Discontinued

I complete my morning routine and sit down at my desk by the window. I thumb through Tyler's Motor Trend magazine, dreaming of owning many of the cars pictured. Tyler finishes combing his hair and sits down on his bed to put on his shoes.

"So, what do you think of Hannah," I ask Tyler.

Tyler looks up and chuckles. "Why do you ask? Do you have the hots for her or something?"

I feel my face heat. "No, I don't have the hots for her," I lie. "I just think she's interesting."

Tyler laughs. "Oh, she's fun to work with. We got along great yesterday. I'll be sure to tell her that you say 'hi'." He laughs again.

"Don't you dare," I exclaim, glaring at him. "I can speak for myself, thank you very much." I continue to glare.

"You didn't seem to be doing much talking yesterday at dinner," Tyler retorts. "Are you sure that you know how to talk to pretty women?" He laughs some more.

I roll my eyes and sigh. "I guess that I was a little tongue-tied yesterday. She's just so... so... I don't know! She has a very nice voice and is so pretty, and all."

Tyler bursts out laughing. When he calms himself a bit he says, "She won't bite, you know. You should try actually talking to her, instead of just staring."

I look up at Tyler in shock. "Was it that apparent that I was looking at her?"

Tyler chuckles. "Yeah, it was. Everyone at the table noticed it, even her."

I feel my face burning up. I don't know what to say. I just look at Tyler and try to hide my embarrassment.

Tyler, still chuckling, points at the clock. "We better get going. I'll walk with you to Maintenance, since I have to go that way, as well."

"Cool," I reply.

We get up and head out the door. Once outside the dorm, I take a deep breath of the morning air: Fresh, clean air, with a hint of saltiness in it. It's going to be another great day.

The walk down to work is uneventful, with Tyler and me making small talk along the way. I turn to Tyler as we approach the Maintenance/Grounds building, and say, "Have fun at work."

"You too, man. Later," replies Tyler. He continues on past Maintenance/Grounds, down the road toward the Laundry. I enter the Maintenance/Grounds building and find Seth, Phil, and Carter already there.

"About time you got here," Phil proclaims. "We thought that perhaps you decided to skip out on us today." He laughs.

I chuckle. "Nah, I just enjoy my sleep. I still have plenty of time. It's only 7:50."

Mr. Parnell enters through the front door and walks right up to me. "Nate, if you don't mind, I'm going to ask Mr. Rhodes if I can borrow you again today. I don't think that he'll mind."

"Cool, fine by me." I smile. "I kind of liked the work we were doing yesterday. I don't mind at all."

Mr. Parnell smiles and then heads for Mr. Rhodes office. In less than a minute he returns and motions for Seth and I. "It's all settled. I'll have both of you for the entire day today. Come on, let's go get started."

Seth and I wave to Phil and Carter as we turn to follow Mr. Parnell. We get into the Toyota pickup and soon are on our way to the men's dorm. Mr. Parnell explains that we will be doing much the same thing that we were doing yesterday. Before long, we park behind the men's dorm by our maintenance shed.

"If you two will continue on the upstairs, I'll continue downstairs. Just come get me if you need any help, or if you happen to finish." He chuckles.

"I doubt that we'll finish this morning," says Seth. "But we might finish by this afternoon." I look over at Seth, thinking him to be a bit optimistic.

"Well, just keep at it. I'd rather see quality than quantity. Judging from yesterday, I'd say that you two are capable of some quality work." Mr. Parnell smiles at Seth and me.

"Thanks," replies Seth. I just nod. We grab our tools and head inside the back door. As we near the top of the stairs, Seth says to me, "If you want, I'll start out working with the hinges on the doorjamb, and you can work with the hinges on the door its self. Then we can switch off on the next room."

"Sounds good to me," I agree. "That way I'll get more experience with both, and the work should go a little faster." Seth nods in agreement.

We get to work on the next room from where we left off the day before. Seth and I work hard all morning. We engage in idle chitchat while we work, helping to quickly pass the time. By the time that Mr. Parnell comes up to get us for lunch, we are in the middle of working on our sixth door.

"Looks like you two had a good morning. I wish that I were having as much luck with the doors downstairs. I think that the freshman must have been especially rowdy last year." Mr. Parnell laughs. Seth and I laugh with him. "Come on, let's head out to lunch." Mr. Parnell leads the way, as Seth and I follow.

