Feeling Real Good

Of course like everyone else I don't own any characters you may recognize from Stephanie Meyers' Twilight Series.

BPOV

The first week of classes went by very quickly. I loved every minute of my courses, the workload is enormous, but college is so much more fulfilling than high school. My professors are engaging, the curriculum is interesting and even the study work isn't boring. All consuming, but certainly not dull. The courses I'm really enjoying are Rhetoric and Adolescent Psychology.

One course I know I'll have trouble with will be Integrating Technology. Technology and I aren't strangers, but I'm not the most techno-savvy person walking the streets. The idea is to begin using technology and evaluate software so it can be adapted into my life for improving teaching skills. Because I'm an English major I've decided my ultimate career path will be in High School Education. So this course is part of my mandatory curriculum and after my first couple of classes, I just know it's going to be a struggle.

Roxanne and I have had very little time to get to know one another, other than developing a routine in sharing the room and bath. That's not to say we aren't talking to each other, but our conversations have been strictly about assignments, professors and finding our way around the campus. It's as if any personal exchange has been put on hold during this week.

With the weekend upon us, Roxanne is more than ready for some social time. She told me if she hears me breath one word about our courses before Sunday she's personally going to trip me. Today we've decided to head off campus and venture into the downtown waterfront area. Today will be our first chance to explore the town of Burlington.

Since we'll be sightseeing I've dressed in clothing that's comfortably chic. The nice part about living in Burlington is I feel comfortable in whatever I wear, even if it's a pair of ratty old sweats. The attire within the community is anything from top of the line designer wear to old worn out tennis shoes and torn T's. My wardrobe is pretty middle of the road, so my current wardrobe works and I'm fine with my closet offerings at this point.

I knock on the bathroom door and tell Roxanne I'm heading down to grab a cup of coffee and something to eat. I quickly head out the door and bolt down the stairs, I'm actually getting much better at managing to descend without tripping every time.

Upon walking into the kitchen I see the usual gang sitting around the table enjoying breakfast. "Good morning everyone. Isn't it a beautiful day?"

Anne looks up over her coffee mug with a sly smile, "well, isn't someone a bit too chipper this morning? What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little excited. Roxanne and I are heading downtown to explore, I'm thinking it will be a little more entertaining then campus." I was nearly bouncing up and down as I said this. I decided what the hell and started bouncing up and down, "So what do you recommend we see first?"

Roxanne walked into the room just as I was bouncing up and down and said, "Oh no, you aren't going to embarrass me today are you? I may have to leave you here if you continue acting this way!"

Everyone started laughing at our banter. Anne said, "Guys, you should just walk downtown head towards the Waterfront Park. There are benches and swings along the path and you get a chance to see some nice views of the mountains."

"You can also avoid downtown and head towards Ethan Allan's homestead. You can't walk there, but a cab could take you. It offers some interesting retrospect into life in the 18th century," Ian said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Rox made a face at this suggestion, "I think I've had enough learning for this week, thank you very much. I think I like the way Anne is thinking; walking, sitting, and swinging offers me about as much mindless entertainment as I can handle after this week."

We all laughing, Drake piped in at this point, "Rox if you're this drained after one week, wait till finals. You'll be the picture of the walking dead!"

"Okay, okay. Enough of the camaraderie. I want to hit the streets, my feet are just itching to get a move on it," I said as I started bouncing again.

Roxanne and I waved good-bye and walked out arm in arm. It felt great to be heading out for a day that wasn't filled with commitments and structure. It was nice to know we had a whole day to do whatever we wanted. As we were walking along I realized how comforting it was to be with Roxanne, there was no need for conversation we were just enjoying the walk.

She and I walked along the waterfront area while people watching and talked about anything that came to mind. I asked about her interest in Drake and if she thought it was going anywhere. She paused for a second and then smiled, "I think maybe it will. It's too soon to tell though. This week I was so busy getting used to my class schedule and working on the assignments, I didn't really have much time for socializing. But when I was in the common room the other night, I glanced up and saw him watching me. He didn't want me to see him looking so he quickly looked down at his book, but I definitely caught him. So what about you or are you not ready to reveal anything about guys and Ian yet?"

