This is a long chapter. I couldn't find a convenient place to separate it. It covers the last few days of the school year, and the building relationship between Bill and the girl that had captured his interest from the beginning of the school year
Enjoy.
The quarter was quickly coming to an end. I still helped Valerie with her Trig. She was doing well.
We were comfortable with each other. It was like we had been friends for years. We had even started finishing each other's sentences. Her dorm-mates really believed we were a couple, no matter what Valerie said. I suppose to a certain extent... we were. We just didn't know it, realize it, or didn't want to admit it to ourselves... and
definitely
not to each other. That would come.
At nights, on my way back from the library the sweet scent of the Magnolias in full bloom filled the still and humid air. It was a time in the spring that I savored each year.
On one of our 'dates', I took Valerie for a walk along the paths through the scented air. During the day, the scent was there, but overshadowed with the hustle and bustle and the preoccupation with getting to and from classes. In the stillness and solitude of the warm night; she was amazed. We spent over an hour on a nearby bench, taking in the sweet smells... between kisses.
Our Thursday dinners continued to be fun. Occasionally Terri would join, and occasionally... Kathy. Valerie sensed my interest, and inwardly smiled... and said to herself, 'Maybe'. They must have talked about it. Valerie never suggested anything to me. Kathy knew that Valerie and I were just friends... good friends. So her making any kind of overtones were not a problem. Although, I found myself getting lost in her blue gray eyes.
The schedule for finals came out a week before. It was going to work our perfectly for me. I had one engineering class where I had an "A", along with a number of others in the class. The instructor saw no reason for us to take the final. That left two engineering finals and the one General Ed -- "Marriage". The Marriage final was arranged such, there was no way to study for it. So, I had two finals on Monday and the Marriage final Tuesday afternoon, and then I was done.
My parents weren't able to pick me up until Saturday, leaving me with three days to relax and hang out. My roommate was also finished by noon Tuesday, and was leaving later in the afternoon. Valerie was going to be busy with her finals with her Trig final on Tuesday morning. I helped her prepare Monday night. She was planning on leaving Thursday morning, so I wasn't sure how much 'together' time we would have. We had already exchanged addresses so we could keep in touch over the summer. She didn't know what she was going to do over the summer, as far a job was concerned. I was going to be back at the dairy.
Late Tuesday morning of Finals week... the guys were planning on going over to the Campus Lake and hang out.
The lake was a sprawling lake covering about four acres, with a sandy beach on the south side complete with a refreshment stand. The beach itself had about fifty feet of shore-line and was about twenty feet wide. In all of my previous years, I had never really been there. Rode a bike past it, jogged past it, but never just hung out there. Don't know why... just never did.
It was a nice day. My final wasn't until 3:00 and was a twenty minute walk from the beach, so I figured 'Why not?'.
It's strange. Whenever you make a decision for something that will change your life, you don't even realize that you're making it. It's only in hindsight that we realize how important some, seemingly insignificant, things really are... The 'Butterfly Effect'.
We were all talking... not paying attention as the ten of us found a spot off to the side and settled in as I took my t-shirt off. Looking around, there were about thirty other students, equally mixed guys and bikini clad coeds. Then I saw her... Kathy... and she saw me. She had been watching our group as soon as we got there... especially me. Our eyes met. She gave me a sweet smile while giving a little hand wave. My heart skipped a beat as I smiled and waved back.
She was with four other girls... all bigger chested... full C's with lots of exposed cleavage. That fact never even registered with me, as I focused my attention on Kathy.
She was wearing a simple two piece. A light blue with small yellow and pink flowers. Her shoulders were bare as the straps were down. I have always found it exotic when a girl is either on her stomach, with the top undone exposing her completely smooth bare back, or when the shoulder straps were off exposing her bare shoulders. But, what caught my attention were the half apple sized mounds with just a hint of a gentle swell across the top. Her exposed chest and shoulders were a light golden tan. The sun bringing out the gold color of her short hair as it framed her face. She sat with her smooth legs in front of her as she propped herself up with her arms behind her. Her tiny petite body on full display as her cute navel looked back at me. She knew I was taking in all of her, as she sat up even straighter. Her smile even broader.
I may be dense and slow at time in reading girls, but not this time. I stood and made my way over to her against the backdrop of, "Hey. Where are you going?" from my friends. They didn't know Kathy. They only knew Valerie.
Sitting next to her, "Hey there. Now
this
is a pleasant surprise," I said, the smile having not left my face since the moment I saw her as I looked into her blue gray eyes.
"The girls wanted to get out. They all had a final this morning and some tomorrow and just wanted to unwind this afternoon. I have my last one tonight, but it's for Speech. All I have to do is give a five minute speech. It's all done, so there isn't really anything to prepare. I almost didn't want to come, but they insisted. So, here I am."
"What's your speech about?"
"The instructor gave us a number of topics. We pick one and then do an informative speech. I chose Abortion. It's a large topic that would take more than the five minute limit, so I decided to approach along the line of when life began."
"Interesting."
"So 'when does it become alive?' Is it when there's a heartbeat? When it can survive outside the womb? Things like that," she added.
"I've kind of looked into it too. What about when there is brain activity? I mean, they use brain activity to determine when life ends. Why not use the same criteria to determine when life begins? Just a thought."
"When does that occur?"
"From what I've read, about six to seven weeks."
"I didn't know that, or even thought about that line of thinking. Thanks. I'll use that. Enough about my speech, what brings you here?"
"The guys dragged me here. They had this idea to come. To get out of the dorm. I've got my last final at 3:00, but it's one of those that you can't really study for. So, I figured 'Why not?'
"What's your final?"
I looked at her and grinned as I said, "Marriage."
Her eyes got big, "Marriage? You mean they have a class on it? Don't tell me you're thinking of getting married?"
"No... no... no... Nothing like that. It was an easy class and the last of my General Ed Humanities requirement."
"But... you're a senior. And you're still taking General Ed classes? I thought everyone took all of those the first two years and then went into their major the last two years."
"I decided to space out the General Ed classes over my four years, rather than doing them all the first two years. I knew what my major was going to be in my freshman year, and started taking what I could then. There were some 200 level classes I could take. Spreading out the General Ed classes kind of breaks up my engineering class load so I don't have to carry four or five heavy major classes every quarter."
"That's a pretty neat approach. It seemed to have worked for you."
We chatted for a while. I tried to keep my eyes off her soft swells. I think I got busted a couple of times, as I didn't have sunglasses. Soon, I noticed the time, and a spontaneous thought popped into my head. I was going out on a limb here and taking a step that would have long lasting effects... for both of us.
"What time's your speech?"
"Starts at 6:00. Supposed to end at 9:00. But, I don't think it will go that long. Why?"
"I was thinking... your last final... I'll be done in a couple of hours... want to go downtown tonight and celebrate the end of finals? Nothing too crazy. Just have a few beers. Maybe dance a little."
I could see her thinking about it for a few moments, and then her face lit up, "I'd love to," which brought a big relieving smile to my face.
