“This is college!” she said excitedly as she pulled on her jacket. “Educational? Yes, but there’s so much more to it. You have to take advantage of every minute. This is a time in your life you’ll never be able to recapture. You’ll see, it’s going to be amazing.”
And with that she handed me my sweater and purse and gestured towards the door. It would be fair to say that I liked her from the start, even if I was a little suspicious of what I considered her unnecessary overly cheerleader-esque attitude. As I followed her down the back stairs, I found myself wondering what her friends were going to be like. Was I about to meet the rest of the pep squad? Lord, I hoped not.
It was less than a five minute walk from Capen Hall over to the Hasbrouck dining hall. The main campus, set just outside the small town of New Paltz, was sizeable but felt somewhat isolated from the world at large. It was surrounded on three sides by mostly forest, parklands and quaint rural neighborhoods. With hints of the coming fall, the grounds of the campus itself were awash in fading shades of green covering the many trees and manicured grassy areas that spread out through the quads and open land between buildings. My good grades had given me my pick of schools including some good ones in the city, but I didn’t think I could be confined to a concrete jungle. My soul longed for some deeper connection to nature that the constant sound of the pavement beneath my feet wouldn’t give. No, as soon as I’d seen New Paltz for the first time with Dad, he’d made his sale.
After going through the cafeteria line we joined a table of her friends at the far end of the airy dining hall.
“There’s Darcy!” a raven haired girl with pretty blue eyes said as she looked up, smiling at our approach.
“Hi, guys. This is Sara, my new roommate. Sara, this is Tabitha, Mike and Ryan.”
I smiled as best I could, but I was always reserved around new people. I never felt I got a good understanding of someone from a first impression, and like a turtle tended to stay in my shell until I thought it was safe to come out.
“Come sit next to me, Sara” Ryan said with a flirtatious smile as he moved over to make room for me on the bench. He was nice looking with chestnut hair that complemented his complexion. After looking at the table arrangement, I decided to join him as my only other option left me facing the wall. I just felt more comfortable looking out on a room where I had a better view of the movements of the people around me.
Mike and Tabitha, I found out through the course of conversation, were a couple and had been dating since last year. Tabitha had just decided to major in history while Mike was thinking of music education for a major.
Tabitha was sweet. She had kind eyes and a short cropped head of shiny, black hair that framed her face well. Something in her friendly demeanor and quirky sense of humor told me we’d hit it off well. Not quite as bubbly as Darcy, she was open and friendly with what my mother would have called soulful eyes.
Mike matched her like a his and hers set. With just about the same color dark hair and height he had a stocky build, an infectious laugh and pleasant brown eyes that perfectly matched the color of his tee shirt.
Tab, Mike and Ryan all loved hiking and when I mentioned I wanted to go before it got too cold, all three were excited at the prospect of taking me on my first trip into the woods. Darcy would not be joining us. In her own words, she wasn’t the outdoorsy type.
“And besides I’m pledging my sorority this semester, so you probably won’t be seeing much of me.”
Since freshman weren’t allowed to pledge, she’d been forced to wait impatiently all last year for her chance to pledge Delta something or another. I liked Darcy from the first, but wasn’t sure how living with my own personal pep rally would wear on my nerves for a protracted period of time. That being said, I was kind of relieved to find I’d not be seeing that much of her in the coming months.
To my great relief, Tabitha was in my Art History 101 class. It was my very first class in the morning, and knowing I’d have a friendly face next to me in my first class at NPU went a great way in relieving my first day jitters.
“I took a class with Professor Walker last year,” she said. “He teaches history classes as well. You’ll really like him. He’s a wonderful teacher. When he talks about history, he really makes you feel like he’s experienced it all. Some teachers are flat and boring, just reading out of a text book, but not him. He barely uses any books at all.”
“You forgot to mention how easy on the eyes he is,” Darcy added with a sly smile.
