Sophomore Year - Part 6, Christmas through Valentine's Day

I went home for Christmas break and was glad to see my mom back to her old piss and vinegar self again after her surgery. My brother Verne was still there. My sister Evie flew in from Notre Dame with her boyfriend Matthew whom I met when I went there last January. Mom was on her very best behavior since we had an out of town guest in the house that she had to impress, for he was a KEEPER. Read: potential son-in-law material.

Matthew

Matthew was and still is my mom’s favorite all time boyfriend of both Evie and mine. He was and is the end all and be all of boyfriends. He was and is perfect in all aspects. In her mind, Evie should have just married him and be done with it. Of course, Evie didn’t. We all failed miserably to measure up to near what my mom ever wanted us to be. Anyhow, back to why Matthew was so perfect. He was tall, 6 feet, two inches, with blue eyes, brown hair, and very genuine and direct. Oh and he was very smart, sexy and adorable. What was not to love?

Most importantly though, they shared with me what their summer was like working for Parchment Publishing last summer in North Carolina. Matthew was Evie’s manager while they both sold Bible books door-to-door. They had a blast, but it was hard work. The best thing was that it was away from home and mom. This year, Evie would manage me. It sounded wonderful to me, so I signed up for it as I had no prospects for the coming summer. I would receive a contract to sign and some Dale Carnegie books to read during this semester and I would look forward to getting those.

Mom managed to control herself and with Matthew around the holidays were relatively peaceful for a change. I wondered if he could visit during all of our holidays.

As the beginning of the second half of my sophomore semester neared, I made a pact that I would move through the independent study portion of organic chemistry as quickly as I could and then take the final right away and ace it. I would do this for two reasons, 1) so that I could get the A, and 2) so that I could focus on my other courses with the remaining time. I had complete confidence that I could do this because Dr. Silver told me I could. That was my plan.

I returned to Cayuga to my lovely suitemates and began my new classes. I began taking organic chemistry quizzes like there was no tomorrow. The material was so easy for me. It seemed as if all I had to do was read it once and I knew it. By Valentine’s Day I was halfway through the course and leading the class as far as progress by leaps and bounds. At this pace, I could be finished my mid March. But, on Valentine’s Day, there was a big showy card in my mail box. Who could have sent me this huge, romantic card with a big pinkish-red rose on it? I open the card and it is from Zach! My bodybuilder! It said that he missed me! He wanted me to call him! How sweet was that? I was so excited that I ran to the telephone in our suite to call him.

“Hello, this is Zach.”

“Hi Zach! It’s Sue! I got your Valentine’s Day card! I miss you too!”, I said with breathless excitement.

So it turned out that he got really sick with tonsillitis right after we got together too, then all kinds of shit happened in his life too, and then finals, then his holidays at home in Florida and here we are now ready to get back together again. He never forgot me! He said he really thought about me lots and couldn’t wait to come and visit me in Cayuga! I was so stoked to see him here. We made arrangements for him to visit me the following weekend. I just couldn’t wait to see him again.

Sophomore Year - Part 5, Remains of the Semester

I returned to Cayuga and a few days later I got a sore throat and my tonsils were swollen. I thought I’d better get them looked at, since I used to get tonsillitis often as a girl. So early the next morning, I trudged to the campus health center to see a doctor. They looked at my throat there, and my tonsils had patches of bluish stuff on them and they decided to quarantine me since I was the only one on campus with patches that color. I hadn’t even told my suitemates were I was going, and I wasn’t allowed to make phone calls. I was as good as kidnapped there. They started me on an antibiotic. Also, I needed my birth control pills or I was going to be big trouble since I had just had sex the past weekend. We had used a condom, but you never know. I begged the nurses to contact my suitemates, but they were less than friendly.

At least my bedside window had a lovely floor to ceiling view of the woods from the second floor of the modern health center and I could see the deer coming to feed at the fence. Towards evening, my suitemate Jan came with an overnight bag that had my birth control pills in it. I thanked her profusely and was so glad to see her. The nurse wouldn’t let her get too close though and she gave me a wave from the door. So there I sat for a few days. Swallowing became painful and difficult. The antibiotic didn’t seem to be working and they switched me to another one. The nurse wasn’t really bringing me my drugs on time. Okay, I know I am a stickler for things being on time, but it was getting to be about an hour late which I found hard to understand since I was right there in their fucking hospital, just a few steps away. I didn’t see what the problem was. It wasn’t like the place was full up with patients. I think there was only one other in the entire place.

One day, I got a roommate. I was so glad! Oh boy, someone to talk to. So, they moved her in and I couldn’t wait.

“Hi. I am Sue. I’ve got tonsillitis. What are you in for?”

“Look. I feel really sick and not like talking. Okay?”

Sheesh! There went that idea.

I was just so bored and I really had a craving for pizza. I was completely fed up with the nurses. So, against doctor’s orders and objections, I signed myself out. I walked back to my dorm and spoke with my suitemates. I asked them if they objected to my return with my bluish tonsils. Thank god they did not. We ordered pizza to celebrate.

I had missed about a week and a half of classes and had lots of work to make up.

In the meantime, we had morons pulling the fire alarms in our dorm in the middle of the night. No big deal you might say, but for us on the tenth floor, we had to walk the stairs all the way down, and then all the way back up. That happened three times. Twice with snow on the ground and the temps were in the teens.

Also, I experienced my first drugged beer when someone (who was it?) slipped me a mickey at a dorm party on my own floor. I heard the party and decided to go. It was just around the corner and I was welcomed in. Someone handed me a beer. I took one sip and felt woozy. I poured it out into the trash can full of ice where the keg was and headed back to my room.

