College 27
By Corbin
How life tests the endurance, patience, and sometimes faith of one young woman.

*********

"A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is 
personally responsible for his society."

-Thomas Jefferson
 
**********

"And you believed her Corbin?!" 
 
That's was the first thing I remember coming out of Sharon's mouth, or something 
to that effect. Immediately she launched into this defensive diatribe. But that 
was Sharon's way of convincing someone she was right, when she in fact knew she 
was wrong; so first she gets defensive, then goes on the offensive. Anyway, 
Sharon was yelling at me, her face becoming unusually red as she flapped her 
arms out to her side like she was trying to take off for flight or something. 
 
Oh yeah let me backup, this is all occurring right after I came bursting into 
the apartment and verbally blasted Sharon about what problems her manipulations 
were causing, specifically my run in with Courtney. So anyway, I'm getting an 
earful of...

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"That girl (Courtney) is full of crap!" 

"You shouldn't doubt me!", and on and on...
 
I won't bore you with everything that Sharon dumped on me nor any of the details 
about who did what and when, not that the details would bore you, it's just that 
some of the things she did may have crossed some legal boundaries (pulling Admin 
strings at the school via her father who is friends with so-and-so to have an 
audit/investigation done on some other Sorority, along with other stuff like 
that. All the way down to petty gossip (she invented) about people, smearing 
reputations and so on). You see, when you deal with people like Sharon who 
thinks two-wrongs-make-a-right, I might as well turn around and try to reason 
with the picture hanging on the wall behind me. (But I hate that picture hanging 
on the wall, it's that modern art crap Sharon likes, anyway that's way off on 
another tangent.)
 
But Sharon quickly collected herself, she knew blowing up at me was not the 
right thing to do and took a deep breath before walking up to me, placing a 
gentle hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry for yelling and I'm sorry for pulling you 
into this. But please believe me, they're just playing mind games with you. If 
it makes you feel any better I'll keep you informed of everything before I 
actually do something." She smiles and squeezes my shoulder.
 
"Sharon, don't patronize me." I huff, cocking my eyebrow with a bit more 
agitation, "Telling me that you're going to check in with me..."
 
"I'm being serious!" She gasps. Sharon's an actress you see, not in the screen 
or stage sense but knows how to play on my weaknesses, weaknesses only she 
knows, well she and Nikki. Now she's pushing on my shoulders, guiding me towards 
her bedroom where she proceeds to work her magic. And I'm just going with the 
flow because I have to admit, I enjoyed how she soothed my anxieties with her 
soft tone and caresses. So I believed her, I wanted to believe her...I didn't 
want to argue with her at all, she always seemed to have everything under 
control and the next thing I knew I was letting my head rest on her pillow, 
besides I was emotionally drained.
 
I really didn't want to try and explain this because I'm not sure if I can, but 
I'm not one to give up easily so here goes...

I was never good with mind games like Sharon and I think she saw me as this 
naive, clueless girl, and Sharon didn't like anyone else having a higher 
priority in my life then her. Hence she drove a wedge between me and 
anyone she perceived as a threat. She did this by creating last minute dramas in 
her life that needed my full attention, drama's I went along with.
 
Nikki was the only presence in my life that was more powerful then Sharon (I am 
excluding my parents here) eventually she came to accept Nikki's role in my 
life, after all she had no choice on that matter.
 
********** 

Things did seem to calm down, but I also believe in the 'calm before the storm', 
so the more quiet Sharon was, the more worried I became. But I had no proof she 
was up to anything and honestly I didn't want to know because I had some last 
minute touches to put on some research papers and exams, and wanted to get all 
the administrative stuff submitted ahead of time in order to graduate in the 
spring of 2004. Where has the time gone? So many years in school have come and 
gone and I was getting close to graduation.

