Totem (3 page)

              “Well, I have to go to work,” states Daniel as he stands up. “It was nice meeting y’all and I hope to see both of you tonight.”

              He smiles and winks at Michelle. Definitely a game of cat and mouse I decide. Michelle watches as he walks out of the Cove. When he is out of hearing range, she jerks her head back around and looks at me.

              “Can we go?” Asks Michelle as she bounces in her seat.

              I look at Michelle. Her brown eyes stare at me, pleading. One thing I have learned this past week is that Michelle usually gets her way. I am no exception to the Michelle charm. I cannot say no, especially when I am just as excited to go to a college party as she was. At least this way, we can go together and keep an eye on each other.

              “Ok,” I sigh as I get up from my seat. The metal has pressed into the back of my thighs leaving red marks that mimic the design on the chair. “I’m heading back to the dorm to shower. Are you going back, too?”

              “Sure,” chimes Michelle with excitement edges out of her from every angle. “You know what this means though?” She doesn’t wait for my answer. “We have to go shopping for new outfits!”

             
A short walk and
we are back at our dorm room. I place my iPod on my desk on my way to the bathroom. I am averaging two showers a day thanks to this sticky heat. I turn on the shower letting the water temperature adjust. I begin peeling off my sweaty clothes leaving them precariously on the floor where they fall as I walk around getting things together. I drape my towel over the sink for when I hop out of the shower. With shower caddy in hand, I step in. The water washes over me and my body relaxes instantaneously. I raise my head up to greet the warm liquid as it hits me. It washes off the salt and dirt from my skin.

              The shower is quickly becoming my new place of solitude. Michelle is the first roommate I have ever had, minus at summer camp. She is a great roommate, but I miss the alone time I had in my own room at my parents’ house.  The three tiled walls and one plastic shower curtain briefly become my own private place of solitude where I can get lost in my thoughts.  The rushing water muffles out the exterior noises as the liquid envelopes my body in an ever fluid blanket. Here, for a few brief minutes a day, I am left alone to think.

              “Yo, ho!” I hear the distinct voice of our neighbor Andrew as it rings out in the small bathroom.

              My fortress of solitude has an intruder. I pop my head out of the shower not at all worried about covering anything up. After all, I am not Andrew’s type. Neither is Michelle.

              “Hey,” I respond with a smile.

              He smiles back.

              “Michelle told me y’all are going shopping.”

              “Yea, wanna come?” I ask knowing Michelle probably already invited him.

              “Heck, yea!” he exclaims.

              Andrew always makes me smile. Hailing from Lafayette, he has a Cajun accent. He speaks with a slight twang which would probably go unnoticed by people in his hometown, but I hear it as clear as a bell. 

              “I will be right out of the shower,” I state. “Wanna join and wash my back?”

              “Pfft,” replies Andrew. “Maybe next time, honey.”

              Andrew emphasizes the word ‘honey’ as he quickly closes the door. I knew the answer would be no before I asked him. Any straight guy would probably jump at the chance to hop in the shower with a coed but Andrew is different. To put it frankly, I am the wrong gender to float Andrew’s boat. Which is a huge let down for Michelle. Andrew is handsome and takes great care to work out and dress nicely. His efforts are not for the ladies though which makes me feel comfortable around him. He is genuinely into being our friend with no ulterior motives. With him, we don’t have to contemplate what he is thinking. It did not matter because, most likely, his indecent thoughts are not about me or Michelle.

              Quickly, I lather up and rinse off. I step out of the shower stopping to look at myself in the mirror. I scrutinize my body. Focusing on my best features first, I stare at my face. I love my long, blond hair and blue eyes. My eyes slip down to my belly and hips. Those always seem to be my trouble areas. I could see the definition on the outer parts of my abs. The center however is covered by a thin pudgy layer that betrays the beautiful abs I believe to be hiding underneath. I sigh as I avert my eyes and get back to the matter of drying off. I begin with my body working my way up to my hair. When I am satisfied, I wrap the towel around my body and walk into my dorm room.

              Michelle and Andrew are sitting together on her bed talking. I smile. Andrew has become one of our dorm buddies. He lives right across the hall from us. Although he may technically live there, he spends a lot of time hanging out with us in our room. In any other situation, he would be overstepping boundaries diving way too far and too deeply into our personal lives but not in college.

              You meet new friends quickly. College creates a situation where you are out of your element. The comforting surroundings of home and high school quickly dissolve and you are left to adapt to a new world with new faces. You are forced to make friends and make them fast. Michelle greets new people with open arms. Her warm friendly smile reaches out and no one is a stranger. I, on the other hand, smile warmly at them while I analyze them quietly deciding when to completely trust them. It takes me a little while to warm up to new people.

              Of course, Michelle is so amiable that it forces me to want to be the same way. We mostly meet boys, but that seems to be what happens when two blondes walk around the dorms together. It’s as if we have bull’s eyes on our backs. Being recognizable allows us to meet new people like Andrew.

              He calls us his ‘little boo’s’. It is a word I have only heard on movies and shows that portray the South. It makes me feel warm and welcome to know that he likes us enough to give us a nickname. I shoot one more glance over at him before I go to rummage through the drawers for jean shorts and a t-shirt. I get dressed in record time and am ready to go shopping.

              “Let’s go!” I shout at the two lumps on Michelle’s bed all too excited for our shopping trip.

              Like Michelle, I am in dire need of a new outfit for tonight.

