Alex Armstrong: Awakening

by Hayes Farley

  “Perfect timing. You think you can give me a hand?”

  “Yeah, just a sec.” Alex pulled open the door marked H109-H140 and flattened against the wall.

  “Thanks, bro.” The kid carried a laundry basket full of shoes and towels, a handle of liquor hidden at the bottom.

  “Sounds like you’re living on the fun side,” Alex called.

  The kid turned around and walked backward. He had to yell. “Yeah, except for all this country crap.”

  Alex nodded. Country. Hip-hop. Classic rock. He even heard some electronica. The hallway was a musical stew. Every now and then a curse word or a bout of laughter punctuated the soundtrack. Guys walked in and out of different rooms and there were even a few girls. Three of them caught an eyeful when a kid ran out of the bathroom buck naked, hooting and hollering with his arms flailing in the air. Two of the girls covered their eyes and shrieked; the other pointed and laughed.

  “I’m not ready for that,” Alex said. He stepped away and let the door settle into place. He stayed there for a minute, enjoying the silence. When he recovered, he took one more look at his room and made for the parking lot.

  After a few trips to and from the car, Alex decided to meet his first hallmate. He stuck his head into H102. The kid sat at his desk, huddled over his laptop. “Did you win?” Alex said.

  “Of course. Those other kids were pathetic.” He never looked up from his laptop.

  “They were just new,” Alex said. “When I get paired with people like that I usually just run around with my pistol and knife. Makes it a little more fair.”

  The kid swiveled and leaned against the chair back, every plastic joint creaking in protest. “I like to run up the score.” He looked Alex up and down and turned back to his laptop.

  “My name’s Alex, by the way.”

  “I’m Philip.”

  Alex moved forward to shake his hand, but Philip never looked up and so Alex just stood there beside his desk. Philip smelled like Doritos. “What are you reading?”

  “I’m looking at red dot sights for my rifle. I have a scope now, but it’s really just for long-range shooting. I’d use the red dot for combat.”

  Alex leaned in closer and looked at the screen. “Wait, you’re talking about real guns?”

  Philip let out a heavy sigh. “Yes.”

  “What kind of combat are you talking about? You planning something?”

  “I plan on shooting bad guys.” Philip turned back to Alex. “You oughtta read ahead in the course catalog. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  “I will. Wouldn’t make much difference to me, though; I’ve never shot a gun. Guess I need to practice.”

  Philip sized him up again. “I wouldn’t worry about it.” He turned back to his laptop.

  “Well on that note…‌Philip, I’m gonna get back to unpacking. Nice talking to you.”

  “See ya, Al.”

  Alex popped the trunk and grabbed the rest of the coats. With his other hand, he scooped up the hats along the back window. He tossed the coats on the bed and put the hats on the dresser and turned around to make one last trip to the car. He stepped in the hallway just in time to see a kid walk through the door carrying an orange surfboard. Alex pressed against the wall so the kid could pass.

  “You’re good, you’re good. I’m just going right here.” The kid stopped at H105 and shouldered the door.

  “Looks like we’re neighbors,” Alex said.

  “Cool. I’m Nate.”

  “I’m Alex.”

  Nate motioned for Alex to follow. “Check this out, man. Hopefully I measured it right.” He carried the surfboard to the back wall. Nails were already in place so all he needed to do was set the board on top. When he was sure it was just right, he backed away and cocked his head and stared. “How’s it look?”

  “I like it. A lot. Makes my room look too plain,” Alex said. The surfboard hung at a diagonal on the back wall and in the negative space above was a poster of Bruce Lee. Below was a stylized photograph of a beach at sunset. “Did you take that picture?”

  “Nah, my mom did. She’s into all that stuff. You surf?”

  Alex shook his head. “No, I’m terrible. We live by the beach, though. You a competitive surfer?”

  “Yeah, but just local stuff. In and around San Diego.”

  “San Diego…‌they didn’t actually send a car all the way over there, did they?”

