Midnight Movie Club Ch. 01

"Sure. What do we need?"

"A coffee maker, for one. We both get up at the crack of dawn and I for one don't want to be stumbling across campus half-asleep to Seattle's Best in the middle of winter."

Julie's responding nod was one of approval. "I don't care about the blend. All I care about is caffeine. Don't sweat the sugar or creamer either," she added. "I take my coffee black."

"Same here," Eleanor responded. "The only thing I add is a little pinch of kosher salt to cut down on the bitterness."

"Really?" Julie looked away for a moment before giving her roommate a shrug. "I'll have to try that. Throw some in the pot tomorrow morning?"

"Will do! So we need coffee, a coffee maker...I do want to get creamer and sugar in case we have guests... stirring sticks... filters..."

"A whiteboard." Julie pointed towards the door to their room, which was currently closed. "Let's get a small whiteboard. We can use it for a grocery list as well as letting the other person know if we're stepping out or meeting someone."

"Oh, good idea!" Eleanor pulled out her smartphone. She added the items that she and Julie had mentioned before adding a few of her own. "Clorox wipes... toilet paper, just in case..."

The ascending melody of chimes, Eleanor's text notification sound, interrupted her train of thought. Julie watched as Eleanor read the message. "It's Cole," she told Julie. "Says he and his roommate are heading to the cafeteria in half an hour if we'd like to join them for dinner. You up for it?"

"Sure," Julie answered. Despite the various speeches, icebreakers, lectures, and seminars that Julie had attended over the past two days, Cole was the only student she could specifically remember. Every social encounter during orientation had involved the exchange of names, a handshake or a fist bump, and polite time-killing conversation until it was time to move on to the next event. For Julie making friends was a drawn-out process, a flaw that she intended to improve upon during her time at Farragut College. Ironically it had been Cole's laid-back nature that had made an impression upon Julie. She wasn't able to tell if Cole was easygoing or just lazy, however, she was willing to put the work in and find out. His straightforward comment about her and Eleanor's looks didn't hurt.

"So tell me a bit about Cole," Julie asked. "Were you friends in high school?"

"More 'friendly' than 'friends,'" Eleanor clarified in response. "We moved in different social circles, but he was always kind of cool. Never saw being mean to anyone. You know how every high school has a shitty garage band? Cole was in ours. Played guitar. He wasn't too bad from what little I heard."

"Cool," Julie said, adding in a half-hearted thumbs-up. "There are no potential landmines or any topics I should try to avoid?"

Eleanor answered after a moment's hesitation. "None that I can think of. Were landmines normally a problem back in Colorado?"

"No, no," Julie quietly chuckled. "I have a hard time making friends. I never got the hang of it growing up and I don't want to say or do anything to upset Cole, or you," she said, motioning to Eleanor, "before we've gotten to know each other."

"Oh girl, if walking in on you yesterday morning wasn't enough to upset me, a verbal slip of the tongue isn't going to make me bat an eyelash." With a reassuring smile towards her roommate, Eleanor slipped off her bed. "We're going to come back to this conversation, OK? I'm not trying to blow you off, but we've only got twenty minutes to freshen up and walk to the cafeteria. And I have a feeling it's the kind of conversation that's going to go longer than twenty minutes. So let's put it on the back burner and see if there's anything else we need from Target before we head out. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough," Julie responded, nodding in agreement.

X X X X X

Cole had just taken a bite of his warm dinner roll when he noticed Eleanor and her roommate Julie walking in his general direction. He came halfway out of his seat and raised his arm, extending three fingers to get their attention. Julie quickly noticed and pointed him out to Eleanor. The two young women, trays in hand, made their way through the crowded cafeteria to join him. "Hey," he said easily.

"Hey yourself," responded Eleanor, sitting down directly across from him with Julie grabbing the seat beside her and giving Cole an upward motion of her chin in way of greeting. "What's up?" Eleanor asked.

"Not much," Cole answered as Eleanor and Julie settled in to eat dinner with him. "End of a long day. Just finished setting up my class schedule for the fall. Think I was one of the last people out of the admin building. Every time I tried to sign up for a class the cut-off cut me off. I wasn't able to get wait-listed either."

"That's unfortunate." Julie was unscrewing the top of her bottle of water as she asked, "did you manage to get any of the classes you wanted?"