After putting our tools in the shed and locking up, we climb into the pickup and head down the hill to clock out. Before arriving, Mr. Parnell thanks both Seth and me for working so hard all morning. Seth and I are beaming as we walk into the Maintenance/Grounds building.

"Ready for a hearty lunch," asks Phil, standing next to Carter. They appear to be waiting for Seth and me.

"I sure am," I reply enthusiastically. "I might even consider eating breakfast in the mornings, if I didn't like sleeping in so much." Everyone laughs at this.

Phil, Carter, Seth, and I head up the hill toward the cafeteria. Along the way, I'm sure that I catch a glimpse of Tyler in the back seat of a car that passes us by. The walk up the hill passes quickly, as Phil seems to monopolize the conversation. Upon entering the cafeteria, the four of us quickly head over to get our trays.

Standing in line for food, I listen as Phil and Carter continue to describe their morning. Phil has his eye on several of the ladies that he has met, and is trying to decide which one to go after first. Carter seems to be a little more apprehensive than Phil is, but also is eager to try his lines out on some of the ladies. I just shake my head and chuckle.

As I finish piling my plates with food, I turn to follow Phil, Carter, and Seth to a table that they pick out. I smile as I see that they are heading to a table that Tyler is sitting at. Seth, in front of me, moves slightly to his right to avoid a chair in his way. My step falters for a second, my heart racing. Sitting right beside Tyler is none other than, Princess Hannah!

I watch with wide eyes as Phil, Carter, and Seth all sit on the opposite side of the table from Tyler and Hannah. I quickly wonder how obvious it will be if I sit on the other side of the table, as well. I notice that I have stopped walking, and am standing at the end of the table looking at Hannah. She looks up at me and lets a small giggle escape.

Tyler chuckles and says, "Why don't you join us on this side of the table, Nate. That way the table will be balanced." I can feel my face get even redder.

"Umm, sure," I somehow manage to reply. "How was work," I ask of Tyler, as I pass by Hannah.

"Oh, work was really great. I love working with Tyler. He knows so much about... well, about a lot of things." Hannah giggles. My eyes are wide and I feel my face burning up. Hannah thought that I was asking her! "Thanks for asking," continues Hannah.

I manage to sit down next to the Princess without spilling anything. I smell a light perfume scent that is intoxicating to me. "I thought that he might be good to work with," I finally manage to respond. "He's told me a lot of what I should expect once school starts. I think he's a pretty cool guy." Am I babbling?

Hannah giggles. "I think he's a cool guy as well, but not the only one." She looks right at me as she says this. "Tyler here is very forthcoming with his information." She giggles some more. I'm lost. I look across the table and notice Phil, Carter, and Seth smirking. Finally, they begin talking amongst themselves.

I glance over at Tyler. He shrugs his shoulders and grins. "She asked some questions about things that I know about. I was glad to help out." He smirks. I look at him quizzically. He laughs. What is going on?

Hannah reaches over and lightly touches my right arm. I freeze in place. My face burns even more, if that is possible. Her soft touch is electrifying, giving me goose bumps.

"So, what do you do? You work for maintenance, right?" Her soft voice is so lovely. It has a sort of melody to it. I briefly become lost in thought, until I notice her looking intently at me.

"Oh, sorry," I mutter, as I feel my face heat again. "Yes, I work maintenance with Seth here." I absently point at Seth. "We've been working at the men's dorm doing repairs all morning." I try to smile nonchalantly at Hannah. She returns my smile. I must be in heaven! I slowly begin to relax some.

The rest of lunch goes by a little more smoothly. Hannah includes herself in the other guy's conversations, but makes sure to include me, as well. I try not to stare at her, but I find myself looking at her lovely face as she talks.

All too soon, Phil stands up and picks up his tray. Everyone else follows suit. I reluctantly pick up my tray, and follow Hannah to the conveyer belt. The pack soon heads out into the light afternoon ocean breeze.

On the way down the hill, Hannah, Tyler, and I walk together. Phil, Carter, and Seth are busy talking amongst themselves. Hannah talks with both Tyler and I, but I think that she might be glancing at me more than she is at Tyler. The group comes to a halt, and I startle when I realize that we are standing by the Maintenance/Grounds building.