I fell onto my bed and the room was spinning. I passed out about after ten horrible minutes of the spin cycle. That was from one sip. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had drunk more.

I was just hitting my academic stride again, when I got a call from my mother saying that they had found a lump on her thyroid and she was going for more tests. I freaked out. She said all of the comforting things, like that her doctor told her that if you could choose to have cancer this is the organ you would pick and that she was going to the best institution. But just the word “cancer” made me freak out. I was raised to hear it as a death sentence.

She went for tests and they found it to be a “cold” or dead nodule. They scheduled surgery and removed half of her thyroid on the same day that I had an invertebrate biology exam. I could not be there for her surgery, which my brother did go to help her with, but was so upset that I asked to miss the exam. This was allowed. I took it later in oral form, but could not concentrate and only got a C. I felt I knew the material far better than that. Too bad the test counted for so much of my grade.

My brother stayed home with her to help with her recovery. (Her health has been fine since then.)

That was all it took to throw me off my stride again academically, and I only got a B+ in organic chemistry. I never did manage to see Zach again that semester and I had given up hope that I ever would. Had he lost interest in me?

Sophomore Year - Part 4, Sex with the Bodybuilder

So, the very next weekend, I rode Greyhound to Ithaca and got off the bus at Myron Taylor Hall. It was a short walk to the fraternity where I was going to stay with my brother Verne. It was late afternoon on an atypically warm, Indian summer Friday and I had some time to kill, so I played some pool in the lobby. Verne arrived some time later and we had dinner together in the frat’s dining hall in the basement. Dinner was always delicious at the frat. I guess they just had a great cook.

Finally it was time to dress for the Zach's fraternity’s party. It was a bit more casual than the party last weekend, so I wore corduroys, that my new classy roomies made me buy, and a nice shirt. The frat was on the other side of campus, but I walked there briskly. The building was kind of modern and looked a bit more like a dorm than a fraternity. Zach was waiting for me and met me in the lobby.

He gave me the grand tour of the downstairs and then we went to the main room where the party was. He asked me what my drink was and I said that it was scotch, neat. Which it was.

I will digress and tell you how scotch, neat became my drink. When I was younger (13) and had braces on my teeth, they hurt quite a bit. Mom used to tell us to put some liquor on our gums to numb the pain. So we raided the liquor cabinet and the booze that worked the best was scotch. We only had the Four Roses brand (cough). Eventually, I found that drinking a shot really worked well, even better than rubbing it on your gums. I could drink a shot and not feel anything. So, when I came home from the orthodontist, I would head for the liquor cabinet and pour myself a finger or so of scotch and bottoms up; pain all gone. Well, after a while, I built up a tolerance for it and so I drank more. Let’s just say that I am very lucky not to be an alcoholic right now. Well, eventually mom found out when she had an adult male friend over who wanted a drink, but refused to drink alone. I piped up and said, “I’ll drink with you.” Everybody looked shocked, but I had a drink with him and it saved the day. That was many years ago, and we still talk about it. So as I got older, I used to show off my tolerance for scotch by downing a couple of shots. Of course that was the cheap shit that I was drinking. I had to learn to sip it when I grew up and was served the finer single malts.

Zach brought me a whole bottle of Crown Royal. He brought himself a beer. He poured me a shot and I reflexively downed it. I just wanted to sit back and look at him. He sure was a sight for sore eyes. He was so handsome; brown hair and eyes, kissable lips, lickable body. I just couldn’t wait to get him into the bedroom again. He had poured me another and without thinking I downed it. Fuck, I shouldn’t have done that I thought, but now it was too late. Now I had to be careful. I was only one hundred pounds and there is only so much that I can drink. But he right away poured me another. I just looked at it and smiled at him.

“That’s it for me doing shots for you Zach. This one I will sip, like a normal person.”

“Well, shoot, can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have to try all that hard tonight.” Then I winked at him and took a sip of my scotch. We made small talk for about an hour or so while I finished my drink. But then I was really bored with the party and just wanted to go to the bedroom with him and have sex. But how do you say that and not sound like a slut?

“Gee Zach, I feel really woozy, I think I need to lie down.”

“Oh, sure. You can lie down in my room.” Then he helped me up and led me to his room. I did feel a bit woozy, but not as much as I led on. But to my surprise, when we got there, he showed me the bed, and turned on his heel and left! That plan certainly fell flat. So there I was lying down by myself staring at the upper bunk which was occupied. But who was up there?

Some moments later someone else came into the room, a male, from the voice and hopped into the upper bunk. There was much giggling and rhythmic motion going on up there, causing the whole bed to squeak. It would be speculation at best to guess what was going on. Far be it for me to stoop to that level. But when they were done, they spoke in hushed tones.

“Who is that in the lower bunk?”

“Zach’s girl. She’s passed out.”

“Do you think she’d notice if I did her?”

“Zach would find out and be pissed.”

“Fuck! You ruin everything.”

“Shhhh. Go to sleep.”

That was the last I heard from them, so I guess they fell asleep. I guess I did too. Some time later, Zach woke me up. He was already naked and kissing me. He had begun to undress me. I tried to help him but my limbs were being less than responsive and felt like lead. Maybe I had been drunker than I thought. I wanted him so badly. His body was so huge and beautiful to look at; I couldn’t believe we were going to have sex.

But, his penis was not all that big, smaller than Tom’s, so it would be okay. He put the condom on and entered me with a really strong thrust that lifted me right off the bed and banged my head on the sheet rock wall. He said he was sorry and asked if I was okay and I replied that I was. So, he grabbed my waist and lifted me back down on the bed and held my hips stationary in the air as he thrust in and out, so as not to beat me senseless against anything.