"History of Jazz. A spot opened up at the very last minute."

"History of Jazz? That's an actual course?"

"Yeah," Cole answered Julie. "It's not just jazz though." There was a low eagerness in his voice as he continued. "Spiritual, folk, ragtime, blues, marches, and then jazz. Nearly 140 years of music. Course covers it all."

"Oh, that sounds interesting. If you enjoy it, I might try to take it next fall."

"It's the only interesting class I have." Cole cut at the carved turkey breast on his tray as he spoke. "Everything else is math or science-based. Requirements yeah, but I slogged through those classes in high school."

"Our math and science teachers in high school didn't exactly set the world on fire," Eleanor chimed in. "Math's boring no matter what, but science classes would be more interesting if lessons were more explodey. So," she asked Cole as she poured Italian dressing over her salad, "where's your roommate?"

Cole lazily gestured in the direction of the serving area. "Getting food. We were taking turns holding the table so it didn't get sniped. Neither of us expected the cafeteria to be this busy." Every table in the large room was full, even the long communal tables, with several students hovering near the walls, craning their necks as they hunted for the next vacated or soon-to-be-vacated seat.

"Two straight days of getting information pumped into their heads and trying to figure out their schedules? People probably just want to eat." Eleanor turned to Julie. "I might have to join you in jogging to avoid the freshman fifteen."

"Well hello there." The voice came from behind Julie and Eleanor before the speaker came around the table and slid in next to Cole. "You must be Eleanor and Julie." He eagerly thrust his hand towards the two women. "Alexander de'Armond. Pleased to meet you."

As Julie politely shook his hand, she immediately determined that while she would make the effort to get to know Cole, the same would not apply to his roommate. From the moment she laid eyes on the young man she knew that she wasn't going to care for him.

His blonde hair was perfectly styled. His clothing, khaki pants and a blue polo shirt, was fresh off the rack. His handshake revealed his soft and smooth skin to Julie, going along with his clear, unblemished complexion. The faint scent of cedarwood had been evident when he walked past Julie. His voice was smooth, each word pronounced with the proper inflection. Most of all, it was the young man's grin that told Julie all she needed to know about him. It was a little too wide, showing off his whitened teeth, and straddled the fine line between 'genuine' and 'disingenuous.' Enough time around high schoolers and naval officers has taught Julie how to recognize a grin that said: "You should be pleased to meet me."

"Hi!" Eleanor shook Alexander's hand, grinning as she did so. "It's nice to meet you, Alex!"

"Alexander, please," he responded instantly. "I prefer my full name."

"Oh, OK! Here, let me try that again." Eleanor reached her hand out, this time for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Alexander." Alexander nodded, still giving off a wide grin, as Eleanor motioned to herself and then Julie. "I'm Eleanor Freeman and this is my roommate Julie Wyndham." Julie gave a quiet salute with her bottle, taking a sip of water to avoid following up.

"Eleanor. Julie." Alexander inclined his head towards them as he said their names. "How are you finding college so far?"

"Great! We finished orientation, got our classes lined up, and everyone's been nice," Eleanor said. "Although we haven't said hi to any of our neighbors yet. I try to do that tomorrow once I'm done unpacking." She turned to her roommate. "You still setting up the cable and the WiFi?"

Chewing on a piece of chicken, Julie swallowed before nodding. "The IT Mart's open at 0900 tomorrow, so I should have everything hooked up by 1200."

"Heads up, the room number in our welcome packet is wrong. The IT Mart moved to a bigger space." Alexander gestured with his hand as he gave directions. "When you go through the front door of the Student Union, take the double doors immediately to the left and follow that corridor to the end. I had to walk up three flights of steps to read the sign on the door saying they weren't there anymore."

"Thank you," Julie said. "That will save me some time and effort." Alexander responded with the same charming smile. She fought the urge to sigh before mentally berating herself. Maybe he was just being overly nice. Julie didn't think so, but if she was willing to give Cole the benefit of the doubt she should extend the same courtesy to his roommate. "So where are you from?"

"Seattle. Bainbridge Island," he specified, "across the water from Downtown."

At the mention of Alexander's hometown, Julie leaned forward, looking at him with keen interest. "You're right by Naval Base Kitsap."

"Yeah... yes, I am," Alexander answered. "I grew up a hop, skip, and a jump from the base. Used to watch the Nimitz and Vinson go in and out all from Bremerton all the time. Are you from Seattle too?"

