Melissa was sitting under the large oak tree that grew on top of one of the rolling hills of the college campus. She found she enjoyed that spot as it was one of the few fairly secluded places on campus, but still she could see across a good section of the buildings.

So it startled the girl to hear a voice.

"Hi. I think we have math together."

Melissa squinted as she looked up. There stood a boy. Young man, she guessed would be the right word. It took her a minute for her eyes to adjust and recognition to take place.

"I think you're right," she said.

It had taken some courage to walk up here in the first place. Part of the reason she was startled, he knew, was that he almost snuck up on her. It was the easiest way. He had practiced that opening line. Then she just stared at him, then left him with a blank answer and nowhere to go. He either had to think fast or this meeting was going to go up in flames fast.

"Is this your first time in college?" he asked and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew they sounded stupid.

She looked at him, thinking about the same thing as he had, but responded, "Of course. Do I look like I've been to college before?"

"No! I mean ... Uhhh ... Well..."

She was getting perturbed now. This sounded just like high school and what the boys there did.

"Look, I don't need anyone talking to me now. I know just what you're going to say. So just leave, ok?"

She didn't expect the look she got, or the turn of the head when their eyes met. His shoulders seemed to droop, but that may have been her imagination. After all, she was looking at his backside as he walked away.

The next day Melissa thought she was going to have to find a new spot. A girl was walking up the slope and it looked like she was heading right for her. As soon as the girl got to within five feet she stopped and stared at Melissa.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" the girl spat out.

Melissa's eyes went big and she stuttered out, "What?"

"You heard me, tramp. Just who the hell are you?" stormed the girl.

Melissa cowered and looked down, her hands clasping together as she almost whispered out, "Melissa Williams."

"What?" the girl said, not quite believing her ears.

Her question of who the hell she was, was rhetorical. She didn't expect an answer and especially not this miserable one's name.

"Melis..."

"Shut up! Now I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I can tell you right now that you made a big mistake, yesterday."

Melissa tried to think what happened yesterday, nothing came to mind. She was hoping this girl mistook her for someone else, but then the pieces started to fall into place.

"A boy talked to you, yesterday. He's my brother, and you hurt him."

"Me?" Melissa said in surprise.

"Are you telling me you weren't up here yesterday about this time?"

"No, I was here."

"An a boy came up here?"

"Yes, but he..."

"That was my brother," the girl said cutting Melissa off. "You hurt him."

"He ... he was going to hurt me!" Melissa said in defense, still not understanding how in the world she had hurt him.

The girl's demeanor changed. "He tried to hurt you? Shit. What did he try?"

"No he didn't hurt me," Melissa said completely missing the meaning of the words. "He was going to. I know he was, so I told him I'd heard it all before, and told him to leave."

The girl stood there for a minute and then shook her head in disbelief. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"Are you really that stupid?"

Now Melissa was mad. No one called her stupid. They may call her a lot of names, but stupid was not one of them.

"No, I'm not stupid! You're just like your brother. Mean. Mean, mean, mean," Melissa said and then started to cry.

"Hell," the girl said. "First my bother and now you. Why the tears? Fucking babies, the lot of freshmen these days. Look if you think some guy is going to hurt you, you can't just ask him to go away. Didn't you take any of those defensive classes they give?"

Melissa looked at the girl like she was crazy. "What are you talking about?"

"Protecting yourself. Not that my brother would be anything you would have to think twice about. Why didn't you take a class? You're going to end up in trouble if you don't know how to handle guys that don't take no for an answer. It happens way too often when they get drunk."

"What's the use of that? Like any of them would look at me," Melissa said, revealing a side she didn't like of herself. "They would have to be drunk enough to not be able to stand, to think I was pretty."

"Oh my God!" the girl looked at Melissa in shock. "Are you serious?"

"About what?" Melissa wondered.

"You don't think a guy would think you were pretty?"

"Oh course they don't."

"Where did you come from?"

Another Rhetorical question Melissa missed.

"Swamp, Wisconsin."

"Swamp? What kind of a name is that? Wisconsin?"

"Its just a small town, about six hundred."

"In your high school? I think that's about average. I went to a huge school. There were about six hundred in my graduating class."

Melissa looked at the girl to see the lie on her face. She'd learned to read people fairly well. It helped ease the heartache.

"No. Six hundred was the whole town."

The girl put her hand over her mouth. She couldn't fathom of living in a place that small.

"So I guess you knew everyone. How big was your graduating class?"

"Seventeen. It was the largest class in twenty years."

"Holy shit," the girl said.

With this revelation, the girl studied Melissa. She was not short, but a bit under average height wise. Small frame, petite, she guessed the right word would be. Her breasts fit her frame, so on the small side.

"Seventeen. How many girls and how many boys?"

"Twelve girls and five boys," Melissa said, thinking this conversation was weird and could stop any time.

"So those boys got to pick the best girls, didn't they? I bet you were never one of those girls."

Melissa looked at the girl. She was tall, blond, and had blue eyes. She looked like one of those beach girls, with nice large tits.

"Why do you have to be mean? Mr. Jenkins said college would be different for me."

"I'm not trying to be. I was just asking."

"Fine. Yes, I never got asked out. I sat at home every night of my high school years. I've never even kissed a boy. Satisfied?" Melissa said, trying to hold back the tears.

"Yes, and I'm sorry. Well no. I guess not. I mean, hell. It was just not right. You went to a lousy school."

"I did not! I'm here on full scholarship," Melissa said proudly.

"No shit! Wow. You must be a fuckin brain then, but that's not what I was talkin about. See you only got one look at what guys like and it fucked you up."

Melissa tilted her head, trying to grasp what this girl was talking about.

"Ok, by the way my name is Sherry," the girl said as she sat down. "I taken a couple psych classes and I think I may know what's going on, even if I may not say it right. All of you grew up together, didn't you?"

"Yeah. It's really weird when a new family moves into town."

"So then what, about age twelve or so, some girl got tits, right?"

"Margaret Mason. I hate her."

Sherry laughed. "We all hated that girl, whoever she was."

"Even you?"

Nodding, Sherry said, "Even me. I didn't start this way, but Janet grew them over the summer and all us girls were jealous of her. You know who liked it though."

"Who?"

"The boys. They went crazy. That's what made us mad. They were all looking at Janet all of a sudden and left us out."