Since these characters are based on JE's work, I am not making a financial profit. I am having a great time using these characters though. I hope you are enjoying the story. Let me know and enjoy!

Chapter 2. Strength Comes from Pain

When I turned my exam paper over when we were told to begin, I read the instruction sheet that encouraged students to read through the paper before they began, but based on the amount of pencils on paper I could hear, very few students took this advice to heart. It was a habit of mine to read a paper before starting, so instead of diving right in, I started my usual review process.

When I got to the final question 15 minutes later, I almost laughed aloud when I read, "Now that you've proven that you can follow the instructions, please provide answers for all odd questions only. You will lose marks for any even questions."

I returned to the first page of the exam and realised that the even questions were the ones that I was apprehensive of when I first started reading the paper. The odd questions were similar to the ones we were practicing during our cram session earlier that day.

I picked up my pencil, filled in my details on the first page and then moved to the first question. I easily progressed through the paper, and when I finished answering my final question, I looked up to see how much time I had to review my answers. I was surprised to see that there was over an hour left for my final review process, so I took my time, double-checked my work, and when the final bell sounded, I confidently handed my paper in to the exam proctor.

Molly and Christie left a little before me, so when I found them in the hall, they came over to me to find out how I thought it went. As usual Molly was the first to speak. "That was a lot easier than I expected. I am really glad that you reminded us to read through the exam before starting. I heard a bunch of swears throughout the room when people got to the last question."

Christie nodded and continued, "I struggled with a few questions, but in the end, I think I did OK. If I had answered any of the even questions, I think I'd have definitely failed. Thanks Steph for encouraging us to take our time and review the paper before jumping in. It sounded like a lot of people are regretting their hastiness."

We laughed as we walked towards the building exit, discussing our summer plans. When we walked out into the dying autumn light, I said, "Carlos invited me to go meet him and some friends over at Grifters tonight at 8:30. Did you guys want to come too? I'm not sure I'm confident enough to go alone."

Molly almost screamed her affirmative reply, but Christie looked a little apprehensive. Christie was a really friendly girl, but she was very shy around new strangers. Molly and I looked at each other and then at Christie, and I said, "C'mon Christie, it'll be fun. If Carlos' friends are even half as good looking as Carlos, we'll be surrounded by Rutgers hunks. We can even go to the mall and get something new to wear and maybe even get our hair done if we have time. What do you say?"

Christie smiled shyly and said, "I'll go on one condition." Molly and I nodded and Christie continued, "Neither of you can abandon me nor can you leave me alone with a group of guys I don't know. Also, I don't have a lot of money to spare, so let's not go crazy at the mall. Let's just wear something casual and comfortable. Grifters isn't a night club, it's just a dimly lit bar."

Molly and I agreed to her terms, but I took it further by saying, "Let's just go to my place, order a pizza and get ready there. If each of you brings a few outfits, we can all share and find something perfect to wear, since we're all the same size. Also, I don't think we have enough time to go shopping after all, it's already 6:45." Instead, we agreed to meet at my apartment 15 minutes later. I would call out for pizza as soon as I got home so it would arrive while we were getting ready.

When I opened the door to my apartment, I was surprised to hear somebody in the kitchen. My roommate was gone for the summer already, so nobody else should be in here. I tentatively walked into the kitchen to find Ryan opening the cupboards as if he was looking for something.

"What are you doing Ryan?"

Without looking up he replied, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm searching for something."

"What are you doing in my apartment Ryan? You have no right to be here. I know I never gave you a key so that means that you must have broken in. I should call the cops on you."

Ryan looked at me and his face immediately changed from frustration to rage. He walked towards me quickly and I stepped backwards and bumped into the wall. Ryan grabbed my arms and with a very low and angry voice, he said, "How dare you question my actions when you are the one that was having breakfast with another man. I am looking for an antique bowl that I gave you as a gift last Christmas. It was a family heirloom and I don't want you to have it anymore."

I tried to pull out of his grip, but it was too strong. I calmly said, "The bowl is on the table beside the television. Take it and get out. You have no right to complain about me having breakfast with another man when you were out last night sticking your tongue down the throat of another woman."

"You don't know what you are talking about Stephanie. I would never do something like that."

"You are a liar Ryan. That man who bought me breakfast was at the club last night to meet his girlfriend. When he arrived, he saw her. He also saw you, and the two of you were not just having breakfast. Get out of here. I don't want to see you ever again. If you do come back, I'll call the police."

"You can't order me out of here. I've practically lived here for the last 6 months. I have belongings here and I have a right to access those belongings any time I want."

