Morbid

The next morning was Wednesday and Arnold was up and changed for class. Ida didn't move, even though she was awake, and she only watched him. She was actually trying to see if his behavior was going to change towards her, after what had happened yesterday. It didn't and neither did his disposition towards her. She wasn't sure if she was happy about that, because she enjoyed the show he put on and she knew that nothing was ever going to come of it.

Arnold left the room by himself. Janet and Pam had the first class off, which gave them a rare morning to sleep in and they didn't meet him in the hallway. As he walked through the gauntlet of half-naked girls, they all greeted him normally and he returned those greetings without asking why they hadn't tried to do it the last two days. He had to assume it was because he was with Janet and Pam, for some reason.

The first class Arnold had was Physics and he wasn't alone. Both Leann and Tanya were in it with him and came in only a few minutes after he had arrived.

“Arnold!” Leann said loudly when she saw him and went right over to his desk. She gave him a quick kiss and beamed a smile at him. “I was hoping to see more of you during our first year classes.” She said and sat down beside him. “Can I check your schedule?”

Arnold took it out of his backpack and handed it to her.

“Oh, damn. Just this one?” Leann asked with disappointment. “We have a few similar subjects; but, our class times are different.”

“I was at class registration early and got all my classes assigned almost right away.” Arnold said as Leann handed the schedule to Tanya.

“Oh! We've got first year statistics after next class together.” Tanya said. “I think Kelly's in sociology this afternoon.”

“She is.” Arnold said.

“I've got animal biology for second class this afternoon at the same time, so I just missed your first class.” Leann said, not realizing that Arnold's was a third year class. “I believe Sarah is taking that civilization class tomorrow, so you'll probably see her there.” She made a weird thinking face to make Tanya laugh. “Maybe she's in your Latin class, too. I don't know anyone else taking those classes.”

“I'm pretty sure that my boyfriend Richard is taking the same English class tomorrow afternoon.” Tanya said and handed the schedule back to Arnold. “How can you take so many subjects and also have so much time off in between?” She asked with a chuckle. “Most of our schedules are packed tight!”

“I asked for the classes I wanted instead of just taking the next available slot.” Arnold said and both girls looked at him with surprise on their faces.

“Oh, my god.” Leann whispered, then she laughed. “Now I really wish I had met you on registration day! I never thought about asking for a specific time slot!”

Tanya laughed, too. “I was wondering why most of my off classes are in the afternoons and most of my heavy subjects are all in the mornings.”

“A lot of people here don't like working late.” Arnold said, referring to his personal experience with the lab workers during the summer.

“That figures!” Leann said and then quieted down when the teacher came into the room. She hadn't noticed that the room had filled up completely while she had been talking to her friends. “It looks like we just barely got into this class with you.” She whispered and Arnold nodded.

“All right. I know this is our first class together, so I'm going to tell you something very important.” The man said and glared at them. “Physics doesn't care what day it is.”

A few people groaned, because they knew what that meant.

“I'll assign the reading for next class in a minute, which you had better read or you'll be lost next time.” He said and took out the roll call sheet, looked around the room to count the empty seats, which was none, and put the paper back in his desk with a smile. “Who can tell me Newton's laws and the fundamental concepts they represent?”

A few hands raised, one of which was Arnold's.

“Is that all?” The teacher asked and glared at everyone. “Is it a lack of knowledge or the lack of guts that's stopping you from raising your hands?”

“Guts!” Someone yelled from the back of the full class and quite a few people laughed.

“Your guts seem to be fine.” The teacher said and a few more people laughed. “I'm tempted to make each and every one of you come up to the front of the class and introduce yourselves...”

“Oh, god.” A girl croaked.

“...but, I'm not that cruel. As long as you try to participate in the class in some capacity, you'll do fine. I won't force anyone to embarrass themselves.” He looked at the girl who spoke and she blushed. “Please relax. You are going to have more fun in this class than you thought was possible.”

“How?” Someone asked.

“My toy box.” The teacher said. “I'm one of those people that believes a physical example demonstrates things much better than a drawing or a picture can.”

“That won't work for quantum mechanics.” Arnold said and the teacher chuckled.

“Most people believe that.” The teacher said. “I assume you're taking my other class?”

Arnold nodded.

“Then you're getting a dose of the macro scale today and the theoretical micro scale tomorrow.” The teacher said. “I'll save my other speech about visible quantum mechanics until then.”

“Okay.” Arnold said.

