“No, no. I don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not into all of them myself.”
“Good, then maybe what I’m about to say next won’t be quite as spiritually selfish as it sounds.”
His words intrigued her and she leaned a little closer, trying to hear him better over the crowd.
“There’s no place I’d rather be than out with you tonight,” he said, genuinely.
Ewen’s face went a little red with embarrassment. “You better stop talking that way,” he thought. “You’re going to scare her off.” And then, as if she had read his mind and wanted to calm his fears, she spoke to him.
“I’m glad you feel that way. I was beginning to think I was a little bit crazy for feeling that way too,” she said, seeing the relief on his face.
“So, we’re still on for tonight?” Ewen asked, smiling.
“Definitely.”
They got to their feet and exited their row. The majority of the crowd had filed out of the building, leaving only distant echoes of conversations floating inside. They walked up the stairs to the open hallway, making their way to the exit doors.
“What’s your next class?” he asked.
“Biology,” she said, making a “yuck” face. “I’m not a big fan of dissecting things and using smelly chemicals and stuff.” She sighed. “Oh, well. At least it’s my last one of the day.”
“Can I walk you to it?” he asked.
She smiled at him again, and nodded.
“Sure.”
They exited the Romero Center and walked side by side up the stairs toward the academic buildings. Unfortunately, it was a short walk and no sooner had they gotten into a good stride in their conversation then they had arrived at the doorway to her Biology class.
“I’ll see you tonight. How about six o’clock?” he asked.
“Sounds great,” she said, her face a little blushed as well.
They said their goodbyes and Jennifer disappeared into one of the classrooms. Ewen walked back out of the building and made his way back to his dorm. His thoughts and images of Jennifer and what had happened in such a short span of time filled his mind and he felt like he had company the whole way back to his room.
Now, as he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling tiles, he sighed again wanting to pinch himself thinking that he might wake up. He looked over at the digital display on the microwave that was sitting in the corner of the room. It read, “4:49 pm.” About an hour, he thought and then looked back up at the ceiling with a smile.
Jennifer was trying to get ready when her roommate, Pam, walked in. As usual, Pam was in the middle of telling someone something down the hall in the loudest voice she could find. Of course, she usually did it during the middle of the night when Jennifer was trying to sleep so she guessed she should be grateful. Besides that, it would take a lot to dampen her spirits tonight. This was the first truly inspiring encounter she had had with a guy since she had started college.
Her freshman year none of the guys even looked her way. No one told her that it was normal for this to happen your first year in college, so she had spent almost two semesters thinking she had an incredible pimple the size of Texas somewhere on her face and only the cute guys could see it. Besides the fact that she felt like she was a walking biohazard, she also didn’t like her roommate at the time. Joanne had been her name. She had been moody and hadn’t seemed to keep up her appearance very much. She had even mentioned to Jennifer one night before dinner that she refused to put make-up on because it would make her look like a tramp. Jennifer wore make-up and most of the girls she had ever been friends with had done the same at the first available opportunity, so Joanne’s comment kind of stung her a little. Being as polite as she was, Jennifer never said anything though. She simply nodded through it, trying not to get upset. Joanne completed her first real conversation with Jennifer by saying, “I’m dating God anyway.” Jennifer had to bite her lip until it hurt to keep herself from saying, “Well, I think God would like you to put some make-up on.”
She had laughed about that one for weeks. It would strike her out of the blue as she made her way to class, walking alone. She knew what Joanne had meant by “dating God” but it had just sounded funny. She thought that it was an admirable thing for someone to date God, focusing their attention on their spiritual life instead of some guy who would most likely be a big creep anyway. At least with God you could always count on Him to be there.
As Pam walked into the room, still yelling to someone down the hall, Jennifer was putting on some perfume. Pam immediately noticed and stopped, forcedly, in her tracks as if shocked by what she was seeing.
“Jennifer! Are we going on a hot date tonight?” she asked, with mock excitement.
Jennifer simply turned and nodded with a pleasant smile. While she couldn’t stand sharing a room with Joanne for the semesters prior she was beginning to hate living with Pam even more. What’s worse,” she thought, a roommate that just looks at you funny, or a roommate that’s loud and looks at you funny?
“Well, well, well,” Pam said. “I can’t believe my girl finally found somebody.”
“More like he found me,” Jennifer said, suddenly wishing she hadn’t divulged any information to her.
“Oh, I see,” Pam said. “So, your boyfriend’s a bit forward, huh? Better be careful.” She pointed a finger, like a warning, at Jennifer.
“It’s not like that, Pam.”
“Sure it’s not, until you suddenly find yourself up at The Point in an uncomfortable situation,” Pam sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter much though, not with the two of you going to the revival meeting tonight and all.”