Fuck, he was so strong, the size of his cock meant nothing; it was his shear strength of his body beating against my clitoris and lifting me into the air that got me off. Plus that growling, grumbling urgent breathing he had that was such a turn on. He was a complete animal in bed. My only regret is that I was too drunk to respond the way I would have liked. I was so much more passive than I usually am. Oh well, he seemed to enjoy himself and came really quickly. We slept holding each other all night.

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and upon seeing Zach, I wanted to have sex again. But he was shy because his roommate was there and could wake up at any moment. It couldn’t be helped I guess. We decided to go out to the green and talk, where we could have a bit of privacy. We got dressed quietly and snuck out. We found a nice sunny spot and lay out on the warming grass. The first thing I did was lean over and kiss him. He kissed me back. He said that he really wanted to see me again and how great the sex was. I said that I loved the sex too. He added though, that he didn’t want our relationship to be exclusive because we lived too far away and wouldn’t be able to get to see each other often enough. I had to agree that this was the problem with Tom and me. I had no evidence, but thought that Tom was cheating on me. (It turned out later that he had – he had a weekday girlfriend, just like Eddie said that he would.) So that is what I told Zach and I agreed to it. I think Zach was a bit surprised and expected a big fight or melt down and that is why we moved outside. We both agreed that we could see other people and were at peace with it. We smiled at each other. I noticed a big hole in his jeans right at mid thigh. I put my fingers in and tickled his lightly hairy, but heavily muscled thigh, reaching upwards towards his groin.

“You women are never satisfied!” Then he grabbed my hands and pushed me down underneath his huge meaty body and kissed me. He wasn’t helping. We both giggled. I wanted him again more than ever. God he was so fucking hot.

Zach photo credits: Unnatural Devotions

Naked Chest photo credit: Completely Naked Images

Sophomore Year - Part 3, The Bodybuilder

It was about mid-semester and I went up to Cornell to visit Tom again on a Friday night. I hung out at the Frat, playing pool with my brother and waiting for Tom to show up. He was uncharacteristically late. He strolled in around 10 pm and we went upstairs together. We stripped unceremoniously and he got on top of me and banged away until he was done, rolled off and went to sleep. It was completely unromantic and I felt as if we had been married for years. He sure wasn’t interested in talking about it the next day. His attitude was that I was expecting too much from him. I was pretty angry and voiced my displeasure.

That Saturday night, there was a big party at another Fraternity and I decided to go alone. I put on my best slacks and a pretty blouse, both of which I had invested in since I met my new classy roomies, and hit the party. This frat had way cooler guys than the one my brother belonged to. The frat house itself was Tudor in style. Most of the guys dressed in a preppie way and looked like they came from old money or better. I felt pretty because girls who attend Cornell are notoriously unattractive. So, I drew quite a bit of attention which was nice for a change. Cute guys were actually scoping me out!

I danced with a few guys, but this shorter body builder one really caught my eye. His name was Zach. I just wanted to touch him, his body was so entrancing. Even though he was wearing long sleeves, I could see that he was really muscular. It was obvious to me that he had done some bodybuilding. His thighs looked so thick; I just wanted to see him with his clothes off. I had never dated a bodybuilder before and was really curious. He was into me too and it didn’t take long for us to leave the party together and head to a dorm room that he had set aside in case he met someone that night.

As soon as we got into the room we began kissing furiously. He was like an animal in that his breathing became hard right away and there was a sense of urgency in all his moves. He undressed me with vigor, standing behind me and unzipping my slacks, unbuttoning my blouse. It was such a turn on. His breathing made a constant growling, grumbling noise that added an animalistic sensation to our encounter. His body was amazing. His chest was so broad and muscular, his thighs were solid muscle. I just wanted to face him and adore his naked body, the like of which I had never seen in real life before. To run my hands up and down his warm flesh and feel his huge muscles as they flexed would have been fantastic. My hands were so tiny compared to his larger muscle groups, which were so hard, like stone, but warm. He laid naked beneath me with his erection in my ass crack and played with my body as no one had before. I could feel his whole muscular body flex beneath me. He breathed in my ear roughly and had one hand on my nipple and the other one was working busily on my crotch. Every now and then his gentle kisses turned to playful, but painful bites. He claimed to have honed his technique on older women in his mom’s club in Florida. Thus he brought me to levels of ecstasy previously unknown to me. I squirmed with delight as he pleasured me. This growling and passionate animal of solid muscle beneath me, my god he was just so hot! He was like an orgasm ride, put in a quarter and get the ride of your life. But I did not have sex with him, because at that time I didn’t do that on the first date. He would only have been my second lover. Silly me.

So, I stayed the night. I used to enjoy lying curled up across his chest, around pec level with his arms circling me. But mostly we slept like spoons. He told me that there was a party the following weekend and could I come to that and I said absolutely. I was happy that we were going to see each other again so soon. He did not have all of the athletic obligations that Tom had, so we could see each other far more often.

The next morning I got dressed and it was time to go. I kissed Zach good bye but I really didn’t want to leave. He put his jeans and a shirt on and offered to walk me back to the frat. He walked me part way but was wary of going in since I had told him that my boyfriend was there and he didn’t like the idea of being beat up. So, we said our good byes again. I hugged that wide muscular body. God, I was going to miss that. I walked into the frat and who did I see on my way in? Tom. There I was in my last night’s outfit walking back in again and there was Tom. The message was clear. Our relationship was over. Tom didn’t look too upset and I sure wasn’t. I said my good byes to Verne and told him I would be up next weekend.

