Morbid

Arnold only had two more classes that afternoon, with a class off in between, and he was done for the day. So were Janet and Pam, and they met up outside the main building. They discussed their classes and if they had any work to do, then they went back to the dorm.

The three of them had completely missed the fact that Arnold didn't have anyone else he knew in his classes so far. That seemed a little odd, until you looked at the number of new students. There was a reason a new dorm building needed to be built. The leaving students were far too few to clear enough living space for the potential new students.

Most of the people living in their dorms were still there, so familiar faces were around for practically everyone. Of course, most generic college degrees were only three year courses, assuming you crammed as many credits as you could into each semester. A few people, like Pam and Janet, spread out their workload and expanded it to four years. It took longer and it was a bit more expensive; but, it gave them a bit of breathing room and the expense was spread out over a longer period of time.

Richer people could expand it even more and take as many courses as they wanted over five or six years, some even going for their masters degree. Arnold was in the full ride scholarship, so he had a lot of leeway in what he could take, how many credits per semester, and his final completion date. His primary focus was biology with a side of chemistry and he was very far ahead in both. All he needed now was time to spend actually doing the lab work that was required for the courses.

The other courses Arnold took, because they seemed to be the best to round out his academic record, just like it had been in high school. He didn't take history or geography type courses, since those weren't relevant to him. He had been tempted to take some law courses, just to see what other ways he could manipulate them to his advantage, until he talked to the teacher's assistant for the law degree during his last off class of the day.

She informed him that all they did in class was study the law and then debate the merits and failures of old cases as practice for the courtroom. Arnold wasn't interested in that aspect at all. He used a few quick techniques that Doris had shown him and the teacher's assistant recommended a few books that her professor adored about case law. Arnold thanked her for the information and gave her a three second kiss. When he had left her office, she understood why he was called the kissing bandit.

She just wished she didn't have a boyfriend, just so she could ask him to keep kissing her, even though she wasn't that fussy about swapping spit like that normally. If her boyfriend kissed her like that, she was sure that she would be happier with their relationship. Little did she know the extent of Arnold's skills, because she wouldn't just be imagining his kisses.

Pam ordered take-out for supper and they ate together, then she had to go to work. She kissed Arnold goodbye and said she would see him tomorrow for relaxation during the first class. She left Arnold and Janet alone and went to work at the bar with her spirits high and a smile on her face. She had another record total for tips that night and came back to the dorm even happier.

*

Despite Dalla's best efforts to save her mistress, Ida finally caught sight of Arnold changing his clothes. He only stripped down to his underwear and she didn't get the whole show; but, it had been enough for her to see that much of him. He wasn't self-conscious of his body in the least, just like she wasn't, and she wondered why he was like that.

For Ida, she had accepted that she was a tall beauty when she was younger and would have to weather the people that would hate her for that, namely other women. That was why she liked her maid so much. She didn't even glance at her with envy when helping her change. If Ida knew the real reason he wasn't self-conscious, she wouldn't understand it at all.

Arnold just didn't see things that way. Clothed, naked, half-naked, none of it really mattered to him. That was why he always had trouble with wearing the right clothes, because he couldn't grasp why you needed to change clothes at all. As long as they were clean and covered you, it shouldn't matter what they looked like.

Arnold was about to climb into bed when his cell phone beeped at him. He checked it and saw that it was Kelly.

'Hi, Arnold. How are you? I didn't see you today.' Kelly typed.

'I must have different classes than you.' Arnold responded.

'Send me your class schedule and I'll see if we have any in common.'

Arnold took it out of his backpack, snapped a picture of it, and sent it to her. She didn't respond for several minutes.

'We only have sociology on Wednesday afternoon together.' Kelly typed. She was sad that even though they had several similar courses, they didn't have the same time slots.

'I'll see you Wednesday.' Arnold said.

'Okay. See you then.' Kelly sent. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight.' Arnold put his phone on the dresser and went to bed.

*

The next day, Gary and his fraternity canvassed the campus for new recruits and pledges for their fraternity, Alpha Kappa Alpha. They were getting ahead of the normal scramble that the other fraternity houses went through, as a cover to look for Arnold. To his surprise, he was the one to spot Arnold as he came out of the Liberal Arts building with three other girls.

“I can't believe we have the same Arts class for relaxation!” Heather said with a laugh. “Mom was actually against me taking it, even though I needed the course credit.”

“I can't believe we got to play with clay on the very first day.” Janet said. “Who does that? She didn't even give us an outline of what to expect for this semester.”

Pam laughed and put an arm over her shoulders. “I'm pretty sure Miss Julienne would smack you if you asked her for a lesson plan!”

