Big Nick Energy (Tales from Hamilton University)

Chapter 1

One

“ S o, I’m standing in the back of the crowd because I came late,” I started the story for the hundredth time. “And I feel this presence next to me. I glance over and it is the sexiest man I’d ever seen in my life.” I leaned forward and emphasized my point with my fingers. “In. My. Life. My jaw dropped in real life. And then he smiled at me. When I smiled back, he leaned down and whispered?—”

“How are you liking it so far?” Paris Brown interrupted mocking a deep baritone voice and rolling her eyes. “You tell this story at least once a year.”

Waving my hand to hush her, I continued despite her apparent annoyance. “I nodded and told him it was good. And he locked eyes with me and said good. But it wasn’t just the fact that he said good. It was the way he said good.”

Paris looked around my bedroom comically. “Asha, why are you telling me this?”

“Because it’s key to our weekend. Now listen…” I shook my hands and continued. “So, we’re still staring at one another when everyone starts clapping. He licked his lips and said, ‘wish me luck’ before he strolled to the front of the stage. All eyes were on him. My eyes were glued to him.” I put my hands to my chest. “And then he goes on to give the most impassioned speech about making tech more accessible for kids from low-income families and I just…I just swooned.” I closed my eyes and sighed. “I fell for him right then and there. And then when he finished, this girl ran up, threw her arms around him and kissed him.”

“Evie, his girlfriend.”

When I opened my eyes, I found my best friend looking at me like I’d just grown a second head. I put my hands on my hips and cocked my head to the side. “Where is your compassion?”

“Where is your sense?”

I laughed, grabbing the last outfit I needed to try on. “Shut up!”

“I know this story though, Asha. And you know you’ve told me this story a million times.”

“I—”

She interrupted. “You met the homecoming king, realized he was more than just good looks, and then he ran over to his homecoming queen girlfriend, and they rode off into the sunset together.” She lifted her hands up in surrender. “Respectfully.”

I sighed loudly even though she wasn’t wrong.

I crossed paths with Nick often after I joined his community enrichment group. But I only admired him from afar. We had a couple of brief conversations outside of the club, but for the most part, we were just friendly acquaintances. I was never on his radar, and I was too shy, too self-conscious, and too inexperienced to even try to get on his radar. But ten years had passed, and things changed.

I’m a grown ass woman now.

“I needed our origin story to be fresh in your mind, so you’ll understand that our plan to take over homecoming and make it memorable has changed.” I took a step closer to her. “The new plan consists of us getting the men of our college dreams.”

“What?” she gasped.

“Carpe diem.”

“What the actual fuck, Asha?”

“I was talking to my grandma yesterday and she said something that she always said but this time, for whatever reason, it hit different. It’s been in my head for the last twenty-four hours.”

“What did she say?”

I paused for dramatic effect. “She said when you have faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing is impossible. And it hit me… if Nick and Tuck are single, why shouldn’t we shoot our shot with them?”

Paris’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Faith of a mustard seed.”

“You have lost your mind. What is your plan?”

“I’m glad you asked!” With a wide grin, I took another step forward. “So, I’m going to position myself at the panel so that Nick sees me and then I’m going to lock eyes with him like we did all those years ago. And then when it’s over, he’s going to be walking past me and I’m going to tell him it was good. He’s going to remember me and”—I fanned my fingers out, mimicking an explosion— “BOOM! Fireworks!”

She shook her head in disbelief. “So, the plan is to be delusional?”

I laughed. “The plan is to catch his attention and engage.”

With a straight face, she asked, “Do you have a backup plan?”

“I have three or four backup plans. Plan A is to get him to fall in love with me?—”

“What if you get to know him and he isn’t who you’ve made him out to be?” she interrupted.

“Then I’ll shift to Plan B—have sex with him.”

Paris giggled.

“Plan C—get him to kiss me,” I continued. “And Plan D—get him to ask for my number.”

“I love how the plans start high at love and then drop to you settling for exchanging numbers,” Paris laughed.

“But it all starts with catching his eye.” I turned around in the faux leather leggings I’d just hopped into. “How does my ass look in this?”

“I mean, it looks good.” She looked at my open suitcase on the floor and then back up at me. “But how many outfits are you taking with you?”

“Ten. At least.” I pointed at her. “And you should be taking at least ten, too.”

“For three days, Asha?” My best friend’s eyebrows flew up. “You don’t think you’re taking this too far?”

I put my hands on my hips. “Too far? Too far?” I shook my head, my lightweight hoop earrings bumping each cheek as I swung my head from left to right. “I might not be taking things far enough!” I dropped to my knees in front of my suitcase and held up outfit after outfit. “When I see Nick at the panel, at the networking mixer, at this mystery kickback that was alluded to on Jason’s page, at the brunch, at the game, at the party, at the picnic, at the?—”

“Okay, okay,” she interrupted, rolling her eyes. “I get it. You want to look good for Nick.”

I stood up and turned to face the mirror. “I sure do.”

“Are you going to finally tell him how you feel?”