  “Nah, they flew me into Raleigh and picked me up from there. I got in a few hours ago. Have a seat, man.”

  Alex sat in the desk chair and Nate plopped down on the bed. “That thing’s not big enough for you. Your feet are gonna be hanging off the end,” Alex said.

  “I’m used to it,” Nate said. He was tall and wiry with high, sharp cheekbones.

  Alex looked around the room. Sneakers of every color stood toe down along the floorboard. Books were stacked on the windowsill and on the desk and on top of the dresser.

  “What do you think about this place?” Nate said.

  “I’m amazed at how many shoes you’ve got. And everything’s so neat.”

  Nate laughed. “Nah, man, I meant the campus as a whole. Pal Tech.”

  “Oh, I gotcha. It’s amazing. Like something from a movie.”

  “Yeah, I feel ya there. I kept thinking there was gonna be a Frodo sighting.”

  “Exactly! You like Tolkien?”

  Nate nodded. “I read it when I was younger. Actually tried to reread it not too long ago, but I had trouble getting into it. It’s like, now that I’m reading more adult books, I get bored if there’s not a bunch of sex and violence. Game of Thrones ruined me.”

  Alex’s eyes lit up. “We had free HBO one weekend and my dad didn’t know it. They were playing Game of Thrones reruns. There was this blonde girl; hers were the first boobs I ever saw.”

  Nate started laughing. “Awesome. Did she end up riding dragons?”

  “Oh, I don’t remember. It’s not like I was focused on anything else.”

  “No doubt,” Nate said. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. They went a stretch without saying anything.

  “What do you think about this whole telekinesis thing?” Alex said.

  Nate opened his eyes and pursed his lips, thinking. “I don’t know. Nervous, I guess.”

  Alex nodded.

  “Did you see the course catalog? Like, all of it?” Nate said.

  “Not yet.”

  Nate scooted off the bed and grabbed his tablet and sat on the desk so that he and Alex could look at the screen. “See this one?”

  “Hostile Environments, Level 1,” Alex said. “Interesting.”

  “You could say that.”

  “What’s a Greyjean?” Alex said.

  Nate looked back down at the screen and shrugged. “Hell if I know. But now you see why I’m nervous?”

  “Yeah,” Alex said. “No use worrying about it now, though. Besides, it’s probably for seniors. Maybe even like a history class. You know, studying famous hostage situations from back in the day. Might even be an elective.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Nate said, “because my warning flags are going up.”

  “Well, whatever happens, you oughtta feel better knowing Philip is on our side.”

  “Who?”

  “Philip,” Alex said. “The kid playing videogames down there. Last I saw he was buying an attachment for his rifle. He’s ready to shoot some people.”

  “The fat dude with the greasy hair?!”

  “Well, when you put it that way,” Alex said, laughing.

  “Yeah, it’s most definitely that way. If I see fat boy holding a gun I’m running. From him.”

  “Probably a good move,” Alex said, still chuckling. He stood up and shook Nate’s hand. “I gotta get the rest of my stuff from the car. I’ll look for you at dinner.”

  “Sounds good, man. See ya there.”

  ****

 
; Alex walked across the parking lot and into the middle of the green roadway, directly between all four dormitories. Hope Hall and Tiffany Hall were on one side, with the larger Dresden and Agra Halls on the other. A vine-covered seam circled each dorm like a belt, separating the smooth planks of cherry wood from the stone cladding below. Their doors were the only distinctive feature. Hope Hall had blue doors. Tiffany had yellow. Agra had pink and Dresden had green.

  Alex looked at the courtyard that separated Hope and Tiffany. It was just large enough to hold two oak trees, a few stone benches, and a rose garden. He watched a butterfly flutter between two bushes and his mind drifted once again to telekinesis. He looked left and right and saw that no one was watching. Still, he edged behind one of the cars. He looked around one more time and took a deep breath and held his tablet in front of his chest with his hands turned upward like a parishioner waiting to receive the sacraments. Nothing happened. Alex closed his eyes as tight as he could and imagined the front cover flipping open. Still nothing. He gave up with a sigh and tucked the tablet under his right arm and crossed the parking lot.

