Discontinued

As I'm lying in bed, I begin to think of my dream again. I surely hope that I didn't call out any names in my sleep. Nobody has told me that I talk in my sleep, so I'm hopeful that I don't. Embarrassing would be an understatement. I'm sure Tyler would completely freak out!

Her auburn hair, fantastic blue eyes, average but nicely proportioned weight, 5'5" height, and nice, perky 34-C breasts fill my thoughts. I think she would've killed me if she'd caught me looking through her dresser. I must be a breasts man because I always seem to give her bigger breasts in my dreams. I never seem to be able to dream about the second half of that wonderful encounter. Why is that?

By contrast, with very blonde hair, those same fantastic blue eyes, above average but extremely well proportioned weight, and same 5'5" height, the other woman in my dream has some awesome 38-DD breasts! I'm quite sure that she would've killed me if she had caught me even in her room! That's just not something a 14-year-old boy is supposed to do!

Then again, is a 14-year-old boy supposed to be a pervert and watch his 37-year-old lovely mother get it on with his 16-year-old gorgeous sister? I think not, especially watching from the hallway through a crack in the door. I think back to that wonderful day, the source for my wonderful dreams. If I could only have longer dreams I might get to the part where my Mom returns the favor to Shaunna.

I sigh and sit up in bed. Those thoughts will have to wait until later. Right now, I need to get up and get ready for my appointment with Mr. Hanley. I'd better hurry!

I busy myself getting ready. The in-and-out shower seems to wake me up and I'm back in my room in record time. I brush my teeth and then step over to my dresser. Since I don't have a clue as to what sort of job assignment I'll receive, I'd better wear some extremely casual clothes. I pick out a clean pair of jeans and pull out a t-shirt to go with them.

Once dressed, I take one final look in the mirror and then look up at the clock: 7:23. I might as well go now and wait for Mr. Hanley. Maybe being early will make a good impression. I hope so. For some reason I really seem to care what adults think of me.

"See you later," I say to Tyler as I walk out the door.

"Later, Nate," he replies.

I walk the short distance to the front desk. I walk around the corner to the right of the front desk and expect to see the Dean's door closed. Instead, I find the door wide open. Mr. Hanley is already in his office and is apparently talking with someone on the phone. I stop by the doorway and lightly tap on the open door.

Mr. Hanley motions for me to enter his office and waves toward a chair. I sit down and try not to eavesdrop on his conversation. As I sit there, I look around the office. There isn't much to decorate the place: a few pictures, a trophy of some sort, and a plaque on the wall. I glance at Mr. Hanley. I wouldn't be able to tell from how he is sitting in his seat, but I know from yesterday he's about 6'0'' tall. His salt-n-pepper grey hair and blue eyes make me think of Grandpa Preston, Dad's father.

Mr. Hanley puts the phone back on the cradle and looks up at me. "Nathan, isn't it?"

"Yes sir, I am. Either Nathan or Nate will do." I smile.

"Well, Nate, I expect that you are here to get your job assignment. I just need to look through this stack and find your name."

"Yes sir, I also wanted to put in a room request for the school year. My roommate said that I should get the request in just as soon as possible."

Mr. Hanley pulls a slip of paper from the middle of the stack and looks up at me. "Well, I think that we can manage that. Here is your job assignment. Let me find the room request forms." He hands me my job assignment slip and opens one of the desk drawers.

As Mr. Hanley flips through some folders, I glance down at the slip of paper to see where I'll be working. "Mr. Nathan Preston: Maintenance/Grounds, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM." Well, that's all right with me. I look at my watch and see that it's only 7:30. Good, I should have plenty of time.

Mr. Hanley pulls a form from the desk drawer and hands it to me. "This should be what you are looking for. You can fill it out now, if you'd like, or whenever you get the chance. Just slip it under the door if I'm not here."

"Thanks," I reply. "Do you have a pen I can borrow?" Mr. Hanley points to a pen sitting in a penholder right near my right hand. "Oh, thanks." I feel my face heat slightly as I grab the pen.

I begin to fill out the form just as somebody walks into the office. I look up to see Phil enter with Carter right behind him.

"Hey guys," I say. "Are you here for your job assignments, too?"

"Yeah, I grabbed Carter on the way over," Phil answers. Phil turns to Mr. Hanley and says, "Phil Vanderzee and Carter Moseley, sir. Sorry if we're a bit late."

"Grab a seat. Let me look through the stack here." Mr. Hanley looks through the stack on his desk once more. I go back to filling out the form and just as I'm finishing, Mr. Hanley hands over a slip of paper to Phil and then looks at Carter. "Here is yours, Carter." He hands over another slip of paper to Carter.