Zach Photo credit: Unnatural Devotions

Sophomore Year - Part 2, Organic Chemistry Lab

In the laboratory section of organic chemistry I had Dr, Swinehart. He was rather aptly named, although his name should have been 'swineheart', because he was truly a pig at heart. He was just a dirty old man. He would sidle up to all the pretty girls in the lab; it was pretty disgusting if you ask me. But he was harmless. He was also your typical absent minded professor who was close to retirement age.

Thus, he had trouble taking attendance. There were three young men who had an agreement where only one would show up to lab per week, and that one would say, "Here!" when for all three names. Dr. Swinehart never caught on. Their favorite trick to play on him was to throw a pellet of metalic sodium in a sink behind him while he was leaning on it so it would explode and he would jump. Very funny.

I used to love organic lab because of the glassware. We all received a brand new kit when we entered class. It was so pretty and functional.

A typical organic chemistry glass ware kit

At first I was intimidated, but that soon passed and then I was just having a good old time. I used to love trying to discover what unknowns were by purifying them. (Of course I had already prepared them on my job with the chemistry department.) I followed all the prescribed analytical steps and then finally got to the pretty crystals at the end on top of the filter paper on top of the Buchner funnel. It was always so rewarding.

A buchner funnel

Dr. Swinehart also taught us to use the gas chromatograph in our lab.

A gas chromatograph. Note the tank of hydrogen to the left.

We ran some samples through it and then were supposed to find out what they were and tell him. So there I was running an unknown and standing in front of the gas chromatograph and next to the tank of hydrogen when he comes up and traps me there with his body (he was tall and bulky), points to the three peaks on the paper and says, "This one is benzene, this is toluene, and that is xylene." Then he walks away. A few minutes later, my trace is finished and I remove it from the feeder and then next student is ready to use the machine. So I walk to the front of the lab and hand him my trace. He says, "Please identify the three peaks."

I say, "This one is benzene, this is toluene, and this is xylene."

He says, "That is amazing! How did you know that?"

I said, "Dr. Swinehart, you just told me what they were."

He got a puzzled look on his face. "How are you doing in the lecture part of this class?"

"I think I am going to get an A."

"Oh. I guess I'd better be thinking about giving you a better grade here then."

Then I looked puzzled. What was he thinking?

The other thing about organic chemistry is the other students used to bug me because I knew what their unknowns were. So, when they finished identifying them, they would come up to me to see if they got them right. I usually gave them a head shake or some other subtle indicator. The ones who were wrong were usually so far off, it was a lost cause. The professors thought that since I worked for the chemistry department I needed a real challenge and they spent their time concocting unknowns that would puzzle me to no end. Boy did they; I was never able to identify one. But, I still got a B+ in the lab section of organic chemistry.

Sophomore Year - Part 1, Back to Cayuga

Sophomore year was life changing for me. But we will get to that later. Anyhow, I was really excited to meet my new roommates and see Colleen again. The twin towers dorms were really new and posh and I was in tower B on the 10^th floor. I took the elevator up to that floor with my green duffle bag and everyone was already there. It was a four person suite, with the common room in the middle, a bedroom off to the left, which Colleen and I would share, and one off to the right, which her friends from New York City would share. We had our own bathroom in the front of the suite. Between the NYC gals, we had a fridge and television and it was just like living in a small apartment with all the comforts of home. The gals from NYC were Jan and Amy and they were very pretty and worked at keeping up their appearances as far as how they dressed and that they wore make up. But they were really down to earth and likable.

I gave Colleen a huge hug and told her how much I missed her last term. We were all so happy as we left together to go eat at the dining hall. I couldn’t wait to begin my new classes.

The class I remember the most from that term was organic chemistry. I sat in the middle of the huge stadium seating classroom as the professor, Dr. Silver, announced that the class would be independent study. All of the students groaned. I thought, what is wrong with that? I can work at my own pace, not be slowed down by others, and if I need more explanation or time, I can get it. But it was a bit daunting to think of learning such a difficult subject all by myself. But I thought I would give it the old college try. After all, there were tutors made available to us. We were given Morrison and Boyd as our text and the curriculum was broken into chapters of the text. The first segment was the first chapter of the book. To complete a segment you had to take a quiz and get at least 80% correct on it. Completion of all the segments assured you a B in the course, then you could better that mark by taking the final.

So, that was my mission. Finish the first segment over the weekend at Cornell, and take the quiz on Monday. I felt bad leaving my roomies on the first weekend back at school, but Tom was free and he was going to be very busy this fall with regattas so I couldn’t be too choosy.

So Saturday morning at Cornell, I went to the Myron Taylor Law Library to study.

I am reading Morrison and Boyd and it makes sense to me. It is logical. This is the first time in my life that chemistry makes sense to me. There I sat in this beautiful wood paneled law library with high ceilings and chandeliers and it is extremely quiet and I am having an epiphany. Chemistry makes sense to me. Organic chemistry makes sense to me. I quickly flip forward through the upcoming chapters of the book. Alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, all of it make sense now. It all makes sense. I can learn this. I can do this. I can know this. I kind of feel like know this already because it is so logical. All you have to understand is that carbon can hold 4 covalent bonds and take it from there. That is the key to all of organic chemistry. Everything clicks into place. I finish quickly and head back to the fraternity. I am ready for the quiz. I feel high.

Tom shows up late and we go upstairs. We undress and he makes love to me in an uninspired fashion. He just hops on and pumps away until he is done. It is good for me, because I am easily satisfied, but it is not quite what it was. Something is missing. I decide not to mention it to him. Sunday, I return to Cayuga.

Monday comes and I take the quiz and get 100%. Guess I was right. I did know it. I take the next 3 quizzes in quick succession and two more 90%’s and a 100%. During the third quiz, Dr. Silver comes and sits in front of me and sings, “Mares eat oats and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy, kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?” It was a bit unnerving. When I finished, he graded it himself and handed it back to me.