  He headed to the left of Hope Hall. As he neared the blue door, it opened, and out came the blonde he saw earlier that day. A huge grin spread across her face and her green eyes sparkled. “You’re taller than I expected,” she said.

  “What? Oh, the car seat. No, I uh…‌there was a bug smashed on the windshield. I was taking a closer look.”

  “And how’d it look?”

  “Dead.”

  She laughed and started walking down the steps. Her long legs looked even longer in her designer jeans. There was a light dusting of freckles across her high cheekbones. “I’m Eva.”

  “I’m Alex. Nice to meet you.”

  “I don’t hear any accent. Where are you from?”

  “Florida. Funny you say that, though, cause my dad’s got a pretty thick accent.”

  “Well, you didn’t get any of it.”

  Alex shook his head. “What about you? Where are you from?”

  “Georgia. Not too far from here. I got in around lunchtime.”

  Alex could hear the slightest Southern drawl in her voice. “So how do you like the dorm?”

  “I like it,” Eva said. “I haven’t been in there very long—I was walking around campus most of the afternoon—but the girls I met seemed mostly nice.”

  “Mostly?”

  “Well, the one girl who lives next to me…‌I heard her in there with a guy and they were, um…”

  “Having fun?”

  Eva laughed. “That’s a good way to put it. Anyway, I couldn’t just sit there and listen to them like some creeper, so I took a walk around campus. I’m glad I did, though. It’s pretty. What about you? Make any friends yet?”

  “Well, yeah. Actually, I think I did. My neighbor seemed really cool; we talked for a while. And I’m lucky in that our hall’s split into two sections, and I got the smaller, quieter one. Definitely a better fit for me.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Yeah. I guess there was one kid that was kinda odd, though. Not real friendly; definitely thought less of me because I’ve never shot a gun. I mean, I’m pretty sure this kid dreams of shooting somebody one day. So we weren’t exactly compatible. And he made a point to call me Al.”

  “You don’t look like an Al.”

  “That’s because I’ve never been an Al. Oh, and this kid…‌he smelled like Doritos.”

  “I always thought my dog’s feet smelled like Doritos.”

  “Well, then this kid smelled like your dog’s feet.”

  Eva laughed. “You’re funny.”

  “I try. Sometimes I get lucky.” The ease of this conversation wasn’t lost on Alex. He didn’t remember ever feeling this comfortable around a girl, especially a pretty one.

  “So where were you off to, Alex? You know, before I walked into your life.”

  “Well, not that I knew where I was going or anything, but it popped in my head that I wanted to see the valley. Find a quiet spot to read some of this stuff Melissa put on my tablet. So I was on my way over there, to the edge of campus.”

  Eva looked over her right shoulder. “I never walked that way. Mind if I join you?”

  “Yeah, come on.” Alex led the way past Hope Hall to the hedge about seventy yards in the distance—the eastern edge of campus. He had an idea of what he was looking for and after a quick scan of the hedge, he found it. He turned to make sure Eva was still following.

  “I’m right behind you. You know where you’re going?”

  “Sort of,” he said. “I’m thinking if we walk through the hedge right there, that dirt path will lead us to a clearing.” They walked down a slope and under a decorative archway. They passed a little garden and walked through one more hedge and then the dirt path ended and they stood in a clearing half the size of a tennis court.

  “How’d you know?”

  “I didn’t,” Alex said. But it was exactly what he imagined. The hedge walled them in on all sides. Oak trees grew just outside and their branches extended up and over so the spot felt even more secluded. And right in the middle of everything was a park bench facing the valley below. Its wood was grey with age.

  “It’s beautiful,” Eva said. She walked around Alex and sat down on the bench with her backpack resting in her lap.