I put the pen back in the penholder and hand over the form to Mr. Hanley. Mr. Hanley takes the form from my hand and glances down at it. I notice a small smile cross his face as he places it in a folder on his desk, but he says nothing. I wonder what the smile is about, but shrug it off.

"Looks like you three will be working together," Mr. Hanley states. "At least you already seem to know one another." He chuckles and looks across his desk at us. "I heard that Sully, Mr. Rhodes that is, had himself an all-freshman grounds crew this summer. I'm betting that it's you three." He chuckles again.

I look over at Phil and Carter as they both look over at me. "That's cool," I reply.

"Sounds good to me," says Phil. Carter just nods in agreement.

"Well, I suppose you men will want to get going. Good luck, and welcome again to C.B. Prep." Mr. Hanley smiles and picks up the phone again.

All three of us utter our thanks to Mr. Hanley and quietly leave his office. Once outside his office I turn to Phil and Carter. "So I guess that we're the grounds crew. It doesn't sound all that bad." Phil and Carter nod and all three of us head to the front door.

Outside I notice that it's another beautiful day. I imagine that most days here are probably just more of the same. I smile. With almost perfect weather year-round, I just might grow to love it here!

The three of us make small talk while walking down to the Maintenance/Grounds building. Phil and Carter seem to be following my lead as I cut across the lawn to the north side of the chapel, around the main classrooms, and toward the fire station.

"I'm glad somebody knows where they are going," says Phil. "Have you been here before or something?" Phil looks over at me.

I chuckle. "No, my first day was yesterday. Tyler took me for a tour of the campus, though. I guess that I just remember the layout pretty well. It's not really that complicated." I pause and then chuckle again. "I do wonder, though, what you would have done if I didn't know where it was."

Carter laughs. "I guess we'd have to ask somebody for directions," he replies. Phil just laughs along with us. The three of us continue our journey past the fire station and the gym, and finally arrive at the Maintenance/Grounds building. I look at my watch: 7:52. Good, we're a little early.

We climb the steps and enter the building. A few guys are standing around and glance over at us. A man sitting at his desk waves us into his office. We enter the office and stand in front of the desk. The man looks to be in his mid 40's, about Phil's height, but definitely has a lot more weight than Phil, brown hair, and brown eyes.

The man stands up and offers his hand. The three of us take turns shaking it as he says, "I'm Mr. Rhodes. Who might you gentlemen be?"

I look at Phil and Carter and both of them look at me. Okay, I guess I'll handle the introductions. "I'm Nate Preston, this is Phil Vanderzee, and this is Carter Moseley." I point to myself, Phil, and Carter in turn.

Mr. Rhodes' face lights up. "Aha, my freshman grounds crew! We finally meet. Grab a time card from the stack there and fill in your name at the top. The secretary should have cards with your names printed on them by the end of the week. Just punch in using the clock on the wall out there. Make sure to go from left to right. This is Monday the 13th, so be sure to start on the correct day."

Well, that solves the question of whether or not we are the freshman grounds crew. That's fine by me. We each grab a time card and a pen to fill in our names at the top. I follow Phil and Carter out of the office and wait my turn to punch in. I glance down at the time punched on the card: 07.93. Military time using hundredths, I think to myself.

Phil, Carter, and I make small talk while waiting to see what Mr. Rhodes has in store for us. I casually look around the room at the other guys. I don't recognize anyone else but then I didn't expect to. I'm sure that I'll come to know them over time.

Mr. Rhodes lumbers out of his office and approaches Phil, Carter, and I. "You three follow me. We've got to go out back to the tractor." We follow Mr. Rhodes as he makes his way through the building. We walk through a huge shop area with all sorts of machinery for cutting wood. I know that my Dad would be envious if he were here.

Once we step outside the back of the building, I notice that we are standing on a loading dock. Mr. Rhodes seems to have a difficult time navigating the short stairway leading down off the dock. Phil, Carter, and I hurry down the steps once he is clear of them.

Mr. Rhodes points to a large farm tractor parked outback here. "This is our best tractor. Can two of you go over to that trailer there with the pipes on it and lift the tongue up while I back up to it? The other one can help me back up and make sure I don't run anybody over." He laughs, and I notice how much his stomach wobbles as he does so.

Phil and Carter head toward the trailer with the pipes on it, so I shrug and walk out a ways behind the tractor. Mr. Rhodes climbs up on the tractor and it starts right up. I really don't do much but watch as he backs it up underneath the tongue of the trailer. He kills the engine on the tractor and climbs down.

"Good, good," he says. "Now lower the tongue in place and I'll secure it." Phil and Carter lower the tongue into place. Mr. Rhodes quickly secures it and smiles. "I'm sorry guys, but I can't let you ride on the tractor or the trailer since they don't have seats. Cal-O.S.H.A. would have my hide if they caught me letting anyone under 16 ride without seats. I'm afraid you'll have to walk behind the trailer. We don't have far to go."

