It was a hot day outside, and the gulf air was hot and sticky and humid.
I felt my cotton shirt clinging to me with sweat, which had soaked through my clothes and made my jeans feel like they were made out of lead. I glanced at the cloudy sky overhead and wished it would rain, if only so that some of the humidity might evaporate. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and stepped back to watch Cheryl pick up her box, a box that was resting where she had set it, teetering on the step in front of the dorm.
"How're you doing?" I asked, "Have you got it?"
I walked over behind her in case she lost her grip and needed some help.
She was the only person I knew from high school and we were both a long way from home. And I hadn't expected that any of my high school classmates would be at the same college as me. I was back in the city of my birth: New Orleans. Cheryl was far away from Colorado, the only place she'd ever lived. I was still scratching my head wondering why she had wanted to come down here anyway.
"Yeah," she replied, tired, "Could you get the door for me?"
She nodded her head in the direction of the entryway door just beyond her. Her hair was a dark auburn and what wasn't plastered to her forehead with sweat fell down from her forehead into her eyes.
She spit air, trying to get her hair out of her eyes.
"Got it," I said, as I balanced the box I was carrying on my knee and deftly opened the door, using my body to prop it open.
I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Cheryl and I had never been what you might call close. Meaning that she was one of those cute, brainy girls in high school who had not been an easy lay, or even a moderately difficult lay. And, consequently, had never shared my bed, or the back of my truck, or any other spot, nor shown any inclination to do so. But, as her mom had called mine, and mine had suggested to me, in terms that left no room for doubt, that it since we were going to the same school it would be the neighborly thing for me to drive down south with her and help her unpack, we now found ourselves in this situation.
And truthfully it could have been worse. My roommate and I were on the college football team, but I'd met him and he seemed pretty straight laced and I had a worrying feeling that he wouldn't be any fun at all. Why he'd chosen to come to the city of sin was beyond me.
It was probably the football scholarship.
All I was thinking of is that after this was over I could head across campus and get my stuff put away too. And then maybe grab some chow. I sighed, wiped off some more sweat and felt the freedom of being alive.
Things were going to be good here in the homeland of my ancestors. I'd already seen about ten girls that I wouldn't mind getting to know better in the biblical sense, and this was just the first day.
So I let a shiver of anticipation ran down my spine. I was a football player. I'd been working out since the age of thirteen and I was well built and good looking. I dated a little bit in high school, but I'd slept around a lot more. And I do I mean a lot more. My life had mostly been about scoring chicks, and not about relationships. I dated three girls; I'd had sex with more than seventy. I considered it an even trade, even if it made me come across as a macho jerk sometimes. My gang was all about the numbers and I, in particular, like to satisfy my urges in bed and not with my right fist.
College was definitely going to be an opportunity to improve my numbers with a whole new kind of woman.
I came out of my daydream when Cheryl brushed by me.
Of course moving away from home was still a little hard mentally. But it would be an interesting challenge. I followed Cheryl to the top of the stairs and turned and walked down the hallway, stopping at the third door on the right. We laid the boxes to rest on the floor next to the door and she fished her room key out from her pocket.
"Oh!" came a loud voice from the room in a big, warm greeting, as the door opened.
It must be one of her roommates.
"Hi!" the voice said again, "You must be Cheryl."
The girl was very pretty and she propped the door open flashing a beaming smile.
"I'm Lara. Sabine's out getting her photo ID. Do you need some help?"
"Hey Lara," said Cheryl, smiling back at her, "Thanks, but I've already got Marc here helping me. If you could just get the door, we'll be done in a hurry."
She entered the room and I followed along behind with a nod and a smile for Lara.
"Hey," I said putting the box down, "I'm Marc."
A drop of sweat had beaded up on the tip of my nose, and I blew it off with a quick breath from my mouth.
"Lara," she replied, checking me out, "Pleased to meet you."
The room was well-lit by the sun streaming in through the windows, but it showed just how dusty the place was. There were two rooms off the main room, one on either side and each with its own door.
"Sabine and I put our stuff in the room on the left," said Lara, "So the other one's all yours."
"Thanks," said Cheryl.
I followed Cheryl into her room with my box; it was definitely a cozy arrangement! At least there was another window on the left, but only one. She plopped the box down on the stained mattress in one corner of the room and I did likewise with my box.
"You can just pile stuff in the common room, if you guys want," called Lara, "That's what we did."
"Good idea," I said, surveying what we had to work with.
I smiled as I passed Lara, going for another box. She certainly wasn't too hard on the eyes, I thought. She stood about five feet, five inches or so and she had a cute face with pale blue eyes and a reddish tint to her hair. She winked at me as I passed...or did she? By the time I made it out to the hall, I smiled as I skipped down the stairs two at a time.
