Before
I’ve just moved into a new house; the year before I had lived in residence. My time was spent in my room, at class or in the gym. Being shy makes life difficult; with friends I’m crazy, outgoing and loud, without them I’m the opposite, and hardly speak a word.
Spring is beginning and exams are coming to an end; time is running out to find a place to live in September. Asking everyone I feel comfortable enough to ask, which is only one person, the prospects seem bleak; he’s not coming back next year. Is this normal? After living with a group of 20 people for a year I feel uneasy asking any of them if they need a housemate. This is who I am, shyness isolates me.
One Sunday evening I run into David walking to the cafeteria. “Hey Sandy. You found a place to live in September?” Reluctantly I say, “Not yet. I haven’t even found housemates.” David smiles eagerly and says, “Well, I already have two housemates, but I’m sure they won’t mind. Plus it will be easier to find a four bedroom house anyways. Want to join us?” David is pleasant and so are the other house mates. Without any other offers this is my best bet, I accept without hesitation.
We spend a lot of time looking for a place to live; the university’s website has copious listings, so it doesn’t matter what you are looking for, you can find it. But even with lots of choices it is still difficult to find a place to live. A few times we find a place we like, but by the time we have a chance to check it out and make an offer it is already taken, so we move on. At last we find a listing that sounds perfect, so all of us, less David check it out. Liking what we see we tell David, he takes our words for it. Giving the landlords a call we take the house.
Before moving in there is one thing that needs to be done; we have to sort out rooms. At the top of the list is the basement, it’s the largest room and has its own washroom. No sharing. Drawing numbers from a hat I pull ‘one’ and choose the basement. No surprises here, this is the way it’s supposed to be. The shy guy with no friends gets the room that will isolate him the most from his housemates.
We all move in over the summer. The house is organized and ready to live in, it’s September and school starts on Monday. I had just arrived a couple hours ago; most of my stuff is still on the floor. David knocks on the door and starts to walk down the stairs, asking, “Want to go to a keg party? $10 all you can drink.” I’ve never been to a keg party before so this will be a perfect opportunity to go and meet some people. Without hesitation I say “Definitely.” David wants to catch the 9:45 bus, which gives me some time to clean up and do a little more organizing.
Looking across the room, red light emanates from the clock - it’s almost 9:30. Wearing faded blue jeans and a black hoodie I head upstairs to see if David is ready. Stepping out into the chilly September air we walk towards the bus stop; the sky is clear and the moon shines bright above our heads. It’s a short walk to the bus stop, we check out the neighbourhood. This is my first night in this part of town. Not knowing where anything is, I follow David; he knows where we are going.
The bus ride takes forever, the first trip always takes up a lot of time. As a child on family trips to grandma’s house it always seemed to take hours upon hours, “Are we there yet?!?!” Being older and able to tell time, I’ve come to realize it only takes forty-five minutes.
Exiting the bus at the mall, the side walk and terminal is filled with well dressed university students headed downtown for a night of drinking. Leaving the crowd, we walk across the parking lot. David points to a pile of townhouses, “That’s where we are going.” A low beat resounds off the townhouses in the complex; the closer we get, the louder the beat. The residences don’t seem to mind, most of them are students anyways. Turning a corner the hum of voices can be heard. We are getting closer to our destination.
The front door is opened and there are people in the backyard. David opens the door and we step in. The house is filled with drunken people. I recognize most of them from campus; unfortunately none of their names spring to mind. A moment later we bump into David’s friend, after a quick introduction he says, “$10 for a cup, there are three kegs and the beer is in the kitchen” as he points past us. Handing over my money, he pulls out a red party cup and writes ‘SANDY’ with a thick black permanent marker.
Keg parties are great. $10 for as much beer as you can drink, so it’s easy to get drunk, and there are tons of people to talk to. Plus if you’re shy it’s no longer a problem, after a few drinks liquid courage takes over and you are free to have a great time. David introduces me to his friends and I play with my digital camera. I’m having a good time getting to know some previously unknown people; most are from David’s home town which is a surprise, as it’s so small.
Later on in the night two of David’s good friends from home, Fiona and Lisa, show up. Last year David and I pre-drank in their residence room before heading downtown. Fiona was not there, she was never around on weekends, always going back home to see her boyfriend. I had met her once, briefly in the long dimly lit halls of residence.
We are reintroduced and get along well. I continue to drink beer and several times say, “$10 to get drunk, this is awesome!!” The night goes on and the crowd gets smaller; it’s time to leave. It is long after midnight and the buses are no longer running, it’s still summer and the weather is warm enough for walking. David and I say good bye, chugging what is left of my beer, I walk towards the door.
Fiona and Lisa decide to walk with us, a cab will be cheaper from our house. Most of the walk Fiona and I are side by side. We talk about the summer and discover that we have a lot in common. We both had similar summer jobs, working in a garden centre, different stores and towns, but both involved playing with plants and soil while working a cash register.
Along the way I ramble on about the cheap beer, “$10 for all you can drink. Keg parties are great!!” and take some pictures, occasionally pointing the camera at Fiona, she likes the attention. It isn’t as warm as it had been when we left the party; we can all see our breath. Fiona is only wearing a short sleeved shirt so I offer my warm hoodie. She is hesitant “Are you sure?” then with a shiver reaches for it; pulling it over my head I hand it to her. She smiles with a sigh of relief.
The walk takes well over an hour, it’s close to 4 am by the time we reach our house. Fiona and Lisa still have to get home, they are miles away so they call a cab. Fiona and I talk until the cab arrives. The bright glare of two bright headlights shines through the front window. I ask Fiona, “Can I call you some time?” She replies “Sure, David has my number”.
This is how it began.
