Chapter 5
Question: Does one's fortune change once he moves into a different environment? My answer: No... at least that was my original answer.
College started out the same way grade school ended. I was a loser with no real friends. The only time I ever talked to anyone was when they needed for something school-related.
It wouldn't have been so bad if it were, "Do you know where chemistry class is?" instead of, "Do you want to walk to chemistry together?" and, "Do you remember the assignment?" not, "Want to work on it together?" To be honest, it was a bit worse from where I left off in high school. Those kids at least wanted my help because they knew I was one of the top students. These students straight up didn't care for me at all.
It just wasn't my fate here to be happy, at least at the beginning. I couldn't even get people to take advantage of me the way they did in high school. I figured they probably didn't need my help, since everyone in college was supposed to be smart.
One real difference was my living situation. I had a couple of suitemates, but my scholarship covered me getting a solo room in the nicest dorm on campus.
Unfortunately for me, I think that ended up being a real detriment to my social life. If I had a roommate, at least he would have been forced to talk to me since we shared such a small space. With me being in a solo room, no one had any obligation to talk to me, or at least ask how my day was going.
The only other major difference was that I no longer saw my bully on a day-to-day basis. To be honest, I hadn't seen Julia at all, which was really weird at first. It's not that I wanted to see her, but after being forced to interact with her so often in the past, it was kind of weird just knowing that she was somewhere on campus, wanting nothing to do with me.
I still couldn't get over those final words she left me with. The last time I saw Julia, she warned me to never talk to her when we got to college. I could only assume someone as hot as her wouldn't want to be seen talking to a loser like me. However, there was something about her eyes that made me think there was more to the story.
There were times... I worried about her... I don't know why, since I hated her so much... but I started to wonder if she was even there... at my school. It was just weird knowing we were at the same place, but she wasn't tormenting me. I almost didn't believe it.
I ended up doing some research on her. When I checked her social media, she looked as hot as ever... Ugh... But I couldn't tell if she was actually on my campus. After that, I was able to confirm her whereabouts when I found her on the school's swim team website.
The night I found that page... a lot happened that night... There were images of her in her swimsuit. And then, there were images of other hot girls who were so tall and fit, just like Julia. Yes, as embarrassing as it is to say it... a lot happened that night... when I was alone in my bed...
As boring and sad as my life was, especially when it came to girls, I could actually admit to myself that there were things about Julia I missed. Yeah, sure... one blowjob shouldn't make up for a lifetime of tormenting, but after experiencing some of the things she did to me, sexually... it was a little difficult to not think about her at night... especially when I was alone...
Regardless of my feelings towards my bully, this was sort of the life I had for the first few months in college. I didn't really talk to anyone because no one would give me the time of day. And also, my bully was out there somewhere, and I was pathetic enough to jerk off to the thought of her despite our treacherous past.
Yes, this was my life... until one day... everything changed...
***
It was the first class of Organic Chemistry after our midterm. Like the loser that I was, I was the only one who didn't get invited to join a study group with my classmates, so I was sure I didn't do that well.
There was actually one girl who I think might have been interested in studying with me. She was a short and petite woman who was way out of my league, just like any other girl. However, she looked extremely cute, despite seeming as if she didn't really want to talk to me.
Before midterms, I remembered her walking up to my desk at the front and asking, "Are you good at chemistry?"
When I started to answer, "It's not my best subject. I'm actually more comfortable with biology and math..." she sort of just cut me off before walking away. It made me wonder if she would have actually offered to study with me had I just lied and said chemistry was my best subject.
Honestly, I didn't even feel all that bad for missing an opportunity to study together. On the test, there were a few questions towards the end I wasn't so sure about. I would have felt guilty if anyone had gotten questions wrong because of me.
On this day, however, it appeared that I wasn't the only one who had trouble with midterms. The professor appeared very disappointed in us as he explained, "Several of you failed and only one person got an A. Some of you need to really reconsider the way you prepare for my exams."
Immediately, my classmates began looking around, wondering what could have gone so wrong. Then, when someone asked if he was serious about there only being one A in our entire class, my professor further explained, "It's true... and it was actually a one-hundred."
I could hear the gasps coming from every section of the room. It was a large class, so I figured it could have been any one of my peers. However, when the professor called my name and asked me to step to the front of the class, I slowly began to realize... I was the one who got the perfect score.