"See you later, guys," Hannah says to us. She then turns directly toward me. "And I'll definitely see you later, Nate." She giggles softly, and gives me a small wave. I freeze in place. I stare after her as she walks away, watching her soft feminine curves sway. I think that there is a brief conversation between Tyler and the rest of the guys, but I don't hear a single word of it.

Finally, I snap out of it. I follow Phil, Carter, and Seth into the building. Once inside I clock in, and then sit down on a bench.

"Man, she totally digs you," Seth says to me. "Play your cards right, and you never know what might happen." He chuckles.

I look up at Seth with a confused expression. "Nah, she's just being nice. I think she's just friendly like that with everyone."

Seth laughs. "Sure, okay, whatever you say, man." He laughs some more.

Mr. Parnell comes in and motions for us to follow him. Seth and I follow him outside, and climb into the little pickup. We soon park behind the men's dorm, and open up our maintenance shed.

"More of the same this afternoon, I'm afraid," says Mr. Parnell to Seth and me. "You two are doing great. Keep it up!"

Seth and I smile then gather our things together. We follow Mr. Parnell inside the dorm, then turn at the stairs and head to the top floor. We find the room where we left off, and get right to work. Again, we make idle chitchat as we work, helping to pass the time. We tell stories of our time in grade school, laughing at some of the things that we've done. Shortly after 3:00, Mr. Parnell comes up to check on our progress.

"Going good, gentlemen," Mr. Parnell tells us. "When you finish with this door, come on down to the first floor and give me a hand, would you?"

"Sure," respond Seth and I together.

"Okay, then. I'll head on down now and wait for you." Mr. Parnell walks back down the hall toward the stairs.

Seth and I quickly finish the door that we are working on, and then head downstairs. We find Mr. Parnell waiting for us about mid-way down the hall.

"I need you two to try and hold the door steady for me while I mark it. I can't seem to hold it in place, and it's too close to the ground to use any wedges for stability." Mr. Parnell indicates several small pieces of wood lying on the floor.

Seth and I grab the door and hold it in place for Mr. Parnell. We struggle a little with it, as it seems heavier than most of the doors that we've been working on.

"This must be one of the original doors," Mr. Parnell offers. "It certainly weighs more than the other doors." Both Seth and I nod in agreement. "Okay, I think that will work for now. Thanks for your help. I'll be able to handle it from here," he tells us.

Once upstairs again, Seth and I continue with our work and our chatting. I can hardly believe it when we finish the last door on the hallway. I look down at my watch and smile: 4:30.

I turn to Seth. "Well, I suppose we can go down and help Mr. Parnell for a few minutes. He'll be happy that we are done up here." I smile, as does Seth.

"Okay, lead the way," replies Seth. Seth and I walk downstairs to find Mr. Parnell.

Mr. Parnell seems surprised to see us, and asks, "Run into trouble up there?"

"No, no trouble," answers Seth. "We just finished our last room, and came down to see if we could give you a hand."

Mr. Parnell smiles, and then looks at his watch. "Well, give me a hand hanging this door back up, and then I think we'll call it a day. He smiles again. I help Mr. Parnell to hang the door back on its hinges, as Seth gathers up all the tools. We close the door and head back downstairs.

Outside, Mr. Parnell turns to me. "Do you think you might like working maintenance full-time?"

"Sure," I reply enthusiastically. "I'd love it!" I smile.

"Then I'll ask Mr. Rhodes about it in the morning. I don't think he'll mind reassigning you permanently to me. He seems to have all the help that he needs on the grounds crew, already."

Seth and I high-five each other, close up the shed, and then climb into the pickup. Mr. Parnell drives us back to the Maintenance/Grounds building to clock out for the day. As we approach the building to park in front, I notice Tyler and the lovely Hannah waiting by the steps. My heart begins to beat faster.

"Hey," I say as I get out of the pickup. "Waiting on us?" Did I just initiate a conversation, directed even partially at the Princess Hannah?

"Yeah, and also Phil and Carter," answers Tyler. "They are inside clocking out."

"Cool. We'll be right out." Seth and I hurry inside to clock out. Once that is completed, we hurry back outside to join the others.

As the six of us begin slowly heading up the hill, I turn to Tyler and Hannah. "You two seem to have gotten off work early today."

