Chapter 8

By September, Charlie had established a functional routine around his work. After his morning run and shower, he usually spent three hours moving data around on the main server. No doubt the hours and times would have to be adjusted to accommodate his class schedule but Sammy had assured him that would not present any problems.

Marty usually ran with him in the morning and they had dinner together a couple time a week, sometimes followed by a sexual interlude in his room, sometimes not. With the start of the school term and the arrival of his roommate, that would have to move exclusively to Marty's place if it were to continue. Charlie still had some misgivings about it.

His new roommate had already dropped by to introduce himself and would be moving in the next day. His name was Kenny Luong, a small, almost frail-looking Asian of Vietnamese parentage who, like himself, was on a full academic scholarship. His eyes lingered for just a moment on Charlie's face but not long enough to seem rude. They chatted for a few minutes before he had to leave with his dad.

General registration was four days away and Charlie had made a list of all the classes he wanted to sign up for. His first year would be mostly spent knocking out the required general education curriculum but his high school transcript was impressive enough that he was eligible for honors math and science programs. He intended to be at the front of the line as soon as the doors opened.

Over the last two weeks he had exchanged several letters with Tracy and found himself anxiously looking forward to the daily mail delivery. He'd grown to accept her reasons for colluding with his mom on the date thing and no longer held a grudge. He was beginning to think of her as a special friend, wishing sometimes that it could be more but accepting that it couldn't. The memory of seeing her boobs practically falling out of her bra when she was doing stretches on the kitchen floor always brought a little smile to his face and a little stirring in his underwear. Not that it would have made any difference but he supposed the two years between their ages was a lot for people in their teens, especially since he was the younger.

In her last letter, she'd written that she'd been accepted at the last minute to a college and would pursue a degree in education. Since she would be packing up and moving soon, she suggested he hold off on any more letters until she had a permanent address. She neglected to mention which school she was going to enroll in.

Charlie had just logged off from TelCom and was about to get dressed and head out the door on his way to the Union for lunch when someone knocked. He figured it was probably Marty since Kenny already had his own key.

"It's open!" he raised his voice. "Come on in. I'll be just a minute."

He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his wallet off the desk. When he turned to greet his friend, he was looking at Tracy Kimball standing in the doorway.

He was completely at a loss for words as they just stood looking at each other. Finally, in desperation for something to say, he asked, "Uh, have you had lunch yet?"

She couldn't help it, she had to laugh, "Well, I guess that's as good an opener as any. No, Charlie, I haven't had lunch. Are you inviting me?"

He grinned, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Hi, Tracy. It's just that you're about the last person in the world I expected to see. Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"I'd love to have lunch with you. Can I kiss you hello?"

"I'd like that."

Tracy stepped in front of him and tilted her face up in invitation. As his lips gently touched hers, she put her hand behind his head and pulled his mouth down onto hers making it perfectly clear that she wasn't about to accept a chaste little peck. Charlie's hands slowly moved up her back and pressed her body into his. She stepped back with her eyes locked onto his and whispered, "I've missed you so much, Charlie."

He looked closely at her pretty face, trying to look through her eyes into her mind to discover the truth of what was happening. The ridiculous thought that popped into his brain was an old worn-out cliché: No pain, no gain! "I missed you too. Please tell me you mean what you're telling me. I don't think I could handle another disappointment."

She laid her head against his chest. "You have a right to be suspicious. All I can do is to try and show you how much I love you; to try to regain the trust I sabotaged three months ago."

He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently back a step. "Let's go have lunch and start over, OK?"

"Good idea. My car's outside."

"No, let's walk. There's a nice little café off campus with great food and decent prices."

"Let's!"

She held his hand for the entire fifteen-minute walk to the Beacon. As they strolled in no particular hurry, she filled him in on recent events: Even before he left for Stanford, she was looking for schools near Palo Alto so she could be near him. She didn't know if she'd ever convince him of her sincerity but she certainly intended to try. Her aunt on her father's side lived in Hayward, California, across the bay and a few miles up the highway. At Tracy's request, she researched schools in the area and found that Cal State East Bay College offered just the education program she was looking for. She'd even be able to live with her aunt and save a bundle on housing. She applied immediately and was put on the waiting list because they'd already closed out applications for the Fall term. A week ago, they called her and said there was an opening if she could commit to it with a deposit on her tuition. Her dad wrote the check and here she was.