It is the first day of the summer term at Blue Ridge Community College. A perfect time for new and returning students to get registered for classes, meet up with old friends or make new ones. If you are new to BRCC, please be sure to refer to a Campus Map to get oriented.
It is a beautiful early summer day, excitement and anxiety, along with other emotions are all about. As are hormones of the young and not so young students, staff, and faculty.
As she heard another voice on the other end she nearly stopped in her tracks. Was this some kind of joke? Catherine looked at her phone, trying to figure out if she had dialed the wrong number.
"Euhm... I'm Catherine Jenkins and... I saw that you were looking for a roommate, so...", she tried to think of a rhyme on the spot. "can I come and see the place at...8?". She turned around, making sure no one had seen or heard her make a fool of herself.
*********************************
The crowd of students was moving in all senses as everyone was trying to figure out where to go. Catherine was no different, the building was huge. She managed to find the classroom in time and sat down somewhere in the middle. She couldn't stop thinking about Drew and their date later that day. She opened her laptop but was unable to focus. 4 o clock could not come fast enough.
Those five minutes seemed like a lifetime. Every waking moment for Sabrina was pangs and aches, in her head and her stomach. The muffin she thought would soak up whatever liquor was in her still. She could barely get it down. Oof. And every party was going to be like this? The energy drink though was refreshing. She drank the whole thing down and immediately wanted another. She puffed up her cheeks. She blew out air. She dipped forward to rest her head on her arms. She leaned back, neck craned, staring at the ceiling, mouth ajar, just silently aching and gawking.
And then Calliope was here. Had it been five minutes? Bit too much last night? the neon haired girl jested as she sat down. ”Holy fuck,” Sabrina just huffed, sitting properly now, facing her helper, her business partner, part time lover. Calliope asked about the list and Sabrina dug into the side pouch of her other bag. The work bag. She drew out a cheap android phone, passing it across the table. For business purposes only. It had the list and all the messages and stuff, so Callie could stay up to date on who wanted what and let them know where she was.
No names, no contacts, delete everything when she was done. Tomorrow, start over again. It was good money too. Illicit. For girls their age, it was great pocket money for all sorts of things.
”Twelve so far. I’ve bagged everything already.” She informed Calliope, Sabrina taking off her sunglasses next, showing off her glossy green eyes to the younger woman. ”Do half now, do half after your registration. You should have been on that already. See, bad influence, hanging out with me.” Sabrina joked morbidly, though she didn’t feel an ounce of regret or remorse at bringing Calliope into this illegal business of selling drugs to needy students, whether for studying or recreation.
”You just meet them and make the sale. And hey, Callie,” Sabrina leaned closer, her teasing grin at it’s widest now, ”no exchanging product for sex. You take hard cash, or nothing.” She chided the other woman lightly, knowing how flirtatious the other woman could be. Probably how Sabrina got bagged into taking her on as a business partner. Junior business partner.”When you’re done your registration, call me, I’ll join you for whatever’s left. Right now…I’m just fuckin’ dying, Callie bear.” Sabrina groaned again. But…there would be another party tonight probably. And she was still young and vigorous. She wasn’t going to learn her lesson.
"Eight tonight. Indeed you might. Find the room within your sight," Calliope confirmed with a delighted giggle that this Catherine Jenkins person had played along with the silliness of her little game.
That certainly bode well.
"If you find the price right. Pay and stay the night. I promise I won't bite," she concluded in a sing song tone before ending the call half way up the stairs to the café. @Catarina
Not commenting further on the state of her "boss" and casual part time lover - like the night before which had seen them doing the bump and grindtango among tangled bed sheets at some dark hour of the night before Calliope had left the sleeping, or rather passed out, Sabrina to recuperate and headed home for a shower and an hour or two of sleep in her own bed - Calliope took the work phone and the work bag with a nod and a giggle at Sabrina's caution that hard cash was the only accepted method of payment.
"You're not getting old are you my sweet addiction?" Calliope teased with a giggle and leaned in for her second kiss that morning.
"See you after registrations then Candy Pooh."
She then skipped away, browsing the list on the phone.
"Ben and Edie," she muttered with a smile on her face.
"Shame I have to take hard cash."
She texted them with where they would find her, a small copse of trees and bushes near the path leading to parking lots 8 & 9. It gave good cover from prying eyes but was only one of the locations she used for distribution. Mobility was key for avoiding detection. She had learned this the hard way during her junior year in high school.
One by one she deleted the orders as they were picked up. New ones came in occasionally that would have to wait until after lunch and registrations.
A double cheese and bacon burger with french mustard and raw onions, fries and a blueberry shake later Calliope made her way to registrations and registered for a few art related classes as well as renting a small studio where she could work. She had always been quite good at drawing but it wasn't really until she discovered oil painting and the much less figurative options it made available that she really grew an interest in making her own art. It also had the advantage that there weren't all that many lectures or scheduled classes which left her with a lot of free time.
It was close to 2 pm when she called Brina to report that all the mornings orders had been distributed and that she had 10 new ones.
"Meet at the Humanities building?" she asked.
"I want to check out the studio I rented for my work this year." @BennyQ
Abi smiled as the cute, feminine boy introduced himself and returned the compliment she had given him. "Well, Kelly Jean, maybe you and I can be cute together sometime. Hang out, do a pamper session, maybe go out and find some people to flirt with." She said.
At Callie's comment about an LGBTQIA+ club, Abi nodded. "That's definitely worth looking into. See you around." She said, then turned her attention back to Kelly Jean as Callie flounced off.