I had walked from the apartment to campus one day, it was one of those 
beautiful, spring days...the sky so crystal clear that I felt like I could 
almost see into the deep, dark void above (God I sound like a cheesy greeting 
card or something). So I just enjoyed the walk, everything was in full bloom as 
I strolled along, and I had a brand new pair of running shoes on, so my feet 
were gleefully singing in their new confines! (I love a new pair of good running 
shoes!) So my mood was up beat, so much so that I even enjoyed the stares and 
comments from guys as I just walked along with this big, goofy smile on my face. 
Sometimes the flattery is nice, it's even amusing to watch two grown men, 
dressed in their business suits obviously engaged in some heavy conversation 
suddenly stop and stare. That is the power we have over you guys...and on 
occasion I enjoy it. My yellow tank top was drawing a lot of attention, I never 
knew so many people appreciated yellow...oh please, nobody was looking at my 
boobs <evil grin>. For that matter, I doubt the 'twisting neck' stares were 
riveted to my ass either...but I guess snug, khaki short-shorts 
have been known to do that, just a lingering theory I have.
 
So I had some free time this afternoon as I walked; do I shop? Just hang out? Go 
see Nikki, crap she's at her part time job right now so scratch that? Maybe I'll 
just kick back in the park and see if any friends are there?

"CORBIN! CORBIN!" 
 
'Huh?' I stop and look over my shoulder, its Chris and he's juggling a backpack 
and some other stuff while trying to catch up to me. I don't think I will ever 
be able to free him of all his dorky mannerisms, but I'm still trying.
 
"Oh, hey Chris" I smile, I give him a hug and tell him it's good to see him. I 
grab his shoulder strap and pull it up on his shoulders and tell him to stand up 
straight. Still, he's like a changed person, still a tad on the geeky side, but 
that's okay. I don't see his girlfriend with him, which is just as well because 
she doesn't like me, which is more Chris's fault then mine or anyone else's. 
After Chris and I finished our class project the developed a bad habit of 
speaking 'highly' of me, especially around Megan (his girlfriend). Which is a 
big mistake, we don't want to hear about how you guys idolize other women, 
besides it's very annoying. So I had to tell Chris to 'chill' on the 'Corbin-
this and Corbin-that' stuff and he understood what I was getting at. 
 
My life seemed to settling, or I was settling. I was either working out or 
studying, or seeing Nikki, and most importantly avoiding any issues with 
Sharon's sorority. 

On another side note, it was extremely unsettling to be on the receiving end of 
so many juvenal/brain-dead comments once Nikki and I started dating publicly. We 
never sat our friends down and announced it, we simply told them the truth when 
asked 'why we were spending so much time together?' 

Of course, word spread fast! 

But back to the stupid comments, these were mostly coming from stupid guys, 
"Damn you two girls are so hot!" or we would go to a party, or bar and ALWAYS it 
was, "Come on, will you two kiss!". 

How rude, how offensive!

Nikki and I would tell them straight to their face, 'Your being rude, don't talk 
to us.' Turn and leave, no big blow up or yelling. It's better to give them a 
shameful look and discard them as if they were useless, that kind of response 
from women makes men feel the most pathetic. 99.99% of the time, guys would 
track us down, apologize profusely for acting stupid around us, even when they 
were drunk. Although a slurring, drunken apology is questionably sincere, they 
tried. This is childish, but thought I would mention it, Nik and I were voted by 
all the Fraternities as the best looking couple on campus, how goofy!

There was a flip side to things, allot of guys and girls were very supportive, 
shocked but supportive! Some were even excited for us, I think more excited that 
they're suspicions were correct!

"I THOUGHT SO!!!" a few guys and girls said with glee, "I KNEW SOMETHING WAS 
GOING ON BETWEEN YOU TWO!!" Gee, your so clever!

Then there was a small group of angry guys, that felt *robbed* that Nikki and I 
started dating each other. Like now were off 'the dating' scene now or 
something.

The most unexpected, but satisfying response came from that bitch Tiffany. I 
heard she was very confused/perturbed to find out that I was bisexual, and now 
dating a girl, which meant Dale was free!! The ultimate mind-fuck came when Dale 
was undeterred by my dating Nikki, and continued to pursue reconciliation with 
me. This truly insulted Tiffany's pride! I was loving it!

Tiffany, being a physically attractive, but mentally deficient girl, continued 
to lash out at me indirectly with insults. She hated me because Dale wanted me, 
it's as simple as that, she had it in her mind that she and Dale were going to 
be married one day and I stood in the way of her obsession over him.

