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Jen and DJ said their goodbyes to one another and went their separate ways. He had not seemed too disappointed when Jen cut their date short. She thought that it almost seemed as if he was as relieved as she was. She tried not to make it noticeable, but noticed it in him as well and made a mental note of it. They did have a pleasant afternoon together, however. They met at the student commons after their last class and he took her out to Chi-Chi's, her favorite Mexican restaurant. Afterwards, they walked through the mall, mainly window shopping. DJ was checking out the latest fashions at Abercrombie and Fitch while she spent some time across the mall at Chico. He purchased a new pair of khakis while she just looked. One thing she liked about DJ was his fashion sense, he chose to dress with more class than the blue jeans and t-shirt the typical guy wore, but she also thought that, with his body, no matter what he wore, he looked good. After reuniting in the middle, they had some fun looking around the Disney Store, and talked about how, The Gap, which was the "IN" store ten years ago, is now yesterday's news. They stopped at several of the kiosks along the main corridor just browsing. DJ was considering a cell phone but was not sure if he really needed the extravagance at that moment. They walked through the mall together and ended up at Disc Jockey to check out the latest music. While she was more into Pop and Country, he preferred Techno, Modern Rock and almost anything out of Europe. He couldn't believe that she actually listened to N-Sync and she thought everything by Fragma sounded exactly alike. As they left the mall, DJ suggested they see a movie, or head to "Dimensions," which was the newest, latest, greatest club in town. Dancing was one thing they both enjoyed and they both knew that friends from school would be there.

It was Jen that asked if he could just take her home. She wasn't really in the mood to hit the clubs so she claimed she had a headache. Besides, her intuition told her that he would rather be out with his friends, and she had one she wanted to call. She wondered about his friends though, they seemed a little odd at times. Jen had met a few of his friends when they had been out, but to this day, she hadn't bonded with any of them, as she's been dating DJ only for a couple months. It seemed like they didn't want her around, and whenever she came back from the bar or restroom she is positive they had been talking about her. He was good looking, had a pleasant personality, a member of a popular fraternity and very well liked by just about everybody. While he wasn't a jock, he did work out regularly and participated in several intramural sports throughout the year, for which he was won several awards. But even though he was popular and got invited to many parties and other social events he managed to be able to spend less and less time on campus. He would attend class and fraternity events and could be found studying in the library, but his free time was spent with friends elsewhere. Friends that few on campus knew.

In fact, she is not even sure where she stood with DJ. He was so different than any boyfriend she had ever had. Sure they had their good times together, but they were usually in groups with other friends, but he acted more like a best friend than a boyfriend.

DJ never looked back as he rounded the corner and passed out of sight. Jen waited until he had rounded the corner before going into the sorority house. As she walked through the door and into the commons area, two of her sorority sisters saw her and made a beeline in her direction.

"Jen! What are you doing here?" Vicky asked, surprised and confused that her sister had returned so early. "I though you were going to be out with DJ tonight. "

"Really. You even told us not to wait up for you." Liz added.

"Sorry to disappoint you girls, but I cut it short. I need to study and I also have a few phone calls to make. Oh Vic can I use your computer to send an email?" It was good for her reputation to be dating DJ, so she didn't want to tell them the real reason, which was that she just didn't feel like being out with him that night.

Her sisters looked at each other in confusion. "Study? On a Friday night? Geez Jen, keep up this bookwork and you're going to give all Chi-O's a bad rep." Liz joked as she backed away to let Jen pass.

"Oh, I'm quite sure that with you two around that the reputation of this sorority is quite secure, especially with all the Sig-Ep guys that seem to be constantly in and out of here. I think maintenance was here the other day measuring for revolving doors." Of course, she silently wondered why Vicky and Liz were in this evening. Friday was 'date night' and that meant the house was usually empty. Jen found this an excellent time to study. Of course it did cut into her social life. And it had cost her several boyfriends in the last year, but that was the least of her concerns.

"Only in the commons," Vicky said waving around the room. "Good girls don't allow men on the second floor." She bent over and gave a wink. Jen had to laugh at this. Her sorority and the Sig Ep fraternity were always holding mixers and most Chi-Os seemed to date a Sig Ep, including her. On more than one occasion, she has spent the night in another room to give her roommate privacy.

"You had a visitor," Vicky said, changing the subject.

Jen was about to leave the commons and head up to her room, but she stopped dead in her tracks. 'We had an agreement," she thought.

