Arnold didn't wake up until the next morning when his alarm went off. He actually felt a little better and climbed out of bed. He saw the compress on his nightstand next to his cell phone, neither of which he had put there. He assumed someone was in his room while he was asleep and called Doris to report it.

“Thank you for following proper protocol to report it.” Doris said. “You can relax this time, because it was me.”

“Why?” Arnold asked.

“Your mother called me last night because your phone was off. I found you asleep on your bed, so I searched for the phone and turned it on. I put it and the compress beside your bed for you.” Doris said. “I'm sorry if that worried you. I'm at my desk now and I was going to tell you about as soon as you went by.”

“Okay.” Arnold said.

“I also kissed you goodnight for her.” Doris said. “She loves you very much.”

“I love her, too.” Arnold said. “Goodbye.”

“See you in a little while.” Doris said and hung up.

Arnold went and ate breakfast, took a shower, and slowly got dressed. He knew how long it took with a sore bruise and he matched that time perfectly. What he didn't know was that several girls were waiting in the hallway for him to appear, because they had timed him as well. When he opened the door, all four of them talked at once and made offers.

Two of the offers were quite reasonable, not that he actually heard them over the other two unreasonable ones, so he ignored them all and walked by without answering. That didn't deter them, however. The two reasonable ones made even better offers as they followed him down the hallway and the other two went more outrageous. None of them realized that he wasn't actually listening to them.

“All right! That's quite enough, girls.” Daisy said and held a hand out to stop the others. “You're stopping everyone from greeting Arnold.”

The four girls blushed, because they hadn't heard anyone trying to say hello the entire time. They were being quite loud and had drowned out the others... and each other.

“Good morning, Arnold.” Daisy said as she looked at his face. “You're looking a little better.”

“Good morning.” Arnold said and stepped close to give her a quick kiss. “Thank you.” He said and walked over to the elevator and pushed the button. Every single girl in the hallway gasped, especially Daisy. None of them had expected him to greet them like that.

“W-w-wait!” Cynthia said and ran forward, just as the elevator doors opened. “Watch television with me tonight!”

“I have an appointment with Professor Power after supper.” Arnold said and stepped inside.

“Oh. Well, maybe some other time.” Cynthia said and the doors closed.

Arnold rode the elevator down to the second floor and it opened. Six young women stepped in and said hello to him, then carried on their own conversations. The elevator stopped on the first floor and two more stepped on, then the elevator stopped on the ground floor. They all poured out and Arnold walked out to see Doris had her hands full with four girls. She waved to him and he waved back, then he left to go to work.

He walked the distance in fifteen minutes and entered the building, then rode the elevator up to the second floor and went into the lab and quickly prepped for the class. It went a little easier today, because he had left the cold compress in the dorm room. His eye opened and closed normally and the swelling was mostly gone from his face.

The lab workers came in and saw him, said hello, and then the professor came in. He was followed by the students and then the class started. The morning passed before anyone realized it was over, then they all went to lunch. Without the compress to hide his face, everyone that saw Arnold felt bad for him. Even the people that hadn't heard the story would wince at the black eye he had, since it was almost an automatic reaction.

The girl writing the sociology paper was in heaven as she saw people's reactions to Arnold's injury. I wonder how they would react to seeing his large bruise? She asked herself. While the others were getting food, she leaned over to the redheaded Maxine and whispered something to her. “I'm too shy to ask him myself.” She said and blushed a little. “Can you ask him to show us his tackle bruise?”

Maxine nodded and then looked up to see them approach. “Hi, Arnold.” She said. “Did Angela ask you out again?”

Arnold nodded and he, Ciccily, and Amy sat down with their trays of food.

“Well, at least she's consistent.” Maxine said with a laugh, then she leaned close. “Arnold, I know this might be a little inconvenient for you... but... could you show us the bruise on your side?”

Arnold stood up and slid off his suit coat and hung it on the back of the chair. The movement caught a lot of people's attention. When he started to unbutton the shirt, a couple of girls at the next table whistled and one clapped a rhythm for him to strip to. A few people joined in and someone shouted 'take it off!'. He obliged and slipped the shirt off and laid it on the back of the chair.

