Chapter 1: Poking the Bear

Student parking was located behind the main campus where the Quad divided and spilled out onto the ‘yard’, the expansive grassy lawn separating the asphalt jungle from the campus buildings. The Cultural Arts Center dominated the back part of the Quad so it made amusing sense that the wide concrete walkway that led into the campus — to the Science and Mathematics division, before terminating at the Admissions and Administrations Building — was decorated with faux Hollywood stars amid the wide winding rainbow. This was nicknamed the ‘yellow brick road’ among other unsavory terms.

If you were a student and expected to get a parking spot in the five-acre ‘back forty’, you had better set your alarm and get there before 8:30 am. If lucky, you’d find a spot farther back in the colloquially termed ‘outer reach’. If you showed up by 9:00 — you were pretty much fucked.

It was 7:45 when the convertible neon-green dune buggy with the loud air-cooled turbo engine roared onto the back forty and smoothly slipped into a vacant spot centered on the yellow brick road. The fiberglass body gleamed from recent buffing and Bob Marley belted out ‘One Love’ from the amplified speakers. It was mid-June and the academic calendar was winding down for summer break. Because of the warmer weather Trinity chose to forego the hard top letting her long hair blow wildly in the wind. Silence settled over the ‘yard’ when she killed the engine and disembarked by leaping over the half door. She danced to the reggae beat still in her head as she reached into the back and grabbed her sling bag.

Several dozen students were loitering around the yard waiting for their classes to begin. Most recognized her by her carefree flamboyancy and greeted her cheerfully. Today she wore tight-fitting corduroy half pants with the hem laces dangling around her muscular calves. Her top was a faded American Eagle t-shirt in light blue that hung loosely over her shoulders. This was not typical for her as she preferred tight half halters that revealed far too much of her smaller perky breasts. If her midriff were exposed as was typical, one would quickly notice the taut rippling 8-pack abs. At five-eight she stood taller than most of the girls on campus, and many of the guys too. It was easy to mistake her as thin-boned until you got closer and recognized the solid muscular frame. Her arms and legs were corded with sinewy muscle and the veins in her arms popped out like ropes. Having a Stylist for a best friend entitled her to some extravagant hairstyles. She wore her loud lime green glasses today, foregoing contacts since she would be welding.

She made her way through the quad bouncing like Tigger, taking time to stop and schmooze with some of her friends, bumping fists here, hugging there. Her first stop was the coffee shop inside the Commons where she picked up her giant cup of americano with its insane amount of cream and sugar. One of the morning baristas was a vibrant platinum-blonde girl named Lizzy whom she dated off and on, so her drink was always ready for her when she stopped by. She paid with her student ID card but tipped with cash. In this case, she tucked a fifty discreetly into the blonde girl’s pocket as they hugged and pecked each other’s cheeks. Lizzy wasn’t the brightest candle on the cake but she could fuck like a porn star and Trin always had a warm spot in her heart for the lass. Ever since the ‘incident’ involving her Ex and his Rasta minions, she made a point to keep a protective eye on the girl.

The next stop was the Registrar’s office where she turned in her registration forms for the next semester and handed over her credit card to pay the entire tuition upfront. Most of her fellow students relied upon federal aid and earned credit from their various on-campus jobs. Even she earned a meager $100 per week as a student aide in the Fab shop. Only a select few of the University faculty knew of her familial relationship with the Davis-Sinclair Foundation and even fewer of her true wealth. She neither asked for nor received any preferential treatment. She earned the respect of her peers and instructors through merit. This would be her last semester before graduating from the Mechanical Arts and Sciences division. It would be bittersweet for her. She would miss the faculty and students she had come to know but she was also proud of her accomplishments and the degree she would be earning. It wasn’t enough to earn all of her certs in welding and fabrication — she was an expert welder before she even enrolled in the program. She went on to complete and earn her ASE Master Automotive Technician certification as well.

Today she had to prepare the Fabrication shop for the 50-odd students who would be trying to pass any given weld cert. So, she would cut up a full sheet of 3/8” plate steel with the shear into seven by four-inch plates which she would pair up with the ¼ inch backing strips for each coupon. It was up to each student to bevel their plates before the coupon could be tacked together and approved — by her or Brian Applegate, the Instructor. It was a tedious process that would consume the entire day and probably go over an hour or so. Fortunately, she had no classes today and could devote herself to helping Brian.

