Chapter 1: Kevin

One of the problems with studying engineering is that there are fifty guys for every girl. So when a girl shows up in a class, the guys fall all over themselves trying to get the girl to notice them. If the girl happens to be a goddess -like a girl I know in one of my engineering classes - you know there's no way that she'll pay attention to you, especially if you're 17 and she's 21. You don't even try.

You look forward to other classes where the ratio of guys to girls is closer to 50-50. However if you're like most engineering students, you end up taking those hard science classes because you find them a lot easier than those fuzzy classes. While there are more girls in these classes than in a typical engineering class, the girls are still heavily outnumbered by the guys.

So when this cute girl decided to sit beside me one Thursday morning in my astronomy class, I was very surprised. She really filled out her Old Navy sweatshirt. Her red hair was relatively short, but stylish. I think she was wearing some makeup, but it wasn't as much as some of the other girls I've seen around campus.

Cute girls usually go after the good-looking guys, not a kid like me. When she started talking to me, I nearly choked. Why would a cute girl want to talk to me?

She introduced herself, "Hi. My name is Amy".

"I'm Kevin", I said.

"I know", she said. "I noticed that you really know what's going on in this class. I'm lost and I really could use your help. Pleeeaaassseee?" She looked at me, batted her beautiful green eyes and smiled as she said this.

"Okay, I guess", I responded. How could I say no? Or better yet, what normal, red-blooded guy in his right mind WOULD say no?

"Great! Let's meet at the entrance to the library at 6:00pm. Okay?" She beamed at me, wearing her thousand-watt smile.

"That's fine with me," I agreed, shifting uneasily in my chair.

Just then, Professor Winslow started his lecture. Campus legend has it he was a crotchety old geezer, and I can see why. That guy's tougher than diagramming a sentence! Quadratic equations are a snap, but... Anyway, I'm glad I read through the book at the start of the semester, because I don't remember a single thing the professor said! I do remember looking at Amy from time to time though. God, is she good looking...

Once Amy caught me looking at her and smiled back at me. I quickly turned my head so she wouldn't think I was staring at her, but her devilish grin told me my move was too little too late.

As the professor wrapped up his lecture, he reminded the class that our first homework assignment was due next Tuesday. "If you haven't finished it by then," he warned in his gruff I'm-going-to-make-your-life-a-living-hell voice, "don't bother turning it in." Professor Winslow stuffed his papers and overhead transparencies into his briefcase, and shuffled across the stage.

Eventually the professor dismissed the class, and I walked out the door with Amy. She stood two inches less than my five foot eleven body. With a smile I'll remember 'til my dying day, she said, "See you later!" Then she leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on my cheek. Do I run and take cover, or thank my lucky stars?

My face felt warm, but I managed to stammer, "Bye". Then I stood there amidst the chaos in the hallway like an idiot while she walked away as the image of her tight fitting jeans burned itself into my mind.

When I showed up at the library, I didn't see Amy at first, so I just waited around the entrance next to a big bronze statue of a frog. Why anyone would choose a frog to be a school mascot was beyond me. My thoughts shifted from frogs to Amy. I started thinking about the possibilities. Did Amy really like me, or was she just using me to survive ol' Doc Winslow's class?

Just as I was about to leave, Amy walked up to me and said, "I'm sorry I'm late, but I was at my boyfriend's place and lost track of time."

Oh well, I thought to myself, looks like Amy's more interested in class than me! What should I assume-or even hope-otherwise?

We went into the library and found an open study room, complete with white board and markers. I tossed my backpack with my books in it onto the table in the center of the room with a heavy thud, and then I picked up a blue marker and stepped up to the white board.

I drew the classic star chart, which compares a star's spectral type with its luminosity. Then I wrote the letters: O B A F G K M across the top and the numbers -8 to +12 down the left-hand side. I drew a broad band from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the chart and explained to Amy, "Main sequence stars form a band that goes from the top left corner down to the bottom right in this chart."

Then I drew a small blob in the lower left corner and said, "White dwarf stars are concentrated here". While drawing a larger blob in the upper right quadrant, I continued "and red giants tend to be grouped here."

Amy asked me how I remembered the various spectral classes, so I taught her the phrase "Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me," where the first letter of each word corresponded to the spectral class.

Amy tilted her head and grinned. "Ahhh, but I think 'Oh be a fine guy, kiss me' would be much easier for me to remember." Then she puckered her lips and made a wet kissing sound. I turned red and Amy laughed.

For the next hour or so, I continued to draw pictures on the white board and mutter about stars while Amy asked any questions that popped into her mind. Given the kinds of questions she asked, I think Amy finally started to understand some of the material that worried her. At the same time, I wondered if I was teaching her TOO much. If I made things too easy for her to understand, then maybe I'd never see her again.

As I finished covering the rest of Professor Winslow's material, Amy asked me if I was hungry. My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't eaten lunch let alone dinner. Gathering my books and shoving them into my backpack, I mumbled, "Uh, I guess so."

Amy said, "Me too. Let's go over to my place. We can order a pizza and work on the homework assignment. Sound okay?"

I panicked. I didn't know what to say. What about this boyfriend she mentioned? My luck he'd be some burly muscular guy who could crumble my HP calculator in the palm of his hand! Was I going to get hurt? Finally, Amy looked at me and asked with a slight tone of impatience, "Okay?"

I looked into her eyes for a second and said, "Okay" without thinking about the consequences.

"Great. I live just off campus in Summer Hills Apartments. You know, the apartments by Beltsview Mall. Do you want a ride?"

