The Ponytail Express
A story about a guy with an MC ability to smell really good and the situations it brings.
Part 1: Study Habits
They met at The Node, a cafΓ© in the Commons area of the University of Cantella Forks. Most of the stores were closed on Sunday so there was a minimum of foot traffic. Regardless, small pockets of students clustered in various areas, busily studying for the upcoming finals.
Few noticed the tall, slim 19-year-old stroll into the cafΓ©. He purchased two burritos, a mocha with no whip cream, and a water. The Barista greeted him. "Hey man. You've been in here before, right?" The tall, slim man nodded. "You're meeting Deb, right?" The Barista's eyes widened with hope. Fred nodded a second time, requesting a coffee sleeve. "Hey buddy, you get out of the hospital, or are you a lab rat?"
"The second thing." Fred forgot he still wore the medical bracelet from the clinical trials that began Friday and carried through the weekend. He had driven straight over and was both tired and relieved in equal measure. The weekend had been a series of several blood draws, and Fred had used the time to study for the upcoming trigonometry final. He found an out of the way booth, took the food out and waited about 30 seconds until she walked in.
Deborah Stallings was two months younger than Fred. She stood at 5'6" and kept herself in great shape. She sported a pair of lightweight loose fit shorts that she clearly wore for comfort, a UCF "Go Cats" loose fitting sweatshirt that only slightly hid her 34-28-38 figure and a minimum of makeup, but she still got plenty of notice, in large part due to her amazing legs. Deb was a sports fanatic and was on the university swim team. Brown eyes and long blonde hair done in a ponytail framed a kind face. She wore an air of confidence like a suit that you go to work in every day.
Fred was thankful they had become friends; one of few he had made in his first year of college. The pair met first semester in abnormal psyche class. Fred noticed Deb was having a tough go of it, and they were table buddies, so he offered his help, and she had suggested they begin studying together. Second semester they found themselves in Trig, Fred's nemesis class. Under Deb's tutelage, he brought his grade up to a high B and with finals a week away he was poised for an A. The way Fred saw it, they had saved each other's grade point average and had bonded over the experience.
Deb had been up front with Fred, instilling a "banter & business" arrangement. She was not really looking for a relationship in any case, instead preferring to excel in her classes. Fred was not too dejected with the arrangement but had decided the "Friend Zone" was better than the "No Zone". One benefit of the current situation is that he noticed how competitive Deb was in her relationships. One of the rumors that Fred had a double verification on was that she knocked out a boyfriend that had gotten a bit too hands-y with her.
Deb spotted him and flashed a bright smile. "Freddy!" She saw the coffee and instantly melted, sliding into the booth across from Freddy after giving him a playful punch on his shoulder.
"Mmmmm, Caffeine." She intoned in a low voice. She took a sip. "Extra shot of espresso?" She glanced at her cellphone and put it on the table, screen side facing up.
"To your specifications." Freddy grinned, pulling hash browns and a burrito out of the bag. "There's another egg and sausage burrito in there if you want it."
She fixed him with a stare as her eyes narrowed. A smile danced on her lips. "You are the devil, sir. I give in to your temptation. By the way, thank you thank you thank you."
"Anything for you, your egg-cellency." Freddy pulled the second burrito from the bag and handed it to Deb. There was incidental contact, and if he was not so focused on his food, he might have noticed Deb's eyes glaze over momentarily. For her part, she had gotten the faintest whiff of sandalwood. She took the top of the coffee cup off for better access to the coffee and the pair ate for a few minutes in silence. She responded to a few texts on her cell.
"So," Freddy began between chews. "What's on the agenda today?"
Deb considered more than the question itself as she enjoyed her burrito. She nodded. Freddy sensed a change in her behavior as she looked at him with intensity. She caught the faint scent of vanilla.
"I'm concerned about you, Freddy." As he masticated, Deb took the floor. "The NireCue Institute says it only tests harmless drugs, but you don't really know that for sure and you've been there a lot over this last semester. I know the money is good, but you do not need it. At some point you should prioritize health over finances."
Fred was about to reply but she held a hand up.
"I have a great idea, Freddy. As you know, I am Captain for the Express. We need a scorekeeper and I think you would be great."
He laughed. "Deb, let me address both of the things. One, the clinical trials are for medications that lower blood pressure. I can tell because I get a raging headache from the meds. I'm coming down from one right now as a matter of fact. It's also going to be a couple of months until I can qualify for another trial, but I'll hold off for a bit since it's summer." Deb's lower lip extended in concern. "Second, you want me to keep score for your summer softball team."
"Yes, I do. As you know, the city softball league has been at only seven teams for the last three years." Fred nodded. Deb finished her coffee, licking her lips. She waved back to a collection of students at another table. "There used to be eight teams, but the Screaming Celts got into trouble during the Championship. The team got banned, then got dissolved."
"Ever find out why?" Fred put his medical bracelet and the rest of the food refuse in the bag. As he reached across to put the remains of her meal in the bag, she noted the scent of vanilla with a hint of sandalwood.
"Hey Freddy, are you a cologne guy?"
"No, just straight soap and water at NireCue. Why, pray tell?" Fred was curious about the sudden change in subject.
Deb scrutinized the guy sitting across from her. She liked Fred and had been trying to get him to socialize more. He was a bit of an introvert and one of her projects over the last several months of school was to coax him out his shell. To that end, she was trying to set him up on dates. She had figured that getting him to agree to be scorekeeper of a woman's softball team would be the ideal position for him to either sink or swim. She was concerned that he might be holding a torch for her but had communicated to him that she was not interested. The cologne smell, though incredibly nice, felt like a possible attempt to woo her. She had experienced a lot of that since she had blossomed into quite the beauty. She decided to take him at his word for now.
"Give me a ride back to the dorms?" She asked.