My Last Semester

He took a look at this girl. Yes she was pretty no doubt and she looked really nice in her dress. It really complimented her slender frame nicely. Of course Giff was a guy and he appreciated curves, but this girl’s body was certainly attractive without the curves. Then it hit him. This was the girl on the skateboard! This was the girl at the dinning hall! Holy shit he thought. Was his luck really that high tonight?

“Dude! Can you hear me?” She was talking to him.

“Umm yeah?”

“Look can you stay here for a sec? I need to get some paper towels from the bathroom.” She still looked annoyed and her tone was harsh.

“Uhhh” he was shocked that she was actually speaking to him and thrown off guard. No other words came to mind.

“Seriously Giff all you have to do is just stand here! What the hell is wrong with the athletes at this school?” she pushed past him and left the room. Giff just stood there with a bewildered expression on his face. What the hell just happened? He didn’t do anything to this girl, so what the hell was her problem. His thoughts drifted back to how she said his name. He liked the way she had said it. He wasn’t surprised that she knew his name but it still caught him off guard. What was with him? He didn’t know anything about this chick and here he was liking the way she said his name? He heard footsteps behind him and they got closer and closer; then her slender frame appeared in front of him.

She had brought back a whole roll of paper towels and had a bottle of bleach in her hand. He wanted to talk to her so he said the first thing he could think of. “So how’s your night been?” she stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a lock of shock and disgust. He regretted saying the words as soon as they had left his mouth.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? It’s like 2 am and I’m cleaning up my roommates puke! I’m talking to one of the biggest assholes on campus right now and on top of that I’m wearing the world’s shortest dress! How the fuck do you think I’m doing?” she practically roared. Her face had turned red at this point and her nice brown eyes darkened. When she mentioned her dress his immediately darted to her tan legs that seemed to go on for miles. She caught that and gave him a look of pure hatred. She turned her back to him again and continued cleaning.

“Wait did you just call me an asshole?” he asked. That really bothered him for some reason.

“Wow you’re late aren’t you?” she snapped back, still cleaning up the mess.

“Well I’m not. You don’t even know me so how could you possibly know that?”

“All you basketball players are the same. Conceited pricks who need a serious reality check.” Giff was shocked. Was this chick serious.

“Judging a book by it’s cover huh? Aren’t you a little too young for that Tony Hawk?” She stopped and turned her head, brown eyes boring into his blue ones.

“What did you call me?” she asked. Giff made his way towards her and crouched down next to her, grabbing a paper towel and started to wipe away the puke.

“Tony Hawk. I uh might have seen you skateboarding on campus earlier. You’re really good.” He didn’t look at her when he said this. He just focused on cleaning up the mess and not looking into her sparkly brown eyes.

Gabby really didn’t know what to think. Here was one of the best college basketball players in the country, he’s played all over the country, was recruited from Germany and was even all over ESPN and he was telling her he had noticed her? She couldn’t help but feel a tad bit special. No one ever noticed her, especially hot guys. Ok he’s not that hot she thought to herself as she watched his muscled arms flex as he moved them back and forth…

Giff finally looked up at her. He had felt her heavy gaze and had tried his best to stop himself from looking up but he gave up. Her pretty face remained stoic and after a few moments of eye contact, she broke her gaze and returned to cleaning.

“Tony Hawk? You couldn’t be more original?” she quietly said after a few moments of silence.

Giff smiled sheepishly. “Uh yeah well I’m German, we don’t really board. He’s the only skateboarder I know of.”

“Well duh, that’s because he’s a legend! But he’s not my favorite.”

“Who is your favorite then?”

“Probably Tony Alva but he’s before your time…and Tony Hawk’s time.” Giff just gave her a blank expression. “Well you asked! And I just answered.” She shrugged and they continued to work. There really was a lot of puke. Geez Jess, you barely weigh 100 pounds. How the hell did this much puke come out of your body. Gabby thought to herself. Her arm brushed against Giff’s.

