“So, what did they say?” Annie asked when she saw that Arnold had sorted the dozen cards into piles.

“These two are invitations to go bowling this afternoon, these three are invitations to go to the movies tonight, and these seven are promises to give me a present or something later.”

“Do you want to accept any of the offers?” Annie asked.

“I've never gone bowling before.” Arnold said.

“Me, either.” Annie said. “Hmm. Do the two girls know each other?”

“It's Rachel and Lisa, so yes.” Arnold said.

“You can't accept one and not accept the other.” Annie said. “I wonder if they would mind going together?”

Arnold stood up and walked out into the hallway.

“I didn't mean...” Annie sighed and followed him. Her rhetorical question had made him go ask and she had to explain it to them.

Arnold stood between their dorm room doors and looked at Rachel and then Lisa. “You both asked me to go bowling.”

Both girls nodded.

“I can't accept one and not accept the other.” Arnold said. “Do you mind going together?”

Both girls took in sharp breaths, as did several girls around them.

“We can all go!” Someone said, and then conversations broke out all over the hallway. Annie sighed when she realized that she didn't have to explain anymore. A few of the girls had to refuse, because they were going to be busy, which included Janet and Emily.

“You're all responsible for your own fees.” Annie said, a little loudly. “This isn't a date or anything, it's just friends going out and sharing a good time, which means you share the costs.”

“Not a problem. My dad owns the bowling alley.” Cynthia said and everyone turned and looked at her.

“He owns the bowling alley?” Rachel asked.

“He owns a lot of things.” Cynthia said.

“Why haven't you mentioned this before?”

“I was told not to.”

“So, why now?”

“We're about to bring...” Cynthia counted the people going. “...fourteen people into a busy weekend business on a Sunday. I have to call ahead and see if he can make room for us or we won't be allowed in.”

“What?” Rebecca asked. “He wouldn't turn away so many of us, would he?”

Cynthia nodded. “If he goes over capacity for the building, he could get in trouble with the fire marshal if they find out.”

“Then hurry up and call!” Daisy said from down the hallway. “We need time to get changed, too!”

Cynthia looked at the time and took out her cell phone. “Hi, Dad.” “Yes, I miss you, too.” “Uh huh.” She rolled her eyes and covered the phone with her hand. “Give me a minute.” She whispered to everyone and went inside her room and closed the door.

“I hope he says yes.” Rachel said. “It's going to be so much fun with everyone!”

Lisa gave her a look that clearly said she wanted to be very much alone with Arnold. Rachel ignored it, because she was hiding that she wanted to be alone with him, too.

Cynthia came out five minutes later with a smile on her face. “We're in luck. One of the league teams forfeited their slot today. Dad had the manager of the bowling alley put us into their three hour time slot that starts in an hour.”

“Yes!” Several of the girls yelled.

“Get ready, everyone. I'll have a bus here to pick us up in forty-five minutes.” Cynthia said.

“Thanks, Cynthia!” Nearly everyone said and then they all disappeared back into their rooms.

“We need to change, too.” Annie said and Arnold followed her back to his dorm room. They changed their jogging pants into loose jeans and came back out. Annie poked her head into Janet's room. “Can you take a break for a few hours?”

Janet looked at her books and thought about delaying, then shook her head. “If it was just quick questions and answers, I could. I've got essay questions with fifty word minimums that require my opinions and interpretations of the material.”

Annie nodded, because she knew they were the hardest questions to answer. “Well, good luck.”

“Thanks.” Janet said and then she blushed a little. “And thanks for inviting me to go along.”

“I just thought you'd enjoy spending some fun time with Arnold.” Annie said and waved as she left.

I would. Janet said and then cursed silently at her mountain of homework that she might get done by tonight if she was lucky. I really would.

Annie and Arnold walked down the hallway to Cynthia's room and saw her trying to find something to wear. She stood there in a matching set of bra and underwear that looked very expensive.

“I suggest something a little baggy that won't stop you from moving around.” Annie said and motioned towards herself and Arnold. Their lose jeans and baggy t-shirts looked both comfortable and easy to move in.

“I'm going to see my dad there.” Cynthia said.

“Ah. I understand.” Annie said and came in. “Let me have a look.”

Cynthia waved at the closet and stepped out of the way. “You're not going to find anything to... huh?”

Annie pulled out a nice sleeveless fluffy red blouse and a black skirt that was both conservative and draped well. “You'll need a nice belt, just in case the skirt tends to ride up on your hips.”

