Troy pulled into the parking area behind Sally’s dorm. He couldn’t leave her like that. Especially after his attempt to free her. He had elevated her passenger side wheel but had not gotten to the driver side. Sally must have assumed he was done. To leave now would be a sin that he couldn’t recover from. There was no way he could face her again if he didn’t help.
Walking back to Sally, Troy allowed himself to savor the struggle for ten seconds before picking up his pace to help. Sally was getting a bit flustered and furious. Her efforts were less coordinated. The high pitch scream of rubber indicated that Sally was soon going to be very mad. It’s never good to rescue an angry damsel. Troy knew that an angry damsel attributed her misfortune to you. That’s never what one wants.
Ideally, a guy wants the lady to be motivated to get free so she struggles to get free. He needs her to keep ascribing fault to herself about her situation. That way, when she’s rescued, she attributes all the positive feelings to him… her knight in shining armor. That was the secret to getting romance to bloom in these situations. It was not a perfect formula, but according to the small online community who enjoyed this, that was a well tested hypothesis.
Sally watched the boy arrive. His face was etched with concern. His pace was hurried. If Sally didn’t know better, she’d think this boy really cared about her and her situation. His hands were waving for her to stop. Not sure what to think, Sally backed off the gas and waited.
Troy inspected his work on the passenger side. Sally had begun to dig in some. Not enough to be worried, but enough to know that she had been very generous with her gas pedal. There was smoke still lingering from the driver side tire and it was nearly out of sigh in the ground.
Sally rolled down her window and studied this boy’s face. Unlike other guys who poked fun at her for being a woman driver, this guy was different. He seemed very genuinely concerned. Unlike her sister’s boyfriends who had ridiculed her for her lack of skills driving in the snow, this boy had compassion written all over him.
“How bad is it?” Sally asked.
Troy debated giving a snap response. However, to retort Sally’s attitude from earlier was dumb. It was best to tread carefully as to not evoke any ire from Sally.
“If you are willing to let me finish my efforts, I can have you out of this mess in a half hour or so” Troy replied.
Sally didn’t want to be further in debt to this guy. There had to be a way for her to power out of this mess. Slipping the car into reverse, Sally shot a stern burst of gas. The car barely budged and the tire quickly spun into a frantic blur. Sally slammed on the brakes and slipped into drive and buried the pedal. The car lurched forward an inch before shuttering with vibrations as the spinning tire churned up dirt and started to smoke.
Giving up, Sally stopped. There was no point. This trick of hers always worked to get her out of everything. But her luck had run out. The very presence of this boy had ruined her good luck streak.
“Fine. You have a half hour before I call one of my friends to tow me out” Sally warned.
Troy didn’t answer. He knew that there were no friends to tow Sally for free. If there were, they would have done that yesterday. Sally wouldn’t be out so early in the morning with a large kitchen spoon in hand to work on getting free.
Running back to his car, Troy suited up and carried his gear back. Sally looked surprised and concerned but stayed quiet. She stepped out of the car to observe.
Troy labored as fast as he dared. It was hard work. The ground, when dried, was pretty packed and heavy. Plus, there was the pressure of time. Not finishing in the advertised amount of time would be letting the lady down.
Sally was impressed. This boy was working way harder than he needed to. As if he was really trying to do this in a half hour. Surprisingly, the grunts and periodic deep breaths were warming her heart to this boy. He was rescuing her. Like an old fashioned knight in armor. A debt to be payed for sure, but a yummy one to watch.
With a minute to spare, Troy lowered the car onto the new patch of dirt. It was hasty work. The formation was not ideal. However, Sally was now free to go. Deeply out of breath and exhausted, Troy pushed himself to keep his pace and quickly gathered his gear and headed back to his car.
Sally, now perplexed, wondered what this boy was thinking. He had yet to introduce himself and he had not stayed put to watch if she could drive out or not. Either he was very confident in his work or he was not happy with her. Sally couldn’t figure which way her gut was going with this.
Getting in, she fired up and slipped into gear. Cautiously and very timidly, she proceeded to get out of her spot. Once clear, Sally got out to inspect what had gone wrong. It became clear just how bad she had it.
Turns out, her parking spot had a slight downward incline. Ordinarily, when she parked nose first, the rear tires were on good solid footing to pull her back. The part where her nose usually was… was a bit lower and the dirt was different. It had the makings of very slick clay like material when wet. No wonder she couldn’t get out when it had rained. Sally also noted that she had sunk so deeply that the underside of the car had scraped up plenty of dirt.