"Lucky you, getting kissed by that hottie." She said with a grin. "That was a good idea she had, though, about getting a queer extracurricular group together for the people like us. I'm definitely gonna see about talking to people about getting it going again." She added, eyes sweeping over Kelly Jean's body. "So, Kelly — can I call you Kelly? — if you don't mind my asking, what's your preference in partners? Boys, girls, either? I mean, me personally, the answer is 'yes.'"
Takashi had worked at Blue Ridge Community College for almost 10 years now and as such there weren't many among the staff who had been there longer than he had. Not the principal or the vice principal and among the teachers it was only Ms McIntyre who taught biology who had been there longer but she was only a year away from retirement. This of course had its advantages. For one: He had the best office in the entire building. Not even the principal had a corner office with two windows and a private bathroom. Takashi had managed to get hold of it between the former and the current Principal.
Having no classes before lunch and only an Introduction to Modernism in the afternoon Takashi spent most of the morning in the gym going through a regiment of various martial arts techniques. He usually teach two classes, one for those who wants a work out and gain both strength, agility and focus, and one for the female students who wants to learn how to defend themselves.
Afterwards he went back to his offices, hoping to meet the new assistant professor. Being as long-standing as he was among the staff it often fell to him to introduce new members of the teaching staff.
@GeekyLina (assuming Lina returns to her office after having had the pendulum installed that is.)
Even though the discussion about the pendulum, train models and her bikini pics with Jake had been interesting, Lina decided to return to her office after making sure that Jake had all of the measurements he needed, even though it seemed like the measurements he really wanted to take would be along her body rather than the interior of Physics Lab.
When she was about to enter her office, she noticed there was a man walking around the corridor as if he was waiting for someone or at least hoping to meet someone that might pass through the area. Lina had seen some photos from most of the faculty members when she was doing some research about the college after she applied for the position as an Assistant Professor, so she roughly remembered seeing the man and quickly remembered he was one of the Professors there. After thinking for a bit she suddenly remembered his name from the page with the information on the different professors and so she decided to approach and present herself:
- Hi, you are professor Takashi, right? Well I hope I said that right. My name is Carolina Santos, I am the new Assistant Professor! Everyone calls me Lina though, so feel free to refer to me as you prefer!
Lina smiled trying to seem as friendly as possible, knowing that meeting the other professors would be part of the job and it was important to cause a good impression, if she wanted to avoid getting in trouble. She already got into enough trouble by projecting some of her bikini photos during class and the Principal had sent her an email, while she was in the Physics lab with Jake, warning her to refrain from such behaviours in the future, followed by another email from the Principal's personal email address to the email she had on her CV asking her if she wouldn't mind sending him those pics to be on record due to her violation of the rules.
Takashi had got some preliminary paperwork done while he waited and then, as he often did when he had some time left but not enough to hit the gym, he had taken a walk along the corridors of the building, hands casually in his loose fitting trousers, casually humming aloud to himself the main orchestral theme from Beethoven's fifth piano concerto.
The afternoon was late and he had almost given up hope of happening upon the latest addition to the faculty staff when he turned at the end of the corridor farthest from his office to make one final lap before closing up and head back to the gym for his Self-Defense class. As it had been every year it was quite a popular class in which he did not just teach the young women around BRCC ho to physically defend themself against a potential attacker but also discussed ways to avoid such situations altogether, talking about how these young women could stay (and feel) safe without having to restrict their lives.
He recognised the assistant professor by not recognising her. He knew all the other professors by sight and name, even those who had not been there very long.
"Technically Ms Santos it is Mr Ito. Takashi is my given name. It means Prosperous Noble."
He smiled and corrected himself.
"Or Prosperous and Noble depending on how you read it."
Realising that most people in America did not necessarily explain the meaning of their name, especially not variations depending on which syllables (Kanji) it is written with but added one other variation on the meaning of his name: Filial Piety.
"My pardon Ms Santos ... Lina, if I may, I understand that this is perhaps not customary in America but it is an old habit that dies hard, I mean that is hard to abandon."
He smiled at her again, a most charming and sympathetic smile and offered his regrets regarding the mishap during her first class.
"I would not worry too much about it. Tomorrow it will be yesterday's news. Or maybe not tomorrow but once the students have finished making their jokes about it and that will happen much sooner if you simply ignore that it ever happened. And should it not or any of the students give you a hard time about it, some of them can be pretty childish still, then you just come talk to me. I am the staff representative to the board."
He refrained from mentioning the pictures themselves even though he had of course seen them and found them quite appealing. He was also too much of a gentleman to attempt to let his eyes imagine those curves underneath her current outfit. @GeekyLina
The heels of her Louboutins clicked on the paved walkway as she stepped with confidence, with a purpose. She was an utter bitch if she didn't get her morning coffee, and today would not be any different. Passing by the barrage of faces, she couldn't help but sigh. "The same freaks and geeks as always," she mumbled. Noticing the trio on the blanket, she laughed softly. "And then there's that," she mumbled again. "Animals belong on blankets when they're outside. Who's a good....whatever." Her tone was menacing, as per usual, and the volume of her voice ensured no one would hear her dipped in venom words. Iris didn't back down from a fight, but she didn't go looking for them intentionally.
Her phone buzzed to life. "What," she spoke, her tone and volume changing intensely. "Oh really. That's such a shame," she mocked. "Tell the little girl I have seen her dog. It was under my tires as I backed out to head to this black hole of intelligence." She laughed softly once more. "I'm a monster. No. I'm not the one who gave a dog to a child who clearly wasn't ready for the responsibility of owning one. Her father is the monster. Even so, he's got an amazing cock, and he certainly knows how to use it. Perhaps if he used it more on his wife than me, his wife wouldn't be fucking the gardener. Tell the little brat I plan on burying the rest of the mut and planting some roses on top of it. At least he'll be good for something." As she erupted in laughter, the other end of the call went silent.
