Chapter 9

David
David had gotten lazy over the last week. Today was the first day of school, so he wanted to get back on track. He’d gotten up at the crack of dawn to go running. It was officially winter, so David had worn baggy sweatpants and a hoodie along with his glasses, as much to stay warm as for a disguise.

He’d kept his run short because he knew that he had baseball tryouts that afternoon. Somehow, David found himself at the coffee shop before he went back to the dorm. All he’d heard for the last 24 hours was talk about this hot Goth barista. The guys were all infatuated because she wasn’t the typical California girl. Let’s just put it out there: the USC campus was a target-rich environment by anybody’s standards. What had David intrigued was that this ‘Goth Barbie,’ as they were calling her, had seemed to catch all their attention. For that to happen, she had to be extraordinary.

The shop had just opened, and he was the only customer in the place. There was music pumping, and no one was behind the counter, so he took a moment to look around at the décor. The walls were covered with vintage band posters, which, along with the music, gave the place a fun vibe. He wandered toward the back to see what else there was to see of the coffee shop.

He turned around and found a large mahogany-skinned woman who looked to be in her thirties, checking him out. She wore vintage clothes covered by an apron with the coffee shop’s logo.

“Mmm, now we’re talking! I like me a fine-assed big boy. Come here and give me a hug.”

She moved in with her arms spread to hug him, the woman reached up, grabbed his head, and pulled it down. David found his nose buried between two giant aproned boobs as she held his head in place. It felt like he was being smothered by two plump pillows. She smelled like French roast and lilac body wash.

“Doreen, let the poor man go,” another woman said.

“Sorry, no can do. If I let him go, he’ll take one look at your skinny ass and won’t look my way again.”

If David hadn’t found the banter amusing, he might have tried to wiggle free.

“You better let him up, or you might smother him. Besides, you’re about to scare away our only customer while you sexually harass him.”

“Fine, but I call dibs on this one,” Doreen said as she released her grip on David’s head.

David turned and found ‘Goth Barbie’ standing by the counter. He finally figured out what the fuss was about.

Barbie dolls had become a subject of scorn for the politically correct crowd. Scarlet, the mother of his little girl, Carol, had said that he couldn’t buy his daughter one because the dolls presented an unrealistic example for young girls. If the Barbie doll had been blown up to human size, she would be five-nine with a 36-inch chest, 18-inch waist, and 33-inch hips. She represented the idealized image of the perfect hourglass figure. Scarlet had further pointed out that only eight percent of women had an hourglass figure, so why set their daughter up to have body-image issues?

‘Goth Barbie’ wore all black, including knee-high leather boots with five large buckles on the outside. Peeking over the boots were fishnet tights that disappeared under a lacy skirt. She wore a black corset trimmed with red stitching that just reinforced her Barbie look. The bonus was the way the corset pushed up her breasts. Above them was an intricate tattoo design with a large red rose in the center of her chest.

’Please be ugly’ David thought before looking up toward her face.

He’d nearly decided that he didn’t want to get tied down in a relationship. David wanted to just be a regular guy and have some fun during college. If what he’d seen so far was any indication, and she had a pretty face, he might have to change his mind.

Well, that and the competitive side of him would surface. It wasn’t something he was always proud of, but he’d come to accept that he worked to be the best. If the measuring stick was the girl everyone else wanted, then he’d go after her. His biggest problem was he’d put himself at a decided disadvantage with his farmer-nerd look. He was betting he could still pull it off, though.

She had a black hoop piercing in her nose and blood-red lipstick that was the same shade as her rose tattoo. She wore black eyeliner, and her hair was dyed jet black as well.

“Sheeit! I said I had dibs,” Doreen complained.

David could only imagine the look on his face for Doreen to make that comment.

“Since Doreen sexually harassed you, how about a cup of coffee on the house?” ‘Goth Barbie’ offered.

“Uh, sure,” he finally got out.

That made him chuckle because Alex had said that he would take whatever she gave him. He preferred tea, but if she wanted him to drink coffee, he would, and thank her.

David typically wasn’t flustered when it came to good-looking women, but she had him tongue-tied. As soon as she handed him his coffee, he made a hasty exit. As he walked out, he heard her ask him to come back tomorrow. He smiled all the way back to his dorm. You bet he would see her tomorrow.