Oh well, in some ways, I felt bad for her, to so totally believe that you love 
someone and to not have that love returned must be crushing.

**********
 
Right before I went back into the gym to hit the free weights I rested my body 
for about three days straight, and what a world of difference that can make. 
Now, I realize that to most of you, this is boring, but just suck it up and read 
on! Or stop reading, leave and then go stick your head in the toilet and flush 
several times, I don't really give a shit! 

Now, it's off to the gym!
 
It was mid afternoon and people were packed in that stinky place, I rarely came 
to the gym during the middle of the day because of crowd control problems. What 
I mean is, there are 'crowds' and I have a 'problem' with that :)
 
I jammed my fingers thru my gloves to get ready to lift, I don't normally wear 
gloves but the calluses on my hands were getting bad, to the point I was having 
to take scissors and cut them off sometimes. There are other ways, gloves 
included, to deal with this issue, but I'm too lazy...*snip*..*snip* no more 
calluses, no just some ugly cut up skin. Anyway, I've started wearing gloves 
sometimes. I then realize that over the past several days I have never seen 
Courtney at the gym, for a girl that has quickly gained a reputation for being 
so strong and tough I never see her working out. 
 
SHIT! Spoke to soon, there she is! Walking into the weight room with the usual 
gaggle of 'Courtney worshipers' in tow as I continue to adjust the Velcro strap 
from my gloves around each wrist. She doesn't see me...yet.
 
In fact, since our run-in that evening at the Jacuzzi, a little over a week ago, 
we've not really seen or spoken to one another, it was as if we had never even 
met. Did that moment in the Jacuzzi even really happen? It seems like a fading 
memory...maybe a dream?
 
But it's no dream that I know my way around a gym. I can feel my heart rate 
increase as I push my little headphones in place and hear Linkin Park's 
'Papercut' reverberate into my eardrums. I still vividly remember looking down 
at the black tattered gloves and thinking 'You've got a month to go Corbin. Just 
one month before I either move onto graduate school or the workforce. Either way 
I've worked hard for everything, too hard to rollover or to keep trying to fly 
under everyone's radar.' Maybe that wasn't the smartest pep talk I ever gave 
myself, but it's better I try and make some calculated stand then trying to keep 
stuffing the cork into my emotions...because I could just feel a blow up coming. 
I finished putting another plate on the bar and had just put the clamp in place 
when I glanced up again, 'Now Courtney sees me' I think, as she is sitting on a 
piece of equipment across the room, staring at me and I give her this little 
smirk before turning away. I didn't really care how she felt or what expression 
she gave me in return, she was nothing to me now...a fly to be swatted when the 
time came. Awfully arrogant of me to think that huh? Well, with so little time 
in school left, I didn't give a flying fuck anymore.
 
(I don't know why I take Sharon's side...I guess that makes me her witless 
accomplice.)
 
**********
 
Anyway, back to 'Not giving a flying fuck', that is what I was all about, having 
some attitude. Studying, lifting, and dating Nikki was really what it all came 
down to and various other forms of exercising; running, soccer, cycling, 
hiking...you name it. During those last few days everyone and everything got 
allot of attitude from me, except dear Nikki, I saved all my sweetness and 
loving for her.
 
I suppose it was a somewhat calculated move on my part, especially if I knew 
someone had an intense dislike for Sharon. I picked my battles too because I was 
maneuvering in for the kill, but wasn't going to be the one who made the first 
move...oh no, I was going to draw Courtney out and make her come to me.
 
You see, I had become curious if this girl had the nerve to follow thru on her 
threat, that if I took sides that she would 'kick my ass'. Well I definitely put 
the vibe out there, that I was taking sides with Sharon and I was blunt about 
it. Telling several guys and girls to go and do unpleasant things to themselves 
and probably included a few of their family members whenever I got the chance.
 
**********
 
Has anyone heard of these two quotes? 
"Ask and ye' shall receive..." or 
"Be careful what you wish for..."
 
