The Four Years: Year One Ch. 02

I was having a great dream. Amy and I were running through a field full of tall grass as naked as the day we were born. The grass was high enough that it covered all the good bits of Amy's body. Just as a breeze started to blow and I was about to be rewarded with the sight of her body, a buzzing sound went off, snapping me awake instantly.

"Fucking alarm," I muttered half asleep once I realized what the sound was. I reached over and shut it off, wishing I could go back to sleep. But I couldn't. I had to get up for my first class.

"You're an idiot," Jake mumbled from under his blanket as I slowly climbed out of bed. He pulled the blanket away and looked around. "Sorry," he said. "I thought I was still home and my sister was the one who woke me up."

"It's ok," I said while yawning, as I grabbed the little travel bag with my bathroom stuff in it and a towel.

After having spent the better part of the last two months sleeping in, in the morning, my body and mind wasn't used to getting up this early anymore. As I sleepily made my way down to the third floor showers, I could tell that I wasn't the only one. The hallway was full of half asleep students that reminded me of a zombie movie.

That's when I noticed the line to get into the showers. There were at least a dozen people waiting to get in.

"Fuck," I quietly said to myself as I got in line.

"Tell me about it," said a blond girl in front of me. "If I had known there would be a line, I would've gotten up earlier."

"Everyone told me that I should take later classes so I could sleep in and avoid any hassles," I said. "But did I listen to them? No. I got up early for twelve years. I can do it again for a few more here. If they had bothered to tell me that there would be a line to take a shower in the morning, I would've."

"Exactly," the blond girl said. "No one ever mentions anything about this when talking about college life. It's always about classes and the heavy workload and the parties. But never the small little important things. I'm Lisa, by the way."

"Marc," I said.

"Nice to meet you Marc," she said. "Anyways, I have a couple brothers and sisters, so I'm used to having to wait to use the bathroom some mornings. But damn... Nothing like this. I'll be lucky if I make it to my first class on time, if at all."

Lisa and I chatted for a bit while waiting to get into the showers. Finally, after a little over half an hour, she went in. Five minutes after, I was able to go in. I found an empty shower stall, closed the curtain and washed up for the day. I finished about the same time as Jake was walking in.

"Hey," we said to each other simultaneously as we passed at each. Well, at least I'd have the room to myself to get dressed. I went back to my room and saw that I had only fifteen minutes before my first class, which was clear on the other side of campus. I quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed my books and ran out of my room, right into a brunette girl.

"Ow," she said as we collided and she fell to the floor.

"Shit," I said. "I'm so sorry. I'm just running late for class, and..."

"Yeah, me too," she said as I helped her up. "Don't worry about it. No broken bones or anything, so I'm good."

"You sure?" I asked, looking at her deep blue eyes. She smiled at me and blushed a little.

"Yeah," she said. "Though, I'm sure my ass will be sore in a little bit from falling on it, but you're cute so it's ok and I can't believe I just said that last part out loud."

I was slightly taken aback by her calling me cute. While I did have a girlfriend in high school, she and I didn't start dating till mid way through our senior year. Before that, trying to get a girl to go out with me was about as likely as Uwe Boll making a good movie. And yet, here was this girl that I had literally just bumped into, knocking her on her ass, and she was calling me cute... I love college.

"I'm Becky," she said.

"MARC!" I heard Andy shout as he ran down the hallway towards us. "Thank fuck I caught you before you left for class," he said slightly out of breath.

"What's wrong Andy?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I still don't have any classes, so I figured I could tag along with you to yours. But since it starts in ten minutes, I was afraid that I missed you."

"I'll see you around," Becky said with a smile and she walked off. I couldn't help but watch her ass sway as she left.

"Damn," said Andy. "I didn't just cock block you, did I?"

"No Andy," I said as he and I started to head towards class. "You didn't. Though, I probably did when I knocked her on her ass when I ran into her."

"I don't know," he said. "From that smile she gave you, it looks like she might be interested in you."

"You think?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe. I really don't know much about women and signals."

"You not the only one," I said.

Andy and I reached class twenty minutes late. And to our surprise, everyone was still waiting outside. Including Becky.

"Stalking me now," she said with a smile when we walked up.

"No, I have this class," I said, sounding a little defensive.

"Relax," she said. "I'm kidding."

"Oh," I said, mentally kicking myself for not picking up on it and sounding stupid.

"Why's everyone out here?" Andy asked.

"Teacher isn't here yet," Becky said. "And since the room is locked, we're all waiting out here."

"Well, that's good for us then," I said. "At least we wont be late to our first class."