"Guess they didn't like the truth," she mumbled before putting her phone away and pushing through the doors. Walking past every single person in line, she went straight to the counter and ordered her phone. An angry woman spoke up. Turning to face her, nose to nose, she replied, "Do you think you actually matter in this world? You could drop dead right now, and not a single soul would mourn your loss. You wouldn't even warrant a tiny paragraph in the newspaper telling the world you had done us all the grand favor of leaving it. So shut up and wait your turn, or else I'll help you make the papers. Understand?"
Not waiting for a reply, she turned and took the coffee from the shocked street rat behind the counter. "You can pay for it. On second thought," she began, digging in her purse."Keep the change. You look like you need it." Scanning the rest of the cafeteria, she spotted someone who fit the description she had been given. A sly smirk on her face, she made her way over. "I'd ask if this seat is taken, but unlike most people around here, I actually have a brain. Are you Sabrina Perez? You match the description I was given. If you are, you have something I want, and all you have to do is name your price.
Charlie heard the words, and a surge of lightning ran through her. "Crap. I forgot." Quickly telling her co-worker she had to split, Charlie untied the black apron with the logo of the college at the top, tossed it across the counter, grabbed her board, and was out the door in seconds. Though the paved walkway beneath the wheels helped to propel her forward quickly, it didn't seem fast enough. She pushed off, increasing her speed, flying past the now-growing group on the blanket and the spot where Barbie had been with her new football friend. In her mind, she repeated over and over, Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Scared she would miss her window to speak with the professor and rush in amid an ongoing class, she tried to gain even more speed. Weaving through the people, yelling out, "out of the way," when needed, she made her way towards the astronomy class.
Finally reaching the building, she popped the board into her clutches and pulled on the heavy glass door to enter. She found the room, and she was relieved that she found it quiet. No voices. No sounds of students inside. Just silence. Sighing, she wiped her fingers across her forehead. Seeing his name along with a number, she knocked on the door. Smiling, she called out, "Do you wanna build a snowman?" A wave of instant regret washed over her. Closing her eyes tightly, she shook her head slightly. Pushing the door open, she called out, "Just kidding. Uh. Mr. X, can I come in? We need to have a little chat if that's okay. It's about your class, your night class." She closed the door behind her and began to look around. It was a reflex. She had intended on giving him her full attention, but once inside the class, she couldn't help but take it all in. "You see, I'm all signed up and everything, and I really, really wanna take your class, but there's just this one little thing. It's a tiny thing, really," she said, gesturing with her fingers. "You see, I might be kinda, sorta late here and there. Just a little bit." Charlie took a moment, realizing she hadn't taken a breath yet. "I work. I kinda have to. I work at the cafeteria just up the way a bit. I guess I can leave a little early. Now that I'm here, it sounds kind of dumb for me to be asking you if it would be okay if I sneak in a few minutes late. It's just that I don't wanna lose that job, and I did just have to dip early just to get here during your office hours. I would've come earlier, but there's all this other stuff going on. Look, I'm not a party animal or one of those booze hounds you see hung over around here. I do the work, okay. I have to. I just need a little help with this one. Oh," she exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Also, if you could let me know about any extra credit projects for the term, that'd be great. I'd like to get a jump on 'em if I can. Since I don't have a whole lot of free time." She knew some of the professors had lists already printed up, and if fate was on her side, Mr. X would too. "Come on, Mr. X," she smiled, taking a seat. "Please. I'll do the work. It's just I gotta get good grades. I have to finish at the top of the class. No room for errors." She hoped the man before her would understanding of how much of a flake she knew she had to be presenting herself as. Honestly asking him to understand if she was late? Please. She knew it was a longshot, and it was actually incredibly stupid to do, but she had to try. The extra credit, though, now that she was hoping for the best with, and if this man was half as understanding as he was built, then she would certainly be getting that list from him.
As Catherine tried to pay attention to the introductory class, her mind kept wondering. Her short but intense meeting with Drew had reignited something in her, something she did not know she had lost when she broke up with her ex-boyfriend. It wasn't just that she was into Drew, it made her think about possibly dating again, which then made her think about her last relationship and how she was still hurting.
Most of the time was spent stalking on social media, seeing what her ex was up to and what her friends were up to. She had left them all behind when she just up and went away looking for that new beginning. But she was human and missed her friends more than she would have expected. If she needed someone, who would she call now? Who would spare a moment to head out and have a coffee with her? Perhaps Drew? Her possible roommate?
She noticed some boys staring at her, she smiled back, trying to seem approachable, rather than interested.
As the afternoon rolled around she could not wait to leave and meet with Drew.
Lina was clearly blushing red when she realised she had made the mistake of calling the professor by using his first name rather than the last, so she quickly tried to make amends:
- Sorry, Mr Ito I didn't meant to disrespect you like that!
Explaining the meaning of names wasn't something common in the US and it clearly wasn't common in Portugal either, but since she had made some mistakes already, Lina decided to be careful and avoid any more trouble by saying the wrong things again:
- The meaning of names is something we don't discuss that often where I am from, but it is always interesting to hear about what different names mean in their original language. Thank you for the short lesson!
She bowed her head slightly to indicate that it was an honour to actually learn something so deep about the origin of his name and its meaning.
- Although it might sound strange, my name means something along the lines of "free man" which is a bit odd since I am a woman, but names do evolve in strange ways around the world and in particular in Europe, so it is not that surprising I suppose.
