Well, Melissa asked me to write her a story so I did. Of course, when I asked her what kind of a story she said, "a what if story." Not much to go on and when prodded further, I could only get a genre out of it, romance. Sigh... but here's my response to it! I hope you enjoy! (And just for Melissa, you can post anonymously if you want ^_^)
Story Title: A Series of What if?
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1610
Summary: Many often ask the question, "What if and If only." So, what if a series of what if's visited two happy college students starting with a simple bump on the head?
Chapter 1: A Bump on the Head
By
Parsnip
The afternoon sunshine beat down on the open landscaping. Trees dotted the green swath of land providing a welcome relief to the hundreds of students traveling back and forth across its smooth surface intent on reaching their next class. It was a typical day for the majority of young adults intent on their studies or not so intent as many sunbathed on the open expanse of the quad or idly throwing Frisbees and playing catch. All in all, it was a perfect fall day with gentle breezes, warm sunshine, and the slow pace of men and women at leisure. But for one student, it was a day whose idle reflections were making her late, extremely late.
Running around in circles, Selendra could not believe she fell asleep at her desk reading up on Euthanasia for her Biomedical Philosophy class she was required to take as a premed student. It was important to her chosen field, and she fell asleep! Who would want a doctor without the moral fortitude to diligently study? No one, that was who. Shaking her head, Selendra grabbed her backpack and stuffed her casebook into one pocket with her notebook. Grabbing a pen off the desk, she stuck it into the back pocket of her jeans before scrunching her feet into her sneakers. Not bothering to tie the errant shoelaces, she dashed out the door without locking it. It would take to long to find her keys in the first place, and in the second, her roommate was on her way home from her last class of the day.
Sprinting down the hallway to the elevators, she skidded around the corner and punched the down arrow key. ‘C’mon,’ she thought tapping her fingers against her thigh as she bounced from one foot to the other. ‘What’s taking it so long?’
Gnawing at her bottom lip with her teeth, she nearly broke out in a cold sweat before the metal doors opened at last to reveal a packed elevator filled with students most likely returning from class. “Up or down?” she gritted out hoping it was traveling down rather then up. A preppy looking student pushed her way from the back to the front as another girl snapped, “Up.”
Rolling her eyes, Selendra watched the elevator door close and the preppy student turn down a different hall from the one Selendra had come running down moments before. People really didn’t mix with those on the other side of the building. It was a shame too. Reining her thoughts back from the sidetrack, she heard the elevator ping again as it settled on her floor. A smile adorning her lips, she rushed into the now empty elevator and punched the ground floor button.
Dropping her eyes to the floor, she gazed at the loose ends of her shoelaces before reality kicked in. Letting the force of gravity weigh her down, she sank to the floor and quickly tied first one foot and then the other. Barely finished, she heard the door open again to the loud chatter of more students waiting to return to the welcome air-conditioning of their rooms. Blushing, Selendra crawled out of the elevator as hordes of female students rushed in. Regaining her feet, she shoved her back-pack firmly back onto her shoulder before quickly exiting the dorm.
Walking at a fast clip down the street, she again berated herself for eating to much at lunch which caused her food coma induced nap. She hated being late for class. Everyone looked at you weirdly, and the professor gave you the evil eye. It almost made it worthwhile to just skip the class if one was more then five minutes late. She would be late by only fifteen minutes if she was lucky. Gauging the speed of on-coming cars and death-on-wheel buses, she took a chance and lurched into the street running. Slowing down a little after making it safely to the other side, she threaded her way between buildings, traveling towards the quad. If only she had taken her reading out there she might not have been running late. It was right outside of her class after all.
Coming up onto the quad, she gazed around at the happily oblivious crowd of students and mentally stuck her tongue out at them in spite. It just wasn’t fair! She began to weave her way in-between sprawled sorority chicks, hippie wannabes playing guitar, romantic lovers smooching on blankets providing visual smut for those interested in romance novels, and computer geeks typing away on PDA’s and laptops. Unnoticed by the blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl threading her way through a sea of loafers, a tiny and insignificant round ball was heading straight for her bobbing head.
