College by Corbin Chapter 14 ********** "Strength and honor are her clothing: and she shall rejoice in time to come." -The Bible ********** "And you believed her?!" That's was the first thing I remember coming out of Sharon's mouth, or something to that effect. Immediately she launched into a 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 getting all excited, her face becoming red as she waved 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... "That girl (Courtney) is full of crap!" "You shouldn't doubt me!" ...and on, and 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 pulling you into this. But please believe me they are just playing mind games with you." I wanted to believe her...I didn't want to argue with her. ********** 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. 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. 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, early Spring days...the sky so crystal clear that I felt like I could almost see into the deep, dark, blue 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 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 . 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? Crud Nikki is at her part time job right now so scratch that possibility? 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, 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 but 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 he 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, its 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. I was either working out, studying, or dating Nikki, and most importantly avoiding any issues with Sharon's Sorority drama. On another side note (and I know I have mentioned this before) it was extremely IRRITATING to be on the receiving end of so many juvenal/brain-dead comments after Nikki and I started dating, mostly coming from stupid guys, 'Damn you two girls are so hot!' 'Come on, will you two kiss, just once!' How rude, how offensive! You want us to kiss for you? Like some damn form of entertainment? The first time that ever happened Nikki calmly turned to the two guys, looked them each straight in the face and said 'Your being rude, don't talk to us and now we are leaving because of you.' She turned around grab me by the hand and we left, no big blow up or yelling (my preferred choice with a nice punch to the gut!). 'Its' 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. And you know what? 99.99% of the time those guys would track us down to apologize profusely for acting stupid around us. Sometimes they would still be drunk when trying to apologize, although a slurring, drunken apology is questionably sincere. I thought about leaving this next comment out because it's childish, but thought I would mention it anyway; Nik and I were voted by a few of the Fraternities as the best looking couple on campus, how goofy! ********** 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 care! Now where was I? Oh yeah 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, just some ugly cut up skin. Anyway, I've started wearing gloves sometimes and rubbing lotion on my hands every night, because I like to them to be nice and soft for my girlfriend if you must know! I then realize that over the past several days I have never seen that girl Courtney (the one that threatened to kick my ass, HA! Get in line!) 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, 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 workplace. Then my alter-ego kicks in 'You also have worked 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 to try and make some calculated stand then 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 (Why do I protect her?). 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..." ********** "See you there!" I said and slipped my cell phone into my pocket. Nikki was meeting me at a big pre- graduation 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 began to feel 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. I was in a really good mood! "Long time, how have you been?" I felt a gentle grip on my shoulder as the girl asked. That's how it started with a polite question. I turned and Courtney was standing there she too had a cup in her right hand, I could only assume she was enjoying the same tasty beverage as 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. WOW my heart was pounding hard now because I wasn't sure what my next move would 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." 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 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 a lot 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 the face, mostly on my nose, with the meaty portion of her forearm, my head snapped back sending me toppling backward dazed and now really confused. (Thank god the sharp end of her elbow didn't connect, that would have really hurt!) I'm not confused anymore, that fucking bitch! It was all 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 nice 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!' Courtney started at me again, grabbing a fist full of my blonde hair (Ouch!) and then began pounding me with her other fist until I was back down on my knees covering up. 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!". 'Huh? 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 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 with my elbow, anything really, just to get her off me. Since she was behind me I twisted my upper body letting my right elbow swing around, and as luck would have it I something hard! I prayed it was her stupid head but could have cared less I just wanted her off me so I could regroup. But shit that hurt, my elbow that is, and I mean like instant pain too (must have hit my funny bone, but nothing funny about it). I'm looking over my shoulder and see her stumbling back shaking her head a few times. I wasted no time getting to my feet and 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 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 (I call it 'fling them as hard as you can into a hard object'). At this point a guy, didn't know him, 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 a nice audience! I came really close to kicking this guy in the nuts, but I've never done that before and I think it's a really low tactic, thankfully for him my knee connected with his gut totally knocking the wind out of him...good, he's down, and 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! 