Lina knew about the meaning and origin of her name because one of her teachers at school liked to offer something special to all students with the meaning behind their name, as a small token of appreciation from the teacher and a souvenir after they left school, so that was why she quickly told that to the professor, hoping that sharing the meaning of her name actually made him forget about the earlier mistake she had made.
- I am sure you have heard about what happened during my first class earlier today? The principal sent me a very awkward email about it to my personal email account, so I was hoping you could speak with him and try to reason with him, as I don't want to get into trouble on my first day, but the principal seems to want me to send him my pictures and that is certainly not acceptable and he shouldn't be sending requests to my personal email since that was only given to the institution to allow taking care of things like my contract and other things before I came to the US, so he shouldn't be using my record to contact me directly. I think you have been here for a long time, based on what I have seen on the website for the institution, so hopefully it is not too much to ask for you to speak with him.
Lina was certainly a bit worried about her career and the professor seemed to be a true gentleman so she hoped he would help her deal with the unpleasant principal.
Takashi nodded and agreed that the principal's email and request was highly unprofessional and he would speak to him on her behalf. The fact that the principal had sent the request to Ms Santos' private email and not her @brcc.com account also had him suspecting that the request had little to do with any school files but that it was for his own personal use. He told her this and rolled his eyes. The principal was a man close to retirement and Takashi knew that he did not have the best reputation when it came to temporary female staff, be it faculty, maintenance or kitchen staff.
"Ignore his request but keep copies of the email, and any other he might send from his private email to your private email," Takashi adviced the handsome woman before him and then, as if it was some second thought, her remembered why he was there.
"Please do not think me forward but would you perhaps accept an invitation to have a drink this evening. As a welcome to the school?"
Xavier Rollins took his usual slow roll along the one way drive that encircled the campus. Especially on these bright sunny days he enjoyed these last moments of riding before settling in for mandated office hours, some research time, and then his first class of the term. The slow rumble of the Milwaukee Eight engine, in his opinion the epitome of the legendary V-twin series, wasn't overwhelming across the busy campus, but was music to the ears of the right type of fan. His muscled arms hanging from the ape hanger handle bars of his custom chopper. He took a little time to sight see, especially the new crop of female students looking for potential recruits for his side hustle. Community college professor salaries didn't lend themselves to custom motorcycles and similar niceties.
From what he could see from the distance, it looked like it would be a promising year. The warm summer day drew them out of the dorms and classrooms and he could see several groups of very feminine creatures enjoying the sun.
He pulled into lot 5, parking where the bus stop would shelter his baby from the sun for the bulk of the afternoon this time of year. Who says Astronomy doesn't have earthly uses? Given his late classes, he rarely arrived on campus before noon. He wore a light tan BRCC golf shirt that hugged his muscled body snugly without looking stretched tight, dark blue khaki trousers gave him a business casual appearance that was about the minimum standard for faculty.
He walked towards his office, generally avoiding random encounters with students. He happened upon Professor Ito talking to a young woman who could only be the new Physics professor. "Takashi-San" Xavier paused and gave a respectful bow of not quite 45 degrees suitable for peer to peer interactions.
"And you must be Professor Santos?" He asked speculatively to the attractive brunette as he extended his hand. "Welcome but please pardon the interruption." He added as they had seemed to be having a semi-serious discussion and Xavier avoided school politics as much as possible. (Unless they stop him for more conversation he will continue to his office.)
Xavier was barely settled at his desk when there was a brief knock and an apropos of nothing question about a snowman through the door. The door soon opened without his response and a bleach blonde skate boarder girl entered. "Do I look like the snowman building type to you young lady?" He asked, his eyes lowering to assess her body but her clothing made it a wasted effort.
"I think you are already in." He said, enjoying her visible nervousness. As she paused, Xavier inhaled in preparation of replying but she started off again like a jack rabbit in heat.
He leaned back in his chair and let the tide of words that flowed out of her wash over him. He felt he more or less had the gist of her concern though he was not yet sure which of his classes she was in.
"Are you done?" He asked as she finally seemed to stop speaking for more time than it took her to take a breath and continue. "Are you sure?" He said with emphasis. "Good." He finally concluded and sat more upright.
"First off, it is Dr. Rollins, not Mr. I'm sure you meant to disrespect but now you are better informed." It was his turn to take a breath then continue. "Secondly, I did not offer you a seat." He would pause until she stood back up.
"Finally, I don't recall if there was a name or a specific class mentioned in your dissertation, perhaps we should start there? I teach Astronomy and Data Science, one is more flexible than the other." He waited for her information as he opened his laptop and logged into his class rosters.
"I don't particularly care for lateness in my students." He said disapprovingly. "Though I do have a certain respect for a girl wanting to pay her own way." He lightened up a little. "Why don't you sit down and see what we can figure out."
He waited for her to settle into one of the two institutional chairs in front of his office desk. "It seems to me, your problem is one of pay rate, you need to work too many hours to meet your needs. What if I could help you with that problem and you show up to my class in time?"
Sabrina absolutely refused to believe she was getting old. She just gave Calliope the driest look imaginable as the younger, outgoing girl just teased her about her age. At least being called Candy Pooh got a blush in the tattooed woman’s face. For now.
”Lemme know if there’s any problems,” was the last thing Sabrina beckoned to Calliope, watching her business partner and friend take the bag and the work phone, skipping away like it was the most casual thing in the world to go sell drugs to freshmen in college. To take advantage of their anxieties and stresses and turn a buck on them. Sabrina was in Business, pursuing a Finance degree. She was just putting what she learned into practice! If she didn’t do it, someone else would. The market share was hers to win or lose.
