Chapter 21

Phil’s last class on Tuesday morning ended 90 minutes before Hailey got through for the day. He planned to head back to his apartment and nap but instead ran into Katelyn.

“I thought you might help me start my trek across the wilds of Meridan,” she said. “Aurora – I mean Tiffany – mentioned that you had done a solo trek after your apprenticeship. I don’t want my character to die.”

“I lost my first one,” Phil admitted, “fried by his own dragon of all things. That was what my first character was – a dragon rider. I was pretty decent level and I had mad skills in the air. One of the older players got pissed over something and enchanted my ride to turn on me. One minute I was trying to catch a thermal and the next my character was tumbling through the air looking like charcoal. I had this huge TV at the house – even bigger than the one I have now. I was so fucking pissed I thought about hiring someone to hack the server just to get the asshole’s address so I could beat the crap out of him.”

Katelyn laughed as they walked in front of the Fine Arts building. He saw Molly headed to lunch and waved.

“We have some leftover pizza at the apartment if you want it,” he offered. “This is my friend Katelyn. Katelyn, this is Molly Kelly.”

The pair shook hands and the new trio wended their way to the apartment. Katelyn burst into laughter when she walked inside.

“I know that smell!” she said. “Hailey got her some loving this morning.”

Phil blushed scarlet and closed his eyes.

“I don’t notice it smelling much different than the last time I was here,” Molly said. “Maybe it was Phil who got him some loving instead.”

Molly heated up the leftovers for everyone while Phil set up the game. Once it was connected to the server, Katelyn logged in and began searching maps for her questing to Ulmira.

“Oh, God, not you too!” she groused. “My cousin’s husband can’t wait for her to go back to classes so he can play his silly games. She insists he spend time with her and the baby while he’s home nowadays.”

“It is sort of addictive,” Katelyn said.

Phil helped Katelyn avoid some of the pitfalls that a novice tends to meet in her first solo journey while Molly ate.

“You work tonight, right?” Phil asked.

“Until nine,” Molly replied.

“Why don’t you just stop here for supper instead of taking a bus home or eating at the cafeteria,” Phil offered. “I have a class but I sort of figured that Hailey and Tiffany will be here.”

“And your new bestie!” Katelyn exclaimed. “I have a night class on Tuesdays but I’ll make sure they leave you something – a slice of bread and some butter, maybe.”

“You’re all heart,” Phil muttered. “I’ll text you just to make sure. I can swing by and pick something up if there is nothing left.”

“I was going to cook tonight,” Katelyn informed him. “We talked about it last night on the way home. We all have to watch our cash now. We can eat in the cafeteria but that food is awful. The student center is a lot better but we figured the $15 a day we’d all spend there would go a lot farther on food for here. If you don’t mind, I mean. I have this afternoon free so I was going to fix some spaghetti. Hailey said you have everything for that. That way it’ll be done before you have to go to class but it’ll still be good when everyone else is hungry.”

“Oh, thanks,” Phil said. “That’s really sweet of you. Maybe I wasn’t being facetious when I said you were all heart. Watch coming up. This is a perfect spot for an ambush.”

Sure enough a moment later two robbers jumped out of the trees hoping for easy prey. The apprentice warrior made short work of them and collected her spoils.

“What’s your character’s name?” Phil asked.

“Celestia Redfang,” she announced proudly.

“You’re a lot better at weapons than I was,” Phil admitted.

“I told you my brother was a sword-master,” Katelyn said with a laugh. “He let me practice with his character and he showed me some joystick tricks. You can even deflect magic attacks if you’re quick enough. In return for your help, I’ll show them to you. That will blow Aurora Stonebreaker’s mind when she tries to zap you in the fanny next time.”

Molly went back to practice the cello just as Tiffany and Hailey arrived. Katelyn had saved her game and put the game away – lest she draw the ire of the High Priestess. It was, after all, supposed to be a solo trek.

“Did you check your phone?” Hailey whispered after she gave Phil a kiss.

“I heard it buzz but let it go because company was here,” Phil admitted. “Did you need something?”

“Oh, yeah,” Hailey said in a low voice, “and I’m going to get it, too. Our test results are back. Well, mine are. I logged on during class and checked. I am free and clear – so let’s run these bitches off and get frisky.”

Phil laughed at her exuberance but he knew his schedule was tight.

“I have a class in 90 minutes,” he said. “That won’t be nearly enough time for everything I want to do to you.”

“Then plan to have your girlfriend waiting for you when you get back!” Hailey said with a smile.

“You have Beta Club tonight,” Phil pointed out. Hailey grimaced at the reminder. It was something she couldn’t miss because the group was laying out its budget priorities for the following school year.

“Shit!” she seethed. “That is going to take forever, too. I planned to just stay at my dorm tonight because that will give me two people to walk home with afterward. I know you have early classes on Wednesday so I didn’t want you to have to wait up for me to walk me over here.”

“I don’t mind,” Phil told her.

