Physics 101

May 29, 2000. University of New London.

Katrina sighed as she waited for the last of the students to file out. Professor Bengi had asked her stay. She had a good idea what about. As if it could be anything else, she thought to herself. She didn't have to wait long.

"Katrina, I am surprised by this paper that you handed in. It is not your usual thorough self. This drops you below 83%. However, you are one of the most brilliant students I have had in awhile, so I will do something for you I don't normally do."

You're surprised? So was I when I found out that one of my major sources for this paper was involved in a slavery ring… She winced slightly at the grade that the professor announced. Below 83% for the term, huh? A 60 on the paper would have made it 86%… no, I don't want to know.

"There is a way for you to boost your grad back up to its normal 94%–maybe higher depending on your performance. Do you think you can do this for me?"

It's a good thing I know him better than that, Katrina thought to herself, noting what his statement could imply. It certainly couldn't hurt my grade to find out what he's talking about. Aloud, she asked, "OK, what are we talking about, here? What's involved?"

"Well I've just gotten the funds and the okay to set up a lab in old building. I just don't have the time to set things up, calibrate all the equipment, and so on."

He took a piece of paper and drew a quick map. He also jotted a name–Alex Trevant–and a dorm number. "Here's the first-year who'll be helping you. Don't let him give you any trouble. You are in charge of this project. Any questions?"

"I assume all the equipment's there already, then? Will I need to get anything else from the department? It's an old building… will we have to do any cleaning before we do the setup? Oh–and keys, keys to the building and room would be good… where can I get them from?" Katrina fired the questions off rapidly, more a result of thinking out loud than anything else.

"Most of the equipment is there. Some more is due in a few days. I don't think you will need anything else. If you run into problems, here's my pager number. I don't know how much cleaning you will have to do. I will leave it in your capable hands. Keys…" He put a ring on the desk. "Good luck, Katrina. I will see you tomorrow."

Six floors, no elevators. No wonder this is effectively a first-year dorm: nobody else wants to live here, Katrina thought to herself after climbing to the fifth floor. Still, the exercise does keep the legs in shape.

She glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand, then up at the nearest door. Ok, then, that way. She turned and headed down the hall. Katrina was so intent on keeping track of where she was–the older dorms sometimes had some architectural quirks, so the numbers on the rooms occasionally got out of sequence–that she didn't notice the door just ahead of her open and someone come out…

As Alex Trevant left his room, he felt someone walk into him.

*THUD*

"OW!" came an irritated female voice from the floor. Alex looked down to see who he'd run into. I've got to stop doing that!

She was sitting on the floor, propping herself up by bracing her hands on the floor behind her. By the time Alex finished with his inspection of her legs–which were rather nice, and were displayed well by her cutoff jeans–she'd cleared her red hair out of her face and was looking back at him with a half-amused, half-speculative look in her blue eyes.

Knowing that first impressions were everything, he stood a little straighter and squared his shoulders a little. Don't forget to smile. He let out a feeble attempt to smile, but more like a smirk appeared.

"I've really got to learn to look where I'm going," Katrina muttered under her breath. Louder, she said, "Well, if you're going to walk out into the hallway just so that I can run into you, you could at least help me up and introduce yourself! I'm Katrina Dorris, by the way–that's two R's in Dorris. Katrina, Kat, and Kate are okay, but call me Katie and you die."

"Sure thing, Katrina. Alex Trevant…" grinning as he extended his hand out to help her up. Then he knelt down and began picking up the books and papers she had dropped…getting another look at those legs in the process. "Where are you headed? I can walk you there, if you'd like." He stood there, his arms full, with a friendly smile on his face. Don't scare her off… he thought to himself.

"Well, I'll admit I was trying to run into you, but I didn't think I'd do it literally," Katrina said, barely repressing a laugh. It came out anyway, as an impish grin. "I just got out of Bengi's class. Seems he's giving me a chance to redeem the truly horrendous grade I earned on the term paper by setting up a lab for him, and said you'd be helping. Actually, I'm on my way over there right now…" she trailed off. Should be plenty of time to check him out on the way over there… turnabout is fair play, after all…

"Uh, sure thing. Just let me grab my backpack first," he replied, smiling now. "I know what you mean about this project. I got… volunteered to participate," he added, nodding his head in an empathetic manner. Now I'm glad I went over my physics earlier!

