Chapter 5: Banishment

I arrived a few days before courses began the last week of August. My fraternity brothers greeted me with hoots and catcalls as I drove into the parking lot. I got out and started bringing my things to my room on the second floor. I had the same room and roommate from the prior year. He and I got along well and had no problems rooming together. Besides, why fix something that is not broken? Later, I went out back to join my friends who were relaxing and talking about their summer exploits.

An impromptu basketball game broke out, and I decided to participate. I was wearing a new shirt, so I pulled it off to avoid sweat stains. When I removed my shirt, everyone stopped and stared at me.

“What?” I said, feeling self-conscious. “What’s the problem?”

“You’ve got muscles!” one of the more sober brothers remarked. The others just stared.

“You guys, quit staring at me before you fall in love,” I told them.

One of the brothers flipped me off, and we all started laughing. We spent the next hour competing against each other in terms of shots, rebounds, and fouls. It was tremendous fun, and it felt fantastic to be back among friends.

After our pickup basketball game, I decided to take a shower before we went out to eat. After showering, I returned to my room wearing only a pair of sweatpants. I planned to dress there rather than in the damp shower room. As I strolled down the corridor, a couple of the females who always seemed to be hanging out at the frat house noticed me. The look they gave me made me uneasy.

Ginny received the similar glance from some of the more perverted of the brotherhood. I couldn’t believe there were college women who were as pervy as some of the male students. They enjoyed my new appearance, and based on their talk, others will follow suit. They wanted to know how I built up my body to appear like that.

“Lots of sleep and clean living and 60 hours a week on a road crew,” I bragged. “No worries about women corrupting my work and leading to a life of sin and degradation.”

I wondered how long it would take for them to realize I was mocking them. Finally, they saw my smile and giggled.

Girls that hung out at the fraternity started begging me to take off my shirt so they could view the new and improved me. It got hilarious. Some of the brothers were concerned that their girlfriends would dump them to date me. I had to reassure a couple of the brothers that I had no interest in their ladies.

On Sunday night, I had a knock on my door. I opened it, and there stood Ginny. I invited her in and left the door open. She had filled out some over the summer. More of a grown woman and not the coltish teenager of the previous year. She was even more beautiful if that was possible.

“Ginny, it is good to see you. You look even more beautiful than ever,” I said with awe.

I meant it. She was a total knockout, a 10 on the scale of 10. Now if she got over her jealous streak, things would be perfect. It was up to Ginny to prove it one way or another.

“I didn’t know if you would want to see me again after last semester. We didn’t part under the best of terms,” she acknowledged. “You look different too; what is different about you? Can I have a hug? I used to love it when you hugged me.”

I opened up my arms, and Ginny moved into them. She put her arms around me and pulled me in close. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. Her eyes got big, her hands moved up and down my spine, and then she came around and felt my stomach and then my chest.

“What did you do?” she asked.

“You have muscles everywhere. Take off your shirt and let me see, please. I promise I won’t attack you,” she said with a grin.

I pulled off my t-shirt. She looked and smiled. Gestured for me to do a 360 spin.

“My, you have changed,” she giggled. “I like the change.”

I thought to myself, “Now only if you have changed will things be perfect.” Time will tell.

“Can I come over tomorrow night for a little while? I want to see you,” she asked.

“Ginny, we need to start anew and take it slowly. I don’t want to repeat what occurred last spring. You cannot be jealous and be possessive of me. It will not work, and we will return to where we were last year. Neither of us wants that,” I explained.”I like you and do not want to see you hurt. After all, you mean a lot to me, and I don’t want to end things as we did last spring. Can you be the girl I fell in love with without being Ginny, the jealous shrew?”

I could see the hurt in her eyes from my words, but it needed to be said. If she was Ginny, the Shrew, there was no future for us. I waited for her answer. She cast her eyes down and nodded her head.

I put my hand under her chin and forced her to look up into my eyes. I kissed her on the nose.

“You need to get back to your dorm, and I need to get to bed too, as we both have class tomorrow.” I said.

She turned and went down the hall towards the stairs. I closed the door and went to get in bed. I hated 8 o’clock classes. No way should a senior have a class this early. A freshman, yes, but a senior, come on.

The next morning, I was up by 6:30 AM. I took a quick shower, shaved, and got dressed. A quarter after seven AM, I was in the grill room, grabbing a large coffee, an egg sandwich, and a banana. I was not totally awake and stumbled to a table. Yet I was in better condition than others who were in the grill room that morning. As I was eating my egg on a bagel sandwich, who do you suppose pulled out a chair and joined me at my table? It was my friend, the RA, from last year. She looked buff and had a nice tan.

“It looks like the outdoors agrees with you. You look amazing, Janet.” I said to her.

She appeared to have lost some weight and had more definition in her arms and torso. She also appeared five years younger.

“Quit hitting on me, you jerk, or I may take you up on your flirting,” she said with a giggle. “You look like you went through a metamorphosis yourself, James.”

“Nothing that a summer of celibacy and clean living can’t do,” I said with a laugh. “I worked on a road maintenance team for 50 to 60 hours each week. A better workout than working out in a gym, and even cheaper. The county paid me for what most people pay at the gym.”

“So how are things between you and Ginny?” She got serious when she asked. “I worried about you two all summer when I wasn’t enjoying myself viewing the beautiful scenery out west.”

“She came to see me last night. We are going to take it slow this semester and see if there is anything to salvage from the blowup of last spring,” I said. “At least I am willing to try and see if we can regain the magic. I will not tolerate Ginny the Shrew. She makes an appearance; we are through.”

“If things don’t work out between you two, come see me, and I will help you maintain your workouts,” she giggled. “Who cares if I am 6 years older than you? God, you are such a hunk.”

“I will stop by even if things do work out. I wouldn’t want to see your new amazing self go to waste either,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows in emphasis.