Clay is
sitting alone at a large group study table surrounded by psychology books. He is furiously writing notes in his notebook
and referring back to the closest open book every few words. He finishes a sentence,
puts his pen down and stretches his writing hand. From somewhere under the pile
of books his cellphone rings. He shuffles books one by one until he unearths
his phone and answers it. “Yo?”
Porter is
on the other end, there’s music in the background and the sound of laughter. “Sup?
You coming over tonight?” He asked.
Clay
looks at his work spread out on the table. “Not tonight dude I got midterms to
study for. I got a paper due on Wednesday that’s killing me.” He whispered.
Faith,
working on her own homework at the table across from him, shushes him quietly.
She has her finger over her lips but cannot keep from smiling. Clay nods and
looks down at his notes.
Porter is
almost drowned out by the sounds of the party around him. “Midterms, seriously?
Nobody cares. You’re missing out on the really important shit dude!” He yelled
as Clay turned the volume on his phone down as far as it would go.
Clay
hunched over further and whispered into the phone “I’m pretty sure I’m not. I
can’t put hang overs and Venereal diseases on my transcripts so I think I am
actually taking care of the really important shit.” He finished.
Which didn’t
matter because Porter had lost interest in talking to him. “Whatever dude,
later.”
He ended the call. Clay put his phone back in his pocket and returned
to his work.
Several
pages of notes later Clay once again began to feel his hand cramp. He put his
pencil down and stretched his hand out again. A folded up piece of paper landed
on his notebook. He unfolded it to find a note. “Rough call?” Clay looked
around the room to find Faith, the girl who had shushed him earlier looking at
him with a smile on her face.
Clay
flipped to clean page of his notebook. And wrote a reply, which he held up to
show her. “Yeah sorry about that, didn’t
mean to disturb you.” She nodded and
he put his notebook back on the table.
She scribbled
in her own notebook for a second and held it up. “No worries.”
He
scribbled a new note on a fresh sheet of paper. “What are you studying over
there?” he asked.
She flips
her closest book up so he can read the title. ‘Detail Oriented Crisis
Management: The mind set of Survival Horror.’ Clay nods and she drops her book
back down.
He
scribbled a new note and held it up “What’s your name?” He asked.
After a
moment of scribbling she held up her reply “Faith Northridge, what’s yours?”
He held
up the sign he had already prepared “Clay Rodgers”
She nodded
and held up her next sign. “What’s got you buried under books over there?” she asked.
Clay
holds up his primary book titled ‘Way of the Gun: The psychology of crime.” She
nodded and Clay dropped his book back down.
She was
writing for a minute before her next sign appeared. “Thug Studies major?” she asked. Clay nodded.
He held
up his next sign after a minute of hesitant writing. “Does that bother you?” he questioned.
Faith
shook her head and scribbled a reply. “Why? Should it?” She asked. Clay shook
his head silently they stared at each other for a moment, Clay smiled at her
and she looked down at her work. He fiddled with his pen for a second and then
returned to his notes. Each of them was smiling as they continued their research.
Clay had
become completely entranced with his reading. He had lost track of time and the
only reason he stopped was the Library intercom announced that the building
would be closing in fifteen minutes. He looked up from his reading to notice
that Faith was still there and had apparently ignored the intercom message. He
wrote a note on a piece of paper, folded it into a little paper football and
tossed it onto her table. It finally broke her concentration. She looked over
at him and he pantomimed opening the piece of paper. She did and found the note
“Care to join me for dinner in a place where we can speak for ourselves?” It
asked. Faith looked back to Clay, smiled warmly and nodded her consent.
Clay
smiled and packed up his work. Faith followed his lead. Clay looked over to her
table and for the first time saw that she was wearing a Nu Tau Delta shirt.
Clay paused for a second and raised an eyebrow.
Faith
finished packing her things and walked over to Clay’s table. She noticed his
Rho Sigma Gamma patch on his bag but didn’t say anything as they walked out of
the Library together.
Just past
nine in the evening, the sun had gone down a long time ago and even though it
was getting close to the warmer months there was still a little chill in the
night air.
Clay
couldn’t help himself. “Well, this could be interesting.” He commented.
“How so?”
She questioned.
He
shrugged. “A member of NuTau and RhoSig going to dinner together? Doesn’t that
break a bunch of your sorority’s social rules?” He asked trying to sound causal
about it.
Faith shrugged
her shoulders. “I didn’t think a member of Rho Sigma Gamma would care about
social rules.” She pointed out.
He
smiled. “I don’t but I also don’t want you getting in trouble for being seen
with me.”
Faith
laughed. “Why don’t you let me worry about that. Although I probably should be
worried shouldn’t I? You’re RhoSig and a Thug Studies major. They don’t get
much more dangerous than you.” Sarcasm dripping from her lips.
Clay
pretends to be shocked. “Are, are you making fun of me?” He asked with more affront
then he felt.
She
nodded. “You were in the library of your own free will, doing homework and you
turned down a chance to party. How bad could you really be?” She asked.
Clay
throws a finger up to make a counter point, realizes he doesn’t have one and
then nods in agreement with her. “Point taken” He accepts, stuffing his hands
into his hoodie pockets.
She takes
a few steps to catch up with him and then slides her hand through the gap of
his elbow linking arms with him. A smile on her face. “So where are we going
for dinner.” She asked.
Clay
thinks about this for a second. “Good question, where are you allowed to be
seen?” He asked.
Faiths
smile falters for a second and she shakes it off. “You and I both know it’s not
really like that.”
Clay
realizes she took his comment seriously. “Sorry, I was trying to be funny.” He
clarified.
She shook
her head “It would be funny if you weren’t so obviously worried about it.”
Clay
shrugged his shoulders. “You’re the first member of NuTau I’ve actually talked
to. I’m basically operating off of rumor and gossip.”
Faith
considers this for a moment and then smiles. “How about this. For tonight, it’s
just Clay and Faith. We’re not our associations, we don’t have social rules or
organizations making us dance like puppets. Just be Clay Rodgers spending the
evening with Faith Northridge.” She settled the issue.
Clay
nodded in agreement. “All right then. Where would you like to go?” He asked.
Faith
smiled. “You gotta decent fake ID?” she asked. He nodded. “We’re going to the AO
bar then.”
Clay
smiled. “What about dinner?” He asked.
“Don’t
knock their wings until you try them. Plus this way we can settle the check
fair and square, looser buys?” She asked.
“Looser
of what?” Clay asked as they headed in the direction of the bar just off
campus.
Faith’s
smile picked up a predatory edge. “The only game that matters, pool”
Clay
stopped walking for a second Faith separated from him as she turned around to
face him while waking backwards. “I suck at pool” He admitted.
She
nodded. “Good. I have more fun when the guy pays anyway.” She smiled turning to
walk forwards again. He trotted to catch up and they linked arms again.