"Yeah, that sounds like Bengi," Katrina replied sympathetically, returning his smile. "I think he got some people with that one last semester, too. If he's set up any of his labs recently, I'll be surprised." She waited in the hallway, leaning against the doorframe, while Alex retrieved his backpack. "Shall we?"

"Well, this is my first semester here. My, uh, mom sorta volunteered me for this," he added, locking the door behind him. "Okay, I'm ready. After you. By the way, do you know what we will be doing?"

"That's one of the advantages of having two semesters left," I hope, "and going to school 4000 miles away from home… my mom can't do that to me very easily, or really expect to get away with it if she does. Umm… like I said, we'll be setting up a lab for him. It's supposed to be in an old building, so we might have to do some cleaning before we get started. Other than that, I think it's just equipment setup and calibration." Katrina quickly leafed through the papers she'd dropped until she found the map. "OK, now we can go."

Katrina started off down the hallway. A few staircases and a couple of odd twists and turns later, she and Alex emerged from one of the dorm's side doors. Katrina made a face. "Ah, the freshman dorms. More twists and turns than a rat's maze. I'm surprised I remembered how to get out to this door."

The two stepped out into the warm afternoon sun. They could hear other students out front in that odd quiet roar a major university always seemed to have about it. Here at the back of the old dorm it was faily quiet.

A light, warm breeze had sprung up while they were inside, stirring imaginary fingers through their hair and Alex's loose t-shirt. Alex could feel his energy building up as it always did on such a day. Outside, the urge to run was greater.

Katrina slipped the crude map out of her shorts pocket and tried to get her bearings. After a few moments she pointed towards a shrub encased walkway. Alex took the lead, reining himself to a normal walk.

Katrina fell in behind him. He was wearing blue jogging pants and when he walked, they hugged a firm ass. She really couldn't get a clear picture about the definition of his legs, but they weren't skinny. A runner, maybe. His torso was long, and while not overly muscular, his back seemed well-defined, considering the loose t-shirt. His light brown hair was shoulder length and had a nice wave to it. Not bad, not bad at all, Katrina thought to herself.

A few minutes later they stepped into the open. The Weiser Building had seen better days. Its paint was peeling and a few of the windows on the top floor were boarded up. The 'I' in 'Weiser' was dirt or rust covered. Only the lawn showed any recent sign of upkeep.

Katrina exchanged glances with Alex and slipped the keys out of her pocket. The third key she tried eased snugly into the lock. Katrina turned the key slowly, half expecting something to break or stick, but the key turned smoothly.

She pushed open the door. It gave a long extended protest. The hallway floor was dusted with fine dirt and the walls were a of a grey shade. Once again Katrina consulted her map and a few minutes later they stood before another door. Numerous footprints testified to the fact that a number of people had been here recently and also that there was another entrance to the place.

The first key turned easily and the door swung open on well-oiled hinges. Boxes, proclaiming 'fragile' and 'property of the University of New London' were stacked neatly in a corner. The room itself was in the same shape as the rest of the building.

"Might have to do some cleaning, he said. Right," Katrina snorted. "Let's see if there're any cleaning supplies left here first. I don't want to run halfway across campus to the Physical Plant building if I don't have to." A quick search turned up nothing but a broom, dustpan, and mop bucket (no mop, naturally)–not that she'd expected anything else, given the building's condition.

"I'll go ahead and start cleaning what I can while you're gone. Hurry back." Letting out a deep sigh as he grabbed the broom, Alex gave her a look of disbelief before he started sweeping.

Alex waited until he was sure she was gone. He turned slowly around, getting the layout of the place, then he kicked into high gear. Within seconds he was coughing as the dust was stirred by his passage, obscuring everything and creating a dust storm. A few minutes later the dust settled and Alex crouched down, glaring at the room.