“Holy fuck!” Cissily exclaimed.

The oblong bruise was about twelve inches wide and had changed colors to show that it was healing. The arm bruise attached to it made it look like a happy face emoji with the tongue sticking out. No one thought it was funny, however. A few of the girls that had encouraged him to take it off, now said 'aww' in sympathy.

The girl writing the sociology paper was still in heaven, because she couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her.

“Can I touch it?” Maxine asked and he nodded. She reached across the table and lightly put her fingers on it. “It's kind of squishy.”

“The doctor said I was tenderized there.” Arnold said.

“Yep, that's what it feels like.” Maxine said and lightly caressed the bruised skin, then leaned back to her side of the table. “Thanks for letting me do that.”

Arnold picked up his shirt and slowly put it on.

“It still hurts, doesn't it?” Cissily asked as she stood up and helped him button the shirt.

“Yes.” Arnold said.

“I'd tell you to take it easy when you go back to the lab; but, that's the only real enjoyment you've been getting here.”

Arnold nodded and she helped him slip his suit coat back on, which he left unbuttoned, and they both sat down and started eating.

“I'm tempted to invite you over to my house to watch a movie.” Cissily said.

“I have an appointment with Professor Power after supper.” Arnold said.

“Oh, that bitch!” Cissily said angrily and the girls at the table laughed. “If she wasn't so good at her job, people wouldn't tolerate her 'holier than thou' attitude!”

“You just can't stand that she's got milky white legs that go on forever.” Maxine said with a grin. “While your thunderous black skinned ones...”

“If you dare try to finish that fucking sentence, I'll cram my fist so far up your hoohah that you'll be able to taste my fingers from inside your mouth.” Cissily said in a deadly voice, and the other girls laughed.

“I don't think that's physically possible.” The black woman with the dreadlocks said. “It's a great threat, though.”

“That's the point.” Cissily said and they laughed again. They all ate their food and shared conversation that was practically meaningless to anyone except them, since they referenced things that only they knew and used some slang that was also a local variety and wasn't common knowledge. When they were done, Cissily turned to Arnold.

“Any night you want to come over and visit, you let me know.” Cissily said.

“Hey, what about us?” Amy asked.

“You bitches can come, too.” Cissily said and squinted her eyes at them. “Unless you decide not to.”

Maxine laughed. “Uh huh. You let us know when he takes you up on the offer and we'll see if we're available to join you.”

Cissily nodded understanding, because she knew they would pretty much tease her relentlessly if she did tell her friends to fuck off when Arnold came over. If he came over. She corrected. I hope he comes over. She thought and looked at him. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Arnold nodded and left the table. Nearly everyone nearby watched him as he brought the tray and plate back to the counter, then when he left, a dozen conversations started up about him.

This is amazing. The girl writing the paper thought and she had to concentrate on her friends at the table, so they wouldn't think she wasn't paying attention. She wasn't; but, they didn't know that. She was glad that she was recording everything, because there was no way she would be able to keep everything straight in her own head without it.

When lunch was over, a dozen people brought their trays and dirty dishes back to the counter and the woman behind the counter thanked each and every one of them, just like she had thanked Arnold.

It's spreading. The girl writing the paper thought and dropped her tray on top of the others, looked down at the dirty dish she had in her hand, and laughed. He's got me doing it, too!

*

Arnold took instruction from Professor Crenslav in the biology department for the afternoon, ate in the cafeteria for supper, then went to his appointment with Professor Power. Felicia couldn't hide her reaction to seeing him like that and her plans for their lesson changed immediately. Instead of letting him please her as a reward, she babied him and took care of him the entire time instead. Felicia didn't do anything sexual, though. Light caresses, soft kisses, and tender cuddles filled the time and Arnold took the last book from her personal shelf.

It was the Masters of Chemistry textbook and it was several inches thick. When he read that, he would have the knowledge of all Felicia's favorite books. That thought gave her both pleasure and despair, because when he finished it, there wouldn't be much left for her to teach him except for some miscellaneous knowledge. She was happy that he will have learned so much from her and she was also sad because their private lessons would have to come to an end. She wasn't sure she wanted to give them up like that.