I made a face at her before answering, "Rox, I just want to focus on school. Ian's nice and everything but school comes first. I'm still not ready to talk about everything yet; I just want to enjoy life in Burlington before getting into heavy discussions about my past. Please tell me you understand."

"Bella of course I understand," she said with a smile. "I'm just dying of curiosity and find myself making up interesting little dramas about you. I hope the story you'll tell is as interesting as my thoughts" she chuckled. "Come on, I'm starving. Let's see what Church Street has to offer in the way of food."

We headed towards Church Street to find a place to eat and were amazed at the amount of people walking the marketplace. There was so much going on between the stores, live-entertainment and great restaurants, we walked up one side of Church Street and down the other. It's a quaint pedestrian only cobblestone street closed to motorized vehicles; we decided to pick a place to eat so we could continue our exploration of the street when we were done.

After reviewing all the choices available we decided to eat at a deli called The Red Onion Deli. We sat outside and were enjoying the afternoon while eating and people watching. It was so easy to talk to Roxanne, I felt like I had known her for years as opposed to a week. We discussed things like favorite television programs, favorite foods, funny things that have happened to us during our time in high school. It's funny but our personalities were very similar. We were both on the shy side during school and although we made friends easily we weren't the popular kids. I was feeling a real connection with Roxanne, one that in the past I had only begun to feel with Angela. My connection with Roxanne seemed to be stronger than my connection with Angela though, maybe it was because we were spending so much time together and my time with Angela was limited.

Just as we were getting to the end of our meal I heard my name being called. Both Roxanne and I looked around to see who could possibly be calling out to me here. And then we spotted him at the same time, Derrick.

"Hey Bella, how you doing? Funny running into you here, what have you been up to? Are you having fun? Can you believe how fast the week went by?" As he was asking these questions he was dancing on his feet like he had to use the restroom. Roxanne and I sat there for a couple of minutes watching him. When he finally stopped asking all of his questions, he grinned at me like he was going to burst.

"So Derrick, which question would you like Bella to answer first?" Roxanne asked while trying to keep a straight face.

"Huh, oh it doesn't matter, whichever." he shrugged. Once again he was looking at me like he expected me to do something. I have no idea what, but apparently it was my cue.

"Well, I'm doing good. Roxanne and I were just enjoying some time away from campus and schoolwork because yes, the week did go fast and there's so much to do, we needed a break. I'm glad we came down here I had no idea how much there is to do in Burlington." I hoped that this would be enough and he would get on with his day and we could get back to enjoying our time. But that wasn't to be.

"So, um do you think I could join you?"

Roxanne and I looked at each other and she was the one who answered, "Derrick, we're sorry but we were just leaving. We're just waiting for our check."

"Oh no, I didn't mean for lunch. I meant for the afternoon. Would you mind if I tagged along?" he asked me. He couldn't take his eyes off me, not even when Roxanne was answering his questions. How on earth was I going to let this guy down easy, not only did he live in the same housing as me, but he seemed so sensitive. This was going to be very tricky.

I looked at Roxanne and she said, "Well, while Bella answers your question, I'll use the ladies room." At which point she got up and hurried inside, I thought I heard her laughing, but then she cleared her throat. Yes, she did laugh, I was going to have to kill her later for leaving me like this!

Derrick grabbed Roxanne's chair so fast and pulled it up next to me. He grabbed my hand from the table and placed it in his. He looked at me and said, "Bella." That was it, just Bella, what was I supposed to say to that. I decided right then I would pay Roxanne back for abandoning me.

Pulling my hand out of his, "Derrick we would be happy to have you join us. That would be great." In my mind I was working out a plan to turn Derrick into someone who loved Bella into someone who loved Roxanne and I had every intention of making that happen before evening fell.

"I'm not sure if you know this or not Derrick, but Roxanne is pretty attracted to you.
She talks about you all the time. In fact, I'm a little uncomfortable because it almost appears like you barely notice her and you like me instead. You don't, do you?" I don't know how I was keeping a straight face, but I was.