A light went on in his head. Starting at the outermost edge, he began to move in a rough circle, slowly building up speed. As he'd thought, most of the dust, not all, but most of it was beginning to funnel. Like a small whirlwind. Alex began tightening the circle, compressing the cone. What the hell am I going to do now?

Another inspiration struck. Slowly he began shifting the funnel out the door, along the hallway. It may have looked effortless, but he could feel the strain on his muscles and hear his ragged breathing as he began to tire. He expanded the circle a bit and stopped. The dust collasped, hitting Alex's sweat covered body. He rested, chest heaving, legs still a little wobbly. He forced himself to walk back to the room and walk his body down. That was all he needed, to get a cramp.

Forty minutes and five triplicate forms later, Katrina returned with a trash barrel-full of everything needed for a wonderful afternoon of cleaning.

It looked like Alex had been working while she was gone. His clothes and exposed skin were dirty. Sweat had made little riverlets on his face, giving him a painted look. Most of the dust was gone from the floor and tables. They would still need a good mop and wash, but he had accomplished alot while she was gone. He looked exhausted as he slowly bent and swept the dust from a corner into the dust pan.

Damn! That was quick… Surprise was evident on Katrina's face. She hadn't expected he'd make that much progress. She wheeled the large trash can into the center of the room and began pulling cleaning supplies out. "Geez," she said, "Siddown or something. The place doesn't need to be cleaned that quickly."

Alex shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Okay, guess I was wanting to get that out of the way so we could… get to setting up the lab quicker."

"I'd like to get to the setup, too… it's bound to be far more interesting… but let's not exhaust ourselves in the process of cleaning up."

He tore off a couple of paper towels from the roll and wiped his forehead off. "I'll be back in a sec, do you remember seeing a water fountain around here?" Well, I almost had the nerve to ask her out!

"I think I saw one down the hall, but who knows if it's working?" Katrina continued pulling supplies from the barrel. "Aha!" she exclaimed, grabbing a jug of orange fluid and a spray bottle from the bottom of the barrel. "If this stuff works, whatever's caked on the walls will come off without any scrubbing at all." She filled the bottle, pulled on some rubber gloves, and began attacking the walls.

Alex walked out of the room, searching for a water fountain. He looked around the building a little along the way, checking out some of the other rooms. Most of them were locked, with old numbers on them. Only a couple were unlocked, and these were bare of anything but dust and mildew. He found the water fountain, which did work (even if it did run yellow for a bit). Alex straightened from his drink, feeling the first stabs of severe hunger.

He began looking for a pay phone to order a couple of large pizzas, one Meat Lover's and one Veggie Lover's, and a six-pack of Pepsi. Gee, if I only had a candle, a drop cloth, and a radio!

Meanwhile, back in the would-be lab, Katrina's feet were roughly three feet off the floor. She'd abandoned working with her arms over her head as soon as Alex had left the room. I've got these powers, might as well get some practical use out of them… She floated near the wall, cleaning it fairly rapidly. Amazing how much crap is on these, she thought, watching the original white of the walls emerge. 'Course, the right chemicals help… Hearing a step in the hallway, she quickly set herself back down.

I hope I didn't heat the room up too much, she thought, remembering the sometimes-inconvenient side effect of her powers. She bent to clean the base of the wall.

Alex walked into the room, noticing Katrina's progress. "Now you're working too hard. I went ahead and ordered a couple of pizzas and some drinks." He walked over to the window and tried to open it, finally getting it to break free and open. "It's a little hot in here, don't you think?"

"Oh, good. Food!" Katrina responded. "I haven't eaten since breakfast." So much for hoping he wouldn't notice the heat… she thought to herself. She realized that she was even sweating a bit. "Yeah, it's probably too hot in here… I'm sweating, and the chemicals were doing most of the work." She ended with a grin. "Oh, what'd you order?"

"A couple of large pizzas, and a six-pack of Pepsi. I didn't know what you would eat, so I ordered one with all meat and one with all veggies. Is that going to be okay? 'Cause I can call back and add something to the order before they bring it."

