That first week of classes would be fondly looked back on as one of the most purely exciting times of Ginnie's life. She met dozens of new people, most of them as nervous and eager as she was to get into some kind of rhythm. Her schedule was all mornings--so it left her afternoons relatively dry and open to interpretation.
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays she had Spanish and Greek--having been talked into the former by her high school guidance counselor and the latter by Tina, who felt that one should be able to make lewd comments in a language only the overly educated would understand. It was a toss up between Latin and Greek, with the only difference being the sheer number of text books (with Latin several pounds ahead, and thus picked over).
Spanish class was a little more traditional than Greek. Where Spanish was a large auditorium in the History Department's Building, taught to two hundred students at once--where nobody knew anyone's name that wasn't one seat away, Greek was a dozen or so people around a conference table in the Religion Department, on the third floor of Gan Hall. Everyone was looking at everyone else all period—which was disturbing and relaxed at the same time.
Ginnie, however, grew fond of her immediate surroundings in Spanish. There was a tall, black fellow to her right who always wore very sharply ironed jeans with a stiff crease in them--he looked like an athlete and stood well over 6' tall. Maybe 6'6"? 6'8"? Ginnie was horrible at heights. But he smelled nice, and that was a good thing with such close proximity--he came to Spanish talking on a cell phone and smelling like pancakes. She knew his name was
Durellion
or something like that, but they never really spoke in class. He had a nice smile and wasn't intimidating.
Tuesdays and Thursdays it was Calculus, English, and Biology. Her math class was just like high school: desks and chairs and teachers and chalk. She always did like math, so this was the easier portion of those mornings. Nobody ever really talked in class, though many fell asleep--she didn't figure on making any new friends there.
English was a small discussion group of thirty students and one very young looking teacher's assistant. From what she could glean of the course, she'd never meet the professor--but he'd make tests and require readings and grade essays. Her T.A. was a young man who couldn't have been more than thirty named Yoseph--he had a faint accent that she couldn't place, but was energetic when he talked and seemed to ignore the dumb stares he got when asking questions about the readings.
Ginnie felt a little flushed whenever he'd look at her. He was also very tall--though that's not too hard when you're a bit short--with brown, faintly graying hair and green eyes. He called her
Miss Morris
, and she felt a little bit faint whenever he did.
So silly
, she thought, but Tina had been helping her be o.k. with being a little silly--so no harm there. She'd mentioned Yoseph to Tina, only to be horribly mocked and teased about him well into lunch the next day. She took it in good humor and even made some jokes, herself, about crushing on him.
The campus of the University was, by all accounts,
gorgeous
. It was one of the things that attracted Ginnie to go there--besides her sister, of course. There were trees and green everywhere, large open areas dedicated to green grass and tall oaks and colorful magnolia trees. Ginnie was used to a colder climate, a place where the green was thick and brushy--here, though, was a place where the green kind of splayed out and relaxed, soaking up the sun.
It was still Summer-ish and the boys and girls (and young men and women) went to and fro in shorts and t-shirts and jeans--casual attire that conflicted with what her and most other freshman were wearing... presses pants, collared shirts, and a look that just screamed
"I'm looking my best, please notice!"
It was warm enough to be a northern summer, despite being a southern fall here. The sun and humidity won out by nine in the morning, and anyone not ready for some heat wound up succumbing to the elements before breakfast was over.
Tina and Ginnie shared only the one class, Greek. It was full of nerdy types and bookworms, all of them boys, most with disheveled clothing and unkempt features. Both girls took their stares a little differently. Where Tina proceeded to frequently lean over to this fellow or that fellow, picking different ones to sit by each day, leaning close and whispering so very near their ear for help on this or "what did the professor say?" kind of artifices; Ginnie was more comfortable sitting there and trying not to make eye contact with any of them, though her and Tina traded funny drawings of one particularly intent and angry boy at the end of the table named Carlos.
After the first week of classes, with the first weekend's arrival, it seemed as though Tina and Ginnie had known each other for years. They caught lunch together three times a week, and saw each other for dinner and evening dorm visits with other girls every night. They were almost inseparable. If Tina was walking up to a guy to ask for a cigarette and a light (and coming in very close to get the latter for the former), it was Ginnie sitting on the bench laughing at the poor boy's "deer in the headlights" reaction. And if Ginnie was missing an opportunity to meet someone new, it was Tina introducing her instead. Time spent around Tina was time she, magically, found herself not tripping over her own words or being awkward. She didn't know whether that was more because of Tina's flamboyant nature rubbing off a bit, or because college was just a different place.
And all during that week, Ginnie had been surprised to see that Sissy--the only part of her high school to follow her halfway across the world like this--was nowhere to be found. If the blonde came to their room, it was during times when Ginnie wasn't there. Things would be out of place from one day to the next, but Ginnie couldn't tell when Sissy was coming or going--and she really stopped caring, one way or the other, by that first Saturday.
That was the Saturday of the party, and her first real sexual encounter.
. . .. ... .....
"So... sit down and try not to gush while I show off my assets. I do not need you dreaming about me tonight, because that would just be uber-creepy considering I'm going to have some sweaty man groping your yum-yums by one in the morning... and he deserves better than to have his conquest dreaming of some foxy redhead's sweet, sweet butt.", Tina rattled on and on while Ginnie sat on her bed casually reading the latest from Yoseph's class--
Hamlet
. It wasn't bad.
"I still don't want to have sex with you." Ginnie replied nonchalantly, rolling her eyes jokingly. She was used to Tina's humorous accusations, and smiled genuinely. The girl had a way with words, after all.
"Oh, you lying bitch. Oh, well fine. Look, it's the party of the century tonight at the Rho Pi house and I insist you and I both look our best. I want to be well dressed if I have to call Brandon", Tina flitted about her room--a single dorm room all to herself and, thus, spacious as hell. She started throwing things out of her closet onto the spare bed while Ginnie waited patiently for the outfits to show up.
Tina, apparently satisfied that she'd tossed out all the unworthy clothes, shot to her feet and daintily turned around like a debutante presenting herself.
"Alright. I want honesty, Ginnie dear. If you lie, I will know. I will sense it in my journalistic ovaries", Tina had been flirting with journalism as a major and hadn't lost an opportunity to bring it up in polite conversation.
"Oh, I'll tell you if you look like a... y'know... a
skank
." Ginnie giggled. She couldn't imagine joking about calling someone a skank a week ago, but so much changes so fast.
"Please do", Tina curtly replied. The tall redhead grabbed the hem of her little blue t-shirt and lifted it over her head while she kicked off her sneakers. Ginnie hadn't noticed the disrobing, being much more interested in thinking about Yoseph acting out the duel scene the next day--and get a little warm while doing it.
But, with the wriggling and muffled vulgarities coming from underneath the half-on/half-off shirt and a bobbing around Tina, Ginnie couldn't help but notice the girl struggling comically. In between chuckles, Ginnie noticed--for the first time since they'd met--just how amazingly put together Tina was.