“You know, you could really do something in this class if you applied yourself.” he said.

I just kind of looked at him. I wasn’t sure what he expected of me.

He continued. “You are smarter than most of the kids in here and have a real talent for organic chemistry. Don’t be afraid to show it.” The he nodded, got up and left.

I was puzzled. This was the first time a college professor had given me positive feedback and I didn't know what to make of it or what do with it. It helped my self esteem a bit though.

Freshman Year - Part 19, Tom Visits LI

Tom took the train to come visit me on Long Island. Mom and I drove in to Pennsylvania Station to pick him up and I spotted him right away. I ran up to greet him and then introduced him to mom, who had never met him. He was kind of disheveled from the long train ride, and I could relate since it took about as long as my bus ride did. So we took him home with us and let him have a shower before dinner.

The big difference between staying at his parents’ house and my mom’s house is that we were both staying in my room. It was just really cool to go up there and see his stuff with mine. Mom’s room is on the first floor way on the other side of the house, and my room is on the second floor on the opposite side. So there was lots of privacy for us. We also had our own little bathroom on the second floor.

So in the house were myself, Tom, and mom. Dad was living with his second wife in Massapequa, Evie was off selling Bible books with her boyfriend, and Verne was up at Cornell working at the green houses. Mom was just all over Tom. She was so taken by his looks and physique. It was so embarrassing. She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously at him, and squeezed his muscles and said things like, “Gee Susie, I’m not sure you even know what to do with a man like Tom.” I was mortified. I gave him credit; he smiled and tried not to look too uncomfortable.

Mom cooked a fabulous late dinner, as usual, which we ate with gusto. Bed time came soon after that, and mom went off first. Tom and I retired soon after.

We went up to my room and undressed. My old bed was only a twin size, very soft and had kind of squeaky frame. So we decided to make love on the carpeted floor. It was pretty warm up on the second floor. Actually it was darn hot as well as muggy. Long Island is known for its humidity. We didn’t really realize just how hot and muggy until we got to moving around a lot.

Tom was on top of me doing his usual job of fucking me good, supporting himself on his hands and moving his hips up and down, when his sweat started to drip on me. First it came off his nose and onto my face, then it ran down his body and into his pubes and then onto my exposed areas around where his penis was going in and out of me. That is where it stung. Where there was friction was where it stung. I was also sweating as evidenced by pools between my breasts and on the hollow just below my sternum. The sex was still pleasant enough to continue, but it made me more aware of how much work it was for him, having his sweat drip on me in the overly hot room.

Afterwards, we took some wet washcloths and wiped ourselves off real well because a shower would have woken up mom. Boy those cool clothes felt pretty refreshing.

The next day, mom dropped us off at the train station in Jamaica, Queens so that we could spend a day in New York City visiting the Cloisters. We took the F train into NYC and transferred to the A train and rode up to the Cloisters. The Cloisters is dedicated to the art of medieval Europe between 1200 and 1500 AD and really is a must see for anyone visiting the New York area. Vintage buildings were collected from places like Spain and Italy and reassembled to create the museum so it is as if one is transported to Europe and back in time when one visits there. That and the relatively building free vistas of the Hudson River and Palisades and landscaped park like settings add to the experience.

The collection is astounding and includes tapestries, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, and works in precious metals such as gold. Here are some examples of what Tom and I saw:

There really is much more there, and you can visit their wonderful website to see what else they have and the descriptions of what we saw.

We had a glorious time there and then had to make our way back to Long Island in the late afternoon. So, we walked back to the A train. As the train passed through Harlem, three Latina ladies got on our car. Tom inspected them way too closely for a native New Yorker. Then he turned to me, pointed at them and said as if he was announcing it to the whole train car, “Sue, look at the whores!”

They gave us an angry look that said they were going to cut us but good if we didn’t move along quickly. So, I grabbed Tom’s shirt and pulled him with me into the next train car. He stuttered, “What? What did I do?”

We just kept moving forward in the train until I was sure they were not following us. God, he was such a rube.

Freshman Year - Part 18, Summer Break

Summer at home with my mother was a nightmare. I should have known. Of course my brother and sister were way too smart to be home over the summer. My brother stayed up at Cornell, working at the green houses and my sister was off selling bible books with her boyfriend. It was just me, home alone with Mom. Good old “pound the pavement” mom. That’s what she used to say. “Get out there and pound the pavement.” And so I did.

I found a little job working as a poolside cocktail waitress at a local hotel. I used to commute to my job on my bicycle. That job is well described in Bookfield, Part 2 of the section on Sales School. Anyhow, my mom used to sum it up by saying that my Evie was bringing people to God and I was bringing them to the devil.

So with my mom making my life at home a nightmare, I was really glad when the time came for me to go to Buffalo to visit Tom. I took a Greyhound Bus the whole way there, the ride took about 7 hours, and he and his mom picked me up at the station in Buffalo. I was exhausted and needed a shower. They lived around 20 minutes from the station in a brick house in the suburbs of town.

His mother had short up swept curly graying hair and was wearing a polyester suit that she had been to work in. She was the power in the family that was for sure. She directed everyone as to what to do and when to do it. “Tom get that hon, Dad help with her with that there, Sue so nice to meet you, let’s all have dinner now…” and on and on. She took charge of everything. They had an old fat grey poodle named snoopy that was Tom’s when he was a boy. I had never had a dog growing up. Snoopy was a great dog in my eyes. They never clipped him, so one would never guess that he was a poodle. He was just fat and shaggy and soft. He came to my bed that night and I slept with him. It was my first time sleeping with a dog. I loved it. Tom was not allowed in my room by his conservative parents. That was okay with me, I was pretty tired. Besides, I had the dog in my bed.