Heather laughed, too. “You are so right! I have her for three of my main courses and she's what mom would call a 'free spirit'.” She looked at Pam, Janet and Arnold with a grin. “I haven't gotten a straight answer out of her yet.”

Janet had to smile, because she had asked, point blank, what she was supposed to make.

Miss Julienne had smiled at her, put her hands on hers, and then squeezed the lump of clay. “Feel the texture and let it guide you into what to make. Don't concentrate on perfection or you might lose your inspiration. Let your emotions freely flow out and let the clay take that shape.”

Pam had made something that looked like a dog, that was actually a horse. Heather had made a coffee cup with a handle. Janet wasn't inspired at all and had made an ashtray, even though she didn't know anyone that smoked.

Arnold made a cube. It was exactly three inches on every side and was perfectly smooth. He hadn't used a ruler or any other real measurement device. Nearly everyone in the class had noticed it, including the teacher, and she had complimented him on it, even though she said to not strive for perfection. She explained that just because you don't have to strive for it, that didn't mean you shouldn't or that she wouldn't praise you if you did.

“She really is going to cook them up in the kiln to harden them, too.” Heather said. “We'll be painting them next class and probably glazing them after that.”

“How do you know that?” Janet asked, curious.

“Those are the next logical steps.” Heather said. “Assuming they survive the heat the first time.”

Pam laughed again. “I doubt my horse is going to survive to get to the rodeo. His legs were practically falling off when I handed it over.”

Janet had to smile. “At least you had fun making it.”

“That was the point.” Pam said. “Next time, ask me what you should make.” She said and smiled slyly.

“I am not making a ceramic dildo.” Janet said with a straight face, then she, Pam, and Heather laughed.

Gary didn't try to approach them as they passed, even though he had the flyers in his hands that asked for pledges. For some reason, he knew that if he tried to interrupt, things wouldn't go well.

I think I will take Debbie's advice and let her handle it. Gary thought and took out his cell phone. He sent her a text about where to meet, gave her one of the flyers, then let her get to work.

Debbie was more than happy to help the fraternity, especially since they would owe her two favors now. She wasn't sure what those favors were going to be; but, it was always nice to have an entire fraternity owe you. She managed to track Arnold down easily, since she was in the same chemistry class as him. Her attack strategy was derailed slightly, because both of the girls that had sat with him in biology were sitting next to him in chemistry as well.

Professor Felicia Power was her usual aloof self until she reached the 'S' section of the roll call. “Arnold.” She whispered, then she coughed and cleared her throat. “Strickland, Arnold.”

“Present.” Arnold said and let her finish the roll call, then put his hand up.

“Yes, Arnold?” Felicia asked and couldn't hide her smile.

“Do I need to make an appointment with you to discuss my class placement?”

“Is there something wrong with it?” Felicia asked, a little worried that he didn't want to see her anymore after their little affair.

“No. I was wondering how I could earn course credits without taking an exam.”

Felicia had to hold in her laugh of relief. “Depending on the circumstances, oral exams can stand in for written ones, especially when you can demonstrate both your knowledge and skill.” She said. “I actually was tempted to give you a complete pass, then had to agree with Hamil... Professor Crenslav. You still need to do the lab work to gain the proper experience from a classroom perspective, that way you know the difference between what is expected from a student and what is expected from a worker.”

Arnold nodded and a few of the people around him nodded as well. Now they understood how he could have advanced through two years of course materials before even taking the first class.

“Any other questions?” Felicia asked and looked around at everyone. “Then we can start by you writing down everything on the board.” She moved a sliding white board out of the way and a few people groaned at the sight of several very intricate formulas and she pointed at them. “These are going to be the base formulas for a few of the things we will be exploring this semester.”

“On the first day?” Someone asked loudly and a few people laughed.

“I don't expect you to do much this class except write them down and read them over. The components are what we'll be delving into, that have their own formulas, and those are the building blocks you'll need for later on in the course.” Felicia said and everyone copied them down. “Now, can anyone tell me what this first integer stands for and what chemical formula brought it into existence?”

Several hands were raised, one of which was Arnold's.

“Please come to the board and demonstrate it for the class.” Felicia said kindly, and that surprised a lot of people in the class, except for Janet and Pam. They had to cover their mouths and leaned in close, conspiratorially. They exchanged whispers and slight nods, then sat back up straight as Arnold finished writing out the right chemical formula.

“How did he do that?” Someone asked in a whisper. “He's not even looking at the book to get the annotations right.”

