Corbin: The College Years, part 12
By Corbin, nex_xus@hotmail.com
How life
tests the endurance, patience, and sometimes faith of one young woman.
Pre-Story Introduction/Ranting/Venting/Rambling…
I was riding the metro over the weekend and a
nice older man offered me his seat…I initially refused but he insisted…wow…something
so simple as this stranger offering me his seat and
all because I am a woman. Isn’t that silly? What does that say about society
today? When we are surprised by good manners.
I am so fully of contradictions, I realize this,
but while I want to be independent…strong (mentally, emotionally and
physically) and I know, I give men a heap of grief. I still found something so sweet and endearing as being offered a seat on a subway.
So anyway, the whole reason we (Sharon, Nikki and
I) were riding the train to begin with is that we were taking a nice little
vacation up to D.C. over the weekend, to take in a few sites. Let me just say
that if anyone plans on going up to the D.C. area…STAY OFF OF ROUTE 66!!! It is a freaking parking lot all day and
night. That is why we ended up on the train. Even though
Oh, before I get on with part 12, Some people have asked how I style my hair. My hair?...what the hell?
Why does that interest anyone? Well in any case,
apparently this is a subject of interest for some folks…unfortunately it’s not
exciting. It’s straight…when the weather
is cold…it’s straight…when it’s hot/humid/windy…straight! Dirty…clean…sweaty…it’s
STILL STRAIGHT!!! And it’s about shoulder length right now, a little past the
shoulders actually.
I hope this has alleviated a great many concerns
and those individuals can now sleep easier at night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 12
Corbin’s eyes grew wide as she looked down at his
touch. Instinctively her left hand, which had been folded in her lap, flew out
and back handed his right forearm thus knocking his hand from her knee with a
loud *smack*.
“What the hell are you doing?” Corbin eyebrows
fused together in anger and disgust.
“I thought you said that you were unsure, if so,
I just wanted to let you know that if things didn’t work out with Dale, I
thought it would be cool if you and I could hook up, that’s all” He shrugged
and tried to act nonchalant about the whole thing, but he was a bit nervous,
not truly knowing how Corbin would react. But he felt like he had nothing to
loose at this point and went for it all.
“Are you morally retarded?” Corbin fired right
back.
“What?” He looked at her befuddled.
“For you to hit on me, in your friend’s
apartment…” Corbin started to seethe.
“Hey chill out, it’s not that big a deal” He leaned
back in his chair, acting a little like the one who had been insulted.
“Sneaking around behind people’s back and putting
out dating requests in case things don’t work out with your friend is
pathetic…” Corbin snapped.
“You think so?” He leered at Corbin with contempt
over her flying insults and high-brow moral stance.
“If you think it’s no big deal, then why not get
it out in the open, let’s just get everyone together when Dale gets home so we
all can know what everyone’s game plan is. That way you and Dale can synch up
and you can outline your dating strategy and when he and I split down the
road…” Corbin was now leaning onto the table with her right elbow.
“Look! Your blowing this
way out of proportion” He interrupted while shaking his head and stood up.
“Where are you going?” Corbin snapped and quickly
came to her feet. She wasn’t sure what just happened inside of her brain, but
something flipped and she wasn’t going to let this guy…or anyone off so easy.
Perhaps it was the building pressures that had been mounting for weeks; the
stress of school, sports, and her friendship with
“What?” He looked at her strangely, his upper lip
curling with humorous shock, “I’m going back to watch TV” he pointed casually
to the living room.
“You want to watch TV? How are you going to do
that with me in your way? You’ll have to get thru me little boy, unless you
apologize” Corbin took a step back and tore off her light weight jacket. Corbin
was beyond caring at this point, she figured this guy could probably beat the
crap out of her, but she was hedging her bets that he would back down first,
‘besides I’m at least as tall as he is, maybe even an inch taller’ she thought.
“I’m not fighting you!” He said with a little
shock and nervousness creeping into his voice. Steve was totally blown away by
how Corbin was reacting, never in his life had any ‘girl’ threatened him like
this…what made it even worse was how he was second guessing himself.
“Fine, then I’ll be the one throwing all the
punches” Corbin shrugged and shook her arms out, her muscles flexing and
tensing as she rolled first her left, then right shoulder. Steve was suddenly
struck that this blonde was serious, he was totally appalled and turned on at
the same time, yet he wasn’t about to get into a major fight with some girl,
especially when he wasn’t sure if he could win. ‘How humiliating’ he pictured
the worse case outcome, with him on the receiving end of abuse. To make matters
worse, he was suddenly ashamed at the terrible turn of events, never
contemplating an outcome like this.