Or something along those lines, anyway I bring that up for a reason as you will 
see...
 
**********

"See you there!" I said and closed my cell phone, Nikki was meeting me at a big 
party. I was so giddy with excitement to see her that I walked briskly knowing I 
would probably be there way ahead of her. 

I arrived and started to mingle and felt the odd feeling of sadness seeing faces 
that I might never see again. Some are good friends, others not so good, but all 
in all I'll miss them all. I wondered into the back yard and picked up a cup of 
beer.

I took a few sips, it wasn't bad by the way, whatever brand it was in that keg 
was mighty tasty. I recall it was kind of cool that night, right after a 
thunderstorm had rolled by. I notice and remember things like that, like the 
sounds outside of my bedroom window as I lay falling asleep when I was a little 
girl. I was in a really good mood,

"Long time, how have you been?" 

I felt a gentle grip on my shoulder as she asked me the above question.
  
That's how it started, with a polite question. Courtney approached me as I had 
just finished talking to a guy friend, I turned and she was there, with a look 
she had when we first met (isn't that sweet?), she too had a cup in her right 
hand, I assume enjoying the same beverage I was. Her eyes had that calm, 
confident stare that first annoyed me and still does.
 
"Fine." I say, but draw it out with a cautious tone letting her know that I know 
full well her polite greeting was now out of the way and she should get on with 
what she wants. But WOW, my heart was pounding hard now because I wasn't sure 
what my next move should be. I guess I realized that according to my plan I 
wasn't going to have to make any move, that Courtney would pull one of her 
ultimatums and from there I guess we would get to fighting...right? I don't 
know...what if she doesn't do that? What if she doesn't start anything? What if 
I've been building this up in my own mind for days and days and then nothing! 
And what if we do fight and I get kicked out of school...arrested...god knows 
what else...
 
So as you can see, my little wheels are spinning in a million different 
directions.
 
"You going to miss all of this?" and she nods in the direction of the house 
where most of the partiers were assembled.
 
"Yeah, some." I sigh and take another sip of my beer.
 
"I saw you at the gym the other day, you're pretty impressive." She's studying 
me again and now even smiling a bit.
 
"Glad you think so." I groan, "Look Courtney, the last time we talked you made 
some pretty harsh comments." There I put it out there, I wanted to cut the 
core issue between us.
 
"Oh that!" She smiles and leans back with a look of genuine surprise, "Oh 
please, that's petty stuff, I'm over that, if that's on your mind still?" She's 
shaking her head back and forth as if surprised I have even given it a second 
thought.
 
"Really, you seemed pretty focused on it then, but now you've changed your 
mind?" I kind of keep her in my sights, but don't give her my full attention, 
it's more of a psychological thing to make her think I am only half interested 
what she has to say.
 
"Well, I admit, maybe I bit off more then I could chew, cause from what I hear 
your into all that Karate stuff and are allot stronger then I originally 
anticipated, so you know," She does this casual shrug, "I'm not above admitting 
when I made a mistake."
 
So now she does have my full attention, because what I am hearing totally blows 
me away, all of my hostility that's been building for days now is a swirling 
mass of confusion. I mean what the fuck! I must be loosing it, because this 
whole time I've been building up some big impending blowout while she's been 
kicking back, not even giving it a second thought. Am I stressed out or what? So 
I'm just standing there, kind of dumbfounded and feeling like an idiot cause 
I've been such an ass to everyone and for what? For nothing! I felt totally 
embarrassed.
 
Courtney suddenly stopped talking and paused before saying, "There is one more 
thing." 
 
"What is it?" I blinked back to the present and inquired. To which Courtney then 
replied by smacking me in nose with the meaty portion of her forearm, my head 
snapped back sending me toppling backward dazed and now really confused.

Okay, I'm not confused anymore, That fucking bitch! What a setup, my defenses 
were totally down and now I was flat on my back, blinking thru tears, beer 
spilled all over the front of my shirt. I swiped the back of my arm under my 
sore nose and a large streak of red appeared over the back of my hand and 
fingers as I scrambled to get up 'Fuck I'm bleeding! That should be on the 
inside of my body!' She had started at me again, grabbing a fist full of my 
blonde hair and then began pounding me with her other fist until I was back down 
on my knees, I just tucked my head and tried to cover up as her fists pounded 
away on the back of my head and back. And now I'm hearing all this commotion, 
like "Kick her ass!".
 
