Standing alone in his dorm room John pondered what his next move should be. It was Christmas break and there was barely anyone left on campus. Looking around he saw the picture of his family sitting on his dresser which was empty due to having no class over the break. Sitting to the right of that was his laptop which was open to facebook, his usual procedure to burn a couple hours while having nothing to do.
His dorm room was really quite empty, except for a Chicago Bulls calendar and some family photos, the walls were bare. He never really was the decorating type, he always thought when he found the right girl she would decorate their house for them. In truth he really didn’t care that much, he was fine with the walls being empty; it was always the people who visited him who had the problem, always saying how his room was so bland and boring, he didn’t care.
As he began to pace thoughts returned to what he was going to eat for dinner. Since it was Christmas break the cafeteria was closed, so he couldn’t count on that. There was always Burger King a couple blocks down he thought. With how cold it was outside in the dead of winter, traveling down the block really wasn’t appealing.
So with that in mind he was going to the ole standby and gets some food out of the vending machines. Crossing the floor he readjusted his sweat pants and made sure everything was in order. Opening the door he reached down and re-adjusted himself and started walking down the halls. With no one around he really didn’t have to worry about crashing into someone with his hands down his pants.
The walls were a boring white color, with every ten feet or so a new room with a corresponding number. His room was number 10, which was perfect because it was right in the middle of the hall which meant it was right across from the bathroom. Sure that meant hearing the door open and close during the night, but on those drunken nights when you have to get to the bathroom quick, nothing was better. His floor was completely abandoned; he was the only soul living there the entire month. He kind of liked it that way, but it also got lonely.
This was the first time he wasn’t able to go home for the holidays because his parents were on a cruise they book months ahead of time. They didn’t think about him of course, they never did. As he walked by room number six, he could smell the sweet scent of pot. His friend George lived in that room and was a huge pothead, always skipping class to go get high with his girlfriend, but naturally a straight A student.
Reaching the elevator he clicked the button and only had to wait a matter of seconds before the elevator arrived, another perk of being one of the few in the building. His building was newly renovated so the elevators were exceptionally nice, wood panels and carpeted floors. The amber colored floor brought out the wood of the elevator but looked strange next to the white walls of his floor. Each floor had different colored walls ranging from light blue, white, to brown and even red. He always thought he picked the right floor sense he was always told he had a boring personality.
The elevator slowly descended until it reached the lobby and he exited onto the ceramic tile. Walking across the floor he could hear his footsteps slap the tile, echoing around the corridor. With the lobby vending machines down the hallways on the right, he walked that direction. As he turned the corner he could hear grunts and heavy breathing from where the vending machines were. A metallic crack sounded off into the air as if someone was kicking the machine. With his heart beat quickened he picked up the pace to see if someone needed help.
“You piece of crap give me my Snickers bar!” he heard a women scream down the hall.
It was nice to hear another person’s voice he though, you get cabin fever after being alone for too long. In his mind he was going over all the scenarios of what she could look like. With his luck it was be some girl he was not attracted to, he never caught the breaks.
Before turning the corner he called out, “Do you need help?” he was hoping that she did.
“Oh thank god, I’m starving and this machine won’t give me my candy bar,” she yelled back.
As he turned the corner he saw the source of the voice, and it took his breath away. Standing ten feet away was the most elegant women he had ever seen. Standing perpendicular to the machine he could see she was thin, around 5’10 and had beautiful brown hair about shoulder length. Even though it was winter she had pink short shorts on that left little to the imagination. Her cream colored appeared soft and smooth. To top it off was a white Illinois State sweatshirt that appeared brand new. Our eyes meeting for the first time seemed to go on forever, but was really only a second on two.
Visually regaining her composure she brushed some hair away from her face before putting them on her hips.
“I’m sorry but I’m really hungry and this dumb machine won’t work,” she explained.
Closing the gap between the two of them, he walked right up next to the machine to get a closer look.
“Well it looks to me as if your candy bar won’t fall,” he said jokingly.
Throwing her hands up in the air she said, “Well duh smarty pants.”
Breaking his attention away from the machine he came face to face with her and could smell her delicious perfume. She smelled of strawberries. Looking directly into her eyes he was about to speak when she got her words out first.
“Hey I’m Carol”
“Nice to meet you I’m John, what are you doing here, its Christmas break shouldn’t you be at home with your family?
“I would but I work at the community center down Williams’s road doing charity work over the holidays. How about you, what are you still doing here?”
Looking back toward the machine his hands started to lightly shake the device hoping he could cause the food to fall.
“My parents thought it was a good idea to go on a vacation without me,” he explained while tending to his task of helping the girl out.
While he was trying different way to get the candy for her they made small talk about how abandoned the campus was and how there was no where to eat. Thus explaining why the both went to the vending machines for food. After a minute or two and more rough housing the machine, the candy finally dropped.
“Ah there we go,” he said as he put his hand into the slot and handed her the candy bar.
“Thank you so much! I don’t know what I was going to do if this didn’t work out.”
“Not a problem, glad to help,” he said
“Well it was nice meeting you John, I won’t forget this,” she said as she turned to walk away.
They shared a smile and like that she started to walk away. Naturally when a good looking girl is in need of help, it’s one that doesn’t find him attractive he thought. Hearing her footsteps he wished he would have asked for her number, an opportunity like that doesn’t happen every day. She had to be the most beautiful women he had ever seen, and he just let her walk away.
As he kept kicking himself over the mistake, and picking out his food, which of course was Doritos, his favorite chips, he could hear footsteps coming closer to him. As he bent over taking his bag of chips out of the slot, he looked back and saw Carol walking back toward him. His mind began to race, why is she walking back to me for he thought. A smile spread across her face as she walked up next to him.
“Hey by any chance would you be interested in hanging out? I’m very bored and you look like a nice enough guy to hang out with.”
The sound of her voice was enthralling, all he knew was the wanted to keep hearing it.
“Yea sure, that sounds like a great idea. I really don’t know what there is to do but I’m sure we can think of something.”
With that we take off from the vending machine down the hallway. For some reason the hallways seem just a little brighter than when I arrived just ten minutes earlier. We decide that neither of us was ready to go back to our rooms so walking sounded right. Luckily we had the largest dorm on campus and had plenty of places to walk around.
As were walking we talk about our roommates and how we both despise them. It turns out she is from Michigan and wants to be a nurse, pretty much all small talk. Her charity work resolves around her cooking the meals for the elderly at the community center.
Making their way around the dorm the flow of conversation goes from the normal how is your day type of chit chats to more personal questions. After walking around for about twenty minutes he stops in front of the elevator.
“I have grown tired of walking,” he said with a laugh, “but I would still appreciate your company so would you be interested in joining me to my room; we could watch a movie or something?”
He had no idea where that came from, it was so unlike him. But after talking and walking around with her, perhaps he had become more comfortable than he thought. He wasn’t even worried she would say no, a rush of adrenaline came bursting through his veins and he knew she would say yes.
With a wide grin on her face she says, “Wow, you really are confident in yourself aren’t you.” Pausing for a second before he could answer she continued, “But I like that, normally guys around me are nervous, but not you.”
“Well that settles it then,” he said.
Turning his back he reached for the elevator button and pressed it, it grew an orange color. Almost immediately the elevator dinged indicating it was there and the doors opened. Wasting no time Carol walked into the elevator and moved into the right back corner. With John following, he walked in pressed the button for the 9th floor and turned around facing her. Carol was leaning against the wall with her arms holding onto the side railing. Wasting no time, without even asking for permission John walking right up to her and planted a kiss on her lips.
(more…)