Pam awoke to the sound of car horns and police sirens, certainly a noticeable change to how she used to wake up in her old bedroom. The one with the pink walls and the unicorn wallpaper where the sun would beam straight down onto her bed and the birds would chirp in the Willow tree just outside her window, as if they were about to burst into song like they did in those Disney movies. The sun was still shining, but the light was dimmed by the towering brick buildings across the street.
Gone were the smell of freshly-cut flowers her mom would always sit on the nightstand beside her bed, and the lingering aroma of bacon and pancakes and orange juice rising from the kitchen downstairs, and the sound of her father humming as he gathered his things for work.
She didn’t miss it.
She turned over at the sound of her alarm and switched it off. It was 8:45 on a Monday. The first day of school.
It had been three days since Pam had moved in. She had managed to de-clutter the place, having unpacked all of her boxes and picked up a couple of storage bins at a nearby store. There wasn’t a Target for miles, so she had to make do with the drug store down the block, a Wal-greens, which for some reason were located on practically every corner of the city. Their stuff wasn’t as cute or as cheap as Target’s, but they had everything from laundry baskets and TV dinners to lip gloss and deodorant, and their prices were somewhat reasonable.
Ok. So, Target was one thing she would miss.
Pam lied in bed for awhile, staring at the ceiling. She didn’t want to get up. She was nervous about her 10:30 class, a course in ceramics, and her arms and legs were still sore from all of the moving and heavy lifting over the weekend. She listened to a couple of voice messages on her cell. There was one from her mom, left only a couple of minutes after their hour-long conversation the night before, reminding her to be safe and buy pepper spray, and a second message from Kelly.
“Hey, hoe. It’s Kelly. I met this guy today and he is totally cute. He’s throwing this office party this weekend and you have to come with. I sent you and Angela a Facebook invitation so be sure to RSVP. Talk to you later, biatch.”
Pam hung up the phone and struggled out of bed and into her bathroom, the checkered black and white tile cold beneath her feet. She brushed her teeth, showered and dressed, and threw a couple of things into her book bag. Student planner with campus map, check. Pen and paper, check, check. Colored pencils, check. Pepper spray, she rolled her eyes as she tossed it in her purse. Check.
Pam rode the elevator downstairs and walked a couple of blocks down to the Starbucks that stood across the street from the building that was home to her first class. She had walked the route several times, making sure she wouldn't find herself lost on the first day. She stepped inside the shop, the little bell on the door signaling her entrance.
“Hey Tyler,” Pam smiled at the older gentlemen behind the counter. The store was quiet, as most of the morning rush had filtered out and gone on about their day. What little sunlight that had somehow managed to get in bounced off the counters, shining into her eyes.
”Hey, Pam. Ready for your first day of school?” Tyler gave Pam a mischievous grin. It had only been three days, but Pam had already turned the coffee shop into her second home. She was there at least twice a day to steal their air-conditioning and take comfort in their oversized leather chairs.
“I guess so,” Pam shrugged. “Can I get a-“
”Venti soy Chai with cinnamon?” Tyler guessed.
”You got it,” Pam smiled as she lay a five dollar bill on the counter and made her way down to the other end of the bar, moving out of the way of the gentleman behind her. As Sally, the barista, got to work on her drink, the sound of milk frothing filling the restaurant, she felt her phone buzz twice from inside her purse. She pulled out her cell and saw she had received a text message. It was from Roy.
“Heard today’s the first day. Best of luck! Call me.”
Pam sighed as she stared down at her phone, debating weather or not she should reply. She heard a cup plop down on the counter in front of her and she blindly reached out for it, accidentally brushing hands with the man who had been standing behind her in line.
“Sorry,” Pam said, looking up into the man’s eyes before quickly glancing down. She shyly glanced back up, needing to do a double take when she realized how handsome he was. He smiled down at her.
“Sorry, but I think that’s my drink,” he pointed at the small cup Pam had in her hand.
”Oh, sorry,” Pam apologized, handing it over to him, her voice shaking nervously. She stared into his eyes, unable to look away. He was lanky and tall, hovering a good seven or eight inches above her. He had shaggy brown hair that stuck out in all directions from underneath a black Chicago White Sox hat. His green eyes were smiling and warm.
”Sorry,” Pam apologized a third time. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
”It’s ok,” he smiled, taking his coffee from her. “So do you go to Columbia?”
”Yeah. Today’s my first day,” Pam replied as Sally placed her coffee on the counter.
“Here’s your Chai, Pam,” Sally said cheerily.
”Thanks, Sally,” Pam retrieved her drink from the bar.
“Well, I’m Jim. I’m a Senior,” he held out his free hand and Pam shook it, her palms sweating. God, she hoped he didn’t notice.