'Kick whose ass?' I wonder.
 
"Get her Courtney!" I hear several voices cheer. Oh, okay, they want MY ass to 
get kicked, I guess I have no friends here all of the sudden. Well, once I was 
on all fours I figured it was all over, (Perfect, this is going according to my 
master plan, NOT!). So I just fall down and start to roll away from her, but 
what I really want to do is stop and inspect my nose to see if it's broken. 
Unfortunately as I scurried away, I caught sight of that bitch coming after me, 
leaning over to grab me, again! 

Between, the surprise hit, the trickle of blood from my nose and the tears I 
feverishly kept trying to blink from my eyes, I was pretty disoriented. I 
remember getting to my knees as two hands gripped the back of my shirt, so I 
took a wild swing at something, anything really, just to get her off me. I 
twisted my upper body, my right elbow came around and fortunately rammed into 
the side of her head, somebody's head, or something hard, I could have cared 
less, I just wanted her off me. Shit that hurt! My elbow that is and I mean like 
instant pain too. I don't know what I hit, maybe her jaw or the side of her 
skull, but no matter because now I'm looking over my shoulder and see her 
stumbling back, shaking her head a few times as I wasted no time getting to my 
feet. I checked my nose real quick, the blood had pretty much stopped, I'm not a 
bleeder like some people I know who just seem to bleed forever before it dries 
up or they run out of blood.
 
She wasn't that far from me after all, so with only two or three steps I've got 
her by the neck and hair and proceed to sling around in a circle before letting 
her go. Her body crashes against a nearby wooden fence before stopping. You 
like that technique? It's a classic. At this point a guy had jumped in to break 
it up, but no way buddy I was going to have at this sneaky bitch, but this jerk 
is in my way pushing on my shoulders telling me to chill! ME! She started it! 
(Again this is not part of the plan because it's giving her time to recover.) 
But whatever, I needed to catch my breath and calm down or else I would let my 
emotions get the best of me. So now the drunken crowd is spilling out onto the 
balcony and the tiny backyard. Just great!
 
I came really close to kicking this guy in the nuts, I've never done that before 
and I think it's a really low tactic, thankfully my knee connected with his gut 
totally knocking the wind out of him...good, he's down as I toss him aside and 
reach for little Ms. Tricky-Sucker-Punch. I guess the smack upside her head with 
my now throbbing elbow sent her into la-la land for a few seconds because she is 
slow to get up and that's when I dive on top of her like a white panther (like 
that? I like that description so I added in there for effect! Clever me:) I 
would have said 'Black Panther', but I'm not black, I'm white...I don't know if 
there is such a thing as a 'white panther', but I'm using it anyway. I push her 
back to the ground and quickly mounted her, I pinned her in the throat and 
stuffed my knees into her arm pits, so now I'm feeling pretty good because I 
feel in control, but Courtney actually bucks me off! Amazing, the girl is strong 
as a freaking OX! As I am now learning. 
 
I wish I could do a better job of describing everything, I know you folks 
probably want allot of detail, but at this point I remember falling back off her 
as she jumps to her feet and I'm trying to get back up. Now she is unleashing a 
barrage of kicks toward me, more like trying to stomp her foot down on top of 
me, and that keeps causing me to stumble back, good grief she likes that kicking 
thing, even if they are sloppy. She hits me a few times pretty hard and it 
hurts, so I'm taking the kicks and building up a hurting fast until I grasp one 
of her slower kicks and hold onto that foot for dear life bringing her down to 
the ground yet again, thank god. I'm sure we both looked like a couple of 
drunken retards rolling around. But neither one of us were drunk so I guess that 
just leaves us looking like, oh never mind.
 
