The College Years, part 7
By Corbin, nex_xus@hotmail.com
The amazing true story of a girl  that's me  who simply refuses to conform.


Corbin

INTRODUCTION:

The College Years, Part 7

(Some of the feedback that I have gotten requests that I break this down into
smaller ramblings ... no problem ... glad to :) So, here is the start of my
College life; As the quote goes "It was the best of times, it was the ... "
blah blah blah blah ... .just read on and enjoy this story of little ol' me;
The Quiet Rebel I guess).

Both Sharon and Corbin headed of to Duke University that fall, each excited,
yet for very different reasons. The big Collage Campus unnerved Corbin a bit,
where as Sharon was constantly trying to get involved in new things and
thrived on the bustle of activity.

Corbin was athletically and academically good enough that she almost got a
full scholarship. On the positive side, it wasn't difficult to makes friends,
Corbin was inundated by other people who were just as nervous and eager to
make friends, yet her primary focus was on studying and nixed the offers to
attend several social activities for the first few weeks.

"You're not going into one of your 'quiet', 'rebellious' phases again are
you?" Sharon asked while raising her fingers into the air to put quotes around
the words quiet and rebellious. It was a somewhat direct question and Sharon
was probably the only one that Corbin allowed to talk to her that way without
her getting defensive, well most of the time.

"No ... what?...wait, what are you talking about?" Corbin turned away from her
desk. Their dorm room was one they shared, having requested that the two of
them room together.

"Well, you've turned down several invites, and I'm not talking about pledging
a sorority either, I know that's not 'Your Thing'!" Sharon made an exaggerated
roll of her eyes.

Corbin smiled at Sharon's teasing, "No, just getting adjusted to the class
schedule and all that stuff" Corbin shrugged.

"All that stuff? What stuff? We're four weeks into the semester, you're still
adjusting?" Sharon leaned forward with both elbows resting on her thighs.

Corbin turned to her right a little more to get a better view of where Sharon
was sitting and placed her pen down on the desk;

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not keeping up with your time table of events?" Corbin
smiled as she rested her left elbow on the desk.

"My time table, as you like to refer to it, is nothing more then genuine
concern ... smart ass!" Sharon paused purposefully and gave Corbin a serious,
dead-on look before continuing, "Concern, which comes by the way, as your best
friend".

Corbin looked away as her face tensed uncomfortably, her jaw flexing at the
way Sharon manipulated words. She suspected that Sharon was really just being
nosey as Corbin had indeed become very introverted the past couple of weeks,
sharing none of her reasons with Sharon ... nor anyone else for that matter.
Clearing her throat, Corbin put on her best face and looked back up at Sharon
and smiled with a faint trace of blush in her cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I was
just teasing you, you know?" Corbin sighed.

"Okay, but teasing aside, is everything okay? Sometimes I don't really know
what's up with you unless I pry a little bit" Sharon raised her eyebrows
emphatically. She watched Corbin relax a little and her soft lips smile,
barely, but it was still a discernable smile.

"Things are fine Sharon, really. You and I are just different when it comes to
assessing a situation and deciding what we want. As much as it frustrates you,
I have to do things in my own pace" Corbin gave a humble shrug as if it was no
big deal.

"'Assessing a situation'?" Sharon grinned in amusement and sat up straight,
"You make it sound so serious ... " Sharon teased Corbin's choice of words.

"Call it whatever you want" Corbin's brow tensed indicating she was no longer
in any mood for Sharon's teasing. Her expression could quickly go from calm
... to dark ... to down right menacing, which would catch most people off
guard. At this point she was definitely in no mood for teasing or bantering;
Corbin couldn't make the smooth transition from being serious, to flirty, to
teasing, back to serious as quickly as Sharon could during the course of a
conversation.

"Corbin!" Sharon snapped, but not in anger, more out of concern, "What's
wrong? I'm just talking here" Sharon pouted and shrugged innocently, something
that Corbin hated because it then became extremely difficult to stay angry
with Sharon when she went into her 'I'm just trying to innocently help' mode.
Corbin's left hand came up and rubbed her brow in frustration, trying to
figure out how to explain herself. Thankfully, Sharon had stopped talking,
which was a miracle, the girl could seemingly go forever when on a roll.

