Chapter 2: Then (Ten years earlier)
At lunch time, the dining hall in the student center always filled up quickly. Luckily, one of the advantages to sorority life was that you never had to worry about finding a seat. Once a group staked a claim on a table they handed the seats off from sister to sister like a family heirloom. I took the spot most recently vacated and motioned over my little sister who had just shown up with a guy who was presumably the flavor of the week. Caroline was what I liked to call a serial dater. I was sure that those who didn't know Caroline as well as I did had another name for it. Going through men quickly and always certain that the next one would be The One, I knew Caroline was a pure romantic. I, on the other hand, was not as active in the dating scene. Sure, I had dated but not nearly as much as my friends did. I was never one for the passing hook up. I was at the stage in my life to be looking for much more than that which made sustaining a love life difficult since most of the guys who knew me well put me in the love-her-like-a-sister category.
"Hey Elena! This is Damon. Damon, have a seat. This is my big sis Elena. I'm going to go grab a sandwich and I'll be right back." With that, Caroline was gone and I was left with Damon—whoever he was. As much as I adored Caroline, I hated it when I was left babysitting someone I didn't know.
"So, does she often do that?" asked Damon.
"Do what?"
"Deposit a guy with you then run off on her designated errand?"
Elena had to laugh. His straight forward approach was refreshing if a bit disarming.
"I'll never tell. But I will let you know that she's kind of like a tornado. She touches down then just as quickly takes off to her next location. And, yes, she does occasionally wreak havoc leaving a path of destruction in her path," I laughed. "So, how do you know Caroline?"
"Ah! This is the real reason she left us here. This is the interview portion of the show. In that case, let me make this easy for you. We met at a party thrown by some of my lacrosse buddies. I am 23. I have a job in addition to being a fifth year senior and have an interest in sports, the outdoors, books, science, music of all types and movies—especially the classics. I think that covers the basics. How did I do?"
His smile was contagious and I found myself almost wishing that I hadn't decided to spend the last weekend working instead of going to the party with Caroline. Damon had a killer build, black hair mussed just enough to make you want to run your fingers through it and disarmingly blue eyes that gleamed with mischief. His smile gave the impression that he had just laughed at the funniest joke ever told. This boy was trouble in the most delightful sense of the word. I could just tell. Oh well, Caroline had seen him first. We had dated many of the same guys over the past few years but attempting to steal the attention of Caroline's latest conquest was completely out of the question. Besides, bad boys weren't really my type which is why I found his attractiveness particularly disarming.
"Classic movies, huh? You're a guy so this should be interesting. What do you consider a classic movie? Dumb and Dumber?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"Wow! Did you have a side of cynicism with your lunch?"
"No. It is just my experience that what I consider to be a classic film and what the typical college guy considers to be a classic film are two entirely different things."
"OK, I'll tell you one of mine if you tell me one of yours."
"Fine. You go first."
"Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my personal favorites. Of course, there are major differences between the film and the Truman Capote story."
I was surprised. Most guys hadn't even watched the movie much less knew that it was based on a Capote novel. Maybe there was more to this guy than I had expected. Feeling challenged, I knew I had to come back with something equally unexpected.
"Rooster Cogburn. I'm sorry if that surprises you but my dad raised me to be a John Wayne fan. Next?"
"It's a Wonderful Life." He flashed a cockeyed grin. I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or growl. He was good. He had invoked Jimmy Stewart.
"Stripes." Stripes? Where had that come from? Sure, I liked that movie but calling it a classic?
"You know what? I'm going to count to three and we're both going to say what we think is the funniest movie of all time. If we agree then we call a truce. If not, we'll go on like this for the foreseeable future until we either agree or someone has us carted away. Deal?"
I figured it was as good a suggestion as any. The chances of our naming the same movie were extremely slim but it seemed better than the alternative. If I kept trying to name movies that appealed not only to myself but also to the testosterone filled masses I was in danger of challenging him to a burping contest next as an act of desperation.
"Ready? One, two, three:"
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail!" Laughing hysterically, we didn't realize we had practically shouted it until Caroline sat down and asked why we had been arguing about Monty Python.