I nodded my head while biting my lower lip to ease my nervousness. Amy grabbed my arm and my books and led me to her car.

She had a little red Mazda Miata. She popped the trunk and tossed our books inside. "I'd put the top down, but I think you'd freeze your ass off," she laughed. With language like that, she'd fit in well with some of the EEs I knew! Maybe being around Amy isn't so terrifying after all.

It was late January in Maryland, and I could see some of the remnants of the last snowstorm. Since words were still difficult for me to form, I just nodded my head, allowed her to open my door, and then I got in.

Amy hopped in behind the wheel and started the engine. She smiled over at me and said, "Better buckle up". After throwing the car into gear, she zipped out of her parking place and drove out to the main road.

I hung on for dear life as Amy passed someone on the shoulder. "Asshole!" she shouted, laying on the horn. "If you can't drive, get your fuckin' car off the road!" I half expected her to give the driver the finger, but traffic was brisk this time of night.

Thankfully, we arrived at her apartment in one piece and we grabbed our stuff out of the trunk. I resolved to walk next time, since Amy's apartment was only a few blocks away from campus.

"I live in apartment 3C in that building over there," Amy said, pointing to the low-rise apartment off to the left.

To get there, we had to walk around a big pile of slush. Amy decided to jump over and easily made it to the snow bank on the other side. I started to walk around the slush pile but she hollered, "Chicken!", so I decided to follow her jump over the slush pond. Unfortunately, just as I started to jump, Amy looked at me and smiled.

Fortunately, I only got wet. I could have twisted my ankle or broken my leg, but the only thing that was truly hurt was my pride. Even so, I was very shaken. Amy helped me to my feet and took the books from my hands. I was able to stand on my own, but I was soaked from head to toe.

She laughed and said, "Let's get inside and get you out of those wet clothes".

I followed her quietly, wondering if she thought I was the biggest dork in the world or merely the biggest dork on campus.

We climbed the stairs, taking in the faint smells of pizza, stale beer, and microwave popcorn. She pulled her keys out of the pocket of her short leather jacket and unlocked the door. I twisted the doorknob, opened the door, andthen held it open as Amy walked through. I thought about running away after she went inside, but she had my books, so I meekly followed her into her apartment. What was a geek like me doing in a place like this? And what are the odds that her boyfriendwill stay away long enough for us to have our dinner and finish our homework?

Once inside, Amy tossed our books onto a nearby overstuffed couch and walked to the back of the apartment. I just stood there dripping wet, not knowing what to do. I scanned the apartment, taking in the place that Amy called home. It was a lot more orderly than I would have expected.

As my eyes took in one of the framed prints hanging on the wall, Amy uttered a single word. "Baroque."

Like the biggest dweeb in history, I held up my hands and said, "How could it be? I didn't even touch anything!"

Amy rolled her eyes and giggled. "That's a period in art and music history, silly" she clarified. Make that dweeb with a capitol 'D'...

As I turned to face Amy, I noticed she clutched a pink terrycloth bathrobe in her hand. My eyebrows rose, asking an unspoken question.

"Why are you still wearing those wet clothes? Get them off and I'll toss them in the dryer. You can wear my robe while they're drying."

I'm certain that the typical red-blooded guy wouldn't have wasted a second getting undressed on the heels of such a suggestion, but me being me, I hesitated. I'd've given anything to have the guts to scoop her into my arms, whisk her away to her bedroom, and make passionate love to her, but it wasn't in the cards-at least it wasn't in the deck used by an average, everyday geek like me. I just stood there and said something intelligent like, "Huh?"

Amy walked over to me and grabbed me by my coat. She dragged me to the bathroom where she took my coat off. "Sit down on the edge of the bathtub," Amy directed with a gentle push, and then she proceeded to take off my shoes and socks.

Amy reached up and unbuckled my jeans. My face heated up, and I'm certain I turned several different shades of red. She looked into my eyes and said, "You're embarrassed aren't you? That's cute," she smiled.

"Look, here's the robe. I'll wait outside while you change." Sensing I didn't fully believe her, Amy added, "I promise." She stood up and walked out of the tiny bathroom, carefully closing the door behind her.

I sat there for a moment and took off my wet jeans. My shirt wasn't wet, but my underwear was. I debated whether I should leave the underwear on for the sake of modesty, or take them off to dry also. The thought of sitting around in wet underwear for the next hour or so while my jeans were in the dryer didn't sound the least bit appealing, so I took them off and rolled them up inside the jeans with my socks.

Of course my shoes were wet as well, so I left them over by the heating duct and hoped that they would dry out enough to wear home. I put on the robe and carefully pulled it around my waist so that nothing would show and tied it shut. Unfortunately I wished it were a little longer, since it didn't even come close to covering my knees!

I gathered my wet clothes and opened the bathroom door. I must have looked like a fool when I walked into the kitchen wearing that pink bathrobe, but I seemed to be doing that quite frequently tonight. I was thankful that the robe was made out of terrycloth so Amy couldn't see through it.

She hung up the phone and smiled at me. "I hope you like pepperoni and sausage on your pizza. It'll be here in 30 minutes or so."

I mumbled, "Thanks".

Amy grabbed the wet clothes from me and walked down the hallway. "One of the reasons I moved here was that this place has its own private washer and dryer. I never get around to doing my laundry until I've run out of clean clothes. I always hated walking to the laundry room naked with a big basket of clothes placed strategically in front of me."

I didn't think it was possible for me to be more embarrassed. But when I started thinking about Amy walking around the apartment complex without clothes, my dick started to get hard. I looked down and I thought I could see where my penis was starting to poke out through the robe.