And she was determined to keep it, by any means necessary. Hell, some of the profs and teaching assistants were on her clientele list. The money was amazing. Sabrina never worked a legitimate side job alongside her studies, but she had money for parties, for liquor, for tattoos and even her own vehicle. A used 2009 Grand Cherokee SRT-8 Jeep. Absolutely dog shit on the mileage but it was hers. How many broke college students could boast that?
Yet it felt like the other shoe was bound to drop. Eventually. We’ll see. Sabrina was equally paranoid about security, secrecy, never giving her full name, or real name, using filters like Calliope now. Maybe even another employee one of these days.
@AndNich123
She was hardly alone for a few minutes before a redheaded woman approached, talking figuratively about seats being taken and if Sabrina was indeed that Sabrina Perez. ”Depends,” Sabrina asked back, rubbing her forehead and putting her sunglasses back on. It was way too fucking bright in here. ”what you’re asking for. I don’t think you can afford anything here, honey. But spit it out.” @MsBloom
Sabrina had an 11am class, a 12pm class, and a 1pm class. Fifty minute blocks. She was walking back to her dorm to nap away the afternoon when her phone got the call from Calliope. Her hangover had mostly subsided, with the help of energy drinks and a hot meal. She was just mostly mentally fatigued by this point but in relatively good temperament. ”Hey, what’s up?” She answered the phone. Meet at the Humanities building? Callope asked. I want to check out the studio I rented for my work this year.”Be there in a few. Alright, byeee!” Sabrina answered, turning aside to head towards the spot.
Bag over her shoulder, outer shirt removed and now dressed in skinny jeans and a tank top, she reached Humanities by about 2:10pm. It was not difficult at all to spot the neon hair coloured woman from across the grounds. ”How’d it go?” Sabrina asked Calliope about the sales so far. No emergency texts or calls, so it was assumed it had all gone well. ”Need an expert opinion on the studio then? Financial advice ain’t free, honeybee.” She jested playfully. Nah, Sabrina would help because Calliope was a friend and partner. And the studio might be good for business and other such things. Totally wasn’t looking with a mercantile perspective.
Lina listened carefully while Professor Ito spoke, before she replied:
- I was already thinking about keeping copies of the email in case I needed to send them to HR, as I am sure the principal is not concerned about my permanent record, but is instead looking for something to look at during his moments of solitude. I did think he was staring at me too much when he interviewed me for the position of Assistant Professor.
When Takashi asked her for a drink in the evening, Lina thought for a bit, trying to understand whether she should accept it or not. It would certainly be rude to refuse his offer and she did not have any reasons to suspect he would do anything nearly as bad as what the principal was trying to do, so she decided to accept his offer:
- I am going to be on the hobby night I have organised from 6PM to 7PM, but I should be free after that, in case you want to go out for a drink. I don't usually drink alcohol, especially on work days, but I know a really good tea house in town, if you think that could be interesting. They have some nice cakes and cookies, as well as tea and also other kinds of beverages, including beers and other stuff, in case tea is not exactly something you enjoy drinking. Obviously we could go somewhere else if that isn't something you would enjoy.
Lina smiled kindly, feeling happy for apparently being able to start meeting some people which could become her friends or perhaps something else. Her work at the research company had so many security restrictions that she barely spoke with her colleagues and they always spoke about work, so it would be good to finally have the opportunity to spend time outside of work.
Lina quickly observed the man who had approached, trying to remember if she had seen him on the website pictures or not. After thinking for what seemed like forever, she replied to him:
- Yes I am the new Assistant Professor, but you can call me Lina if you prefer, that is what everyone calls me! You are Dr. Xavier Rollins, right? I remember checking some of your papers about Near Earth Asteroids after I applied to work here, they were quite an interesting read!
Lina smiled, trying to be polite and make sure she didn't get any enemies on campus on her first day. The real reason why she knew her name had more to do with the reputation of the Astronomy Professor, who appeared to be always surrounded by young students. She tried to avoid believing in every rumour or gossip she heard, but there was certainly something about him that made her feel a bit concerned, probably his strong build or the way he moved, but at least for now Lina decided that it would be better to keep her distance from him, at least until she could learn more about each of the other faculty members and determined for herself if the rumours were true.
She gave the studio a quick survey. It was 10' x 15' with a large counter in the corner on the left: for brushes, jars and anything else an artist might need on one side of a deep, flat-bottomed sink and a smaller counter on the other that had a microwave, a coffee maker and a hotplate. In the opposite corner was a small table with just the one chair.
She had already put in an order from an online art supply shop, for paints, brushes, canvases and anything else she might need. It was promised to be delivered to her dorm sometime before business hours the day after tomorrow.
When Sabrina arrived Calliope stood in front of the counter, hands at her sides and an unlit joint between her lips, just taking in the emptiness of the room an envisioning all the wondrous chaos of paint she would create there. The work bag was on the counter along with the work phone.
"No problems. I kept moving around as usual. One eye over my shoulder and the other on people I meet."
Calliope was no stranger to the business of distributing illegal goods and knew how to stay safe and out of sight, despite her rather conspicuous appearance. It was like hiding in plain sight, sort of. Besides who would suspect a pink marshmallow with rainbow hair selling drugs to college students. Especially one as cute and deceptively innocent as Calliope Blakely. Sure, most people around campus knew that she was a total nymph who flirted with just about anyone and (according to rumour) had sex (one way or another) with most of them. The latter part was not entirely true, though she still probably had a higher body count than most high school footballers when they entered college.
"No candy left," she reported when Sabrina asked how it had gone.
"But there are 10 new orders to fill, mostly Molly. For the party tonight I suspect."
