Asylum (5 page)

            “Where
are you from?”

            “Detroit,”
she lied.

            “Ohhhhh,
you’re a troll then.”

            “A
troll?” she wondered.

            “Yeah,
people from Michigan that live below the Mackinaw bridge…trolls.  You know,
Michigan Tech would have been even farther away.”

            “It’s
also a lot bigger with great programs, draws a lot of kids that like science
and math.  I didn’t want to run into anyone I know.”

            Chloe
bit her lip reflexively.  Why had she said that?  Why couldn’t she have just
said that she didn’t have the grades?  If Seth noticed anything he didn’t show
it.

            “So
this is your first time in the U.P. then?” he changed the subject.

            “Uh-huh. 
Where are you from?” she asked, hoping that this wasn’t the second most used
pick-up line for college age students.

            “Oh,
me?  I’m a big time city boy.  I’m from Marquette.”

            “Where’s
that?” asked Chloe.

            “Oh
about sixty miles down the road.  Largest city in the U.P., home of the
Yooperdome, and the best homemade pastie shop in the world.”

            Seth
pulled into a spot in front of the dormitory.

            “If
this is your first night in the U.P., I’ve really got to show you something,”
he said mysteriously.  He opened the door and Chloe got out and followed as he
walked away from the building, and back down the road they had just traveled. 
She had to hurry to keep up with his stride.

            “This’ll
just take a second but it’s definitely worth it,” he explained.  Under the
silent pines, the dormitory and its lights quickly disappeared.  It was very
dark.  Chloe timidly slipped her hand under Seth’s arm.  He squeezed it tight
against his side.  He didn‘t look at her, but she thought she saw a hint of a
smile on his lips.

            They
made no sound as they walked.  A carpet of orange needles muffled their
footsteps. Chloe was acutely aware of him.  It was a strange feeling, to be so
intensely focused on the press of his arm against her fingers.  The woods were
so quiet she could hear him breathing. 

            It
wasn’t long before they approached a clearing.  Seth stopped. 

            “Alright,
now look up,” he ordered.

            Chloe
gasped.  The stars must have literally numbered in the millions.  She could see
the Milky Way.  The innumerable, tiny, white lights twinkled and shone exactly
like the nursery rhyme insisted, like diamonds in the sky.

            “Oh
wow, it’s beautiful,” she whispered.

            “This
isn’t even the best spot to really see it.  You’ve got to go somewhere with
zero ground light, and then the sky actually looks white there are so many. 
It’s unbelievable.  But the best, the absolute best, is in the winter when you
can really see the northern lights.  I love to camp out at the beach on
Superior and just watch the show.  It’s cold, but it’s amazing.”

            “You’re
one of those people that love nature and the outdoors, aren’t you?” Chloe
asked, trying her best to seem as though she understood him.

            “I
guess so,” he shrugged, “I’ll never understand how people can rush around so
wound up over job reviews, and stock prices, and whatever it is that people
worry about that they forget to stop and look up.”

            “If
people did that in the cities, they wouldn’t see much,” she said.

            “That’s
true,” he shook his head as though it were unfathomable why anyone would want
to live in a city.  “Come on, let’s get back to the dorm.  I got stuck with an
eight am class on Mondays this semester.”

            Chloe
took a last look and followed him, again feeling brave enough to slip her hand
under his arm.  Bundled in his coat, she felt very warm and for the first time
that night, very comfortable.

            Back
at the dorm, they both showed student I.D.s to the night receptionist and
climbed the stairs to the second floor.  Seth walked Chloe to her door and
waited as she dug in her pocket for her key.

            “Well…”
she trailed off with one hand on the knob.

            “Well.”
Seth repeated.

            “Thanks
for the ride.”

            “Sure.”

            “I
had a good time.”

            “Me
too.”

            He
continued to stand there expectantly.  Chloe felt all her tension come rushing
back.  What was she supposed to do?  Was he waiting for an invitation to come
in?  She barely knew him!  But that’s what people did in college, right?  If
you liked the guy, you invited him in to sleep with you and if you didn’t you
said something trite like, ‘
well-I-had-a-great-time-but-I’m-pretty-tired-sooo…’

           
The silence had
become awkward and strained while she tried to decide what to do.

            “Could
I have my coat back?” he asked.

            “Ohhhhh…
OH!” she exclaimed, relieved, while shrugging off his heavy coat.      

            Seth
reached out with one hand for his coat, and stopped.  Changing his mind, he
placed his hand on her arm and slowly leaned in towards her.  Chloe panicked. 
Her heart struggled to beat its way out of her chest, as she tried, in an
instant, to figure out if she should close her eyes, or where to put her hand,
or if she should-

            A
jolt surged through her when she felt his lips brush hers.  Her body reacted
without the aid of her mind.  She jerked her head backwards, smashing it into
the heavy wooden door behind her.  The thud of her skull connecting with the
door echoed down the long, empty hall.  Lights flashed in front of her eyes as
a wave of pain made her stumble forward, crashing directly into Seth’s chest.

            He
caught her, and immediately placed a hand over the sore spot on her head.

            “Oh
my God!  Are you…are you okay?” he asked.

            “Ummmm,”
Chloe mumbled as her head throbbed.

            “I
am so sorry.  I should have warned you, I guess, I was just trying to be smooth
or something.  Jesus, that sounded like it hurt.” he apologized.