Anyway, Courtney attempts to climb on top of me but I roll to my side and we are 
both to our feet again. I was a little dizzy but I saw her coming after me so I 
lowered my shoulders and ran hard into her, I literally barreled into her, 
grabbing her around the waist, pushing her backwards. Now my muscular legs were 
churning as I was staggering her back and I think my strength surprised her 
because she was moving really awkward now, like no girl had ever been able to do 
this to her. But believe me, I just wanted to get her on the ground because I 
don't think she knows how to handle herself that well on the ground that is. 
Also I can't believe this is after only a few minutes of fighting because 
of how hard we are both breathing. Finally! I hook one of her legs throwing her 
off balance, so we are back on the ground and I'm on top, but Courtney's 
wrapped her legs around my waist and has begun to apply all of the pressure she 
can. I lean forward and continue to press my forearm into her neck and Courtney 
gasps for air while she beats against my back and sides with her fists. Her legs 
loosen their grip from around my waist and her punches become more sporadic. But 
she manages to land a good one on my cheek that was so damn hard it had me 
seeing stars for a second. I should have just pulled her in close, but instead I 
backed away, which was a mistake, but I thought if I collected myself I could 
think clearer and I would just wrestle her to the ground again or someone might 
finally intervene.

So I'm breathing heavy and I'm sore from the kicks and punches as she scrambles 
to her feet, coming at me with this wild charge trying to now tackle me. So what 
do I do? Like a genius I throw an overhand right punch that sails over her head 
as she ducks. So now I'm off balance, gasping for air as Courtney hugs me around 
the waist unleashing a barrage of punches to my abdomen, damn she seems to land 
everything she goes for, but thankfully she must be getting winded because the 
blows don't sting so bad anymore. I get one blessed second to wipe some of the 
tears from my eyes as I manage to trip her up and we fall to the ground, and 
even though I was glad to be in familiar territory, I also contemplated giving 
up. That's right, can you believe that shit? I really don't know why, maybe I 
wasn't used to struggling like this, and everything I was trying felt like I was 
either loosing my balance, or second guessing myself which I don't normally do. 
Maybe I had put myself under too much stress over the past several days. So I 
can feel the tears blurring my vision again and just great, I can feel my nose 
bleeding again. 
 
'Okay, okay Corbin, think, for every problem there is a solution.' I don't know 
why I kept telling myself that, but it seems to help and I started to 'feel' my 
way around her. Stop over-thinking this, 'Where are her legs, arms and body' I 
started to let my body respond just as if I were in my jiu-jitsu class, let the 
techniques I've been drilling come into play as I feel her grab, dig and 
punch into me. Again, just stick with the basics and because I'm on the 
bottom, I hook my left calf around her right leg and secure her right arm with 
my left 'there, that wasn't so hard'. I'm not fighting to control her limbs, no 
I just want to reign them in enough to roll her over. I bridge and roll, and 
roll we do, 'Thank you god!' as I am on top and decide to just keep my balance. 
'Pause, keep your balance, feel where she's going.' I tell myself as I keep my 
head tucked away from her punches. She grabs my hair a few times, which hurts 
but I'm just letting her buck and thrash under me. 'Let her burn out all her 
energy reserves'. Yep, those exact thoughts went thru my mind. Actually, I can 
do two things at once you know, so while keeping my balance I work on getting a 
better handle on my breathing because I am going to need some energy in a few 
seconds.
 
Looking back, I think I let my anger get the best of me in the beginning of the 
fight and that's where I started to loose focus. But now I had that focus back, 
and the fight was under my control, I could feel and hear her gasping for air as 
I began to regulate mine. Her strength wasn't there anymore and she was the one 
lightly sobbing a little, but then I thought about the crowd behind us cheering 
on this girl, rooting for my demise. Well fuck all of you worthless shit heads 
and the second I feel Courtney weaken some more, my right fist flies out and 
begins a rapid-fire sequence to the left side of her face...her nose, and maybe 
I'll put my leg to use as my right knee rears back and slams her ribs which 
elicits an awful cry and moan from her throat. My fist is on fire, painful fire 
that is, so I switch to my left elbow which I smash into her throat and face.
 
