lying." Blumn said flatly.
Dale stammered and fidgeted. "Well, she did put her hand down the back of my pants."
"Why?" Harrison said roughly. "You ain't got enough ass to fill a teacup."
"You got enough to fill a dump truck." Canney added. "How did you hug her back?"
Dale thought he might get in trouble if he said what he did. He looked at his hands and made a face.
"You felt her up didn't you?" Harrison smiled. "The boy's learning."
"I didn't put my hand down her pants." It wasn't exactly a lie.
"Why the hell not?" Ralph demanded.
Dale flexed his fingers and shivered.
"Did she have a bra on?"
"No." Dale said meekly.
Ralph grinned. "And how would you know that for sure unless you got a handful?"
Dale said nothing, but shrugged and went back to drawing on the board.
When he was facing the board he smiled to himself. He was pleased with himself. Ellen hadn't been wearing pants, she had on a split skirt, and Dale had put his other hand down that. He felt Ellen's backsides as she kneaded his. DALE was convinced her butt was perhaps the best feeling skin he had ever touched.
Finally she had gotten the information she had wanted out of him. With a final kiss and squeeze she was gone and he was left to regroup and go back to class.
MARY
Cannon dorm was getting back to some semblance of normalcy.
All but a few rooms on the first floor were occupied. And only the laundry room was still completely shut down.
The head plumber smiled at Cindy and said they should have that back to normal soon.
"That's great." Cindy said to the man.
"Well. I'd hate to see the overtime bill for this. Not to mention all the special equipment. This wasn't the cheapest way to do this job."
"But it had to be done." She looked at the fresh concrete where a huge hole in the floor used to be.
The plumber nodded and went back to work.
MARY
Mary still wasn't comfortable having sex in the shower of a dorm communal bathroom. She wasn't excited about the idea they might have somebody walk in on them, she was terrified by it. But Jack kept pushing her little by little.
Finally she relented and leaned back against the wall and Mary lifted her right leg up. He had to nearly crouch to gain entry, but he managed it.
Mary couldn't get into it at all. She had her ears perked for anybody coming into the bathroom, never mind the sign on the shower entrance that indicated it was in use, she was convinced somebody would walk in on them.
She stared at the curtain, expecting at any minute for it to be pulled back and somebody to start yelling at them. Or worse, laughing.
Her nerves made her dry and tight, Jack worked hard at trying to get her to enjoy it, but it just wasn't to be. Finally he gave up.
"I'm sorry, we just aren't made for doing it in the shower." She said. He held her close, "We tried."
Mary looked up at him through the running water. "Let's move this to our room. I promise I'll make it up to you."
"You need to finish your homework." Jack let the water run into his face.
Mary slid her hand down and grabbed him firmly, "Later."
He looked at her, she was smiling lovingly.
He returned her grab, rubbing her gently.
Momentarily forgetting her paranoia, she stroked him and pulled him down to kiss her in the running water. The embrace and mutual touching, coupled with the warm water and earlier failed attempt took its toll on Jack.
In a few minutes Mary has to wash off stickiness from her hand and leg.
"I'm sorry. We should have went back to the room." She apologizes.
Jack smiles at her. "We still will. Besides. It was kinda fun."
Mary slithered right up to him, "You still want to?"
Jack pushed her back against the wall and dropped to his knees, licking and kissing her, "Guess."
She finally pushed him away and moved for her towel, again worried about being caught. "Come on."
DALE
Ellen didn't loose any time with Dale's information.
She went searching for Sam Jules. With good reason.
Rumor had circulated through Ellen's circles about a freshman boy with exceptional endowment.
She had dismissed it as rumor and wishful thinking until she heard from one of her girlfriends that worked in the main gym's infirmary/first aid/nurses office that the rumor was true.
A young man had staggered into the office with a groin muscle injury from a PE class. The nurse told him to take off his sweat pants and she'd check him out.
Ellen's friend had helped the nurse, and gasped out loud when she saw what she saw.
The nurse was impressed as well.
Ellen had to meet him.
DALE
Carl was back to normal.
He had plans to meet Jim in the library before his last class. He was almost healed from the attack. At the station he checked the show rotation to see when he could get back on the air.
He had made up most of his work from his classes that he had missed and was back on time that way. He might loose one letter grade in physiology because he couldn't make up a test. But that was all right with him.
He went to the physiology lab and found his partner. A girl that had been kidding him about his being gay since they had met last year. She had been relieved that he was healthy again a couple of weeks ago when he came back.
"Are you still gay?" She asked him with a smile.