“I sure am.” Swinging around, I faced her. “And while I’m doing that, you need to tell Tuck how you feel. I didn’t shoot my shot with Nick because he had a girlfriend, so I was in the friendzone. Actually, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t even a friend. I was just zoned. Tuck, on the other hand, was in most of your classes and single. You chose to be in the friendzone.”

“It’s not even like that with me and Tuck. I laid that crush to rest a long time ago.”

“Mm hmm. Well, you saw him every day for two years and you didn’t say anything to him. Don’t make that same mistake this weekend.”

Shifting her eyes and looking down bashfully, she replied, “If I see Tuck at homecoming, I'm going to say something.”

“I’m going to hold you to it.”

“Anyway,” Paris segued. “Why are you planning this elaborate meet-cute with a married man? That’s not your style.”

“That’s why I called you earlier.” I walked over to her with the biggest grin. “They aren’t together anymore!”

“I know you always hope that man is single but?—”

“No, it’s confirmed,” I interrupted gleefully. “Social media confirmed it!”

She paused, cocking her head to the side with pursed lips. “You sound a little too excited for someone’s marriage to be over.”

I immediately frowned. “When you put it like that, it sounds bad.” I reached for her hand. “Let’s bow our heads for a moment of silence.”

“Stop it!” She cackled, slapping my hand away. “I’m just saying you sounded a little too happy for someone’s sad news.”

“I’m excited he’s single again.” I pointed my freshly manicured finger at her. “There’s a difference.”

“Oh God,” she groaned in amusement.

“And, he’s not divorced. His engagement fell apart before the wedding,” I explained.

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“But it doesn’t make it worse.”

She laughed. “Anyway, so now that Nick is single again, how are you going to make your move? Beyond making eye contact.”

I peeled off the leggings and stepped out of them. “I haven’t fully decided yet…”

Nick Williams spent his college years dating a string of slim-thick sorority girls that looked like carbon copies of each other. He was always warm and friendly, but each time he looked at me like he was meeting me for the first time.

I left no impression on him whatsoever.

Between the braces, my chubby, child-like cheeks, my teeny weeny fro, and excess body fat, I chalked it up to me not being his type. But then, a year after graduation, he popped up engaged to a plus-sized beauty. And I realized the whole time I was second-guessing my chances with him because of my size, I didn’t have to.

That realization changed everything for me.

I stopped hiding behind oversized clothing and the desire to shrink my body in front of traditionally attractive men. I stopped allowing myself to believe the men I desired wouldn’t be attracted to me. I refused to embrace the idea that I was unworthy of love, respect, and kindness because of my weight. The moment I changed my mind set about how other people saw me, I moved through the world differently. But with my confidence sky-high, I started living my best dating life.

From the time I turned twenty-three, I got every man I ever set my sights on. Granted, I also developed my style and had my own personal glow up. But it was my confidence that changed the game for me. And after almost ten years since I first laid eyes on him, I planned to get Nick Williams, too.

“But proximity is everything,” I concluded.

Her eyebrows flew up. “So, you’re just gonna show up everywhere he is?”

A slow smile spread across my face. “Something like that.”

“How are we going to even know where he is?”

“He’s on the panel on Friday, so he’s definitely going to be at the mixer. Everyone will be at the game on Saturday afternoon. And his fraternity is hosting the party on Saturday night so he will definitely be there.” I shrugged. “And by that time, he should be mine.”

“I love you,” she giggled with a shake of her head. “I wish I could be so bold.”

“You can!”

“No, I can’t. I could never be so confident in a plan to get with a man in three days knowing he doesn’t remember me.”

“I’m about to jog his memory!”

“It’s the delusion for me.”

Laughing, I tossed a pair of rolled up socks at her. “Shut up!”

Paris and I had been best friends since our freshman year in college. Our friendship was automatic and the last ten years had only made us closer. Even though our personalities were different in so many ways, I was thankful that the housing gods paired us as roommates.

As we concluded our conversation an hour later, Paris asked, “What time do you want me to be here in the morning?”

“Get here by nine thirty and we’ll leave at ten o’clock. Hopefully everyone will be at work and off the highway, so it’ll be a quick hour drive. We’ll do an early check-in, get changed, and then do a late lunch before the panel.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t tell me every second of the weekend is accounted for.”

“Not every second.”

“You overplan.”

“I’m overprepared.” I put my hands on my hips. “And have my plans ever steered you wrong?”

Walking out of my room with a laugh, she shook her head. “Not yet, but sometimes a bitch just wants a nap.”

“I’ve factored in naps!”

“Don’t try to preplan my naps!”

We joked our way to my front door before saying our goodbyes. As soon as Paris was gone, I grabbed my phone and plopped down on my bed.

“Okay my clothes are packed,” I said aloud, reading my checklist. “My makeup bag… my shoes… my toiletries…” With a self-satisfied grin, I erased the note in my phone. “All packed and ready to go!”

Kicking my feet up, I started scrolling social media. Most of my timeline was full of college classmates excitedly posting about homecoming events. The number of people hyping up the sold-out SONs party on Saturday night made me even more excited. It never failed that the SONs brought out the women and the women brought out the men.

