Chapter 3: The first date

The next day Jason and Ken joined Mike and his girlfriend for breakfast. Jason was a bit nervous, wondering how Mike and Lisa would react to the sight of him standing on the chair the previous night. Jason had to retell the story of how he had locked himself out of his room and the RA had caught him in the hall, then how she made him help her with the light before she let him back in. His companions found the story quite amusing and Lisa commented: "Well, the next time the light burns out in my room I'll have to get you to come over to fix it. Of course I'll want you to wear your repairman's uniform." At that everyone had a good laugh.

Jason was a bit relieved his friends had reacted so casually to the hallway incident. However, they all were open-minded when it came to stuff like that. Ken had spent several years in Sweden while in high school, while Mike and Lisa had grown up in Santa Cruz, a very liberal town just south of San Francisco.

Jason surprised the others by telling them he was planning on staying enrolled in Burnside's class, and explained why. The other three were dismayed upon hearing the news that Burnside was the only professor teaching the introductory Theory of Economics class. Then came the real surprise, the news about Cecilia's offer to help Jason pass the class. Jason concluded:

"I think you guys should stay enrolled. If Cecilia can help me, maybe I'll be able to help you."

Lisa thought over the whole situation between the RA and her breakfast companion and changed the topic. "You know, Jason, she likes you. You understand that, don't you?"

"You think so?"

"It's kinda obvious, don't you think?"

"I guess..."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "You guess. Look, try asking her out this weekend. Find out what she's into, and then ask her out. I'll bet you she'll accept."

Mike added a comment that made everyone laugh: "Yeah, maybe she'll take you around the university to fix all the lights."

Jason spent the rest of the day going to his other three classes, all of them general requirement courses for freshmen. There was College Algebra, then Creative Writing, and finally the seminar with Burnside's TA. The seminar boosted Jason's self-confidence tremendously. Because of the help he had received from Cecilia the night before, he was among the better prepared students in the group and performed well in comparison with the others.

Jason and Ken then went to the gym to workout in the late afternoon. They had heard about "the freshman fifteen", the fifteen pounds a person normally gains during the first year in college, and were determined that would not happen to them.

At the gym Jason and Ken were surprised to see Lisa working out with Cecilia. It was obvious Cecilia was not used to working out and that Lisa was telling her what she needed to do. The RA was sweating profusely and had an exhausted look on her face, even though the settings she had on the workout machines were only moderate for a female.

There was dinner, during which Jason went over the Burnside material to help his friends focus their studying for class the next day. He then asked Lisa if she could give him any more information on Cecilia.

"She's a bit weird, and I don't have her figured out. I can tell you that something happened to her yesterday that made her totally obsessed with getting into shape, and I mean like, right away. I tried talking to her, you know, small stuff, but the only thing she was interested in was how to use the workout equipment in the gym. She made me promise to go with her to workout and help her get settled into a routine ... I mean, all of a sudden that became real important to her, but she wouldn't tell me why."

"So ... did you find out anything else about her?"

"A little. She told me a bit about her freshman year and some things about the classes she took. There's some other stuff I got out of her. She came here on scholarship, and from what I gather, that place in New Jersey she came out of was bad, I mean like ... really bad ... gangs, crack, drive-by shootings ... she grew up with all that shit. She's got a brother in jail, and ... oh yeah, Jason, here's a piece of information you'll need to know if you end up taking her out. Cecilia totally hates Rap music, I'd guess 'cause it reminds her of where she grew up. When they played some Rap at the gym she actually went up to the front counter and made 'em switch the tape."

"So what kind of music is she into?"

"Classical."

"Classical?"

"Yeah, you know, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, that sort of thing. That and New Age. And I bet I know why. I'm sure nobody listens to classical music back where she's from. That's probably why she likes it."

"But, I don't know anything about classical music..."

Mike pulled out a copy of the campus newspaper, opened it, and laid it on the table in front of Jason. He pointed at announcements for a classical concert to be held by the campus orchestra that weekend.

"Here. You're problem's solved. Take her to this. And here's a coupon for the seafood place just off campus. I don't think Cecilia's a McDonald's type of girl. She'll want something a bit more upscale."

Lisa smiled. "I'll tell you one more thing about her."

"What's that?"

"A secret from the women's locker room. She wears a skimpy white thong under her skirt. And she's got a really nice butt."

Mike and Lisa had given Jason the information he needed to ensure a successful outing with Cecilia. However, they also unwittingly had played right into the RA's hands by encouraging Jason to focus on her needs instead of his own. Jason's purpose in life for the entire evening would be accommodating Cecilia's tastes. What he might have wanted to do was a non-issue.

After dinner he took the paper and put the coupon in his wallet. He then went to Cecilia's room and shyly knocked. She was a bit surprised to see him at her door, but quickly she gave him a seductive smile and invited him in.

