On a roll!

Chapter 4

"Am I not meant to enjoy my food?" Kendra said as she picked the cheese off her sub sandwich again. "I'm going to find out why it's so hard to get my order right." and with that, she abandoned us at the lunch table to go and yell at the people behind the counter.

She had told me of her plan, it was nothing I wanted to be a part of. Sending letters to his wife was just a low blow. The idea was to 'bed' him, not ruin his marriage. I told the other two about her plan and they agreed that she was going too far. It was made very clear to Kendra that if she attempted this plan, we were no longer on speaking terms. It was harsh, but so was this idea. All she had to do was find a more civilized way to do things, and we were good.

Kendra agreed to keep it simple. Flirting. Showing interest. Flattery. Extra hours of study with him. She had already been over to his quarters for a study session. Pity for her, she wasn't the only one going. He was tutoring other students as well. I had figured that since Mr. Elric had dealt with rabid fans before, he knew the ropes on how to deal with them.

Later that day. "I don't like it...I should just tell her." I said nervously as I paced my room. Charis and Dana occupied the foot of my bed and my desk chair.

"She'll be steamed if you do." Dana mentioned.

"I know..."

"He's old enough to know how to say no," Charis added.

"I know..."

"You also said he did this before," Dana continued.

"I know, I know...I can't help wonder...has he dealt with a 'Kendra' before?" I said and my other two friends exchanged a glance. "...now you see why I'm worried."

Kendra had an interesting back story, it's too complicated to repeat, so I'll only say it left her with the inability to deal with failure. When faced with the horrid countenance of defeat, it left her stripped of everything that made her 'her'. In elementary school, I saw her chew her nails down till they bled!

At first it was only with school work. Like, if she didn't have the highest mark in class, she bought candy and ate it by the boatload. That was back in middle school. In high school, when she wasn't the one who lost her virginity first, she stewed for weeks. She binged on coffee, causing her to stay up for three days straight before she collapsed from exhaustion. Kendra was a smart person, but even a smart person can do stupid things. When we first got here, she crushed on a guy pretty hard. When she partnered with him to study, she discovered he had a girlfriend. Thus, she started binge eating ice-cream daily, yet never gained a pound. We assumed the worst.

It was first time that happened and the eating disorder didn't stay with her. She got over it, so we decided to let it go. However, a goal such as Mr. Elric to be lost may put her on a drinking binge. We had recently become of age, and there was a bar in the collage's basement.

"She always goes to the most destructive nature suitable for her age. Sugar, coffer, bulimia and now, booze. I bet." Dana suggested.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her is all," Charis said with optimism.

I tapped my fingers on the window sill, leaving shallow nail dents. "I still think we should convince her to drop this whole 'teacher' thing," I said. It was the only sensible conclusion. When everyone agreed to this in the first place, I doube any of us expected to succeed. We would need to find Kendra a boyfriend so she'd give up on the professor. Here we had promised we'd find Charis her one, who;d have thought we'd be doing this for Kendra.

Kendra expected things to go into motion by the end of the week. "It looks like we have a small window of time to work with." Dana flipped through her daily planner.

"We'd better hustle,"Charis chimed.

There was a major flaw in our plan, a hole even. Kendra could not participate. I know that sounds strange, but it was true. Each of us had a role, we played it well. I was the thinker. There wasn't a situation I wasn't prepared for; being the 'worrier' my mother was, I could always find flaw in a plan. That in mind, I could come up with ways to get around it. Dana was the timer. With her notepad in hand, she could easily time outings, create schedules and organize anything. Charis was good with field work. Being the sweet, unassuming, petite, cute little thing that she was, she was perfect for distracting people and gathering information. Also, being that she was small, she was sneaky. Kendra was our 'do' person. She also functioned as transportation. That, coupled with her ability to talk to her superiors, got the job done.

Combined, we were a force to be reckoned with, divided we were doomed. That night, we made our way to the bar in our best attires. Nothing revealing, we wanted to attract people who were of the same 'class'. She wasn't going to go for any barfly, that was for sure. We needed to find someone who matched her tastes.

We all stood side by side at the entrance, the bar was sparse. "How about..." I scanned the room. "Lets watch these guys play pool..." I nodded in the direction of the table in question. Dana stopped off for drinks. Beer. We figured if we had girly drinks, it would look like a girls night out. Beer felt casual, and it was a staple for the majority of guys in the dorms, so it also functioned as common ground.

Watching the guys playing pool was part of the plan. Who lined up their shots, who was sloppy and who didn't care about their shots, all factored in. Kendra was meticulous when it came to pool, so hunting down a challenge was a step in the right direction.

Next was physique. Now, we all loved Kendra, would take a bullet for her, but the girl was shallow. She assumed that if you don't treat yourself with respect, how could she? It made for some awkward conversations in the past, ones I wished I'd slapped her for, but digressed. Taking that to mind, we had to get someone with a healthy exterior. He didn't need to be buff like Mr. Elric, but no beer belly either.

"This is harder than I thought." I bit my thumb and scanned the room harder. "Wait...today's Tuesday..."

"It's also not pay week," Dana added.

"The cute guys only show up on the weekend. Awww." Charis finished.

I hit my forehead with my palm lightly, making a light 'pat' sound, "Kendra could have told us this." We all hung our heads.

When it came to popular culture, Kendra was the one to go to. Being the social butterfly that she was, she knew 'everything' about social etiquette. She was quite fluent in 'urban speak' you could say. Either words or body language, the girl knew her way around the bar floor. One conditions themselves to adhere to their lifestyle. This was Kendra. She could read a bar scene in an instant; quite handy when you want to go out, you need to know what places are safe. She called it the 'sketch-factor', what made a place look sketchy and what didn't. Hooker with a fresh bullet wound stitch, bad. Boy with an ascot, good. Many boys with the same ascot, bad. Bouncer wider than the door, good.

