The day had stretched on forever. There was another hour until the end of my shift before I could go home and lose myself in a video game. I had attended two classes that morning and then had to go straight to the dining hall to work.
I was in a rut and I resented it.
I looked up from making a pizza and saw a girl I had never noticed before; tall with loads of dark brown curly hair held off her face with a bright orange scarf. She was staring at me. A hot, knowing look flashed in her eyes. As she slid a plastic tray down the service line, she glanced back at me over her shoulder.
Jay, the other cook at our station, elbowed me in the ribs and said, "I think she likes you, dude."
"Maybe, we'll see. She is hot though." That look of hers had my mind creating some wild pictures. The girl definitely appealed to my sex-starved body. I daydreamed about what she was wearing under her clothed and possible ways to get her out of them until Jay called me back to reality.
We closed down the serving line at 7:00 p.m. and grabbed some food for a quick dinner; the girl was sitting in the dining room near the long wall of picture windows, talking to another girl. Her friend got up from the table and walked towards us, dropping a folded piece of paper next to my plate.
I snatched it up quickly so that Jay wouldn't grab it. He just laughed at his failed attempt.
"Come by my apartment after you get off work." Her address was listed underneath and the note was signed "Lydia."
"Lydia," I tested the name. She seemed familiar, I imagined I had seen her around the campus, but I couldn't place where.
"So. . . What's in the note?" Jay asked teasingly. "Did she give you her phone number or something?"
"Or something, but definitely not news for this gossip mill. So if you don't mind, I am going to clean up my work area and get out of here."
Anticipation of meeting Lydia made my palms sweat. I sat in my car, unsure if I should go knock on her door or escape to the known universe of my dorm room. I was biting my bottom lip and chasing down the sudden panic in the pit of my stomach. "Hot, sexy girls never ask me out." I thought to myself mystified. "This is really strange."
Make no mistake; I am good looking as far as that goes. My eyes and hair are both very dark brown and I am well over six feet tall, but still I don't rate in the super model category.
Gathering up my courage, I got out of my car and walked up the short flight of stairs to her apartment.