He nodded with a smile. "You are still safe." He said.
She explained their progress on their project, Comparing diameters of veins at several different places in the circulatory systems of various mammals.
"Thanks for covering for me while I was laid up." He said to her. "I'd like to make it up to you.
She told him that was all right, but if he was serious she'd get back to him on that. They reviewed their data and wrapped it up.
She asked him about his promise as they were leaving the lab.
They discussed something she had been interested in.
Carl always met Jim upstairs at a study table between the stacks to help him with some of his homework.
Jimbo came in in his usual huff and slammed his books on the table.
"My lab partner in phys asked me something today, and I think it's a neat idea." Carl said.
"Oh, that bitch Carla?" Jimbo sneered.
"She's not that bad." Carl said. "I kinda like her."
"So what was her idea?" Jimbo asked.
MARY
Maggie enjoyed giving out the vouchers for damages from the fire.
Girls came to her with all kinds of claims for losses from the fire.
She had heard about everything from boxes of tampons to engagement rings.
She gave them the forms to submit for the losses, and suggested that for things like jewelry and major appliances that they get receipts or statements from witnesses or something to back up the claims. Several had been paid already.
Now if a girl had already been paid for some things and remembered she had lost a curling iron and her roommate collaborated, she signed a statement and Maggie gave her a voucher for whatever last weeks department store ad said a curling iron cost. Big-ticket items were still handled by the insurance company with a major paper chase.
She had a list of the odder items she had been asked to issue a check for.
Among them were certain personal appliances, a pair of handcuffs for another girl, and for one young woman that was embarrassed to death the whole time, but she couldn't afford to replace it herself.
A fishnet bodysuit with open crotch.
DALE
Dale couldn't look Peggy in the face that night back at the house.
She came into the music room looking for him, he was sitting in the chair he liked in the corner reading.
"Hi!" she said. She was just as perky as ever, dressed nicely, and smelled good. Dale looked at her then looked down quickly.
"What's wrong?" She asked him.
He was ashamed of what he had done with Ellen now. He hadn't even thought about it until then, he felt like he had just cheated on Peggy.
"Come on. Tell me what's going on."
"I can't." He said weakly.
"Does Doctor Harrison know? I'll ask him."
"NO!" Dale sat up quickly. "No. I'll tell you. But..." He took a deep breath. "Can we go up to your room, no, my room, no, you go to your room and I'll go..."
"Shhh, slow down. We'll both go up to my room and you tell me ok?"
Dale hesitated.
"Or I'll ask Doctor Harrison."
Dale closed his book and got up. He walked like he was going to his own firing squad.
MARY
Jack took charge as soon as the door to their room closed behind them.
Jack ripped Mary's bathrobe off her and pushed her onto the bed, then diving between her legs he picked up where she had made him stop in the shower.
Mary shrieked and fought back a little, but he lifted her hips clear off the bed and worked her over with relish. Soon she was biting a pillow and pounding on the bed.
Jack enjoyed it immensely when he got her screaming. Because once she started vocalizing during their lovemaking, she didn't stop, she just got builder and more into it. If she began and stayed quiet, she would barely sign until they were finished even though she had just as good a time.
This time she was into the noisemaking in a big way. And he didn't let up even after she pulled his hair and moaned as she went through the clouds. He was trying to get her to go a second time.
It took some doing but she started that way again. When she was well on her way, he jumped onto the bed and pulled her over on top of him.
Mary was vaguely aware of the change in her fortunes, she made gurgling noises and found herself kissing him with her scent strong on his face.
Then Jack began working his pelvic muscles as he had his facial ones earlier. Mary's noises kept up.
Soon they were both in serious need of a second shower.
It took awhile, but it was worth it. Later they took another shower.
Dr Myersong
Reading in bed wasn't normally something the President of the University did. Especially reading in bed next to a beautiful woman who was sound asleep, and nude at that.
But it was something he had to do now.
He was reading the preliminary report on the buildings they had visited so far. He had gotten up to get a drink and visit the bathroom and noticed his fax machine in the hallway blinking. He checked it and found the report.
Yyavonne barely stirred as he read the papers, she was smiling in her sleep looking so lovely Myersong wished he had a camera.
They were to meet the group first thing in the cafeteria for breakfast to discuss what they had seen so far and where to go from there.
Of the twenty-five buildings they had been through, only three or four were in what they decided was 'very good' shape. Most were in passable shape, 'good' but needed some attention. Five, not counting Cannon with its plumbing nightmare, needed something major done immediately.