Back on track. It seemed that the guys who went to the basement bar during the week didn't quite fit the bill. We needed to reach out into other areas of interest. Fortunately for us, Kendra had a wide range of interests. Our local theater group was only a block away so we made our way down there. It was open, but not a soul to be found. "Everyon's at an art exhibit. Someone's giving a lecture." The curator mentioned as he heard us complaining and suggested we try down there.

"Why did I wear heals?" Charis tucked her finger into the back of her shoe in an attempt at stretching it out some.

"It's only ten blocks. Downhill. So it's not so bad." I tried to look at the bright side, but Murphy watches over me closely. "Admission only?" I read the sign aloud. The main hall was shut off for the lecture that was taking place.

"The last showing of C.A.S.T. Is playing in two days." The doorman suggested.

"We just came from the playhouse," Charis groaned.

I took a bill from my purse, "Don't worry," I said, "We'll get a cab." I thanked the doorman and we were off, back to the theater.

"They were just open last time we were here!" I couldn't believe it, the ticket booth cashier was putting a sign up. "We were just here!" I growled and shook the flimsy 'sold out' sign by its defiant little neck. "Ahh!"

"The last guy bought the remaining forty-seven tickets," the little old man who erected the sign said fearfully.

Being as tall as I was, getting mad made me look terrifying, apparently. I don't see it. "Why in the hell does he need forty-seven damn tickets?"

It was closing time. After we were shown the door, a voice came from behind us. "I heard what went on in there," he began.

"And?" I snapped.

Charis tugged my arm, "He isn't involved, put the teeth away."

I calmed down and looked at what the man produced from his pocket. Six tickets. "I'm willing to sell them at the reasonable price of 1,500 cenz. How's that sound?" he said with a devious smirk.

"That's three times the asking price!" Dana blurted.

"So you're scalping tickets...I want them." I said as I reached for my wallet.

"Genie! Scalping is illegal," she tried to persuade me.

The man in question shrugged, "You three ladies can take your men out. Don't want to miss it, do you?"

I searched my wallet and found just enough for two. "They're not for us, it's for a friend," I held up my money, "I only want two."

He stared down at the offending cash, "Uhh...if you don't buy them all together, it's 2000 cenz a ticket."

I raised an annoyed eyebrow at the man. "You've got quite the wandering profit margin."

"Don't I?" He smirked wide.

With a swift punch, I brought the man flat down on his back. Carelessly I plucked two tickets from his hand. "What's that? Only 1000 cenz a ticket now?" I said and tosses 2000 on his twitching face, "How generous." And trotted off. Dana and Charis followed, careful not to step in what was left of him on the way by.

I didn't lose my temper often, but people like him really bother me. I was fortunate he was short and skinny, if not for that, I might not have stood a chance. I smiled, saying "Alright, we've set the stage," and held up the tickets, "Now all we have to do, is cast the role."

The next few days were hell. We tried our damnedest to fill that seat, but there were no takers. It seemed the people who knew Kendra, knew her all too well. She was a control freak. Any classmate who had her as a partner, ever, could testify that was the gospel truth. Every possibility turned down the ticket offer. "The last showing of this for the next five years, and no one will go. Damn. How tolerant are we?" I said with despair.

"What if we ask her if there's someone in mind?" Charis suggested.

I perked up. "...We could tell her we saw how bummed she was about not getting the professor."

"I think it'll work," Dana piped up. "I can give them to her next class." I left the tickets with Dana and relaxed, knowing all was going well. At least I hoped it was.

I crossed my fingers, but I guess I did so a few seconds too late. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kendra. She was standing behind Mr. Elric in line. She was a few people behind him, so it kind of looked like she was following him. "Guys! Down low." I instructed and we fanned out, leaning in such a way, different lunchroom objects blocked her vision of us. "Is she following him," I asked and looked in the correct direction.

Dana used her peripherals to see the situation. "I can't tell. He does eat there occasionally, while Kendra eats there everyday." It was anyone's call.

Over closer to the line, Mr. Elric was waiting to be served. Kendra popped up beside him. "I didn't know you ate here." She successfully broke the ice.

"Huh? Oh, yes. I forgot to make my lunch this morning."

"Three and seven." The clerk called only a few second into her approach.

Kendra looked shocked, "That's odd," she said, "I just ordered." She took her sandwich, "Yeah, it's the right one." With cheese. "Hey!" she bellowed, "Once! Just once, could you get my order right? I can't eat cheese! I'll swell up like a puffer fish!"

"Kendra?" Mr. Elric tried to interject.

"They do this to me every Friday! I eat here everyday, and it's the guy on Friday who always screws it up. I want to talk to the manager!" she leaned over the counter, the man at the cash register looked terrified.

"Kendra." Edward began again, "I have your sandwich." He held the plate towards her.

She blushed. The scene she made drew a lot of unwanted attention. "Oh...sorry," she said to the guy over the counter. Kendra held her plate to Mr. Elric and they swapped meals. "You got the glazed chicken too."

He smiled, "I guess that's why they were done at the same time."

Kendra smiled sweetly, "I was going to ask this after class, but, can I get some help on next week's assignment. Are you busy after work?" she gave the impression that she was shy about asking, but considerate of his job. Even referring to it as 'after work' and not 'after class' gave it a mature feel.

"I'm not doing anything this evening. Why not drop by around six?" he suggested.

With a nod she flashed him a smile, "Sounds perfect." Did she do it? She had gotten him to agree to extra study time on a day off. So that was a start.

We all exchanged glances. "Now way..." I said and just shook my head. "This isn't what it looks like." From that point on, only time would say one way or the other.