"Okay ... look ... " Corbin sighed and rested her left forearm back onto the
desk as she looked back to where her friend sat patiently waiting. " ... I'm
not trying to keep you in the dark Sharon, there is no troubling secret here,
I'm just trying to stay focused on keeping up with my studying. Once I feel
that I am academically on solid ground then I can begin to relax and look into
getting a social life".

"Academically on solid ground? Corbin, you've made A's on all of your
assignments thus far, what are you talking about?"

"And that's all the more reason to buckle down and stay focused, maybe in a
couple of more weeks I'll relax, but right now I like having my routine that I
can concentrate on" Corbin stared long and hard at her brunette friend, as if
trying to burn her conviction and sincerity into the girl's brain. But Sharon
simply shrugged in a nonchalant way.

"Okay ... okay ... I'll leave you alone, I just wanted us to hang out some
more you know" Sharon looked away, tilting her head towards the ground. Corbin
just stared in bewilderment at how Sharon was really playing up the whole
'poor me' routine. Cautiously, Corbin began to turn back around to her desk
hoping this was the end of it, but in a final sigh she added, "Well, that's
really nice Sharon and sorry if I snapped at you, I really look forward to
getting out soon ... I'm going a little stir crazy ... "

"Great, 'cause so many guys are asking about you, there's one I want you to
think about too, cause he ... ."

"See I knew it!" Corbin jerked around in her seat, her face a little tense
now, "The truth comes out ... all that junk about, 'Oh Corbin I'm so concerned
about you' when all you really wanted to do was meddle in my dating life"
Corbin was leaning forward a little bit, excited a little at having caught
Sharon in one of her little manipulations.

"Dating life?" Sharon sneered with contempt, "What dating life? You have no
dating life to meddle with, and I was ... .excuse me ... I AM! ... very
concerned about what goes on with you!" Sharon huffed defensively.

"Oh yeah ... " Corbin quipped right back.

But a knock at their door startled both girls and Sharon instantly perked up,
and then looked back at Corbin with frustration at the interruption, "We're
going to finish this conversation later!" Sharon leaned forward and growled in
a low voice.

"No we won't" Corbin snapped and turned around.

"Oh yes we are" Sharon replied.

"Oh ... " Corbin started out with her reply, when Sharon interrupted and
called out "Come in!" to the person waiting outside.

"Hey! What's up!" Claire came bursting into the room. Claire was an energetic
girl, standing about 5'5" with short multicolored hair which had a mix of
blonde, brown and black. Even with all of that, she was pretty with her
piercing light green eyes and a nice athletic build.

"Hey Claire" Corbin forced a smile, still fuming over her argument with
Sharon.

"Check it out!" Claire said and then stuck her tongue out at both girls, a
shiny round tongue stud protruded proudly. "Holy Shit" Sharon laughed and
stood up to take a closer look, but Sharon always took stuff like that in
stride, nothing seemed to faze her. Corbin on the other hand gawked with her
eyes bugged out as she leaned forward, like she was watching a car wreck
unfold.

"Why did you do that?" Corbin said, not even thinking about it. Claire
recoiled her tongue and put her hands on her hips, looking at Corbin as if she
was clueless, "Why do you think?" Claire shook her head and smiled.

"You were bored? Pure shock value?" Corbin sighed. Sharon just smirked at
Corbin's smart ass reply.

"Ha ha ... ho ho ... " Claire replied. "Come'on, take a guess" Claire said.

"I just did" Corbin cocked her left eyebrow showing her impatience with the
guessing game.

"You really don't know?" Claire looked at her with bewilderment. Corbin
reached up with her right hand and ran her fingers thru her long blonde hair
with frustration several times, shaking her head 'no'.

"Oh, she's serious alright" Sharon said.

"Well ... " Claire turned back to Corbin, a pleasurable sneer forming on her
face as she began, " ... besides 'shock value', there are certain oral
benefits to it".

