Encounters With Gurls

He took a seat, legs crossed under him, in the dorm's common room. First day of orientation, and his head was spinning, disoriented. A girl sat down next to him, and smiled. She had big freckles, a big nose, remarkably big feet, and an infectiously big grin. "So, hey. Where ya from? You look like you're gonna hurl." He was not going to, but gee, nice to know he looked like he might. He endeavored to look healthier while engaging her in small talk: hometowns, possible majors, impressions of the campus. After the meeting, he walked up to his room, and was surprised to find her on his heels. "Is your room this way too?" "No." She leaned in and kissed him. It was his first kiss. He closed his eyes and leaned into it. Then, she came into his room, all his stuff still in a pile on his yet-to-arrive roommate's bed, and some other firsts happened.

He walked into the restaurant, nervous, legs shaking a little, hoping it wasn't noticeable. He peered closely at the hostess....no, not her. He gathered up a salad, took a seat, and tried not to be too obvious with his round-room neck-craning. It was his first time meeting a girl he'd been talking to on the net and the phone for months now, but he'd only seen a few photographs, all a bit different. While he crunched his croutons, scanning to the left, she slipped into his booth. She worked here. God, she looked as nervous as he did, but she wore it well. Her hair was blonde now, and a little longer. She slid her hand across the table. He took it. ""Very nice to meet you at last," he said. She smiled, and arrythmia happened. He was in town for a week, and at the end, she decided she'd been wrong, she was not in love, she was not about to change her life. She lived in a trailer with her parents, both of whom were named Tommy; she worked as a waitress in a buffet restaurant, her college career as stymied as his; she'd been having as rough a life as he, if not rougher. But he still wasn't good enough for her.

He answered the phone. Familiar chirping "HEL-lo." Crazy desert girl ringing. They'd first "met" years before, when he had no business talking to her, becoming her friend, her distant confessor and sounding board. He had put a stop to it, asking her not to call or IM, hoping to meet someone in his own county and age range, knowing full well how to-the-moon unlikely THAT was. But then, out of the blue several years later, an e mail. Older, a bit sadder but a bid saner, wanting to reconnect. Commiserations, remonstrations and Supertramp songs flew back and forth. But then he sang his magic song, and the game changed. She made plans. He tried really hard not to freak the hell right out. But he needed turmoil, and he needed it soon. Doot de doo.