Late Bloomer

Move-In Day

Deuce sat on the bed and looked at the room. With everything set up, it looked homely. He was cheerful, having put everything in its place and met his roommate, Daryl, a seemingly nice guy. He decided he would go outside and take a look at the campus. He put his shoes back on and packed his backpack, then went out the door.

The place was beautiful, it's flowery landscaping contrasting to the dreary concrete of the city surrounding it. He thought of it like a park that he lived in. After familiarizing himself with the buildings his classes were in, he stopped at a bench to rest. The sign in front of the building close by indicated that it was another dormitory. He noticed many students and parents carrying boxes and laundry baskets full of dorm supplies and smiled sadly, remembering his mother.

"She would have been proud." his father had said when he found out that he had been accepted.

Deuce had worked since he graduated high school so that he could afford to become a nurse. His father joked that joining a female-dominated field would be a great way to meet girls, then turned serious when he said thirty wasn't too old to keep trying. Deuce had thought about it, but in the end, it wasn't something he really longed for. He wasn't even sure he had the temperament for marriage, much less children.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a girl awkwardly carrying bulky box. She stumbled along the lawn, trying to see where she was going. He stood up and walked over, intent on holding the door open. As he approached, she started to fall. He quickly grabbed the other side of the box.

"Whoa! Easy, there." he laughed.

She peered up at him from behind the box, seemingly intimidated by his 6'5" frame. Deuce had become very familiar with the fact that he looked intimidating, but had also mastered the art of being friendly enough to melt that assumption away. He picked the box up as a stuffed animal rolled off the top and onto the grass.

"Oops, why don't you grab that and show me where this big fella goes?" he offered.

She smiled and held the toy as she entered the building. Deuce followed her into a room on the first floor, immediately noticing that this dorm wasn't near as nice as his own. Then again, he was a "non-traditional" student, someone this university tended to favor because of higher retention rates and better overall performance. The girl opened the door and his eyes were immediately assaulted with pastel colors, misty pink, blue, and purple. Her bed was covered in stuffed animals and an unopened sheet and bed decoration set. He watched her push a mini fridge under the raised bed and duck underneath to plug it in.

He set the box down and looked around. "My name's Vivian, but you can call me Vivvy. Everybody does." she said as she crawled back out.

He took a good look at her for the first time. She had beaming, bright green eyes and brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. It had a little bit of curl to it, but that was only noticeable in the ends. She stood at a meek 5'3" or so. "I'm Deuce, pleasure to meet you." he said with a smile.

He reached out to offer a handshake, but she smiled and wrapped her arms around him. He was a little put off that was she was so willing to give a stranger a hug, but then he had a thought. Was she... making a move? She seemed nice enough, and if she had any interest in him, this could be his chance to try for a long-term relationship that didn't end after the third date. With fuzzy feelings flooding him, he returned the hug.

Vivian pulled away and then picked up her sheets set. She turned to look at him pleadingly. "Umm... will you help me make my bed, please? I don't really know how..." she asked.

He nodded and picked up the package to open it. After showing her how to put the mattress pad on, he handed her the fitted sheet. "Here, why don't you give it a try?" he said.

She reached over, trying to tuck the edges in the way he had. That was an easier task with an extra foot added to your height, though. He couldn't help but notice she was practically bent over the bed, struggling. Her shorts rode up just a little, exposing the pink trim of her underwear. His eyes traced the curve of her rump and up the back of her loose t-shirt.

"I got it!" she said and jumped down to tuck the other side in.

When the bedding was put on, he congratulated her. "Good job. Now all that's left is the easy stuff."

He showed her how to fold her sheets and blanket, then she decided how she wanted the pillows and toys to be arranged. So many stuffed animals. He recognized a few of them as cartoon characters. She opened the box he had brought in and started putting its contents on her desk. A cute little desk lamp, some pictures, and a small flatscreen TV were set up neatly. He noticed she had several other things in the box, but she slid it into the empty space next to the fridge and sat down.

"It looks so cute!" she said as she looked at her things.

Deuce nodded in agreement. Vivian looked at him fondly, holding a warm expression for a long time before leaning into his side while he stood next to her. Deuce had no doubts that she was indicating some kind of interest, now. He ran his hand through her hair, letting his fingertips brush the nape of her neck and...

"Hey, Vivvy, is it cool if I bring some friends over tonight? Oh..."

A blonde woman entered the room with a tote bag of folded clothes. Vivian looked at her and smiled. "Sure! Who're your friends?" she asked.

"Thanks," the girl laughed, "I thought your dad already left or I would've picked up this mess!"

Deuce frowned. Did he really look that old? The other girl left after placed the bag under her desk.

"Vivvy," he asked, "how old are you?"

"I'll be nineteen in May, on the fourth!" she answered.

All of the warmth left when he heard that. The level of fear and shame in his rose to the point that the river of hormones slowed to a trickle and stopped.

"Oh, god, I'm going to jail..." he whispered.

"What'd you say?" Vivian asked as she opened one of her drawers to get some candy.

"Oh, I was just... thinking out loud, don't worry about it. Well, uh, it was nice to meet you, I guess I'll head back to my place." he stammered.

The girl frowned. "Wait, don't go yet!" she begged. "You're my first friend I made in college!"

He blinked, unsure of what to do. She fished a phone out of her pocket and tapped a few things, then handed it to him. "I have to be able to see you again." she explained.

He saw that she had set the phone to add a new contact. Against his better judgement, he typed in his name and number, then handed it back to her. She immediately snapped a picture of him, surprising him and making his new contact photo one of the derpiest faces he had ever made. She giggled and thanked him, finally giving him the chance to take his leave.

On his way out, he thought about what just happened. Had she really been making a move, or was his imagination getting the best of him. Maybe she was just a really physical person. Maybe she really just wanted to be friends. Everyone moving into a college is probably going to be lonely the first little while, he reasoned. Perhaps the younger people were just much more affectionate. Thinking that, he smiled when he realized how old that made him sound. He was only thirty.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. An unfamiliar number had sent him a photo. When he opened the attachment, it was a selfie from Vivvy. She was smiling and holding a cream-colored dog plush. He felt himself smile at that. Even if she was so much younger than him, she was an adult, right? That, and she was awfully cute, too.