It was my first day of college. I wandered into my first class which was chemistry 101. We waited for the instructor for twenty minutes or so. Just as I thought I might have the wrong class, the instructor burst through the door. Without a word of apology he started the lecture. He turned out to be a lot more boring than I thought he would be. Finally the hour crawled to a halt. He gave us our assignments and departed. The next class was chemistry lab.
I entered the lab and had a quick look around. Students were wandering around looking at the lab equipment and making jokes about nuclear bombs. The lab instructor showed up exactly on time. She was about forty years old and already sprouting grey hair. She looked really grouchy.
"Find a seat on the lab benches and sit down," she tersely ordered.
I found a lab bench near the back of the room. Nobody was sitting there which was just fine with me.
"Okay, everybody choose a lab partner. You will be a pair until the class is over next spring."
I groaned and made no move to find a partner. I didn't need a partner. I always work better alone. It was not to be, the instructor chatted briefly with a girl who then approached me. "I've been assigned to be your lab partner," she informed me.
Great! All I needed for a complex class was female intervention.
"My name is Wendy Roberts," she said, sticking out her hand.
I shook it and said, "I'm Rudy Foreman."
She slid in beside me on the lab bench. She was kind of cute, not like a Playboy model, but definitely cute, a little plump at five feet one or so and about one hundred twenty five pounds.
The lab assistant handed out our experiment assignment sheets. They told what was to be done and how to do it. Wendy and I read it together and suddenly I was glad that I had a partner.
"Does any of this make any sense to you?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. I've been studying chemistry on an amateur basis for about five years so and I aced high school chemistry. I'm familiar with all this basic stuff. It'll be a piece of cake!" she giggled.
"Thank God! It makes no sense to me at all. I guess you get to lead the project since I have no idea what we're doing."
"No problem. I'm sure we'll get along famously," she answered.
So we kicked off the chemistry class. She was studying chemical engineering. I was taking the class because it was a requirement for an electrical engineering degree. I told her I needed heavy duty help with the class and asked her to sit with me during the lectures. She agreed and we set off on a year long adventure together. I turned out to be pretty damned dumb, chemistry wise, but she was a dynamo at work, a fountain of information and generally a chemical whiz. Yes, she saved my dumb ass from a certain "D" or worse. Sometimes she would come to my dorm and study with me. We had our ups and downs, but for they most part we got along very well.
We labored together through the fall and on into winter. By spring, I felt a deep attachment to her. She seemed to have gotten a lot prettier. Finally one day I asked her out.
"You mean like on a date?" she asked.
"That's it exactly! I'll take you anywhere you want to go," I replied sheepishly.
"I wondered how long it would take you to ask me. You lasted a lot longer than I thought you would," she remarked.
"You don't have a boyfriend or a husband hidden away, do you?"
"Nope, there's just little old me. Let me think for a while about where I want to go, okay?"
I smiled my answer to her and held her hand. She squeezed my hand and stepped into my arms. The kiss was unexpected and gentle. Her lips were soft and warm. I could get used to this! That night I discovered I was developing some real, deep feelings for her.
The next day was Friday. We met in the chem class and sat next to each other as usual. She looked into my eyes and announced, "I know this is our first date, but we've been together for a long time and I trust my judgment. I want to go to San Simeon for the weekend."
It isn't that far from Cal Poly to San Simeon. "Great!" I said. My mind was running a thousand miles an hour as I slowly realized the implications of her suggestion. "I'll get us a couple of motel rooms and we can park all weekend on the beach."