In the morning, his mom came and woke me up. She laughed when she saw me sleeping with Snoopy. At breakfast she said, “Sue has never had the dog experience.” Everybody laughed politely as if on cue.

Tom and his dad might as well have been invisible. Tom’s Mom was the only one who was alive in this house. It was kind of strange actually. Was I supposed to fill her shoes? I couldn’t see myself doing that. What was weird was how Tom just shut down when he was home and waited for cues from his mom to join the conversation. Maybe he was like that all the time and I never noticed.

We toured Buffalo, driven around by Tom’s mom. I got to see the club where he learned to row in eights and where he first competed. His mom continued to be the tour director, even there.

We weren’t left alone often and when we were we only made out. Tom just couldn’t get up the nerve to have sex in his parents’ house even though the opportunity did present itself.

Maybe it all comes down to that when we go home, we become children again. We fill our childhood roles. Maybe that was what was happening to Tom. Whatever it was, it gave me pause. That was what was on my mind all the way home on the Greyhound.

Freshman Year - Part 16, End of the Year

In my campaign to promote détente with my roommates, I arranged a drug buy for them. I used my acquaintance with some of Colleen’s equal opportunity students who used their stipends to buy drugs to sell on campus. I contacted one of them and put them in touch with Tiffany. Tiffany bought some opiate hash from him which she and Nancy enjoyed immensely. Or so they told me. Oh, boy. Now we were really buddies. I just couldn’t wait for the semester to end.

I visited Tom once more at Cornell before the end of the semester. Before then I had had a kind of a pregnancy scare. My menses are very irregular. There, now I get you never figured you would ever know information like that about me! This is a bad thing if you are trying to keep track of whether or not you are pregnant. Tom and I were only using condoms. So, I was really late one month, which was turning into six weeks actually. They didn’t have the quickie tests back then like they do now. So I was sitting around sweating bullets and worrying. Finally, I got my period. So, when I saw Tom I told him about my close call and he suggested that I go on the pill. I had already come to that conclusion myself thank you very much. The one hold up for me was that then my mom would have to know, because she made the doctor’s appointments. How embarrassing.

So, I had to go home and say to my mom, “Mom, I need to go to the doctor and go on the pill.”

She just kind of looked at me with resignation on her face and said, “Okay, honey, I don’t want to know, but I will make you an appointment. I just want to picture you in your white dress at your wedding and not know anything else. Okay?”

So I had to go to our family doctor and lie on his examining table with my feet up in the stirrups while he shoved his hand up into me and felt around in there and I had no idea what he was looking for. Like maybe he had lost his wedding band. Oh, he was wearing gloves. Needless to say, I did not enjoy this experience at all. But it was to be repeated annually throughout my life. I promised myself that I would get a female gynecologist when I was an adult. But, in the end I got the prescription for the pill and filled it at the pharmacy across the street from my house.

I realize now, that I could have gone to the health service right on campus and gotten the pill, but that was made less obvious in 1975 than it seems to be these days. Thank goodness for modern times.

Tom and I made love again and it was as good as the last time. We were both on a learning curve and discovering what our bodies could do together. It was all very exciting. He would pump away with his fit and toned body and I would orgasm. Oh god, he felt so good! Sometimes I felt like I died and went to heaven. Then I would wake and be on the stairs back up to nirvana again and again…. I was reaching my point of blissful oblivion more quickly and frequently each time with Tom. It was a good thing too, because we would only make love the one time when we were together and that was it. We tried other positions, but Tom preferred missionary. I figured let the man do what he does best. What the hell, I was getting off more than once any way.

I was way too young to be falling deeply into love and I knew it. I loved Tom, and he said that he loved me, but that was the extent of it. It wasn’t like we were going to get married or anything. We were having a great time together and that was it.

Did I mention that Tom was a mamma’s boy? He used to call his mother every other day. I thought it was strange, but there it was. We made plans for me to visit him at his home in Buffalo, New York, and then for him to visit me on Long Island over the summer break.

Towards the end of the semester, I remember studying for finals while lying out in the sun in my blue and white checked bikini. I got a slight burn on my chest that day. I was thinking about freshman chemistry and how it made no sense to me whatsoever. I found it completely illogical and I just didn’t get it. That could explain why I got a C- in the course. Anyhow, I questioned my being in college at all. I didn’t really like my major (biology) that much so far and I really hated all of the other courses, except for English, and I had no friends and the roommates from hell. So far my college experience was kind of a bust. I just couldn’t see what kind of employment I could get out of this education.

But I was willing to give it another year because I knew that some of those things would change in my sophomore year. I would be rooming with Colleen and her girlfriends in the brand new twin towers dorms and I would have all new courses. So it would be instant friends and fresh fodder for the brain. Hope springs eternal and I decided to stay on at Cayuga.

Freshman Year - Part 15, We Get It Right

Life went on at Cayuga pretty much a usual without my virginity. I continued to attend my classes and the weather heated up during the spring. I had to collect some vertebrates for my vertebrate biology class. So while walking around campus one day, I saw a huge Eastern garter snake sunning itself on a rock.

I squatted down slowly for a closer look and then in a flash made my move to catch it. I grabbed it right behind its head so that it could not bite me. While not poisonous, this snake could have given me a bite that would have bled and left two small puncture scars. It would have hurt too. The damn thing was powerful. It wrapped around my bare arm and shit all over me trying to get me to let it go. But I was resolute and not going to let go. I had nothing to put it in though. So I walked directly to the science wing to release it into a tank we had set up for such captures.