“Have you lost your mind! I’m…I’m…I’m not
fighting you, you’re in my place, now leave!” Steve pointed to the door.
Corbin stepped in and put her hands on her hips
and smiled, “Make me leave”. The two stood in their stand off as he looked her
up and down quickly, trying to asses how serious she was and he felt his heart
starting to jackhammer violently.
“And another thing, as a guest in ‘Your Place’,
you are one hell of a rude host to be hitting on your guest!” Pointing a finger
at herself, “And did I give you permission to touch me!” Corbin took another
step in closer, “DID I!?” Corbin loudly snapped.
“No” He said with a mumbling noise barely above
that of a whisper, but his eyes conveyed true shock, never had he seen a girl
act this way…at least towards him. He had seen a few girls sloppily smack it
out in a parking lot or bar while intoxicated. But Corbin was looking him dead
in the eye and seemed as collect and serious as anyone.
“But you did touch me, didn’t you!” She snapped
again.
“I’m sorry, look I was just trying to hit on
you!” He shrugged a couple of times.
“You’re sorry? That’s your idea of hitting on a girl?
No wonder your single!” She placed her hands back on her hips and cocked her
head to the left in disgust.
“I’m sorry, OKAY! Jesus…what else do you want!”
He sighed. Corbin just kept staring at him and shook her head in disgust and
reached over to pick up her jacket.
“I’m going to wait for Dale in his room” She
growled and turned to walk down the hall.
“What are you going to tell him?” Steve called
out.
“We’ll see” Corbin called out, not looking back.
“But I apologized!” He yelled, but she just slammed
the door shut. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he walked back into the
living room to sit down, his heart pounding as his knees literally shook. Steve
suddenly became aware that he was actually more nervous over his confrontation
with Corbin then anything his roommate Dale might say or do. “You idiot” he
sighed to himself and made a mental note to stay clear of her for awhile.
Corbin threw her coat into a corner chair and
flopped back onto the bed, she began to massage her temples with both hands,
trying to ease the stress out of her body as she felt her heart pounding in her
chest. As the seconds ticked by and she increased her breathing, she could
literally feel her heart slow down to a more regular pace, it was an
invigorating sensation, the feeling of her own heart beating in her chest.
‘What the fuck’ she thought, ‘This is definitely
(Should I have decked him? I guess not, sometimes
I think I should have. I’m also more aggressive now then I used to be…so had
that happened today I would have him in a choke hold on the floor babbling out
his apology while struggling for air…
Corbin bolted upright when she heard the front
door open and heard Dale’s voice, quickly she stood
and opened the bedroom door. Dale was standing there with a couple of bags of
groceries in his hands talking to Steve, when he turned and saw her at the end
of the hallway.
”Hey!” He called out, his face suddenly lighting up
with a broad smile. Dale had to admit, he had fallen for this girl in a very
short period of time as he watched her walk down the hall, even in her dirty
soccer uniform…all grimy and sweaty she was stunningly beautiful and his heart
skipped a beat. ‘Amazing someone could ooze so much female sensuality at the
same time projecting such strength’ he thought to himself.
“Sorry, I had to stop and pick some stuff up.” He
sighed and set the bag down on the counter.
“That’s okay” Corbin smiled.
Steve cringed when he caught Corbin lean in and
kiss Dale, he wanted to vomit with jealousy. But kept his eyes and mouth to
himself and was totally humbled to feel a new kind of attraction for Corbin
after her display of strength and toughness in the breakfast room.
~~~~~~
“I’d like to talk a little bit about us…and maybe
where you see things going” Dale asked as they sat eating their Salads over
dinner.
“Okay, fire away” Corbin smiled and kept eating.
“Well, I was hoping you could fill in some of the
blanks for me” He paused, looking over to where she was sitting on his right.
“Like, what kind of blanks” Corbin stopped eating
and sat back in the chair, giving him her full attention. Actually, this was
exactly what Corbin wanted to talk about, but was glad Dale brought up the
conversation.
“Well, like how you really feel about us…about
‘me’ I guess I should say, your just so quiet allot of the time, but not all of
the time” He looked back down as if suddenly at a loss for words.
Corbin reached over with her left hand and
gripped his right wrist supportively. “I know I’m not the easiest person to get
to know Dale, but I don’t have allot of experience with dating, that’s all, so
I’m sorry if you feel like I’m shutting you out”
“Are you seeing anyone else?” He suddenly looked
up.
“What?” Corbin made a somewhat pained expression,
“Where did that come from?” She pulled her hand away defensively and for the
first time her heart dropped like an elevator plunging out of control. It was
an awful, sickening feeling.