"And he was just too cute!" Liz added.

Jen was confused, DJ just dropped her off so it couldn't be her boyfriend. She had a feeling who it was, one particular pre-law major with whom she had a quick fling with their freshman year and wanted her to go out again. He's been so persistent it could almost be considered stalking. "So, who was it?" She finally asked afraid of the answer.

"Well, he was about this tall," Vicky said, holding her hand a few inches over her head, "he had very short blonde hair, blue eyes and a nice tight ass that just wouldn't quit. OH, and stubble, I just love a man with a little stubble to rub against."

"I could just die in that chest, he was such a hunk!" Liz cut in. "I don't think he had an ounce of fat on his entire bod." Liz said, pretending to faint on a sofa.

"OH, and sister, he asked for you specifically and seemed real disappointed to find out you weren't here."

"We told him you were out with your boyfriend, and he had a surprised look, and said he didn't know you had one." Vicky added.

That cut out the guy she thought it was for he was quite aware of her dating DJ and they had discussed it on several occasions.

"He had those sad puppy dog eyes when he found out you weren't here." Liz said.

By this time Jen's curiosity was really peaked, who they were describing was definitely not who she suspected. "Well, who was it?" She asked.

"You mean you've never seen this hunk around campus before?"

The suspense was killing Vicky and Liz who couldn't hold it any longer and both busted out laughing. It was Vicky who broke first. "He said his name was Jeff."

Jen thought for a few moments, "Who the hell is Jeff?" she was still in the dark. She knew lots of guys on campus, but a blond hunk named Jeff didn't ring a bell.

"Well, as he left he said; 'Tell sis I'll call in the morning.'" Liz said.

Jen's eyes lit up bright as a Christmas tree as she realized who her mystery visitor was. "Bubby? He was HERE?" She screamed. "When? How? Where is he? He's still supposed to be in the Marines." She was jumping up and down in excitement. She had not seen her brother in almost two years and couldn't believe he was there. Vicky and Liz had never seen her so happy.

"He was here about an hour ago. We tried to get him to stay but he seemed nervous."

"No wonder! I can only imagine how you two acted around him!"

"Did he say where he was staying?" Jen asked.

"No, just that he would call." Liz said.

So, much for studying, Jen was way too excited. She went to her room and immediately called her parents first to see if they knew where Bubby was. They just knew he was going to town to see her. She then had the bright idea to go through the phone book and call all the hotels in the area. A half hour later, she gave up in frustration. She tried to call DJ with the news but was told he had not been to the house all evening.

* * *

"This doesn't look so bad." Jeff thought to himself as he pulled into the aging hotel's parking lot. He pulled his equally aging Jeep Wrangler under the canopy by the lobby door. He didn't know his way around town or where would be a good place to stay. He had noticed a billboard for this place earlier as he came into town and knew the price at least was right.

He walked into the sparsely decorated lobby and up to the check in counter. There were two employees behind the counter who appeared to be engrossed in a personal conversation. As soon as they saw him they practically pushed each other out of the way to be the first to greet him. The winner stepped up to the counter smiling at Jeff. While the loser stepped back and out of the way.

"Good afternoon sir and welcome to the Knight's Inn, how may I be of service?" The gentleman said with a slight effeminate tone.

Jeff was surprised, but not shocked. He noticed the gentleman's name tag and said to him: "Yes Daniel, I need a room for the weekend."

"For how many people?"

"Just one."

"Would you like a double room, or we do have a queen size available."

"I'll take the queen."

"Excellent choice sir," Daniel said. He gave Jeff a wink as he handed him the signature card and a pen. Jeff pretended to ignore the gesture as he took the card. He filled it out and handed it back to Daniel along with his credit card and driver's license. He was used to hotels and what most of them required.

Daniel takes the card momentarily looking to see the name the looks back up at Jeff. "Just give me a minute Mr. Schultz." He says as he turns to the computer. "So what brings you to our fair city?"

"Visiting relatives," was all Jeff said as he turned his back to the counter. He walked to a display rack with brochures of area attractions, ignoring the small talk. Jeff was getting interested in the brochure about the West Baden Springs Hotel when the tapping on the keyboard came to a stop. He quickly turned around to catch both Dan and the girl checking out his ass. Dan looked up without the slighted hint of embarrassment to show a bright white toothy smile. 'At least he brushes,' Jeff silently thought to himself.

"You will be in room number one fifteen Mr. Schultz. That's just outside this door and about halfway to end of the building."