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 rolls over on top of me, well isn't this just a dandy little development. Also 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! '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. I'm not fighting to control her limbs, no, I just want to reign in some control, which allows me to bridge and roll, YES! 'Nice job!' my subconscious says, 'Why thank you.' I respond (damn it no time for a conversation in my head I have to concentrate!) Okay once I gain full-mount I just focus on stabilizing my position and my breathing. '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 like hell, but I'm also 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. When she pulls on my hair again, I blast a few punches to her ribs until she lets go. I overhear a few guys nearby say, "It's all over now! You got her Corbin!" Well it's nice to hear my cheering section has become more vocal. :) 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 my own breathing. Her strength wasn't there anymore and I even think I hear her lightly sobbing a little, especially after rapping my knuckles against her ribs on both sides of her torso. Kind of hard to breath when someone keeps pounding on the sides of your body. Then I had an odd thought, about those people in the crowd that had cheered this Courtney on, rooting for my demise. Well fuck them! Bunch of cowardly, worthless shit heads, all nice to my face a few seconds ago! So I sit up and I fire off a couple of punches to 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. Now I'm thinking that anyone cheering for my demise is watching me punish this bitch on the ground and maybe they will think twice before rooting against me while smiling to my face, because NEXT TIME it could be YOU laying on the ground while I make mash potatoes out of your face. "Oh shit! Someone break it up!" I hear several people yelling. Courtney flailing her arms trying to protect her face from my slaps, I only punched her a couple of times and changed over to slapping because I don't want to bust up my knuckles too bad. So the girl is 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. I had become a complete nutcase, in total blood-lust mode, call it whatever, I was totally in another world at the moment because now I was getting ready to choke her out! That's when I heard it... "Stop...STOP!" "What?" I gasped. "Enough! Please! GET HER OFF ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Courtney sobbed and screamed in that gurgling voice which sounded kind of sickening and I felt several hands pulling me off her. I get off the girl and several people were trying to get me to sit down in a nearby chair, but I didn't want to sit, I wanted to stand for some reason and walked over to the fence to lean and collect myself. "I've never seen anything like that before!" A few people said and this one girl had this ghastly expression. "Are you okay?" one guy asked me and he actually had tears in her eyes. I just nodded my head up and down 'yes'. Was I OK? Physically I guess, all body parts present and accounted for, but emotionally I could feel this was not sitting so well with me. I glanced over my shoulder toward Courtney although I didn't want to...I didn't want pretend it never happened, I suddenly felt awful, not victorious or glad or happy. Courtney 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, and that's when I almost lost it. 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 worried that I might have thrown so much of 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! Several partygoers were there checking on me and such, I looked down at my hands and flexed my fingers everything felt sore and tender. I imagine the next few days would bring the worst of the soreness. So I went inside to cleaned up and noticed I had the beginning of some bruises and could see scratch marks on my neck and face, not really bad, my hair was strewn all over the place pulled loose from the pony tail I had so carefully put it into. Bloodstains were all over 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! Thank God! I then smiled into the mirror, 'Good all teeth present and accounted for!' I have some cuts inside my cheek and lips so there was some blood swishing around in my mouth YUCK! And I spit out glob of red salvia into the sink. "Oh damn." I sigh and lower my head as I remember Nikki will be here any moment and now that gets me very upset. She will be very angry with me for fighting, but hold on a second, I didn't start it! "Corbin? You okay?" I hear a voice outside the door ask. I step out of the bathroom and was confronted with more concerned people who wanted to look after me and help. Soon I was making my way to the front porch for some fresh air but was just confronted with more new arrivals wanting to know what happened. In fact allot of people were still freaking out and I still felt that raw and emotional energy from everything so I tried to avoid them. "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, "You okay? We'll walk you home." This guy and girl were standing next to me, I know them, they are friends of mine but their names escape me. "Corbin!" I hear Nikki's voice and she's moving down the sidewalk toward me, fast, "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 legs were still propelling me along. "Please sit down." She said, now I was