"That's fine. It sounds a lot more palatable than some of the stuff Mara keeps ordering. You shoulda seen the last one." She made a face, then tossed her cleaning equipment on one of the tables. "I don't feel like working, let's wait for the pizza. So," her voice took on a comic accent, "vhat shall ve talk about?"

Grinning in amusement at her "new" accent, "Vhatever you vish, my darling," he returned using the same accent, followed by a small chuckle. "Hmmmm, so what does your boyfriend think about you being here with me right now?"

"I very much doubt if he cares at all–given that we broke up just before Spring break." Which probably makes you happy, if I'm reading things right…

He looked around the room from one side to the other, "How long you think it will take to get this place cleaned up?"

"Well, if you mean completely clean, maybe forever," Katrina joked. "Since you probably didn't, I'd say," she glanced around, "a couple hours, maybe. Probably much less, given the progress we've made already–it doesn't look like this stuff is especially difficult to clean, there's just a lot of it."

Standing back up, Alex walked over to the cleaning supplies and grabbed a spray bottle and some paper towels before heading over to one of the countertops to start cleaning some more. "Might as well get some of this done before the pizza comes."

"Yeah, let's see what we can get done." She snapped her rubber gloves back on, grabbed the sponge and water bucket she'd been using, and went after another section of wall.

Alex kept pretty busy, thoughts racing through his mind, trying to decide what he should do and how to do it.

About half an hour later, a suspicious voice echoed through the Weiser building. "Hello? Anyone there?"

"Gotta be the pizza," Katrina remarked, climbing down from the table she was standing on. She raised her voice, yelling, "We're over here!"

"I'll go get him," Alex said, wiping his hands off on his shirt as he walked out the door. In the hallway, he sees the guy looking around. "Over here, man. How much is it?"

"25.50," the pizza guy said, handing Alex the drinks and sliding the pizzas out of their protective cover.

Katrina followed Alex with her eyes as he moved toward the door. She had an odd look on her face again, but it was gone by the time Alex returned and set the pizzas down on one of the tables. "Let's eat!"

"Vell, zen… vhich vun shall ve operate on first?" Katrina bent over the table with the pizza boxes, doing her best mad scientist imitation–rubbing her hands together and glaring intently at the boxes. She kept it up for a few seconds, then broke out giggling. "I can't keep that up anymore," she said, still giggling. "Let's eat."

Alex opened the boxes and placed them side by side, then asked, "Which one do you prefer?" After Katrina made her decision, Alex sat down at the table and opened two of the Pepsi cans, one for each of them, before devouring a couple of slices… trying to impose some restraint on his ravenous hunger. Then, looking up with a slight grin, "Is everything okay?"

Katrina was looking straight at him over a piece of veggie pizza. "Fine, why?"

"Just asking," Alex replied between mouthfuls. He crammed another slice down, apparently not even bothering to chew it very much. He paused for a moment, then leaned forward, using one of the paper towels to wipe some errant pizza sauce off of Katrina's chin, all the while smiling and looking into her eyes. She went absolutely still, then slowly finished off her slice. Her tongue flickered out and cleaned some remaining pizza sauce from her lips.

Alex stayed close to her, looking into her eyes, trying to read whether or not she would resist what he had in mind. He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, then drew back slowly to see her response.

Her response was a slow smile. Then she leaned forward and put her arms around Alex's neck, using the purchase to pull herself up to return his kiss. She let the kiss linger for a long moment, then sat back, looking thoughtful.

"Well…" Katrina said, "what do we do now?" She was feeling a bit overwhelmed and definitely off-balance–it was not a question she would normally have asked. He shouldn't be having this effect on me… I only met him a couple of hours ago. But I've never met anyone I've been this attracted to this quickly before…

Alex leaned forward and gave her a quick little kiss and then said, "We could hurry and get this job finished, so that we have enough time to go do something tonight… if you want to, that is." He let a small grin slip through.

With that, the two got to work. It went much faster than it would have ordinarily, mainly because both of them cheated whenever the other's back was turned. Had Katrina been paying attention, she'd have noticed that some patches of dirt vanished faster than any normal human could possibly have cleaned them. Had Alex been paying attention, he'd have noticed that Katrina somehow managed to clean some objects well out of her reach–even if she were standing on one of the tables or countertops.