David had to take a long, cold shower after returning to the dorm. He’d put on a version of his farmer-nerd gear and went down for breakfast. He had to grin when he saw they had an omelet bar where you picked what you wanted, and they made it for you. David snapped a picture and texted it to his social circle. It wouldn’t take long for his friends to hit him back with their awe and wonder at his good fortune.

The first few replies let him know he might be wrong in that assumption. Haters were just going to hate.

David found Jamie at their table, alone. Kirk and Lindsey must not be up yet.

“So ... Allen, is it?” she asked.

“Thanks for not saying anything.”

“Frankly, I’m amazed that no one has figured it out yet. I mean, you blow it when you have a messenger bag like that,” Jamie said as she pointed to the bag on the chair next to him.

David looked down and cringed. His dad had bought it for him, saying that a quality messenger bag would last him for many years. It didn’t really fit the look he was trying to pull off. Then again, what would the farmer-nerd use as a book bag, anyway ... a grain sack tied shut with a rope?

David decided to just go with it. Most people weren’t as observant as Jamie obviously was. When he walked around with his shoulders hunched and his head down, they saw someone whose body language screamed ‘stay away.’ For the most part, he never received a second look.

The two of them walked to campus and then split up when he had to go to his Principles of Microeconomics class. He found the room and walked into a lecture hall that held over 150 people. There were maybe fifteen people seated, scattered around the room. David found a seat in the center three rows up.

He got his tablet out and opened the stand so he could record the class for future reference. At two minutes till nine, a young woman hustled in with a stack of papers, looking out of breath. At nine on the dot, she started the class.

“I’m Margaret Tilghman, your teaching assistant for Principles of Microeconomics. Professor Edward Courtney wasn’t able to be here today, so he asked me to hand out the syllabus and tell you where and when he has office hours,” she explained.

Margaret then handed out the class information. When she got back to the front of the class, she turned and addressed them again.

“Read the first chapter and try the questions at the end for Wednesday. If there aren’t any other questions, you’re dismissed,” she said.

Everyone started to pick up their stuff to leave. David decided that he would just go down and ask his question one-on-one. Margaret smirked when she saw him approach her.

“What’s so amusing?” he asked.

“There’s no need to try to become the teacher’s pet with me. I’m not Professor Courtney’s teaching assistant. He had something come up, and your regular TA didn’t answer his phone,” she explained.

“Oh,” David said, a bit confused.

“Did you have an actual question?” Margaret asked.

“This is my first college class, and I wondered if this was normal?”

“That no one showed up, and the first class was five minutes?” she asked.

“Well, yeah. I’m wondering whether or not I should just skip my next class,” David admitted.

She gave him a sympathetic look.

“Did you check your university email? Professor Courtney sent one out early this morning, canceling class and providing the syllabus,” she explained.

He smacked his forehead with his palm.

“I feel ridiculous now. I figured that was just another email address and never bothered to set it up on my tablet and other devices,” David admitted.

“No, it’s something you really do need; it’s how the professors and TAs will communicate with you. Getting it set up is a pain, unfortunately. I don’t have to be anywhere for a few, so let me help you,” she offered.

He logged onto his tablet and handed it to her. It only took her a few minutes to get his email working. Something Lexi had done for him was to integrate all of David’s devices. That meant that once anything was on his tablet, it went to his phone, watch, and the PC in his dorm room. After a moment, his smartwatch vibrated to tell him he had emails.

When Margaret handed the tablet back, he thanked her.

“You must hate being teased about your name,” she said.

It took him a second, and then he got what she was talking about.

“You mean having the same name as that actor?” he asked, and she nodded. “Could be worse, I guess.”

“That it could.”

He decided to take his leave before she figured it out.

After his last class for the day, he met Cassidy and took her to lunch. Then they went to the football training center to meet with the strength-and-conditioning coaches. They provided him with a locker and enough gear to last him a week.

David was glad that Coach Farrow had smoothed the way for him, but that didn’t mean the coaches didn’t want to put him through his paces. They had every gadget invented, it seemed. They even had a machine you ran on that instantly detected what was wrong with your stride, foot placement, and the like. When they got those measurements, they gave him a different kind of running shoe. He reran the test and discovered it felt better, so there must be something to it, he concluded.

They put together a workout routine for him.

As he and Cassidy were leaving, she took it from him.

“That’s the one they give all freshmen,” she said and tore it up.