Corbin's face went blank, "I don't understand...never mind, I don't want to
know" Corbin raised her right hand as if signaling Claire not to proceed any
further with an explanation.

"It feels good on a man's dick when you give him a blow job and I bet it would
probably feel good going down on a girl too, might have to try that one day"
Claire blurted out in a very matter-of-fact-like style as she stepped in
closer, sticking her tongue out, rolling it back and forth in the air
playfully. Corbin's mouth parted in shock and she leaned back in her chair,
"You're joking right, that's not true"

"Here, you want to touch it!" Claire stepped in and leaned closer to Corbin's
face.

"NO! Get away!" the blonde spun her chair around and hunched over her desk,
"I'm busy, leave me alone, that's disgusting ... sick ... gross". Claire just
laughed and Sharon leaned over pulling Claire back by her shoulders, "Okay
let's go" Sharon laughed.

"Come on my little blonde friend" Sharon said to Corbin.

"Yeah, come on" Claire said.

"Hello you two, I am studying" Corbin sighed.

"Oh she is SO coming this time" Claire said looking at Sharon as they both
smiled at one another. Claire and Sharon each made a grab for one of Corbin's
arms to try and pull her from the desk.

"Hey, hey, stop, wait ... I ... I don't think ... ok ... ok! ... " Corbin
finally gave in and stood up.

"You're not wearing that! Are you?" Sharon pointed at Corbin's baggy jeans and
grey t-shirt. Corbin looked down and moaned, "Uhm" as she studied her outfit,
but again caved in. Sharon may have phrased her comment in a question, but she
was definitely insinuating that she needed to change.

Quickly, Corbin pulled upon a drawer from her dresser, "Fine, give me a
second" she huffed and pulled a pair of black slacks and a white short sleeve
shirt from her dresser. Sharon had taken a seat on her bed next to Claire
while they waited on their friend. Looking over at Claire Sharon winked, "She
cleans up real nice" she softly spoke.

"I heard that" Corbin complained. They watched Corbin turn around and pull the
tee off her top, her toned back and arms flexed as she slipped her right, then
left, into her white linen shirt. Next, off came her jeans; Sharon and Claire
shook their heads at the definition in Corbin's legs, her firm round buns
flexed behind the cotton white panties as she pulled her slacks onto each leg
gracefully. Turning around, she leaned over the makeup counter and slicked
some gel thru her hair, turning her head to the left and right admiring her
handy work. Her straight hair now had a little wave to it and was pulled back
on the sides, "Looks nice" Corbin nodded.

"Okay now?" Corbin spun around and stood up straight, her hands out to her
sides.

"Damn" Sharon stood up and walked over to her, "One more thing" and she
reached up to unbutton one more button. Corbin placed her hands on her hips
and rolled her eyes, "I don't know if I am in the mood to show off any
cleavage tonight?" Corbin sighed.

"Trust me, you've got it, so show it off" Sharon said stepping back. Claire's
head poked around Sharon's to check things out, "Damn woman, hot stuff! Took
me damn near an hour to get ready, took you only five minutes".

"Yeah, but your hair is about five different colors" Sharon quipped and
quickly turned back to her blonde friend, "This is going to be so great,
you're first big college bash" Sharon said, walking with her right arm around
Corbin's waist proudly. Corbin didn't feel so nervous being with Claire and
Sharon, she wasn't really friends with Claire all that well, but they both
were on the gymnastics team so they had gotten to know one another. But Claire
and Sharon were pledging for the same sorority so they had become friends
also.

