A Twist in My Story

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Nick reached over and turned his alarm off. It was only 7am and he didn’t have to be in class until 9am, but he was just so excited that he could barely contain himself. Orientation had him psyched about his time here at Penn State. The coursework seemed decent, but it was the social life that sealed the deal. There were so many things to do after class hours and here he could make friends on his own time. With a freshman class of near 7,000 he had plenty of diversity among his peers. In fact he already met some people; like his roommate Tim. Nick already liked him.

The first night on campus he and Tim hung out in their room, unpacking and getting to know each other. They did have to live with one another for the next 9 months. Luckily Tim was a Yankees fan or else they would’ve had some problems. There was no way Nick would be able to live in the same room as a Red Sox fan or a Phillies fan, considering most Penn State students were from Pennsylvania. As it turned out Tim was on an athletic scholarship too and was going to be on the school’s basketball team in the winter. Nick was able to connect with him on athletics at least.

Nick flung his covers off and padded to the hall bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the first day of classes. It was different to share a bathroom with an entire hall of guys but Nick chose to think of it as sharing with his brothers. At least this bathroom had several showers rather than just one. All clean, he went back to his room to dress for the day. Tim was still asleep on his bed, even though his alarm was going crazy. Nick slipped some boxers and jeans on, rubbing his damp curls to get some more water out.

“Hey Tim. Man, your alarm’s going off,” Nick shook him, smacking the alarm silent.

Tim lifted his head and mumbled, “Hm, what?”

“Don’t you have an 8am class? It’s 7:41am,” Nick slipped a t-shirt over his head.

“What? Oh shit! I’m gonna be so late and it’s the first day. Crap, crap, crap!” Tim shot out of bed and hopped into a pair of jeans.

“Your alarm’s been going off. Didn’t you hear it?” Nick asked.

“No. Well yeah, but if I don’t get up my mom usually comes in and wakes me,” Tim messed with his hair, making it presentable messy.

“Well I’m not your mom, dude, so don’t expect a wake up call from me,” Nick put his books in his bag.

“Yeah I know,” Tim said, hoisting his open book bag over his shoulder. “See ya later, Nick. Still going to the gym tonight, right?”

“I’m game if you are,” Nick said as Tim ran down the hallway. He got a wave in response. Grabbing his room key, he grabbed his bag and headed to the dining hall for food.

Entering the main cafeteria he took in all the decent smells. They didn’t even compare to his mother’s cooking, but it was the different he was wanting. He grabbed a plate and put pancakes smothered in syrup and hash browns on it. He poured himself some juice and on last thought he grabbed an orange. His mother would have a fit if he didn’t have fruit.

Nick found an empty table facing the door and took out his blood sugar testing equipment. Pricking his finger and noting the reading he dug into his breakfast. The pancakes were slightly burned; thankfully the syrup masked it. And the hash browns had too much salt, but Nick ate them anyway. He needed food. The only good part was the orange. It was very juicy and sweet. He was a little disappointed in the food, but he kept telling himself it was all in the experience of college.

He was looking at his schedule…again…when he saw Olivia enter the dining area. She was with two other girls and was chatting with them. She glanced up and met his eyes before he could look down. Nick prayed she wouldn’t come over, but the gold flats that appeared in his eyesight told him otherwise.

“Hi Nick,” Olivia said nicely.

Nick slid his gaze up to her to be polite and not ignore her though he was really tempted to. “Hey Olivia,” he said, smiling tightly.

“I just came to get some breakfast with two of my roommates and I saw you sitting here. I thought I’d come over and say hi…which I just did…” she said, grimacing at the end.

“Ah. Well the ‘hi’ is returned,” he looked back down at his empty plate wishing he still had some burned pancakes left to have an excuse not to talk.

Olivia shifted nervously. “Yeah…um you know if you want to sit with me and my roommates,” she gestured over her shoulder to two girls at another table, “they wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh thanks for the, um, offer, Olivia, but I’m actually on my way out,” Nick shuffled his papers and stuffed them in his bag. “Maybe some other time.”

She frowned and stepped back as he stood. “Yeah…maybe some other time. Bye.”