A while later, Alex paused, leaning against the table he had just finished cleaning. Katrina was still at work, cleaning another table. She was bent over as she scrubbed, giving him a nice view of her legs. They were long, and nicely muscled and tanned. He wondered if she jogged. The tone of her legs and ass seemed to indicate that she at least exercised regularly. He shifted a bit, glad he was wearing jogging pants. Then she shifted. One of the legs of her shorts gapped a little. Alex found that he couldn't pull his eyes away. Her body was moving now with the force she was exerting on a particularly tough spot.

Katrina muttered a few expletives under her breath. That spot simply was not coming clean. She moved around the table, hoping the different angle would yield better results. As she bent to scrub at the table again, the neckline of her t-shirt sagged, treating Alex to a view of two small but well-formed breasts. All he could think was, She's not wearing a bra… He certainly couldn't concentrate on the task at hand. He abruptly snapped back to himself, not wanting to get caught staring. Alex desperately looked around for something else–anything else–to clean, where he wouldn't be looking at her.

Katrina's head jerked up at Alex's sudden movements. She watched him for a moment before returning to her scrubbing. It's too bad he's wearing those jogging pants… shorts would be much nicer…

With the two of them working at it, the "lab" was cleaned up fairly quickly; it would have been done even quicker if they hadn't spent so much time eating the rest of their pizzas and stealing looks at each other.

Alex slowed as he reached the hall, and readjusted the blanket around his radio. He rounded the corner and saw her standing there. Foot tapping, arms folded across her chest, head tilted to one side, and a generally petulant expression on her face.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to run by my room after class to get something." He looked at her closely, "You sure look cute when you do that," he said grinning.

"Now you cut that out!" Katrina pouted. "I had all sorts of things I was going to say to y–" His kiss cut her off in mid-sentence.

"That was really an underhanded tactic, kissing me like that. OK, you're forgiven." It's not that I was ever really angry with him in the first place… "I've had a fairly normal day–for once. Didn't even have any homework due."

"Hmmm, guess I'll have to make it up to you. Ready to get started?" he asked, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into the room. He walked over to a wall outlet and placeed the bundle down. Then he stood back up, turning around to face her and gave her a questioning look.

"Yep, let's see how much of this we can get done." Katrina turned to the stack of boxes in the corner, then stopped. "Or did you mean the making up part?" she grinned.

"Lady's prerogative. But I think that the professor would rather us get the lab ready first. I'll make it up to you… tonight? Maybe catch a movie and a bite to eat?" He squatted down, plugged the radio in and turned it on.

"Oh, you're probably right. But," she continued to grin, "I'll hold you to making it up to me tonight." It's been entirely too long…

A few hours later…

Katrina waited impatiently by the lab's door, while Alex retrieved his radio. It was getting more difficult to keep her anticipation under control, but so far she'd managed to refrain from open celebration. She locked the door behind him. After a quick side trip to drop off the radio, they headed out in search of food.

Alex made a pitstop at a nearby ATM machine to make a quick withdrawal. He had been saving up his money, but he felt that this date would be well worth it. He took her to Hunter's Lodge, one of the nicer restaurants in New London that catered to a casual clientele. It had a romantic atmosphere… soft music playing, a rose on every table, and a warm fire crackling in the fireplace located on the far wall. As they waited for a seat, Alex approached the maitre d' and quietly requested a table off to the side, near the fireplace, while slipping him a 20. The man, looking first at Alex and then at Katrina, turned back to Alex with a slight nod. He marked something down in his book and then walked off. Alex walked back to where Katrina was sitting and remarked, "Hope you're hungry."

"Well, yeah, I am… it's just… well, I know I said I'd hold you to making it up to me for being late earlier, but… you don't do things halfway, do you?"

A hurt look begins to emerge, "I'm sorry, do you not want to eat here?"

Oh, no…

Her words almost tumbled over each other at first. "Nonono… this is fine. Great, in fact. Just a bit more than I expected, that's all."

