I decided to go to University across state with my girlfriend Alice instead of going to the local college with my friends. The decision was an easy one, because Alice and I had been together for as long as I could remember. We planned on doing college together and getting married soon afterward. Alice was a music major and University had the best program. It did not hurt that she was given a full scholarship. I was a science major and although I did not get a full ride, I had enough scholarships that it made my going to University worth it from my parent's perspective. The only drawback came when I had to move. I did not know anyone and I had to take a gamble getting a roommate. Luck would have it that I ended up getting Clark.
Clark was the nicest guy you could imagine. He came from a small town where he grew up on a farm. He was a star athlete of his high school, but had been injured in his last football game, so his chances of making it on a college team had been killed. He however, had such a great outlook on life it seemed that the injury had only been a slight derailment. He came to University on a full sports management scholarship and currently worked routinely with each of the coaches in training and managing the different men's sports teams. He was an all American.
Ending up Clark's roommate had its advantages. We ended up being assigned to Tillman Hall one of the nicer dorms, because it was close to the sporting facilities. The rooms were recently updated, so everything was new. They were not the biggest of rooms, as we still had to have a bunk bed to fit all of our stuff in, but they were nice. The other great thing about them was that each dorm room had its own bathroom. Most of the men's dorms at University shared a communal shower for each hall and a few were set up in a suite design with two dorms sharing one bathroom, but even these were a rarity. So, I felt like I was a true winner when it came to my dorm and my roommate.
Alice was not so lucky. She ended up with a horrible person for a roommate. It did not help that Jane, Alice's roommate was known around campus as the messiest, sluttiest girl and within the first six weeks of school Alice hated even going back to her place as she suspected that Jane was doing drugs and hanging with a not so great crowd. Alice started spending all of her time at my dorm. She studied there, slept there, ate there, she basically lived there. Clark was great about it. He never minded and always made Alice feel welcome. He was a deep sleeper and our nightly escapades never woke him up. He traveled a lot with each of the sporting teams and was rarely there on the weekends. If and when he studied, he did it at the sporting lounge, a study hall type place connected to the gymnasium. It was set up for athletes to use for tutoring and studying. Clark really only used the dorm to sleep at night and shower in the mornings, but even that never bothered us. Clark had early classes, so he always showered, and was out the door before either of us were awake and stirring.
The weirdest thing about Clark was that he was solely focused on sports. He was not the typical jock type. I mean he looked like a jock. He was six feet tall, well muscled with shaggy black hair, and a sharp jawline that made him extremely masculine, but all he ever worried about was sports. He did not have a girlfriend, he never brought anyone home, and as far as I know never went out partying or ended up at some girl's dorm. He was a saint to the girls around him and in the one class we shared, he talked to the girls, but never became extremely attached to any of them. Whenever he missed, the girls always asked after him and they all flirted their hearts out when he was around. But he never seemed the least bit interested. A part of me wondered if he were naïve, religious, or maybe even gay. I guess that observation was what had me so dumbfounded when the rest of my story transpired.
It was a normal Thursday night. Alice and I were sitting on the floor watching a movie. It was about nine o'clock when I heard Clark coming into the dorm. It was awfully early for him, as Clark never returned home until 10:30 each night when the sporting facilities closed. He looked stressed, something I had never seen of Clark as he took a seat on the side of his bed. (He had the lower bunk.)
"What's wrong Clark?" Alice asked before I could even say anything.
"I am sorry to bother you all, and I almost got a hotel room for the night, but I am kind of short on cash, so I have to ask you a favor." Clark seemed nervous and jittery as he brought up asking us a favor.
"Sure, anything!" I said.
"Well, I haven't been doing so great in my statistics class. I have had to miss a few of the classes due to travel, and the professor is great, but I just can't get it. I checked my average yesterday and I barely have a C. I have to pull my average up to at least a B to keep my scholarships."
"Clark, I had no idea. What can we do?" I said with every ounce of sincerity that I could muster. Clark had been nothing but great to me and I really wanted to do anything for him that I could.
"Well, tomorrow we have one of the four test we have for the class. I bombed the first one and I have been putting in everything to study for this one, so I think I am ready, but I really need to get a good night sleep. And..." he stammered, "I hate to ask, but is there any way, and just for tonight, that Alice could stay at her place?"
We both just stared at him. Neither one of us wanted her to have to go back to her dorm. Who knew what she would have to face when she got there. My brain churned with different alternatives, but I was drawing a blank.
"You know," he continued, "that I never mind Alice staying, but I just can't afford getting woke up tonight. Tomorrow is extremely important."
"Have we ever woke you up before?" Alice asked in deep thought.
"No."
"Look then I would never mind doing anything for you, because you have been great to let me stay here as much as I have, but I am in a really bad situation back at my dorm. What if we promise to go to bed at the same time as you and be extremely quiet?"
"Umm, I know you've never woken me up," Clark responded apologetically, "If I even get woken up once I don't know if I will be able to make it back to sleep."
"We want wake you up Clark! We will be really quiet all night. We will all go to bed at the same time and everything." I promised. Alice and I were both night owls, so a promise like this was a lot for us.
"How about this," I said, "If we wake you up from my bed, then I will personally come and sleep on the floor."
"I don't know Ryan," Clark said.
"Look, I will do you one better. If Ryan or I wake you up, then I promise I will leave and go back to my dorm," Alice added.
"It may be too late after you've already got me awake guys. I am really sorry I have to ask."
"Okay, I am so confident that we will not wake you up, that if we for some reason do, I will come down and share your bed with you," Alice laughed. "I mean Clark you are the hardest sleeper I have ever met. We watched the entire move Pearl Harbor and you slept in your bed through the whole thing and it was the loudest movie ever."