“Bye,” he said curtly then squeezed past her and left the building without a backwards glance.

At ten minutes to 11am Nick strolled into the lecture hall his writing class was to take place. He had no idea what he wanted to major in yet so he was taking a bunch of random classes. So far the one he had been to, Statistics, seemed okay. The teacher made it more interesting than just boring old math. He hoped this writing class would put some easy fun into his schedule.

He stared up the rows of stadium seating, awed by the hundreds of seats filling the room and the number that were already occupied. Smiling to himself, he walked up halfway and took a seat away from a group of chattering girls. They glanced over their shoulders at him and when he caught them they turned back and giggled amongst themselves. Nick laughed to himself as he pulled a notebook, pen, and textbook out of his backpack. Giggling girls were only supposed to be in high school; apparently not.

Olivia pulled the door open to her 11am writing class and stopped in her tracks, intimidated by the size of the class. Back at home the most students she ever had in class was 30. Here there were well over 100; maybe even 200. Someone behind her pushed past her, muttering. She blushed and slowly walked up the stadium rows.

She looked back and forth for anyone she knew, but was coming up empty. In all honesty the only people she really knew here were her roommates and none of them were in this class – she already checked. As she came up to the middle of the rows she caught a glimpse of curls ducked down reaching into a bag on the floor. She immediately recognized them as Nick’s dark locks. She’d know them anywhere because she spent most of her life admiring them from a distance. For the last 8 years she had the biggest crush on him. He had gotten her a plastic bracelet at the carnival for her 10th birthday and she’d loved him ever since. In high school he became Mr. Sports Athletic Man and she was the shy book nerd, but they talked from time to time however they were no longer the best friends they used to be in elementary school. But this was college and it was a time for new beginnings so Olivia had hopes that perhaps she and Nick could be something since all the people from home and high school weren’t here.

Taking a deep breath she excused her way past several people in the row and took the empty seat beside Nick.

Nick looked up with a nice smile at the person who just claimed the seat to his right…and his smile faltered slightly. Olivia was close to the last person he wanted to see.

“Hi Nick. I didn’t know you were in this class too. It’s so good to see a friendly face in this sea of strangers,” Olivia said, genuinely relieved.

“Yeah I totally didn’t know you were in this class either. Lucky me,” Nick mumbled to himself.

Olivia’s face fell at his words. She looked away blinking rapidly to hold back tears. She really thought that they could try to have a friendship again but he obviously wasn’t interested in that. He was more of a jerk than she remembered and she was tired of always feeling awkward around him because he made it that way. “I’m…I’m sorry to torture you by existing but seeing a friendly face is nice for me. I know you got teased by your friends at Wyckoff High because of me but so did I. I’m always the preacher’s daughter and I thought here I could escape it…try to find me, but you’re holding high school over our heads and not letting it happen,” she whispered, grabbing her bag to move to another seat. “Sorry for wanting to be friends again.”

Nick chastised himself, remembering the promise he made his mom and the promise he made himself. If he truly wanted to reinvent himself he could try to rebuild his friendship with Olivia. She was a nice girl and he never meant to hurt her feelings, but perhaps it came off that way unintentionally. She was right that he was being a jerk and it was because of his friends…but they weren’t here now, so what could it hurt to be friends with her now?

“Olivia, wait,” he grabbed her elbow as she stood. “You’re right. I am not being nice to you for stupid reasons. I’d…I’d like for us to be friends again.”

“Really?” Olivia asked skeptically, sitting back down beside him.

Nick nodded. “Really. Sorry for my attitude. Just have lots going on in my head right now. Anyway, how are your classes?”

She smiled and relaxed in her seat. “They’re okay. I’ve only been to Music History, but it sounds cool. I think I’m going to hate Philosophy, but my dad wanted me to take it so I am. What about you? How are your classes?”

“Same as you; they’re okay. Stats will be interesting and I have no idea about this class, but it fulfills a gen-ed. Economics sounds like it’ll be my crap class, but like you, Dad wants me to take it. Gotta please the one who’s paying for it,” he smiled in ease.