Mornings where usually Adderall to help students focus on their studies while evenings and weekends were more party drugs.
"What do you think?" she asked and while lighting up the joint nodded at the mostly empty room.
"Think this is where I will paint the masterpiece that will make me bigger than Banksy?"
She glanced at Sabrina and giggled.
"I was thinking we cover the floor with canvas from wall to wall, each other in paint and then we fuck our brains out all over it. I'd probably call it Lust #5." @BennyQ
Takashi nodded. His own extra-curricular activity that day, self-defense class, which he made a passing mention of, began half an hour before Professor Santos' and ended half an hour earlier which gave him time enough to shower before meeting up with this handsome woman.
He nodded once more and confirmed that the time fit him perfectly.
"I think I know which tea house you mean," he added.
After all, as a native of Japan, he knew his tea and had concluded very soon after moving to America that the Americans were indeed not big on the beverage, though there were of course exceptions. He had also concluded that there were very few tea houses that were even reasonably decent o when he had found one just a few blocks from his house, (about half way between it and his work) he had become a regular very quickly. Though of course he still preferred the tea he made himself from the leaves his sister sent him regularly from Japan.
"Let's meet up outside the gym at 7 then. @GeekyLina
"Don't forget our class in the gym this evening," he reminded Professor Rollins as the large dark-skinned man, a professor nearly as long-standing as himself at the college.
"5:30. Just basics and some light sparring. Unless you want to meet up at five for some sparring just the two of us before class?" @xavierrol
Lina nodded Takashi mentioned that they should meet outside the gym at 7PM, before replying:
- The gym sounds like the perfect place for us to meet! Depending on how the hobby night goes I might be a couple minutes late, but hopefully that is not the case.
She smiled after she spoke, clearly happy that her plan to meet new people in this foreign country was finally coming to fruition. After a short silence, she spoke again, as she looked at her wristwatch:
- I have some work to finish on my office, before I go home to change for the hobby event, so I will see you at 7!
Lina walked away from Takashi and entered her office, still a bit worried about the intrusion of Dr. Xavier Rollins while she was speaking with Takashi, given that her instincts told her that the rumours about the man were likely true and she wanted to stay clear of trouble as much as she could, so interacting with him would be something she would only do if she could not avoid it. She spent some time in her office preparing some of the lab classes that would take place the following day, trying to make sure she had everything ready for her students, even though the first lab session for both of her classes were not meant to actually contain any heavy information, they would be mostly focused on introducing some of the rules about the labs and what they would do during those classes, since some of the last few students would likely still be signing up for classes throughout the first week and so it was no use to focus heavily on the things that would be part of the exam before the majority of the students was ready to actually attend her classes.
Dr. Rollins' smile was warm and friendly, he had walked in on what sounded like the acceptance of a date with Ito. He was a sly bastard but he certainly didn't question his colleagues taste or initiative. He may well have made the same move himself had his timing been better but it was a first come first served world sometimes. Besides, she looked rather tightly wound but springs could have quite energetic reactions when set free all of a sudden. She was after all, a pretty young woman in a new world.
"You are correct, so nice to see you have come prepared with your homework complete, I'm sure you will do well here." It was of course expected that someone would look up their but as she continued he was actually quite impressed if not flattered. "I'm glad you found them enlightening, if only the powers that be took such things more seriously." He said as his eyes stayed focused on hers, careful to not appear as if he was checking her out. There would be plenty of time for that later. "So nice to meet you and I look forward to working with you. Again, pardon the interruption."
He turned to Ito with a wry smile and a knowing look. "Oh yes, I always look forward to your physics defying lessons." His deep voice shifting to a mild laugh as teased his artistic friend. Ito did great work with the students, but as he often pointed out, there were limits to casual self defense lessons. There was only so much a 90 lb girl could do to fend off a 200 lb male if he were sufficiently determined. It was both physics and human biological evolution when it came right down to it. "Let's make it 5, I'm sure some student will have me pissed off enough by then to need to vent." Rollins found the first week of classes extra tedious with requests and questions from students not yet in the groove of the semester. @GeekyLina and @MsBloom
Andrew (Drew) Hoffman
Cat wasn't the only one for whom 4pm couldn't come fast enough. Lectures weren't really his thing but he doodled and tried to listen as he thought about Cat. Oh the possibilities of a new girl he leaned back smiling as he recalled her face and body. He felt like one of those explorers in history class but instead of exploring some strange land while eating stale food and seawater, it would be the well tanned curves of a sexy teen girl.
Of course he had to contain that excitement to keep the upper hand, but he was well practiced at that. The last thing he needed was another woman in his life telling him what to do. He could sense her loneliness but let's face it, she was way too hot to be sitting alone for long.
It was about 4:02 when he showed up at the cafeteria, just enough time to not appear too anxious, but hopefully not long enough for another guy to move in on her. "Hey, sorry I'm late, that last professor just couldn't wrap things up." He said as he moved in close and embraced her as if they had been dating for years. Her response would tell him a lot, he thought himself more fluent in body language than English. He leaned in to kiss her on the lips, not major tongue lashing make out kiss, but enough to publicly stake his claim on her as a bit more than just acquaintances. "You look great!" He said, he didn't have to fake his enthusiasm, just contain it so he didn't look like the horny teen he truly was.
"So being out of town, are you in the dorms?" He asked, hoping there was someplace semi-private they could take their conversation and hopefully more. One drawback to being a local was he still lived at home and that wasn't always conducive to the kind of initiation he hoped for this Kitty.
Catherine couldn't focus on anything else except the impending meeting with Drew. She found herself glancing at the clock every few minutes, willing the hands to move faster. Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of classes.