             
Michelle and I walk up to
The Dock bar and grill. The building itself perches on stilts. Underneath, it’s exposed to all the elements of Lake Pontchartrain. It is just past 10:30 pm. Michelle and I have been ready since 9:30. The excitement of our first official college party mixed with our inexperience of party life has landed us outside of the bar thirty minutes prior to Daniel’s recommended time. We would have been here earlier if it wasn’t for Andrew who we feebly attempted to convince to come with us. We wanted him to come and act like a potential new pledge. Andrew just shook his head no as he shot us bemused looks. Not even the promise of a bunch of good-looking frat guys would sway him.

              “It would be like a diabetic in a candy shop,” replied Andrew. “I can look and drool but can’t touch; completely useless.”

              The thought of Andrew’s words made me smile as we drew closer to the steps and front door of the bar. I stare past the door at a room filled with unified Greek jerseys worn by college men. Nervous excitement begins building up and I remind myself to act cool.

              I hold the wooden handrail steadying my steps my six-inch stilettos. I don’t get to wear heels much, so when I do, I go all out. I like my heels like I like my men, the taller the better. To compliment my heels, I wore a pair of dress shorts exposing my long, muscular legs. My legs are one of my favorite features on my body. For a top, I settled on a cute, sheer navy blue dress top that exposed just the right amount of cleavage and bare shoulders. The whole look made me feel sexy and cool. I take a deep breath as we open the door and walk into the bar. Immediately, we are greeted by a guy in a Theta shirt. He is thin with lightly curled brown hair that pops out from under his baseball cap. He smiles endearingly revealing a beautiful white set of teeth. Childlike dimples punctuate his cheeks.

              “Hi, I’m Jake,” he introduces himself holding out a hand for Michelle and me to shake.

              “I’m Michelle, and this is Kimber.”

              Michelle quickly introduces herself turning on the charm for the new guy. Her smile grows from ear to ear as she flirtatiously tilts her head to one side. She is in a mood and any guy in a ten foot radius should be prepared. I smile inwardly laughing at the external scene around me.

              “So you ladies go to the university?”

              “Yes,” Michelle responds enthusiastically, “We just started this year.”

              “Are you two freshmen?”

              “I’m a sophomore. I did a year at a community college first and then I enrolled here. Kimber is a true freshman though.”

              “I’m a sophomore too. How do you like it so far?”

              “It’s great,” exclaims Michelle perhaps with too much enthusiasm. “I love my classes and we have been having a lot of fun exploring the city.”

              Michelle flicks her head to the side sending her hair cascading down to one shoulder revealing her cleavage. Like any straight guy, Jake’s eyes naturally divert down before making eye contact with her once more. I smile. It is a power move that all women should have in their arsenal and she made it look flawless.

              “So how do you like it?” Jake directs his attention to me. Michelle’s smile falters a little as the attention shifts from her to me. 

              A good counter move on Jake’s part, I think to myself as I analyze the situation. I pause for a second organizing the words I want to say before I speak.

              “I like it,” I reply, “I love New Orleans. It’s just such a unique city and I love the campus by Lake Pontchartrain. I did have to get used to no one staying on campus after 5 pm, but besides that, I really like it.”

              I am hoping to come across as genuine and down to earth. Jake lets out another big, award winning smile and his dimples reemerge. Very few people have dimples. I think they make Jake look cute.

              “It’s mostly a commuter school. Y’all living on campus are the minority. Once you get to know people and join more things, then you will find out there is plenty of things to do after 5 pm on campus and elsewhere.”

              “So do you live off campus?” Asks Michelle bringing the attention back to her

              “Yes,” replies Jake. “I live off campus with my family. It’s free room and board which is great right now.”

              After this past week of freedom, I cannot imagine living at home with my parents and attending college. My mom would probably bug me every time I was home. I would love to be around my sister though. Secretly, even though my mom would bug me, I would love to be around her, too. A dull ache in my chest begins to form as I think about my family and how much I miss them. Quickly I push it down. At home, I wouldn’t be able to go out like this and truly experience college without getting berated by my parents. I am thankful that I only have to account for myself right now. In a way, I guess that’s what life is about. Your parents raise you to the best of their ability. If you are fortunate, you will get loving parents that try to teach you right from wrong. Then, they release you out into the real world where they hope you will make good decisions. Ironically, I am thankful for their trust in me even at this moment on a Friday night at a bar.              

              “Would you ladies like something to drink? We bought two kegs. So the beer is free. Otherwise you’ll have to buy drinks at the bar. We did work out a deal though. Mixed well drinks are only $3 tonight. Just tip the bartender well.” Jake tilts his head in the direction of the bar.

              “Beer is fine with me,” I state with a smile.

              Free is really what is fine with me, too.

              Michelle nods her head in agreement.

              “I’ll be right back,” replies Jake as he walks over to the bar.

              I ponder Jake’s words. Since now, my experience with alcohol has been limited to whatever we could get our hands on. Having a selection is a new notion only made aware to me at this very moment. I begin to buzz with excitement. This is the real college experience I was hoping for. The fact that it was at a frat party is just icing on the cake. Jake quickly returns with two solo cups full of beer and hands them to us.

              “Keep these cups. It tells the bartender that you are with us and you can get free refills. That is until the kegs are tapped. Well, I need to go mingle with some other people,” Jake states. “You two enjoy yourselves and I’ll talk to you later on tonight.”

              Jake leans in giving me a side peck on the cheek taking me completely by surprise. My body tenses under the closeness. Jake notices it, but only smiles. He leans in and does the same to Michelle who was much more relaxed. Perhaps she anticipated it after seeing him give me one. With those two kisses and a warm smile, he leaves us standing on the outskirts of the party.