“I’m sorry, I apologize, but you see the last
girl I dated…” But he never got a chance to finish.
“You’re old girlfriend? What does she have to do
with anything?” Corbin asked innocently, and it was a sincere question on her
part. Corbin’s lack of dating experience left her totally clueless to the
emotional baggage that prior relationships could weigh down over a person.
“Well nothing, it’s just that by the time I found
out she wanted to see other people, she was ALREADY seeing other people. She
never told me in advance that she wanted to ‘date around’, that’s all” Dale
tried to explain, but he could tell Corbin had a perplexed look on her face
still.
“Okay, look…” She interrupted as he tried
launching into another explanation, “…just forget whatever happened with your
previous girlfriend okay, because I doubt I’ll be able to fully understand what
that has to do with me” Corbin sighed, she was becoming a nervous wreck and not
at all used to divulging her emotions or allowing herself to be vulnerable emotionally
with anyone, other then Sharon and Nikki…or her parents.
Dale was trying to settle himself down and figure
out the ‘right thing’ to say, but all he kept coming up with was a flood of
questions, which just seemed to be annoying her.
“Okay, well, then I guess what I am trying to
finally talk about is ‘commitment’…” he watched as Corbin looked over at him,
with a certain amount of cautiousness to her stare. “It just feels like maybe
we might have the same feelings, but we’ve never actually come out and said
it…you know?” finally he watched as she nodded yes, but was still quiet.
Finally Corbin sat back and took a deep breath,
“I’m not seeing anyone else Dale, I don’t want to see anyone else and honestly
I just assumed that we were in a serious relationship, although I…I mean
‘WE’…have NEVER talked about it” Dale kind of slumped his shoulders forward a
bit and seemed to relax as if some weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Just to hear Corbin say those reassuring words was such a relief.
“Well…” Corbin propped her elbows on the table
and looked down at her salad, “…I guess I haven’t been as open as much as I
should…” Corbin looked up, her intense hazel eyes a little softer and more
understanding, which was a huge relief to him. She watched his right hand reach
over and touch her left elbow, instinctively Corbin moved her arm and took his
right hand into her left, “Tell me” She said softly.
“I just assumed…” Dale smiled a little, “…that
with us going out on dates now that…well…that uhm,
were both seeing each other exclusively.” And felt Corbin tighten her grip on
his fingers reassuringly. But something changed in Corbin’s eyes suddenly as if
she was protecting herself emotionally again and it worried Dale.
“What is it?” He quickly asked.
“Just that, I’m glad we talked about this because
I’ll tell you right now, I will not date someone that wants to date other
people” Corbin leaned back suddenly and got a stern look on her face, which
prompted Dale to lean forward a little more.
“Corbin, that is exactly the same thing I want,
there is NO other girl that I think about or would want to be around then you”
Dale smiled.
Corbin couldn’t help but smile and leaned forward
again, she was totally pleased with what she was hearing and found herself
feeling wonderful, how lucky she was to be in her first serious relationship
with such a wonderful guy. Dale did have a few more questions but decided to
wait till later, feeling that maybe the door had opened enough that he could be
more forward with probing into her past. Something that was a total mystery to
everyone including himself, ‘All except for Sharon and Nikki’ Dale noted, but
Corbin felt more comfortable around Dale as along
as she maintained some emotional and physical control in the relationship. “Do
you mind if I shower here?” Corbin asked.
“Please, help yourself” He jumped up off his
enthusiastically bed and gave her a quick tour of where everything in his
little bathroom was located, something he had already done before. But he
couldn’t keep his eyes off her, watching her lean over, rummaging thru her
large gym bag full, hoping to sneak a peak at her ‘personals’.
“I think I can manage from here” Corbin stood
straight up and turned around to face him, the small bathroom but them in tight
proximity. He glanced down and had the urge for reach out and grab her
bountiful breasts, something she had always kept as off limits, she had kept
almost everything ‘off limits’ to his growing frustration.
“You sure?” He asked with a smile, “Maybe you
need me to wash your back?” He asked, half joking…but still hoped.
“I’ll be fine” Corbin smiled and pointed for him
to go back into his bedroom.
“Okay, well, if you need anything, I’ll be right
out here” He said and walked back out to his room. He laid back on his bed and
sighed, listening to the sound of the shower start up and could hear the sound
of her clothes being pulled off her body. His penis stirred as he imagined her
naked body in his shower, just a few feet away, wishing it was his hands that
were roaming over her breasts…ass…and pussy, those thoughts gave him a full
blown hard on and he seriously thought about jerking himself off as his right
hand moved down over top of his jeans.
