University Round 3

Hi. It’s me again, Tank Grunt. You have come right in the middle of PT, so I hope you mind if I sweat a little while we talk.

Boy, it’s hard to believe that Junior year is almost over, and next year, Francis and I will be Seniors. It only seems like yesterday I was walking through that door and being greeted by this snobby guy who hated me. Well, I thought he hated me, anyway. Turns out, Francis ain’t so bad after all.

*listens to mumbling in the back ground*

“I don’t care if ‘ain’t’ is a word or not, Francis. Yeesh! Chill out a little, will you?”

*listens to more mumbling*

Don’t mind him. He’s trying to finish his term paper before Sarah shows up for their date.

The end of last year, Francis asked if I wanted to come spend the summer with him. He was heading out to his parents’ summer retreat and wanted me to tag along. I told him no, because I had just applied to a construction company. He asked why, because he knew I did not need money for school. Through the RoTC, everything was paid for.

“It’s not about grades or money,” I told him. I explained that I needed the money for to save up for the gym I wanted to open.

That’s when Francis got really quiet. He told me he’d been meaning to talk to me about that, and how he thought he could help me out. I told him straight up that I did not want charity from him. I wanted to do it on my own. Not that I wasn’t grateful that he’d thought about helping me, but still… you know?

Francis is not a man who takes rejection lightly so when he said “I see” in that quiet, terse voice of his, I knew I’d made a mistake. “What if it wasn’t charity? What if we were.. partners?”

What he explained then blew my mind. Francis would be my partner and financial backer, but only until the gym got off the ground and I could pay him back. Then it would be mine free and clear. “I was hoping we could start over this summer… partner,” he said hesitantly.

So that’s where we were at the beginning of Junior year… partners in a business venture. Grunt’s Gym. (That’s it in the picture, btw.) It’s got all the equipment you could ask for, plus a pool, sauna and massage parlor, and an eatery upstairs. And it’s mine. Francis and I spent the summer working out the details and getting the funding.

I have not told Dad yet. I do not know what I’m going to tell him. He wants me to follow him into the military but I like working at the gym. I like seeing people every day and helping them meet their fitness goals. It feels right that I do this.

It feels right that I do this, too.

Yes, that is Samantha Davidson, the girl I met at Francis’ cooking competition. We’ve been dating since the end of the summer and when I’m not at the gym or in class, I’m with her. She is everything I’ve ever wished for.

And she is also yet another thing I do not know how to tell Dad about. I love him dearly, but he is not going to like the fact that Samantha is part alien. You would not know it to look at her from a distance, but close, it is impossible to deny the her eyes, as black as onyx. I love looking into them and feeling the love we share reflecting back at me. But Dad… well, my father is full of prejudices and he simply will not understand.

I am so doomed either way. But I cannot – and will not – give either of them… my gym or my girl… up for anything.

Hello! Monica Bradford here. Ophelia is off taking a final so I’m going to give you the run down on what’s been happening here at the Tri-Fruhm house.

And this, of course, is my boyfriend, Vid. You know him, right?

I think Vid is pregnant. He mentioned something an alien abduction a while back and that is what happens when guys get abducted after all. Vid doesn’t talk about it much. I know he’s already got one alien son, whom I’m going to finally meet once finals are over and I graduate. I cannot wait!

Jessie is dating Max Flexor. Max is a friend of Johnny and Ripp’s. He’s cool and all, a little socially awkward though. We’re all secretly worried that Jessie is going to break his heart, because she goes through guys so fast. But for now, it seems like they are pretty into each other.

Since I’m graduating soon, the girls have to start looking for pledges. I don’t get much of a say in it, though, but I know that they are looking very closely at the Sophomore class and incoming Freshmen.

I can’t wait to find out who the next Tri Fruhm is!