Page 24 of The Night We Met

“Penn U was a solid choice. My family is there. I know the city. Anytime my parents talked about college, they would say that they had the best time of their lives being part of the Greek world. Both of my parents were part of the founding members of their chapters. Penn U is very Greek heavy, so when word got around that they had two legends in their midst the Greek life dedicated a wall shrine to them. All of their achievements and pictures. So many pictures. My parents would take my sister and me to visit there, despite them never going to that school, and it was unconsciously ingrained in us that that was our path.” I take a sip of my water before continuing. “I concluded that the only way for me to not be seen a certain way was to go to acompletely different school. So here I am. Does that make sense?”

“Of course it does. We all have to have the ability to spread our wings without the crucifixion of others. I think you made the right choice.”

“Thank you. Not only was Greek life part of the reason I didn’t want to go there, but the school wasn’t what I wanted.”

“What were you looking for in a school?”

The waitress coming over pauses our conversation as she places our pizza in the center of the table. We both tell her thank you and then get situated.

“I can’t really explain it. It’s more that I felt it. When I toured here, I got goosebumps. I felt a calmness that I had never felt before. I didn’t think I’d feel that anywhere else.” I take a bite of pizza once it’s cooled. I felt like I was rambling so I take the opportunity to take a breath.

“And your major is psychology?”

Him remembering, even my major, is such a tiny gesture but it means the world. “That’s correct.”

“What are your end goals for being a psychology major?”

“I would love to have my own practice. General counseling isn’t too stuffy. But maybe a psychologist in a hospital. I have a while before I have to figure that out. Then again I keep going back to being a teacher. And oh my goodness I need to stop talking.” I cover my face as embarrassment takes hold.

Mason’s chuckle is somewhat comforting. “I’ve been asking you the questions. I’m just surprised you figured that all out in your first year. Most don’t.”

“Yeah. I took a psychology class as an elective my junior year, and I was hooked. Nothing else really mattered.”

“You are probably the most ambitious freshmen that I’ve ever met.”

“Thanks, I guess. Well what about you? Was it always a dream of yours to play at such a high profile college?”

He leans back in his chair, now that I’ve turned the conversation to him. “Football was never even part of my plan. I just did it in high school to have something to do. But colleges took notice and I got offers in South Carolina. I wanted something that was far from home, but not too far that I couldn’t leave if I had a family emergency. My original plan was always art school or even majoring in art therapy.”

“Art school?”

He nods his head. “I had really bad ADHD growing up. My parents took me to a bunch of specialists. They tried putting me into music classes, I tried writing, and building; but nothing quite worked. Until one day in middle school, we had to take an art class as a mandatory elective and I guess that’s when it clicked for me. Apparently, my teacher called my parents to let them know I finally focused on something for longer than two minutes. They never pushed me into it, which I think that also helped. But I continued with it. Entered into some contests during my junior and senior years of high school. Placed in the top three and even entered nationally for some shows.”

“Wow. So how did those shows go?” I ask genuinely curious.

“I actually placed in the top ten.” He says it so casually. Like it’s no big deal.

“That’s amazing. Now I can say I know a famous artist.”

“I wouldn’t take it that far.” He says modestly.

“Honestly I never would have pegged you for an art guy. Don’t get me wrong, but you look more like someonewho’d be into journalism or sports broadcasting or even engineering. But if you don’t mind, and since you said you wanted to go to art school, I’d love to see some of your work.”

His eyes widened after I said that. “Really?”

“Absolutely. Anyone who says what they really want to do is respected in my book. But what is your major?”

“I couldn’t just let art go. It was a safe place for me when the world was too chaotic. So I’m actually double majoring in Art Therapy and Finance.”

“So you didn’t stray too far from what you wanted. That suits you.”

As we continue talking through dinner, we find we have a lot more in common. Brooks is a much-respected name in Greek life as well. He joined a fraternity his freshman year but doesn’t advertise it like others around campus. He tells me all the places he wants to travel to and I tell him mine. And throughout dinner, I find myself warming up to him more than I would have thought possible. He’s sweeter than I anticipated. But I guess he gets that from the example that his parents have set for him.

We’re still talking about anything and everything under the sun long after dinner is over. After we left the restaurant we decided to take a walk around campus, because neither one of us wanted the night to end. I’m quickly realizing that Mason had a phenomenal example of how to treat a woman when we both notice how late it’s getting when he walks me back to my dorm. If neither of us had early classes the next day, I’m sure that we could’ve kept talking until the sun came up.

“I had a lot of fun tonight Kamryn.”

I peek over at him out of the corner of my eye and see his hands shoved deep into his front pockets.

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