“But didn’t you get an athletic scholarship?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t a full ride. It covers about half of the tuition for all 4 years,” Nick shrugged. “Guess I wasn’t good enough for full ride.”

“I think you are,” Olivia mumbled.

“What?”

“I said that’s ridiculous but at least some of it is covered,” she corrected.

“True. So you like your roommates?” Nick asked.

“They’re nice. I live in a quad so it’s me and three other girls all sharing one bathroom. Pretty sweet deal,” Olivia explained flipping open her notebook. “Do you like your roommate?”

“Oh yeah, Tim’s cool. He’s a Yankees fan.”

“Of course. That was probably top of your list for roommate preference,” she joked.

“Oh whatever,” Nick nudged her with his elbow playfully. “I’m sure your top preference was ‘must love country music’.”

Olivia blushed lightly at his teasing. “Ha ha. Actually it was ‘must love hip-hop’. I’m expanding my music repertoire.”

Nick stared at her in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“No!” she laughed. “I so had you! You totally believed me!”

He shook his head at her but smirked nonetheless. She did get him there. She was a lot looser than he remembered.

“Hey Nick, so are you aware there are some giggling girls looking at you?” she looked across him at the group of girls from before who were still giggling and stealing glances.

“Yeah. I thought they only did that in high school,” he said not glancing back.

“Me too. Hm. Well at least you shouldn’t have to try very hard to get a girl. They’ll practically fall at your feet,” she commented a little bitterly. Nick was oblivious to her feelings and she knew it.

“Guess so. We’ll see how things go. I probably should focus on my studies so I start off on a good foot.”

“Makes sense,” she nodded, feeling slightly less shunned. Of all the girls in their grade at their old high school, she was one of the few of girls not able to brag about sleeping with him.

“Alright, class, this is a huge group so it’s up to you to keep up, etc. I’m not a babysitter; I’m your professor. I’m passing around the syllabus. Read it over and if you have questions come ready on Wednesday to ask them. Now get out your notebooks and we’ll start with the basics to writing,” their short, balding professor announced as class started and all talk died down.

After the hour-long lecture Nick closed his notebook, clenching and unclenching his hand. Even though it was the first day of class their professor didn’t hesitate to jump right in with the planned lecture. After a near hour of taking notes, Nick’s hand was killing him.

“So that was a lot of notes,” he groaned slightly.

“Don’t be such a wuss, Nick,” Olivia chided playfully. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Yeah I guess so, but doesn’t your hand hurt?” he asked, picking up his bag and following her out of the row.

“A little, but not too badly,” she shrugged. “Do you want to grab some lunch with me?”

Nick bit his lip. “Um…I don’t know, Olivia…”

“It’s just food, Nick,” she said walking out of the building, holding the door for him.

“I know. It’s just…” he looked around anxiously.

“It’s just I’ll ruin your image. That’s fine. I understand. See you on Wednesday,” Olivia frowned and speed-walked away. She was used to Nick’s rejections even though the hurt never lessened.

Nick groaned, kicking himself, and jogged to catch up to her. He pulled her arm and stopped in front of her. Olivia looked at the ground, not able to meet his eyes.

“It’s not that, Olivia. I don’t care about being seen with you. I meant it when I said I wanted to be friends with you,” he said sincerely. “It’s just…I kind of wanted to check my email to see if Joe responded though I know he didn’t. He…uh…he left a few days before I came here, leaving a note saying something about needing to get away and be by himself for a bit. No one knows where he’s gone; not even Jenna. Part of me just hopes he’ll respond once to let me know he’s okay.”

“Oh my gosh, Nick. Why would he just leave like that? It doesn’t seem like Joe at all,” Olivia said concerned. She was a compassionate person and couldn’t help but care even when she was hurt or mad.

“It’s a long story. What do you feel like eating?” he asked, letting her arm go and walking towards the dining halls.

She was stunned briefly then shook herself out of it. She hiked her bag up higher on her shoulder and caught up to him. “Doesn’t matter. I’m game for anything as long its edible. So you had an eventful summer I take it?”

Nick dry-laughed. “You have no idea.”

Then together they walked across the lush green grass to the dining halls to grab something to eat and catch up.