Julie shook her head. "My father is in the Navy. He almost got assigned to Kitsap for his current tour but he ended up going to Pearl Harbor."

Alexander gave a hearty laugh. "Your dad lucked out on that assignment! If you don't mind me asking, what's he do?"

"He's in the Submarine Service," Julie responded politely, her interest cooled by Alexander's overbearing friendliness. "Right now he's currently the XO on the Illinois."

Alexander nodded in acknowledgment, giving her a final grin that threatened to make Julie roll her eyes. "So Eleanor," he said, turning to face her roommate, "Cole said you guys went to high school together. You're a local then?"

"Oh yeah!" Compared to Alexander's grin, Eleanor's smile gave off a warm and friendly vibe. "I've lived here my entire life..."

Julie took advantage of Alexander's divided attention to gracefully bow out and sit by in silence, enjoying a chicken breast that wasn't too shabby for cafeteria food while observing the social interaction between her roommate and the Seattle native. Cole was quiet as well, his focus on his sliced turkey. On the rare occasions he interjected himself or was interjected into the conversation he gave brief answers consisting of one or two words, just enough to satisfy Eleanor and Alexander before the focus was turned away from him.

At one point, Cole caught Julie glancing at him. His response was a barely discernible smile and a gentle hitch of his shoulders along with a slight motion of his head towards his roommate. Julie answered with a quiet smile of her own, nodding her head briefly before both freshmen turned their attention away from their roommates and towards their dinner trays.

X X X X X

At the chiming sound, Eleanor looked down at her nightstand. "Oh shoot," she said as she saw that a text message had accompanied the notification. "Julie, would you see who that is, please? My hands are a mess."

Julie got up from her desk and walked to pick up her roommate's iPhone. "It's from Cole," she told Eleanor. "He would like to know if we're doing anything tonight."

"Are we?" From her position standing on her bed, Eleanor gave Julie a perplexed shake of her head. "I was going to work on the wall. Did you have anything planned?"

"You're looking at it." Julie motioned to the pile of books on her desk. "Trying to get a head start on reading for a couple of my classes. Not the most exciting way to spend our first Saturday night at college," she sighed.

"Yeah. Let's see what he wants before agreeing to anything. Go ahead and text him back."

Julie held Eleanor's phone out to her. "You're going to have to do it," she told her. "I don't have Cole's number and your phone is locked."

Eleanor sheepishly held her hands out towards Julie. Both hands were coated with chalk dust. A variety of colors streaked across her fingers and palms. "Are you OK if I give you my passcode?" Her roommate nodded in response. "7-2-5-6-1-9. And would you hand me that towel please?" The towel in question was a faded green bath towel that had seen better days.

After handing the towel to Eleanor, Julie walked back to her desk. Eleanor did her best to wipe the chalk from her hands as she watched as Julie picked up her own smartphone. "I'm going to program Cole's number now," she explained as she tapped her fingers against the screen.

"Good idea," Eleanor said as she delicately sat down on her bed, careful not to get any chalk dust on the white wall or her bedsheets. Once Julie had finished copying Cole's information she got up and placed the phone back on Eleanor's nightstand, taking a moment to plug in the charging cord, before texting. Julie's notification tone played a minute later, a subdued yet bombastic song that sounded familiar to Eleanor. "Alex and Cole got invited to a party and would like us to come along."

Eleanor perked up at Julie's relaying of Cole's message. "A party? Yeah, sure! I'm down for it if you are!"

Julie turned to look at the pile of books on her desk before turning back towards Eleanor. "I'm sure the works of Bertrand Russell will wait until tomorrow," she said with a warm smile.

"Awesome!" Eleanor slid off the bed as Julie texted Cole. "Our first college party, before classes even start! Beats staying in our room on a Saturday night!"

"Hard agree." Julie pointed to the wall above Eleanor's bed. "It's a shame to leave that half-finished though."

Over the past hour, Eleanor had used a jumbo-sized box of colored chalk ("Over 128 colors," she proudly proclaimed) to create a rough outline of what would eventually become a treasure map. Aside from the map itself and several quick marks and scribbles inside the lines, Eleanor had also added several further touches, such as a pirate ship, a scattering of palm trees, and a slice of a calm blue ocean.

