She fucking hated her political science class. Every Thursday morning, she had to crawl out of bed, and go to her class at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. She was one of the only females in the class, and the only woman of color. Every time she entered, she felt as if she were being watched by a group of scientists, meant to dissect her every body part. As much as she tried to not stand out, Celina Thompson somehow managed to bring the class' attention to herself. She hated to be noticed, especially because of the way she looked. She heard the whispers some of her classmates made about the 'fat black girl' in the second row. At 5'9, she was taller than the average woman, and weighed a bit more as well. Her skin was the color of the sun's rays being shined through thick maple syrup, or so she liked to think. In truth, her skin was a healthy shade of earth brown. Her hair, which used to be bone straight, was now worn natural in a natural afro that she usually wore in tiny little braids. In fact, the only thing she seemed to like about her body at all were lips, which were a perfect pout. Celina was one of those young women that had grown into her body at an alarming rate. Her chest was larger than she liked it to be, and even with the loose sweaters she wore they her breasts still managed to stand out. Celina had read about the women that actually wished that their chests were as large as hers. She wondered that if these women could undergo the daily ogling she went through. Would they still feel the same? In truth, she wanted to get a breast reduction, but she had neither courage nor the willpower to undergo such a dramatic change.

She sat down, giving the people next to her a meek hello. Her classmates responded cheerfully enough, but she always knew that deep down something wasn't quite right. It wasn't just the awkward greetings either. Celina glanced around the classroom, allowing her rich earthy brown eyes to canvass the room. She allowed herself a small smile. At least he wasn't here. The young man in question was Jake Collier, the epitome of everything she despised in human nature. Normally, she didn't like to say that she hated anyone, but young Jake was the exception. He was 6'3, with honey blonde hair, and deep green eyes. While attractive, Jake was an utter and total asshole. She had known him since middle school, and had hated him ever since. Celina foolishly thought that she might actually be free of him once they entered college, but unfortunately fate was cruel. They had both attended the University of Georgia for the past two years, and surprisingly had many of the same classes. She prayed for his demise in every class they had, but every session he appeared. Sometimes she wished he would get a transfer so that she could be completely free of him forever.

He entered the room with the grace of a drunken monkey. Celina smirked at his obvious hangover, enjoying the fact that her long time enemy was suffering and very uncomfortable at the moment. She gave him a righteous smirk, glaring as he mouthed 'fuck you. Celina arched a smoothed raven eyebrow, leaning over she returned; 'you wish'. Before they could begin what was known in the class as World War III, their Poly Sci teacher, Professor Rosenberg, called the class to order. Celina sat back, and began to note take on the long winded class. She was beginning to get sleepy, but thankfully she taped the class discussions so that she could go back in case she missed something in her notes. Just as she was about to completely nod off; Professor Rosenberg interrupted her near slumber.

"We only have two months left in the fall semester. Many of you are failing, and need extra credit assignments to boost your grade. As you know, I will not be allowing a grading curve this year. Luckily for you, a good friend of mine is conducting a focus group. For those of you that want to raise your overall grade, you can opt to participate in an ongoing study of politics, and socio-economic studies being conducted by the Nonpartisan Committee for Political Change."

He smiled as the class groaned in unison. None of them wanted to participate, but Professor Rosenberg wasn't known for his graceful gestures. The offer probably wouldn't stand for much longer. Celina was an average student, but when it came to her political science class, she knew she needed any boost she could get. Sighing softly, she nervously raised her arm, choosing to sign up for the study. To her surprise, quite a few people raised their hands as well. So far, all of the women in the class had signed chosen to sign up. A few men, even that bastard Jake, had agreed to participate. Oh well, maybe she would not see him around the Kurgan Institute. Smiling, Professor Rosenberg closed his ledger, quickly scanning the registration list.

"I almost forgot. This assignment requires partners. In order to receive the maximum allotted twenty five points, you must have a partner of my choosing. Rachel Adams, you're with Greg Maier."

The petite blonde frowned at her bad luck. Greg Maier was perhaps the dumbest student in the class. He came to class each day unprepared, and he always made sexist remarks. He was a known womanizer, and had few friends in the class. Celina felt a wave of sympathy for the girl. Greg would no doubt be more interested in her body than in their mutual grade. She ignored the other names that were called, silently praying that she wouldn't get paired with anyone too stupid.

"And lastly, Celina Thompson, you're with Jake Collier."

Shock was evident upon her face as she heard her name. Everyone, even Professor Rosenberg knew how badly they got along. Theirs was a history of anger, deception, lies, and eventually forgetting that the other even existed. Professor Rosenberg could not be serious could he? He could not possibly expect her to be partnered with such a disagreeable person! She couldn't work with him. Celina frowned, knowing full well that they would never survive one another's attitudes. She needed those extra points, but she's probably failed the assignment, which would cause her to have to take the class again! The class was dismissed, and everyone exited quickly. Celina regrettably had no choice but to stay behind and plead with her professor. He couldn't possibly expect her to work with Jake could he? The guy was a complete and total prick. There was no way they could successfully complete such a project when she couldn't even stand to be ten feet near him. Jake had stumbled out of the classroom, probably not realizing what Professor Rosen berg had assigned. As soon as he was sober, he would raise hell, and demand to be reassigned. Since she wasn't getting through to her professor, she hoped Jake could make him acquiesce. Celina left in a hurry, ignoring the strange glances she received as when she slammed the classroom door. She stalked angrily to her dorm room, hoping to get there before anyone saw her tear stained face. Fumbling for her keys, Celina entered her private sanctuary. It was because she was a sophomore, that she had the luxury of having her own private room. It was slightly smaller than the double rooms, but it was well worth the extra seven hundred bucks.