I shrug. "That's fine. I'm sort of resigned to having to walk everywhere." Mr. Rhodes laughs.

We follow behind the trailer as Mr. Rhodes slowly drives up the road toward the gym. We haven't been walking long when Mr. Rhodes brings the tractor to a halt in front of the gym and shuts the tractor off. He climbs down off the tractor and comes around to where we are standing beside the trailer.

"Nate, grab the other end of this pipe here. Phil and Carter: grab another pipe and follow us onto the soccer field." The three of us begin following Mr. Rhodes' lead and soon have the pipes lain out on the soccer field and on the lawn across the road from the gym.

Mr. Rhodes points at a hose in a bin underneath the trailer. "Two of you grab that hose and follow me." Phil and I grab the hose and follow him to a fire hydrant. "I'll help you hook this one up and then you three can hook the one up across the road," says Mr. Rhodes. We watch as he attaches the hose to the hydrant and then to the end of the pipes.

"Stand back," warns Mr. Rhodes as he cracks open the hydrant flow. A small stream of water begins to spray from around where the hose attaches to the hydrant. The three of us jump back slightly to avoid the spray. Mr. Rhodes just chuckles. The sprinklers on the pipes begin to do their thing and Mr. Rhodes smiles.

"Now you three go get another hose and set it up on the other side of the road there." Phil, Carter, and I grab another hose from under the trailer and walk to the other side of the road. We struggle a bit getting it set up but soon feel that we've done an adequate job.

"Well, let's see if she holds or if she blows!" Mr. Rhodes laughs aloud. "Here, you take this hydrant-spanner and crack her open." He hands me the wrench and stands back. Phil and Carter stand back as well. I don't think they have faith in me, or something.

I crack open the hydrant just a tad and watch as a small drizzle begins to form where the hose attaches to the hydrant. I wait a few seconds and then crack open the hydrant a little more. After a minute or so, the sprinklers begin to do their thing and I smile: job accomplished.

Mr. Rhodes congratulates us on a job well done and then has us follow him up the hill. The process that we just learned, we repeat on the lawns between the main classrooms and the track. Soon we are done with the setup and the sprinklers are working. We walk back to the tractor and wait for Mr. Rhodes to catch up.

"Where to now," I ask as Mr. Rhodes walks up.

"Now we head back and punch out for lunch," replies Mr. Rhodes. I quickly glance down at my watch: 11:40.

"Wow! Where'd all the time go," I ask to nobody in particular. I turn to Phil and Carter. "It's already 20 'till noon," I exclaim. Phil and Carter both look as amazed as I feel. Mr. Rhodes just laughs at our expressions.

We follow Mr. Rhodes back to the Maintenance/Grounds building and head inside. After a couple of minutes, Mr. Rhodes joins us inside. "Go ahead and punch out now," he says. "We'll still get paid until noon." He smiles. I might like this job, I think to myself.

After all three of us clock out, we head toward the front door. Mr. Rhodes comes out of his office and heads down the front stairs behind us.

"If you three gentlemen would like, I'll give you a lift to the cafeteria." We turn around in unison and look at Mr. Rhodes. I shrug and then look at Phil and Carter who shrug as well. "Hop in then," says Mr. Rhodes. "This is my ride here." He points to a red Ford F-350 four-door pickup.

"Thanks," I reply as I head around to the other side of the pickup. Phil and Carter say their thanks as well and we all climb in. The ride to the cafeteria is short and I'm thankful that we didn't have to walk all the way up the hill.

"Thanks again," I say as we climb out of the pickup.

"Sure, it's no problem," Mr. Rhodes replies. "I'll see you gentlemen at 1:00. Have a great lunch." We head up the steps to the front doors of the cafeteria as Mr. Rhodes drives off.

Phil, Carter, and I walk into the cafeteria. It seems to be a little busier at lunch today than it was at dinner yesterday, but it isn't anywhere even close to being full. We grab some trays off the rack and get in line. At least the food selection is somewhat different from last evening. Maybe it will taste better as well.

As we sit down at a table that Carter picks out, I immediately dig into my food. Apparently working this morning has worked up my appetite.

Carter looks up from his tray at me and grins. "Hungry there, Nate," he asks.

I scramble to swallow my food and then laugh. "Yeah, I guess I'm not used to working like that." I laugh some more and both Phil and Carter join in the laughter.

"Yeah, I suppose that I'm hungry as well," says Phil. I just chuckle and begin feeding my face again. The three of us finish our meals in record time and then sit back to relax some before going back to work. We make small talk for a while and then decide to go outside.

Once outside I turn to Phil and Carter. "Let's go over to the Student Amphitheater and watch the people walk by." Phil and Carter just shrug so I lead off toward the top-center of the big lawn. As we sit down, I glance over toward the women's dorm.