With a spring in her step, Catherine packed up her things and headed towards the Cafeteria where she had agreed to meet Drew. The campus was bustling with students rushing to their next classes or heading home, but Catherine barely registered any of it. Her heart raced with anticipation as she scanned the crowd for Drew's familiar face.
Just as she was starting to worry he might stand her up, a tall figure emerged from the throng. Drew flashed a charming smile as he approached her.
Catherine melted into Drew's embrace, returning his kiss with equal fervor and a smile. His words of praise sent a shiver down her spine, and she felt a flush rise to her cheeks. "I'm actually meeting a possible roommate later today, still no place to call home...", she replied, leading him towards a quieter corner. "Wanna go somewhere? You did promise to show me around town, did you not?", she smiles, feeling his gaze scanning her body. She couldn't help but giggle when it was so obvious he was checking her out, she would bite her lip and blush, trying to look away. "C'mon..", she tapped him on the arm, "I like a man to take charge".
"Yo, didn't mean to dis you Mr. X, I mean Doctor X, I mean Doctor Rollings. Didn't mean to harsh your vibe. So my bad if I did." She offered him a shy smile, knowing her face was a pale shade of crimson as the embarrassment warmed her skin. Charlie rose to her feet, a slight weakness in her knees. How was he so intimidating? She wanted to glance around the room, anything to avoid eye contact, as she was now more nervous than ever before.
Slowly, she closed her eyes for a moment, realizing he was right. "Astronomy. The late....class. The evening class. Doc. Sir. Doctor..Rollings." She met his gaze, only lowering her own slightly. "I wanted to take Data Science, but I couldn't. I was advised to take it, but it wasn't possible."
He seemed to soften in his rigid initial appearance. Sinking to the top of the desk, she took a deep breath. "If you could hook me up with this dilemma, I'd owe you big time. I'm already swamped. Medical terminology, intro to business, and intro to college bio, plus one job and looking for another one. I don't know when I'll catch any ZZZZs, but eh," she shrugged. "Sleep when I'm dead I guess," she teased, raising her eyebrows. "So what's the dealio? Whatcha ya got in mind, Doctor?"
Iris's lips curled in a faint smile. The girl had spunk. Perhaps that was all she had. "If I wanted the touch a real woman, then I wouldn't be wasting my time talking to you. What I want is something a little bit harder, something that can actually make me feel something. Percs. Smack. Ice. I'll even settle for Hillbilly Heroin, or do you only deal in small potatoes? Weed? Molly? I'm going to say four little words you might not hear that often," she started, raising her hand to count them off. "Money. Is. No. Problem. Now," she sighed as she lowered her hand. "Are there any problems, or can you supply? If you can, then you've got a customer for as long as you can meet the demand. If you can't, well," she raised her eyebrows, letting her voice trail off into nothing as she smiled.
First day back on campus, and she was already back to her old habits.
Hadn't been long, technically, since the end of the spring semester -- but it had been enough time for her to tell herself she was going to act her age and not habitually wander by a certain history class to catch the end of a certain professor's lecture.
Unfortunately her mirror pep talk hadn't done much good because, at the end of that first day, there she was. Taking the familiar path across campus, walking down the familiar halls, slipping through a familiar back door and into the back row of a familiar lecture hall.
Professor Valery Arellano's voice carried through the room like always. Maisi wore slacks of a rusty hue, with a white, button-up shirt sporting a vintage floral print on the front pocket, cuffs, and collar; a sufficiently "artsy" outfit for the first day of the summer term, even though all she'd really been doing with her class was going over the syllabus, introducing what the first project would be, and getting an idea of everyone's skill level. Her dirty-blonde hair was currently pulled back in a bun that hadn't started messy, but by then it was inventible that it looked like she'd been driving around with her windows down.
But, with her professor-ly duties done for the day, she was left to her own devices... which meant doing the same thing she'd been doing all last year. Hopelessly crushing on the Roman History professor and casually sketching him from the back of his class. Just -- Just because he cut a very nice form, and it gave her good perspective practice. Of course.
There was graphite smudged on her hands before too long, but that was how she was with her art. Messy, no matter how hard she tried not to be. Messy and captivated; it was embarrassingly easy for her to lose track of the time and her surroundings when she got invested with that she was doing, as was the case then. She completely missed when students started packing their things and filing out of the room, chattering and discussing their plans for the evening while the blonde art professor remained tucked up in the back row of seats, busily sketching away with a concentrated purse of her lips and a thoughtfully-furrowed brow.
Sabrina rolled her eyes at the rich girl’s bravado. None of that customer is always right bullshit existed here. One just doesn’t walk up to drug dealers and speak like that. When the girl raised her hand to count off the words, Sabrina turned her gaze forward, staring absentmindedly at the seat in front of her. She was too hung over for this shit. Couldn’t the redhead just have called the number? Calliope was probably better suited for dealing with this sort of personality, the way she could maneuver around the jocks and testosterone work-out nuts.
”All the money in the world and you can’t buy class or realness.” Sabrina shook her head incredulously. She didn’t like this girl at all, the way she treated Sabrina like a facet she could just turn on and off. It didn’t work like that here.
”Maybe money should be a problem for you, then you would have a little concept of manners. What, does it look like I carry a fuckin’ chemistry kit in my pack?” She snorted at the list of drugs, especially heroin, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her own ear. This girl must never have had to buy drugs before. Or she might be a narc. ”One hundred a pop. And you don’t walk up to me again until you learn the magic words please and thank you. With a ma’am at the end. If you can’t, well…the door’s that way. You don’t have to announce your departure either like it’s an airport.” Sabrina scoffed. @MsBloom
Afternoon.
