Did you ever wake up in the morning with a warm glow and snuggle into your pillow remembering how much fun you had the night before?
For awhile all your thoughts are filled with the dinner, dancing and that first kiss from someone you are beginning to really care about. Then bam - you realize that everything is a blur after that kiss and you had to ring the doorbell for the dorm mother to let you in. What was the story your date told the dorm mother for why you were 23 minutes late? Panic sets in as you wonder if you are going to be expelled from school.
Maybe having to go to Psychology and English class that Saturday morning was a good thing. At least in class there were moments I could listen and not think about an impending disaster. Walking back to the dorm after class I would tell myself I would call Barney so he could answer some questions then tell myself no, nice girls didn't call boys even in life or death matters. There was the thought that I would never hear from him again. It was difficult to even put one foot in front of the other.
Arriving back at the dorm I was met by Mrs. Wells holding flowers. She was smiling which was a good sign. She said she imagined the flowers were from my nice young man and that she had signed me in as 23 minutes late. At some time in the future I would have to go before the dorm council for disciplinary action for my being late. So I took that as a sign I did not have to go upstairs and pack my suitcases.
The flowers were 23 yellow daisies with a card that said "Sorry". How did he know daisies were my favorite? As I am smiling at the flowers hoping that the "Sorry" meant just that and not "Sorry" I don't want to see you again the phone rang in the hall. Since everyone else was still in class or off eating lunch I answered it. Interesting how when I answered the phone and a voice said "Hey - how are you" in a concerned manner and I knew it was him. The only other question was what was I doing. Actually I was starving since breakfast would have not gone down well earlier but I just answered that I had just gotten back from class and thanked him for the flowers. He said he would pick me up in ten minutes. Yippee!
The best course of action was to meet him in front of the dorm to avoid running into Mrs. Wells again until I knew what story he had whipped up for my being late. There are a lot of little moments we forget as the years go by but I have never forgotten watching him walk up the sidewalk to meet me. I think I knew then that being with him felt different and special. He asked if I was hungry which I was thankful for. Off we went in that car of his, this time at a reasonable speed, headed for Stephens Lake. Interesting as there was no food at the lake.
When we got to the lake he opened the truck and pulled out a picnic lunch. It did not matter that it was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, store bought cookies and lemonade. It was just unbelievably cute of him. We spent the afternoon talking and laughing. He was as worried about my being late as I was. The story he came up with was that we parked out by the football stadium, a good mile or more from the dorm, and the car would not start. We had to walk back to the dorm which took us a long time. Somehow I found that to be an exceptionally funny story since he had never kissed me until we arrived back at the dorm that night. Funny also because even though what ever people do in parked cars was not a forbidden thing at Stephens it was certainly not one girls confessed to. I told him I wasn't sure a ruined reputation was better than being kicked out of school.
I had to get back to the dorm by 6:00 as I had made plans with Pam to have dinner and see a movie since he had not filled in my dance card for that night. He seemed disappointed and I have to admit I was too. With Spring Break starting the next Wednesday we both had lots of class assignments to get done so he suggested we study together the next day. Sounded good to me.
The evening with Pam was fun as all the times with her were. I have to admit that when we met the first day at Stephens I was a little in awe and felt a lot like the country bumpkin as she had grown up in the L.A. area. She was poised, confident and intelligent but to know her is to love her as she is as good of a person as you can find. She did her best to keep the rest of us out of trouble and was always there to talk, or help and always the first to laugh at some of the silly antics that went on.
Saturday nights in the dorm were always hilarious. Cathie would come in from a date with one wild story after the other be it flying all over town on the back of a motorcycle or how she ditched some guy who wouldn't leave her alone. Erin never had anything good to say about dates she had which is interesting as I think she went out with everyone in Columbia and finally had to resort to soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood. Sally never had a serious thought in her head and Woodie was totally lost in a fog. Laughter was the best way to end a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment