Do You Want To Come In?
I was stumbling home alone from the bar one night when this adorable boy named Terry saw me and pulled over in his car.
“Do you want a ride?” he asked. It was really, really cold and sliding on the ice wasn’t fun, so I considered this.
Terry was really cute, with sandy hair and a sweet smile. I knew him, but only barely. Maybe we had a class together. I considered refusing – I was proud to be going home alone for once – but it was very cold.
“Um, okay, thanks,” I said and slid onto the passenger side of the long bench seat. I hung close to the door just to be safe. By this time in my college career, I knew that I might need to dive out of a stranger’s car at any given moment.
“Were you at The Hood?” Terry asked politely.
“Yeah,” I said; everyone knew the campus bar.
“Lots of people there?” he asked.
“Not a lot,” I said. I think it was a Wednesday. I watched as Terry turned into our campus. It wasn’t a long drive, maybe two minutes.
“Which dorm is yours?” he asked. Oh boy, I thought. Here we go.
“This one,” I said – and pointed. He gently pulled over into the nearest parking space and stopped the car.
“All right,” he said. He turned to look at me for the first time.
I knew I had no choice; I’d accepted a ride home from this man. This would surely require payment. I asked, “Do you want to come in?” I was shaking a little – maybe from the cold, maybe from the fear.
“No thanks,” Terry said.
“No?” I asked, incredulous. He wasn’t coming in?
“No, I’ve got some studying to do.”
My heart leapt. For the first time in as long as I could remember, a guy did something nice for me without asking for a single thing in return.
“Okay well ….” I trailed off. I sat there for what seemed like a full minute, although it was probably eight seconds.
I had no idea how to say what I wanted to say. You’re like an angel, I wanted to say. Thank you for not forcing me to have sex with you.
Finally I stammered “thank you so much” and got out of the car. I turned and waved quickly, and ran into my dorm with all the giddiness of a teenager.
Which I was.
And then – because I was so incredibly confused and naive – I considered that maybe I was in love.
Fortunately for Terry, we only saw each other in passing after that. We waved slightly and moved on – him in his world, where nice people did nice things … and me to mine.