A college student wasn't something I thought I would ever call myself. My family was poor – well, not as poor as we could be, but still pretty low as income goes. I never thought we'd be able to put both me and my twin sister into school. I know that Evelyn was really the only reason that we could. She worked so hard for the scholarships she got, and I sat on my ass, half expecting to be working at the only supermarket inAvraValleyfor the rest of my life. Maybe that was why my parents hardly spoke to me now. It seemed illogical, since I was the one still living in the same area, attending the University of Arizona, and Evelyn was the one living in Chicago. Even if my parents talked to the daughter who was living almost half-way across the country instead of the one sitting right in front of them, I would never get upset about it. They had done so much for me and Evelyn, and I had done so little. I guess what goes around comes around.
There were a lot of good things that came with moving into a dorm. I didn’t have to avoid awkward run-ins with my parents, because they weren't around. I didn’t have to worry about playing my music too loud, because my roommate was never in. I could wake up as early – yes, early – as I wanted to, because the dog wasn't there to wake everyone else up. Of course, where there's good, there's always a little bad. The bad part about living in a dorm – especially this dorm – was that I had to walk four blocks to the laundromat every weekend.
The spring semester was the worst. Living inArizonamade everything hotter. The ten minutes it took me to walk those few blocks seemed like hours in theArizonasun. That Saturday was about eighty degrees, which actually wasn't that bad considering the sweltering week we had been havingTucson.
When I got inside the laundromat, I reveled in the air-conditioning for a few moments. I found a washer in the back that was away from most of the other people there and sat my bag on the bench in front of the washing machines. Time away from home had taught me a lot, and pre-sorting my clothes was one of those things. I got my first load in quick enough and took a seat next to my bag, pulling out my copy of Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths and a bag of Swedish Fish to keep me occupied.
I always found my eyes wandering away from the pages whenever I came to the laundromat. I tend to be a bit of a people-watcher. It was rather empty that day except for another student I had seen around campus once or twice, a young mother and her baby, and a man in a cheap suit that attempted to look professional. Uninterested, my eyes fell back down to my book, but lifted once again. The bell above the door rang as a boy walked in with a duffle bag.
He wasn't very tall, but still a bit above average height, and had hair that was too long for any boy. He walked towards the back of the laundromat and stopped only two machines away from me. I saw the tips of his ears peeking out of his too-long hair as he bent at the waist to drop his duffle. I watched as he dug around his back pocket for his change while pushing some hair away from his face at the same time. He definitely wasn't classically handsome, but his large ears and nose and slight smile made him very cute.
He pulled the change out of his pocket, and counted it quickly. It seemed as though he'd come up short, because he groaned quietly and rubbed his forehead with his hand. He looked tired, now that I'd been able look at him a bit more closely. He had circles under his eyes and his skin was bit pale. His clothes were a bit rumpled too, as though he'd rushed getting dressed. His hair was the only thing that seemed to be in perfect condition.
The boy looked around the laundromat awkwardly, glancing at each of the people inside quickly. His eyes fell on me last, and stayed there the longest. I had dropped my eyes back to my book, to seem as though I hadn't been staring at him all this time. I felt an embarrassed blush creep up my neck and onto my cheeks. It only grew darker when he took a few steps to stand next to me.
He cleared his throat and I looked up from my book slowly. The boy was smiling meekly and his arms were crossed in a self-conscience sort of way. I smiled at him too, and he pushed some hair behind his ear.
"Um, hi," he said quietly, glancing back towards the front of the laundromat to see if anyone had turned their heads.
"Hey," I said.
My eyes flitted all over the room. I tried to look anywhere but his eyes. I wasn't used to boys approaching me. In high school, I guess you could say I was a loner. I had a very small group of close friends, and hardly ever went to parties. I spent most of my days at home, studying. I wasn't the girl that boys talked to. I was the girl that they didn't see.
"Could I maybe borrow a quarter? I'm short…"
The boy trailed off, rubbing his forearm uncomfortably. I nodded quickly and stood. The stranger had to back up a bit, so we could avoid invading each other's personal space. I reached into the pocket of my shorts and pulled out a quarter. I dropped it into the boy's upturned hand and he smiled.
"Thanks," he said.
I shrugged my shoulders, "It's no problem."
He smiled again, but an awkward silence fell between us. The boy looked down and muttered a 'well' then turned on his heel and went on doing his laundry. I sat back down slowly, my eyes still watching him, and picked up my book. When he bent over to throw his clothes into the machine, I dragged my eyes back to the page.
I took my time with my laundry, and it seemed like the boy did too. I kept stealing glances at him and blushing when he looked back at me. I kept reading the same line in the Birth of Athena over and over, never really gathering the meaning. When I was putting my last load in the dryer, I tried to be as slow as possible without looking suspicious. The stranger was on his last load too. Eventually, the last of my clothes had dried and had been folded neatly into my basket. I packed my book and the last few Swedish Fish away in my bag and swung it onto my shoulder. As I picket up my laundry basket, I took one last glance at the boy and saw that he was looking at me. We both looked away quickly and I started towards the exit.
"Um, excuse me."
I stopped in my tracks and turned around. I was sure I was blushing so I kept my head down a bit. The boy was walking over to me and I could see his hands repeatedly patting his thighs nervously. When he was in front of me I looked up. The boy was blushing, but he didn't shy away. Instead, he looked right at me and smiled.
"Um, hi. I was wondering if, maybe, I could get your name?"
I blushed again. "I'm Ellie. You are?"
"Pat," he answered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his cut-offs. "It's nice to meet you, Ellie."
"Nice to meet you," I returned.
"Would you- um…. Can I- Sorry. I'm bad at this flirting thing."
I blushed and Pat chuckled quietly, embarrassed. He avoided my eyes for a bit, but when he looked back, he smiled. I smiled back and put my basket down on the floor next to me. I swung my bag around so I could reach in and pull out my cell phone.
"Here," I said, handing it to him. "Put your number in. I'll- I'll call you."
Pat took the cell from me, still smiling. He bent his head to look at the screen and his hair fell from behind his ear. He punched his number in and saved it before handing the phone back to me.
"Pat from the Laundromat?" I asked, glancing at my contact list.
"Just in case," Pat said, shrugging his shoulders. "Look, I, uh, won't be in town very long, but I'll be back inArizonanext month. I'd like to see you then. If that's okay. I know we've just met and we don't know each other at all, but…"
He trailed off and I smiled reassuringly at him. "No, I'd like that."
"Okay, cool."
"So, I'll be seeing you then, Pat," I said, picking up my basket.
He smiled. "Yeah. Be seeing you."