His face became red and he looked around and said, "Bella I do like you. I like you a lot. We should go on a date; we could be boyfriend and girlfriend. I could make you feel real good." He reached over and grabbed the back of my head and started kissing me. No, he wasn't kissing me he was licking me! This was not going at all the way I wanted it to.

I pulled away pretty swiftly, so quickly that my chair got stuck in a crack on the sidewalk and I tumbled backwards chair and all. There I was on the sidewalk with the chair turned over and everyone in the deli and street staring at me. I didn't think I could turn a deeper shade of red. It wasn't just because I was embarrassed, I was angry. What did he think he was doing?

A waiter came running over helping me to stand up, "Are you okay? Do you need help? Let me see you didn't get hurt did you? Let me get you some ice for your arm."

"No, no I'm fine thank you. Please no harm done, it was my fault." I looked over at Derrick and he was sitting there with a look on his face between shock and a grin. A grin…what is wrong with this guy!

"Derrick, what are you doing?" I screamed at him as I brushed myself off. "You had no right to…to…whatever it is you just did. Do you honestly believe that what you just did was appropriate?"

He jumped out of the chair and came to my side grabbing my arm, "But Bella, come on. You can't say you didn't like that. I wanted you to know how I feel about you. Okay, so maybe it will take a little longer for you. Let's get your check and walk down the street and I'll get you an ice cream. Yes an ice cream would be great, I'd like to watch you eat an ice cream."

I pulled my arm away from him and stared at him, this guy had to be nuts or something. Just then Roxanne came walking over and looked at the two of us and turned to Derrick and said, "I'm not sure what's going on here but I don't like the look of it. I think you should leave Derrick. NOW!"

He looked at her and then back at me, "You don't get to make decisions for Bella. I'm the one she really wants to be with. Besides, she told me how you like me; well I'm not interested in you. Bella and I were meant to be together. So why don't you leave!"

This was just getting worse by the minute. People in the deli were watching us like we were the latest reality TV show coming up this season. I had to find a way to get this to end peacefully and by the look on Roxanne's face it didn't seem like that was likely to happen.

"Derrick, you should leave. I'm not sure what made you think I was interested in you, but I'm not. So please, just go." I reached for my chair and grabbed my bag to show I had every intention of leaving myself. Leaving now would be good for all three of us; I had a feeling that someone may call the cops soon.

I started walking away, it took Roxanne a couple of minutes but then she was right along side me. We didn't say anything at first and then I started laughing. She looked over at me completely baffled and that made me laugh even harder. Soon she was laughing as hard as I was.

"Do you know why I'm laughing?" I asked her between gulps of air.

"No, but it's just good to see and hear. When I came out of the bathroom it looked so tense, I was afraid of what happened. So laughter is good, laughter is great!"

"I told Derrick that you liked him!" I couldn't control myself at this point; I was bent over with my hands on my knees holding myself up. There were tears coming down my face from laughing so hard. "His reaction was to grab me and stick his tongue so far down my throat I thought I would choke or vomit lunch back up into his mouth."

Now she was laughing as hard as I was. We were wheezing we were laughing so hard. "He actually told me he could, and I quote, 'make me feel real good' can you believe that."

"Oh my god. And here I thought he was harmless and just pathetic. Now I know he's pathetic alright, he's pathetic in a bad way." Her laughter was dying down and I was still wiping tears from my eyes.

"Seriously though, we need to watch out for him. If that's how he reacted in public, he might be pretty scary running into him in the laundry room. We should tell Anne what happened. In thinking about it, he's really kind of creepy. I don't want you to be alone with him." Her face was very serious now.

"Rox, come on. He can't hurt me. He's just a little over aggressive and doesn't know how to act around girls."

"All the same, we're telling Anne about him. I don't feel good about leaving you vulnerable, what if I'm not around and he corners you or something. We have to at least tell her and see what she says." She grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards campus and Bader Hall. I guess our afternoon of fun was officially over!