All persons depicted in this story are at least 21 years of age.
I was just through the second full week of med school, and already there were problems.
Reese, my best friend during pre-med, had gotten accepted at a different school than I did, so I was on my own at a new college, I had no friends yet and my car was acting up.
The car was the reason I had the nickname "Wheels". A 69 Porsche 912. I loved the car, but it was temperamental and usually picked the absolute worst times to break down. Today was no exception.
I was trying to go home after classes, and fired up the Porsche. It was sputtering and backfiring, requiring immediate attention, and just for good measure, it was raining.
Lovely.
I'd had this problem before...many times, in the 4 years I'd owned it. It had fouled a spark plug. I'd need to clean or replace it before I could be on my way.
Steeling myself, I opened the engine cover and grabbed my toolbox from the trunk. It would only take about 30 minutes to fix, but in the rain, it would be unpleasant and messy.
"Well." I said to myself. "Damn thing won't fix itself."
I had my head stuck in the engine bay, lost in the task at hand.
"Car problems?" A voice called from behind me.
Startled, I jumped, smacking my head. "Ouch, Damnit."
"Sorry, Didn't mean to scare you." The voice apologized.
I pulled my head out of the car, and turned.
"Yeah, nothing serious, just wasn't expecting an audience." I said, throwing my tools into the box on the ground.
As I stood, I finally got a look at the owner of the phantom voice. I'd been so wrapped up in fixing the car, I hadn't even realized the voice was female.
Standing before me was a true vision. She was slightly shorter than me and about 130 pounds or so, with black hair and dark, shining eyes, and curves in all the right places, but the part that really took my breath away was her smile. An angelic visage accented perfectly by skin the color of milk chocolate.
Maybe this wasn't such a bad day after all.
"Hi." She said sticking her hand out. "I'm Janelle."
I wiped my hands on a rag and shook her hand. "I'm RJ, My friends call me 'Wheels'" I said. "Nice to meet you."
"You're not fooling anybody you know?" She grinned.
I just stood there, not knowing what she was talking about, or how to respond.
"The emblem says 911, but this is obviously a 912." She giggled.
She was right. I replaced the emblem shortly after I bought the car. To the untrained eye, they were identical, so why not let people think I had a 911. Besides, 911's, even a 12 year old one, were more money than a poor college student could manage, 912's were FAR cheaper.
"I've had it for years and you are the first person that caught my little secret." I admitted. "I'm impressed."
"My Dad has a 912." She said. "He and I spend a lot of time working on it."
Smart, pretty and a mechanic, I think I'm in love.
"I'm done here." I stated. "I'd really like to get dry and clean up a bit, then I'd REALLY like to continue this conversation." "Can I meet you somewhere later?"
"Honestly." She sighed. "I'm feeling a bit homesick." "Seeing your car reminds me of Dad so much..." Her eyes teared up and she turned away briefly.
"Sorry." She smiled weakly. "Rough week."
She melted my heart. I knew her pain, I was alone in a strange place too.
"Anyway." She continued. "Would it be possible for me to drive your car?" "I know we just met and all, but it would mean so much."
"I've never let anybody drive her, not even my Dad, but I'm wet and dirty, and if you'll drive me back to my place, you're on!" I stated. "I really don't want to trash the interior."
Janelle squealed and hugged me. "Oh! Really!" She was nearly jumping up and down. "Thank You so much."
"Let me cover the passenger seat and we can go." I said, rummaging around in the trunk for a fender cover.
Janelle settled into the driver's seat, beaming. "This feels so amazing." "It all looks just like Dad's car, it even smells like his."
She fired up the car and we took off.
I gave her directions to my place and we headed out.
I could tell she was being extra careful, after all, we had just met, but I could also tell she was dying to open her up.
"Go ahead." I smiled at her. "You know you want to."
"What?" She queried.
"Punch it!" I grinned.
I didn't have to repeat myself.
From the way she tossed the car around corners, I could tell she'd done this before, quite a few times.
We arrived at my place in about 15 minutes. Janelle pulled in, shut off the engine and tossed me the keys.
"Thanks." She beamed. "I really needed that."
"No problem." I returned. "I've spent a lot of time behind that steering wheel working out various frustrations."
"Come on in." I invited. "Let me clean up, and you can drive us back."
Janelle smiled, knowing I'd let her drive again, and followed me in.
"Shouldn't take me long." I said "Make yourself at home."
I headed off to shower and change clothes.
The warm shower felt fantastic after being wet and cold.
I'd spent way too long showering and fully expected Janelle to be upset, but much to my surprise, she was puttering away in the kitchen.
"Hope you don't mind?" She said. "The least I could do is make some dinner." "You have an amazingly well stocked cupboard."
"I like to cook." I stated. "With the weird hours I keep, food isn't always available." "Whatever you're making smells amazing."
"Just a little family recipe." She smiled. "It always makes a good impression."
As she finished up, I set the table.
The food was incredible and we talked as we ate. Her Dad was a doctor in upstate New York, he attended college here, so she came here as well. She was first year med like me. We had 2 classes together, but I hadn't noticed her, nor had she noticed me. Not surprising, since the classes were pretty intense, not much time to look around.
I told her about me. I'm the first person in my family to attend college, and I'm largely self-funded. My dad's a mechanic, hence my love of cars, and Mom's a bookkeeper.
We talked for several hours, then I noticed the time.
"Guess we should get you back to campus, I've kept you way too long." I lamented, not wanting the day to end quite yet.
"I'm in no hurry." Janelle smiled. "But these chairs aren't the most comfortable, can we adjourn to the living room?"