Jennifer didn’t say anything and she could tell that Pam was waiting for some kind of response, maybe a confirmation that she and Ewen were going to be among those in attendance. Jennifer didn’t say a word as she picked a piece of lint off of her sweater and then examined her outfit in the mirror. She was wearing blue jeans and a white sweater that fit her perfectly. She was stunning, even in the most casual of clothes, although she never thought that herself.
“You are going to the revival meeting aren’t you?” Pam asked, breaking the silence.
Jennifer turned to her, trying to look disappointed.
“No. We’re going out to dinner instead.”
“Jennifer! How can you miss the service? Everyone is going to be there,” Pam pleaded.
And that’s exactly why I’m not going to be there, she thought.
“Well, I’m not the one who is in charge of where we’re going tonight. It was Ewen’s idea.”
As the words left her lips she realized what she had just said. She had no intention of telling Pam anything about Ewen, especially not his name. That was something Jennifer wanted to keep to herself and as the look on Pam’s face turned to shock once more Jennifer wanted to find the nearest hole and crawl inside of it.
“Ewen? The guy from my Ethics class? Oh, no! Jennifer, he’s crazy! He doesn’t say anything to anyone, just sits in the back of the room looking creepy,” Pam said.
Jennifer started to laugh out loud, uncontrollably. Pam looked at her, disappointed.
“You shouldn’t be laughing. You never know what guys like him are capable of.”
Jennifer wanted to say something to stick up for Ewen, but she couldn’t stop laughing long enough to get any words out. The idea that the same sweet, quiet, perfect gentlemen she had met during service that afternoon was some kind of a crazy person made her fall into hysterical laughter the more she thought about it. Finally, noticing Pam’s serious look, Jennifer wiped the tears from her eyes—careful of her eyeliner—and cleared her throat a little.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh like that. It’s just that he’s incredibly sweet and very shy. I don’t think you know him very well. Either that or you’re thinking of the wrong guy,” Jennifer said.
“This morning, in class, he started arguing with the professor about how Christians are supposed to act toward non
-Christians. He actually argued with the professor. Can you believe it?! Like he’s some kind of professor himself.”
Pam took a deep, dramatic breath and calmed herself.
“Just be careful, okay? He’s not like the other guys on campus,” Pam said.
“Just for the record, I’ve heard of some pretty crazy and insensitive things that so-called Christian guys have done around here to girls,” she said, noticing the rising protest on Pam’s face. “But I promise I’ll be careful. Okay?”
Pam nodded, still visibly worried as Jennifer made her way to the bedroom window. She peeked through the blinds just as someone knocked on the door. Pam, eager to move on to happier thoughts, got up and rushed to answer it. She opened the door and a young Asian girl in a jogging outfit was standing in the hall. She smiled at Pam, instantly recognizing her.
“Hey, Pam. There’s some guy downstairs who is looking for Jennifer. Can you tell her?” the young girl said, a little out of breath.
Pam smiled, nodding.
“Sure,” she said as she shut the door.
Jennifer grabbed her purse and checked herself one last time in the mirror. She wasn’t that impressed, but it would have to do. She stopped, just short of the door, and looked back at Pam who was beginning to clean up her side of the room.
“Pam?” Jennifer asked.
Pam looked up at her, still visibly concerned.
“I really appreciate you worrying about me,” she said.
Pam’s mood seemed to lighten up a little bit.
“Not a problem. You have a good time, okay?” Pam said.
Jennifer nodded and left the room, leaving Pam to finish cleaning up.
CHAPTER 8
For some reason Ewen had blanked when it came to a creative place to eat. He didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t ventured too far off of campus yet to really know what was out there, or if he just wanted to keep it simple. Either way, he and Jennifer had ended up at Byron’s Grille, which was no more than five miles away from campus.
As they walked to the door of the restaurant it suddenly occurred to him that they might see someone from campus. That would, of course, bring about a diverse set of challenges—or at least it could. First of all, if they did something that wasn’t allowed on campus then they weren’t being—as the dean would have put it—“a good representative of the college.” The dean was quite concerned about the university’s reputation through means of representation. During Wednesday services he had been known, on several occasions, to reiterate the fact that they needed to be good stewards in the community. Although Ewen couldn’t think of anything that he and Jennifer might do that evening that would break that rule, you never knew; especially when you were prone to finding trouble without looking for it. If someone from campus was there they might overhear a part of their conversation that may be somewhat negative toward the college and could potentially relay that to an R.A. or the dean himself. Of course, that would be eavesdropping and the two of them could plead the fifth on that one.
The second thing that could happen was that someone from campus might see them drinking a beer. Since Ewen wasn’t old enough to drink, and neither was Jennifer, he knew that would not be happening. He wasn’t a fan of drinking anyway, and if he had been he certainly wouldn’t do it on a first date with Jennifer. He was quite sure he didn’t want her thinking he was a drunk and him ruining any chances he had with what seemed to be a budding relationship.