“Now, back to this class.” The teacher looked at them. “The fundamental concepts that Newton based his laws on can be defined and measured...”

*

Debbie had mostly managed to avoid her ex-boyfriend. She had been smart to make sure she was exactly in the opposite spot where she thought he would look for her. It had worked like a charm until early this morning and he had cornered her outside her dorm room. It was the one place that he had known she had to be to sleep and she hadn't thought far enough ahead to get up earlier to leave.

“What the hell happened between us, Debbie?” Her ex-boyfriend asked.

It's what hasn't happened between us in a while. Debbie thought and sighed, because she definitely didn't want to tell him that. “I just... I thought about what I want in a relationship, and...”

“I'll give it to you!” He responded and cut her off.

“...interrupting me is getting annoying.” Debbie said and the guy made an unhappy face. “Look, it's not you...” Of course it's you, you idiot. “...I just need some alone time to think about things.” Like how to get that hunk Arnold to do me again.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” He said with a frown. “You're getting bored using the same dick all the time and you're looking for another guy to climb onto.”

Debbie frowned back and fought her urge to spit at him that she already did, because that would justify his anger. “If that was true, there are nine other guys in your fraternity.” She said instead and his frown changed into a look of surprise. “How many of them would jump me in a heartbeat, huh? How many?”

Her ex-boyfriend closed his mouth, because he knew at least three of them, including Gary the head of the fraternity, would like nothing better than to get a piece of Debbie's ass. Their own girlfriends wouldn't even be considered if Debbie said she wanted it from them.

“Yeah, I know that look.” Debbie said with a smile. “Don't worry, though. I'm not looking at moving up the fraternity stepladder, bed by bed.”

The guy let out a relieved sigh. “Debbie, I... can't we just...”

“I'm taking a break and I don't know for how long.” Debbie said and walked by him. “I don't expect you to wait for me, either.”

The guy knew what that meant. If he did sleep with someone else, she would never come back. Then again, if she never came back, he would have the worst case of blue balls in history if he didn't find someone else to relieve it. He decided that he would give her a week to work things out, then he would start playing the sympathy card with some of the other girls he knew. A break-up sympathy sex session could get him in the door and he might be able to turn it into another relationship, if he was lucky.

He watched Debbie walk away and her swaying hips were almost hypnotic. Dammit! I forgot to demand one last time in bed! He sighed as he ducked his head slightly in dejection, then he walked down the hallway and took the stairs. He didn't want to stand beside her at the elevator after missing such a great opportunity.

A few of the girls around had seen him and felt bad about him getting dumped like that, which meant his ploy had worked. He already had an 'in' with them when he got around to trying to cash that in.

*

Arnold did his physics homework during the next class then went to Statistics with Tanya. They sat together and the class flew by before they knew it. Arnold met up with Janet and Pam and they went to lunch at the cafeteria. They sat together and enjoyed the meal, talked about their classes, then left when lunch was over, with a promise to meet after first class. Arnold went to Sociology and Kelly was already there waiting for him.

“I thought you'd be here earlier than this.” Kelly said and managed to keep her slight annoyance out of her voice.

“I was eating lunch with Janet and Pam in the cafeteria.” Arnold said and sat down beside her.

Kelly didn't tell him that she had brought her lunch because she didn't want to waste time in the cafeteria, not realizing that Arnold almost always ate lunch there. She berated herself for not asking him what his plans were.

“How have you been adjusting to taking normal classes?” Kelly asked.

“I'd rather be working in the lab in the mornings and taking classes in the afternoons like the lab workers.” Arnold said. “I'm not allowed to apply for a job with the lab until next year.”

“Will there be a space for you by then?” Kelly asked, knowing there were only six main lab tables. “The others are there for another year, aren't they?”

Arnold's face went blank and lost all outward emotion.

Kelly immediately regretted telling him that he might not be allowed to work in the lab for at least another year. “I'm sorry, Arnold.” She said and put her arms around him to hug him. “I thought you checked on all of that.”

“The professor and Amy said that they only stopped first years from applying. They didn't tell me there had to be an open spot for me to start working there again.” Arnold said and ducked his head.

Kelly gave him a squeeze and held him for several minutes. “Maybe you can come up with another job you can do until then?”

Arnold knew he would have to think about that for a while. What else could he do until he could work in the lab again?

“Ah, I see someone is practising sociology already.” An older lady's voice said and Kelly gave a little jump and let Arnold go. The woman pat Kelly's shoulder. “I wasn't telling you to stop. Sometimes people just need a hug.”