            “No,
no, I’m…it’s fine,” she lied.

            “Shut
the fuck up out there, smooth moves!!! Some of us are trying to sleep!!!”
yelled a voice from behind one of the other doors.

            Chloe
felt her face grow red and her throat constrict.  The roaring in her ears meant
that tears weren’t far behind.  In one second she had completely ruined
everything.  He would probably be laughing about this tomorrow, as he told all
the guys from the Eat what had happened after they left.  It would be like high
school all over again.  Everyone smirking at her and whispering behind their
hands.

            “Sure
you’re okay?” he whispered.

            “Yup,”
she managed to extricate herself from his grip and open the door.

            “You
want some ice or something?” he asked.

            “No,
I’m fine, see you later,” she slipped inside without looking at him and closed
the door. 

            She
ran across the room and flung herself face down on her bed.  Chloe fell asleep
crying into her pillow.

CHAPTER THREE

            The
irritating buzz of an alarm clock brought Chloe back to reality.  She groped
for the snooze and rolled over onto her side.  Across the room, Sam was
sprawled out on top of her comforter, still dressed in her bar clothes from the
night before.  Her mouth was open and she snored softly.            “Sam!”
Chloe called through the early morning gravel in her throat.  Sam continued to
snore.

            “SAM!”
Chloe bellowed.  Sam snorted and rolled over onto her side.  Chloe grabbed her
pillow and launched it at her roommate. Sam shot up the instant the pillow hit
her face.

            “What
the hell, Chloe?” she rasped.

            “Class. 
Come on, get up.”

            Chloe
swung her legs over the side of the bed and shuffled over to her closet.

            “You
go, give my regards to Dr. Willard,” Sam said while grabbing the edge of her
comforter and wrapping it around herself.  She closed her eyes, fell backwards,
and snuggled deep into her pillow.

            Chloe
tugged on a pair of jeans and pulled a black hooded sweatshirt off the hanger.

            “Get
up, Sam!” she commanded, “You can NOT skip on the first day.”

            “Yes
I can.”

            “Alright,
but if he asks for T.A. volunteers, your name is going on the list.”

            “You
wouldn’t!” Sam guessed, opening one eye.

            “Only
one way to know for sure,” Chloe warned.

            Sam
made a noise that sounded like a growl, and flung off the comforter.

             After
dressing, the girls grabbed their bath caddies and slunk down the hall to the
communal bathroom.  Showers hissed as steam clouds and other girls wafted
around them.  Chloe brushed her teeth while Sam sullenly reapplied her make-up.

            “I
don’t suppose we have time to get a coffee?” Sam pouted.  Chloe rinsed and spat
the last of her toothpaste out.

            “I’m
not sure, really. I haven’t checked the map yet to see where Kells Hall is.”

            “It’s
way over on the north side of campus.  We have to take the bus,” said Sam.

            “Where’s
the cafeteria?”

            “Downstairs,
right off the lobby.”

            “We
can get coffee,” Chloe agreed.

            Chloe
and Sam stood in front of the dormitory sipping hot black coffee out of
Styrofoam cups as they waited at the bus stop with a handful of other students.

            “So
how was the party?” asked Chloe, “When I left it kind of seemed like Mike was
checking you out.”

            “I
never kiss and tell,” Sam answered mysteriously.

            “Oh,
I just-”

            “I’m
kidding, Chloe.  The party was a total fail.  Turns out that Mike has a
girlfriend, who’s “really super”, and that girl Lane used to date that went to
Tech?  Still not over her.  As for Jeff and Mark, all they did was talk about
hockey with each other all night.  I assume they’re gay.”

            Chloe
chuckled and blew on her coffee.  The bus rounded the corner and chugged to a
stop in front of them.

            “So
what about Seth?” Sam asked.

            Chloe
shrugged and readjusted her backpack.

            “Oh
come on, what happened?” Sam prodded.  The girls climbed the bus steps and
found seats near the front.

            “He
kissed me.” Chloe admitted.

            “Oh-la-la!
And then what happened?”

            “And
then I smashed my head into a door and almost knocked myself unconscious.”

            Sam
choked on her coffee, coughed and spluttered.

            “Oh
my God, I think hot coffee just came out of my nose,” she laughed.  “You did
what???”

            “He
kissed me, and I wasn’t expecting it or something, and I freaked out and jerked
my head away and there was a door behind me and then…‘Bang‘,” Chloe recapped.

            Sam
laughed even louder.

            “Bang!”
she repeated.  “Well, that was smooth.”

            “Smooth,
yeah.  He probably thinks I’m a freak.”

            “You
are a freak,” Sam giggled.  Chloe allowed herself a smile.  Somehow it didn’t
seem as bad when she was telling it to Sam.  It seemed, well…funny.  It would
be awful as soon as she had to see Seth again, she was sure, but she wouldn’t
think about it just then.

*          *          *

            Sam
and Chloe found seats toward the back of the lecture hall.  The floor was
tiered into descending levels to give every student a clear view of the front,
where an empty desk sat in front of a wall covered in sliding chalkboards.  Dr.
Willard was late.  Around them, the room hummed with whispered conversation. 
Chloe pulled out a notebook and pencil.  Sam slouched in her seat and closed
her eyes.

            The
door behind them slammed shut, causing Chloe to jump in her chair and Sam to
open one eye warily.  Dr. Willard rushed by them and threw a black leather
satchel onto the bench at the front.