From the way the boys all rolled their eyes, I got the impression they weren’t the biggest fans of the professor.
“Yes, I suppose he’s a very nice looking man as well,” Tabitha begrudgingly admitted, but I could tell by the tone of her voice she didn’t think he was as attractive as Darcy did. “But it was his passion for the subject that made me decide to major in history. He just got me so excited about the subject.”
“I heard he lives is some really cool glass house up on the mountain built into the side of a cliff,” Ryan said in between bites of his burger. “He owns a huge chunk of land up on the mountain somewhere and had some swanky party for a bunch of the faculty when he first arrived last year. I overheard my psych professor talking about it last semester.”
“Yeah, I heard something like that too,” Mike agreed, as he slurped down the last of his drink.
“As amazing as the Professor is, it’s his teaching assistant who’s the real hottie. Oh, what’s his name …?”
“Daniel,” Tabitha quickly, said finishing Darcy’s sentence.
“Daniel,” Darcy echoed with a dreamy expression in her eyes. “Yes, he’s about the best looking guy on campus, but I think he must be gay or something. One time last semester I stood in line behind him at the book store and said hello to him. You know, to be friendly and all. In response all he did was give this odd kind of scary look.”
“Oh, yeah, he must be gay,” Ryan muttered under his breath with a smiling sarcasm while he winked at me.
“Well, all I’m saying is don’t get your hopes up, Sara. Every girl on campus does at first, but he’s just not interested in NPU girls I guess.”
“Have you ever even had a class with Professor Walker?” Mike asked.
“No,” Darcy said off handedly as she took another bite of her salad.
We all laughed. Yes, I was going to like them.
After we finished our meal, we were about to get up to leave when I heard Ryan excitedly say “Hey, there’s Ben.”
Darcy turned with a big smile in the direction of a tall well-built guy with wavy brown hair who had just walked up to a nearby table with his tray. His hair, neatly trimmed at the back, was a little long on the top and flopped over to one side when he tilted his head to the side.
“Ben!” Ryan called.
Ben turned at the sound of his name and smiled in our direction. Wow! I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen eyes light up like that before. They were a deep warm brown, almost a chocolate brown. He left his tray with his friends and came over to our table.
“Hi, guys. How was your summer?”
Sliding into the seat beside me, he fell into easy conversation with my group of new friends. Not having anything to contribute to their discussion, I tried not to stare at him. If I wasn’t mistaken, his brown eyes seemed to mask strange hidden depths behind them. They drew me in for reasons I couldn’t begin to understand. He also had a bizarrely healthy glow about him, as if he’d never been sick a day in his life. He was attractively tall, something I really liked, with a rugged outdoorsy look about him. Like the kind of guy you’d like to get lost in the woods with, maybe even on purpose. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t help but stare at him.
“Ben, this is my new roommate, Sara.”
He turned and looked directly into my eyes. In my experience, most people didn’t look you straight in the eye. They kind of start there and then danced around your face uncomfortably. But he held my gaze steadily for what must have been only a few moments, bu
t seemed like a small eternity. Inside his gaze, I’d forgotten we weren’t the only two people in the room.
“Hi, Sara,” he smiled. “I hope living with Darcy doesn’t drive you crazy.”
Everyone laughed. But not me, I was still gazing into those eyes. There was a certain aspect in the expression behind them that made me think he was deep in thought about something he didn’t want to share.
“Ben Pearce! Now don’t you go giving her the wrong impression about me,” I vaguely heard Darcy protest in the background.
“Hi, Ben,” I said lamely as I reached out my hand.
“So where are you from?” he asked.
“Wading River. It’s a small town out east on Long Island. On the sound.”
“Beach person huh? Well, welcome to mountain country. Must be a lot different from home. I hope you like the woods cause there’s not much to do around here otherwise.”
