Authors Notes: This is the third ep. in the series, (although it also serves as a back-story for the second ep.) American TV rating: (same as actual show): TV-PG (some adult content and violence -- but most of the DPB eps do too.) I would really really love to hear your comments about my story -- please! COLLEGE "Leap In, Tune On, Drop Out" Prologue The first thing Sam felt was the bitter cold wind which seemed to penetrate straight through his clothes to chill his skin, the coldness and breeze common to New England autumns. Sam gelt the nippy weather more than usual, since coming from the hot Florida sunshine. He tried to pull the unzipped dark blue wind breaker he had on tightly around his body to block out the wind, trying hard not to drop he pile of books and folders he held under his arm. He looked around him at the massive buildings, and people scurrying on the paths on their way to their classes through the rainbow of leaves on the ground and in the trees, and cars driving in the streets going through the massive college campus. He was standing in the quad of a huge university, and judging by the skyline beyond the school's gate, in a large Northern city. He looked at the buildings and the layout of the school, and recognized exactly where he was -- Massachusettes Institute of Technology (otherwise known as MIT), his ala mada. He looked at the students around campus. Some were walking to class or standing in clusters with their friends, as is expected on any college campus in basically any year. Those students were talking about how they liked or how their were doing in their classes, their friends and people they knew, things that they did or planning to do and a whole lot of stuff. A crowd of students were gathered around the steps of a building in the quad where a man dressed in earthy hippie-like clothes were speaking to the crowd gathered around him, telling about how "the presidential and government dictatorship" is sending "baby killers" over to kill and die in Vietnam and how people should "make peace, not war." By him alone, Sam could tell it was sometime in the late-sixties or early-seventies. Sam walked towards a bench on the other side of the quad, away from the crowd gathered around the building mesmerized by the protester. Two students, a boy and a girl, who were standing nearby left the crowd following Sam. "Scott, wait up," the boy called. Just like when he leaped into Kelly's older brother, he did not have to look at him to tel who it was. There was no way in the entire world, he could doubt who was walking up to him. "Oh, boy!" CHAPTER ONE "Scott," the boy called after Sam again. Sam reached the bench and put his books down before turning around to look at the two teenagers. He swore he did not know the girl approaching him, but he certainly knew the boy. Just like Al had a best friend he was close to while growing up, so did he. "Jordan?!" He was surprised to see his best childhood best friend approaching him. He remembered they were inseparable and seemed to do everything together, such as spending tie together in and out of elementary school, junior high, high school and now college; although, the more Sam thought about it, he did not have any memories of him past their first semester at MIT. "We have Professor LoNigro next?" the girl asked. Sam examined the girl closely, knowing something was wrong with her. She was exactly eighteen years old. She looked like a huge beach ball with long black hair, wearing a baggy sweater and a long skirt, which seemed to add five pounds to her already heavy figure. He gazed into her eyes. She was dead! Dead and Lonely! She wa not physically dead, but the look in her eyes were two tombstones, not allowing life to exist within their shells. She seemed to be going through all of the motions of life, but living in an unhopeful graveyard. Even Jordan had changed, since the last two times he leaped back and saw him during his high school years. He looked up at the main protester lecturing and rallying the others around him, as if Jordan was hypnotized, believing everything the man was saying. "Why don't we don't skip class?" he said, not caring one bit about class. Sam remembered him skipping classes sometimes in high school to goof off. Standing right in the middle of campus with the college freshman, Sam could not tell if he did not want to go so he could goof off or if he wanted to continue to listen to the rally. "We have a test," the girl informed, extremely jittery due to her nerves. "My father expects me to do good on this one or else I fail for good." Sam could tell she only wanted to do good for her father. Her heart was not in it, and somehow he could tell her heart was not in anything. How could it be, when it did not exist? "So what, Maggie!" Jordan said indifferently as the group started towards the science building. "He'll probably give a make up. He's a pretty groovy guy." "He's a very '*groovy* guy.'" Sam remembered how much time he spent with Professor LoNigro figuring out the string theory and other things up in his cabin. "But Jordan, you know his retests are even harder than his tests," he said, remembering something else about him. No matter whose test it was and no matter how hard it was, Sam always aced it, but still he even noticed a difference between a hard and a easy test. Jordan shrugged. "Just wish me luck, Scott," he said. "I need it." Another boy and girl walked up to the group. "Surprise!" he heard a high-pitched voice exclaim gleefully from the couple who was walking up behind them, stopping Sam and Jordan in their tracks as Maggie snuck off to class, looking more at the ground than at the world around her. Sam had no idea that anybody was sneaking up behind them, and if he did he did not know who it was -- until the teenage girl revealed the secret. Although Sam was surprised at her being there especially since she never went to MIT, he wa near her so much that in a weird way he expected her. The surprise was not her; it was the teenage boy next by her side. He supposed he felt like Al did not Sam's last leap, as he too was looking into a living reflection of himself. This time he was gazing into a reflection of the way life used to be from Sam in college, staring at the young man who someday would accomplish great feats of science for the benefit of humanity by putting things right that once went wrong. "Hi, Kelly," Jordan said happily as he placed his arms around her, giving her a huge bear hug. He did not see her, since he and his best friend left for college, and was looking forward to spending time with her once again almost as much as her boyfriend did. "I missed you," he told her when they finished their short hug. "Not as much as you probably did, right, cutie?" she asked her boyfriend, peck