Arnold lifted his head and looked at the teacher, who took in a sharp breath.

“A-A-Arnold.” The older lady whispered. Her grey hair was out of the tight bun it had been at the registrar's office and the waves of hair sat on her shoulders and made her look ten years younger.

“Hello.” Arnold said.

“Do you know each other?” Kelly asked.

“She's the supervisor at the registrar's office and she handled my registration and course selection personally.” Arnold said.

“I.. well... I handled the paperwork.” The older lady said and avoided saying she hadn't handled anything else, despite Arnold asking her to. She decided a retreat from the conversation was in order, before either she or Arnold let slip what he had offered to her. “I need to start the class.”

Kelly wasn't sure what was wrong; but, she knew something was up with the way the teacher seemed flustered around Arnold. She watched the older lady walk to the front of the room and wondered what happened between them.

The teacher waited until the appointed time, a very long three more minutes, then she took out her notes. “Unlike a lot of the other classes you've had so far, this isn't a formal 'this rule says this' class. That's not how sociology works. It's a person's interpretations that make up their psyche and their opinions are based on their preconceptions, usually based on previous data.”

A few people were a bit surprised to hear that and she had to smile at the confusion she saw on a lot of faces.

“We will be discussing social movements, class conflicts between the high class, middle class, and lower class of society, youth culture and the impact on the status quo, the formation of cults, clans, gangs, and even normal communities.” The older lady said and that earned the interest of a lot of the students. “One of the biggest things we'll tackle is mass media and its role in society as a whole.”

“That's what I've been talking about with my friends.” A young woman said. “My friends don't believe me when I say that it's a cancer that's infected humanity.”

The older lady had to chuckle at that, as did a few other students. “You are entitled to your opinion; however, I must ask you to keep an open mind. I believe when we reach that topic, you may discover that even if it is a cancer, it could be classed as both benign and malignant.”

“No way!” The young woman exclaimed.

“It all depends on the use and the target audience.” The older lady said. “That discussion is for a later class in the semester.”

“I want to talk about it now.” The young woman said with a slight pout.

“You can see me after class, or come to the registrar's office when you have a free class and I'll discuss it with you.” The older lady said and the young woman smiled happily and nodded. '”Did you all witness that? That right there could be a sociology discussion all by itself. A social interaction where two opinions were expressed, a disagreement happened, and a resolution was found... or in this case, delayed until one is found.”

A few people chuckled.

“This month's topic is something that should be quite poignant and relevant to the youth of today.” The older lady said. “The sociology of gender and sexuality. That includes gender equality, the use of sexuality in both professional and personal capacities...”

“Hookers?” A guy in the class asked. “We're going to talk about hookers?”

The older lady looked at him. “Your name?”

“John.” The guy said.

“John, the proper term is prostitute or sex worker. Hooker is slang and the use of slang by both the younger and older generations is a topic for another day.” The older lady said. “However, your point is valid. Not only will we discuss the professional use of prostitutes, we will also discuss the subtle and not so subtle ways that normal men and women also use similar techniques to get ahead in both their professional and personal lives.”

The older lady pointedly did not look at Arnold when she said that last sentence. She would never admit that her meeting with him had made her rearrange her normal teaching schedule to address this topic first.

“Now, does anyone here know what the very first thing that happens in a conversation is?” She asked.

Everyone raised their hands and she polled several of them that all gave good answers and the wrong ones. The teacher eventually had to point to Arnold to get his answer.

“It's eye contact.” Arnold said.

“Why do you say that?” The teacher asked, a little surprised he got the right answer.

“It shows your intent to actually speak to someone. If you look off to the side, at their cheek or nose or even eyebrow, it makes them think you are insincere and you're talking at them and not to them.”

“That is it, exactly.” The older lady said and the remaining people put their hands down. “Where did you learn that from?”

“My mother.” Arnold said. “She taught me at a young age to make eye contact when I'm speaking.”

“Your mother must be a very smart woman.” The older lady said and he nodded. “Eye contact really is the very first step in conducting a conversation.” She said. “What you said also starts us on the topic I wanted to discuss. Gender and sexuality. Your mother taught you the things you needed to learn, did she not? Everyone?”

Arnold nodded again, as did Kelly and a bunch of other people.

“The role of a mother, be it a birth mother, a person that raised you, or someone that takes care of you...” The older lady turned to the board and started to write certain things down. Everyone in the class started to write it down as well.