03

Note: This is a work of historical fiction. Though my wife and I met after I had completed my master's degree, I loved my experiences in my undergraduate college. In this on going story, I will be exploring the way our relationship would have developed if we had met during our collegiate experiences

College With a Cane

,

Freshmen Year, Part 1

"Erik!"

"Nnuuuuhhh---?"

"Erik! Wake up!"

"Hhhhhbbbbnnnrrr---"

"Erik! Wake up you douchebag! Your alarm has been going off for 15 minutes!"

I slowly opened my eyes, still tired from the night before. "Ugh, sorry man," I said, hitting the off button on the alarm clock. "Man, these 7:35 classes are gunna kill me. You're lucky you don't have class until after lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sean."

"Yeah, yeah, just turn off that damn alarm and don't turn on the lights! Some of us are trying to sleep here!"

"Bite me," I grumbled as I got out of bed and grabbed my towel and toiletries. I opened the door quietly, making sure to let in as little light from the dorm hallway as possible.

"Why did they have to schedule Cognitive Science 230 (Mind, Brain and Behavior) Tuesday mornings at 7:30?" I muttered to myself turning on the shower, waiting for it to get hot. "These people should know that no college student's brain is wired to work this early in the morning. Oh well, at least I get the good shower this way."

Every Tuesday and Thursday was the same routine. I'd sleep through my alarm, my roommate Sean would yell at me until I got up, I'd head to the bathroom to shower, brush my teeth and get ready for the day. Afterward, I'd sneak back into the room, hang up my towel, get dressed, grab my laptop and course materials, and head off to the dining hall. Hardly anybody had class this early, and even fewer students bothered to get breakfast before going to their 7:35 classes (if they even showed up at all). I usually saw the same people in the dining hall, though most of them were older students who didn't want to associate with freshmen. Whatever, there were a few other freshmen who generally ate breakfast before going to their 7:35 courses who I became friends with. If nothing else, they were like-minded souls who also griped about the atrocity of having to attend class this early in the morning.

After breakfast, we'd all quickly head off to our individual classes. Luckily, there was always a classmate of mine who ate this early so she could get to the same course as me. She and I met during the first semester at our small liberal-arts college. She was in the intro course to Cognitive Science, which we were placed in by sheer chance since first semester courses for freshmen were picked randomly. Every student took an intro course in at least two subject areas their first semester. Most hated them both, but Cognitive Science was something she and I took a shine to early on, though we had different reasons for enjoying the subject. Although we had different passions for the subject, cog-sci was interdisciplinary enough that the intro course was extremely interesting for us both. Soon into the intro course, we both declared cog-sci as our majors.

Needless to say, we grew pretty close during our first semester of freshmen year. Now we were in the early stage of our second semester and still thoroughly enjoying our mutual class, albeit at 7:35.

"Hey, Kura," I said yawning and putting my tray down at the table she was already seated.

"Hey, Erik!" she replied as bubbly as ever. How she managed to be this personable this early in the morning, I'd never understand. "How's Sean? He must still be sleeping, huh?"

"Yeah, that asshole!" I quipped back.

She laughed, "Remember that tonight I'm staying over with him because we both have late classes tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. You've only been dating my roommate since the 4th week of college after I introduced you. It's not a big deal, your roommate Donna doesn't ever seem to mind me sleeping in your bed." She reminded me of our sleeping arrangements every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

That's right, my good friend Kura started dating my roommate Sean shortly after I introduced them to each other. It was pretty cool to play match-maker, even if it happened by sheer accident and luck. Don't get me wrong, they're great together and I hadn't been attracted to Kura in that way, but she was over in the room doing a project with me when my roommate Sean came in. When they both laid eyes on one another it was as if time stopped. I was secretly jealous of their relationship, especially since I hadn't had a girlfriend since junior year of high school.