Even with Corbin's quiet demeanor, she couldn't help but draw attention to
herself; her even, solid, muscular definition from years of gymnastics and
track, the long blonde hair and amazing good looks instantly gravitated guys
to her at the party. She was not at all used to this 'forward' type of
behavior, 'Totally different from the guys in High School' she thought. Most
of the conversation-starters came in the attempt to offer Corbin a drink,
refill her drink or talk about sports. Allot of the guys were shocked she was
drinking ice water, often pressuring her into something more alcoholic to try
and loosen her up some, maybe get her to act a little more uninhibited and
flirty. But being one of her first big parties, Corbin wanted to take in all
the sites and sounds, totally sober. Unfortunately, when your one of the only
sober person in a party full of 'drunks', things can feel a bit on the
obnoxious side when the alcohol isn't there to dull your senses. Several
times, Corbin found herself having to lean away from several guys, that were
either just close talkers or perhaps just trying to put 'the moves' on her.
And putting the moves on Corbin was exactly what Steve had in mind, a decision
bolstered by the successful way he had monopolized her time with off-and-on
chit chat for the past couple of hours. But now, he was getting a sense of
urgency due to his perception that there were just too many guys maneuvering
for her attention. Looking down into his cup of beer, he considered what his
options were and how successful his move would be; 'I know I'm good looking
enough, so no worries in that department and she seems to be interested in me
... all good signs' he thought in an attempt to boost his confidence. Yet
Corbin was being so standoffish with her body language and eye contact that he
couldn't read if she was the type that would prefer a guy to be bold ... 'very
bold?' he considered.

Corbin marveled at the way Sharon seemed to flow in and out of conversation
with guys and girls, being touchy-flirty one minute while slipping free when
their embraces got to greedy. She watched how Sharon liked to show off her
long, athletically lean legs ... smooth and tan which caught every man's
attention she came in contact with. What happened next didn't initially
register with Corbin as she felt the palm of someone's hand come to rest on
her right hip. She looked down and then up, unsure of what was happening as
she felt the warm touch track around to the front of her belly; "Are you sure
I can't get you something else to drink?" His voice floated into her left ear
canal in such a casual manner that Corbin half way thought she should have
expected it. But the way this guy was pulling her in close, against the front
of his body set off her 'personal-space' alarms instead;

"What the fuck?!" Corbin spat, not loud but definitely above that of a normal
speaking tone as her left arm shot up and was then quickly retracted. At this
point, Corbin wasn't even thinking but reacting and probably not in the most
logical manner possible, yet she had never been put in this position before
and assumed this person had the worst of intentions. Her elbow drove down and
into Steve's gut with all of her strength, causing his body to almost catapult
back several feet knocking into and knocking down several other people behind
him.

"FUCK!" Was the only tangible word he could muster, the rest was a incoherent
babble of moaning curses as he writhed on the floor, his arms cradling his
torso.

The music continued to blare, but the entire house had ceased it's partying as
a disjointed circle formed around Corbin and the fallen guy. The eerie silence
was broken when the Fraternity president bolted forward to help Steve up,
"What the fuck happened?" he yelled down at Steve and then looked up at
Corbin.

"He touched me! He grabbed me!" Corbin stammered as she took a step back, her
right foot feeling Steve's plastic cup crush under her shoe. The level of
chatter started to rise as a few other friends of Steve steeped forward to
help asses the situation.

"What happened?" a tall, sandy haired Frat brother asked.

"I was standing and he just came up and grabbed me from behind, I didn't know
who it was or ... " Corbin was literally shaking now; totally embarrassed and
feeling tongue tied, she felt fortunate to be able to get that much out as her
voice trembled.

Frank, the Frat President had just finished helping Steve up when he glared
over at Corbin, "Touched you? Where? How?" He asked, but it definitely sounded
like a challenge.

"Like here" Corbin said and placed her hand over her stomach.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Frank yelled, "That's it? That's no reason to
pile drive your elbow into his gut!" Frank's sentiments were echoed by several
other guys and girls that immediately began to question and insult Corbin's
analysis of the situation and most importantly her reaction. Corbin was
nothing more then a deer in headlights at the moment, hoping she would vanish
into thin air.

"Shut the fuck up!" Sharon yelled and stepped between the crowd and her blonde
friend, "Don't blame her because your inebriated friend decided to cop a feel.
What the fuck do you expect, Corbin to just act like that shit is okay?"
Sharon then quickly decided to diffuse the situation by taking Corbin by the
hand, quickly leading her out of the house. Corbin couldn't help but detect a
few glares of detest from some of the guys and girls as she was led out of the
house, not to mention a comment or two with reference to her being a
simple-minded thug, or descriptions that essentially equated to such.