Arnold left with the book and walked back over to his dorm building at a slow pace. It wasn't too late at night, so when he entered the dorm, Doris saw him and came over to him. She gave him a careful kiss and then examined his face.

“It is getting better.” Doris said. “Your mom is going to be happy to see that when she shows up on the weekend.”

Arnold nodded.

“You are the last one for roll call, so I'm heading home. If you need anything, my house is just off of campus. Call me and I'll come running.” Doris chuckled. “Well, I'll come walking. If I ran, I wouldn't be much help to you afterwards!”

Arnold bent down and gave her a hug and turned his head to keep the bruise away from being touched. “It's not the same.” He said and let her go.

“Don't worry, sweetie. You're going to be all better in no time and I'll bury your face in my cleavage as much as you want.” Doris said. “Goodnight, and try to get some sleep.”

Arnold gave her a kiss and then he went to the elevator, then rode it up to the top floor. Most of the doors were closed and he walked down the hallway. No one reacted to him passing by until he reached his dorm room and Emily came out.

“Arnold.” Emily said and he unlocked his door. “If... if I asked you to have sex with me right now, would you do it?”

“No.” Arnold said, because he couldn't move properly to do it. He thought about mentioning what Janet did; but, he didn't know what it was called and didn't say anything else. Plus, he had to make it up to both her and Doris for what they did. Since he was sure that they were going to keep doing it for him, which meant he was going to owe them a lot, he didn't need someone else to help him like that.

Emily took in a breath and let it out. “All right.” She said sadly and stepped back into her room and shut the door.

The rest of the week passed by and Arnold didn't really have to avoid the advances from the girls. They had seen, and heard, about the four girls and Emily's failed attempts. A lot of them had taken Janet aside individually and grilled her over what she had done to have sex with him. She wasn't stupid enough to tell them what had happened and she also didn't try to get Arnold alone to have sex with him again.

Pam had been right and Arnold was quite busy and didn't really have time to do anything personal all week. When he did have spare time, he sat at the kitchenette table in his underwear and read the biggest chemistry book that any of them had ever seen.

The weekend arrived and Arnold was up, showered, and dressed in jeans and a shirt at almost his normal speed. The bruises on his face and side had turned a sickly yellow and had shrunk significantly as well. The general mood of everyone around him had improved as his health improved, and when his phone beeped, he saw a text message from Doris.

'She's here.' Doris typed.

'I'll be right there.' Arnold responded and then he shut and locked his dorm room door.

The girls all watched him walk by them and admired the sight. A few took a chance and said hello and he said hello back, then he hit the button for the elevator. The ones who spoke were disappointed that he hadn't stopped to kiss them and one of them looked at Daisy. She waved at her and made a kissing motion, and the other girl laughed.

Arnold stepped into the elevator and rode it down to the ground floor. When the doors opened, he stepped out and saw his mother talking to Doris. Annie wore a tight yellow skirt and a flowery top with loose short fabric sleeves that fluttered whenever she moved. It was a great eye-catching tactic for a woman, even though Annie hadn't worn it for that reason. She just liked the bright colors.

“Mom.” Arnold said and Annie paused in her conversation with Doris to turn and look at her son.

“Arnold! You look so much better!” Annie strode over to him in shoes that didn't add to her height and carefully put her arms around him to lightly hug him. “I'm so glad!”

“I love you, mom.” Arnold said and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

“I love you, too.” Annie said and beamed a smile at him. “It's so nice to see that nasty swelling has disappeared.” She touched the side of his eye. “The color should fade soon, too.”

Arnold nodded.

“I'm going to be staying here all weekend, thanks to the dorm mother's approval.” Annie said and gave Doris a little wave. “Why don't we drop my suitcase off in your room and you can take me around and maybe introduce me to some of the people you've met here?”

“Okay.” Arnold said and he went out to the car to get her bag, then they rode in the elevator up to the dorm room. Nearly every girl there gasped or took in a sharp breath because of the beautiful woman with Arnold. Even though some of them had met her before, it still took them some time to figure out that it was his mother, and not some potential new lover and roommate.