Attraction

“Yo dude! Come join the séance, man.” Tweaker waved me over to the circle of couches in OCCC’s main corridor. The late August sun blazed through the massive windows to sear my eyelids as Bobby moved his backpack to make room.

“Welcome to the loser’s circle, the divine nothingness, the black hole of higher education,” said Bobby. I tossed my stuff on the floor.

“Ya’ll talking about us, or O-Trip in general?”

“Hey man, if the brochures are to be believed, we’re one and the same.” Tweaker successfully achieved an even deeper slouch into the recesses of his chair.

“Since when do you pay attention to paperwork? You barely got your application and enrollment done yesterday.” I fished a Reese’s from the depths of my bag. Bobby readjusted his meditation position.

“It is not the moment of an action which gives it meaning, but the will with which it is accomplished. In the end, all we have is the ability to act, and the will to act deliberately.”

“Bleh. Bobby found Buddha this summer. Too bad the fat guy’s just another creation of the wealthy to keep the poor underfoot while they march toward a one-world government.” Tweaker produced a cigarette inhaler from his denim vest, inhaling harder than the recommended usage. He noticed my attention. “This piece of shit is the only thing I can have in my mouth around here. Doesn’t fucking matter that I’ve never smoked a cig in my life.”

“Yeah, but life would be too easy if they made an inhaler shaped like a joint.” I started on my second Reese’s cup. I found myself tempted to ask what Tweaker did with all his free time over the last three months of transition from high school to college, but it seemed redundant given the inhaler protruding from his lips. Bobby bounced out of his reverie and chair.

“So what’s your first class?” he asked from the floor.

“Psych. I’ve heard the prof’s a total bore. Some old guy more obsessed with proving Freud wrong than actually getting his students to learn anything.”

“Total drag, man.” Tweaker hopped out of his chair. “Anybody else bored as all hell?”

“Yeah. Still have an hour before class. Wanna head to the courtyard for a smoke?” I grabbed a pack of menthols from my bag. Bobby hopped up and scooped up his in a single motion.

“I desire to inhale the ecstasy of the universe, but dammit I’ve been craving one of those all day!”

A slight breeze welcomed us onto the dry turf of the courtyard, tiny green weeds pushing up to look grassier than the grass. Bobby and I lit up as Tweaker continued to breathe straight through his inhaler.

“Ya’ll have another one to spare?” A voice behind me made me turn to see a dream come true. A tidal wave of auburn hair cascaded over bare shoulders and a purple tank top which barely contained her anatomy, to say nothing of concealing anything, down to tight jeans and matching purple flip-flops.

“Er…um…yeah, sure.” It took me way too many tries to get another cig from the pack, my hands shaking as she leaned in to take it from my fingers with her teeth after I forgot to move to hand it to her.

“So, you new here?” Her voice flowed like satin on satin. My nose caught her fiery sweet scent on the breeze, blocking out the smoky smell of our cigarettes.

“Uh, yeah. First day.” Yeah, that was eloquent. Keep that up and you’ll be in her pants, comparing tampon brands. She laughed.

“Oh good, mine too. My first class starts in about forty-five minutes.”

“Really? Mine too.” Great, we have as much common ground as two people in the drive-thru at Wendy’s. Bobby, who had materialized on the other side of the courtyard, called over.

“Hey Jeremy, we’re gonna bail. Have to get Tweaker’s books before he forgets again.”

“Okay, see ya’ll later.” I waved to them. Tweaker waved back with a Cheshire grin.

“Good luck, bro! Good hunting!” I knocked the ashes off my cig and took another pull. God, why couldn’t he have just left? I’m about to crap myself as it is. The sound of exhaled cigarette smoke brought me back to the moment.

“So, Jeremy, why are you here? Seems like everybody has a reason for coming to O-Trip.” Her satin-on-satin voice nearly overwhelmed me again.

“I sucked in high school. I want to go to OU and major in psychology, but I can’t until my GPA’s higher.” I kept the cig in my lips, undecided if I should keep my hands in my pockets or rub them together, all in an attempt to stop the shaking.
“Really? I want to switch to OU too. They have great opportunities over there, but for now I’m stuck here.” She took a final pull at her cig, then extinguished it in the dirt. “I’m Rebecca, by the way. What attracts you to psych?” I followed suit.

“I like understanding what makes people tick. Plus I’m interested in the mechanics of attraction.” I couldn’t help but keep eye contact as I spoke. Ah hell, did I just get direct and blunt? All the experts I’ve read said direct equals directly rejected! My anxiety kept me so busy I didn’t hear her response until the second time. “What?”

“I said, I’d like to explore those mechanics with you sometime.” The satin-on-satin danced around in my brain. Rebecca moved so close I could feel her breath on my cheek. The menthol-flavored cig smell made my nose tingle, melding with her natural scent to slam into the pleasure center of my brain like a wrecking ball. “How about dinner tonight?”

Really? Are you serious? I wanted to shout. Reason took over. Play it cool, play it cool. “Sounds great! Uh, let me give you my number.” Two simultaneous phone deployments later, I felt more excited than I had in years, almost too excited to notice Rebecca moving in close again. Her scent overwhelmed me, but this time she didn’t stop moving until our lips had met and parted. She glanced at her watch.

“Oops, my class starts in ten minutes.” She moved toward the doors back inside. “See you tonight, Jeremy!” I waved back like a helpless fool. First day of college and I already have a date! Her words about class took a second to filter through, and I barely made it to Psychology with three minutes to spare.

Chatting with a few acquaintances, I saw the professor enter in my peripheral vision. Given what I’d heard, I didn’t pay him much attention as everyone got their spirals or laptops out to start taking notes. Not until the words “Welcome to Introduction to Psychology” flowed across the room like satin on satin did I notice the tsunami of red hair, the purple tank top, and the tight jeans staring at me from the other side of the podium.