As the reality of how much work the boy had put in dawned on her, her sense of debt grew to dread. This boy clearly would want something in return for his efforts. Guys never did nice things like that for free. Given how much work had been put in, Sally hoped that this boy didn’t expect a date out of this… or worse… sex. She had heard horror stories from friends and sorority sisters who had been pushed into sexual favors because of being rescued by a guy.
Sally knew that some guys purposefully set women up to be in distress… just so they can swoop in and rescue them and demand sexual favors. If this boy was like that, he would be in for a world of hurt. Sally knew how to outwit most men. This boy was not going to be a problem to outsmart and punish if he dared try something crazy.
Sally searched for another parking spot and was genuinely surprised not to see the Civic or it’s owner anywhere. If this boy wanted some kind of reward, he sure had a strange way of asking. Sally shrugged it off. It would have been nice to say thank you and gauge his intentions right away, but no matter, he was gone. Hopefully so was the bad luck that came with him as well.
Troy, while clearing out his gear from his car, shook his head. Replaying the events of the morning in his head had brought out some interesting facts. Sally had been seriously guarded. Either she had been hurt by a guy posing as a knight or she knew women who had. If either situations was true, Troy would have to give up his attraction to Sally. There was no way he could share his dark dirty secrets with her if she had been hurt before.
As far as Troy was concerned, he had narrowly escaped traumatizing Sally. Her justified worries did not need to be confirmed. With her car safely out of harms way, it was time to close the books on this set of events. Sally was not going to be accessible to him as a friend… let alone romantic interest.
RPM
For more chapters in this series… and others like it… keep checking below… at the growing list of links…
- Sally’s College Parking - Chapter - 1 Sally thought she found a solution to the college parking challenges Then, a 'boy' in a Civic shows up... Car troubles ensues... blushes follows... Dive in to read more
- The Boy in the Civic - Chapter - 2 Sally was glad that the boy in the Civic had not been a distraction.... she had been humiliated enough that one time. Fate had other plans however. Little did Sally know that she would meet him again. Memories of past stuck scenes... made the boy in the civic more eager to get to know this woman he had seen stuck on campus.... Dive in to read more
- The Great Escape - Chapter - 3 Nothing like a bit of stern lip from a lady to make a fella wish he wasn't being a helpful gentleman Troy was trying to do the right thing. Sally was trying to get to her car and get free early. Now, facing each other, flutters and butterflies were flipping tummies Worse... Troy feared he appeared like a stalker. Sally wondered what was wrong with the boy in the Civic. They meet again... and this time... it's more than rubber that gets heated No good deed goes unpunished... it seems.... Dive in to read more... of this tale
- Formal Introductions - Chapter - 4 Sally is confronted by a rude Mustang driving fella who is determined to prove that women can't drive. Little did Sally know that Troy would be spoiling factor But first, lots of revs, tire burning, drag racing action Sally must face Troy, the boy in the Civic that she's not been formally introduced to... and understand why her blood runs hot whenever he's around Dive in to read more
- Capricious Starts - Chapter 5 -The adventures of Sally and Troy take a very cold twist of fate as a motor gets revved hard. Will Troy come to the rescue, or will Sally figure it out on her own? Jen, worried sick, finds out that there's chemistry between Sally and Troy Will the high revs and tire spinning bring a new chapter of romance or leave them out in the called... stalled
- The Ice Storm - Chapter 6 unfolds in the Troy and Sally saga A snow storm comes over campus. Sally and Jen find the ice to be more than they can address and handle. Feelings grow hot. Troy makes an effort to be a hero. The night heats up a lot of emotions as tires search for traction. Two ladies uncover a dark secret too hot to handle as well.
- The Buddy System - Chapter 7 - Troy has his hands full. He's trying to be a gentleman and come to the rescue of Jen and Sally. However, the snow storm not only is serious, he meets a new lady who is very happy to be rescued by Troy Will this woman draw Troy's attention so much that Sally is left in the cold? Sometimes, you need a buddy to help you stay on the path when ice is all over the road
- New Starts Require Heat - Chapter 8 - A brutal snow storm paralyzes the town. Troy, a new local hero, turns his attention to Sally. However, Jen and Aiden need his help. This time, it's his turn to be the damsel in distress... or is it? His long held secret threatens to be revealed... Troy now must think super fast and free himself from ice.
Shallows of the Deep 