But the director of the maintenance department offered no excuses. They all knew they had been playing a budgetary shell game the last few years. Stealing from here to patch there. And now it had caught up to them.
Attached to the list was things they had to take care of as soon as possible. In the Sigma house they had to deal with a motley collection of mismatched and patched wiring that was a straight up danger to the residents.
That was being done today. There was a river in the basement of the media center from one of the bathrooms, coming out of a wall flowing to a floor drain.
That was on the list for the next day or so. The one problem they called a private contractor on had already been looked at.
In the apartment complex, the ventilator was sucking fumes from the furnace room into the laundry room. To the point where the residents complained that even with the windows and doors opened their clothes smelled like fuel oil coming out of the drier. As soon as the inspection team hooked the smoke detector up in the room, it went off and refused to shut up.
"Interesting?" Yyavvone asked him.
He looked at her, the only thought he had was that he had to kiss her.
He did.
DALE
Ellen found the mysterious Sam Jules outside his fraternity house.
She had enough description of him that when she saw a heavyset white guy with dirty blond hair coming up the street she leaned over and hollered "Sam!" out of her car window. He turned and looked.
"Yeah."
"Can I talk to you about an art project?" Ellen had decided to use her old standby opening line.
"Sure." He said and got in her car with little prodding from her.
MARY
Miss Amberjoyce was now going through World War II from the Axis perspective.
She went through Hitler's Astrologers and Rommell's insistence on explaining the most intricate military strategy to his wife in letters from Africa.
She pointed out several key factors that in the end added up to Germany loosing the war. One of which was their letting the Italians fight on their side.
"It is a valid point of argument that the Nazis may have been better off after about 1942 if they had allowed Italy to join the Allies. Musolini was not a warrior, the country could not support a war economically, and their army was completely outclassed by everybody including the Brits." She said. Then she went through the evidences from El Alamain to Rome.
"Late in the war, particularly the insane commands that where a German soldier was standing was where he was to remain. No retreats, no withdrawing, and so on. That lead to their loosing the cream of their armies in Africa, in Stalingrad, Cherbourg in France. It was then the war turned against them. And the blame lies in the Riechchancelry. With Hitler and Jodl. They were told by their field commanders what was happening and refused to listen."
Jack listened like he always did. Until Miss Amberjoyce had started doing this, just talking about history, explaining things in real world terms and talking TOO the students did he actually feel like he understood what had happened.
He smiled under his breath to Mary said, "We won this one right?"
"Yes we did. And some would say it was a near thing at that." Miss Amberjoyce had heard him.
She went into the island battle in the Pacific when the Marines came close to pulling out after they reported to the ships, "Issue in doubt." At Midway the Japanese had several times more ships than we did when they withdrew. "They didn't know they were actually winning in Burma" she told them.
Jack made himself smaller in his chair and listened.
DALE
Dale slouched into Peggy's room and sat on her desk chair like it was made of razor blades.
"So what happened?" Peggy asked him.
Dale's face was so down Peggy thought he had been thrown out of school or something. She had to him some to get it out of him. Finally he said Ellen had wanted to talk to him and she kissed him.
"Is that all?" From his face she knew it wasn't.
"She touched me... then. Ahh. I ahh, touched her."
"Where did she touch you?"
It took Peggy twenty minutes to get the story out of him. Finally she had it, and she wasn't upset. She was more interested in what he thought about her and how he felt doing it.
MARY
Steve had been thinking about a girl a lot lately.
But it wasn't Cindy.
Cindy had been thinking about a guy, and it was Steve.
Steve had went out with Haley. A girl that sometimes tutored him in French. She was fluent in the language, he was struggling through the intro class for a credit. He liked her, she had dark hair, an outstanding figure in spite of a slight tummy bulge, and she responded to his charming advances without costing him dinner and a movie.
And Steve made his charming advances, he needed help in French, although that was as good excuse for a date as any other.
When Cindy called him he was 'studying' French with Haley.
Well, he was studying giving Haley a hickey while doing the deed in the doggy position. He detached his lips from the back of her neck but did not uncouple from her as he reached for the phone.
"Hello?" He said after clearing his throat.
"Hi Steve. It's Cindy. Mind if I stop by later. I could use a glass of wine and maybe we could talk a little."
He kept moving and smiled, this was great. Making love to one great looking chick and having another one call for a date. His stars must be in alignment or something. "Sure. See you in about an hour, I've got something here I need to finish up. Meet you downstairs." He said and hung up when she agreed.
"Who was that?" Haley asked as he got back to work with his lips.
"My Economics tutor, but she doesn't do anything but economics."