"Your name is not on the lease Ryan. You are right that you have spent a lot of time here, but as of this moment, you are no longer welcome here. I will collect all of your belongings and ship them to you later this week. Until then, you'll just have to live without them. Now GET OUT!" I screamed as I pointed toward the door.

Ryan was livid with anger, but he released me and walked over to the television stand and picked up his antique bowl. He walked over to me on the way out, and just when I thought he was going to go and leave me be, he raised his hand and slapped me across the face.

I was so shocked at his reaction that I stood there for several minutes, massaging my cheek where he hit me. A knock at my door brought me out of my stupor and when I opened the door, the look on Molly's face indicated that something was very wrong.

"What's wrong Molly?"

"Your face and your arms, Steph. What the hell happened?"

I walked over to the mirror beside the door and stared at my reflection. I had very visible red hand print that would surely turn into dark blue bruises. But worse than that, there was a small cut and a bruise already surfacing on my cheek. I knew Ryan had hit me hard, but I wasn't aware of how hard he hit until now.

I looked at Molly and said, "Ryan broke in and was rummaging through my apartment when I got home. I ordered him out and he freaked out about me having breakfast with Carlos. I explained that I knew he had cheated on me and that I never wanted to see him again. He went on about some antique bowl that he had given me. He collected the bowl after grabbing my arms and yelling at me. As a departing gift on his way out, he hit me."

"Oh my God Steph, we should go report this to the police."

Christie arrived a few minutes later, and she agreed with Molly. So our evening plans forgotten, we headed over to the campus police office. When they saw me, they asked if I'd like to make a formal complaint, and I replied, "As a matter of fact, no. I'd prefer to press charges. I did nothing to provoke this attack other than let him know that I was aware that he was cheating on me. He broke into my apartment and then assaulted me. He's pre-law and he knows full well that those things are illegal."

It took about an hour for them to process my complaints. They took photos, asked for statements, requested a bunch of other information, and by the time we left, it was already 8:30.

"Do you guys still want to go to Grifters, or would you rather a night in?" Christie asked.

Molly looked at me, but I wasn't going to let Ryan ruin what might turn out to be a fun night, so I said, "Let's go back to my place, change as fast as we can, cover up as much of my bruised face as possible, and go have some fun. I'm sure they serve food at this place, so we can just eat there."

We all agreed, and by 9:00, we were dressed, sufficiently made up for a dim lighted bar and made our way across town to the bar. When we first walked in, it took our eyes a few minutes to adjust to the dim lighting, but I didn't even have to look around before Carlos came and greeted me.

"Hey Stephanie, I'm really glad you were able to…" He stopped talking and was looking at me funny. "Why do you have a bruise on your face?"

I looked up at Carlos and saw concern written all over his face. I blushed for a second and then quietly replied, forcing him to lean closer, "Ryan didn't like us having breakfast, and when I explained who you were and why you were there in the first place, he got angry because I found out he was cheating on me. He blamed me for everything and left me with some bruises as a reminder that I am now better off without him. The irony is, he's pre-law, and he's going to have to find a new career because most law firms don't like to hire felons. I pressed charges against him for breaking into my apartment and assaulting me."

Carlos looked at me for a moment and then smiled. He leaned closer and said "I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I'm glad that you stood up for yourself. He doesn't deserve you, and his loss is everyone's gain." He said this so that only I could hear it, but his words warmed me and helped me acknowledge that I was better off without Ryan.

I pulled Molly and Christie closer and said, "Carlos, these are my friends Molly and Christie. They were the ones who encouraged me to go to the police."

Carlos looked at my friends and said, "Nice to meet you ladies. Come with me and I'll introduce you to some of my friends. They've been drinking for the last hour or two, so hopefully they'll be on their best behaviour."

We followed Carlos over to a table where five guys were sitting, talking and laughing. Carlos cleared his throat to get their attention and then said, "Guys, this is Stephanie, Molly and Christie. Stephanie is the one who had the misfortune of meeting me under unpleasant circumstances this morning." Carlos then said, pointing to each of the guys in turn, "Ladies, this is Tom, Jimmy, Lester, Bobby, and Vince."

Everyone shook hands in the most civilised manner, and once we finished, Tom, who was an extremely tall and handsome black man said, "Are you alright Stephanie, you look like you got into one hell of a fight. I'd hate to see the other guy."

I looked down and blushed before saying, "Actually, this is the handiwork of Ryan, my ex-boyfriend as of this morning. He didn't take kindly to being dumped. He even tried to lie to me and tell me that he hadn't cheated. I didn't believe him and when I told him so, he pushed me up against the wall, bruising my arms and then hit me before storming out."

Carlos looked angry, as did the rest of the guys. Lester was the first one to recover from hearing my story and said, "We should teach this guy a lesson. Nobody should hit a woman and get away with it, right Steve."