“Sorry” he said though he really wasn’t. Her skin had been really soft and he was close enough to her that he could smell her. The puke smelled pretty bad so he tried his best to focus on her sweet scent.

Gabby ignored his apology. “So uhh what part of Germany are you from?”

“Berlin” he responded immediately, confused yet pleased that she was taking initiative to talk to him.

“So you’re a city boy huh? I used to live in Germany when I was a kid.”

Giff’s head snapped up. “Seriously?” he asked. He didn’t really meet many people on campus who had been to Germany, and he had met no one who had actually lived there.

“Yeah, my dad was in the military and we were stationed there for a bit when I was like 7. I don’t remember everything but it’s a beautiful country and they have pretty cool castles.”

“It certainly is beautiful. My parents used to take us to see the castles when I was a kid too. You don’t find stuff like that up here.”

“I know. Like I remember the countryside up there and it’s literally just blew me away. And the downtown area of the town I lived in was so like medieval it was just amazing.” They both had stopped cleaning at this point but didn’t seem to realize it.

“Which part did you live in?” he asked.

“Uh I think it was called Hanau? I’m not completely sure…”

“Oh yeah! Nice place Hanau. You know that’s where the Grimm brothers were born?” he seemed really excited and his accent was becoming a bit thicker. She found it adorable and scolded herself for thinking that.

“Is it far from Berlin?” she asked.

He chuckled. “If you consider about five hours as far then yes it is.”

“Holy shit I didn’t know Germany was that big! Can you tell me what Berlin is like? I’ve always wanted to go.” She looked at him with eager and exictment in her brown eyes, though her tone gave no such indication. She didn’t want him to know she was really interested, but her eyes gave her way. He didn’t mind at all. None of his friends ever asked him about his home country.

“Ahh well I guess the closest thing America has to Berlin would be New York. But they’re completely different. Berlin is city but there’s a small atmosphere to it. The people are nice and care for each other. It’s modern but kinda old fashioned…uhh” he trailed off not really sure what to say that would impress her.

Gabby took his description in. “I’ll bet it’s quite different from here huh? I mean M
Massachusetts is just a boring state all over. So is the rest of New England. ” He smiled at her. She was honest and he liked that.

“Wait, what is your name? I’m sorry I didn’t ask earlier.”

She chuckled. “It’s Gabrielle. But my friends call me Gabby. Whichever one is fine.”

“Well it seems you already know me but yeah Giff’s the name.” He held out his hand and she looked up him. He wore a friendly smile and his blue eyes sparkled. Man is he cute she thought. Kiara would kill to be me right now. She took his hand and they shook it.

“Umm maybe we should get back to cleaning? I’m gonna go find a trash can or something to put the paper towels in.” She got up and straightened out her dress. He watcher her retreating figure then went back to cleaning. Maybe this night wouldn’t end so bad after all he thought to himself.

Gabby made her way to the garbage room where she had found the bleach. The night’s events were replaying in her mind. She hated herself for admitting it but Giff seemed to have her under some sort of spell and it was exciting her yet pissing her off at the same time. He was just different from what she had expected. But him helping her clean shouldn’t change her mind about him. She felt a headache coming on. She just wanted to undress and get to bed. She found a small garbage can in the room and quickly made her way back to the lobby. Giff had finished cleaning and was screwing the cap back on the bleach. Her gave her a warm smile that sent her heart beating against her chest like a sledgehammer. Pull yourself together Gabrielle.

She quickly put all of the dirty paper towels in the bin. Giff stood up and they just faced each other awkwardly. She broke the silence. “Well uhh I have to go check up on my roommate. I’ll send Andre down…but thanks for um helping me clean up.” Before he could mutter a thank you she turned and walked towards the elevator.