  Alex sat to her right and took a deep breath. The air felt cool going into his lungs. He sensed the emptiness beyond the hedge and knew without getting up that there was a steep drop-off on the other side. He widened his view and stared at the valley in its entirety. Only the tops of the foothills to the north and south were green. Everything else had darkened under the long shadow cast by Pal Tech’s mountain. “We’re gonna have to come down here for a sunrise,” he said.

  “I was thinking the same thing.”

  They sat in comfortable silence. By the time Eva spoke again, it was dark. “I thought you were gonna read your tablet.”

  Alex looked at her and shrugged. Even in the absence of sunlight her hair had a golden glow. “There’ll be plenty of time to read all that.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “You don’t have time now, anyway. Remember, we have the mandatory dinner tonight.”

  Alex sat straight up. He had forgotten all about the dinner. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Fifteen minutes. He hopped to his feet. “We need to go.”

  Eva smiled. “Look at you. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I’m just—I’m usually not late for anything. I’m not saying that it’s your fault. It’s not. It’s mine. But we need to go. We don’t wanna get in trouble. Should we walk over there?”

  “Slow down,” she said, still smiling. “It’s not a big deal; we’re not gonna get in trouble. But I don’t think we should go on foot. We’ll never make it.”

  “All right, we’ll drive. Your car or mine?”

  “Mine drove off. Yours is still here, right?”

  “It better be, or else I’m out of underwear and socks.”

  “Uh, oh. Commando time.”

  “Let’s hope not. For everybody’s sake.”

  5

  The Dining Hall

  They left their things in the car and started across the courtyard to the Dining Hall. It was wider than it was long, and although it was constructed from the same cherry wood as the dormitories, its grass-covered gambrel roof gave it a decidedly less modern look.

  “Those are pretty,” Eva said. She pointed at the water walls flanking the entrance.

  Alex nodded. “I’ve always liked those things. They look fancy. Like you could put one outside a liquor store and the place would instantly look classier.”

  “Kinda like adding a violin to a pop song,” Eva said.

  “Exactly.” Alex smiled and pulled the door for Eva. As he held it, he couldn’t resist leaning over and touching the cool surface of the wall. His finger tore a rift in the sheet of water.

 
“You coming?”

  “Yeah.” Alex flicked his finger dry and followed her inside.

  Despite its size, the Dining Hall felt cozy, like the lobby of a ski resort. A fireplace of rough-hewn stone dominated the center of the room, its firebox large enough to park a car. Tables and chairs fanned out on all sides to form the main seating area. Floor-to-ceiling windows along the back wall overlooked the valley.

  “Hey, that guy’s waving at you.”

  Alex scanned the tables and saw Patrick and waved back. “That’s the kid I met at registration. He’s cool. Oh, and Nate’s sitting by him. He’s my neighbor, the one I was telling you about. You okay sitting over there?”

  “I’m following you.”

  They stepped over some backpacks and edged between two tables on their way to the four-topper. Patrick hopped to his feet and went to shake their hands.

  “Patrick, good to see you again. This is Eva.”

  “Dang, you guys look like you could be brother and sister. Where you from, Eva?”

  “Georgia.”

  “Uh oh. Bulldog?”

  “Dawgs is how the real fans say it.”

  Patrick made a face. “Yikes. I usually don’t associate with your kind.”

  Eva raised an eyebrow.

  “Buuuut, in your case, I guess I’ll make an exception. Besides, I like your accent.” He looked up at Eva and flashed a huge grin. She laughed.

  “Hey guys,” Nate said.

  “And here’s Nate, my black surfer friend!”

  Alex and Eva gasped.

  “What? Oh, come on, I was just being funny; I didn’t mean anything by it. I have lots of black friends.”

  “It’s cool, Alex.” Nate smiled and put his arm around Patrick. “My little friend here just finds it ironic that a tall kid like me can actually surf. Isn’t that right, Patrick?”

  “Yeah…‌something like that. Wait a minute, though. You guys know each other?”

  “Nate lives in the room right next to me. We met this afternoon.”