For the first time Jason had a chance to see the RA's room and get a feel for her personality. The room was full of neatly organized books and study materials. The desk was piled with notes and books, but otherwise the room was immaculate. Cecilia was using her own linens and curtains, which matched and were very elegant-looking. She had several landscape prints hanging on her walls. As for personal pictures, there was only one. It was a picture of Cecilia and seven other scholarship students standing with Ruth Burnside and Jim Halsey at a social function. There was nothing in the room, not one item; that looked like it could have come from her previous life in New Jersey.

Jason noticed only one other picture on the wall that had any people in it. It was a medium-sized photo of two young women standing in front of a microphone. They had their hair done up in exactly the same manner and were wearing white dresses. One of them was blond and the other was Asian, but oddly enough, they looked very much alike. Jason recognized them as the lead singers from the famous European New Age group "Socrates' Mistresses". The photo was autographed with the following:

Cecilia: the Ancients have blessed us with your friendship and help. Thank you for everything you have done for us. - Kimberly Lee-Dolkinva, # 98945.

Jason was horribly nervous and decided to get right to the point. He showed her the concert ad and asked her if she was interested in going. Again she smiled seductively and touched his arm.

"Sure. I'd like that, Jason. That'd be a nice break from all the stuff I'm havin' to do this weekend."

His heart jumped. So Lisa had been right after all!

But then Cecilia's demeanor changed completely. She put a condition on the proposed outing.

"Jason, have your work for Dr. Burnside ready. When I come over to your room, I want you to be properly prepared with the class reading, 'cause we're gonna go over it together. If there's stuff you don't get, make sure you write it down so you can ask me. If I'm gonna help you, I don't want you wasting my time. You get that?"

"Uh ... yeah, Cecilia, I understand."

"There's something else that I need from you if you want to take me out. I don't like a person who tries to keep secrets from me. I want to make that very clear before we spend any time together. You're not gonna keep any secrets from me. That's very important if you want to have any kind of relationship with me."

"Uh ... alright, Cecilia ... I promise. I ... I won't have any secrets from you."

"OK. I hope you understand what that means. Now get studyin'. I'll see you as soon as I get my own work taken care of. Please be ready."

Jason returned to his own room, completely bewildered by what had just happened between himself and Cecilia. He was elated that inviting her out had been so easy, but what happened right after that scared him. It was obvious that he would have to take her seriously and be very careful how he behaved around her. It also was obvious that Cecilia was a controlling person and in her own way had very strict values. He understood that he would have to conform to what she wanted, but did not yet have any idea how complete his surrender would have to be before he could win the love and trust of Cecilia Sanchez.

Jason tidied up his room. He then nervously reviewed the materials for Burnside's class the following day, as he carefully wrote down questions he had about the reading. He tried to make his questions sound intelligent, and in doing some managed to eliminate some of the more basic items he was able to answer himself. In trying to impress Cecilia, Jason was motivated to learn Burnside's coursework in a manner not possible if he had just been studying for himself.

Cecilia showed up about 10:00 and quietly knocked on Jason's door. She entered the room, gave him a very sweet seductive look, and tilted her head sideways, her cheek facing Jason. He figured out what she wanted, she wanted to be greeted with a kiss on the cheek, Latin American style. For the first time Jason felt Cecilia's soft skin on his lips and caught the faint scent of her perfume. His heart beat very heavily with anticipation and desire.

Cecilia was sweet at first, but quickly she got down to business. She took a seat at Jason's desk and ordered him to stand, hands at his sides, in front of her. She pummeled him with questions, making sure not only that he knew the right answers, but that he also knew where the answers came from and how he had found them. They spent more than a half an hour going at it, with Cecilia's voice snapping at the freshman whenever he got anything wrong. When he made mistakes the RA shoved a book at him and ordered him to find the right answer.

Jason's nerves were on edge and he was sweating, but in less than 40 minutes he was completely prepared for both Burnside's next class and the TA's next seminar. Cecilia got up to leave, but had a final task for the freshman.

"Do you think your friends are gonna stay in the class?"

"Yeah, I think I can get 'em to stay in..."

"Then I'm holdin' you responsible to make sure they pass. If I'm gonna help you, you're gonna pass the favor along. You get that?"

"Yeah, OK, I understand..."

"I'm holdin' you accountable for the others. I'm warnin' you, don't you let me down."

Cecilia then disoriented Jason by shifting from her harsh Burnside demeanor back to her sweet seductive demeanor. She gently put her hand on his arm and tilted her cheek towards him, waiting for a goodbye kiss. Again the faint scent of her perfume and the feel of her soft warm skin on his lips took control of his thoughts and desires. He badly wanted to take her and kiss her mouth, but was smart enough to know that would have to wait. He would kiss her when she gave him permission, not a moment before.