Chapter 3

The Morrill dining hall was pretty big. Coupled with a general student-body preference for early dinners, it meant I could claim a sizable round table off to one side as my own.

Before I left it to go through the cafeteria line, I spread out stuff from my chemistry class to work on, in case Kendall didn't appear. Pre-med students can't afford to waste a lot of hours not studying.

I didn't have much hope she would show up after my spasmodic dinner offer. It wouldn't take a wild assed guess for her to conclude I was a jerk. And despite her obvious intense focus in class, I also assumed the social calendar of a beauty like her would be booked months in advance.

I walked through the cafeteria's long sweaty display of industrial sized pans of food, feeling the warmth radiating from the heat lamps and steam tables. When it wasn't crowded with students you could hear the soft roar of the natural gas burners underneath the long stainless steel fixtures, full of close to boiling water.

The steam heated the pans of food suspended in frames above the water. It also squeezed through any small openings not sealed by the pans, making the red faced servers look perpetually embarrassed.

Maintaining the food's high temperatures also ensured any residual moisture the entrees had managed to hang onto was purged before it could be eaten.

I slapped a dollop of mashed potatoes onto my plate with a firm thwack, grabbed a few slices of mystery meat, added a couple rolls, butter, a cup of coffee, and I was set.

On my way back to my table I looked around for anyone I knew, and was pleasantly surprised to spot Kendall walking away from me. She must have been going through the line as I arrived.

Like me she was carrying a dinner tray, but was headed towards the opposite side of the room. To get there she was passing through the most populated area, the tables located near the exit of the food line, where the air buzzed with the sound of the student's conversations.

I stopped to watch so I'd know where she settled. Of course it was a bonus to admire her long legged figure in the process.

I also watched how some of the guys she passed reacted to her. When they noticed her approaching, they would drop out of the conversation at the table while they surreptitiously followed her progress. At tables of only guys, one or two unconsciously stopped chewing and openly stared at her. After she had passed by, the volume of conversation at the tables would slowly rise again.

Her head was turning from side to side as if looking for someone she knew. She smiled and nodded at a couple all girl tables, stopping at one to chat for a few moments ... it seemed the briefest of connections.

After slowly passing through the occupied tables, she stopped at an empty one off to the side and sat at an angle that faced away from the tables she'd just passed through.

Off by herself like that ... it didn't fit my mental image of her at all. Was she coming late to dinner to meet me, and she and her friends usually ate earlier? Or did she usually come late so she'd have fewer people to look away from before she ate alone?

I vacillated between following her and returning to my table to see if she would look for me before she left. I think it was seeing some of the guys still looking at her while they presumably talked about her that made me decide to follow her directly.

No one gave me a second glance as I threaded my way towards her. When I passed the last occupied tables and continued on towards her, the volume of the conversations behind me dipped for a moment, and I wondered how many eyes were following me. It was a bit unnerving, and I wondered what it would be like to be Kendall, and have to go through that so often.

I came to stand beside her, not too close so as to startle her. She was wearing a form-fitted blue sweater that seemed to be struggling to contain her breasts; really ... struggling. Wow.

"Hi," I said with what I hoped was an engaging smile, "it's nice to see you again."

She looked at me coolly, her gaze measuring my composure. I tried to swallow without it showing.

"I saw you following me. What makes you think I'll sit with you, anyway?"

I shrugged. I didn't want to talk about my admiration-from-afar in chemistry class; or about my sympathy for the ill-mannered behavior of some of the guys around us.

"I guess I just didn't like the idea of someone thinking I'm a creep," I replied. "Even if you don't want to sit with me, I hoped you'd see me make the effort, and not automatically think I'm like some of the jerks around here." I gestured at the nearby tables with my chin.

After a moment, her expression softened a fraction. "I did notice that they didn't talk about my boobs before class today. Or at least they started whispering so I couldn't hear it. Did you have anything to do with that?"

"Uh, yeah, I did. The house members are expected to treat women with respect."

She tilted her head skeptically. "You're kidding, right?"

I couldn't keep back a frown. People have stereotypes about fraternities that are hard to shake. "No, I'm not. That doesn't mean we don't have jerks in the frat. We do. But getting our younger members to grow up and fly right is part of the older guy's responsibilities. Obviously I wasn't doing my job when they were harassing you, and I'm sorry about that. So, we had a chat. It won't happen again."

I could see different emotions passing over her face. Then she clenched her eyes closed for a moment, gathering herself.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry ... it's just that I've never really seen that side of frat guys. What you stopped in our chemistry class is what I get all the time. That's why I'll walk twice as far to circle around their houses instead of going in front of them."

Her tension seemed to be fading slightly, but she still seemed uncomfortable.

"Are there any frats in particular that bug you when you go by?" I asked. "I can get that stopped too, if you know which one is doing it."

She looked at me warily. "Please don't say anything to them. I don't want to get any of them mad at me."

I sighed in sympathy. "All right, I guess I can understand that. It kind of pisses me off though. That kind of thing gives all of us a bad name."

I thought a change of subject was called for, and gestured toward my table where the chemistry class materials were spread out. "Are you ready for the mid-term? I left all my stuff for it way over there."

She nodded distractedly. "Yes, I'm ready I think." She seemed nervous to talk about that too. I hovered, not knowing if I would be welcome to sit down.

"Cool. You uh ... wanna join me? I brought my book and lecture notes, and, uh, some of the old tests," I said, my voice carefully neutral.

She seemed to steel herself, taking on a self assured expression that might have been forced.

"The people I usually eat with go earlier than this, so sure."

I nodded, feeling encouraged that she'd changed her schedule to see if I would show up.

She picked up her tray and began walking with me to my table. I felt eyes recording our progress.

"How'd you do on the quizzes?" I asked as we reached the table.

"Uh, okay I guess."

"Here, let me get my stuff out of the way," I said. I pushed my notes away from a seat next to mine.

"That's okay, I can sit over there." She gestured at the opposite side of the table. The table was big enough for that to be a couple yards away.

I grinned. "Nah, sit here. I don't want to have you yell at me from over there."

I could see some welcome amusement in her eyes. "All right ... I will try to keep the yelling to a minimum."

Sitting next to me would also keep her back to the rest of the room. I could see with a sideways glance that there were still a few people watching us.