Arlan and Diana met at Freshman Orientation. She fantasized running her fingers through his thick, curly hair. He ogled her tight, round ass.
By the end of their first week of classes, they shared breakfast at the Union every morning and dinner in the evening. A few weeks later, he mentioned that his roommate had dropped out, and no one had been assigned to his dorm room. She moved in, and they remained inseparable. Without ever really dating, they discussed marriage after graduation.
Although their relationship seemed ideal, one thought tugged at the back of Arlan’s mind soon after Diana’s parents visited. Her mother was — there was no polite way of saying this — fat. Grotesquely so. He recalled hearing that if you want to know what a young woman would be like when she got older, look at her mother.
Arlan tried ignoring such an obviously shallow concept. He loved Diana for who she was, not what she might look like in twenty-five years. Still, he noticed that her rear end was flabbier than he thought when not packed into tight-fitting jeans.
Diana had loved how he absentmindedly caressed her legs as they lay in bed reading, but lately his touch seemed different when he reached the meatier parts of her thighs. At his urging, they began running mornings and avoiding late-night pizzas. She understood. She had seen the look on his face when she introduced him to her mother. Although they talked about nearly everything, neither dared approach this one topic.
As the term ended, and they planned to move back home for the summer, they shared how difficult it would be to separate. But down deep, Arlan felt ready for the break. When his parents arrived to drive him home, Diana noticed how much he resembled his father, except that Arlan’s dad was as bald as a doorknob.
She, too, felt ready for summer break.
About Wayne Scheer