Haley grinned. "She doesn't know what she's missing." She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.
Steve checked his progress on her hickey and smiled again. He didn't have an econ class. Things were going his way all around.
DALE
Colleen went though the latest art assignment. The offensive water colors.
The class had given her an array of stuff she had expected. Lousy renditions of everything from male organs, characatures of her, gross-out attempts that looked like illustrations of autopsies.
So far nothing she had made any impression on her, offensive or otherwise.
Most of them got a 'C' for artistic attempt, and more or less the same for completing the assignment.
They had tried.
Then she found Jimbo's.
Not only did it offend her, it almost made her ill.
The oversized paper contained so many images in such contrast and with such varying of levels of detail, she couldn't look at it long enough to grade it.
An 'A+'
MARY
Jack was up Tuesday. He wished the Canadian game was over with.
They were leaving that night to go to Springfield to practice in the convention center and get some of the butterflies out.
The coaches were nervous that they had been through so much distraction with the drug business and the suspension and all that to play their first game on what would amount to international attention could overwhelm them.
It had seemed like a good idea when it was set up. The Canadian National Team comes to town for an exhibition, then they play a few games against some other teams, then start their season two weeks after everybody else. No chance to even make the conference playoffs, but, on the whole, things could have been a lot worse.
But now, on the last day of November, things got worse.
The announcement went through the coaching staff of all the sports, then it hit the athletes. Then the student body.
The football team would not go to the playoffs, to a bowl, or anything else. They would be reduced to co-champs. And Southwestern, the team they beat at the last minute in the last game of the season was going to the playoffs.
Jack got sick to his stomach and walked back to the dorm slowly.
Halfway there he realized he was not walking back to the dorm. Old habits sometimes don't die. He was crossing the street to the Independent House. He shrugged, feeling his stomach still churning, and went inside.
He found a beer and sat in front of the big TV, not even waking Hairy up when he changed it to a war movie.
"No Colonel, we're in the one-oh-one."
"Well you're in the eighty-second now." John Wayne told a couple of GI's.
He recognized it as a WWII movie and decided that it would do nicely.
DALE
"She's doing a research paper in behavioral science and wants to do a study on us."
Jimbo looked at Carl with open contempt on his face for the suggestion. "I don't want to answer a bunch of questions about why I'm a faggot."
Carl shook his head. "No, no questions like that. Well, she said there might be a few. But she mainly wants to talk to us and take notes and stuff."
That got Jimbo to at least think about it. "About what?"
Carl blushed. "Making love."
"Go thorough that again. She wants to do what?"
Carl explained it again. The girl had done interviews, but she really didn't understand what men did together. And if she was going to be a behavioral scientist, she should at least know what went on with them.
"Tell her to rent a movie." Jimbo said.
"She has. And it didn't help." Carl remembered something that might change Jimbo's mind. He wanted to do it regardless, but this... "We get paid."
"How much?"
DALE
She drove to the overlook in the park.
Sam Jules answered her basic questions about how he liked the frat house, his major, and so on without hesitation. But now sitting looking at the boat house and listening to the radio he was wondering about this art project she had wanted help with.
She maintained her act. Talking about a still life she wanted to do that was a study of different things from several angles.
Sam wasn't slow on the uptake. "So you want me to pose or something?"
Ellen smiled. "Well, yes. Sort of."
"No problem. I posed for a girl that was doing photography last month."
"But I can't pay you. Not this time anyway, If they like it and want me to do more maybe I can."
Sam grinned. "I'm sure we can work something out."
It was music to her ears. She leaned over toward him. "Maybe. What do you charge?"
He ran his hand up her arm and down the front of her blouse. "Standard rate." His hand rubbed her thigh. "Plus interest."
Ellen looked into his eyes. She wasn't sure who was working on who.
MARY
Bonker made up for not going to the wrestling match by working as ref at a high school match that night.
And by all accounts he did all right.
The coaches from the three schools in the round robin tourney screamed at him. He was booed and cheered in turn by the fans. One of the girls wearing a 'Mat Booster' T-shirt from one of the schools seemed to be looking at him with more than normal interest, but he never followed up with her.
And during a break he ate a sausage on a stick and drank a soda and gave a brief statement to a sportswriter.
When it was done he drove back to campus and thought about the evening.
He had enjoyed himself. He only had to call a few minor penalties and break up things when they got off the mat without any trouble. He parked at the independent house then he ran to the Catholic Dorm. It wasn't late, so the door wasn't locked. He walked in and went straight to the Super's room.
Maggie wasn't in, but her door was open so he went in and watched her TV waiting on her.