Courtney attempted one last arch of her back to roll me off but to no avail as I 
just clamped my thighs around her waist as I sit up to get more leverage. She 
was shaking and sobbing for breath, but I kept her tight, like I should have 
done from the beginning. She's coughing real bad now, I had no idea at the 
moment she was coughing up blood, which was running down the back of her throat 
from a broken nose, busted lip and a mess of other problems.

We were both bathed in sweat as I slid my right arm under the back of her neck 
and my left snaked under her chin and over her throat to choke this bitch. I was 
totally in another world at that moment, I had this pure 'fight to the finish' 
rage going thru me. 

That's when I heard it...
 
"Stop...STOP!" 
 
"What?" I gasped, maybe I really didn't believe it.
 
"Enough! Please! GET HER OFF ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Courtney sobbed and screamed 
in that gurgling voice which sounded kind of sickening and that's when I 
realized how bad she was bleeding from the nose and mouth. I just about vomited 
on the spot, I felt several hands pulling me off her and I went limp. Somehow I 
managed to stand on my own and a couple of peoples were guiding me to a nearby 
chair but I didn't want to sit, I needed to stand for some reason and walked 
over to the fence to lean and collect myself. I didn't want to see...I didn't 
want to know what the damage was, and in front of so many people. I regretted it 
instantly, I felt awful, not victorious or glad or happy.
 
But curiosity did get the better of me and I glanced up, she couldn't even stand 
on her own, it took three guys practically dragging/carrying her into the house. 
Her face was a bloody mess, the front of her shirt was also drenched in blood 
and I over heard some discussion about taking her to the emergency room, that's 
when I almost lost it, but I turned away and let the shadows of the night hide 
all the tears coming out of my eyes as I paced around in circles. I think I knew 
I might have thrown my life away that night...everything I worked so hard in 
school for and for what? Beating the crap out of some girl? And over what? 
Because I took sides with Sharon over her freaking maniacal interest in social 
status and control that probably led to all of this.
 
So a few party goers were there, checking on me and such, so not everyone was 
against me. I looked down at my hands and flexed my fingers, darn everything 
felt sore and tender. I went inside and cleaned up, I had the beginning of some 
nasty bruises and could see scratch marks on my neck and face, not many, and my 
hair was strewn all over the place. Blood stains were on my blouse, which was 
torn in a couple of places and I checked my nose again, but it was just really 
sore, not broken. I smiled into the mirror, good, all teeth present and 
accounted for! Have some cuts inside my cheek and lips so there was some blood 
swishing around in my mouth, YUCK! And spit out glob of red spit into the sink.

I stepped out of the bathroom and was confronted with more concerned people, who 
wanted to look after me and help me, I just kept walking toward the front of the 
porch for some fresh air, but was confronted with more new arrivals wanting to 
know what happened. In fact allot of people were still freaking out, and I was 
still feeling raw and emotional from everything so I really didn't engage them, 
just said I got into a fight and was heading home.

"Hell of a way to wrap of the semester." I sigh.

I was down the stairs and stood out on the sidewalk for a minute, 'Did I forgot 
what direction my apartment was?' wow, I must have really taken a good whack up 
side the head.

"You okay, I'll walk you home." This guy and girl were standing next to me, I 
know them, they are friends of mine but their name escapes me.
 
"Corbin!" I saw Nikki down the sidewalk, she's moving faster now my appearance 
must be very alarming. Damn, I was so out of it I nearly forgot that I was 
suppose to meet Nikki here! She now has this terrified look on her face and when 
she saw me she began to cry, "Oh my god!", she said some other stuff in 
Portuguese that I still didn't fully understand (I'm still trying to learn that 
funky language), she does that when she gets really upset, resorts to her native 
tongue. She hugged me, no wait she's actually checking me over and she was 
pulling me toward her parked car while thanking our two friends for their 
offered help.

"I just need to walk." I said, not even sure how my weak legs were still 
propelling me along. 

"You really need to sit down." She said. Now I was starting to get upset because 
I've never seen Nikki so shaken up before, her voice and hands are shaking as 
she keeps checking me over.

We were approaching a corner restaurant and I pointed to few benches that were 
lined up outside. All I could do is lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, 
gheesh I was starting to feel sore now. 