Once released into the tank, I could examine it more closely. It had to be nearly four feet long! The girth was also astounding and there was a large healed scar on the dorsal side, probably from a lawn mover. I was impressed with my catch. It sure was a great size for dissection. I washed the snake shit off of myself and grinned. I felt like the proud hunter with my catch.

We also went electro fishing for that class. We put on rubber waders and went into a bubbling stream with metal rods hooked to a generator and charged the stream with electricity. The poor stunned fish just floated to the surface where we netted them. Fishing sure was easy this way. We got some beautiful good sized trout too!

Later in the season I caught a baby Eastern garter snake which I decided to keep as a pet in a plastic box under my bed and feed earthworms as it was too small for dissection and way too cute. I made sure to show it to my roommates. They were predictably disgusted. I was pleased as punch to give them another reason to fear my side of the room. I released it back into the wild at the end of the semester telling it it had done its job well.

The exams for vertebrate biology were nerve wracking. The professor would lay out the wax dissection trays one per desk with the small animal corpses in position and one or more pin in an organ, tissue, muscle or bone that we were to identify. One student was assigned to each desk. A small alarm clock was set for a few minutes and the test began. You had those few minutes to identify the part the pin was in before the alarm went off and then you were to move to the next desk. It was killer.

Wax dissection tray with black wax

Tick, tick, tick, tick… RRRRRRRRRRRrrrriiiinggggggggg! Move. Identify. Tick, tick, tick, tick... RRRRRRRRRRRrrrriiiinggggggggg! Move. Identify. Tick, tick, tick, tick… RRRRRRRRRRRrrrriiiinggggggggg! Move. Identify. Tick, tick, tick, tick… RRRRRRRRRRRrrrriiiinggggggggg! Move. Identify. Get the picture? That went on until the exam was over. You just had to hope that none of the students moved the pins. The smell of formaldehyde was pervasive. You would leave the room and your breath would reek of it. God forbid you wouldn’t know what something was. What a nightmare. It was like one needed a sedative to take the exams!

The part could be from any vertebrate, a fish, an amphibian, a reptile, a bird or a mammal. Also, the animal could be any size. Once, the sternum of an ostrich was used alone without any other parts of the bird. Boy, I didn’t get that one but some people did. But vertebrates was relatively easy as courses go. I think I got a B+ in it.

Tom couldn’t see me for a couple of weeks as rowing competitions were taking up quite a bit of his time. But we arranged to get together finally. I took the bus to Cornell and we spent the day at Fall Creek Gorge. Just like when we were at Cascadilla, we hiked down to the water at the base of the falls where one could go in if it were warmer out. The great thing about hiking with Tom is that there were lots of excuses to hold hands, like traversing precariously over tipsy rocks with unsure footings. Sometimes I would inadvertently fall into him and oops! Pardon me, was that you there? Of course he played along. He knew my game and was so into it. Although we enjoyed each others’ company immensely, we both couldn’t wait until later.

Later that day, we went to the Herbert F. Johnson Museum. There was a wonderful exhibition of static metal sculpture that moved and made sound in the basement exhibit area. For example, there was a large square base, about 15 by 15 feet, with different heights and widths of metal rods rising from it and if you touched one, it vibrated off of the others creating a wonderful sound, not unlike a piano soundboard. It was as if you threw a pebble into a pond; sending reverberations further into the water. I could play in that room for hours. Tom and I amused ourselves there and then moved up to the permanent Asian collection. I loved Asian art, even then. The view from the top floor of the museum was exquisite. There was a band of windows that covered three sides of the top floor. There was quite a vista from which one could see the neighboring valleys, Cayuga Lake and any weather fronts that happened to be making their way into the area. Once I sat and watched a thunder and lightening storm move in and it was the most dramatic thing I have ever seen.

Tom had arranged a dorm room for us to use that night instead of a room at the fraternity. Compared to our night in my dorm room, Tom was kind of suave. We hugged upon entering the room and he promised me a different sort of experience. We began to undress while we kissed and made out. He told me how much I turned him on and I loved hearing it. Finally naked, he donned a condom and turned to me. He embraced me standing, his lubed erection poking my belly since he was taller. He kissed me deeply as we slid into the bed. He used his legs to spread mine and without using his hands he entered me like a pro. He was much smoother now and it felt much better to me too. He began to fuck me at a pretty regular pace and after a while I got into it and it began to feel pretty good. Then it began to feel really good. Then I started to get excited and hot and really turned on. I started to moan uncontrollably and buck up a bit with my hips. Tom seemed to like that and responded by quickening his pace too. Oh god, I thought to myself, I think I am going to cum! The next thing I knew I was cumming! I couldn’t help it, but I cried out something unintelligible and in between a scream and a moan. Oh god, it felt so fucking good to feel my body responding to his! I just didn’t want it to stop. Tom was making me feel so good! I began to say, “Tom, don’t stop!” I must have repeated myself a million times, but he came by then and it was all over.

He looked up and had a sheepish grin on his face. “That was better than the first time wasn’t it?”

“Oh god, yes!”

He smiled proudly. I just wanted to do it again. But I knew that men don’t work that way and it would take time before we could do it again.

Freshman Year - Part 14, The Deflowering

Tom

Tom managed to get a ride to Cayuga campus with a pal and I met him in my dorm’s lobby. We hugged and kissed hello in full view of the dorm president whoever else just happened to be standing around. Tom recognized the pres from my description and shot him a dirty look, which was noticed. I noted that Tom was taller than the dorm pres. It was so great to have Tom with me at school! Then with Tom’s arm around my shoulder we walked up the stairs to my room. I couldn’t wait for my roomies to meet Tom and see how gorgeous he was.

