College for me was a time of growing up in a lot of ways. Academically, I learned a lot through the classes I enrolled in. Socially, how to get a long with a lot of people from different walks of life. Spiritually, I adopted a set of values that continue to serve me well to this very day. And personally, I learned a lot about myself; what was important to me and what wasn't. College was also a period of time where I learned a lot about the opposite sex and where guys, and where, specifically, "I" fit in the grand scheme of things. This is a story of the latter subject.
I was the 2nd of two boys in my family. All through high school, I was one of the so called "nerds." Did well academically however was mediocre when it came to relationships. Not that I didn't date, however my dates never went anywhere. I had a couple of girl friends however we never took it beyond holding hands and the occasional kissing with closed lips. I enjoyed their company however I always knew that I was expected to go on to college. My parents made sure that thought was firmly planted in my noggin. As were most of the girl friends that I dated. We were all so thoroughly brainwashed. So long term relationships were not in the cards.
When it came time to decide on where to go to college, I decided that I needed a complete change of scenery otherwise history might repeat itself and I would remain a nerd the rest of my life. Most of my classmates and friends were ending up staying in-state, going to the local university. If I did the same, I would probably end up with the same circle of friends and guess what, déjà vu all over again. So off I went to San Francisco.
My freshman year was interesting. Learning to live in a new town, new community, dorm life, and a new school campus. Adapting to college life and the differences in teaching. My first year went by in a blur! Luckily I did reasonably well and made the dean's list. That meant that I could live off campus if I wanted. Which I did. Living in a dorm with 50 other people on the same floor and eating cafeteria food were some of the things that I was looking forward to not doing.
I decided to stay in town over the summer and work. At the same time, make the move into an apartment that a fellow student was giving up and had referred to me. It was small and clean, close to campus, and most importantly, fit my budget. So, I was more or less settled in by the time that my sophomore year started.
My second year was also a turning point for me socially, as I met my dream girl that fall. It was at the start of the year dance for the sophomore class which was held the first weekend after classes started.
Although my "nerdiness" had resulted in my wall-flower social status all the years leading up to this year, I figured that I had nothing to loose by attending. If nothing else, it would at least give me an opportunity to knock back a couple of brews and find some buddies from last year. Besides, if I didn't do something different for a change I would have no one to blame for being stuck in a social rut besides myself. So I went stag (not that I had a date to take anyway) and walked into the gym building where the dance was being held.
I walked up to the reception table to pay my entry fee and came face to face with a most amazing gal. She couldn't have been more than 5' 4" tall, straight black hair that fell to her shoulders, slender, perhaps no more than 100 pounds, with smallish breasts. But her best feature was her smile. She could light up the city of San Francisco if they could ever figure out how to harness its brilliance. To say that I was intrigued by this person would be putting it mildly.
"Hi, I'm here for the dance," I said as I forked over my $5.
"Hi, my name's Jan," she said as she took my $5 and gave me two ticket scripts. "You can use the script to get either two soft drinks or one beer. After that, you'll need to buy more script if you intend to buy more drinks. So can I sell you another $20 in script?" she asked?
"Oh," I asked? "Think that I'll be needing that much script?"
"Definitely if you intend to buy me a drink or two," she said as she smiled at me and took my $20. "So what do they call you?"
Her reply had me in a daze! Did she just ask me to spend some time with her? This doesn't just happen to nerds like me!
"Oh, sorry, the names Quentin; but Quin works better." I told her. "And I would definitely like to buy you a drink or two, perhaps three or more?" I smiled back at her.
"We'll see," Jan smirked back at me. "I'm going to shut down this table in about 30 minutes so why don't you come looking for me about that time?" she asked.
"Sounds like a plan," I smiled back at her. I thought to myself that this year may have potential after all!
I walked into the gym and scanned the room. The music was blaring and the lighting was turned down. There were perhaps 300 or more people there already. I could see that a lot of the guys were eyeing up all of the good looking girls there. And the good looking girls were doing likewise to the good looking guys! You could see the hormone levels in the building jump each time a new person walk into the room as everyone checked them out and vice versa. It was like high school all over again!
I went to the bar and got me a beer and figured that Jan would probably be closing the reception table shortly so I got her a wine spritzer at the same time. I was hoping that it was a safe drink to order. By the time I had our drinks in hand and left the bar, it was almost time to get Jan so I walked over to the reception area.
The table was deserted by the time I got there so I figured that I had been stood up. Well, it wasn't the first time and it probably wouldn't be the last. So I turned around and promptly bumped into her! Good thing I didn't spill the drinks on her!
"Hey, big guy! There you are! I thought you forgot about me," Jan said.
"No way would I forget a cutie like you!" I replied. And she blushed. I liked that.