Before they met, Sean and I had already decided on the sexiling rules for our room:

- No sexiling either roommate the day before an exam - No sexiling either roommate if they have an important paper due soon - No sexiling either roommate if they're sick

There were a few more rules, but he and I got along pretty well, we hardly had to enforce them. If one of us needed the room to entertain a guest, we'd just ask each other. Of course I hadn't had any opportunity to ask Sean to vacate the room but I didn't mind letting he and Kura have the room on Tuesday and Thursday nights since we all had late classes on Wednesday and Friday, including Kura's roommate Donna. It was lucky she didn't mind me crashing in she and Kura's room when Kura was spending the night in mine. Donna and I had even become great friends due to these arrangements.

Anyway, Kura and I small talked while we finished our breakfast and them went to our class. Today's class was pretty typical. The professor locked herself out of her computer in the middle of a power point presentation. Everybody offered her advice on how to fix the problem, although my advice of "Get a Mac!" was less than helpful.

"Just do it, Er," Kura said, pushing me out of my seat.

"Alright, alright, keep your pants on." I head down the lecture hall and looked at her computer. "Hnn," I thought out loud. "Oh I see, you just have to do this..." I quickly figured out the problem (she had password protected her screensaver without knowing how she did it in the first place) and unlocked the computer. The password was, of course, the name of her dog who she talked about a lot and even brought to class a couple of times.

Though I got some praise from our professor I got some nasty glares from the other students. Yeah, it was all my fault that we'd actually have to listen to the lecture today. So sorry for helping out, assholes.

An hour later, our course was finished and we were set free. Kura and I both agreed from the beginning of the semester that Tuesdays and Thursdays were especially sucky, since this was our only class. Though tired, neither one of us would be able to fall back asleep due to the espresso needed to wake up for class in the first place.

Now it was a quarter to 9, and Sean would be waking up soon. We never varied in our routine, she and I would go back to my dorm, she'd hang out while Sean got ready for his classes, and then they'd head off together while he got his own breakfast at a reasonable time for college students to be awake. Me, I used the time from now until lunch to do some homework. This time on Tuesdays and Thursdays was pretty much the only time I had the room to myself, guaranteed. Sure, there were other times, when I'd have the room to myself, but I would have no idea when Sean or Kura would be coming back.

The rest of the week was uneventful as always. Sean, Kura, Donna and I would meet up with some other friends for lunch each day. A number of us would head off to class together, but the one class I have with Kura is the only class I shared with any of my circle of friends. Most hadn't declared their majors yet, so they were still taking the "grab bag" of courses to try to find what really called out to them. It was lucky that Kura and I found our muse so early on into our collegiate educations. Donna typically ate lunch with us as well, afterward, she'd head off to one of her many music classes and then to grab a practice room. She had already declared to study music as her major, which I found fascinating since I am so horrible at everything musically related. In my elementary school years, I was even banned from playing the recorder with the other students... I was so awful, I would get all the other kids screwed up and we would sound horrible. I was only allowed to finger the notes in order for us to even sound halfway decent. (Don't tell my parents, though, they have no idea I wasn't blowing along with the other students... they still have all our recitals recorded!)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'd spend the night in Kura and Lucy's room, which was in a separate dorm, right next-door to our own. Neither was separated by gender, it was just luck of the draw where we lowly freshmen ended up.

Weeks passed with hardly any changes, the four of us and our other friends would party during the weekends, get our work done during the week, hang out in the evenings, play video games, watch Futurama and other shows; you know, the typically college student stuff. If Sean and Kura needed the room during the weekend after a party or something, we'd play it by ear. I think only twice or three times I had to ask them to take it somewhere else, which they respected since I hardly ever put up a fight when it came to being sexiled.

In February, our group of single friends decided we would have an "Anybody but couples" party on Valentine's Day. Nothing is worse than seeing all that lovey-dovey bullshit couples do when you're alone on Valentine's Day without a date. Fuck all those happy couples! How dare they find love and happiness while the rest of us had to wallow in our own hopeless singlehood! So, we told Sean and Kura that they weren't invited to the party, and they'd have to make themselves scarce. "You might want to rent a hotel or something, because who knows who I'll be bringing back to the room!" I sarcastically sniped at Sean and Kura. To my surprise, they said they already decided to go away from the 12th through the morning of the 15th. I'd have the room to myself for 4 days! Rock on!