Giffy panicked for a second. He wasn’t ready to leave her yet. “Can I come with you? See how your roommate is doing?” He knew that was a lame excuse but it wasn’t one that you could really refuse and that’s what mattered.

Gabby looked taken aback for a second. She didn’t know why he wanted to see Jess but she couldn’t say no. “Uh yeah whatever.” The door to the elevators opened and they both stepped in. she pressed the five on the panel of buttons and the door closed. It stopped on the 3rd floor and in walked Terry. Gabby groaned inwardly and wanted to just scream. She had had enough basketball players for one night. What did she ever do to deserve this?

“Yo Giff my man! What’s up? You don’t live here!” Terry was a bit buzzed and the elevator filled up with the strong odor of vodka.

Giff tried to smile but he was irritated. Terry was a nice guy but really loud and annoying to be frank. “I’m just visiting a friend” he said quietly and nodded his head towards the pretty brunette. Terry finally noticed Gabby and burst out laughing.

“Shit she’s pretty but don’t expect to get far with her! Homegirl wouldn’t even give me her number! She thinks she’s too good.”

“Fuck you!” Gabby screeched. “When will you basketball players learn that not everybody wants to kiss your ass!” The elevator had reached the fifth floor at this point and she stormed out of it. Giff followed her but not before turning around and telling Terry to go to hell. He followed Gabby as she made her way through the maze of hallways. To his dismay it was an all girls floor and a lot of them were hanging out in the hallway. The floor got quiet when they caught a glimpse of Giff. He heard a whole bunch of whispers and giggles which he tried his best ignore. They finally reached Gabby’s room and the two college students stepped inside the room.

His immediately went to her side of the room. She had a few posters on her wall. One was of the Beatles and the other was of the Clash. She also had a bulletin board that was full of concert tickets. He saw a Green Day and AFI ticket. There was also the cover art to the Ramones self titled album on the bulletin board. Ok so she likes punk rock he thought. The girl that was in front of him now didn’t seem like the type to be into that music, but the girl on the board he saw earlier screamed rocker chick. Giff wasn’t going to lie but he thought that look was very attractive on her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the sound of her voice pulled Giff out of his thoughts. He saw Gabby staring up at the lofted bed he assumed was her roommates. There he saw Andre sleeping next to Jess. His arms were around the small girl tightly and her head was on his broad chest.

“This has got to be one of the weirdest nights I have ever had up here.”

“I gotta say the same. This really isn’t like him” Giff explained. He knew it was creepy but he couldn’t stop looking at the sleeping couple. Andre never cuddled with girls…unless it was after he fucked them but they were both fully clothed. He ran his fingers down his face. He couldn’t help but be a bit annoyed. The whole reason they came here was to score some bud from Terry who he had just yelled at and now Andre was dead asleep.

“Now what the fuck do I do!” they both yelled in unison. Giff just looked at Gabby and they both burst out laughing, they couldn’t help it. It seems they were in the same boat. Their laughter filled up the room and actually woke up Andre and her roommate.

“Oh hey Gab what’s up?” Jess mumbled with a sleepy grin on her face. Giff thought steam was going to erupt form the girl in front of him.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now Jess! I just spent the last 20 minutes cleaning up your puke and I find you in bed with this asshole?” Jess rolled her eyes and snuggled closer to Andre who noticed Giff was in the room.

“Look Giff, I didn’t mean to”

“Save it man. Looks like I came here for nothing. I’m taking your car for the night and you can’t say shit about it.” Gabby had to admire Giff’s cool demeanor. She didn’t mean to yell but she just couldn’t help it.

“Let’s get out of here” she told Giff. She grabbed a sweater and left the room. He glanced at the couple in the bed one last time and followed Gabby. They walked to the elevator in silence. Gabby still had an annoyed expression on her face and if looks could kill then the whole campus would be dead. Giff tried to hold back the smile that was beginning to form on his handsome face. Andre man, remind me to thank you later he thought as he followed the pretty girl out of the building.