Of all the fraternities on campus, Sigma Omicron Nu, better known as SONs, had some of the sexiest men on campus. It wasn’t just my opinion. Senior year, there was a school wide poll that came to the same conclusion. And from what I could tell via social media, they just got sexier as the years passed.

I went to Jason Russell’s post again and clicked on his profile. He was in my communications class during my sophomore year. We didn’t really know each other but we followed each other on social media. His post about the party at the lake was how I found out about the party. His pictures from an event a few months ago alerted me to Nick’s single status. I scrolled until I got to the series of photos that were taken back in February.

“Mm mm mm,” I intoned under my breath as I clicked on the picture with Jason, Nick and Tuck.

Jason captioned the picture with the words: Single SONs. Someone named Louise commented that they were sorry to hear that Nick and his fiancée ended things. A few women were shooting their shots in the comments, but there was no sign of Nick anywhere. He hadn’t been on social media for over a year. But because his name was on the list of panelists, I knew he was going to be at homecoming.

And I was prepared to make my move.

“Good morning,” I sang into my cell phone first thing Friday morning.

“You’re way too chipper,” Paris groaned. “I haven’t had my coffee yet.”

“And you’re not chipper enough! You know Tucker Bell is going to be at homecoming too, right?”

“I’m over him,” she lied.

“I hear the smile in your voice,” I teased.

“He probably doesn’t even remember me.”

“It doesn’t matter if he remembers you or not, when he sees you, he’s going to want to get to know you all over again. He’s the man of your dreams!”

She giggled. “Stop trying to make me just as delusional as you. One of us needs to be grounded in reality this weekend. We both can’t be out here chasing?—”

“We aren’t chasing anything.” I shook my head. “We are going after what we want and giving them the opportunity to get it right this time around.”

“You didn’t know Nick like that and Tuck knew me and still didn’t express any interest. What makes you think it’ll be different this time around?”

“Because before we thought it was impossible to get with them. And now we know it’s not.”

“What do you mean we ? I still think it’s impossible to get with Tuck.” She let out a short, light laugh. “Again, Tuck knew me and didn’t want me. I don’t have the same capacity for delusion as you do.”

“Well then this is the weekend to be delusional.”

“I don’t think so…”

“Promise me you’ll throw caution to the wind.”

“No.”

“I think you’re scared.”

“You damn right I’m scared!”

“Paris…”

“Asha, seriously. I’m cool with helping you enact your plan to get Nick. I fully support it and will help you with whatever you need to make sure it happens. But I let go of my crush on Tuck a long time ago.”

I pursed my lips even though she couldn’t see me.

She definitely still checked his social media pages whenever she was single. And whenever his name came up, a giddy little smile graced her pretty face. I had a hard time understanding why she didn’t believe she could get Tuck. But I was determined to make sure she knew she could get him or any other man she wanted this weekend. It was time to rewrite our college days.

“This is going to be a good weekend,” I assured her gently.

“Yeah, I agree. I think it’ll be fun.” A beeping noise rang out in her background. “My coffee is ready.”

“Your new coffeemaker has really saved you a lot of money.”

“It really has! Okay so, I’m going to load up my car and I’ll be at your place in like thirty minutes.”

“That’s cool. See you soon!”

We got off the phone and I bounded across the room to get my stuff. I moved my bags to the living room and then got dressed in my yoga pants and sports bra. Grabbing an off the shoulder sweatshirt, I pulled it over my head and then pulled my boho knotless braids that were caught in the collar. Taking a step back, I turned around to check out how my ass looked in the pants. Just in case Nick happened to be in the same hotel as us, I wanted to make sure I made a good impression.

“And this should do it,” I whispered, acknowledging the way the purple yoga pants with orange piping conformed to my shape.

The orange sweatshirt brought out the red undertones of my brown skin. I didn’t put on makeup, but the excitement of the weekend gave me a natural glow. My naturally thick eyelashes made my chestnut brown eyes stand out. My high cheekbones and natural resting bitch face made me look like a model in pictures. But in real life, I was told I looked unapproachable and intimidating—until I smiled.

A slow smile crossed my face.

Nick won’t know what hit him.

Thirty minutes later, I was just finishing my bagel as I heard a car pulling into the driveway. I grabbed my bags and opened the door. Paris smiled as she got out of her car.

“Were you waiting for me by the door?” she joked.

“You know I like to be on time,” I responded, rolling my eyes. I unlocked the doors and hit the button to access the cargo space in the back. “What can I say? I’m timely.”

“Or is it that you’re in a rush to see a certain somebody?”

We loaded up the trunk with our belongings. “I’m just excited about homecoming.”

“Is homecoming code for Nick?”

“Homecoming is code for Nick’s dick.”

We laughed as we climbed into my SUV.

Before I started the engine, I took a selfie of us and then connected my playlist to the speakers. As soon as the throbbing beat of our favorite song started thumping, we simultaneously moved our shoulders to the beat.

Looking over at my best friend, I grinned. “It’s time for us to rewrite history. Because this time, we get the guy.”