“Can’t sleep either?” Karen asked, her head dipping upside down from her bunk to glance down at Pam.
Pam turned over to face her, “Not really,” she sighed,
“Hey it’s okay, it’s normal to feel a little homesick at first,” Karen smiled warmly,
“Yeah.” She sighed. The truth was, she wasn’t homesick. She’d been preparing for this for months, knowing that she’d be getting out of her childhood bedroom, not living in the limelight of Penny’s success both on and off the soccer field, and she’d get to start anew. Roy was behind, back in Pennsylvania, and although she felt slightly bad telling him that she needed to break things off before moving to Vermont, he understood. And besides, he was never getting out of that one horse town any time soon. She wanted something more, and that something more was someone and a future that didn’t include going on dates with her boyfriend and his brother or having to push his hands away from her thighs telling him she was just not ready yet. But in those mere seconds her mind moved away from the football star in Pennsylvania who she was sure found a new girlfriend already, to the boy across the hall. She wondered if he was in bed thinking of her too, or if his mind was on someone else. Someone prettier, smarter, someone who’d have the courage to say their name and not just “hi”.
Karen was still staring at her when she broke her gaze from their bedroom door, “How are you so good at this anyway?” Pam asked, sitting up and pulling her legs toward her chin.
“Umm, well, four years of boarding school kind of got me ready to be on my own,” she rolled her eyes and came down the side ladder finding herself a spot on Pam’s bed. It had only been half a day, but Pam felt comfortable around Karen. Albeit, a bit jealous of her ease with words, her beautiful clothes and stunning figure, but, she was comfortable. And Pam Beesly could be okay with being comfortable.
“Damn,” Pam shook her head in disbelief, “What was that like? Boarding school I mean,”
“Lonely, honestly. But it was a good experience, I got a great education, I got used to having roommates, and I learned how to pack lightly,” she laughed, “What about you? Tell me about PA, you got a boyfriend there waiting for you?” She raised her eyebrows playfully.
They both heard some loud hollering from the hall, and Pam just shook her head, she was going to have to get used to the new noises quicker than she thought.
“Well,” she stammered,
“Oooh tell me all about him,” Karen’s eyes widened, and she pulled her sweatshirt closer around her frame.
“It’s not really,” Pam averted her eyes, “we kind of just ended things recently,” She bit the side of her fingernail anxiously, wanting desperately to change the subject.
“Oh,” Karen looked away, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” she released her knees down from her chest and placed her feet on the floor, ready to stand up.
“No, it’s okay,” Pam nodded, “It was for the best,” she wasn’t sure if she was still trying to convince herself, but then those eyes popped in the front of her mind again and she became transfixed.
“I’m single too, so, it’s cool,”
CoolPam thought. Nothing about the situation felt cool.
“I think I’m ready to sleep,” she glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand, it was almost midnight.
Karen popped up, almost too suddenly, and steadied herself on the ladder.
“Well, goodnight, Pam,” her warm smile glowed against the contrast of her cheeks.
“Night,” It was barely audible as she turned over in bed, facing the dozens of photographs she’d taped to her wall just hours earlier, this time, focusing in on one of her and her mother, and slowly letting her eyes drift off to sleep.
It had been three days since they’d bumped into each other in the hallway, and today was the first day of classes. Karen was off to an early morning macroeconomics class, and that left the room all to Pam for a few hours. Her first art class didn’t begin until after noon time, and it gave her some time to continue setting up her work space, and lay out her painting supplies, just the way she liked it.
She meticulously set every brush in a line from smallest to largest, arranged by types of hair, and brush length. She smiled to herself, she was so ready for her classes, and finally turning her dream of actually becoming an artist into reality. She jumped when she heard a soft knock on the door, and puzzled, she hesitated before opening the door. She knew this building had a reputation for housing some of the “party” kids, and she wasn’t about to become someone’s first prank on campus.
The knock came again, this time a little louder. She moved toward the door, and opened it carefully, and when she saw the familiar eyes, and the shaggy brown bangs, she opened the door fully and smiled at the boy standing in front of her. He leaned against her doorway, one foot crossed over the other, a hand slipped into his jeans, she made a mental note of his clearly loved, Fleetwood Mac t-shirt.
“Hey Beesly,” his voice was husky, low, and it took her a moment to realize she needed to formulate words back to him,
“Jim!” she tried the surprise and anxiety in her voice, stringing a lone curl behind her ear, “What are you doing here?”
His face fell slightly, and she immediately relapsed, “No, no, I mean, what’s up?” Nice recovery Pam she bit her lip.
He laughed, “Well, I actually came over here because my roommate, his name’s Toby,” he pointed a thumb behind him at his room, “he uhh,” he placed his hand on the back of his neck and snorted,
Pam continued to eye him with suspicion, not knowing what to make of this lanky boy with that beautiful smile, and the even prettier eyes, and that voice, he was making every inch of her body suddenly feel so warm.
“Okay, here’s the deal, I kind of wanted to know if maybe you wanted to get coffee sometime, you know, at Hendersons’”
Pam’s eyes widened, this was probably the first and only time she’d ever been asked out, if this even was being asked out, she surely wouldn’t jump to conclusions too quickly, but he’d come all the way over here at 11:45 in the morning, and she didn’t even look cute in her pajamas.
She nodded, words not being able to escape her lips,
“Cool!” he smiled, “Maybe tonight? Whenever you're done with classes?”
“I’m done at six, I have a figure drawing class that lasts pretty much all afternoon, but um” she stumbled, “I have no idea where Hendersons’ is,” she felt her cheeks turn into two perfect roses.
“Hey,” he spotted her embarrassment immediately, “it’s been three days, I only know because both my brothers went to school here,” he rolled his eyes, “so, let’s just say I’ve been dragged to campus a few times, usually against my own will,”
She laughed, a hand creeping toward her lips.
“Oh I’m not joking Beesly, my brother Tom dragged from my bed at eleven at night into his beat up Saab and took me to a party here two years ago, I’ll be scarred for life”
She snickered again, and his stoic face immediately broke, she noticed the dimples on his cheeks.
“Anyway, it’s across the street, in the Davis Center, the giant student center, you can’t miss it, third floor. I’ll meet you there at 6:15,” he tapped his watch face,
“Yeah, that sounds great,”
“Alright then,” he tapped two fingers twice on her door frame, “then it’s a date,”
She smirked, looking down at her shoes and once more up at him, he was already headed back to his room,
“Hey I meant to ask you,” she called out, “what’s your major?”
“Pre-med,” he started, “but I’ve had one class this morning and I already hate it, so who knows?” he lifted his arms up in a shrug and gave her one last grin before shutting the door, pausing a moment to look at her just for a second while she walked back inside, taking in all of her curls, her angles, and the new bounce he saw in her step.