He was sitting in his office as she walked in, dumping her sling bag onto the worn bench by his door. He glanced up from the stack of student applications and smiled at her. “Good morning Trin,” he greeted her. He was the youngest instructor on the campus, being only 38 years old. He was tall and heavily built with not a hint of fat on him. He was also kind of hot in Trinity’s opinion and she had flirted with him for the longest time until he put his foot down and made her behave. He was afraid that other students or faculty might get the wrong impression so he asked her to refrain from her unsubtle advances. It was a private meeting and she pouted before agreeing. Then she stood before him and asked for one last hug before she started behaving. When he bent down to hug her, she clung to him suggestively and put her lips to his ear.

“I’ll behave I promise,” she whispered, “but if you ever want to fuck, just say the word and I’m down — whenever, wherever.” Then she kissed his astonished mouth and demurely assumed her role as the obedient teacher’s aide.

“Good morning Mr. Applegate,” she replied sweetly as she grabbed her work pants and long sleeve thermal knit sweater from the coat rack. “How is my favoritest teacher today?”

He grunted in reply and she grinned as she stepped out to the locker room — to find it locked.

“Why is the locker room closed?” she asked stepping back into the office.

He looked up blankly and then remembered. “It flooded over the weekend and maintenance closed it until they can get in and fix it later this afternoon. I’ll step out...” he started as he rose to his feet.

Trinity had already closed the door and flicked the bolt. There was only one window on the other side of the doorway so she stepped into the corner and kicked off her shoes.

“Trinity! I’ll step out so you can change in private.”

“Oh, sit down and don’t look if you don’t want to,” she scoffed as she pulled off her t-shirt, revealing her perky naked breasts. His eyes widened as she faced him and slowly folded the shirt before laying it on top of her bag. Then she pulled her half-pants over her hips and slid them down her legs, watching his expression as she stepped out of them. She was completely naked and he swallowed nervously as he gaped at her bald crotch. After placing her folded pants on her bag, she took a moment to pose for him as she slipped a hair tie off of her wrist and gathered up her locks into a tight ponytail. With her arms over her head, her breasts lifted and swayed provocatively before him.

“Are you going to post the grade reports in the window again this afternoon?” she asked him coyly as she grabbed her worn Carhartt’s and slipped into the legs.

He swallowed again and nodded. “Yeah ... yep.”

She tightened her belt and then reached up and squeezed both of her breasts, teasing her nipples. “Then I hope they don’t fix the locker room today,” she replied with a lusty voice. She slowly pulled the dirty thermal sweater over her head and slipped her arms into the sleeves.

“Um, look ... Trinity,” he shook his head as if recovering from a dream. “I’m engaged and...”

“I know,” she replied as she plopped down on the floor and put her leather boots on. “I’ve overheard you talking to Brenda many times.”

He felt his neck grow hot. He and Brenda were not on the best terms at the moment and he had had several heated arguments with her when she called and hounded him at work.

Trinity bounced back to her feet and stepped over to his desk to stare at him. “I don’t care and I’m not judging. But I think you deserve better,” she said seriously. “You are an amazing guy and I hope you find someone who appreciates you as I do.”

He sat back down with a sigh and just nodded sadly. “Thanks.”

“Can I have the forklift keys, please?” she asked sweetly, changing the subject.

He opened a desk door and handed them to her. “Hey. About the testing today,” he stated as he brought his mind back on task. “That Carson kid ... you remember...?”

“Aaron Carson?” she replied with disgust. Then she paused. “Don’t tell me he’s gonna try and test out again?”

He nodded back with a frown.

“But he never completed WELD 300!” she exclaimed. “He couldn’t even finish a box with clean sticks.” She was referring to the eight-inch-long X-box that students made from pieces of 3/8 metal to practice laying beads in. It started shaped like an X and then became a square box once all the grooves were filled.

“It’s not an incomplete until the end of the semester,” he replied holding up the form with a check attached. “He paid up front so he gets to test.”

“Waste of fucking metal!” she grumbled as she turned away.

“Let me deal with him, okay? I know that there has been some static between you two.” He was referring to earlier in the semester when Trinity was helping the SMAW — “stick” students learn the basics of arc welding. He wasn’t privy to the particulars though.

Carson had presented himself as a cocky entitled prick since the very first day of class. It was a miracle that he even got through the oxyacetylene portion — but Trinity was working as an Aide to the afternoon classes and had little interaction with him at that time. When he showed up for Stick, he was as pompous as ever and made lewd eyes at her from the moment she was introduced by Mr. Applegate as his morning Aide. The first day was a safety review and involved discussing the dos and don’ts of grinding, cutting, using the industrial shear, safety precautions — eye and ear protection, etc. As she was bending over to demonstrate the operation of the table shear, he discreetly bumped her and groped her ass in front of the other students causing many to grin and chuckle.