starting to get upset because I've never seen Nikki so shaken before, her voice and hands are trembling as tears run down her cheeks. We were approaching a corner restaurant and I pointed to few benches that were lined up outside. "Corbin who did this? What happened!" Nikki seethed as I looked up into her raging eyes, and I could see that unforgiving fury she wanted to unleash. A part of me wanted to protect Courtney from what Nikki wanted to do to her but it felt good to see and feel Nikki's protective concerns. "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 meanwhile 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 Nik's hand moved to brush my disheveled hair away from my face so I could more clearly see, and I have to wonder, 'Where did this exotic beauty come from? What did she see in me on that first day we met? Nikki and I had this bond, I can't even begin to describe how powerful it is, weaving 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. Sometimes you stop thinking and just act, your instinct drives you 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 I got back to my apartment the next day I was mobbed by people. Dale, Sharon and a lot of other friends came over to check on me. Sharon was a complete mess, I had never seen her so upset, she cried 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 all heck and I'm consoling Sharon! How did she turn this around! Life is so wonderfully strange. So Courtney did have a broken nose and had to wear one of those splint things for a while. She also had a really nice black eye to boot! Amazingly I had not broken anything nor needed any stitches for that fact, just some bruises, minor cuts and scratches. ********** Verbally picking a fight with me was Courtney's first mistake (Stand back while my ego is about to swell to monumental proportions!). The second mistake she made was actually starting the fight! Look I am a reasonable person! Even after days of working my self up into a real blood lust I was still able to come back down to earth and think that it was all a big misunderstanding. But then she sucker punched me! There would have been NO FIGHT had she just let it go, and I would have (maybe) even apologized for going around trash talking her back! But NOOOOOOOOO she had to follow thru on her threat. So right after I trashed her ass in the back yard in front of plenty of witness (thank God no cops showed up) I had to call off the attack dogs; First was Nikki who wanted to find the girl and rip her head off, I have never seen Nikki so pissed off, filled with so much Alpha-Female destroy someone rage. She spewed a profanity laced dialogue of Portuguese for days (I think she forgets English when very, very angry). And then you had the girls on my Soccer Team, and Dales' Friends, and Sharon and her Sorority Sisters, AND Courtney's Sorority was blacklisted from Several parties. (This shit just keeps getting better and better!) Yes I am opinionated, considered arrogant, and can be very high-and-mighty with my morals, but (not sure why, don't really analyze this too much) I have a large circle of friends and acquaintances that seem ready to jump to my defense and serve up a lot of payback if I am 'wronged'. So not only was Courtney busted up physically, but her Sorority was in the dog house, and she kept having to look over her shoulder for fear of getting jumped! ********* Overall I loved College and was relieved at Graduation to have so many people come up to me to wish me well, even Mora was sweet. Sharon dumped Kevin when she left College just as she dumped David when High School ended, now that she was going to work in her father's company she was ready to start dating in the workplace. She's like a freaking machine...slash and burn thru you poor guys, leaving you in a emotional crises. I've been accused of doing the same thing, but in a more clueless fashion, I don't really have a plan, I just sort of go with the flow and I am a bit flaky on following up with phone calls/emails/appointments and such. Sharon is extremely anal about such stuff, she has the next ten years mapped out, down to the every hour of everyday. We basically drive each other crazy. I only saw Courtney a couple of times after our 'encounter' and as I indicated her face was all busted up leaving her, well take the other lumps and bruises she looked kind of fucked up. Again it seemed I was 'the fortunate one', some people had actually referred to me with that tag name, I think because I always seemed to escape serious injury. Courtney looked pretty miserable when I saw her and she didn't have her 'followers' tagging along either, I almost felt sorry for her, almost! I almost walked up to her, you know, just to confront her again and kind of rub it in, wanting to know if things were 'settled once and for all? Or do I need to smack her around some more?' But I let it go and the damage was pretty evident. Besides, she came up to me and apologized, at first my sensitive side kicked in and I was about ready to let everything wash under the bridge, but again I got that flashback, "Thanks for the apology, but you're a liar and I can't trust you, so goodbye Courtney." She kind of looked at me with this really pained expression right before I turned and walked away. That was my revised speech, I was going to threaten to kick her ass back into the hospital if she ever approached me again, but you see there was allot of covering up Courtney did. She in fact did go the Emergency room that night and it was obvious she was in a fight. But she refused to finger me or where it happened, she just indicated she got into a fight with another girl and the matter was resolved. So the lesson here folks is...uhm...I don't know? Just that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself even if you think you might get your ass kicked? Anyway, that's it for now :) ********** "A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society." -Thomas Jefferson