‘No, too risky’ he thought.
His whole body jerked and his penis deflated when
the phone next to his bed rang.
“Hello?” He jerked the phone out of it’s cradle.
“HEY! Where the hell are you!!” The voice called
out.
“Hey, what’s up Craig?” Dale laid back down,
Craig was one of the wilder guys on the football team.
“What’s up? The question is, where is your ass?
We’re all meeting down here at that new Bar…Cantina…whatever the hell it is,
word has it a couple of Sororities and the Soccer girls are all coming down
here, it’s going to be WILD, if you know what I mean” Craig’s voice sound like
the guy was going to have an aneurism over the phone.
“Nah, Corbin and I are going to do something
tonight” Dale said with satisfaction.
Craig blurted out, “Your full of shit”.
“No, totally serious, she taking a shower in my
bathroom now, she just off from practice” Dale folded his right forearm behind
his head to prop it up some.
“You’re giving me a boner right now, I don’t
believe you!”
Dale really didn’t want to hear about Craig’s
sexual arousal with regards to Corbin, but went ahead and held the phone out towards
the bathroom and brought it back to his face, “Hear the shower running?” He
asked.
”That could be Steve or your mother taking a shower in there” Craig said, not
wanting to believe him.
“Okay” Dale just laughed, “Think what you want”.
“Shit Dale, I didn’t know you two were that
serious” Craig complained.
“Well, I’m out here, she’s in there, so that
should tell you that we are still just in the friendly stage of things” Dale
said, making sure to watch what he said incase Corbin could hear him.
“We’ll, bring her down here too!” Craig continued
his embarrassing drooling.
“Just don’t embellish anything, okay? And I’ll
see what she wants to do, so I can’t promise we’ll make it” Dale sighed
although a part of him wished he could be down at the party.
“God, you are whipped, ‘IT’ must be damn good for
you to be so whipped” Craig continued.
“Good bye Craig!” Dale leaned over towards the
phone cradle.
“All right, check ya’
later” Craig replied and Dale hang up the phone.
“Who was that?” Corbin asked and Dale spun around
sitting up, to see Corbin standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pair of
blue jeans and a long sleeve v-cut, button down tan sweater. Her hands
vigorously running a towel over her wet hair.
“Craig” Dale said as he continued to sit up,
watching for her reaction, but she gave none, “Do you know Craig, he’s on the
Football Team?”.
“Nope, never met him…heard of him…but that’s it”
Corbin turned around and walked back into the bathroom. The next second he
heard the hair dryer click on and wondered if he should bring up the party. A
few minutes later the dryer clicked off and Dale decided to go for it, “Hey
Corbin, do you want to go out?”
“Where to?” She said, stepping out into the
bedroom, running the brush thru her long blonde hair, then bending at the hip
so it hung straight down to the floor, he suddenly began picking up the faint
traces perfume, fragranced shampoo and body lotion. He blinked a few times and
lost track of his thoughts, “Huh?” he said looking up again.
Shaking her head with amusement, Corbin repeated
herself, “I said, where to? Do you have someplace in mind?”
“Oh, yeah, that new bar that opened up, there
having a big bash there tonight” he said.
“Oh yeah,” Corbin casually flicked her wrist
towards her bag, tossing the brush into it, “Is that what your buddy Craig was
calling about?”
‘She is quick’ Dale figured she just put two and
two together, “Yep, that was why he called”.
“Well,” She thought for a minute, Corbin looked
over at her bag and contemplated what to do.
“If your not interested…” He tried to down play
it.
“No…it’s not that, I like to get to bed early
that’s all…” Corbin seemed to be talking more to herself then to him at this
point.
“We can get back early enough for that” He
quickly interjected.
“Uhm, well…” She wasn’t
keen on relying on anyone to get around and looked over at him seriously,
“…then promise me that we’re leaving there by no later then ten o’clock!
Because if you think you want to stay later, we will just drive separate so I
can head back to the dorm to get some shut eye” Corbin looked him dead in the
eye and Dale quickly decided he would rather have her spend the night here and
give up a late night of partying then have her head home alone, ‘Or I head home
alone’.
“Promise!” He raised his right hand, “We will
leave no later then ten o’clock!” and smiled. He stood up as he watched her
turn around and pull her bag out of the bathroom and toss it into the corner.
“Okay, let’s roll” She said and stuffed her ID
and Cash into her pant’s pocket.
“By the way, you look gorgeous” he gushed.
“Awww, thanks” Corbin
smiled as they walked down to the car, “You don’t look half bad yourself” she
chuckled. Corbin had to admit that dating Dale this past month was one of the
most confidence building experiences she could recall.