An Eventful First Day

Lena's first day at college wasn't at Harvard, Yale or Princeton, although she had gotten in to all three. Instead, her first day of post-secondary education was at California State University, Long Beach, on the other side of the country. She was attending without the financial or moral support of her family, so her first stop – before classes even started – was to hit up the Financial Aid office and make sure her loans were in order. Sadly, if she had any thought of making it to classes on her first day, she was mistaken.

Between waiting for her appointment, filling out forms, and the actual meeting itself, Lena was at the Financial Aid office for nearly six hours. Her eyes were bleary from looking at legal paperwork and accounting statements, and she cringed at the sheer amount of debt she was about to assume. Sure, student loans had some of the lowest interest rates and best payment plans available, but it was still a staggering figure to look at on paper. Even with the discount plans and debt forgiveness provided to eventual public school teachers, Lena would still be paying off these loans for the better part of twenty years.

All that said, though, it was worth it to be able to go to school where she wanted, for what she wanted.

Determined not to let the entire morning deter her from enjoying her first day of college, she attended her last class of the day and then wandered around campus, familiarizing herself with the layout of the buildings, the location of the student union, dining complex, and library, and taking in all the sights and sounds of the university. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty peaceful, uneventful first day of college.

That is, until a parade of guys ran through campus naked. Apparently some athletics team or fraternity was getting started on the hazing early, because a group of masked young men trampled across the campus is a marching line, wearing nothing but sneakers and the masks over their faces to conceal their identities. Like most everyone else, Lena stopped to gawk at the site, definitely a sign that she was no longer in the sheltered world of secondary education.

It seemed that Lena wasn't meant to be merely a spectator though, because as the procession of guys dwindled and disappeared around one of the buildings in the distance, she turned to head toward the parking lot and ran smack into a guy apparently lagging behind his brethren. The two collided with an awkward "oof" and tumbled to the ground, limbs entangling. Lena never imagined that her first encounter with a naked guy would be rolling around in the middle of the quad with a faceless streaker, but we don't always get to choose our memorable life moments.

"I'm so, so sorry," he stammered.

The guy's voice sounded like it couldn't have come from anyone older than seventeen or eighteen, and he apologized profusely for the inconvenience. When he finally got a good look at Lena (and she at him, albeit just those green eyes behind the ski mask), his demeanor changed and he suddenly became a little more confident and personable, as if he had suddenly forgotten that he was standing in the middle of the crowded quad, wearing nothing but a ski mask and a goofy smile.

"Listen," he said slowly, as if searching for the words. "Are you doing anything on Friday night?"

Lena had to suppress a smile as he seemed oblivious to the other students around him, snickering and pointing fingers.

"No plans so far."

"Cool. Maybe we can get together or something."

"Do you promise to wear pants if we do?"

Realization seemed to suddenly dawn on him. He wasn't just naked in the middle of the quad; he was naked and alone in the quad, no longer with the safety in numbers that his fellow guys provided. It was one thing to streak across campus with the solidarity and reassurance of running with friends. It was another to now have to streak by oneself, as the sole center of attention.

"Damn. Look, I gotta go. But Friday is a maybe?"

"It might be. If I knew your name or what you even looked like. You know, above the neck."

She was pretty sure he blushed at the comment as he revved up to start jogging again.

"How about I meet you here on Friday at 7:00? I'll find you, and I promise I'll have less clothing on my head, and more on the rest of my body."

Lena laughed. "Okay, it's a date."

"See you then."

He sprinted off again, presumably to catch up with the pack.

Lena had to admit that she certainly didn't end up having the boring first day of college that it was shaping up to be earlier that morning. Between the time she arrived on campus to the time she left, she had met a seemingly nice guy, seen him naked, and agreed to go out on a date. Between that and her financial aid, it was a pretty productive first day.


(860 words)