"Thanks," was all Jeff said as he took the key and headed towards the exit, ignoring Daniel's continued attempts at flirting.

The girl who had remained silent in the background during this whole exchange then went forward to Daniel and spoke in just over a whisper, but loud enough for Jeff to hear as he approached the exit; "I can't believe you Danny, you're going to get yourself in trouble one of these days."

Jeff moved his Jeep to a spot closer to his assigned room. He grabbed his duffel bag and headed toward the door. The hotel didn't look like much, and had obviously seen better days. And a key? A real key? He hadn't seen one of those in a while. Inside it was a typical motel room for the era. He sat his duffle bag on the credenza, opened it, and took out a couple shirts, unfolding them and putting them on hangers. He gently shook them in a feeble attempt to remove any wrinkles that developed after being stuffed in the old Marine bag. By force of habit he got down on the floor to look under the bed, a good way to know how good the housekeeping really is. Satisfied there was no worry of infestations he got up and flopped down on the bed. He reached over and tried to grab the remote control, but discovered it was bolted to the nightstand. "How convenient," he thought as he rolled over to be better able to control the television. Then chuckled at the irony that not only was the remote bolted down, but the channel guide was on the TV where he couldn't even see it from the bed. He scrolled through the channels for a while, only to discover it only had the local channels, CNN and a couple useless ones like WGN and WTBS. "Now, what to do with myself," he thought. "I bet there's not much entertainment in this town." He was beginning to wish he had taken his mother's advice and called ahead of time, but as he had surprised his parents the week before with his early discharge from the Marines, he now wanted to surprise Sis. They had managed to keep in touch these last few years by email and phone, but they had not actually seen each other for quite a while. He only had this weekend free. He would be entering the working class Monday morning and had decided to spend this last weekend with his sister. He had managed to save some money during his gig in the Marines, but knew he would need more this fall when he entered the ranks as a struggling college student. He and Sis were always close growing up, with him earning the reputation of an overprotective older brother. So even though he would be seeing her in a couple weeks when she came to town for a wedding, he decided to make the three hour drive to surprise her, only to find out she was already gone for the evening. Oh, well. One more night would not make a difference. Boyfriend? He didn't recall any emails mentioning a boyfriend! He wondered what kind of guy she would be dating. And why had she not mentioned it? After a while hunger settled in and he began thinking about food. He remembered seeing a McDonald's just up the road and thought that would do just fine.

A Big Mac, fries and shake later Jeff headed back to the motel. As he approached the room, he saw Daniel heading towards him along the walkway with a couple towels. He noticed that Daniel picked up his pace and arrived directly in front of the door the same time as he did.

"Good Afternoon again, Mr. Schultz, or should I say evening?" He said to Jeff, who was really hoping to avoid a conversation.

"Oh, hi." Jeff replied as he walked around Daniel and stuck his key in the door. Noticing that Daniel had stopped, Jeff quickly entered the room and turned around to close the door. Daniel had stepped forward, with a foot inside Jeff's room.

"We do offer room delivery if you need anything, such as shampoo, a razor or shaving cream."

That's nothing unusual. Jeff knew most hotels offered such services. "Thank you, if I need anything I'll remember that."

"Well," Daniel said as he started again in his way, looking over his shoulder at Jeff who was closing the door. "I will be here until eleven, if you need anything, and I mean N-E-THING, just dial 0 on your phone for the office."

"OK, I'll remember that." Jeff said as he closed the door. "Damn, I can't believe how bold this guy is." He said to himself.

He lay on the bed and turned on the TV. "Gee." He thought, "No HBO, no MTV, not even the Weather Channel?" So that means there would definitely not be any porn pay per view. No wonder the room was so cheap. Boredom finally got to him after watching a couple reruns of "The Beverly Hillbillies". He thought of his sister and considered the possibility that she was back in her room. He thought of calling her, but in looking though his paperwork he realized he brought her address and directions, but not her number. He saw the phone book and paged through. The University was listed; there was plenty of numbers listed for offices, but not for the sorority houses. He dialed the main number listed for the switchboard, but the bitch who answered was very unfriendly and gave him some bull about security and not being able to give out such information. He randomly tried a few of the other numbers listed hoping to get somebody more cooperative. But at 9:00 on a Friday evening, all he ended up with was no answers and voice mails. "Oh, well, I guess I'll see Sis tomorrow morning." He thought as he rolled back over towards the TV. "Oh, no! Now the Brady Bunch! How much more of this can I take?" He turned down the volume, stood and walked around the room. He momentarily peeked out the curtain and then closed it just in time to not be noticed by Daniel, who was walking by. After a quick trip to the toilet, he noticed the turquoise shirt he had brought with him. If it had any wrinkles from being packed in his duffle bag he didn't notice. He put the shirt on and looked at himself in the mirror. He was proud of the way he had filled out. He had been the skinny, geeky kid in school, but four years in the Marines had given him a nicely sculpted body that he was rather proud of. His blond hair was just starting to grow back out after years of being kept short in to make Uncle Sam happy. He had brought the shirt in case he and Sis went out, but since she's not around and he was bored just sitting in the room, he knew what he wanted to do. He was in the mood. He needed to. He was ready.