"Uh, okay. If you're sure. Well, I hope you like it. I've always wanted to come eat here… just never had the right person to come here with," he said, winking at her. He watched a waiter carrying two menus approach them. Alex stood, waiting for Katrina to stand up and followed their waiter to their seats.

Katrina stood, cocking her head at Alex. "So I'm the 'right person', am I?" she asked, a soft smile on her face. "Thank you; I'm flattered." And since you seem determined to be romantic tonight, I'll just relax and enjoy… She followed the waiter toward their table, where Alex surprised her by holding her chair for her.

After she sat, he walked around the table and sat down across from her. While they're looking at their menus, he asked, "Have any idea what you're going to order?" He looked up over his menu, looking at her… almost staring before he caught himself and smiled.

Katrina glanced up and caught a bit of Alex's near-stare. "Go ahead, I don't mind… as long as you don't leer, that is." She consulted the menu for a few moments more, then said, "A steak or something, I think… I skipped lunch again."

Glad I stopped at the ATM! "I'm starving too. Then again, I'm always starving," he smirked. "So, where are you from… originally?"

"So you're… hungry, are you?" she asked, one eyebrow raised. She smirked, then answered his question. "Upstate New York–near Albany. You?"

"And just what are you referring to? Hmm?" He shook his head slightly, smiling. "Basically around these parts. Par…er, Mom and I have moved around a lot, but it's always been in the general area of New London. Do you like it here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know…" She paused before answering his other question. "Yeah, I do. There are more things to do here, and I don't have to put up with my brother–at least, I'd better not have to. And then there are all the interesting" and attractive "people I've met…"

"Really? Like who?" he asked, grinning. "So…what do you do in your free time?"

She returned a crooked grin of her own. "Oh, you, perhaps. And what's free time? Engineers don't need no steenking free time! Or at least, that's what my advisor tells me." She paused. "I read a bit… okay, a lot… occasional concerts if I can actually afford them… a lot of movies. It depends, you know?"

"Yeah. I don't get too much time to read much anymore. So what subjects do you enjoy reading?"

"Mostly it's recreational. I've got quite a bit of fantasy–Feist, Terry Brooks, and a few others."

"Do you think we'll have any free time once this lab begins?" Alex took a sip from his glass of water.

"That depends on how much Bengi actually wants us to do. From what he told me, we're just supposed to do the setup–clean up, arrange the lab, calibrate equipment, and the like." I certainly hope we have some free time…

"Oh. I was under the impression that we would be helping to run it also."

A slight cough annoucned the waiter. Alex looked up at the waiter and then turned his attention back to Katrina, who looked up, startled, realizing that she'd been staring at Alex.

"Are you ready to order yet?"

"I think so." The waiter nodded and waited for the order.

Soft music drifted over the patrons; the soft light highlighted Katrina's hair and made her blue eyes appear almost green. "I'll have the… 8 ounce sizzler, with a salad… and… a Coke."

Alex smiled. "I'll take the ribs, full-rack, with a salad and Coke also."

The waiter bowed and took their menus. Meanwhile, Alex turned back to Katrina. "So…where were we?"

"Professor Bengi, labs, and free time… which, I think, we were both hoping to have some of…?"

"So…what would you like to do with some of that free time?"

"Well, that depends at least partially on the weather. I was hoping to get to the beach on Saturday." Katrina took a sip of her water. "And I'd love some company."

Alex grinned. "That would be nice to see. Uh…the beach that is." He blushed a little.

She smiled. "Are you sure that's all that'd be nice to see?"

"We'll just have to wait and find out…won't we?" Alex gazed into Katrina's eyes, then leaned over the table to give her a quick peck on the mouth.

"You can do better than that," she replied softly.

"You'll just have to wait then."

"What for?"

"For something better," he replied with a grin.

Katrina made an exasperated sound. "You! I can see I'm going to have to resort to some dirty, underhanded tactics to get a decent kiss tonight." Well, under-table tactics, anyway… She slipped her right foot out of its shoe and slowly began to slide it up the inside of one of Alex's legs.