“Pam,” she smiled, nervously pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Nice to meet you, Pam,” Jim smiled. Pam noticed he smiled a lot. “Nice shoes."
Pam looked down at her plain white Keds, but laughed when she noticed he happened to be wearing a similar pair in black.
"I actually have to go, I have a class at 9:45, but I’ll see you around," Jim said.
”Yeah,” Pam replied, giving him a small wave goodbye. “See ya.”
She watched Jim sprint out the door, his long legs practically carrying him across the street.
“He was cute,” Sally announced from behind the bar. “Looked like he came straight out of a J. Crew catalog.”
Pam couldn’t help but laugh.
”I’ll see you guys later,” Pam waved as she made her way out the door and into the same building Jim had just entered. She couldn’t help but wish she would run into him again.
Pam had two three-hour classes on Mondays, and they went by much quicker than expected. Both teachers released class a few minutes early, only going over the syllabus and informing them of what textbook they would need for the fall semester. Pam made a quick stop at the student bookstore after her Intro to New Media class for her books, picked up a salad for dinner at Panera and headed home.
Later that evening, Pam was sitting in bed with her laptop, a small glow shining down on her from the small desk lamp on the night stand as she replied to a couple of emails. The faint sound of music and cars streaking by from the street below played softly through the window behind her. She sent one last email off to her sister and decided to log on to Facebook before calling it a night. She had one new alert from Kelly, the event invitation she had mentioned earlier, and a couple of wall posts from some friends back home.
Pam ignored those and scrolled down the page to the “Find Your Friends” feature and clicked on “Find Friends from Columbia College.” She blushed slightly as she simply typed in, “Jim”. The search result immediately flashed on her screen, “1-10 of 500 results”. Columbia had somehow managed to enroll over 500 Jims at her school.
”Fuuuuuuuuck,” Pam groaned in frustration. Even narrowing it down to the class of 2009 didn’t help. She clicked through the first couple of pages before giving up. Her phone buzzed on the night stand and she flipped it open.
”Hello?”
”Hey slut, did you get my message?”
”Yes, Kelly, I’m RSVP-ing as we speak.”
”Awesome. How did your first day go?”
”It was alright. I really like my Ceramics teacher. He’s weird and eccentric, but really nice. He’s traveled a lot, so he has a lot of cool stories-“
“Blah, blah, blah, you know I don’t care about any of that. Did you meet any cute guys?” Kelly asked.
”Um… well there is this one guy-“
”Spill it, what’s his name?” Kelly practically squealed into the phone.
”Uh, Jim.”
”John?”
”No, Jim,” Pam repeated into the phone.
”Nice. So, does this Jim/John have a last name?”
”It’s Jim, and I didn’t really get a chance to talk to him. I met him at Starbucks when I accidentally-“
”Hey, Pam, I have to let you go, my stupid little sister is on the other line. I’ll call you back tomorrow, ok?”
”Alright. Bye-“ Pam’s phone beeped in her ear, signaling Kelly had already hung up. She sighed and tossed her phone back on the nightstand, ready to close her laptop when she saw she had one new friend request. She clicked on it and immediately gasped as a small thumbnail image of Jim smiled back at her.
You have a friend request:
Jim Halpert.
You have no friends in common.
Pam quickly clicked on “confirm”, not able to keep from smiling as she loaded his page and scanned his profile. His “about me” page made her laugh out loud.
“I make about two million a year. I body doubled in the movie 300, but they put someone else’s face on me. I can make the light turn green on command. When I cook, I get awards. I have a black corvette. And a blue one. And a black and blue one. I’ve broken three mirrors just by looking in them. My dog hates me. A lot. And I hate her too. I have a GSX-R. And a tricycle. With red tassels on the handlebars, and a horn that plays “Bad” by Michael Jackson. I once sang backup for Madonna. Calvin Klein bottles my breath for cologne, and my sweat for a new line of body wash. Oh, and if you take yourself too seriously, you will probably not like me very much.”
Under music, he lists a bunch of bands Pam’s never heard of, but all of a sudden wants to get to know: The Pixies, Joy Division, Arcade Fire, Rush, Echo and the Bunnymen, Concrete Blonde… the list goes on. She smiled to herself as she made a quick note of his birthday. September 7, Virgo. She quickly thinks back to high school when astrology and numbers all meant something and she remembers Pisces and Virgos are supposed to be very compatable, but she quickly shoves that thought to the back of her brain and opens up a new message as Craig Ferguson’s Scottish accents fills the room from the small tv on the floor. It was getting late.
”Hey, stalker,” Pam typed. “Glad to see you found me. Cheers to friendship!”
She sent the message and finally closed her laptop, turning Craig off and going to bed.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Pam makes a friend. :)
Chapter End Notes:
I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I know it's off to a slow start, but please bear with me. I promise to be much better at updating than I was with my last stories.
