Dreaming of Daisy

Chapter 5 - College With Friends

"Barbecue, steak fries
Styrofoam, plate date night
George Strait singing greats while
We turning up, sitting lakeside
That pedalsteel, she straight sliding
Over here, to me she do that
Alabama shake, like you ain't ever seen"

(I Love My Country  -Florida Georgia Line)

Life had changed in a whirlwind over the past few years. James was enjoying college life. He finally had a date that night with Hailey after months of trying. Tomorrow, he was supposed to head out and do some mountain biking with Ed and Pete. It truly was the good life.

Now everybody knows of spring breaks, but college as a whole is like a prolonged and surreal spring break. It's like the April showers, in the springtime of a person's life, which allows them to blossom. Some people call it finding themselves. Others might call it growing up. No matter what you call it, being cut off from home, and being forced to start taking responsibility for most aspects of your life is a game changer.

For a while dirty laundry might pile up. The new diets that develop may consist of more beer and pizza in a day than vegetables in a week. But ultimately, the party can only continue on so long. Eventually, you have to buy an iron and a shirt for an interview. After you gain ten pounds, you quickly realize that you don't have the money yet to be fat and still attractive. Even if college is a nose dive initially, those that graduate figure out there's a little more to it than just beer and sleeping in.

Hailey and James were headed up to the movies that night. She was supposed to come over and meet him after class. He had his eye on her ever since she started a semester after him. She had some very pretty auburn hair, and matching freckles. He couldn't wait for her to be done with class for the day.

To pass the time, he took the stairs down to Ed's apartment below. It was always an interesting trip to be there. When you walked into the place, you were immediately greeted by the bar table on your left he got from an old friend back home. Ed traded him a case of beer for it. This wasn't an old friend he had grown up with either. This was a man is his mid 50s that Ed hunted with. He was a literal old friend.

To the right was a tandem set of TVs next to one another. The idea was to never let your Battlefield play limit your ability to watch Talladega Knights or Step Brothers.

As James walked in, he found the place swarming with activity. Ed was submersed in a game of Battlefield, while his roommate Arnold was well into what probably wasn't his first beer. James was greeted to shouts rather than simple pleasantries.

"Hey man, just a warning, I'm all jacked up on mountain dew," Ed professed, as he got another kill. It wasn't just a movie quote. It was reality. He was looking exceptionally American today with his orange camo hunting hat, and a Tony Stewart Racing jacket above his flannel shirt. The mustache, and Busch Light edged between his legs on the chair added the perfect accents. This was classic Ed in all his glory.

"We still going biking tomorrow?" asked James.

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" Asked Ed.

"Does a duck have a watertight... Arnold was exclaiming, as he was interrupted by Mike bursting through the doors.

"Alright, who's got the beer?" Mike exclaimed, as he walked in and stood right between Ed and the TV.

"What the hell man?" Ed yelled as his kill streak quickly came to an end when he got picked off. "That's ignorant," Ed sulked as he got ready for his character to spawn again.

Mike was just one of those guys that if you didn't know him, you would probably hate him. Correction, you absolutely would hate him. He was tall, had a bit of a wild side, and was one of the most blunt people James knew. When asked during a mid-course review how he thought the class was going, he looked his college professor dead in the eye and said, " so far, pointless." Another time he 'replied all' to an email from university administration, announcing to everyone what he thought about a temporary change in the parking policy. All week random students thanked him for expressing what was on everyone's mind. Mike was the classic product of a small blue collar town.

As Mike began to add a little more fuel to the fire in the place, James looked at his phone and saw a text from Hailey. "Are you at your apartment?" He responded that he would be outside and said his goodbyes to the party brewing inside Ed's.

"I hope the movie is awful," Mike chimed in with a laugh as James walked out.

James walked down the hall and over to the front of the building. He saw Hailey coming down the sidewalk. He already had moved his Jeep out to the front of the building earlier.

She was wearing some comfortable summertime shoes, jeans, and a nice shirt. She still had her glasses on from class too. He decided against greeting her with a hug and instead just smiled and asked how class was as they hopped into his car. He had spent weeks talking to and texting with her. She was always busy and hadn't made things easy.

Hailey worked two jobs all summer, and kept one through the school year. A tough nut to crack, but James thought she was worth it none the less. They drove up towards the movie theater.

"So you glad to be done working at the park for the summer?" He asked her, while sneaking a glance at his pretty date beside him.

"Yeah, I'm ready to get some of my nights and weekends back," she said. They continued on with the polite conversation all the way up to the movie theater. He bought them tickets, and they holed up in two spots of the dark stadium seating.

A movie is definitely a time honored date in American culture. Teens have been flocking to the places for a century. It gave so many advantages over other options. The darkness offered the perfect place to plant your first shy peck on the cheek. The scary horror films were basically made as a surefire excuse to draw someone close. And more than anything, the movie itself ensured you wouldn't be left with awkward holes in the conversation. A real danger when a boy and girl spend time alone for the first time.

James and Hailey were a world away from those shy young days when they first set foot in a movie theater with the opposite gender. Yet, somehow they were still so close to those people. A first date, no matter what, is always intimidating. It's like the first day at a new school, or a job interview. It's a time filled with apprehension, excitement, and unease as trust is established.

As the movie began to play, there was no telltale flicker as the film rolled over the projector. For James, that flicker was in his heart as he put his arm around her, and she rested her hand on his. She was even cuter up close. James felt more alive than he had in a while. At least since the clickity clack of that roller coaster ride.

After the date, Hailey gave James a kiss on the cheek, and they said goodnight. Overall, it had gone well James thought. After months of chasing, he had finally done it. He had gotten Hailey out on a date with him. Sophomore year was really looking up. James had some money in the bank from a summer of hard work. He had something to drive. He was living in an apartment now, and had a vibrant social life. And to cap it all off, he had a date. It was the good life. There was almost no doubt about it.