Chapter 3

The University Center was a sprawling building that acted as the center for meetings, recreation, entertainment, and dining. With fifteen minutes to spare before the orientation started, I grabbed a bite to eat in the cafeteria. The food wasn’t as bad as Chad had implied.

It didn’t take long to find the room where the orientation was being held. It was big enough to hold nearly a hundred people, and more than half of the seats were filled. I felt a little overdressed though, because it looked like everyone else was dressed for the heat outside. Shorts and skirts were the primary apparel, with t-shirts and light blouses to match. More importantly, I couldn’t tell if anyone else had the pool party in mind, and I doubted I looked like it.

I claimed a seat. A man stepped up to the mike and tapped on it to get everyone’s attention. He wore a standard gray suit and had severe male pattern balding. He introduced himself as the head of one of the student support departments and talked about what things were like when he was a new student, and how the school helped him adjust to life away from home as well as getting what he needed out of his education. He cracked a few jokes throughout, which held my attention, and that of much of the audience. When he finished talking about himself, he turned the meeting over to a woman who looked old enough to be my grandmother.

During their changeover, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “Mind if I sit here?”

I looked up to find the most amazing steel-blue eyes looking back at me. I froze for a second, unable to respond by word or action. Remembering how I had felt the night before, helpless and unable to act, I shook myself mentally and scooted over a seat.

She smiled and sat down. “Thank you,” she said. Her long brown hair fell in loose curls halfway down her back, and her cloths fit loosely and were made of light materials for the heat. “I didn’t want to have to stand in the back for the entire orientation,” she added. Her lips were soft pink and wet. I had never met a girl back home that I wanted to kiss, but the urge to kiss this woman, even though I didn’t even know her name, ran through me like a wild fire through a dry grassy field.

Fighting off that urge, I nodded. I couldn’t croak out any words. My throat was dry and I had no idea why. With a smile, she turned to pay attention to the speaker. I did the same, and took a deep breath to calm down my racing heart. However, I smelled perfume and somehow, I knew it was hers. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing, taking in the delightful scent. It was a couple of minutes before I remembered where I was and opened my eyes. It took another minute to understand what the speaker was saying.

The spokeswoman got to a high point in her speech. Unlike her predecessor, she didn’t use humor to keep our attention. Instead, she instructed us to turn and introduce ourselves to those around us.

Noise from the audience grew. The elderly gentleman I sat next to turned my way. “I’m Sam,” he said taking a hold of my hand. He had a strong grip for his age.

I smiled, gritting my teeth, and said, “I’m Seth.”

He smiled, nodded, and turned to someone else.

The man in front of me turned around and held his hand out. “Matt,” he said.

I shook hands with him. “Seth.”

Someone tapped me on my left shoulder. I turned that way to look back. Another man held out his hand. “I’m Lawrence.” In return, I shook his hand and said my name.

Eager to meet the woman sitting next to me, I turned back around. What I didn’t know, due to the chaos, was that she had her arm stretched across me, shaking hands with Sam. My hand, outstretched in offer to shake hers, bumped into her chest when I faced forward. Her clothes didn’t exactly accentuate her shape and I had been too focused on her face to notice her size. She wasn’t overweight, far from it in fact, but her blouse effectively concealed what she had up top. In the millisecond that passed while my hand had pressed into her, I gleaned an idea about her size.

I froze, horrified by what I had done. Before last night, I had never touched a girl, but then Francine had put my hand on her. This situation wasn’t like that. It was more like the first time I had really noticed a girl, and got in trouble in school for looking at her.

With the bump, all the woman sitting next to me said was, “Oh my!” I had expected “Lord” to be added to it, but she stopped there. What scared me more was the fact that she was smiling. Wide eyed and quickly folding my hands in my lap, I sat there, waiting for her to yell at me or do something equally harsh. Some morbid, self-loathing part of my mind even expected her to slap me. However, I became confused when she held up her hand, as if to shake mine, and said, “Hi.”

I studied her face, looking for signs of a trap. Too many times, I had seen others smile at me but talk to me with a malicious tone. However, her steel-blue eyes didn’t squint with calculation. They were open, suggesting something very different. “I’m Jordan. What’s your name?”

I looked at her hand and then back up to her face. “Seth,” I said under my breath, confused.

Noticing my hesitation, she settled her outstretched hand on my knee and leaned closer. Her eyes darted around as if she wanted to say something but was checking on what everyone else was doing. I dropped my eyes so I could focus on the voices around us, but I discovered that her blouse gaped open enough to show off the top of her chest. I swallowed, and, unable to close my eyes, saw more of her chest than I would have ever expected. I knew she was big, but she looked incredibly huge! Her skin was lightly tanned, her line of cleavage went on forever, and her bra was only visible at the barest edges, as if it barely contained her.

Just as quickly as I took in all of those details, I realized my additional transgression. I instantly knew that I didn’t want to look up into her eyes and see what I knew would be there, but I also knew I had to face the music, to accept whatever she was going to do. I was in trouble, more so because I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Therefore, I swallowed down as much of my fear as I could and looked up.

She watched me with a smile on her face. She studied mine for a moment, and her smile lost some of its shine. I must have looked green because she asked, “Are you feeling okay?”

I stared at her, not knowing what say exactly. No, I didn’t feel okay, but I didn’t feel sick either. I knew I must have been in trouble but she was acting as if I didn’t do anything wrong. My heart was racing and my mind was filled with too many contradictions. Finally, I told her the truth. “I don’t know.”

The shine in her smile returned. She patted my knee and said, “Then let’s try again.” Raising her hand to shake again, she said, “My name’s Jordan.” She didn’t lean back and her voice was low. I realized the spokeswoman was talking again and Jordan didn’t want to disturb anyone else around us.

I looked at Jordan’s hand and noticed how her arm pressed to the side of her chest. Once again, I didn’t want take my eyes off her, and even though I wasn’t looking down her shirt, I still felt bad about it. She probably didn’t realize how she affected me. It wasn’t her fault. She was very pretty, and I was a boy who didn’t know how to control himself. However, her overall demeanor made me believe that she wasn’t mad.

I shifted my shoulders to square off with hers, because her hand was so close to my chest, I couldn’t shake it otherwise. There had been very few times I had ever touched anyone, which included shaking hands. No one in my hometown would touch me if given the choice and I felt the same about most of them. When I shook Jordan’s hand, my heart raced and I felt a jolt of electricity pass through me. Looking up again, I said, “I-I’m Seth.”

I don’t know why, but her smile brightened, making me think she was actually happy to meet me. “Hi Seth,” she said, her voice quiet and breathy. She held my hand longer than was needed for shaking and asked, “Are you feeling better?” She really didn’t seem angry. She seemed genuinely concerned about what was bothering me.

That morbid, self-loathing part of my mind had expected her to use the quiet and the distraction of the spokeswoman to make her accusation and possible threat, and another part of my mind thought she might not want to make a scene among so many strangers and would wait until the orientation was over to express her anger. I simply didn’t know and didn’t say anything. The spokeswoman wasn’t slowing any in her speech, and Jordan glanced her way. “I guess the introductions are over with,” she said and let go of my hand.

I watched Jordan turn and wiggle her shoulders to get comfortable in her seat. Her actions made more than only her shoulders move and I couldn’t stop my eyes from dropping to her chest where she jiggled under her loose blouse. When I looked up again, knowing that I was still messing up, I was met by a dazzling smile. Still confused, I turned straight in my seat and did my best to get as comfortable as I could.

Whatever else the woman on the stage talked about, I didn’t notice. I couldn’t hear past the sound of my own heart hammering in my chest. Moreover, anytime I started to pay close attention, I’d take a deep breath and catch Jordan’s perfume again. I was relieved when the spokeswoman wrapped up her speech and introduced the various fraternities and sororities.

They were more energetic than the woman had been, but I sunk down in my seat when I spotted Francine standing in line among them, representing one of the sororities. She was dressed appropriately today, like the rest of her brothers and sisters, in a t-shirt with her Greek letters emblazoned across her chest and a pair of shorts. I didn’t know what the letters were, but they were stretched by her abundance. I didn’t feel as bad presently staring at her chest as I had the night before, but I knew it was still wrong. Fortunately, they didn’t take as long as the other speakers, telling us about their organizations and how much they were looking forward to seeing all the new students during Rush.

Once they finished, everyone at the front of the room led the crowd through the school pledge and that ended the orientation. Then the fraternity and sorority representatives moved out into the audience, shaking hands and welcoming new students. I was mortified that Francine might recognize me, and part of me still expected an accusation from Jordan. I considered trying to get away before anything horrible and potentially embarrassing happened. There were so many people standing around that I didn’t find a route fast enough. Jordan turned to me, touched my arm, and said, “I’d like to apologize for what happened earlier.”

For a second, I held my breath. This was it. My punishment was at hand. However, when her words reached the rational part of my brain, I looked at her, certain I hadn’t heard her correctly. “Apologize?” I asked. “To me? For what?” Confusion was having fun with me.

She smiled gently. “Well, I was invading your personal space when you bumped into me.” I sat there staring at her. There was no way she was going to let me get away with everything I had done. Her face lit up with an idea. “How about I make it up to you? A friend of mine is hosting a pool party at her place. We can go together if you’d like.”

It took a few seconds to register what she said, and to relate her offer with what I had been planning to begin with. I blinked and showed her the address written on my hand. “Is this the place?” I asked.

She looked and nodded. “The very one.” Looking at me again she said, “I take it you were planning on going?” I nodded and she looked me over. “I don’t think she’ll let you swim in your jeans.”