“It might be after midnight,” Hailey said. “I think it’s going to be ugly tonight. Well, tomorrow night then.”

“I’ll block off my schedule!” he said “Let’s see, about three hours for foreplay; four for the main event and six hours to let you recover. Yeah, that’s doable.”

“I’m doable,” Hailey whispered just before she stuck her tongue in his ear. “I about came when I read the results. I thought about just jumping up and running out of the class but I’ve already missed too many to skip any more.”

She suddenly groaned again.

“I’ve got that stupid freaking night class tomorrow night and an exam at eight o’clock Thursday!” she said. “This is ridiculous. I finally want to get laid and I can’t. What’s Thursday evening look like for you?”

“Hailey, we don’t have to schedule it,” Phil said, laughing slightly and hugging her. “We’ll just find a time when it feels right and go from there. There is no pressure here. We know we enjoy being around each other – or at least I enjoy being around you. We’ll add the next section once things settle down a little.”

“Thursday!” Hailey repeated. “Yes, I really like being with you. I enjoy waking up with you and I enjoy everything we do together. I want to get you on top of me just as quickly as I can. There is going to be a naked, wet, willing and wild woman in your bed Thursday night. I don’t care who’s out in the living room or what anyone else might have to do that night. You and me, Mister, have a date.”

“This is probably a good a time as any to perfect my ‘Yes, Dear, ‘ isn’t it?” Phil replied, still smiling.

“On a subject as important as getting naked together, I think you’re right,” Hailey agreed.

Phil’s afternoon class dragged on and he wished to God the professor would close the lecture and let them go. He wanted to have the chance to catch up to Hailey and wish her luck before her meeting that evening but it was appearing increasingly unlikely. When the professor finally shut up, Phil raced from the room while still sticking his books in his backpack. He hit the door at full speed and came to an abrupt halt when he saw Hailey walking up the stairs.

“Hey,” he said, catching his breath. “I was hoping to catch you on the way to your meeting. Good luck tonight.”

“I looked for you the whole walk over,” she said. “Then I veered off here to get a kiss before I go.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him down until his lips met hers.

“I’ll miss you tonight,” she said when they broke apart.

“I’ll miss you, too,” he replied honestly. “Kick some Beta Club butt.”

“I’ll do my best,” Hailey said, as Phil fell in step beside her. It wasn’t her goal to get him to walk her to the meeting but she certainly didn’t mind his company. “Alexandra is in it, too. I got a text this afternoon telling me she’s been trying to raid my voting bloc. Tonight is a preview over which way the elections will go and she is trying to set herself up as the king maker. I’m not sure it’ll work but I’m sure she eroded my bloc to where we might not get anything accomplished at all.”

“I’m sorry,” Phil told her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hailey replied as they neared the building where she would meet. There was a group of young men and women waiting outside and Phil suspected they were waiting for Hailey.

“I’ll turn you loose to your adoring fans,” he said with a wink. “See you at lunch tomorrow?”

“Absolutely!” she declared, hooking his arm as he turned to leave. “Give me another quick kiss. If it isn’t too late I’ll call you and come over. If you don’t hear from me, don’t wait up.”

“If you’re sure,” Phil said.

“I am,” Hailey told him. She watched him walk away before heading down the path to meet the club members who usually voted as she wanted them to.

Phil had just turned onto the main path through campus when a guy stepped in front of him and blocked his path.

“Who in the hell do you think you are and why do you think you can cut in line ahead of me?” the guy asked in an angry voice.

“I don’t have any clue what you’re babbling about,” Phil said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get home.”

“I’m not done talking to you,” the guy declared. “Now answer my fucking questions.”

“Look, Bud,” Phil said in a harsh tone, “I know who I am. I’m a guy who just got out of class and I want to get back to my apartment. I don’t know anything about a line. Step aside!”

“The fuck I will,” the guy spat. “Where do you get off dissing the baseball team? I’m the captain, you know.”

Phil let out a sigh.

“I told your coach this afternoon that my class schedule won’t permit me extracurriculars this semester,” he explained. “You’re just going to have to muddle through with a lackluster right fielder for another year. The coach said the guy you have wasn’t very good at any time but he’s the best you’ve got. I just don’t have time this year. I’m sorry.”

“I’m the right fielder!” the guy bellowed. “I want to know why you’re dating Hailey Warren when it’s my turn. I’m the team captain!”

“Oh, Christ,” Phil muttered, peeved at having some idiot accost him on campus. “Look, Sport, let me make your life simpler. Hailey dates who she wants to date. Right now, she wants to date me and not you. Perhaps she heard your teammates describing your insufficient baseball skills and she thought it meant something else. Maybe she just thinks you’re a douche bag. If you really want the answer to your questions, ask her some day – if your fragile ego can handle it when she emasculates you. I really don’t have time or energy to deal with you. Get out of my way.”

“Maybe I should just kick the shit out of you to teach her a lesson,” the guy replied.

