Two Dorms Part 9

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****** DALE
      Dale was completely out of his league, he had no frame of reference to judge Colleen against.
      Then again, she was used to that. From her fiery auburn hair down past her sparkling eyes and perfect teeth, creamy light brown skin, hourglass figure, all the way down to her 'Marilyn Monroe should've been so lucky' legs, and podiatrist dream feet, she was gorgeous. An art grad student she spoke a couple of languages and was very well read in several widely varied subjects. She also enjoyed making men a quivering mass of insecurity, even when she didn't consciously try to do so. Colleen loved her looks, she was slightly vain, and she worked very hard keeping herself in good shape.
      "A pleasure to meet you Dale." Colleen said sweetly and took the freshman's hand which had been hanging limp at his side.
      Dale felt fire run up his arm from her touch.
      Harrison smiled to Colleen, then he steered Dale to a chair and shoved him into it.
      "Dr. Harrison?" Dale managed to finally say. Harrison looked at him. "Does, SHE, live here?" He said quietly.
      "Yes Dale. But she is really a man." Harrison said flatly.
      Dale's face went through every expression in his library.
      Harrison decided to say something before Dale made an even bigger fool of himself. "I was kidding. She is a woman, ALL woman."
      Colleen sat next to Peggy. It was the custom of the house to assign a new resident to three or four house regulars to teach them the facts of life in the Roz house. Peggy and Sandy were going to instruct Peggy in several important lessons. The first already having begun. How to dress for supper, and how to eat almost completely vegetarian and enjoy it.
      But even Colleen had been caught at Burger Heaven with a grease dripping double with extra onions, although she denied it even in theface of photographic evidence.
      Harrison and the others had the harder job. Keith had taken one look at Dale and pronounced him hopeless. Rob agreed after being bribed to try to get Dale to keep his room straightened up. Harrison was starting the supper table etiquette training. Benjamin was going to force some art appreciation down Dale's throat, and all of them were going to teach him how to be a sports fanatic.
      You see, Dale ate like he was in a lumber camp without utensils, knew nothing of art and music, only watched a little baseball now and then, and his room usually looked like a Federal Disaster Area.
      Rumor had it moans had been heard coming from the portrait of the Elder Rozbilski when it was announced Dale was moving in.

****** MARY
      Friday morning dawned on campus. Mary woke up. She seemed to remember Jack being there. She opened her eyes when she realized he wasn't in bed with her. Her clothes felt creepy having been slept in. Mary sat up on the bed. He wasn't in the room. Mary gathered some of her things together to go wash up. There was a knock on the door.
      "Mary?" Jack said from the hall.
      She opened the door. "Hi. How long you been up?"
      "Awhile. I went down to the boys bathroom downstairs to wash up. I borrowed you soap and stuff." He handed them to her, she smiled.
      Jack looked at her. "You look a little rough."
      She wasn't offended. "Last night was a little strange."
      "... guess we slept together." Jack said sheepishly.

****** MARY
      Jack watched Mary's TV while she washed up and dressed for class. They went to breakfast together and didn't seem to notice the many stares they got from some of the others in the cafeteria.
      In history class, the teacher, Miss Amberjoyce droned on and on about the Spanish Civil War. She mentioned countries that weren't involved, and lines of royalty that stretched around the world.
      Mary was finding hard to stay awake and take notes just in case some of this was on the test. Note-taking had been her strong suit all through school. Except when she was tired. Like today. Her brain and her hand weren't on the same wavelength.
      Jack had never been a major league note-taker. He listened to the teacher and decided what sounded important and wrote words and phrases down in his own shorthand. Sometimes he was right, it was important.
      Today he had a blank page and a blanker expression on his face. None of what she was saying sounded important. He looked at Mary, her eyes were heavy.
      "You didn't sleep good?" Jack asked her.
      She shook her head.
      "Maybe you don't like sleeping with strange men." He said with an evil smile.
      "Mister Foster. Maybe you can tell us what Franco's grievance was with the reigning family in Spain." Miss Amberjoyce said sharply.
      "Uhhh. Franco. Uh. He was a facist wasn't he?" He remembered her using that word earlier.
      The teacher nodded then explained some trivialities of Franco's politics and his feelings about the Spanish crown. Jack sighed.

****** DALE
      The meal was scrumptious. Martha was a great cook, and the house budget allowed her to purchase only the best ingredients. Plus Martha's pride would not let her simmer a spaghetti sauce for less than nine hours no matter what. She baked her own breads, made her own pasta, and everything else. Her staff were excellent cooks in their own right, but it was clear the sign on the wall in her small office was telling the truth, 'MARTHA'S KITCHEN' it said.
      Dale ate and ate, then there was a dessert. Something with pastry and butterscotch and real whipped cream with fresh fruit on top.
      "It is low calorie." Martha said to the women at the table. "Lester created it the other day for his Dietetic Class. I made some adjustments to the recipe."
      In a few minutes of chewing Dr. Harrison pronounced it delicious in spite of its being low calorie. Everyone agreed.
      Later alone in her room, Peggy felt uneasy.
      She dressed for bed and decided she was just getting used to the new place. Sitting on her bed she looked out at the great window in the cathedral. It gave her a sense of comfort just by its presence.
      Peggy lay down on the big bed. It wasn't the feather bed she expected by the look of the thing. Under the sheets was a brand new Posture-Firm mattress, specially made to fit the bed.
      Her dream that night was of being the mistress of the house of a huge estate. Peggy walked the halls in flowing dresses with servants waiting on her every whim. Then Dale showed up and dumped hot chocolate on the rug.

****** MARY
      Later, again in Mary's room to avoid: A. The lady reporter who had the house staked out. B. The soccer coach. And C. Curious students. Jack once again spent the night in Mary's room.
      Cindy grinned at Mary evilly as Mary ferried their dinner upstairs.
      "We haven't had time." She looked at the super, "And we haven't been left alone."
      Cindy took the hint. "Yes ma'am."
      Jack was staring out the window when she came in.
      "What's up?"
      "I'm supposed to be at soccer practice right now. For tomorrow's game."
      Mary sighed. "It's not your fault."
      Jack sat down at her desk and kind of sagged.
      "If you hadn't done it, they'd have gotten busted eventually anyway."
      He looked up at her. "You make an awful lot of sense. Are you sure you're not going to be a counselor or something?"
      She smiled. "Hungry?"
      "Starving." His usual answer to that question.
      Mary opened the bag. The biting smells of Chinese food wafted through the room.
      They ate and listened to the music Jack found on a WEB site.
      "You should get a better computer." Mary told him.
      Jack shrugged. "Mine works."
      "But you said you can't do that on yours."
      "I can't even dial out on mine. My room is the one they forgot to put a computer line in."
      Mary laughed. "The house is wired for sound and you can't use your computer."
      Jack didn't answer, he played more music and ate.
      All things considered, they had a good time that evening. And neither of them felt obligated to take the relationship to the next step.
      Jack fell asleep in what passed for an easy chair in the dorm rooms.
      Mary smiled at him and went to the bathroom to shower and change into her nightgown. Then, under a pile of covers. She fell asleep too.
      For a Friday night, this was the quietest night either of them had spent in months.


Two Dorms Part 10

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