Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 14:58:21 -0800 From: Domenico Aquinas Subject: Dodd Hall, Part 1 Usual disclaimers apply. Please do not read if you are not allowed materials like this. Like many other authors here at one point, this is my first attempt at writing a story of this nature. Please feel free to comment. Dodd Hall By: domenico "Hey, so when do you wanna see a play? How about Doll House? Its gonna be in campus," the message read after the instant message window popped up on my laptop. "When is it gonna be?" I replied to my stepbrother. "Friday the 17th," He said. "I can't. My mom doesn't leave until the Wednesday after that. I'm all yours after that though." "LOL! Better!" "How about Friday the 24th?" I asked. "BARF! I'm working that night." "Well, like I said, any day after Wednesday will work for me," I told him. He recently turned 20. We were supposed to go out for his birthday but conflicts in schedules kept popping up. We decided to postpone it until everything cleared up. He's a total hottie. 5'8", short, almost shaved black hair and a fantastic body from swimming and running. He was in this year's marathon as a matter of fact. He's a junior in college and doing great as far as academics are concerned. He is also the sibling I am closest to. We have the most things in common - interests in the arts, particularly writing. He is also picking up an interest in photography and filmmaking . . . things that I took up when I was in college. We also enjoy criticizing movies and make up the most random things for alternate endings or what not. Needless to mention, I enjoy his company a lot. He is spontaneous and very easy to talk to. He is one of the very few people who I never need to explain myself to. "How about December 2nd?" he continued our chat. "Sounds good to me!" I replied. I then logged off after saying our goodbyes. Damn, that's more than two weeks away. Any wait is too long when its him that I'm meeting up with. I just can't wait. Two weeks went by and its finally the day of the show. I hadn't scheduled anything else for the day that way it was s a nice, relaxing day for me. At around 4:00 PM, I went online to check on my email. I saw that his screen name was online. I was about to send him a message when a message window from him popped up. "So how do you wanna do this?" he asked. " Well, did you wanna grab something to eat before the show?" "Up to you." "Ok, well, why don't we just go drive-thru at In n Out? "Sounds good." "So where do I pick you up?" I realized that I haven't been to his new place, which he rents with other schoolmates. "Veteran and Levering. Pick me up at the corner." he said. "At the corner? Like a hooker?!" I joked. "LOL! Yeah." "Alright. I'll be there in 20 minutes." I typed in. Then I logged off, got my keys and headed out the door. The drive to his street corner was uneventful. Just the usual bottlenecks at some streets. I sent him a text message saying that I was about 20 minutes away. That way, he has enough time to walk to the street corner. When I got there, he got in my car and we drove to campus, stopping at the drive-thru to get some food. He then directed me to a parking structure. We found a spot and sat in the car a while eating our food. After we finished, he wanted to show me around "his" side of the campus. We walked past Melnitz Hall and the Freud Playhouse through a park and then some streets. We were walking on the side walk when he pointed out the Public Policy Building to the left . . . we walked down the path further then he said "Let's go see the Law Building!" "Ok," was all I could muster. It was obvious that he was proud. I've never seen this side of him before. It seemed all too recent when he found out that he got accepted to UCLA and was disappointed because it was not his first choice. But I don't see any disappointment tonight. "Hmmm . . . seems more architectural than judicial to me," I said. "Hahaha! Shut up!" We walked up the stairs towards the building doors only to find out that they were closed. Someone from inside asked us if we needed in but we said no. So we walked back down and headed back for the Freud Playhouse. He was walking a few steps in front of me when he suddenly turned into a walkway between the buildings. Of course I had no choice but to follow him seeing that I didn't have the slightest idea where I was. After a few steps, I noticed how it got totally dark and secluded. It was the area between Dodd Hall and the Law Building. An atrium of sorts between the two structures. He stopped to look at a bulletin board. I did the same. As we were reading stuff posted on the board, I unconsciously drew closer to him until our arms touched. "Hey," he said. "I'm so--," I was cut off with a pair of lips on mine. I was shocked. He pulled away and started apologizing. But I cut him off this time by pulling his face towards mine and kissed him. He kissed back. I savored the moment. Closing my eyes and leaving everything to my senses. It was the most wonderful kiss. Soft and unhurried, it was something new and yet it felt familiar, it felt right. I brought my hands down to his back and pulled him closer as our tongues played with each other. I broke it off and told him we'd better be getting to the auditorium or we'd miss the play. He agreed and as he was walking away, I playfully grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in for another kiss. It was short but sweet this time. The walk to the auditorium was as normal as it could get. It was as if nothing happened back there in the dark. We stopped at sculptures and tried to figure out what it meant. Again, we made up stuff about the pieces of art that only crazy people could come up with. One thing was obvious though, we were walking slower and closer to each other. Obviously wanting the walk to last longer. This is it for now. Feel free to email: domenico@inbox.com