"I'll finish it tomorrow... I will finish it tomorrow after I do all my set-up and prep for the first day of classes on Monday," she corrected, laughing quietly as Julie gave her a playfully stern look. "It shouldn't take too long. Or I might erase it and start over." Eleanor shrugged. "Whichever. I think it's kind of a theme, though, with your dad being on a submarine and this school named after an Admiral..."

As Julie's grandiose text tone played a final time, she glanced at her phone. "Cole says to meet them outside at 2130... 9:30, sorry. That gives us an hour to get ready."

"I have to hop in the shower and wash all this chalk off my body, however...." Eleanor looked squarely at Julie as she held up one hand. "Rules. First," she said, ticking her index finger against the other one, "we either leave together or we let the other know we're leaving. Second," she continued, ticking down each finger as she counted, "if you're going home with someone else, you bring that someone else over before leaving to get, what did you call it, Mark One Eyeballed? Third, you don't take a drink you didn't watch get poured yourself. Fourth, and this is a recommendation, pacing. Two drinks in the first hour, one drink each hour after, have water if it's available. Alright?"

"Absolutely," Julie said, awe and respect in her voice. "Those are all good rules. I'm completely on board. And can I just say, you rattled those off fast."

"Five older brothers who all went to college and a high school career full of bonfires and barn parties." Eleanor thumped her chest. "Us girls have to learn to be wary and stick together, right?"

"Right. You go take your shower while I figure out what to wear."

X X X X X

Alexander looked up at the night sky. "It is gorgeous out here," he said to his roommate. "The last time I saw this many stars in the sky was when my family went camping at Crater Lake. The weather's five-star too."

Sitting on the front steps of Samuelson Hall, Cole looked up from the blemish in the stone that he was idly playing with. "Won't be for much longer. Need to start wearing a jacket in October. By Halloween, you're going to want a parka handy you can wear until March."

"Not too different from Seattle then. The heavy coats tend to go away around March." Alexander motioned to the tan cargo shorts and red shirt he was wearing. "I'm kind of regretting this outfit. It is a hint more chilly than I expected." He gestured to Cole's outfit, blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. "I should have followed your lead."

"Just what I'm comfortable in. Besides, probably be thankful for shorts when you're in the middle of a crowded house party surrounded by drunk sweaty college students," Cole suggested.

"My friend," Alexander grinned, "I'll be thankful for many things when I'm surrounded by drunk sweaty college students, and indeed, comfortable body temperature will be one of them." He put his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts and began to rock back and forth, quietly whistling as he and Cole waited for the two young women.

Cole took a moment to glance around. Many students were scattered around the grassy square. Most were enjoying the summer weather, either sitting on the wooden benches lining the sidewalks, lying on the lawn and looking at the stars, or taking a leisurely evening stroll. Cole had seen a handful of familiar faces from orientation, acknowledging them with a nod and a quick wave, but for the most part, he sat quietly on the steps, a stoic figure compared to his energetic roommate.

"Hey, guys!"

Cole turned around at the sound of Eleanor's voice as she and Julie walked out of their dorm. "Sup," he answered, rising to his feet in no particular hurry.

"Hello ladies," Alexander said cheerfully. "You both look winsome this evening."

"Don't know what winsome means," Eleanor laughed, "but I'll take it as a compliment." The local girl wore a high-waisted tie-dye skirt, colored in four ascending layers: blue, green, orange, and purple. A black sleeveless top completed the outfit, cut low enough to show just a hint of her midriff. Next to her, Julie had styled her short black hair behind her ears. Her choice of clothing was a pair of tan jeans and a dark blue blouse.

"Did you dye that skirt yourself?" Alexander asked Eleanor.

"Yep!" Eleanor punctuated her statement with a twirl, sending the hem of the skirt in the air for a brief moment. "Did it over the summer. This is only the second or third time I've worn it. Super comfy. Great airflow. Which I'm sure you were dying to know."

"As long as you're comfortable," he laughed, "that's all that matters."

"So where's the party," Julie said. "One of the frat houses?"

"Off-campus actually. Right across Cape Horn Road," he answered, referring to the road that defined the southern border of Farragut's campus. "One of our floor neighbors is on the track and field team. A couple of upperclassmen on the team rented a house for the year and are throwing a 'welcome back' party tonight. And I," Alexander said, patting his chest with confidence, "managed to snag us all an invite."