"Crap!" Eddy said under strained breath as he ran to catch the bus. The smell of gasoline filled his nose as it pulled away from the stop. His large belly bounced up and down as he reached out and waved for the driver to stop. Sweat trickled down his neck, staining his black shirt. With the last bit of air in his lungs Eddy yelped, "Wait!"
Despite his efforts the bus continued driving, leaving Eddy stranded and late for his afternoon classes. Eddy couldn't help but feel defeated. This was the third time he missed the same bus this week. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath when he heard a honk come from behind him.
"Eddy!" A voice yelled from the car. The red car stopped next to Eddy and the girl in the passenger seat waved.
"Stephanie?" Eddy answered the raven haired girl. As she waved, Eddy saw the delightful jiggle of her breast from under her tank top. The heat may have been getting to him, but he was certain that he spotted the outline of her raised nipple from under her top. The thought sent a jolt straight to his crotch, waking his cock.
"Do you need a ride?" Stephanie asked, lifting up her shades revealing her bright blue eyes. "The buses aren't always on time."
"Um, sure," Eddy nodded, as he shuffled over to the car. When he got in, the guy in the driver's seat stared daggers at Eddy. Seeing the hostility, Eddy tried to break the ice. "Thanks for giving me a ride, Jace."
"Oh, it's no problem," Jace said through gritted teeth, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "It brings me joy whenever I can help you out, Eddy."
Stephanie lightly slapped Jace across the shoulder, showing her disapproval. "Jace stop being a jerk." She then looked over her seat, "I can't believe that bus just left you. You should complain to the bus company."
"Yeah... I'll do that during break," Eddy shrugged. It wasn't in his nature to go and complain if something didn't go his way, but he was glad that Stephanie took such an interest in his wellbeing. She's been doing that a lot recently, much to everyone's surprise.
"Good," Stephanie nodded. "So what have you been up to? Whenever I see you at the campus lounge you're always drawing something in your sketchbook."
The question perked Eddy up almost instantly. "I've actually been drawing up characters for my own comic book. That's why I came to art school, honestly."
"Comics huh?" Stephanie said, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "What's this guys name?"
"I call him The Gargoyle, and he's this super rich hero that wears armor and fights for justice!"
Surprise painted Stephanie's face, but the look was quickly replaced by one of interest. "And who is this super rich hero, does he have a name?"
"Well, I've been playing around with the name Wayne Richards, but I'm not sure."
Stephanie placed a finger on her lips, as if she was thinking. "I don't know, that name doesn't really sound right to me. I'll think up of some later and you can tell me what you think.
"Oh c'mon babe, you can't think that comic books are cool," Jace said as he changed lanes.
"I didn't give them much thought before," she said. "But Eddy's passion about them makes me wanna check some out."
A small smile spread across Eddy's lips. He was happy that his character gave him a chance to interact more with Stephanie. The rest of the car ride was silent, with the radio turned off. Instead Stephanie started to hum, filling the car with a soothing tune.
Eddy was so mesmerized that he didn't notice he was staring at her. When their eyes met through the rear view mirror, Eddy turned away and mumbled, "That was really nice."
"Thank you," Stephanie chirped. "I hope I sound good, I've been paying a ton to go to school for it."
"It's definitely paying off, babe," Jace butted in as he pulled the car into the student parking lot. He then gave Stephanie a peck on the lips, to her embarrassment.
"Jace! Not in front of Eddy," she whined, a hint of blush spreading.
"Oh c'mon, Eddy doesn't mind. Right?"
Eddy did mind. He didn't want to see Stephanie getting kissed by someone else. But what could he say? If Eddy told them the truth Jace would call him a prude or worse, find out that Eddy really did love Stephanie. So he said nothing. He just gathered his things and opened the door. "Thanks again guys, see you later."
Eddy could hear Stephanie yelling after him, but he didn't stop. He waddled his way to the shuttle to take him onto campus. Like always, Eddy was the last one on the bus and had to squeeze his way to find a seat.
The first of his two classes was Digital Imaging and his professor was the worst. He dreaded this class and was pretty sure the professor hated him. Class was held in a lab with state of the art computers and tablets. Thankfully the air condition was always blasting. It was a godsend after Eddy had to endure the near summer heat.
"Late again Mr. Johnson," sighed Professor Claudia Ellsworth as she looked away from her presentation. She brushed her dyed blue grey hair from her face and rested her hands on her hips. "Well don't make a spectacle of yourself, take your seat."
Eddy grunted, and found his station. He took out his tablet and started to type out the notes that were displayed. Professor Ellsworth's class usually had a fourth of the time spent lecturing on the best techniques and the rest of the time the class used their tablets to see if they could follow along.
"Alright, enough of boring notes. Everyone take out your tablets and open up PicCreator," Professor Ellsworth instructed. "You've got the rest of class to show me what you've learned."
Eddy tried all semester to put what he learned onto the page, but it was always difficult for him. His pieces just never seemed to cut it for Professor Ellsworth. His grades were subpar at best and he was worried that he'd have to repeat the class. But he didn't give up, no matter how many times he need to create the same image. He needed to learn this stuff so he could become a comic artist.
In the midst of his drawing, Eddy felt a tap on his back. He turned to see the sharp eye of his ever watching professor. Before moving on, she whispered, "See me for office hours today."
The professor's suggestion left Eddy so anxious that he couldn't even concentrate for the rest of the period. His work suffered and he couldn't complete the assignment. During lunch Eddy was on autopilot. He went to his favorite food truck and got his usual cheesesteak, almost inhaling it, not tasting anything. When the free period was over, Eddy trudged over to the Art Building where he stared at the Professor's door for what seemed like forever. When he finally mustered the courage to knock, the door opened and he was face to face with the Professor.
