Chapter 37

The next time I awoke it was morning, because I could see light peeking under the window shade. Denise was asleep on her back beside me and Sarah was on the other side, sleeping on her left side.

I thought about the events of last night. There were some fun things, not all sex-related, like watching the movie, talking in the diner, the three of us trading dirty stories. And then there was the sex which I had to admit was pretty damn good, with some surprises for everyone.

“You still here, Carter?” Denise. Apparently not asleep after all.

“I was too tired to move, so yes, still here.”

“I’ve gotta take a shower. You want?”

“I’ll probably wait till I get back to the dorm so I can get clean clothes, too.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.” She got up, found her robe and a change of clothes, and headed off down the hall. I closed my eyes, not really asleep, just enjoying the lassitude.

But I apparently fell asleep anyway because I awakened when Denise poked her head in, saying, “I made coffee. It’s in the kitchen.”

There was a hidden but unmistakable command there: If I wanted coffee I had to get dressed, then come into the kitchen. Beside me, Sarah rubbed her eyes and said, “So early? That’s not fair.”

In truth it was after nine, so not that early. I got up and dressed myself. I heard Sarah moving about behind me. When I turned around she was dressed and looking groggy. “Coffee,” she said and moved toward the door. I followed.

There was coffee steaming in two cups on the table. “Sugar in the bowl, milk in the fridge.”

Sarah sipped at her cup, holding it in both hands. “How are you so bright eyed this early in the morning? You didn’t get any more sleep than we did.”

“I slept really well. I thought you would too.”

“I dunno. I kept waking up then trying to get back to sleep.”

Denise shrugged. “And you, Carter? You ready to start your day refreshed?” Now she was just toying with us.

I finished my coffee while the two of them talked about school. I still hadn’t seen or heard any of Denise’s roommates.

I put my empty cup in the sink. “Ladies, I think I’ll head back and get my shower. Thank you for an interesting evening.”

“It was fun, wasn’t it?” commented Denise. “See you around, Carter,” added Sarah. They both watched me as I went down the hall and picked up my coat. I wondered what would be said after I left.

There was a brisk wind outside and it was a cold walk back to campus. When I opened the door, Larry looked up from his bed where, wonder of wonders, he was reading a book. On the weekend.

“This isn’t going to look good on your permanent record, Carter, coming in at this hour after staying out all night. Where were you? I’ll want details.”

“Met a couple of friends. We talked till all hours.”

“You’re gonna have to retake that excuse-making class. That’s pretty lame.”

“It’s all you’re gonna get. I’ve gotta take a shower. Go back to your book.”

He shook his head and returned to his reading. I found clean clothes and a towel and did what needed doing. I felt better when I got back. I realized that I hadn’t really eaten anything but coffee so I decided to see what was available at this neither-breakfast-nor-lunch hour.

When I got there I found that they really hadn’t set up for lunch service yet, so I was able to get breakfast in the form of eggs, sausage and toast. So I was set for a while. That probably meant a late lunch, too, because I wouldn’t be hungry again for a few hours.

With my immediate needs taken care of I determined to get my study session out of the way. I took my lecture notes and texts for a couple of courses to the library, found a carrel with a door, and went through my Brain Sponge routine. It was only for a week’s worth of the course, so it went pretty fast. Those sessions are intensive, but they condense a lot of memorization into a short time.

I walked back to the dorm, picked up my study materials for the other courses, went back to the library and did it all over again. In all it took me a bit more than three hours for the five courses, plus travel time, so I was done by late afternoon. By force of habit I mentally went through the material in my head as I walked back, to make sure. It was all there at my fingertips, it seemed to me, and I smiled to myself. I was really liking this thing I’d come up with. It made school a lot easier.

It was later than I thought and I realized that I’d missed lunch entirely. I would have an early dinner.

Lest you get the idea that I studied hard during the week, then got laid every weekend, let me assure you that that was not the norm. Even though I’d been making an effort to get out more and break out of my rut, it didn’t always involve horny women trying to get my clothes off. I liked that every so often, but it took a lot out of me and at least a day to get back to normal.

Sometimes it’d be a movie or I’d go hear a band. Once I attended a play the school drama club put on. It was actually pretty good, not surprising because most of the cast were theater majors who planned on making a vocation of this. Once they graduated they’d be off to try to break into Broadway or Hollywood, with this play listed on their resumes. So most of my weekend excursions were fairly mundane and any naked bodies were likely to be on the movie screen.

A week or two later after classes on a Friday I went off to an early dinner at the chuck wagon, tossing around some possible ideas for weekend amusement. Today’s special was lasagna and a salad, and I got squash pie for dessert.

Halfway through the lasagna I heard, “Carter, may I sit?”

“Oh, hi, Al. Sure you can.” He’d gotten the lasagna, too.

“Is it any good?” he asked, arranging his tray. “I’ve never had it before.”

I was surprised, since it was so common in the States. But of course cuisine is very different across countries. I would never think of hamburgers as exotic, for example, but Al had told me that he did since they weren’t common in Spain when he was growing up.

“This isn’t bad. I’ve had better, but this is pretty good.”