The Last Girl on Campus

Chapter 10

I ran over to the newfound person across from me. He got off the swing, standing up and coming closer. We met in the little area of grass that separated two of the sidewalks. I tried to stop myself from blushing.

"Are you a fellow Canadian?" I asked.

He nodded. "Spent my whole life in a Toronto high-rise. You?"

"I was in the suburbs."

There was a pause for a moment. He held out his hand. "Hunter."

"Bridget," I said, smiling.

"Those are some sweet tats." He motioned towards my sleeve of cherry blossoms. "Love the artwork."

"Thanks," I said. "Do you live in Steinman too?"

"Nah, I'm in Austin. RA. I get to hang with the freshmen...So what are you? Junior? Senior?"

"Uh...senior."

"Nice. I'm an uh senior too." I started laughing. He smiled. Hunter really had a killer smile. "You on your way out?"

"I was going to church. I just like the way it looks on Christmas. It's a family tradition."

Hunter looked down at his t-shirt and shorts. "Well I was going to ask if I could tag along because I probably haven't seen another human being my age in two weeks, but I'm sure this doesn't fit the dress code."

"I don't mind!" I said, way too enthusiastically. "I'm pretty positive that there won't be any seats left anyway. We'll be standing in the back where no one will notice us."

"That works for me," he said, and we started walking together.

"So what have you been doing this whole time?" Hunter asked.

"All kinds of things. I've been calling my roommates a lot. The other day I slept out on the track. Last week I snuck into the Children's' Museum and pretended I was a volunteer. I went and did all the little activities and made a SnapChat story out of it. I got about fifty new followers."

Hunter let out a deep laugh. "That's awesome! I've just been binge-watching shows and riding around town on my skateboard. I'm guessing you're also carless?"

"Yup."

"Well, at least now we can be trapped here in UT Chernobyl together."

I smiled. "That's fine with me."

Hunter started looking around after we crossed the bridge. "Where is this place?"

"It's kind of far."

He sighed. "I just met you and you're already making me get exercise. I don't know if we can be friends Bridget..."

We both laughed and continued walking on the empty streets of Downtown Tampa. We talked about our majors and the looming doom that was graduation and the real world. He told me crazy RA stories about freshmen throwing up in the hallway and playing soccer in the hallway, which resulted in a busted pipe and a flood that closed down the whole building for a week in September. I told him fun facts about stingrays and when I went to Amp with Cheyanne on my tablet.

Sweaty and tired, we arrived at the church. Of course, it was crowded. We squeezed into the very back. Like always, I listened to the music and looked around for cute babies to stare at. There was one right next to us, so that made the whole service enjoyable. In an hour it was over and we walked out.

"I'm sure I know what the answer is, but do you have any plans for later?" Hunter asked as we walked down the steps.

"No," I said, giggling. "I was going to sit in my room and watch the Christmas movie channel all night."

"Oh, come on!" he said. "It's Christmas. There's gotta be something more exciting to do around here than that."

"Well if you think of anything, let me know. Because until something exciting magically happens I'll be sitting on my couch with my goldfish and paper decorations."

"Paper decorations?"

"Yeah, I'll show you."

Hunter tossed around the names of all different bars on the way back to Steinman Hall. It just didn't feel like the time and place. Sitting in a bar on Christmas with a strange guy, even though he was extremely gorgeous, sounded even worse than being on the couch by myself. I put my ID card up to the scanner and the door unlocked. I led Hunter down the dark hallway to our room.

"Whoa, a first floor room. That must really suck," he said as I unlocked the door.

"I've got a roommate on wheels," I said.

"On wheels?"

"In a wheelchair. She likes it better when we say 'on wheels.'"

Hunter smiled and laughed when I opened the door, gazing at my little snowmen and snowflakes. He was in awe when he saw the massive, glittery paper Christmas tree.

"So...are you one of those people that's obsessed with Christmas or?"

"It's my favorite holiday, but I wouldn't say that I'm obsessed..."

"This looks like an obsession to m—hey, a fish!" He went over to the coffee table and bent over to get a closer look at Richard.

"I'm watching him for one of my roommates. His name is Richard. I'm honestly totally shocked that I was able to keep him alive," I said.

Hunter looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. "Why Richard?"

"I don't know. I think she just likes the name Richard."

Hunter started walking around the apartment. "Look at all this! You have so much space!"

"Oh man. I don't know how you could survive this without a couch. What do you have in your room in Austin?"

"A bed. A desk. That's it. This cheap ass place isn't going to give me any extra furniture, even with all the extra space in my room."

It was silent for a minute or so. "So...do you have any genius Christmas Eve ideas?"

Hunter turned around and looked at me, a big smirk all across his flawless face. "Of course. It just can't be put into action yet. We need to wait until it gets dark."