"Keep dreaming, Nate," says Phil. "They're all after me!" All three of us bust out laughing.

"Oh, you certainly wish so, Phil," says Carter. "Perhaps short guy here can get more gals than you can. Being a giant tends to scare them away." Carter and I both begin to laugh loud enough that it makes more than a few people look over our way. I stifle my laughter and grin at Phil.

Phil shakes his head and asks, "What time do you have?"

I look at my watch. "I suppose we could head on down there. At least we won't have to hurry too much. I wouldn't want to throw up what I just ate." I grin. Phil and Carter let out a short laugh as the three of us get up and begin walking down the pathway. In a short time, we arrive at our work place.

As we enter the Maintenance building, I notice an older man inside the office talking with Mr. Rhodes. He appears to be at least 50 years old, probably about the same height as Mr. Rhodes, maybe a little shorter, with graying brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses. Mr. Rhodes looks out into the lobby and sees me. He motions me to come into his office.

"Nate, this is Mr. Parnell," says Mr. Rhodes when I enter his office. He motions first toward Mr. Parnell then back to me. "Mr. Parnell, this is Nate whom we were just talking about." I must look puzzled because both Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Parnell begin chuckling.

"It's nothing bad I assure you, Nate," says Mr. Parnell. "One of the guys assigned to work on my crew never showed up and we were just discussing putting you on my crew. It might only be for the afternoon today, but I need you more than Mr. Rhodes does." He smiles. I can feel myself relaxing some.

"Sure," I reply. "What does your crew do?"

"We're in charge of doing the maintenance on the men's dorm. I only have two on my crew so it will just be Seth and you helping me out today." He looks out into the lobby and waves for someone to come over. I turn to look and see a pudgy guy stand up and walk toward the office. As he strides into the office, I notice that we are about the same height. He has brown hair and blue eyes, just as I do.

"Seth, this is Nate." Mr. Parnell indicates me with his hand then waves it toward Seth. "Nate, meet Seth."

"Hey Seth," I say as I stick out my hand.

"Hi," replies Seth as he firmly shakes my hand. "It's nice to meet you." I nod.

"Well, now that introductions are made let's go see how much damage we can do." Mr. Parnell chuckles. "Follow me, men." Seth and I follow Mr. Parnell into the lobby. I remember that I haven't punched in yet and hurry over to the clock. After punching my time card, I walk over to Phil and Carter.

"I've got a new assignment for this afternoon," I tell them. "So you'll have to have fun without me." I chuckle.

"Okay. See you after work," says Phil.

Carter shrugs. "Later, man."

I hurry to catch up with Mr. Parnell and Seth. Mr. Parnell gets behind the wheel of an old Toyota pickup while Seth and I climb in beside him. Mr. Parnell drives us to a road just past the men's dorm and takes a left on it. He then pulls down a steep embankment and parks behind what appears to be the laundry room. Well, now I know where I'll be doing my laundry.

Mr. Parnell opens a shop-door at the back of the laundry room and turns to me. "This is our maintenance supply room. At the end of the day just let me know what you've used from here. That way I can make sure that this place is always stocked."

"Okay," I reply.

"Seth here can show you what he's been working on all morning. I think that the two of you should be able to handle working on the upstairs while I work downstairs. If you need me just come down and find me." Mr. Parnell hands a key to Seth and walks toward the back door of the dorm.

"Come on, Nate. Let's grab this box of tools here and head upstairs."

"Sure," I say as I grab the box that Seth points out. I follow Seth into the dorm and up the stairs. We get to the top of the stairs and make a left, and then another left. "This must be Two East," I state.

"How'd you guess," Seth asks. "Is it because it's above One East?" He laughs.

I chuckle. "Yeah, at least it's easy to remember. It'd be harder if the halls were named after different animals or something." Both of us laugh at the thought.

Seth walks down the hall a way and then stops in front of a door. He takes out the key and as he opens the door says, "We have to take all the doors down and re-hinge them. All of the doors on both of the East halls have metal doors in metal frames. That's why they stick the rowdy guys and the freshmen in these halls." He smiles.

"How do we go about doing that," I ask.

"It's simple." He chuckles. "Actually, it's not always easy. That's why it takes so long. We only got three doors done this morning because there were so many problems. Hopefully you and I will be able to do at least two this afternoon." He laughs.

"Well, this will be my first time doing any sort of maintenance. You'll have to show me what to do," I say.

"Not a problem." He takes a tool from the box and stands by the doorjamb. "Just take a chisel and place it against the head of the rivet. Then take a hammer," he pauses and grabs a hammer from the box then continues, "and hit it once or twice and it should come off." Seth hits the chisel with the hammer and the head of the rivet flies off the hinge.