II
The next day, Tom got up for class, though he wasn’t really up for it. It was late in the afternoon and he had been lazing around most of the day. Despite the fact that he had no desire to take a history class, he knew that he needed one to graduate and the only one available was with Professor Arias. He knew Arias’ reputation and it didn’t make things any easier, but he got up, got dressed, and headed out the door.
Tom made his way toward’s the main building where liberal arts classes were held. Other students were heading in various directions either heading to or from class. Everything seemed normal until he entered Professor Arias’ lecture hall.
To Tom’s surprise, the room was completely empty. Tom looked around, surprised. Had he gone to the wrong room? No, this was clearly the right place as much of the art work that Arias favored was hanging on the walls.
Tom noticed a piece of paper hanging on the chalkboard at the front of the room and walked over to it. The paper has a single sentence written on it, “Professor Arias is out sick today, all classes cancelled.”
Tom couldn’t believe it. He knew Professor Arias’s reputation. The man took his work way too seriously and never took a day off. If he was out, it had to be something serious.
After a moment of thinking about it, Tom realized that he was being given a merciful day off. He didn’t want to be there anyway and decided not to question it. With nary another thought to what was going on, he quickly turned and exited the room.
As he made his way out of the building, Tom accidentally bumped into Toby, who was headed the other way. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to talk to him, but decided it was better to try and break the ice a little, “Hey, did you hear?”
Toby looked at Tom hesitantly for a minute before responding, “What’s up?”
Tom pointed back to the lecture hall that Professor Arias normally used, “Can you believe it?”
“Yeah I don’t have class with him today.” Toby replied.
“You haven’t heard?” Tom replied, shaking his head. “Arias took a sick day!”
“What?” Toby exclaimed. “From what I read in the newsletter, he hasn’t been absent once in almost forty years of teaching!”
Tom frowned, “You actually read that thing…?”
“I get bored sometimes.” Toby admitted.
Tom shrugged, “Whatever… What do you think happened?”
“Who knows?” Toby replied. “Maybe the shock of having me in class was too much for him.”
Tom laughed as he thought about it. A moment later, his face turned back to a frown as he remembered what happened the previous day, “Look Toby… I get that we’re not friends anymore. Lia’na is your girl and I’d probably do the same thing in your shoes…”
“Before you say anything else,” Toby interrupted, “I am willing to believe that you didn’t know what Michael was planning that night, but you still helped him after he hit her twice. ‘I didn’t know’ is not an acceptable excuse at that point. Lia’na said she’s not going to ignore you anymore, so I’ll give you the same courtesy, no more, no less.”
Tom sighed, “Fair enough, I guess I shouldn’t expect more.”
“Nope.” Toby replied.
Tom nodded, “So what you up to the rest of the day?”
Toby shrugged, “I’ve got one more class, and then I’m outta here.”
“One more class?” Tom asked in shock. “But it’s already five o’clock!”
“I know…” Toby said in a defeated tone, “but it was the only way to get Friday off.”
“Makes sense then.” Tom replied as he looked at the crowd walking towards the café, “Well I’m out. Talk to you later, Toby.”
“Yeah.” Toby said as he headed in the other direction.
Tom headed to the dining hall to get some food. Jayme met him at the door to the café, “Hey stranger, what’s going on?”
Tom sighed, “I wish I knew.”
“I heard about what you did yesterday.” Jayme replied.
“Oh yeah?” Tom asked. “What did you hear?”
Jayme smiled warmly, “Nothing much just that you stood up to Michael and it sounds like you’re back on speaking terms with Toby and Gishan.”
Tom shrugged, “Yeah I guess, which is great, but it’ll never be what it was.”
“Nothing you can do about it, Tom.” Jayme replied before beckoning him towards the café, “Come on, let’s get some food, I’m starving.”
Tom followed Jayme up the stairs. She moved quick, so he had to hustle to keep up. He stayed close behind her, but far enough back that she was up enough stairs that he would have a good view of her ass without being pervy.
This wasn’t the first time that Tom had noticed her, far from it. She was tall and slender, and very feminine. Her body was very shapely, and she made no effort to hide it.
Jayme was no fool. She knew what Tom was doing without even having to look back. He favored her above any other girl on campus, which she delighted in. She intentionally swayed her hips as she walked, just to torture him a little more.
Certain that she had tortured him enough, Jayme turned back, “So what do you think?”
Tom’s eyes jolted up to her face, “What?”
Jayme smiled, “What are you getting to eat?”
Tom shrugged, “The dwarven chef always has something good going, though the portions are way too much for a human.”
“Still, it’s good food.” Jayme replied. “I think I’m going that way.”
“Whatever.” Tom replied.
Tom grabbed a chicken sandwich while Jayme grabbed the slab of steak that the dwarven chef had been cutting. They sat down and began eating when they were joined by a stout dwarf, “Hey Tom, Jayme, how goes it?”