"A guy could only hope," he said, before he felt the gentle pressure of her foot, "and feeling is believing." Alex could feel his body starting to respond as she continued her rubbing.

He leaned back over the table, giving her a more sensuous kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth a few seconds later. Katrina let her foot rise up a little farther, then leaned into his kiss, opening her mouth and using her own tongue.

The waiter, who was approaching their table, paused, and discreetly walked back to the back with their drinks.

Alex closed his eyes, letting himself get lost in the moment, not caring if anyone else was watching them. A few moments later, Katrina broke the kiss, exhaling softly. "That's much better. You'll have to practice it some more… later." She gave a mischievous grin at the last word.

"No prob," he says, taking in a deep breath. "I wonder where our drinks are."

"Good question. I didn't notice the waiter…"

A few seconds later the waiter returned with their drinks and salads.

"Thank you," Alex said to the waiter.

The waiter smiled and nodded. He didn't bat an eye, being used to some more-than-light kissing in this place.

Katrina also nodded toward the waiter. "So… what's the movie for tonight?" she asked Alex.

"I'm not sure, I thought we would pick one out when we see what's up on the board."

"That should work. There're enough good movies out right now that we should have a decent selection."

Alex looked down at her foot between his legs. "I have a funny feeling that we won't get to see much of the movie though."

Katrina let her foot slide back down the inside of Alex's leg. "Oddly enough, you may be right."

Alex shook his head, trying not to think about that right then, and started to eat his salad. Katrina also turned her attention to her salad, occasionally sipping her Coke and glancing across the table at Alex.

Alex stopped eating for a few seconds, watching her lift another biteful to her mouth, which opened in anticipation of the food coming closer, and then her lips closing over it, as she removed the fork from her mouth. She quickly finished off the last of her salad, allowing her tongue to flicker out and clean her lips of any salad dressing. She then put her fork down and sat back, watching him. Alex stopped eating his salad after watching her eat, and leaned back, sipping his Coke, trying not to choke when he felt her foot back in action.

Katrina gave him her best "Who, me?" look.

The waiter returned, almost like a shadow, waiting until they noticed him to infringe on the soft globe of light that surrounded their table. Alex turned his head towards the waiter, but kept his gaze on Katrina. "Yes?"

"Are you ready for the main course, sir?"

"Oh yeah…I mean, um, sure."

The waiter bowed and stepped briefly into the darkness of the main restauraunt. Upon returning, he placed their orders on the table. "Will there be anything else?"

Still keeping his gaze steadily fixed on Katrina, he replied, "No…thanks."

"Nothing for me, thanks." She returned his gaze.

The waiter bowed and disappeared into the darkness of Hunter's Lodge.

Alex felt the pressure of her massage and couldn't keep from getting even further aroused.

Katrina let her foot slide very slowly back down his leg. I'll have to remember this tactic for use with him…

Alex let out a deep sigh… almost of relief. He noticed that he had broken out in a cold sweat. Smiling slightly, Katrina turned to her meal and began to eat.

Letting her take the first bite, he then started to eat, constantly looking up at her. The meal continued with the occasional comment. An hour and a half later, they stepped out into the night air of Huntsville. The night was warm, a slight sea breeze curled through Alex's short hair and tugged at Katrina's much longer.

"Do you still want to catch a movie," Alex asked, "or maybe take a stroll?"

Katrina looked around. "This is just too good a night to pass up the chance for a walk."

"I was hoping you would say that."

Katrina smiled up at him. "Shall we?"

Halfway startled by the question, he blurted, "The walk?"

"Yes, silly, the walk." Her smile grew wider.

"Just checking," he replied with an I'm not buying it look.

The couple walked towards the Alberni River, a wide expanse of water cutting New London in thirds with its sister waterway, the Sproat River. The shore was an expanse of rocky outcropings. Moving carefully, Alex helped Katrina down to a small expanse of sandy beach. Trees and rock hid the small area from the road.

"Nice cozy little secluded place, this is," Katrina remarked, looking around.

"Isn't it? I bet you could do whatever you wanted to here, and nobody would ever see."

"Oh?" Katrina remarked, her breath coming more rapidly. "And what sorts of things would people be doing here?"