We had just under 2 weeks to plan, and boy did we plan. Our friends Mohinder and Jake had the room we always partied in. They were going to go all out for this one. I passed the suggestion that we should have one of those "Anything-but-clothes" parties. The group was receptive, and that suggestion went into the maybe pile. Someone suggested we each invite a couple people that the group doesn't know, who we're friends with in our individual classes. I thought that was a great idea -- it meant that we'd get to know some new people and maybe, just maybe, some of us would get lucky! On the 8th we formalized our plans. It would be an "Anybody but couples" party in Mo and Jake's room, but not "anything but clothes," that required too much work! We'd do one of those parties another time. This party would be either BYOB or contribute to a pool that we'd use to go on a liquor-run that day. My parents live in the area, so I went home one night to use their laundry facilities (the dorm's are horrible!), and asked if I could take a couple bottles of wine back to college with me. My folks told me as long I didn't drive and we were all safe it wouldn't be a big deal. With that, they gave me a couple bottles of red and a couple bottles of white.

The 12th rolled around and Kura and Sean took off for their romantic rendezvous. The following day was the party. When I tell you this was a party for the ages, you better believe it! Even though it was just a party for we single folks, the girls who showed up were dressed pretty sexy. A number of them came in lingerie, but the majority wore nice dresses, skirts or exceptionally tight pants. The guys looked pretty good too, I'd have to admit. Some came dressed like they always were, T-shirt jeans or khakis, running shoes; others wore nice slacks, button-down shirts and some even had ties. I was one of the guys who opted to wear nicer pants, one of my favorite shirts, but the was the only guy with a tie that was only pulled partially tight, leaving the collar of my shirt undone (I hate having to button that top button, am I right, guys?), rounding it all out with my tortoiseshell thick-framed glasses I always wear. I rarely get cold, but I brought a one of my track jackets just in case. It went unworn, and spent most of the evening draped over Mo's chair.

I had invited a few friends from classes, but never bothered getting an RSVP from them. If they showed up, great, if not, meh. I was happy to see Donna already there when I arrived, wearing one of those oriental-style dresses which that really actuated her curvy figure. If she didn't bring a guy back to her room, I would be shocked! For the first part of the party, she and I hung out together. Mo and Jake were busy entertaining and welcoming both invited and uninvited guests to their party. At any hint of a couple trying to get in, they'd call Pablo, a sophomore buddy from the track team. He was a thrower... about 6'3", 310 lbs. Nobody wanted to mess with him! If he told you to leave, he wasn't asking. Of course, most people didn't know that Pablo was as gentle as a lamb. Even fewer knew that he was gay, something he confided in me early into our friendship on the track team. I guess he sensed that I'm a liberal guy; I don't care if you're gay, straight, bi, trans, etc. As long as you're a good person and you're not hurting anybody, do whatever makes you happiest.

Pablo, Donna and I chatted during the early part of the evening. The wine I brought was a huge hit, guess most college students are more used to drinking Natty Lite than they are a good shiraz or sauvignon blanc (my personal favorite, though I only had 1 glass). The party started at around 8ish and by 9:30 it was in full swing. People were hanging out all over the room, different groups of people chatting and mingling with one another, our mutual pseudo-hatred of couples was a good way to break the ice.

At around 9:45, Lucy's cell rang a few times. At first, she tried to ignore it, but by the third call from the same number in under a minute she excused herself to the hall so she could take the call in a quieter setting. When she came back in, she looked pretty upset.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Oh, Erik, it's awful!"

"Oh shit," I said jumping to conclusions. "Nobody's hurt or anything are they?"

"No, nothing like that," she replied, "it's our dorm room. A pipe burst down the hall and soaked the entire floor! They're asking all the students who can, to sleep somewhere else this weekend so they can bring in some heavy duty fans and driers so the carpets don't mold!"

I ran my hand through my hair, "Is your computer okay?"

"Yeah, they said the floor blew a fuse when the pipe burst, so all the electronics should be alright, thank God. I don't know what I'd do if I lost all my work on my computer! Anyway, I know you were looking forward to finally having a room to yourself for a few days, but do you think I can sleep over with you until this mess is cleaned up?"

