I Love You

I Love You .. part 1

Taking summer classes has never been easy for me. Specially when the sun is extremely hot and all I want to do is go to the beach and relax. Sitting inside a room when the sun is shining so high in the sky was torture, but since I want to major in photography well I need to get my general studies done with. I want to clear up my schedule to make way for my photography courses.

Speech was the one class I wasn't really looking forward to. The thought of getting up in front of a crowd and talk has never been my forte. The students in my class were either in theater or had majors that involved talking to people, so for them this was a piece of cake. Only a handful of us were there to get it over with. There was Gloria, Sebastian, and Solange. The rest of the students had their own little groups so I never remembered their names.

The one who for some reason caught my attention was Solange. She wanted to become a psychologist, but she was a really shy person. When you would talk to her she would turn a pinkish color, which I found cute. She had finished most of her general studies back in Florida, but still managed to retake speech. One of her past times was writing and after reading a story or two that she wrote I titled my self her number one fan. We hit it off from the beginning.

Of course, we were an odd pair. Even though she was a very shy person, she managed to make friends everywhere she went. Unlike me, who loves solitude with a passion yet can have friends all over the place but chooses not to, was a reputation I wasn't about to change for anyone. I'm "Ms. Anti-social". Everyone knew me because all the pictures around campus had been taken by me, but other than that everyone game me my space. Not Solange, she was more of a bookworm and almost the classic academic nerd. While I walked around on my ripped jeans and a t-shirt too big for my figure, Solange was always tidy and wide awake. Her long black hair always in a well tamed ponytail or straight. Her eyes were hidden behind some geeky glasses that really didn't do much for her appearance. I'm not what you call fashion on the making, but at least I know that during summer you are supposed to relax and take everything slow. Her one non-academic pastime was her board. It was the only part of Solange that broke the geek mold. Her board was as much a fixture for her as her book bag and laptop.

The first time I saw her looking like any other college student was about mid-semester when I was on my way to the roof. The best view for a good picture is when you feel like you are on top of the world and the world is your puppet. I was walking towards the back building, they had just built it and it faced the sun in the most captivating way. As I made my way to the back building, I caught sight of a small group of skaters using one of the twisting sections of the back lot to do tricks. I took out my camera to take a picture of them; they would make an awesome poster for the new skate park. I'd been so impressed by one guy catching air off the steps that I didn't notice I was walking into a "skate zone."

"Look Out!" I spun out of the way and hit the grass. When I looked up, ready to curse the careless son-of-a-bitch out, I saw Solange looking down at me. "Hey, Melody, you ok?"

She looked so different standing there, in baggy sweats and without her glasses, that I almost hadn't recognized her. She had laughing eyes that were all but hidden when she wore her glasses. Looking up into her eyes made something flutter in my stomach.

"Damn, Solange." I got up and brushed myself off. "I know you like me, but you don't have to plow me into the dirt to get my attention. And just hope nothing happened to my camera or I'm going to make you buy me a new one"

Solange looked down. "Yeah, sorry Melody. Is your camera alright? "She asked me, panic in her voice. Now why did I find that cute? She looked down again like a child who was about to get a beating. Already cringing away even before I spoke a word.

Why'd it bother me that she thought I was mad at her? "Hey Solange, how long until you are done skating?"

Shrugging, she looked at her watch. "Another half hour I guess. Asphalt will be too hot to do anything after that."

"I'm on my way to the roof top, want to join me? It will be like pay back for making me fall and almost breaking my camera." I smiled at her letting her know I was just kidding about the pay back.

She blinked at me. "Really?"

"Yeah, I'll even hang while you finish your freaky shit." The smile she gave me in response just melted me. It wasn't sexual, I like guys, but she was just such a cute kid that it was like having a kitty that purred constantly. I stayed, taking some pictures while I waited for her to finish.