"Corbin," Her soothing voice came in that calm tone that helps me in every way, 
"What in the hell happened?"

"That bitch Courtney," I seethed, "she jumped me at the party. Fucking Sharon 
and her shit, I'm sick of it." I was getting pissed again, this time at Sharon 
and all the scheming politics that I've tried to avoid my entire life.

Nikki's hands lightly stroked my back and shoulders as I watched people come and 
go from the restaurant, once in awhile I would get a nice smell of Italian food 
from the kitchen. That smell of good food always seems to calm me down, and 
suddenly I was hungry, no surprise there I guess. Anyway, Nikki's left hand was 
still gripping my left bicep as she continued to sit off to my left, trying to 
calm me down and it was working. I looked up and her hand moved to brush my 
disheveled hair away from my face so I could more clearly see, where did this 
exotic beauty come from? What did she see in me on that first day we met? (I 
once made the mistake of telling someone Nikki was from Brazil, well she does a 
some distance relatives there, she just gave me this firm elbow and immediately 
corrects my mistake. For some reason she wants it to be known she was born and 
raised in Portugal, NOT Brazil.) Nikki had never thought about liking or dating 
women before we met, hell I never gave it another thought before I met her. Her 
boyfriend Rob went ballistic went she broke up with him, and really went off the 
deep end when he found out she left him for me, another woman. He said he felt 
humiliated to the core, but more then that he really loved Nikki, hell everyone 
loves Nikki and wants to make love to her. That was the other thing, Nikki and I 
had this bond, I can't even begin to describe how odd it is, and yes the fact 
that we are both virgins does add something special to it. But this thing 
between us would not let go, it weaved into everything we did together and 
trying to stay apart only made the longing worse. It was so strong it destroyed 
anything that tried to keep us separated and those words from Dana started 
coming to mind "Embrace every fear, hope, and passion, in essence embrace who 
you are and you'll find the happiness that has alluded you for so long." Such 
wise words from a pot head.

"What's so funny?" Nikki whispered and cocked her head. I didn't even realize I 
had this smile on my face.

"I was thinking about what Dana said the other night."

Nikki's eyes got this adoring look and that exotic face of hers that speaks 
volumes whenever it changed expression, leaned in close to mine, "So was I, so 
was I."

Sometimes you just do things without thinking, your instinct drives you to into 
action, and that is how our kiss started. Nik and I started to kiss and we were 
doing it in public, although no one was around, but I wasn't afraid or concerned 
about what anyone might think.

When we got back to her apartment I took a bath. Nikki never scolded me, or 
lectured, she just wanted to make sure I was okay, I slipped into a robe of hers 
and laid down on the bed, she wrapped her arms around me as I let out a deep 
sigh, "Some end to the school year." I actually smiled.

Courtney had a broken nose by the way, had to wear one of those splint things 
for awhile, and had two black eyes to boot. Plus some teeth were knocked loose 
and some of her ribs were pretty badly bruise and a mess of other problems I 
won't go into now. Amazingly, I had not broken anything nor needed any stitches 
for that fact, just allot of bruises, cuts, scratches and some swelling.
 
When I got back to my apartment the next day I was mobbed by people. Dale, 
Sharon and allot of other friends that came over to check on me. Sharon was a 
complete mess, I had never seen her so upset, she balled for several minutes 
blaming herself and that she never thought I would get into a fight like that. 
Pretty soon I was sitting there consoling Sharon? WHAT THE HELL! I'm the one 
that's sore as heck, and I'm consoling Sharon? How did she turn this around?

At graduation, Nikki, Sharon, Dale and I all stood in a circle and hugged, can 
you believe that? Life is so wonderfully strange, how would I know that a couple 
of years later this scene would take place again. I cried like a baby, it felt 
so good to do that.
  
And as porky pig says: "Tha..tha..tha...that's all folks!"  :) Or something like 
that.

********** 

"'It is never good dwelling on good-byes,' she said. 'It is not the being 
together that it prolongs, it is the parting.'"
 
-- Elizabeth Asquith Bibesco, The Fir and the Palm



  
27_College