Chapter 7

They saw a lot of each other that first semester. They had at least one class together every day. They would meet for lunch, have dinner together, or arrange to meet in the library to study or do homework. They would go out socially on occasion, but neither of them considered it dating. They were just good friends, for now.

Academically, John was having no trouble at all adjusting to college life. He had aced all of his mid-terms and was well on his way to a 4.0 first semester. Katie was not having it that easy. She was passing all of her courses, but it appeared that she was destined to be, at best, an average student. She was fine with that; her primary focus at this point was the upcoming softball season. She had already met with the varsity coach and could not wait to get on the baseball field for her tryout.

One day in the early in December, they were having dinner together. The conversation centered around the upcoming finals and grade point averages.

"Katie, you know you have to maintain at least a 2.0 GPA in order to avoid probation. If you fall below that, they can suspend you from extracurricular activities, which may include softball as well."

"What about my scholarship?"

"That too, I'm afraid."

"John, what am I going to do? I think I can eke out a B in Accounting and Economics, and a C in Western Civ, but I'm afraid of Spanish and English Comp. I need this scholarship, and I really want to play softball."

"OK, here's what we are going to do. For the next week, every spare moment we have will be used to go over Spanish and Western Civ. If we can get you up to a B in one of those two, all you'll need is a C in the other and a D in Comp. Together, we'll get you through this."

With a sequel of delight she jumped up, rushed to John's side of the table and lifted him clean out of the chair in a mind blowing, rib crunching bear hug.

"Katie put me down, I can't breathe."

Katie was in no hurry to comply, he felt wonderful in her arms. She could feel his cock twitching in his pants.

'I'm turning him on big time.' With a smile she put him back on the ground.

"I'm heading to the gym, dream about me tonight." She picked up her bag and walked out of the hall.

John, his face several shades of red darker than usual, sat back down to the applause of several students seated nearby, and waited for his erection to subside.

True to his word, John spent all of his spare time working with Katie, reviewing his notes from Western Civ and going over grammar rules and vocabulary from Spanish. Not that it was a chore. He loved every minute of it. Being in close proximity to this beautiful, overwhelming woman was almost more than he could stand. By the end of the week they were ready. Their exams were tough, but when they came out of their last one together, they each knew that they had done well.

The following morning, John waited outside Katie's dorm. Katie's mom was picking her up early. They got a quick cup of coffee and headed over to the pre-arranged meeting place. John's mom would be picking him up later that day. When Katie spotted her mom, she waived, picked up her bag of clothes, her books and other personal items and, before running over to the car turned to John and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you in a couple of weeks."

When she got in the car, her mother having seen the kiss, asked, "Who's the young man you were with?"

"That's John; he's been my best friend at school this semester. He's helped me study; he got me through my exams. He's the best."

"He's really cute, too."

"Yeah, I know."

John, suddenly felt all alone, even though he was surrounded by hundreds of students, all trying to finish up last minute details for the semester break. It had only been several hours since he had watched Katie leave with her mother and already he missed her.

When his mom arrived, he was ready. On the long drive back home she asked how exams were, how things were going, and had he made any friends.

Without thinking John blurted out, "I met the most wonderful girl I've ever known. She's beautiful, fun to be with, sexy and amazingly strong."

Realizing that what he had just thought, he had said aloud -- and to his own mother -- he turned scarlet and stared straight ahead.

'Sounds like someone's in love.' His mother just smiled and asked no more questions.

Katie made arrangements with Joan to meet her after Christmas Day at the gym. They had a great workout, during which Katie told her about the guy she had met at school.

"He's extremely smart, funny, and has Tom Cruise-like good looks, and he really likes my muscles."

"Sounds like a keeper to me. I'm happy for you Katie, truly happy. It sounds like you're in love."

"Maybe, I just may be."

They worked out hard every day for the next ten days. As she had promised, Katie had kept her body in great shape and was actually stronger now than when she had left for school.

John spent most of his time off reading and missing Katie. He did, however, meet up with a couple of friends from high school and talked their ears off about the girl he met at school.

"Come on John, who do you think you're kidding? What would a girl like that see in a guy like you?"

That night, John had an anxiety attack, what did Katie see in him? Could she really like a bookworm nerd like him? Was he imagining more to their friendship than there really was? The next morning he awoke fully resolved to do whatever it took to win her over.

The next semester started on January 11. They had arranged before they had left for the semester break to meet the night before at 6:00 at the SU. He sat there waiting, would she remember, would his plan work?

He had brought a gym bag and workout clothes and he planned to ask her to help him get into shape.

His face lit up as he saw her enter the building. She smiled that wonderful smile of hers as she glided over to his table.

"John, it's so good to see you again. I missed you," she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. She pulled out a chair and started to sit, when she spotted his gym bag.

"What's this?"

"Katie, that's my workout stuff. I decided that I would start working out this semester. I want to get in better shape, maybe put on a little more muscle."

"That's wonderful, John. You could use a little more muscle on that body of yours. We could work out together if you don't mind joining me for late night workouts. I find that the gym is less crowded and it's easier to get a good workout after 9:00."

"I was sort of hoping that you would let me join you, I've never done anything like this before."

"It would be my pleasure; it's the least I could do to repay you for all the help you gave me last semester. By the way, I ended up with a 2.8 GPA thanks to you. But I'm warning you now, just because you're my best friend, I'm not going to go easy on you. If you're serious about this, I'm going to work that body of yours hard."

"Can we start tonight?"

"Sure! I already worked out this afternoon, before the gym got too crowded. I'll set up a program for you just like my friend Joan had done for me. Let's have something light to eat now, then we can go over to the gym and I'll put you through some tests to see what your strength levels are. Nothing too tough tonight; after all, it's your first time."

Later, as they walked over to the gym, bits and pieces of their earlier conversation kept popping into his mind.

'Best friend ... work your body hard ... Maybe, just maybe, this could be lead to something.'

Upon entering the gym, John allowed Katie to guide him to the large fitness room. She pointed to the locker room.