I hear a sweet melody reply, "Tyler says that Tuesdays, and Thursdays are usually slower. So we'll probably be waiting for you on Thursday, as well." She looks right at me as she says this. I immediately feel myself blush, and try to turn away. I hear her giggle softly at my embarrassment.

Our group makes idle chatter as we meander up the hill. We aren't in a big hurry, since the cafeteria doesn't open until 5:00. When we near the cafeteria, I look down at my watch: 4:50. We have about 10 minutes to kill.

Phil beats me to the punch. "Well, I guess we have a few minutes to kill. Why don't we sit on the front steps, here?" Most of us nod in reply, and we all follow Phil's lead. Hannah sits next to me: right next to me. I can feel the warmth of her body next to mine. I'm trying to be nonchalant about it, and I think I'm succeeding.

Once again, our group engages in meaningless banter, until we hear the front doors of the cafeteria unlocking. All six of us get up, and head inside. We are the first in line, and quickly find ourselves seated at one table. Hannah purposely sits next to me, and I notice that our seating arrangement mimics the way we sat for lunch.

I dig into my food, and try not to stare at her beautiful face too much. Our group talks about work, how the campus is so great, even a little bit about sports. I listen intently as I chow down, but Hannah keeps dragging me back into the conversation. All of us continue sitting at the table, long after we finish eating. I glance up at the clock on the wall: 6:05.

Phil catches me glancing at the clock, and looks himself. "Well, I'm going to head down to the gym. Anyone else coming along," Phil asks the group.

Carter immediately replies, "Count me in."

I shrug, and say, "All right. I'm game." Did I just agree to go to the gym?

"I'm coming along, too," chimes in Hannah. "I've just got to run to the dorm really quick. Will you guys wait for me?"

"Sure," I quickly reply. "We'll wait for you outside." Hannah smiles, and picks up her tray.

Phil looks at Carter. "Well, Carter and I are going to head down. But we'll see you when you get there." Both Carter and Phil pick up their trays and leave the table.

I turn to Tyler and Seth. "Okay, but you guys will wait with me, won't you?"

"I'm going to head back to the dorm and see what's on TV," answers Seth. I begin to panic.

I look directly at Tyler, my eyes pleading. "What about you?"

"I'm going to go with Seth and check out what's on TV," replies Tyler. He chuckles. I glare at him. I don't find this the least bit funny.

"It looks like it's just you and me," giggles Hannah. "I'll see you out front in a few minutes." With this, she turns and walks toward the conveyer belt.

I feel my face heat up. I glare at Tyler, as Seth and he stand up with their trays in hand. "I'll get you for this," I spit out. Tyler and Seth both laugh and head off with their trays. After a few moments, I follow and put my tray on the conveyer belt. I glare some more, as Tyler and Seth head out the side door toward the men's dorm.

As I sit outside the cafeteria waiting for Hannah, I wonder how I've gotten myself into this. Did the guys plan for this to happen? I guess that it might just be coincidence. On the other hand, maybe it isn't coincidence. I notice Hannah come out the front of the women's dorm. I stand up.

Hannah looks my way and, seeing me, runs over to me. "Are you ready, handsome?" I'm quite sure that I'm blushing right now: a very bright red, at that. Did she just call me handsome?

"Uh, sure," I manage to stammer.

"Let's go, then." My eyes get wide, and my heart races faster, as Hannah wraps her left arm through my right then gives a gentle pull. I follow her lead down the hill, toward the gym. I'm in a state of shock. She must be this friendly with all of the guys, I think to myself.

"So tell me about your family," she states, as we walk along. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

I relax some. "I have two sisters: Shaunna, who is 16; and Lana, who is 12. Shaunna will be here when school starts. I don't have any brothers, though." I look over at Hannah, who is smiling. I continue, "My parents are Greg and Melissa."

"My parents' names are Ellis and Mabella. I don't have any brothers or sisters. I do have two cats, and one dog, though. My dog is a brown Labrador retriever, and he's very nice to people." She smiles at this. I get the feeling that she likes dogs.

"I have two cats, but no dogs. I don't have any other pets, either." I look at Hannah who is smiling at me. She moves in closer to me as we walk. Wow, she's really friendly, and easy to talk with, I think to myself.