~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~
It was Breast Cancer Awareness Month so our sorority was passing out pink ribbons at the center of campus. It was one of those warm, sunny, Southern October days that made going to class seem superfluous. Everywhere you looked students were enjoying the beautiful day. I was thankful that I had opted to wear shorts after questioning the decision earlier. One of my favorite stories as a child had been one about a squirrel named Silly Sidney who tried to stop fall from coming. I had often thought that Sidney probably wouldn't have minded fall quite as much if he had lived in the south where it wasn't unusual to be in short sleeves well into October. I was giving ribbons to a group of freshmen. They really should come with warning labels. There is no way I was that annoying as a freshman.
"How's my new friend the John Wayne fan?" Damon had walked up as the gaggle of freshmen girls scurried away. I couldn't help but notice that they kept casting backwards glances at him.
"Great! Can I interest you in a pink ribbon or is it too girly?"
"Let's think about this. I am a red-blooded American male. Don't you think I have an extreme interest in the breast health of our fine country?" he smirked.
"And there it is!"
"There's what?"
"There's the typical male response to things that I was expecting at lunch."
"I only said it because I knew you would be expecting it. Yes, I'll take a ribbon. Is that mundane answer better?" he asked while pinning the ribbon to his black t-shirt. "So, I told you my basic stats today but I learned nothing about you. I think it is your turn."
Somewhat mollified by his response, I decided to play along. "I'm an English major. I would rather watch basketball than any other sport but love to play tennis. Like you, I also love music and movies."
"We should plan a time to get together for a movie marathon or something. That would be fun. So, what types of music do you like?"
"Pretty much anything except really bad blue grass and the stuff they play in elevators."
He chuckled. "Oh, no, you're not getting off that easy! I want names Missy!"
I smiled back. "You don't let people get by with anything! Alright, I like The Beatles."
"Everybody likes them. That doesn't count."
"OK!" I laughed. "I like Miles Davis, The Guess Who, Glenn Miller, Peter Frampton, Led Zeppelin, show tunes and classical music. But, if you were to go look for music in my car right now you would find any number of artists that I haven't named. I'm sorry if it's not specific enough but I have an extremely varied taste in music."
"You mean eclectic."
"Excuse me?"
"Your taste in music is eclectic. You like the best of the best. Don't ever apologize for that. What is your favorite classical piece?" I wondered how he could turn a discussion on music into a lesson in life choice validation.
"It's difficult to choose. I studied classical piano for ten years so I have a lot of favorites. If I were forced to pick, it would be a tie between the 'Brandenburg Concertos' and 'Moonlight Sonata'. I know 'Moonlight Sonata' may be predictable but once I learned to play it on the piano I was so thrilled that it permanently made it onto my list of favorites."
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Why did conversations with this guy always seem like a mental challenge? If I was completely honest with myself I would have to admit that I actually liked it a little bit.
"You did the apologizing thing again. You did it with 'Moonlight Sonata'. You tried to pass it off as an explanation but it was laced with self doubt. Elena, you're actually a pretty interesting person. You need to own it." All of the laughter was gone from his eyes and he looked as serious as if he had just explained how to end world hunger.
"I'm going to own my own business one day and will be one of the most successful business women in the state. How's that for owning it?" Forget liking the questions. He was annoying. I was not about to let this guy think he knew everything about me... even if he was accurate so far.
"That's great but I just don't know if I buy it. Something about it doesn't fit the self doubt that I've noticed in your personality so far. Maybe I'll see something to change my mind but I just don't know. Listen. I've got to go to class but I'll catch up with you later."
"Oh! I thought you were here to meet Caroline. Don't feel like you have to leave just because I didn't answer your questionnaire to meet your standards. She should be here after she gets out of class."
"There you go again. You just assumed I would only hang out here to meet Caroline. I stopped to talk to you. Like I said, I'll see you later."
How dare he? He had just met me yet he presumed to know me better than I knew myself. I had planned to be an event planner since I was a little girl. The English degree was just a backup plan in case it didn't happen. It was a good thing I had left that part out or Damon would've surely had some kind of dissertation to make about how the only people with backup plans were those who planned to fail. Speaking of backup plans, Caroline bounded up fifteen minutes later to reveal she had one of her own. His name was Tyler and they were going out that night. When questioned about Damon, Caroline just said that she thought he was great but she just didn't see it going anywhere.
"I think he sees us more as friends who hook up than as anything else."
"Hmm, it's just as well," I said. "I don't know if I have the energy to play the wingman if he is the one I'd be dealing with."
Laughing, we headed to the car. I wondered which one of the unnamed artists from our earlier conversation would be playing when I started the car. I rolled my eyes when I recognized the first few bars of "Moonlight Sonata".