He already read the book. Felicia thought. “Excellent work, Arnold.” She said and just barely caught herself before she thanked him. The last thing she wanted to do was give herself away by kissing him in the middle of class. “You can return to your seat.”

Arnold did so and Janet and Pam whispered several things to him. After a few moments, he nodded slightly and whispered back. The two girls exchanged looks and smiled, then looked at the teacher.

“Who wants to do the next section?” Felicia asked and pointed to a girl that had raised her hand up. “You know what to do.”

The girl stood up and looked at her book, then looked back at the board nervously.

“You can bring the book.” Felicia said with a smile.

The girl visibly relaxed and she picked up her book and strode to the front of the class and copied out the right reference for the next part, added in the annotations and the reference page for the book.

“Knowing where to look to find what you need is as valuable of a skill as memorization.” Felicia said. “Thank you, Stacy.”

“You're welcome!” Stacy said with a huge smile and went back to her seat.

When Felicia asked for someone to do the next part, nearly all of them put up their hands. Thank you, Arnold. She thought and pointed to a guy in the back. They all want to prove they are smart, which is the best teaching aid that a teacher could ask for.

Debbie ended up participating in completing the third formula on the board. She actually enjoyed the class, even though she hadn't really liked the teacher before that day, and then the class ended. She followed Arnold to see where he and his two friends were going after class, which was the cafeteria.

Dammit. Debbie thought and had to go to class. I'll have to wait until after lunch and the double chemistry lab to approach him.

Debbie was disappointed again when to her surprise, Arnold was teamed up with both of the girls he had with him. He didn't even have to argue with the professor or her assistant and they just accepted that he was going to be their partner without a fuss. Debbie looked around and realized that if he hadn't done that, he would have been the odd man out.

She sighed, because that would have been perfect for her. She spared a glance for her lab partner, who smiled at her as if she knew what she was thinking.

“I wouldn't mind being his partner, too.” Her lab partner said.

Debbie didn't bother correcting her and they listened and performed some safety procedures that would be used in the very next lab session. They both paid attention and wrote down everything, because any mistake could be very dangerous when dealing with corrosive materials. Even the fumes had to be regulated, and that was something they all paid strict attention to.

After the lab was an off class that Debbie shared with Arnold and not Janet and Pam. They had another class that she didn't bother learning about, and she followed Arnold as he had dropped the two girls off at their class. When he left there, she followed him and waited for the best opportunity to present him with the fraternity pledge. He walked around a corner and out of sight, so she walked a little faster and stepped around the corner to see... that he was gone.

Oh, damn. Debbie thought and looked around. Where the hell did he go? She started to turn around and then she felt a strong hand take her by the arm and yanked. She let out a little 'eep' sound and then she was behind a door she hadn't noticed before. She was shrouded in semi-darkness and then a handsome face appeared in front of her.

“Why are you following me?” Arnold asked her.

Debbie's mouth had dropped open in surprise at the turn of events and she was left a little breathless. She hadn't seen him up close before and she had to admire the symmetry of his face. Almost against her will, her hand reached up and touched the side of his face. She ran it up the side of his head and caressed his blonde buzz-cut, then she took in a breath and let it out.

“Do you want to have sex?” Arnold asked, just to be sure.

Debbie caught her breath and thought about her jock of a boyfriend. He immediately left her mind when Arnold reached out and took her into a hug. His firm hands held her expertly and she nodded slightly. The following twenty minutes were the best twenty minutes of her life.

Arnold finished her off and didn't bother finishing himself, since he knew that Pam would want him to save it for her. She hadn't specifically said to do that, he just assumed that she liked it enough that he shouldn't waste it on anyone else. He reached for the door of the supply closet and felt a hand take his.

“W-wait.” Debbie whispered, then with a shaking hand, dug out the fraternity pledge from her backpack. “This will tell you... who's after you and where they are.”

Arnold took the folded piece of paper and glanced at it, then put it away. “Thank you.” He said and kissed her for three seconds. He left her in the closet to recover and went back to his dorm room. He had a few things to prepare if the guys looking for him were going to be discouraged properly.

Debbie didn't feel guilty that she had betrayed the fraternity so quickly. I need to break up with my boyfriend. She thought and took out her cell phone. Her hands were still shaking and she let out a little laugh at how much Arnold had made her come in so short a time.

'I'm sorry. I don't think things are working out between us.' Debbie eventually typed. 'I gave that guy Arnold the pledge notice. I don't know if he'll show up or not.'

There was no response, so she had to assume that her ex-boyfriend was coming to look for her.

I guess this is as good of a hiding spot as anywhere else I could find. Debbie thought with a smile.