"If there is a class,' Becky said.

"Good point," I said.

The three of us sat down on floor of the hallway as we waited. And waited. And waited. All the while, Becky and I talked about our lives before college while Andy was filling out the classes he wanted to take.

Finally, the teacher showed up. After checking our names off the list, he was wondering who Andy was.

"I'm sorry, but if you're not registered for this class, then you can't stay," the teacher said. "It's all full."

"I understand that sir," Andy said politely. "But if I could talk to you for just a moment privately..."

"I'm already late getting this class started because of that damn flat tire," the teacher said.

"I won't take more than a few seconds sir," Andy said.

"Fine," the teacher said. Andy got up from the seat next to me, walked over to the teacher and the two of them talked quietly so no one else could hear. The teacher looked a little shocked for a moment, and then nodded his head.

Andy smiled and said something before he came back and sat down next to me. "I'm in the class," he said.

"How the hell did you do that?" I asked.

"Because I'm awesome," Andy said with a grin.

The teacher then handed out a syllabus, lining out everything we would be learning and going over through out the semester. He explained what would be expected of us and how he grades before answering any questions we had. Then he told us that was all for today.

"That's it?" I asked.

"Yes," said the teacher. "It's the first day. Pretty much all your classes are going to be like this. What did you think was going to happen today? That we'd start working you hard and load you up with hours of reading and papers to write?"

"Well..." I said. "Yeah."

"That starts on the second day of class," the teacher said with what I guess was supposed to be an evil grin, but made him look kind of silly.

"Great," Becky said as we walked out of the class. "I turned down a date with a guy tonight because I expected to have a lot of work that I would have to do. Now I have neither."

"Sorry to hear that," I said. "Well, since I got time before my next class, I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat. You coming?" I asked Andy.

"Sorry," he said. "I gotta get this turned into the admissions office so they can add me to the classes."

"Alright," I said. "What about you Becky?" I turned to look at her, but she was already gone. "Ok then... Guess I'm eating by myself."

I headed towards the cafeteria, and once again, found myself waiting in a very long line. 'It's like Disneyland, but without the fun rides,' I thought to myself as I stood there.

"Boo," someone said behind me as they poked me in the back.

"What the..." I said, turning around. It was Amy. "Oh, hey."

"Hey yourself," she said. "My brother find you this morning?"

"Yeah," I said. "And he's now in the class as well, which is interesting since it was already full."

"That's Andy for ya," she said as she sat on the rail I was leaning against. "Can I ask you a question?"

If it's will I sleep with you, yes, I thought. "Sure," I said.

"Jake," She said. "What do you know about him?"

"I don't know," I said. "I just met him yesterday. Why?"

"Well," Amy said. "He asked me out last night. I told him I'd think about it. I mean, he seems nice and all... I just don't know if I'm ready to start dating in college. I always told myself I'd get settled in here first, make sure I can handle my work load and a social life before I even thought about dating anyone. But then, he asks me out, and now I'm wondering if it's stupid for me to wait. What do you think?"

"Me?" I said. I started thinking about telling her that she should wait. Hell, she should swear off men all together till she's ready to start dating. Then when she is, to call me. Instead, I told her, "Only you can really answer that question. Which, if you're having doubts about waiting, then it seems like you already have."

Amy nodded her had as she thought over what I said. "You're right," she said. "Thanks Marc."

"Don't mention it," I said.

"And as a thank you," she said. "I'm buying you breakfast."

As Amy and I finally made it inside, she got a call from her brother who had just finished getting all his classes and was waiting outside. Amy bought breakfast for all three of us, and we sat down outside under a tree and ate.

I had two other classes that day, and it turned out that my first teacher was right. They were over as quick as they started, and I found myself with a lot of extra free time that day, which I spent in my room.

I was in the middle of a chapter of one of my text books when there was a knock at the door.

"Yeah," I said as I continued to read. The door opened and Becky peaked her head in.

"Hey," she said as I looked up from my book. "Oh, are you busy? I could come back."

"No, no, no," I said as I marked my place and set the book down. "Come on in."

Becky came in and I sat up and made room for her so she could sit down. "What's up?" I asked.

"Not much," she said. "I was just wondering, since you're the only person here that I kind of know, aside from my roommate who is currently fucking some guy she just met downstairs at the vending machine. Which, interesting side note. Emo/goth chicks are apparently huge sluts that will fuck anyone and not care if anyone else is in the room at the time."

"I wish I had known that in high school," I joked.

"Anyways," she continued, "since you're the only person here that I know and I have nothing to do, I was kind of wondering if you wanted go get some coffee or something."