My roomies were in and both were very impressed to meet Tom as far as I could tell. Frankly, I think they were shocked that I could get such a cool and hunky guy. They always hung out with such losers. I took Tom out for a personally guided “tour” of campus that included all of the secluded make-out spots, of course. I made sure there were many of those, you know, hidden niches in between buildings, groves of trees, and twists in paths not visible to the public. Together we enjoyed all of those. Oh god, it was so hot, as if we had never been together before. We kissed with wet sloppy kisses. He had really improved his technique in that area. He reached into my coat and grabbed my breast; his thumb stroked my nipple which became erect quickly at his touch. We pressed our bodies together as I tried to see if he had an erection yet, and he did, though it was tough to tell through all of his clothes and mine. He ground his pelvis against me. I responded firmly to give him pressure back that he needed. Yikes! We needed to get a room! But we wouldn’t have one until tonight and that was hours away. We ended up hugging each other and making promises about what we would do later.

We went downtown for dinner to a little Italian place called Joe’s. They had the best red clam sauce on angel hair pasta so that is what we both had. The décor in Joe’s was right out of the 50’s. The walls were upholstered with worn gold vinyl and had buttons here and there and the booths were Formica with shiny red vinyl upholstered seats. It was quite a place.

There was a dance with some no name rock and roll band in the student union that night and Tom and I were planning to go. I was really excited because I didn’t usually go to these things with a date. Now I had a real live man to go with. We walked in and I felt like all eyes were on me and Tom. Actually they were. I saw Dwayne and Eddie. Eddie’s jaw just about hit the floor when he saw I was with Tom. I thought, that’s right Eddie, I’m with this big white handsome stud. Tom and I didn’t dance much, and the “music” made it pretty difficult, so we just hung around. But it was really cool and fun just to be there with my man and make an impression and be seen as a couple. I felt like that added to my identity somehow, but I wasn’t sure why. Finally it was time to go back to my dorm, so we left to walk home.

It was a frosty night, but our hormones kept us raging warm all the way back to the dorm. We entered and raced up the stairs to the room. My roomies were there and we asked them to leave as previously arranged. They did as asked cheerfully, but with conspiratorial looks that made me suspicious. But hey, who was I to complain? They were doing what I asked, but I didn’t trust them. I locked the door, but they had keys. I mentioned my distrust to Tom, but he didn’t thing they would dare do anything on our special night.

We turned off all the lights but one small one by the bed. We began by kissing. I felt nearly out of control with lust. It was all I could do to calmly remove my clothes and his as he helped. He was erect now, oh boy. I kissed his nipples as he fished for the condom. He had gone for one of the lubricated ones and as he opened it, the lube just went everywhere and made a huge mess.

He said, “They’re not farting around when they say lubricated, are they?”

I laughed and he put the condom on. I got down on my back and he kissed me on the mouth. He looked into my eyes and put a hand on his penis to help guide it into me. He looked down to make sure and seemed uncomfortable in the position. Just then, my roommates decided to pound on the door and make a general commotion. Great fucking timing!

“Fuck!” exclaimed Tom. “Those retards! I hate your fucking roommates!”

He lowered his head down next to mine as if defeated. We just lay there until their din stopped. I must say this, at least Tom’s erection didn’t quit.

More determined than ever, Tom entered me. I was a virgin, but it didn’t hurt at all and there was no blood. Must have been all that horse back riding as a kid. Tom never seemed to get comfortable with the position or the motion, to be honest it never did feel quite right to me either, and after a few minutes he gave up in frustration. He sighed and said, “Did you come?”

“No. Did you?” I asked, though I knew he hadn’t.

“No.”

A bit of time passed and then he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Those damn roommates of yours.”

“Yeah. I want to try again sometime soon. How about you?”

“Definitely!”

Then we kissed and slept. I was pretty disappointed. I knew for sure that sex just had to be better than this. We were just beginners and didn’t know what we were doing. The next morning, Tom had to leave early to make it to a regatta. I couldn’t even face my roommates. Of course they would tease me. I just had to put on the, oh, of course we had a wonderful night of sex face. I did, but it wasn’t easy.

Cornell's Heavy Weight Men's 8 Rowing Shell

Later that day after Tom left for his regatta, I ran into Eddie at the dining hall. He came and sat down with me, which was unusual because since Colleen left he never paid any attention to me.

“So, where is that big stud I saw you with the other night?”

Eddie

“Oh, you must mean Tom. He went off to a regatta today. He doesn’t go to school here. I only see him on weekends.” I replied.

“That’s cool. So you are free now?”

“Huh?”

“Free for me to hang with.”

“What? Oh, I guess.”

I had no idea what Eddie was talking about. But he followed me around and back to my dorm. Once in my room, he sat on my bed and looked directly at me with those beautiful big green eyes and bounced up and down and said, “Hum. This could be nice. Couldn’t it?” Then he winked at me suggestively.

Finally I understood what he was getting at. He wanted to sleep with me. “Eddie. No. What makes you think that I would sleep with you?”

“Well in my neighborhood, they say that if a woman is giving it up to one man, why wouldn’t she give it up to two?”

“It is called fidelity Eddie. I am going to be faithful to Tom.”

“Are you sure about that Sue? How do you know that he will be faithful to you?”

“What a silly question. Of course he will.”

“Well, you only see him one day a week. What is he going to do for the other 6? What are you going to do for the other 6?”

“Be faithful.”

“Uh huh. Okay. But don’t say I didn’t offer.”

I stood to show him out as I had to leave anyhow. He walked out ahead of me and god his ass was gorgeous. I bit my lip to stop myself from calling him back. He had been with so many ladies, I was sure he could get me off with out any problem. I cursed myself for almost being weak and let him go.

Photo Credits:

Eddie: So Slowly

Tom: Stunning Sexy Guys