As he shook my hand with a firm grip, I shifted my gaze from my hand in his up to his eyes. They wore a peculiar expression I couldn’t quite make out. Confusion maybe, but they were also looking deep into mine as if asking me questions without words. He finally released my hand after an awkwardly long possession of it, causing me to break my own stare to glance back at Tabitha. I think she’d just asked me what my plans were for the evening.
A minute or so later I peered back over at Ben. He was still staring at me which was starting to make me a little uncomfortable. He must have sensed it because at that exact moment he looked away.
Wasn’t his food getting cold?
Thankfully, Mike turned the conversation to our upcoming hiking trip, and hearing of our plans, Ben expressed his eagerness to join our excursion into the woods. Apparently he was just as avid an outdoorsman as he appeared at first glance. I felt my cheeks warm under his gaze and looked away. Who knows, maybe it was just me being all female for the first time in my life, or it could have simply been the old flannel shirt he wore, but suddenly it was feeling a little warm in here. I'd always had a thing for well-worn flannel, and the man sitting next to me wearing it wasn’t helping any either.
On the way back to the dorm, Darcy talked in a long steady stream without any need for me to answer. I was more than happy that my participation in her conversation wasn’t necessary as I had a lot to process from my first evening as a free and independent college woman.
“Isn’t Ben cute? I’ve had a little crush on him since last year. I wish he’d ask me out. Personally I make it a rule not to ask men out on dates. It sets a dangerous precedent and if a man is too stupid to realize he should ask me out, do I really want to go out with him? Ben’s gone out with a few girls since I’ve known him, but it never gets too serious. I think he has problems with his family and that’s why he went to school so far away from home. He’s from Montana I think, but he doesn’t like to talk about home or his family much. Do you think he likes me? You’re an unbiased observer. Do you think he was looking at me, you know, that way? I always think so, but he’s a hard one to read. But oh, those eyes, dreamy aren’t they? Like melted chocolate.”
She sighed and paused for a minute, then continued without waiting for any response from me.
In the morning, I woke in a strange bed to the sounds of shuffling feet and murmured voices in the hallway. Dorm life. I suppose it was going to take a little getting used to. I rolled my head over to see Darcy still sound asleep, her foot hanging off the side of her bed exposing her bright pink toe nail polish and perfectly shaped feet. Her idea of getting a better schedule next semester was making sure not to have any morning classes.
I threw my feet off the side of the bed and peeked out the window. It looked like a postcard, sunny and inviting, just like the campus appeared in all the brochures I’d received in the mail over the past year.
Deep down I was happy, but I had the feeling I was going to miss my parents eventually. It was good to truly be on my own for the first time in my life. It had been a tough battle convincing Mom to let me go away, but my father and I had finally won her over in the end. And now here I was on this beautiful fall day beginning a new chapter in the book of my life. Considering my previous chapters, it all seemed too good to be true, like a dream somehow. Whether I deserved it or not, I really wanted my book to have a happy ending at some point.
I slowly dressed, taking the time to put a bit more thought into what I wore than I usually did. As I’d unpacked yesterday, I couldn’t help but notice Darcy’s adverse reaction to my clothes. She was way more into fashion than I was. I’d always viewed my wardrobe in a bit more of a utilitarian way. It consisted mostly of old jeans and ratty tee-shirts with a few sweaters and outfits for jogging. Maybe she’d be a good influence on me in that department. I smiled and shook my head as I walked over to the mirror.
“Yeah, good luck to her with that,” I mumbled. I knew I was a lost fashion cause. If you had any doubts about that, just ask my mother.
Now dressed in jeans and a new tee-shirt, I began to run a brush through my hair. My mass of red hair stuck out just as much here as it did at home, a bright red beacon lost in a sea of blondes and brunettes. Secretly I’d hoped I might make friends with another red head so I wouldn’t stick out quite so much. No luck yet, but the semester was still young.
Grabbing my backpack full of new text books and my laptop, I headed out, Darcy quietly snoring as I closed the door behind me. Her first class didn’t begin until after lunch.
