The doors to the classroom were locked when I arrived. A small group of students milled around each of the doors, talking in low voices. Zach was leaning against the wall, head down, as he read a novel. Reggie and Tyler stood a short distance away.
As I approached, Reggie nudged Tyler, and they both watched me come to a stop next to Zach.
"Hey, geek, you know what chapter we're supposed to be studying this week?" Reggie asked. I didn't like the predatory gleam in his eyes.
"Sexual Health and Dysfunction," Zach replied absently, then jerked his head up to meet my eyes, as he realized I was standing beside him. He started to smile.
"Maybe you can explain
premature ejaculation
to your research partner." Reggie and Tyler snickered. "What was that girl's name again? The one you screwed for, like, thirty seconds?"
If I could have shot flames from my eyes, and melted the two of them on the spot, I would have done it. Zach's smile dropped and he flushed a deep red. Even though he had told me about the experience, I knew he was feeling deeply embarrassed to be publicly reminded of something he considered a failure.
"Why don't you go screw yourself and leave him alone?" I asked angrily, glaring at the two of them.
"Ooooo, Zach, I made your mommy mad." Reggie raked me up and down with his eyes, smirking.
I was prevented from responding by the appearance of Dr. B and the custodian. It seems the classroom doors had been locked and Dr. B had gone to search for someone with a key.
I stayed, locked in a glaring contest with Reggie, until Zach nudged my elbow and nodded toward the open classroom door. Reggie mouthed the word 'bitch' at me before he turned to push his way through the door, ahead of the others waiting to get inside.
"Don't worry about it, Brinna," Zach whispered after we'd found our seats. I continued staring holes through the back of Reggie's skull as the third member of their merry band of assholes, Lee, came through the door and took his seat next to Tyler.
To make things worse, the videos we had to watch consisted of a variety of sexually transmitted diseases. There were no concerns about getting hot and bothered based on the content of these particular videos. Zach looked distinctly pale under the low lighting in the classroom. I was a little nauseous myself by the end.
Dr. B handed out a one page quiz for us based on the content of the video. Once done, I insisted Zach let me turn them in. Normally, Zach assumed the duty of taking our papers to Dr. B at the front desk. He had told me Tyler and Reggie would stare at my ass whenever I went up to the front desk, and he didn't like it.
I smiled politely at Dr. B as I handed him the papers, then turned to make my way back to my desk. The path back to my chair took me past Reggie's seat. He looked up from his paper as I approached, and I raised my right eyebrow at him. He rolled his eyes and looked back down. Just then, I tripped over something in the aisle, reaching out to break my fall. My hand landed on Reggie's desk, knocking over his open can of soda. The sticky liquid cascaded out, flowed over his paper, and splashed primarily into his lap.
"Oh!" I said, apparently horrified that I had been so clumsy. "I am
so
sorry, Reggie. My foot got caught on something." I gave him the most innocent look I could muster. "Are you all right?"
"God dammit," he hissed, belatedly reaching to right the nearly empty can. "You are such a bitch."
"Go get some paper towels from the restroom and clean that mess up, Butler," Dr. B demanded. I sashayed back to my seat as Reggie stood to comply.
Zach was looking at me, wide-eyed and speechless. He realized that I had engineered the 'accident' at Reggie's desk. I grinned at him, causing Zach, causing him to duck his head to avoid anyone seeing his answering smile.
"Thursday we'll be covering the section on sexual dysfunction. Now get out of here and make sure you do the reading," Dr. B warned, dismissing the class.
"Reggie looks like he could have been the victim of premature ejaculation himself, with that big wet spot on his pants," I observed to Zach, pitching my voice low. Not so low that it wasn't heard by the three guys sitting closest to us. I could have sworn I saw Lee cover a smile.
"That fucking bitch," I heard Reggie tell Tyler as Zach and I slipped past them.
"You didn't have to do that, Brinna," Zach told me, once we were outside the classroom.
"I didn't
have
to," I laughed. "But it sure was fun. Who knew revenge could be as sweet as a Coke?" Then I shrugged. "He really can't prove it was anything except an accident. And I did apologize, after all."
"Oh yeah," Zach said sardonically, "that was some sincere apology." Laughing, he opened the library door for me.