Her first experience with sharing a dorm room had been catastrophic. Katie, her freshman roommate was a total slut that had the nerve to lock her out of their room when she was giving head to her ugly ass boyfriend. Celina tried to be understanding, but her boyfriend, Pete was a pervert. He had propositioned her many times when he called on Katie and wasn't there. Celina had kicked him in the balls when he said that he had nothing against 'fat black chicks, with a chip on their shoulders.' They got into many heated arguments about it, some of them resulting into fights. Celina's last straw was when the anorexic bitch had the nerve to accuse her of seducing her pimple faced boyfriend. At the start of the spring semester, Celina got the hell out of there. She knew that if she stayed any longer, she would end up sending that brat Katie to the infirmary. Celina dumped all her textbooks on her bed, yanking her shoes off, and letting the tears fall freely from her eyes. Just when things were finally beginning to work out, she got stuck with the one person on earth that she completely despised. It wasn't as if her malice towards him was undeserved and he knew it, but there had to be another way. Surely somehow, things could be arranged so that the two of them could get better fitted partners right?

She sullenly studied her political science notes for a full half hour. Frowning at her inability to concentrate, she threw her notebook angrily to the floor. Tired of being in a depressed mood, Celina stripped off her clothes and headed for her showers. Thankfully, she had managed to scrap just enough money together to ensure that she had a private bath in her room. The days of sharing a community shower were long gone. As she poured the vanilla body wash over her body, she began to recall the way things once were. There was a time when she actually even had a crush on him. Of course, back then when they were younger, circumstances were much more different. Stopping herself from thinking about him anymore, Celina was grateful when she heard someone at the door. Cursing silently, Celina turned off the shower nozzle, and raced to wrap a towel around her hair. She couldn't find her long bathrobe, so she had to settle for the short indigo terrycloth bathrobe that had come with her bath towel set.

She hated the robe because it barely covered her chest. (Actually, it covered the majority of her chest, but never to stay covered.) The robe itself was too short for her liking because it went right to her mid thigh. She didn't want to really to greet anyone at the door this way, but the skimpy clothing was all that she could find at the moment. She was not about to ruin a perfectly good outfit, by getting into it wet. Clutching the robe with one hand, she answered the door, on the fourth knock. When she saw the face that greeted her, she instantly wished she had looked though the peephole first. There, standing on Celina's 'Welcome to Moron City, Population: You' mat was none other than a recently sobered Jake Collier. He said nothing, but his eyes bulged out slightly. At least he looked as if he regained his motor skills, and a semblance of coherent thought.

Jake's eyes traveled up her full figured body appreciatively. He never would have pegged a girl like Celina to have a hot body under all of the baggy clothes she wore. Her legs were long, and smooth, and for the briefest moment, he wondered what they would feel like wrapped around his waist. The shock of seeing him at her front door had caused her to release her hand from her robe. He could see the swell of her breasts, her nipples strained against the material. They were hard, and he wanted to touch them. He frowned, shaking his head at such thoughts. This was Celina fucking Thompson for fuck's sake. He hated her! They hated each other, and he was not supposed to fantasize about his sworn enemy! Still he was a man, and this surprising little peep show was making his cock twitch. Her dark eyes narrowed angrily at the sight of him. She crossed her arms offensively, a sharp retort already forming on the tip of her tongue. Jake removed his eyes from her perky breasts, getting to the topic at hand.

"Rosenberg assigned us to be partners. I was wondering when you wanted to meet at library."

She looked at him skeptically, not trusting a word he said. Looking over his shoulder, she realized that they were being watched by the majority of the people in the coed hallway. A slight blush erupted on her dark skin, and she quickly ushered him inside the room. The residents of G-Hall would probably be gossiping about this occurrence later on. Gossip spread fairly quickly in such a small dorm room. It wasn't every day that she had a man in her room, and definitely not dressed like that!

"Why didn't you ask Rosenberg to reassign us? You know we don't get along. We haven't gotten along since..."

She trailed off, not wanting to rehash that particular bit of bad history. He took a seat at her desk, and she grabbed the clothes that were on her bed. She ignored his arched eyebrow at her choice of lingerie. Scuttling in the bathroom, Celina changed quickly. She didn't want Jake in her room. She didn't like him, and she sure as hell didn't trust him. Despite having many classes together for the past two years, they had both managed to avoid each other at social events, around campus, and even during class most of the time. Celina wouldn't put it past him to steal from her purse, or rifle through her underwear drawer. She saw how he gazed at her body, and she didn't like that either. It wasn't as if she was a prude, but she would have rather anyone else but him ogling her. After all that had happened between them, she had thought he would have known better. She quickly combed her hair out into a fluffy afro. Exiting the bathroom, she was pleased to see that he was merely looking over the photos on her desk. He moved away from it, when he saw her come out dressed as she normally was. Jake's stare was beginning to unnerve her. She searched through her desk for a scrunchie, and quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail. Finally, after not being able to withstand his stares for much longer, she addressed him about it.

"What is it?"

She paused, grabbing her purse, and keys.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just have never seen you with your hair all puffed out. You always wore it braided."

"Yeah, well people change."