No, it was the third possibility that actually worried Ewen the most. The very simple fact that someone could be eating at the restaurant that Jennifer knew. At first glance that didn’t seem to really be much of a problem, but you had to get inside a guy’s psyche to understand the issue.
A guy waits to go out with a beautiful young woman. He finally gets his chance and dresses up for the occasion, perhaps even wearing a little extra cologne too. He opens doors for her while genuinely trying to be a gentleman and impress her so she will continue to dig him. In the middle of all of this mentally taxing activity—especially the part where he tries not to say or do anything strange or too guy-like—another guy the girl knows shows up and says hello. Talk about awkward. There he is, trying to pretend to be nice to someone the girl knows when all he really wants to do is tell the other guy to take a hike because he doesn’t need any competition—besides, he was the one that asked her out and he certainly doesn’t want some other guy who just so happened to walk in to spend time with her. He earned this time by asking for it while this other dude did not.
Despite all of this, Ewen would be very pleasant if that did happen. He wouldn’t like the awkwardness of it all, but he was prepared if it occurred. Although he had never been much for competition, he knew Jennifer could change his mind if the situation arose. She was certainly worth fighting for.
They walked into the restaurant and a hostess greeted them, escorting them to a table on a small, upper platform. It was just big enough for the two of them, and quite cozy. As they walked in Ewen noticed there were hardly any people there. His fear of competition suddenly dissipated, although he still felt bad about his lack of creativity.
They sat down across from each other and began to look over the menu.
“I’m really sorry, Jennifer,” he said, sincerely.
She looked at him, confused.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Well, you asked me to take you as far away from campus as possible and I ended up bringing you five miles away—and to the typical place to eat for students, no less.”
Jennifer laughed.
“First of all, I certainly wasn’t expecting you to take me to another state—and believe me, that’s not even far enough tonight. Secondly, I don’t go out very much so this place is pretty new to me. I mean, I’ve been here a couple of times but definitely not enough to have tried everything cool on the menu.”
Ewen smiled. She certainly had a way of making him feel better. The confidence she exuded when she wanted to was nice and never too strong. He had never met someone that used their confidence to build other people up.
Jennifer examined the menu for a few minutes and then finally closed it, setting it aside. She looked around the restaurant, surprised by how quiet it was.
“This place is kind of empty tonight, isn’t it?” Ewen said.
“Yeah. They’re probably all at the Romero Center,” she said, looking back at him.
“Must be a pretty big thing to have emptied out this place.”
“Well, when there’s not a lot to do in the town you live in I guess a revival meeting is as big as it gets, especially at MVU.”
A waitress walked up to their table; a white pad and a pencil in her hands, ready to take their orders.
“You two ready?” the waitress asked, smiling.
Ewen looked over at Jennifer with a smile as she looked at the waitress.
“I’ll have the chicken fingers and a water please.”
“For you, sir?” the waitress asked, looking at Ewen.
“I’ll have the same, only make mine a Dr. Pepper,” he said collecting Jennifer’s menu and handing both of them to the waitress.
“Thanks. I’ll bring your drinks right out.”
The waitress walked off, leaving the two of them to connect again. Jennifer leaned in a little, a serious look on her face.
“What was it about Mountain Valley that made you apply here—I mean, if you don’t mind me asking?” she said.
“No, not at all. My Dad is a former pastor and I spent most of my life in church. To be honest, I guess I thought that I could study for a degree in a place that wasn’t that different from what I knew growing up,” Ewen said.
He could tell that his answer made sense to Jennifer. She seemed to relax a little.
“Safety. That’s pretty much what it boils down to.
That and fear of change,” he continued. “What about you?”
“All of my friends from my church back home came here,” she said, soundin
g a little nostalgic.
“That sounds nice.”
“It sounded nice. If I had known back then that college would change them all so much I wouldn’t have followed them here. Of course, I’m not silly enough to blame them. I made the decision on my own, but I guess I was just too naïve,” she said, looking down at the table.
The waitress arrived with their drinks, setting them in front of them. She placed some straws in the middle of the table.
“Your meals should be out shortly.”
Ewen gave the waitress a smile.
“Thanks,” he said.
She walked off, leaving them alone once more.
“To be honest,” Jennifer continued, “I don’t think I fit in here.”
She suddenly shook her head in disbelief.
“I’m sorry. That sounded so self-serving. I’m really not as whiny as that may have made me sound,” she said, looking at him ashamed.
“Actually, it didn’t sound like either of those things. In fact, I spend most of my time feeling out of place here too. I don’t know anyone here and you’re the only girl who hasn’t given me a weird stare,” he said, lifting his hands as if pleading his innocence.