"We have to go to the Reference Desk and check on some journals I ordered for our paper and I think we both need some time to get the images from Dr. B's horror movies out of our heads."
"It was smart, what you did. I mean, when you had us both go to Student Health and get checked." He cleared his throat. "I mean, I know I wasn't, you know, active, but it was a good idea. You know?" He caught my look. "Not that you needed to be checked, or um, ah hell," he said in frustration, "I'm not saying this right."
"It's okay, Zach. I get it." He gave me a relieved smile.
I sent Zach to the Reference Desk to retrieve my journal order, while I headed for the nearby copy machine. I suggested he introduce himself to Jen, the girl at the counter.
Jen worked the Reference Desk a few hours a week. I knew Jen from work study staff meetings, and I had used her help before when doing research for papers before. She was a cute girl; I knew she had recently broken up with a boyfriend and had been lamenting the lack of 'decent men' in her life.
I leaned against the copy machine and watched Zach approach the desk. I could tell by his hesitant step he was feeling uncertain. He knew I was watching him closely, although a casual observer would not notice my interest.
He spoke to Jen, at one point indicating me over by the copy machine. I waved when her head turned to find me, and she nodded back. She responded to Zach, then disappeared into the stacks to retrieve my order.
He brought the small pile of journals to me at the copier, looking for all the world like he'd love to be anywhere else right now.
"You could have told me you ordered a bunch of journals about sex studies," he accused. I simply grinned at him.
"I told you they were for our paper."
"Yeah, well." He cleared his throat. "What now?"
"Let's make copies of the cover and articles, then we can return the journals."
I made Zach go back to the desk a second time, to ask Jen for a stapler, then a third time to return to the journals. As we made our way down to the basement, I told him I thought he should ask Jen out.
"What?" he asked incredulously.
"She's a pretty nice girl. She's cute. You just need to make some small talk, then ask her out. You know, it doesn't even matter what her answer is, it'd be good practice for you."
"But—I don't know her at all. Why would she want to go out with me?" he considered. "I don't even have a car, where would I even take a date?"
"Zach, it's a college campus. There are activities on campus all the time. Sports, movies, bowling nights, festivals, workshops, speakers, all kinds of things." I nudged his arm. "And you can get to know her on the date." I gave a contented sigh. "Yup, that's your new homework. You need to start asking girls out. Check the calendar in the Student Activity Center, see what's happening on campus, and start asking some girls if they'd like to go with you to something. You don't have to ask Jen if you don't think you'd like taking her out. But you should be asking at least two or three girls a week."
"Couldn't you just stick to finding ways to torture Reggie, and not me?" He gave me a half-smile, sounding hopeful.
"Confidence is sexy, Zach, remember?" I shut the door to the office, flipping the lock and turning to him. "I want you to feel confident anywhere you go. Walk into a room like you know exactly who you are, what you want, and where you're going. Don't be afraid of rejection, because there's always someone else out there who will see your confidence and respond to it. Get immune to rejection; it can happen to anyone. Some people let it diminish them, and some people shrug it off as just one of those things you can't control, so you shouldn't worry about it. Stop looking at your flaws because you're missing all the good stuff about yourself." I paused to catch my breath. "Lecture over."
Zach looked thoughtful as he set his backpack down by the door.
"I can't ask a girl out this week. My best friend is coming to visit this weekend, so I'll be busy." I gave him a skeptical look. "Really, Brinna! You can meet him Friday if you want." He grinned, pleased to have found a way out of his assignment for this week.
I playfully rolled my eyes as I dug the copied articles out of my backpack.
"So, tell me about this best friend," I said, setting the papers on the desk and sitting down behind it. I patted the chair next to me and Zach sat down, turning toward me.
I learned his best friend's name was Matthew. They'd gone to school together since Zach, as a twelve year old kid, moved into Matthew's freshman English class. He and Zach took turns visiting each other at their different colleges; this semester was Matthew's turn to visit. It was easy to see that Zach looked forward to seeing his friend. By his own account, Zach was so shy that it had been difficult for him to make many friends at this campus.
"So when is your grandpa coming to visit?"
"A week or two after midterms." He smiled happily, excitement shining on his face. There was something infectious about it and I found myself smiling back. "You're really pretty when you smile like that, Brinna." Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened slightly and he appeared anxious.