"Donna," I began, "How many times have I stayed with you? At this point you shouldn't even have to ask. Mi casa es su casa!"

College With a Cane

,

Freshmen Year, Part 2

Even though it was only around 10pm, Donna and I decided to leave the party and check out her floor. After we moved some of her stuff to Sean and my room, we could always go back, depending on what time it was. Water was dripping from the building when we got there, but it looked much more under control than we thought it was going to be after she got the call from her RA. We took two flashlights a number of people from the housing department in addition to campus safety were handing out before entering the building.

"And I thought they smelled bad on the outside," I said imitating Han Solo when we opened the door. It really did stink, and would have been just about impossible for anybody to sleep in. I hoped everyone else in the dorm would be able to find somewhere else to crash. The carpets were completely soaked, and every light except for the low-voltage emergency ones had been shut off. Some of the overhead fluorescents, however, flickered, presumably caused by overload or short circuits. The low lighting mixed with occasional flickering fluorescents made it difficult to see, but not impossible.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath when we got to the stairs. "I forgot you lived on the third floor."

"Are you going to make it?" She asked me.

"Yes, I'll just be a little slow. You should be too, they look pretty slippery."

I was right, the stairs were slippery, but eventually we managed to climb to the third story. Once there, it was a pretty easy walk to Donna and Kura's room. Turning on our flashlights, we opened the door. To our amazement, hardly anything inside was damaged. Obviously, the carpet was the biggest casualty, and the water damaged some of their possessions, but otherwise it was in relatively good shape.

Donna sighed when she picked up a stuffed animal from the soaked carpet. "I guess I won't be keeping this one," she said, tossing it back onto the soaked carpet. "I really liked that elephant too."

I sat down next to Donna on the bed and put an arm around her. "It was a special one, wasn't it?"

She nodded, clearly trying to hold back tears. "My uncle got it for me when I was little. He passed away cancer last year."

I picked up the elephant and gave it a squeeze. Water dripped from the stuffed toy, though not as much as we both originally thought. "Maybe it can be saved," I said looked at the tag on the back. "It has washing instructions. I bet if we get it to a washer and drier pretty quickly, we can save him. Grab your computer, some clean clothes, undamaged books and notebooks and any laundry you want to do. We'll throw in a load of wash when we get to my dorm." I looked at my watch and went on, "It's only about 10:10 and neither of us has to be up early tomorrow. Just calm down, it'll be alright. It's probably a good idea for us to grab some of Kura's stuff since she's away too, don't you think?"

She reached over and hugged me, crying softly. "You're the best, Erik. You always know what to say." For the next 30 to 45 minutes we gathered what we could from her room and shoved it all into a couple duffle bags. We left the door unlocked so the maintenance crew could have access to the room for the next few days. Before going back down the stairs, Donna looked back at her room and sighed once more.

College With a Cane

,

Freshmen Year, Part 3

We made it back to my dorm where it was apparent many other students were allowing their friends from Kura and Lucy's to spend the night with them. "One little pipe can lead to this," Donna mumbled as we entered the building. Other students were already lining up with their belongings to climb the stairs, but we were lucky — our room was on the ground floor. Out of habit, I knocked on the door before opening it.

As we expected, the room was empty except for the huge mess on Sean's half. I told Donna to unpack, she could use my desk for now, and if she felt more comfortable, I'd clear out a drawer for her so she wouldn't need to live out of her bags. What she really wanted most was to find a washer and drier for her clothes and elephant.

The laundry room was total chaos. Not only were students doing their own laundry, but also many of the visitors them had the same idea Donna and I had.

"Does anybody want to share a washing machine?" Donna asked to the other students hoping to wash their belongings.

A few other girls didn't seem to mind, as long as they did a Cold-Cold cycle. We told them that it was fair enough, chipped in some quarters for washing and drying, and I joked that I hoped everybody knew what their panties looked like or there could be a few arguments later. All but one of the girls blushed. The other, who I later learned was Caitlin, smiled triumphantly and announced, "Not for me! I don't wear any!" We all laughed and made our way upstairs.