After months of receiving absolutely no attention, it felt awkward to have so many eyes on me all of a sudden. Then, when the professor began praising me, all I could do was direct my eyes to the floor.
"Explain to the class how you did so well," he prompted, almost showing me respect compared to all the others.
Never taking my eyes away from my shoes, I mumbled my way to an answer. "I... uh... I studied a lot... maybe three or four hours a day..."
"Are you a chemistry major? If not, you might want to look into it."
"No... I'm a bioengineering major... I think some of the concepts carried over... But I don't really enjoy chemistry."
"Well, what are you interested in?" he prodded for some reason, only making me even more embarrassed.
"I'm mostly interested in genomics and engineering," I explained, sounding like a little mouse. And then, for no reason at all, I added, "My dad is a doctor, so he wants me to become one as well... but I'm just not passionate about it."
I swear, after being deprived of attention for so long, it was like torture being there in front of so many people, talking about myself. I tried to slip away, but then the professor asked me to solve a couple questions so the class could see how I did it. Luckily, I felt like I was given softball questions. They were nowhere near as hard as the test, but the concepts were similar, so I could see why he would want me to show them how I got my answers.
I could only imagine what people were thinking as the professor continued to praise me. At first, I thought we were all about the same when it came to academics, but now, I was suddenly worried that they thought I was a nerd or a goody two-shoes.
Whatever the professor's reasons were to have me stand up there, he eventually proved his point and allowed me to return to my seat. I hoped that everyone would just go about their day like nothing happened, but once class was over, I was approached by a few of my classmates.
"Great job on the test!" one of my random classmates greeted. "You should have totally joined our study group if you were that smart."
"I tried, but you guys said you had too many people," I quietly explained.
He then blew me off before expressing, "You can join our study group anytime now!"
As much as I didn't really care for the way he offered me to study with him and his friends, I was quickly caught off guard when that girl I met the other day approached me right after. Looking much bubblier all of a sudden, with a really cute smile on her face, she asked, "So your name is Phillip, is it?"
"Uhh... yeah..."
"You're so smart, Phillip!" she continued, inching towards me before she eventually got so close that I could feel her breath on my arms. "Why didn't you tell me you were so good at chemistry?!"
"Oh, sorry," I responded, thinking back to our initial conversation when she looked less welcoming. "I was being honest... chemistry isn't my best subject... but I somehow got all the answers right."
"That's so cool!" she exclaimed, twirling her dark hair with her finger. "You're super impressive! We should like... totally study together!"
Suddenly, my eyes popped wide open and my heart thumped even louder. Finally allowing myself to enjoy the attention for once, I expressed, "That sounds wonderful!"
Then, possibly one of the best moments of my life happened. The pretty girl pulled out her phone and said, "Here, give me your number."
The most exciting part of all happened next. After I entered my number and name, I felt my own phone vibrating in my pocket. As I pulled it out, I noticed she had already texted me, "Tina."
"That's my number and name," she said with a friendly smile. She then wished me a good day before walking off and leaving me red in the face.
From there, I headed to the dining hall like I normally did after chemistry so I could grab a bite and look over my notes. However, after presumably scoring a study date with that really cute girl in my class, the past just had to butt its ugly head back into my life.
It was the first time I had seen her since getting to college. My old bully, Julia, was sitting there with two of those other hot girls I saw on the swim team website.
As much as I wanted to avoid her, considering the warning and our entire past, I was on such a high after exchanging numbers with Tina, I decided to say something to my long-time nemesis.
I approached her table before standing awkwardly next to Julia and her friends. As they chatted each other up, not even noticing my presence, I couldn't help but realize how attractive all three of them were.
Julia was just as physically beautiful as she ever was; perhaps maybe even a bit prettier since I hadn't seen her in so long. The other girls were pretty breathtaking as well; one of them being tall and the other one actually being pretty short for a swimmer. I had seen their pictures on the website, and it almost felt like witnessing celebrities in person.
Remembering something else I saw when I was scrolling through Julia's athlete bio, I decided to use that as my reason for talking to her. Building up my courage after all she and I had been through together, I nervously greeted, "Hi Julia... How are you?"