kissing him on the cheek. "'You bet your bippy, I did,'" he said borrowing one of his girlfriend's expressions, smiling sweetly at her. He turned towards Sam-the-elder. "Scott, this is my fiancee, Kelly," he introduced. "I know," he said, gazing at her. She was wide eyed examining the campus and her sweetheart, smiling due to being with him once again. She was dressed i low cut pink sweater and a purple mini-skirt, so high it looked like if she bent over she would moon the entire campus. (Her young boyfriend did not seem to notice how gorgeous and sexy she looked; even though, in Sam's opinion, he would always think she was beautiful, even if she was wearing a large burlap sack covering her from head to toe. Sam also knew that if her soon-to-be boyfriend saw her looking the way she did, he would be grinning smugly from ear-to-ear, just like Sam saw him any years later well over a billion times on different occasions while looking at many different women.) Indeed he did know who she was, he even knew more than the couple before him actually did. "Hi." He gave her a slight wave. He just said goodbye. Now he was saying hello. Maybe, he never had to say goodbye to her at all -- ever. "She just arrived at the airport," her fiancee, Samuel Beckett, said. "You took a plane all the way from Florida?" Sam asked, wondering if that was the way she got from Pensacola 1957 to Cambridge 1970. "Basically yes," she answered. She thought for a moment, thinking about how Albert wished her a safe trip. "No." She smiled. "Actually, I'm an angel. I just flapped my wings and flew here." "Well, you're as pretty as an angel," Samuel complimented bashfully. Jordan patted her back, and then her head. "I don't think she's an angel," he stated teasingly. "I do feel some horns on her head, though." "That only means I'm one hot tamale," she giggled, placing her hands on her hips as she gave her body a slight wiggle. *Heat! Temperature! Oh, boy!* He looked down at his watch, partly ignoring his girlfriend. "I'm late for class," Samuel said worried. "Sammy, hang loose," Kelly advised him. "There's probably no prob if you're only a few minutes late. I just got here, and your class is always there." "I think you really should spend time with her," Sam told Sam-the-younger, knowing he will regret not spending time with her later on. "She just got here, and you have an in with the professor. He's the one who talked you into coming here." *Now, that's she's here, spend time with her when she's still yours.* "But the test," he said, pointing towards the building. "Come on, Brain," Jordan said. "We can skip the class together." Kelly smiled at him. "What happened?" she asked, contemplating how he could get into one of the most competitive colleges in the country. Then again, he always was the second smartest student at Elk Ridge High, even if he was a total slacker. "Did you forget to study? Or did you just forget to forget, and just didn't study?" She got no reply from him but only a shrug. "Kelly, do you mind?" her fiancee asked politely. "I have one more class this afternoon, only one hour, and -" She looked disappointed. "Sure. It's really no problem." "Maybe, she can come to class with you," Sam offered, hoping to please both of them. Kelly turned towards her boyfriend, her eyebrows arching over her big brown eyes, which looked into his green eyes asking if she could go. * * * The students filled the desks in the large classroom, listening to the teacher give direction about the est he just handed out -- all of the students, except for Samuel. He tried his hardest to listen to Professor LoNigro, but the only thing he heard was Kelly's whispering voice yapping like a high-strung dog asking him about this class and the test and all of his other classes and school work and any other topic that sprung into her mind. He knew she want3ed to talk to him, especially since they did not talk face-to-face since his birthday in August (he left the next day for college, and she left the next week for Florida.) He really wanted to talk to her, but realized there wa a time and place for everything and the time and place to talk is not when a test is beginning. "Kelly, can you be quiet?" he asked her sweetly, trying to be as polite as possible. "Sorry," she said, before looking down at his test paper. "Wow! That looks hard. But Sammy, I know you can do it. You can do anything, I think." Samuel shook his head at how annoying she was being, as his eyes rolled up at her telling her to be quiet. "Sorry! I really meant what I said about you, though," she told him. She looked down at his test paper again, and tried to figure out the answers herself in her head trying to be occupied. "Gee whiz! I thought Mr. Harris gave killer tests! This is even worse!" "That's why I need you to be quiet," he told her. "Sorry! I'm just trying to be friendly, but I'll be quiet from now on. I'll promise to keep my yap shut. I'll lock my lips and throw away the key. You can open them up later when you kiss me." She drew an X over her heart. "See, cross my heart." *Thank God!* he sighed as he tried to dive seriously into taking his test. He was about halfway through it, when the lock broke. "Sam?" Kelly asked. Samuel gave a loud huff. "Will you please *shut up*!?" he yelled at her. The entire class, who were either shocked or snickering, and the professor turned towards him. "Gee wiz! Cutey, you're making a scene," she said quietly, trying to get him to calm down. Professor LoNigro stared directly at his favorite pupil, shaking his head; his hands clasped over his bearded chin. "Sam, can I see you?" he addressed Samuel. Samuel grimaced, shyly sliding his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks as he walked up to the professors large desk. "Yes," he said almost inaudible due to his embarrassment. "You caused some outburst there." Professor LoNigro was friendly but stern. "Who is that up there with you?" "My fiancee," he muttered humiliated. "That's nice," he said, smiling before he got his teacher face back on. "Only one thing, I'll give you a choice, either have her leave you now for the class and you can talk to he later, or you can take the test later? What do you want?" Samuel thought about it for a moment. Then, he gave his reply. ============================= What is bothering Maggie? Are Kelly and Samuel going to spend as much time together as she hopes? Tune in to find out! Note (put it here, because I didn't want to ruin the surprise): From now on, young-Sam in the narrative will be addressed as Samuel, but when addressed by his friends or teachers he will also be addressed as Sam. It will probably be clear as to who is being talked (either old-Sam or young-Sam) to though. In the narrative, Sam-the-elder will always be addressed as Sam. Monica