Feeling a thud strike the back of her head, Selendra crashed to the pavement nose first. Wincing as the sting of prickly seeds bit into her palm and the sharp edge of bent grass pressing into her cheek, Selendra bitterly wondered just what else could go wrong that afternoon. Trying to focus her clouded vision, she heard the concerned shout of someone asking her if she was alright.
Snorting derisively, she rolled onto her back as one hand reached up to inspect the damage of the as yet unidentified flying object. Moaning at the tender flesh as her fingers prodded the egg-sized lump adorning the left side of her head, she frowned. Life just couldn’t get much worse.
“Are you alright?” panted someone as a young face hovered over her own. Sliding to his knees, he pulled the injured lady’s hand away from her head and gently ran calloused fingers over the wound. Relieved that the injury didn’t feel to extensive despite her flinching as his fingers brushed a particularly sensitive area, he turned his focus to the woman.
Gazing into a slightly round face lightly tanned and dotted sparsely with freckles, he held up two fingers. “How many fingers do you see?” he slowly asked hoping that concussion wasn’t on the list of things for him to feel guilty about. It was his baseball that hit her in the head. If only the ball hadn’t slipped out of his hands early, he might have avoided the accident. Instead, the ball fell far short of its chosen destination, his friend.
Swatting the hand away from her face where it was making her cross-eyed just trying to look at it, she snapped “Two” in reply.
The young man’s shoulders drooped in relief. She was fine albeit a bit testy at his lack of throwing skills. “Good,” he smiled standing to his feet. Extending one hand, he waited patiently to see if she would allow him to help her up.
Selendra gazed testily at the proffered hand. Glaring daggers at the brown-eyed boy dressed in black t-shirt and blue-jeans, typical fair of the everyday college student, she grabbed his hand and pulled on it as she struggled to her feet. Caught off guard, he felt his body jerk forward as his free hand clasped her wrist as an anchor and pulled. Making sure the cute-looking girl was steady on her feet, he bent down and retrieved the irresponsible baseball.
“I hope there’s no hard feelings,” he said as he wiped the dirt off the worn baseball attempting to avoid her eyes. He didn’t want to see the contempt in her eyes again since he felt guilty enough.
“I’m fine,” she said as she straightened her clothes and resettled her bag over shoulders. Mentally running a catalog of checks through her head, she inspected her arms, legs, stretched her back and neck for signs of pain. Concluding nothing out of the ordinary, she raised her eyes and gazed curiously at the fidgeting boy.
He looked to be about her age, but then most college students did. That put him somewhere between eighteen and twenty-two, although she thought he was most likely an upperclassmen like herself. Maybe a third or a fourth year to her third year. He was clean shaven allowing his strong chin to jut forward a little while his eyes crinkled naturally with the beginnings of laugh lines. It was a clean face, darkly tanned from long days spent in the sun. ‘He’s kind of cute,’ she thought allowing a small smile to grace her lips as her eyes quickly dipped to note his lean build.
The abrupt peeling of bells cut through her thoughts ringing the quarter hour. “Shit!” Turning her body away from the still shyly shuffling man, she began to walk towards her class which was about forty feet away from herself.
“Hey! Where are you going?” shouted the boy as he began to stride after the retreating female. He wanted to make sure she was really okay before letting her go. Besides, he wanted to find out what her name was before she disappeared for good.
“Cal!”
Cal hesitated between answering his friend or rushing after the injured girl. Turning briefly to look over his shoulder, he watched Gary running towards him.
“So what’s up with the girl?” he asked within normal hearing range.
“She say she’s fine.” Cal grimaced as he turned back to look for the girl. Scanning the crowd, he cursed softly. She was gone for good.
“Aw man,” said the short, compact blonde man. “She looked kind of pretty too. Anyways, let’s play some more catch.”
Cal frowned as he followed his friend back to their chosen turf. He didn’t like Gary thinking of the girl at all. He wanted to get to know her and him alone, not his friend. Sighing heavily, he stored the memory under ‘what if.’