It was disappointing to see the snow flakes fall in the middle of March. I had stopped bringing to a coat to class because I’d like to think that I’m hardly outside, and it only gets in the way and makes a click noise on my desk everytime I write because of the buttons on the sleeves. How dumb I am.
It had been two years at my new school and I felt as though no one noticed me. Well, I hadn’t exactly put in an effort. But there I was, walking around campus with my arms folded and pulled tightly to my body in a sad attempt to keep warm. I felt as though I could freeze right there. I wondered why I felt so cold when I’m usually tough in cool weather. I saw people pass me with their jackets on, oh, the envy. I couldn’t find a familiar building soon enough. I hated going to buildings without study spaces, or at least nice study spaces because then I can’t concentrate. So I kept walking. The cold was biting the tips of my ears and my nose as well. It burned my arms and ate my face. All I could think was warmth, warmth, warmth, warmth. That’s honestly the only thing that came to mind. So, it shocked me greatly when all of a sudden I heard a voice ask, “are you crazy?” and then a jacket was wrapped around me. It was Todd, from my chemistry lab group. “Todd?” I asked.
“What the heck are you thinking?” he asked, his voice getting louder. I couldn’t help but feel utterly confused on what was happening. Had he purposely followed me? When had he seen me without a jacket? And why did he have an extra? Well, not exactly an extra, but he had a pretty warm looking Columbia zip-up on.
“I…was just looking for a nice study space. I was going to go all the way to Liberty Hall.” I couldn’t help but feel like a child that was caught doing something bad and had to explain it to my father.
“Liberty Hall!? Are you insane? It’s only 15 degrees out! What are you trying to prove? That you will, indeed, get frost bite walking a mile in this weather without a jacket?” He sounded angry.
“Todd, first of all, calm down. People are gonna think something they shouldn’t. And second of all, what are you doing here? I’m just doing my own thing here. Why are you so worried about it?” I looked back at him waiting for a response but his face froze over and all of a sudden the tables turned. Now, he looked like a little boy caught red-handed.
“Well, I, uh, just noticed you walking without a jacket is all.” The words came out at the speed of lightning. “I just got worried because I know it’s cold out here and would hate if you ended up getting sick and missing lab and all. You know, because then it’d be hard to schedule a bunch of make-up labs and it can get hectic because then you might have to miss other events or move other things around and I know the trouble that can cause so, you see, I was only trying to help you avoid a catastrophe that could possibly occur sometime in the near future.” He gave a little half smile. I just smiled back at him and then couldn’t help but laugh. He started laughing too and then it died down. “Oh, hey, let me show you something.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the door to my immediate right. The heaters blasted in our faces as we opened the door and my body instantly began to thaw and my face thanked me greatly. It was the technology building I always walked through to get to my math class. “Why are we here?” I asked.
“Well, you still looked cold. And also because they have a great study area here that might agree with your standards so that you don’t have to walk all the way across campus just to get some homework done.”
“Oh, just thought I’d ask.” I still thought this was bizarre. I liked talking to Todd in lab but I had never talked to him outside of class. He led me around the building and then down a flight of stairs as I braced myself for the journey.