After finding Calliope at Humanities, Sabrina was brough to an art studio. Currently empty, even for an unpolished and money mindset girl like Sabrina, she could already envision the artsy outlook it may be transferred into. It was exactly suited for Calliope and Sabrina felt almost, almost, guilty for dragging Calliope into the narcotics trade, when she had so much creative potential. But then she remembered, Callie was already in that business, Sabrina just helped elevate her to new platforms.
”We might have a buyer that’ll be equal to ten but we’ll talk about her later. You’ll like her, she has a mouth.” Sabrina waved off the business talk for now. She stood in the center of the studio, hands on her hips, just staring at the windows as Calliope laid out her vision. Masterpieces here, canvases there, tools and equipment here…one canvas for them to fuck, smearing paint all over. Sabrina rolled her eyes with amusement. ”What about Lust numbers one to four, and six to ten? Six and nine will be my favourite, I think.” Sabrina mused back, just as scandalously and lewdly in her thought process.
”And where are you going to keep the secret stash of psychedelics that is the true source of your success?” Sabrina inquired, dropping her bag and doing a lazily twirl about the empty space with her arms spread. But when she faced Calliope again, Sabrina was very deadly serious. Calliope’s sunshine, flirtatious demeanor didn’t work on Sabrina. Well…not all the time. ”This is serious shit, Callie. You can’t be doing this and fuckin’ around with our biz. We aren’t doing charity work. You need legitimate incomes and honest labour. And I want to see you succeed at this, not just be a party rock star who blows all her earnings on sex and drugs.” She said, sounding very motherly. They could play around for a bit, but Sabrina was going to graduate next year. And Callie would need to thrive and prosper in better ways than selling drugs.
Drew could see the slight worry on Catherine's face just before she saw him. That slight bit of insecurity that would make her all the more open to his suggestions. Even the hot girls have insecurities and Drew was attracted to them like kittys to catnip. The way she melted into his embrace was like they had been dating for years. In a way, they may well have been he thought they each knew each other's type, just the faces and the bodies changed. But for Drew, Kitty was definitely an upgrade and he was glad he didn't risk leaving her too much longer.
"A roommate? That sounds interesting." He said, as images of a second still unknown but definitely sexy girl in bed with him entered his hormone fueled mind. "Oh I always keep my promises, but we do have that initiation first. Can you swim?" He asked in a casual manner, as if the answer didn't mean all that much. Nor did he ask anything about a swimsuit.
"You do, do you? Well I'll keep that in mind." He said as he took her by the hand and led her towards the lot where his truck was parked. It wasn't much to look at, dirty as if he had recently been offroading. "Need a boost?" He asked as it sat a bit higher than standard but his offer had more to do with cupping her well toned ass than being a gentleman though he did get the door for her as well. Letting her in on the driver's side she would need to scoot over a bit, or not.
It was just the bench seat and no back seat. There was a gearshift on the floor between. If Catherine sat there she would need to spread her legs for him to drive or move all the way over to the passenger seat. In either case he would start it off and shift his way through the gears, his shifting hand resting on her exposed thigh between shifts. Either way his hand was active, either shifting gears or stroking her thigh. "You haven't really experienced Blue Ridge until you've seen the quarry.
Professor Ito scanned the classroom and sighed. It was the usual crowd of intellectuals (presumed), future ex-writers who would almost certainly appear in his other classes, including Creative Writing and fail miserably at it, and there were the students who really only took his class because they needed the credit. All in all though they didn't seem an entirely wasted crowd and so he began: "According to Freud's Studies on Hysteria, all subjective reality is based on the play of basic drives and instincts, through which the outside world is perceived."
An hour later he concluded his lecture, gave the students their assignments for next week, a reading list and some questions to think about regarding the books on that list. He then went straight to the gym where he had dropped off his duffelbag with his workout clothes in the morning. He changed into them, did a bit of warm up, went through his routine of moves and combinations in slow motion, moves and combinations that when performed at a much higher speed were quite effective as defense (mainly) and attack which he had shown his sparring partner Professor Rollins on more than one occasion. By practising in slowmotion you taught your mind and body how to perfect every minute detail of every move, of every shift in balance no matter how seemingly insignificant, you saw patterns and flaws in your execution of the move so that once you did them at a higher speed they were perfectly executed every time. To put it very simply.
When Professor Rollins arrived the two sparred in what might have looked like a well rehearsed choreography where neither was forced into submission. They had trained together for many years at that point and knew each other's fighting styles fairly well. It was only on rare occasions either one of them surprised the other. They had over the years also both learned from the other.
When the self-defense class began it was, again, the expected crowd of young women and a few men of the more nerdy persuasion who probably wanted to learn how to stand up to their bullies. There was among them that perky and seemingly always cheerful young woman from last year who now wore a rainbow in her hair and startling bright pink but Takashi had learned the year before not to underestimate her. She had proven to be quite a fierce (and cunning) fighter. @xavierrol
After the class Takashi showered and put on a more casual outfit than his work wear, just a pair of dark chinos and a lambswool sweater. When he stepped out of the gym he did not see Ms Santos but remembered that she had said she could be a bit late. @GeekyLina
Lina comes running towards Takashi, still wearing the same clothes as earlier and crying, a clear sign that something went wrong since they last spoke. Before he could say anything she started to speak:
- I am sorry but we will have to cancel our encounter at the tea house, I have to be on the next flight to Portugal, as something come up. I am really sorry, but I don't really have the time to explain it!
Lina is clearly distressed and runs away from campus, probably to catch a taxi to the closest airport.
(Lina disappears and no one hears from her again on campus) @MsBloom
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