When Maggie did get in Bonk was sound asleep on the bed she had set up as a couch. She kissed him gently and went to sleep on her bed.
The next morning Bonker was almost in tears. He was depressed because he hadn't woke up and told her all about the matches and how much he loved her and so on.
"Hey. We'll have other nights, and there will be other matches you can bore me to death with."
"I never assume that any more." Bonker said.
And Maggie was in tears.
DALE
"Can I see you after class?" Colleen asked Jimbo.
He didn't answer, but nodded and wondered what was up.
The art class watched a movie about computer graphics and then got handouts about using numbers on paper to represent elevation for doing a three dimensional work.
Jimbo tried hard to stay awake. He did
The class hour ended and Jimbo stayed in his seat until the room was empty. Colleen stood and smiled at him. He had to admit to himself she was a good-looking woman, and he wouldn't mind making time with her in spite of himself.
She motioned for him to come with her. For a brief second Jimbo thought that maybe that was what she had in mind.
But that wasn't on her agenda. She led him upstairs to a room that he had never been in.
'ART LAB' the door said.
The room next to her office was where students did projects that couldn't or shouldn't be done downstairs in one of the studios. This was where such different art tools as dental drills and a small arc welder were kept.
She stood by the door and watched Jimbo walk through the room.
"You are wasting time in that class." She told him. "If you want, you can spend the class hour in here working on whatever project you want to hand in for your final. And I would be happy to recommend you if you want to switch to an art major."
"You think I'd do all right?" He was fingering a metal cutting grinder wheel. "My current major doesn't seem to be making it."
Colleen wondered how do you tell somebody whose arrest record rivaled his school transcript that he was a natural. "You have a gift for presenting things.
"Did you like the water color?"
Colleen smiled. "It was a masterpiece. I'd never seen anything like that."
"Carl hated it."
"It was one of those you cannot be indifferent to. I liked it though."
Jimbo looked over the rack of paints. Every color under the sun was represented. On the wall was several old works. He had one last idea before he agreed to all of it. "I might need you to pose for me."
"And I might need you as well." She grinned. Every male art student felt he had to proposition her to pose nude. She accepted on some occasions.
His face didn't change expressions at all. But he did snort. "OK."
"Ok what?"
"All of it. I'll do your projects, I'll switch major, we'll pose naked for each other at the rifle range. And I'll bring you my first draft of the watercolor. I hated it."
MARY
Mary thought she had convinced Jack that it wasn't all his fault they weren't playing in a bowl game this year. Then Jack sank back into his funk and refused to talk again.
She had heard about the football team after her noon class. She called the dorm and got no answer. She went there looking for him, then to the gym. Mary knew the only other place he'd go was the Independent house.
She found him in front of the TV. Hairy was still snoring on the couch.
"They were all using. They knew the rules. The evidence was what did them in." Mary told him for about the fifth time.
He nodded. Finally realizing his stewing over the whole thing wasn't going to help anything.
They stood in the kitchen and talked to different ones as they passed through.
Kim came in with a stack of books.
"Sometimes I hate professors." She said dropping them on the table. "Hi Mary. Hi Jack." She said, leaning up to Jack and kissing him lightly.
"Hello Kim." Mary said not liking her familiarity with Jack.
But Kim wasn't done with her greetings yet. She hugged Mary tightly and kissed her cheek. When Mary turned slightly, Kim kissed her again, this time full on the lips.
Mary was too shocked to respond. But Kim held her hands for a second, then she said something about having a lot of work to do, collected her books, and went upstairs.
"She's gotten even friendlier." Jack observed.
"A lot." Mary answered wiping her lips. "Friendlier."
DALE
After the late supper Dale was torn between wanting to see Peggy and pick up where they had left off, although he was terrified by what might happen next.
Peggy didn't spend a lot of time wondering where he went, although she knew if he wasn't in his room he was probably with one of the gamers or Dr Harrison. She was evaluating her own feelings, and wondering if she was more ready for it now than she was when she broke up with her high school boyfriend when he wanted her to go all the way.
She stood in front of her dressing mirror in her room and looked at herself. No, she decided, she wasn't the same frightened little girl she had been two years ago.
She took off her outfit and found something a little more suitable to finding out if Dale was ready to move their relationship the rest of the step forward they had started before supper.
Then she slipped her light coat over herself and went to find him.
Dale was in the meditation room. He wasn't praying or reading, just sitting. Peggy sat next to him for a few minutes. Then she tugged on his sleeve to get him to come back upstairs.
Cont in Two Dorms Part 43