Jayme smiled as she turned to the dwarf, “Hey there, Reggor, what’s up?”
Reggor scratched his black beard as he sat down, “Nothing much, just grabbing some food before my next class.”
Tom looked at him oddly, “You have another class?”
Reggor nodded, “Yeah, at 6:30. It sucks, but it’s once a week, so I get it out of the way.”
“They’re not so bad.” Jayme replied. “I’m doing a few of those. I’ve only got two classes a week that I have to go to more than once.”
“It is the way to do it.” Tom agreed.
Greggor turned to Tom with a devious smile, “You know, I heard you saved that sharpy friend of Toby’s.”
Tom rolled his eyes, ready to get hell for what he’d done. He knew since the day he’d gotten involved in the first place that no matter what he did, he would be condemned for it, “Yeah…”
“Nice.” Greggor replied. “I never got why you went along with Michael in the first place. I’m no sharpy-lover, but Michael is about as bad an egg as they come.”
“I know that now.” Tom said in an irritated tone.
Greggor shrugged, “Well I’m just glad you finally got that.”
Tom sighed as he sat back, “So what do you think is going on with Professor Arias?”
Greggor shrugged, “No idea. It’s weird that he took some time off.”
“Yeah, but the man’s got tenure.” Jayme replied. “I can’t even imagine how much vacation time the man must have saved up.”
Greggor finished eating quickly and got up, “Well I’ve got to go, guys. Have fun.”
“Yeah right.” Tom shouted as Greggor walked away.
Jayme shook her head as she focused on her remaining company, “So Tom, what are you up to tonight?”
Tom shrugged, “Nothing really. I was going to head back to my room and relax.”
Jayme tapped her fingers on the table, not directly at Tom as she spoke, “Well, I have a bottle of Sam Adam’s Dwarven Ale that I haven’t opened yet and my roommate’s gone for the night…”
Tom suddenly felt something rubbing his ankle and working its way up his leg. He could instantly tell that it was Jayme’s foot. He looked at her oddly, “Cold?”
Jayme nodded, “Of course.”
Tom immediately stood up and grabbed both of their trash, “Let’s go.”
Tom wasn’t a huge fan of the dwarven ale. There were other brews he liked more, still he had a feeling that the bottle would remain capped. Jayme had made her intentions perfectly clear.
The moment Tom had disposed of their plates, Jayme beckoned him to the door, “Come on.”
Jayme and Tom headed back across the campus to her dorm. Tom pulled the door open and followed Jayme into her room. When the door closed behind them, Tom didn’t even have a chance to speak. Jayme jumped on him and bit into his neck.
Tom ran his nails down her back. She breathed heavily as his fingers moved, “The summer was too long, Tom…”
*
The next morning, Tom woke up in Jayme’s bed with red marks all over him. Jayme was lying next to him, still asleep. It looked as though he had successfully worn her out.
Tom shook his head as he got up and looked over the scratch marks on his skin. He grabbed his boxers and slid them on as a voice appeared behind him, “Well good morning. You hoping to sneak out before I woke up?”
Tom turned back and smiled, “Nah, just inspecting the damage. You did a real number on me!”
Jayme smiled as she wrapped herself in her blanket, “You liked it, and it’s not like you didn’t give as good as you got.”
Jayme lowered the blanket to show him the deep scratches on her back. Tom shook his head, “Yeah I know… sorry.”
“For what?” Jayme asked. “It’s not like I didn’t want you to. I enjoyed it as much as you did.”
Jayme stretched out as she stood up and headed for the shower, “See you in class today?”
Tom looked at her surprised, “What, you’re just going to kick me out?”
Jayme shrugged, “Oh, I’m sorry. Let’s shower together, get dressed, go get breakfast, hang all over each other, and then skip off to class together hand in hand. How does that sound?”
A look of annoyance appeared on Tom’s face, “Are you done?”
“I could go on,” Jayme replied, “but I think you get the point. Look, you knew what this was. You got what you wanted and so did I. Why complicate things? You know I’m not looking for a relationship.”
Tom sighed, “Yeah I know. All right, well I’ll catch you later then.”
Jayme watched as Tom got dressed and headed for the door. Before he disappeared, she called out to him, “Hey Tom.”
He poked his head back in to see her, “Yes?”
Jayme looked at him for a moment before speaking, “As awesome as it was, don’t count on getting back in my bed if you plan on being all disappointed like this.”
Tom nodded, “Got it, no more disappointment. See you in class.”
Jayme smiled, “Good, see you then.”
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU
Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!
-Jim
This is one that I’ve spoken of before. I worked here for 3+ years right out of college as both a direct care worker and a teacher. It is a wonderful program, especially around New England that offers a safe haven for children that have no home, are no longer capable of living at home, or are taken from broken homes due to abusive or neglectful parents. These kids deserve all the love and care in the world and have barely been given a chance at life.
James Harringtons Creative Work 