He knew it was now or never. He went over to the phone and dialed "0." After about three rings, he heard the familiar voice. "Good evening Mr. Schultz, what can I do for you?" Jeff couldn't believe this guy was so chipper.

"Daniel," he said, and then stopped in his tracks. He couldn't believe what he was about to ask. He knew, if nothing else, he was about to make Daniel a very happy little queen.

"Yes, Mr. Schultz?" Daniel said after a few seconds of silence, almost with a bit of anticipation in his voice. "Is there something I could bring to your room?"

Jeff just gulped, this is something he had never asked in the past. He has never had to. He was having trouble forming the words. He was still getting used to his sexuality, as far as being open about it and not having to worry about "Don't ask don't tell." While there was a gay underground in all branches of the military, they were still very much kept a secret. He finally just blurted it out. "Daniel, are there any gay bars in this town?" There, he said it.

The line was silent for a few seconds. Jeff could have sworn he heard a "YES!" just under a whisper. "Yes, there are two as a matter of fact." Daniel finally said. "There's The Palace on the East side, and the Scratching Post near Downtown, but on a Friday night that one will be mainly pussy."

"Excuse me?" Jeff wasn't sure he heard that last line correctly.

"Lesbians."

"How far is the first one? Is it easy to get to from here?" Jeff had already forgotten the name of the place, but he knew that he wasn't interested in lesbians.

"It's not too far. In fact very easy to get to from here." Daniel paused momentarily, "It just so happens that I'm heading there myself once my shift is over, I'll be more then happy to take you there myself." Daniel said in his normal chipper voice.

Jeff didn't like that idea one bit. Daniel was definitely not his type, couldn't be farther from it and he definitely did not want to give Daniel any false hopes or to expect more than a 'ride' to the bar. "Thanks dude," he said trying to sound cool. "But that's alright. I'm kinda bored sitting around here and think I'm going to head out. If you can give me directions, I should be able find it."

"Well, if you're bored, you can always pop into the lobby and keep us lowly desk jockeys company until eleven." Daniel's voice showed more enthusiasm than normal as he said this.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass."

He detected the disappointment in Daniel's voice as he gave the directions. Jeff thanked him, and Daniel managed a depressed 'see you there later' as he hung up the phone.

Jeff realized that he hadn't been laid in over a month. The last few weeks he was tied to base, and even though he had a few fellow soldiers he messed around with occasionally, they made sure it was always off base where they had no chance of being caught. It had been a long time since he had been out to a bar to pick anybody up. "Thanks Hooch." He said to himself as he went to the dressing area. Hooch was a good friend for a couple years while he was stationed in California. Hooch taught him that when you're in a strange town, and want to know where the gay bars were, just ask a cab driver or desk clerk at almost any hotel. He thought about another reality, he was going to be spending his summer in a small town in Illinois surrounded by corn fields. So he pretty much knew he probably wouldn't be getting any for a while. He might as well take advantage of being in the 'big city' this weekend. While his main motive in coming to town was to visit Sis, he had planned on getting out in the evenings on his own as well. He removed the shirt, bent over to wash his face, then stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. He tousled his hair a bit, and then ran his hand across his face. He hadn't shaved in two days and liked the look of stubble on his face. It took away from the baby face. He knew once he got older, he would appreciate it. Right now, he hated looking younger then his twenty four years. He hadn't started shaving until he was in the Marines so he never had a chance to let it grow. He liked the rugged look and thought about letting it grow.

He put the turquoise button down shirt back on over the black tank top he was already wearing. He gave himself a couple squirts of Drakkar, then one last look over before locking up and leaving. As he drove under the canopy and past the office, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Daniel watching him drive by.