“How did you...” Cynthia shook her head and didn't ask how she did that so quickly. “How did you know it does that without the extra weight?”

“Lots of practice.” Annie chuckled. “Believe me, it's better than wearing a tight skirt and having it pull down off of your hips.”

Cynthia chuckled and nodded her head. “I've had a few whistles when I bent over and knelt down too far and my underwear peeked out the top of the waistband.”

“Then you had to adjust it when you stood up and you got the underwear caught up, too.” Annie said.

“I walked crookedly until I ducked into a bathroom and dug out the wedgie I had!” Cynthia laughed.

“We'll wait for you out in the hallway while you get changed.” Annie said and she and Arnold left the dorm room.

I didn't even notice that Arnold was right there with her. Cynthia said and looked down at her expensive underwear. It wasn't quite see-through; but, it did give that impression, which was one of the reasons it was expensive, and she blushed. Maybe if we had been alone, he might have mentioned it.

Annie and Arnold hovered around in the hallway and as they waited, several young women came out of their rooms and were dressed nicely. Annie thought about telling them the same things as Cynthia, then looked at the time. If she said anything, they might not make it to the bus if they had to go and change, so she stayed quiet. Eventually everyone came out and they all went to the elevator.

“Does anyone know the weight capacity of this thing?” Annie asked as they all stepped inside and one of the girls pointed to a small plaque at the top of the buttons. “Whoever is closest, read it for me.”

“It says fifteen hundred kilograms or thirty-three hundred pounds.” The girl next to it said. “It also says the average weight of 75 kilograms or a hundred and sixty-five pounds per person limits it to 20 people.”

“Oh, my god!” One of the girls yelled. “Did they use all fat people? A hundred and sixty-five pounds! That's ridiculous!”

Annie burst out laughing as the doors closed. “It said average, not everyone.”

“I'm only a hundred and ten pounds.” Rachel said and a few other said theirs, ranging from a hundred to a hundred and twenty.

“I'm a hundred and eighty-six pounds.” Arnold said and every girl turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“I think we need to get you weighed again.” Annie said. “That was almost a year ago. You could be heavier than that by now.”

All the girls eyes turned to look at her this time.

“Or it could be less. He's been on a balanced nutritional diet for about a month.” Annie corrected.

“He doesn't look like he weighs that much.” Rebecca said.

“Muscle weighs more than fat, Billy.” Someone said and a few of them laughed.

Rebecca sighed. “I hate that nickname.” She said and touched Arnold's arm. “Can you flex your arm like a muscle man and show me? Like this?” She made a fist and curled her arm at the elbow. A fairly large bump appeared where her bicep was and most of the girls were surprised by that. “I grew up on a farm. You wouldn't believe how heavy hay is when you shovel it.”

“I like shovelling.” Arnold said and did the same movement, then every single woman in the elevator gasped at the sight, even his mother.

“Hellooooo, Arnold.” Rebecca said exaggeratedly and tried to put her hands around his bicep and she couldn't. “Someone give me a hair tie or a piece of string or something.”

A nice ribbon was presented from somewhere and Rebecca put it around Arnold's bicep to measure, then let one end go and looked at it.

“That's got to be around sixteen inches.” Rebecca let out a low whistle. “I knew you were in great shape, but...” She chuckled. “Your arms are just about the perfect size for your height.”

The elevator doors opened and they all stepped out into the lobby.

“Oh, no! It's the exodus!” Doris exclaimed when she saw them and some of the girls laughed. “What's going on?”

“Bowling!” One of them said and waved the ribbon Rebecca had used to measure Arnold's arm, then tied it around her ponytail. “You should come, too!”

“I wish I could.” Doris said. “You go have fun and you can tell me all about it when you come back.”

Most of them waved, including Annie and Arnold, and then they left the lobby. The private bus was waiting for them and they all climbed aboard. They drove over to the large bowling alley and went inside to see that it was fairly crowded.

“Our section's down the end.” Cynthia said as she checked her phone for the details. “The last five lanes are ours.”

“For three hours? Wow!” Rebecca exclaimed. “Those league teams must get a great deal!”

Cynthia laughed. “They make up most of the bowling alley's business, so yes.”

“This is great!” Rachel said as the arrived at the lanes assigned to them. “We'll need to divide up into teams to fit all five lanes, though.”

“We don't know how to bowl.” Annie said and took Arnold's hand.