I was a little shocked by this, but at the same time, I wasn't. I was quickly learning that college wasn't anything like high school. I wasn't looked down on because I was smart or was into geeky things.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, yeah, sure.... When?"

"Now," she said.

"Sure," I said, nodding my head. "Yeah, sure. Now is good. Now is very good."

We sat there for a moment, and Becky seemed like she was waiting for something. I knew I should do something, but my brain was still kind having trouble processing the fact that a girl wanted to go out for coffee with me at that very moment.

"So, we should get going," Becky finally said.

"Yeah," I said as my brain finally kicked in. "Of course."

We stood up and I grabbed my keys and wallet before we left the room. Becky and I headed downstairs and were about to walk outside when Amy and Jake came walking inside. Both of them looking upset and both of them covered in what looked like spaghetti sauce.

"Hey Jake, what happened to..." I started to ask.

"Not now," he said, sounding kind of pissed off.

"You know him?" Becky asked as we watched the two of them head up stairs.

"Yeah," I said. "That's my roommate, and she's Andy's sister."

"Oh," Becky said.

"Look," I said, turning to her and regretting what I was about to do. "I got to see what happened and make sure everything is ok. You know, try and keep the peace with the person I have to share a room with."

Becky nodded and gave a weak smile. "I understand."

"Rain check on the coffee?" I asked.

"Sure," she said. I could tell by her tone that she was kind of hurt that she and I wouldn't be going out, but that she also knew it was something I had to do.

"Thanks," I said and ran upstairs. Just as I was about to enter my room, Jake came out wearing a pair of shorts and carrying a towel and a bottle of shampoo.

"So, gonna tell me what happened?" I asked as we headed towards the showers.

"What happened," said Jake, "was probably the worst date I will ever have."

We went into the showers and I stood outside the curtain of the stall Jake was in. "Come on," I said. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"Wanna bet," I heard Jake say. "I had just gotten out of my last class for today when I ran into Amy. She told me that she made up her mind and wanted to go out and get something to eat with me. So, I dropped my stuff off at our room and she and I went to the Macaroni Grill down the street."

"I love that place," I said. "Did they put the olive oil on a plate with fresh cracked black pepper for you to dip bread in."

"Yeah," Jake said. "That was pretty good... Anyways, the whole time we sat there in silence. Every time I tried to say something, my mind went blank and I couldn't think of anything. All I pretty much did was drink one soda after another since they carded me and wouldn't serve me a beer. In a god damn college town where every single place ignores the age limit on drinking, and I have to pick the one place that actually abides by it."

"So, you couldn't drink," I said. "That's not that big of a deal."

"Just wait," Jake said. "While we're waiting for our food, I must have drank about ten sodas. Which then led to me having to take a piss really badly. So, I excuse myself so I could go. At the very moment that I get up, the waiter walks up with our food on a tray."

"Oh no," I said.

"Oh yes," he said. "I knocked right into the guy and two bowls of pasta come raining down on us."

I couldn't help it when I started to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah," Jake said. "Laugh it up. Anyways, after that, she said she wanted to leave and just forget about the whole thing."

Jake finished with his shower and reached his hand out for his towel, which I handed to him.

"And what really sucks," Jake said as he came out of the shower stall a moment later, zipping up his pants. "During that last class, this cute little blond girl I was sitting next to was seriously flirting with me the whole time and then asked me out when class was over. And I told her no, because I was sort of interested in someone else. Now I can't go up to her and ask her out because she'll feel like I'm only going out with her because the other thing didn't work out and I settled for her."

"That sucks," I said, still chuckling a little.

"So," said Jake as we walked back to our room. "Aside the from me looking like Kool-Aid Man tonight, how were things with you?"

"Not bad," I said. "I met this girl Becky. Real cool. We sort of ran into each other this morning when I was heading to class, which turns out, we have the same class. She came by tonight and asked me out for coffee."

"And?" Jake asked as we entered our room.

"I was just leaving with her when you came back," I said. "So, I told her we'd have to do it another time because I wanted to make sure everything was okay with you."

"You idiot," Jake said. "Just because I fucked up tonight doesn't mean that you had to as well."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "She told me she understood and that it wouldn't be a problem."

"Of course she said that," he said. "She's not going to tell you off for leaving her for a friend before the first date even happens, if it even happens at all now."

"Dude," I said. "We just met each other today. She only asked me out for coffee because her roommate was in their room fucking some guy she just met. That's all. Plus, it really wasn't even a date. It was just coffee."

"Sure," Jake said as he laid down on his bed. "Just wait. You'll see..."

To Be Continued...