Hazel's

October Twelfth

The next day she met me on the quad. Her cheeks were rosy pink due to the crisp fall weather, and her flowing blonde hair fell in ringlets around her heart shaped face.

"Hi!" she called out to me, waving her gloved hand. It was so cold outside I could see the chilled air coming out of her mouth when she spoke. I waved back shyly and shoved my hands into my pockets. My gloves were sitting under something in my room and I was on the verge of frostbite.

"Well you've probably already seen it, but this is the quad. I never asked, but where are you from?" her eyes shone bright and she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I'm from the suburbs of New Jersey, actually," I replied.

"Well this must be such a big change for you! Wow!" she responded. "I'm from Chicago, so I'm pretty used to the big city," she looked around then back at me. "Shall we?" I smiled back shyly and nodded my head as she led the way along a path covered in autumn leaves.

~ . ~ . ~

 "Well," she said after the library door closed behind her, "this is my favorite place to come on campus. It is the best place to get homework done, plus their couches are extremely comfortable," she giggled as she unraveled her scarf. I looked around at the modern library, taking in the musky smell of ancient textbooks and gossip magazines. Clair smiled at me and motioned for me to follow her, putting a finger to her lips almost like she was going to tell me a secret. I followed her around the couches and tables until we came to a door at the back of the mystery section. She took a silver key out of her pocket and inserted it into the small keyhole on the door. Taking a step back, she smiled at me and pointed at the doorknob.

I took a step forward and opened the door to reveal a small room with a few beanbags, a mini fridge, and a projecter. Clair pushed me into the room and closed the door behind us. I was about to say something when her hand came over my mouth, preventing me from talking.

"You cannot tell anybody about this room. Promise me that, please," she begged me. I nodded solemnly and she removed her hand. I could still feel the tingle of her finger over my lips. "Sorry for attacking you, but this room is pretty much a secret. Whenever I need to kind of excape the outside world, I come here. Everything a person would possibly need to survive is here, so why not?" she threw her hands up into the air and laughed.

"I like it," I said to her. She smiled back at me and sat in a bean bag chair. I dropped my bag onto the floor and plopped down in the one next to her.

"So Spencer, do you like movies?" she asked me.

"I love movies," I said to her. "But probably not the kind you like". She looked at me strangely. "I mean, I really like silent films," I said before she got the wrong idea. Her jaw dropped as she jumped out of her bean bag ran over to a cabinet in the corner and pulled out 1926 The General. My jaw dropped as well as she smiled the largest grin I had ever seen. She giddily pulled down a white screen and popped the disk into the projector before sliding back into the bean bag. We exchanged looks and then looked back at the screen while we watched Buster Keaton in silence.

~ . ~ . ~

It had been two days since we sat side by side and watched my favorite film. She had walked me around a bit more and then we parted ways. I had been thinking about calling her, but kept hesitating thinking that she would think I was weird for calling so soon. I didn't want to come off as a clingy loser, but maybe that's who I was. So I waited.

I waited for thirty minutes because I couldn't take it anymore, picked up my phone and dialed her number. I had it memorized.

"Hello?" I heard her soft voice come from the cell phone speaker. I smiled.

"Hey Clair, it's Spencer".

"Oh hey Spencer! What's up? How's the University for ya?" she asked me with a spring of happiness in her voice.

"Oh it's good. You know, tons of schoolwork, but whatever".

"Actually..." she started. "There's a party tonight at one of my friend's sorority houses. Would you want to come with me?" I bit my thumb to keep from freaking out and took a deep breath.

"Yeah sure. Sounds like fun," I responded as calmly as I could.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. "I can pick you up at your dorm around six, so be ready! And it's casual so you don't have to dress up or anything". I couldn't stop smiling so I just nodded until I realized that she couldn't see me.

"Okay, sounds good. See you then".

"Bye!" I heard the click of the call ending. Throwing my phone onto my bed, I jumped up and down and laughed like an idiot in love. Apparently though, my hallmate next door didn't find it entertaining, so he pounded on my door. I shut up and took out my biology homework. My roomate was almost never in the room which didn't bother me considering I studied best with no distractions, but the idea that Clair and I would be attending a party together that evening was more distracting than anything else could've been.

 ~ . ~ . ~