In response, Alex slipped his arm around Katrina's waist, just a little lower than normal, and led her to a little spot that wasn't as rough as the rest of the area. Katrina leaned into him as they walked. Turning her around to face her, he closed the gap separating them and embraced her fully into his arms while leaning forward to kiss her. Katrina stretched her arms up, putting them around his neck. She tilted her head slightly and closed her eyes.

In the background, the two could hear the waves lapping gently at the shore. Alex listened to the rhythm of the waves, feeling the drive even more to move his body against hers, matching the rhythm of the waves.

Katrina began to run her hands through his hair. Gradually, her hands worked their way down his torso, exploring. As her hands went down, his hands started their way up, slowly raising her shirt. She slowly began to raise his shirt as well, enjoying the feel of his skin.

Letting her slip his shirt up over his head, and then completely removing hers, Alex felt their bodies touching, skin to skin. He started French kissing her again while he began to remove her bra, hands trembling with anticipation. When the clasp released, Katrina let the inconvenient article of clothing drop onto the beach behind her, then pressed closer to Alex, returning his kiss enthusiastically…

Wednesday, May 31, 2000, 7:00 a.m. Katrina Dorris' dorm room at UNL

Katrina stirred as her alarm went off. Reflexively, she slapped a hand on the snooze button, then snuggled back down into her sheets. She was used to sleeping alone, so she was startled when she found herself pressing up against a warm body, her hand encountering a fine coat of chest hair.

Then the memories came back. She smiled. They'd made love twice on that little section of beach–her first two times, in fact, something which had surprised Alex. Then they'd come back to her dorm room with the intention of helping each other get cleaned up, and had sex a third time in the shower stall.

Katrina reached out toward the alarm clock again, this time turning off the alarm. Going to class this morning just isn't worth it. Alex stretched beside her, yawned deeply, then pulled her close.

"'morning, love," she said, kissing him. "How was… last night?" Katrina's expression made it absolutely clear how she remembered the previous night's adventures.

He returned her kiss, then, conscious of having morning breath, he turned away, looking up at the ceiling. "Which part?" he asked. "Like any of it wasn't absolutely terrific. But I'm afraid you've spoiled me, I don't think I can ever take a shower alone again!"

Katrina smiled contentedly, remembering where his hands had been, what they'd done, while the two were in the shower. "Indeed. The experience is much different when you've got… help."

"Are you not going to your class this morning?" he asked, looking over her at the clock.

She shook her head. "It's the last of my gen-eds–missing one session won't harm my grade irreparably. I go through most of that class on autopilot anyway." She pressed closer to him.

"Are you going to go to any of them today?"

She considered quickly. "I don't think so, love. Besides, I've only got two."

"I was hoping you would say that, because I've got 2 classes today also, but they're both in the early afternoon, and I can get the notes off of someone for today. So, now what are we going to do with all of this free time, hon?"

Katrina slipped out of the bed without replying. She began rummaging through one of her roommate's drawers. Now, where does Mara keep them? She smiled inwardly, having found what she was looking for. She grabbed something from the drawer, then climbed back into the bed. "Oh, I could probably come up with a few ideas…"

"Whatcha got there, hun?" he asked, peeking under the sheets to see what she was hiding before she yanked the covers back down.

"No fair peeking!" she replied, pulling the covers back down, but not before Alex saw a small, square package in her hand.

"No secrets. What is it?" he asked, playfully.

"You get three guesses, but if you don't get it on the first try, I'll be surprised," she returned in the same vein.

"Again? Why do we even fool with those things? Haven't you noticed their condition when we're finished with them?" The condoms from the previous night had been shredded, for lack of a better word. Neither of them had bothered to ask why or how it had happened yet, though.

Katrina paused. "Good question." Her right hand reached out from under the covers and tossed the package on the other bed. Her left hand, however, had another destination in mind.

As her hand moved, his hand was already slipping around to her front, cupping her breasts. They continued to make out most of the morning, taking short breaks to get something to drink–and making love in the shower again–before getting dressed to run out for a quick bite to eat.