I was thrown by being called 'Steve', but replied anyway. "I have actually already been to the police station. I have pressed charges against him for breaking and entering and assault. He's pre-law, so that is going to cause him enough trouble as it is. He might even get thrown out of school.

"My only concern is that his family is very wealthy and influential in my neighbourhood. My mother loves Ryan, and I'm sure she'll find some way to blame me and try to talk me out of pressing charges. One way or another, he's out of my life, and I'm not going to look back."

"That's great Steve." Lester said, and then continued, "But I'd still love to kick his ass."

The other guys all nodded in agreement, but I shook my head and said, "Let's talk about something else. My girls and I didn't have time to eat before coming here, so we're starving and a little thirsty."

Carlos and Tom pulled some chairs over to the table for us while Vince went and grabbed a handful of menus from the bar. I was seated between Carlos and Christie and Molly was sitting beside Vince.

We sat around and chatted while we waited for our food and drinks to arrive, and the guys all explained their majors and what their summer plans were.

Carlos and Tom were majoring in Business Management, Vince was Pre-Law, Bobby was Pre-med, Jimmy was as of yet undecided and Lester was torn between Business Finance and Management.

"You see," Lester said, "I'm more interested in the financial side of business, but there are more ladies for me to interact with in the management side."

We all laughed at him and then Carlos asked, "What are you studying Steph?"

"I'm in a similar situation as Lester, but not because of the ladies. I am currently studying Business Finance as well as Marketing and Graphic Design. I've had to take on a few extra courses this year to keep up with both, but my student adviser says I have a natural ability in both areas, so why limit myself this early."

Next, Molly explained that she was majoring in Finance and then Christie said that she was majoring in Marketing and Finance.

When our food arrived, I noticed Carlos watching me carefully. He never said anything to me during the meal, but afterward, he leaned over and whispered "You are quieter when you're in public, but you do make those sounds whenever you eat. I'm a little bit disappointed that it wasn't something special for me, and a little turned on. If you can make those noises with food, what other kinds of noises can you make?"

I turned so red that Lester noticed and said, "Carlos, quit embarrassing the poor girl. It's bad enough that you've already traumatised her once today by ratting out her boyfriend."

I looked at Lester and laughed. When I caught my breath I replied, "What Carlos did today has probably saved me from a lifetime of misery. My mother already had us married in her mind. If I hadn't learned this news today, I'd probably have let her pressure me into an early engagement like she hopes will happen this summer. I can't thank him enough, even if his methods were a little bit clumsy."

Bobby spoke up for the first time in a while and said, "Then maybe you can help us Stephanie. Tom and Carlos have gotten it into their mind that they want to join the Army. The six of us have been friends since we were kids, and our ultimate goal is to start a security company. Tom and Carlos have it in their minds that they need to have proper military training in order to be able to provide adequate security services."

I looked at Tom and then at Carlos and comment after collecting my thoughts. "My father is retired Army, and he has worked a few contracts for a security company that used to be based in Trenton. Most companies of this type are run by ex-military, and this seems to be a prerequisite. You can probably learn a lot of the skills needed outside of the Army, but the prestige associated with an honourable discharge and a rank of some sort seems to go a lot further. I would never try to talk you out of enlisting, but make sure you do it for the right reasons, not just as a stepping stone for something else."

Every single one of the people at the table was staring at me with their mouths open. Tom was the first to recover, so he said, "I appreciate your candour Stephanie. I agree that joining the Army is a huge commitment that means more to me than just a means to an end. I come from a military family. Every male in my family has been in the Army, and when I expressed my wish to go to college instead, my family was very disappointed.

"I'm not trying to keep them happy by joining, it was always my intention to join, but I've seen too many men come out without any marketable skills, so I wanted a degree before I went in. I have one year left on my degree, but Carlos and I have discussed joining before our third year. We can always finish while in the army, but we haven't decided anything yet."

I glanced over at Carlos and saw an odd expression on his face. I couldn't really understand it, but it looked like he felt guilty and disappointed for some reason. I didn't have long to dwell on my thoughts because Vince piped up and asked, "Who wants to share some pitchers of beer?"

Most of us agreed, and Christie shocked Molly and me by offering to help. We looked at each other and smiled as Christie followed Vince to the bar. They talked while they waited, closely watched by the rest of us at the table. Lester noticed our expressions and said, "I take it that Christie is usually shy around strangers." We simply nodded, so he continued, "So is Vince. It kind of surprised me when he spoke earlier, and accepting help from a stranger is almost unheard of for him." We all laughed and left them to their task of fetching the beer.

Even before she met Ranger, Steph was a magnet for disaster. Let me know what you think. More to come when the reviews hit a special number.