“Then we've got our first teams set.” Lisa said. “I'll teach Arnold and Rachel can teach his mom.”

Rachel thought about refusing and trying to take over Arnold's lessons, then nodded instead. They went over to get their shoes while everyone else worked out their teams, then they went back and the lessons began. They were using the large three hole balls that were from fifteen to eighteen pounds each, so it took quite a lot of practice for both Annie and Arnold to get the hang of manipulating such large weights to get them to go straight.

Not surprisingly, both Lisa and Rachel had fun trying to pass on their basic knowledge to two completely new people. They didn't really have any finesse to their techniques or knew how to do things like that, so it was all pretty much just trying to get Annie and Arnold to hit the front pin as best as they could.

*

“Hey, Paul.” A guy said and tapped his shoulder. “I think that's Lisa over on lane fifteen.”

“What?” Paul turned and looked at his bowling partner. “Who's where?”

The guy pointed. “Lisa, and she's right there.”

Paul turned to look and saw the girl he was dating with her arms around another guy. “What the fuck?”

“Oho! I think she's putting the moves on him.”

Paul handed his bowling ball to his friend and walked over to lane fifteen, his face angry. “Lisa!”

Lisa jumped and turned to look at the angry voice. “Paul! This isn't what it looks like!”

“It looks like you're putting the moves on another guy.”

“She's teaching me how to bowl.” Arnold said.

“You...” Paul pointed at his chest. “...stay out of this.” He said and looked at Lisa. “What do you think you're doing rubbing your hands all over this guy?” He asked and Lisa's face flushed red from embarrassment. “You said we couldn't go out because you were staying at the college all weekend.”

“I... well, I...”

“Nearly the whole dorm floor came out to bowl.” Cynthia said as she walked over. “It's not like she asked him out on a date or anything.”

Lisa's face went even redder because that was exactly what she did.

“Are you exclusive?” Arnold asked.

“What?” A few people asked, including Paul, and Annie let out a soft sigh.

“If you didn't agree to date exclusively, then she can see whoever she wants.” Arnold said.

“That point of view isn't going to help.” Cynthia said. “He's jealous that she's with someone else and it doesn't matter that he hasn't committed to her.”

“I am not jealous.” Paul said and ignored the committed part. No one else missed it, though.

“Then go back to your game and forget about...”

“I will not ignore my girlfriend as she paws some other guy right in front of me.” Paul said and looked back at Lisa. “Well, what are you still doing here? Go back to the dorm like you said you were going to.”

Lisa looked at him and her blush faded. “I'm out with my friends.”

“Yeah, friends.” Paul looked at Arnold. “How did you meet this friend? Out on the street or online?”

“He lives in the dorm.” Lisa said and then covered her mouth.

“Excuse me?” Paul glared at her. “You did not just say that a guy is living in an all female dorm.”

“Oh, shit.” One of the other girls whispered.

“Is it true? You're living with a guy at the college?” Paul asked loudly and a few other guys came over to crowd around him. Not surprisingly, a few of them had dated a few of the girls.

Lisa sighed and nodded. “He lives in the room at the end of the hall.”

“When did this wonderful thing happen?” Paul spat at her.

“The start of summer term.” Lisa said in a defeated tone.

“Really, now.” Paul squinted his eyes. “And when exactly were you going to tell me?”

Lisa opened her mouth and then closed it.

“So, never.” Paul said. “How am I supposed to take that information, Lisa? How?”

Lisa wasn't sure how to answer that question.

“You take it like a man.” Rebecca said and a few people gasped.

“You keep quiet!” Paul said.

“Ask her if she's sleeping with him. Ask her if she's having wild and passionate sex with'im. Ask her if'n she's gonna drop ya fer him.” Rebecca said as she became angry and her southern accent kicked in. “Yer bein' an arsehole an' guiltin' her in fronna her friends an' she ain't done nothin' ta warrant it!”

“Billy, calm down.” Cynthia said and touched her arm.

“It's Arnold's birthday an' all we wanna do is have fun with'im! We don't need alla this drama!” Rebecca said loudly. “If'n she was kissin'em er grabbin' his ass, I'd unnerstand this jerkface being upset! All she's doin' is teachin'em how ta bowl! She ain' rubbin'im er nothin'! It ain't fair whut Paul's doin'!”

Nearly the whole bowling alley was quiet when she took several breaths to keep going.

“I've gots half a mind ta...” Rebecca stopped talking when a strong hand took hers and she turned her head to look at Arnold.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and kissed her.