Trinity stopped what she was doing, punched the red emergency kill switch, and stood up straight. She removed her earplugs as she turned to face him and there were several jeering oohs amongst the group. She gestured for him to remove his hearing protection and he smirked as he pulled them out.

“It’s Carson, right?” she asked casually.

“You can call me Aaron,” he replied smoothly to more chuckles.

She turned and looked around at the other students before turning back to him. “Carson then,” she said flatly. “I just want to make sure you can hear me clearly because I’m only going to say this once.” The jeering stopped but there were still many grins facing them. “I will assume that was an accident — this time, so we can get on with this class.”

His condescending smirk probably would’ve gotten him slapped by anyone else. But he had no idea just how easily she could have kicked his ass without breaking a sweat. So, he mistook her casual exception as a sign of submission or weakness.

“Just make sure that it never happens again, okay?” She stared directly into his eyes and his bravado faltered for a second before she turned back to the shear and put her earplugs back in.

A week after that, she had already written him off as a lost cause. When it came to stick welding, he was beyond inept. He always stuck the electrodes and ended up stripping half the flux as he cut them off. He never prepped his work causing porosity, and his beads were always too hot or cold. When it came to vertical welding, he was completely hopeless. She initially spent more than twice the time helping him that she did for the rest of the students. But he neither acknowledged nor listened to her feedback. His antics became stale to the remainder of the class because she had soon earned the respect and admiration of everyone else because of her expertise and dedication to those who tried their best.

He must have begun stalking her early because he started showing up for morning class early and hovered, watching her as she went about her routine of setting up the welders, opening the argon/helium manifolds, and setting up the stations. One day he ‘happened’ to enter the locker room as she was changing and caught her half-dressed. Rather than stepping out he stood and leered at her as she pulled her shirt on. He didn’t recognize the dangerous expression in her eyes as she shoved him aside on her way out.

Later that day he pushed his luck and made another foolish grab at her — this time it was her breast and he did it when they were in the back grinding room where a few other students were cleaning their boxes or grinding down their finished coupons for break testing. It was loud and oppressive between the grinding and the powerful exhaust fans and nobody saw when he copped his feel. What he didn’t expect was either her reaction or her strength as she grabbed the offending hand, and twisted it painfully backward causing him to scream and spin about. The other students in the room started to become aware of the altercation as she grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into the steel bench of an empty grinding station. The grinders all stopped and only his agonizing screams could be heard over the exhaust fans. The other students gawked in shock as she jerked him back up to standing and released him suddenly causing him to fall backwards onto his ass.

“What did I tell you about touching me asshole?” she yelled as she stood over him. “Get it in your head right now fucker! I don’t play. Especially with little pussies like you! Now get the fuck away from me and stay there!” With that, she stormed out of the room and returned to the welding area.

Nothing came of the incident. Partly because no one saw what started it — only how it ended, with Aaron getting his ass soundly handed to him by a girl. During the third week, Carson stopped attending class but never bothered to officially drop it.

By lunch break over half the students had completed their testing and had taken off for their other classes or home. The shop remained to capacity however as the non-students — or transients, began arriving. These were laborers who worked in shops around town or elsewhere in the county who paid to come in and test for whatever cert they needed. Most were SMAW field certs but a few came in for a more specialized process like 5G TIG or seismic rebar, etc.

Carson arrived, cocky as ever, signed for his test plates, and went to his assigned Stick booth to prepare his coupon. Trinity avoided him as instructed but smirked openly when Mr. Applegate made him take the coupon to the grinding station and cut it apart so he could try tacking it again per specs. He glared at her hatefully as he stormed past. When he fucked up his root pass and had to go back to grind it out, she just laughed and shook her head. If looks could kill, she would’ve gone up in smoke. He ultimately failed to complete the coupon to specs and never got the chance to grind it flat and prepare the piece for break testing. Mr. Applegate simply miked it (measured the height of the cover passes with a micrometer) and failed him at that point. Once he had stormed out of the shop things became fun again and Trinity went back to helping the students and transients with their certifications. She was a certified welding instructor but per faculty policies, only the head of the program could sign off on the certifications. Still, Brian relied on her help to make sure everything was kosher by the time he was called upon to bend the coupons for the final step.

It was after two pm when he ordered her to step away for lunch. There was a lull in the number of testers in the shop at the moment but still a bunch more scheduled for later. She grabbed her bag and sauntered out of the fabrication building. Her destination was the Commons where the Culinary Arts program ran the cafeteria. She happened to pass the coffee bar and noticed Lizzy preparing coffee while she tried to ignore the lecherous advances of — none other than Aaron Carson. The dweeb was holding up the line as he leaned over the counter and tried to make conversation with the barista. It was clear from her expression that she wanted nothing to do with him or his lewd remarks.