After a quick breakfast over in Hasbrouck, I started off in the direction of the lecture hall to meet up with Tabitha before class. It was a beautiful morning, the air was still full of hints of summer even though fall was obviously about to swoop down and chase it away. As I walked past a few other dorms, I fell into step with an increasing number of students as they began to file out of their beds. All things considered, I thought it had seemed a little too quiet in the dining hall during breakfast. I’m guessing not many students thought enough of that particular meal to make the extra effort to get out of bed for it.
From all the way across the quad I could see Tabitha sitting on the concrete steps leading up to the lecture hall building. She was eating a banana and thumbing through our thick Art History text book. She wasn’t hard to spot. Her distinctive sleek bob of jet black hair easily set her apart from the crowd. Plus she was really pretty; quietly beautiful I guess you’d say. Way more than I was at any rate. Lucky for her, she wasn’t saddled with a big pair of boobs like I was. Not terribly curvaceous, clothes hung well on her.
I wasn’t in a hurry to get to her. Still soaking the ambiance of my new surroundings, I was enjoying my morning stroll. Most of the buildings on campus were modern looking, made of glass or concrete, but a few had that classical old brick, Ivy League look about them. It was an eclectic mix and stood as a visual timeline for the evolution of the campus. The most modern structure I’d seen so far was just around the corner from Capen. In the center of the Student Union Plaza sat an enormous glass pyramid. Perhaps a bit too modern for this old fashioned girl, it was interesting, but I wasn’t sure I liked it very much.
With a new building under construction not that far from the lecture hall, the NPU campus seemed to be in a continual state of change. I guess that was a good thing. I couldn’t imagine it was particularly healthy for a place of higher learning to be stagnant in any way. The building my class was in this morning was a modern minimalistic looking one with solid glass and cement walls. From the outside, it gave the impression more of a museum than an academic building, but I kind of liked that unexpected quality about it.
Walking across the quad in the warm glow of the morning sun, the distinctive silhouette of Mount Mohonk was visible on the horizon. Easily seen from just about everywhere on campus, it loomed over NPU like a protective parent, eternally watching the students as they went about their daily routines. It looked inviting and as I walked across the quad, I hoped our hiking trip would take us up in that direction.
Tabitha suddenly looked up and waved.
“Morning,” she said as she swallowed the last of her banana and smiled. She was obviously more of a morning person that I was.
“Good morning,” I yawned, forcing my usual grumpy morning self to the side.
“Did Darcy keep you up all night?”
“No, she dropped off pretty quick, but I stayed up a little later than I’d intended to finish unpacking. I knew I’d feel better in the morning if I didn’t see all the clutter.”
Seemingly eager to get to class, she jumped to her feet and slung her back pack over her shoulder. When she turned and started up the stairs, I fell into step behind her, following along with the crowd of students shuffling their way to class.
After finding our hall, we settled into a pair of seats in the center of the room about nine or ten rows back. I looked around the hall and smiled to myself. When I was in high school, this was how I pictured college. My high school was a small town school with small classes. The cavernous lecture hall I now sat in had a very collegiate feel about it that made me feel all grown up. It was a large hall that probably held over two or three hundred students, with stadium seating rows overlooking a podium and projection screen down below. To be honest, with its florescent lighting it was a little on the dreary side, but I was too excited too really notice.
In truth I was older than my new friends realized. I’d taken a year off after graduating high school and stayed home in Wading River. Taking a few classes at the local community college, I’d also gotten a job while I decided to give a think on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Not that I’d received any great revelations on the subject in the last year.
After graduation, my friends from high school had all gone away to school. It had been a lonely year, but having no idea what I wanted to do with my life, I didn’t want to waste my parents money by just blindly going off to school and hoping some profession I’d want to pursue would finally be revealed to me.
The Purity of Blood: Volume I Page 2