Chapter 5

The year started just like the last year. Football practice started the first day and I was totally out of shape. I was running around the field like somebody three hundred pounds overweight. I started to jog each morning before classes and I hit the weight room each afternoon.

One morning I was starting my run and when I passed the women's dorm I saw two students arguing in front of the building. One of the students had a bundle in her arms. As I got closer I saw that it was a sleeping bag. I passed them and continued my run. As I returned I saw the student sitting on the sleeping bag looking like she was about to cry.

I stopped in front of her to ask what the problem was but I had to wait until I could get my breath. She saw that I wanted to talk to her and she looked at me for a minute and then took off her baseball cap. I think that I gasped because the baseball cap and the way that she was sitting hid her features so much that if you had to identify her later it would have been impossible.

This girl was the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen. She had perfect skin, blond hair and green eyes that gave you the impression that her eyes were a thousand feet deep. Her eyes sparkled so much that your gaze immediately went to her eyes.

Still trying to breath normally I asked if there was any trouble back at the dorm.

"Just some stuck up bitch trying to make out that she matters in this world."

I laughed, "That's pretty harsh, don't you think? What brought that on?"

She looked at me to see if I was making fun of her before she answered, "Her roomy let me sleep in their room and this one took exception to it."

I didn't understand the situation and I blundered into it, "Where are you staying... on campus or off?"

She watched me again while trying to find out my motives for questioning her, "I'm not staying anywhere. Some of us aren't rich like you guys. I can't afford to stay in a dorm and most of the off campus joints cost an arm and a leg. I didn't think that it would be so hard to bunk with someone for a while."

I thought about what I might be getting in for before I spoke again. Sure enough I opened my yap, "I'm managing an apartment building. Why don't you see if you can share a room with one of the women that are renting there. All of the apartments are two bedrooms."

She watched me for a minute, "Give me the address."

I motioned for her to give me something to write on and she handed me a scrap of paper. I wrote the address and handed it back to her. She looked at it and with a nod got up and started toward the dorms.

I shrugged and continued my run. I grabbed a quick shower and made it to my first class a couple of minutes late. I thought I caught a glimpse of the girl that I had talked to a couple of times that day from across the campus. I couldn't be really sure though because she was too far away. I wanted to see if she had found a place to stay.

Football practice didn't go too well. I made every mistake possible and some of them twice. By the time that it was time to call it a day I was totally wrung out. I walked the four blocks to my apartment; I never took the car to school. When I started up the driveway I saw the girl sitting in front of my apartment.

"Have any luck finding someone to share their apartment?"

She shook her head, "There's only two apartments rented by girls. It's a real clean place though."

I made my way around her and put my key in the door, "Sorry to leave such sparkling company but I've got a ton of studying to do."

"Could you help me out tonight? I need a place to unroll my sleeping bag. Could you help me out?"

Without thinking I open the door and motioned for her to come inside. I pulled the orange juice out of the refrigerator and poured a glass. When I asked her if she wanted one she nodded.

I sat both glasses on the table and she came over and sat down. I drank most of my OJ before she even started hers.

"How come you don't have a place to stay?"

She got up, "Thanks for the juice. I'll find a place."

"Sit down," I said, "You can't expect someone to throw the front door open to you without knowing anything about you. What about your family? Can't they help you?"

"I don't have any family except an uncle and I hope somebody drives a stake in his heart or shoots him with a silver bullet. Oh, I do have a sister. She ran away from home five years ago. I have no idea where she is."

I thought for a minute before I spoke again, "What about your parents?"

"My father's dead. We had a small farm and he flipped the tractor on top of him. We were never allowed to talk about my mother so I'm not really sure what happened there. By a couple of things that were said over the years, I think that she had an affair and ran off with the guy. It happened when we were young so I never knew her."