"Thanks Sharon" Corbin sighed and took several deep breaths of the cool night
air, but suddenly Sharon stopped and spun around, standing face to face with
Corbin.

"What the fuck was that back there? You elbow some guy in the gut? What's
wrong with you!" Sharon growled so as people walking about campus couldn't
hear.

"What?" Corbin leaned back in shock, "I don't understand, why are you now ...
." Corbin looked on perplexed but Sharon quickly continued, "Corbin, some guy
put the moves on you and you punch him, you don't do that!" Sharon tensed her
face in total perplexion.

"Elbowed him" Corbin quietly corrected her.

"What ... the ... fuck ... EVER!" Sharon snapped, "What the hell was that all
about?"

"I don't understand, back there you said ... "

"Back there I was sticking up for you cause you're my friend, but I don't
agree with what you did!" Sharon jabbed her left finger into Corbin's right
shoulder. Sharon was pissed off all right, she felt like Corbin just might
have jeopardized her chances of getting into the sorority as well as several
other aspirations. But the expression on Corbin's face was very unexpected, as
Corbin simply frowned and her eyes narrowed; Sharon was unable to detect if
Corbin was angry, sad ... or what.

"Tomorrow, you're going back over there and apologize" Sharon poked her finger
into Corbin's right shoulder again with more authority.

"You've lost your mind, I'm not doing that" Corbin snapped and smacked
Sharon's hand away with her right, her heart pounded violently as she stepped
around her brunette friend.

Sharon stood motionless, like a statue at what she just heard.

"I'm not apologizing to anyone" Corbin continued talking as she walked away.

"What did you say to me?" Sharon seethed and Corbin heard Sharon quickly
walking up behind her.

"You heard me" Corbin replied.

"How dare you" Sharon jerked on Corbin's left arm, pulling her around, "You
had better stop and answer me, I don't deserve that after all the crap I do
for you" But Sharon could tell, Corbin was putting up her walls and her eyes
were staring right at her, but nothing ...

"Then don't ... " Corbin jerked her arm free, " ... invite me to anymore
parties, and stop doing things for me, I never asked you to and certainly
don't fit into your socialite world Sharon" Corbin turned and continued her
fast track to the dorm.

Sharon frantically paced and glanced back at the frat house where the party
was taking place, her head moving back and forth between watching her friend
walk away and looking back all of her new friends. It tore her up inside, but
the pull was just too great for Sharon and she didn't want to waste anymore
time and stormed back towards the party. "She's just being stupid and hard
headed" Sharon mumbled to herself as she walked back towards the party, trying
to figure out how to patch things up, more so for her own self-interest then
for Corbin's.

The easiest thing for Corbin to do now was to simply bottle it all up inside,
that technique had always worked well for her in the past, but what really
blew her away was the sudden realization that 'Sharon and I just had a major
fight' and for some reason it felt tragic but right all at the same time.
Corbin didn't have a moments reservation about what she said or did and as she
sat down on her bed, the realization of what Sharon had said to her began to
sink in, 'After all the crap I do for you' replayed in Corbin's mind. That
statement seemed to say so much to Corbin, as if Sharon valued her
relationship with how much appreciation she showed Sharon, 'As if it's a
privilege to be her friend'.

"Were all of my friends back in High School right?" Corbin sighed to herself
allowing the worst possible thoughts to enter her head, 'No, no, no' Corbin
thought, 'Don't go overboard, one fight isn't the end of the world'. But as
Corbin glanced around the room she shared with Sharon, her eyes began to drift
casually from chair ... to desk ... to window ... the soft yellowish glow from
her desk lamp gave the room a warm, cozy quality.

"All alone" she mumbled at the realization that she was 18 years old, in
College and still as big of a social misfit as ever. Finally, she gave a
lingering stare to the door, Sharon had not followed her back to the room to
talk things out ... to resolve things ... another biter realization that her
'best friend' had most likely chosen to go back to the party.