“I’m going to use really small words so you’ll understand,” Phil said, taking a step forward and moving within six inches of the guy. His voice was low and menacing. “If you decide to make a run at me, not only will I put you on the ground, I’ll make it a point to see that you’re arrested, prosecuted for assault and jailed. You’ll lose your scholarship but it won’t matter because I’ll make sure you’re expelled. The only thing you’ll gain from this encounter is a lesson in how life really works. You seem to think being captain of a team makes you special. You’re wrong. You see, Sport, I’m one of those guys you hear about from time to time. I’m ‘untouchable.’ I could pound your face into silly putty and no one would even raise a fuss.

“But if I even hint to your coach or your athletic director that you’ve irked Walter Barton’s grandson, you’ll be on the first bus back to Podunk before you can blink. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Heilman Endowment. Well my family set that up almost 40 years ago and we’re still the biggest contributor.”

“That’s for girls sports,” the guy said.

“It’s the reason you have a baseball team, nitwit,” Phil replied angrily. “It’s called Title IX. For every guys’ sport, you have to have a female sport. The money my family puts into the school lets there be a softball team so they don’t drop baseball. It lets there be women’s swimming so men’s swimming isn’t disbanded. Think for a fucking second before you open your yap. I don’t often throw my weight around because it makes me look just like you. I will, however, make you this promise. If you fuck with me or Hailey I will make it a point to see you working in fast food for the rest of your life. Nod dumbly if you understand me.”

The guy’s face was turning red and Phil slipped his backpack off his shoulder to the ground. He hadn’t had to fight often in his life but his father had made sure he knew how – and his grandfather and uncle had taught the main tenet was to win, fair or unfair.

“Hey, Phil,” Bob Prohl said as he walked around the guy blocking Phil’s path. “Is everything OK?”

“I was just explaining the difference between perception and reality to your captain there,” Phil answered, never taking his eyes off his opponent. “You might ask if he understood the lesson.”

“Jake,” Bob said stepping between him and Phil, “I’m not sure what you think you’re accomplishing here but it won’t turn out good for you. Whatever he promised would happen to you will happen unless you turn and walk away right now. I’ve known this guy most of my life and he won’t back down until everything he told you comes true. If that’s something you’re willing to risk, I’ll step out of the way and you can take whatever lumps you have coming. But if you want to enjoy the last few months of college, turn and go back to your dorm and forget whatever caused you to do something this dumb.”

The young man looked from Bob to Phil and back at Bob.

“Fine,” he said.

“See you around, Phil,” Bob said. “Coach said you turned down the tryout.”

“No time,” Phil answered, watching carefully as the guy who’d confronted him stalked past with his head down.

“I understand,” Bob replied, patting Phil on the shoulder. “Maybe next year.”

“I’m thinking hard about it,” Phil agreed. “See you around.”

Phil stood on the path as Bob caught up with his teammate. He didn’t want the guy jumping him from behind but that didn’t appear to be in the cards.

“What is he?” he heard the guy ask Bob. “Is he some sort of ninja or something?”

“Yeah, Jake,” Bob said in a voice usually reserved for mentally challenged children, “he’s something just like a ninja.”

Tiffany and Katelyn were cleaning up the dishes when Phil came in and dropped his backpack. He sat heavily on the couch and sighed. The adrenaline from the aborted altercation had ebbed from his system as he walked home and he was feeling drained.

“Hey, did Hailey catch up to you?” Tiffany asked.

“She caught up with me and so did the captain of the baseball team,” Phil told them. There was no chance the incident wouldn’t be all over campus by the morning. Too many people were headed to evening classes and had overheard portions of the conversation. “He seemed to think I had interrupted his turn with Hailey.”

“He’s a dumbass,” Tiffany said. “She wasn’t going to go out with him no matter what. He only got to be captain because he’s the only senior on the team. What did he do to you?”

“Nothing,” Phil replied. “I channeled my inner-Priestess and explained the facts of life to him. I thought things were going to get interesting until Bob Prohl saw us and led him away.”

Tiffany smiled at the inner-Priestess reference but continued to look at Phil questioningly.

“The facts of life?” she asked when it appeared he wasn’t going to answer.

“Phil’s family pumps a lot of money into the school,” Katelyn answered for him. “If Jake Gillette wanted to pick the absolute worst person to fuck with, he found him. I suspect that Phil explained that to him but Gillette was too thick skulled to get it. Could you have taken him in a fair fight?”

“Who said I fight fair?” Phil wondered. It drew a laugh but he wasn’t kidding. “I was taught that you fight to win. If that requires eye gouging or a kick to the nuts, so be it. I don’t know about a fair fight because I’ve never been in one. The few times I’ve had to fight, I’ve won. I would have won today, too, simply because I won’t stay down. Even if he would have kicked the ever-loving shit out of me, I would have gotten back to my feet for as long as I could. I’m really not the pansy I’ve acted like all year.”