Feature: Giving it the Old College Try @ Kindly State U

It was a slow night – rare for a Friday. The school week would usually end with a blow-out party involving lots of beer and girls with questionable morals, but most of the guys were busy doing other things this weekend. His roomie and leading partner in crime, Kurt, was off campus at a Van Halen concert and Calvin was not a fan of their work. It looked like it was going to be a quiet one. He had grown tired with the antics of most of the names in his Little Black Book and with nothing on the tube (not even a rerun of Baywatch) he decided to get some air and take a brisk walk around the grounds.

After rummaging around the clean clothes pile and emerging with a shirt that smelled okay he stepped out of the house into the warm evening air. He turned left at the end of the driveway, starting on a counter-clockwise circuit around the campus in the direction of the Financial Aid Building (FAB). Walking past the Red Hall Girls Dorm he reminisced on the party of three he’d had behind the sports and events center with the girls from room 10-B.

Passing Nicolo’s pizzeria Cal’s stomach grumbled. He thought of bypassing the pizzeria altogether to head straight for the fridge and cold, frothy beer when he glanced in the window glimpsed two cute girls sharing a pizza in the empty restaurant. His immediate instinct: game mode on. He primped for a moment then sauntered inside, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

He ordered a panzarotti to-go and paid. Acting as though he was just noticing the other patrons, Cal turned, leaned up against the counter – effortlessly looking in the direction of the girls, catching the brunette’s glance. He faked a double-take and smiled at her. Classic move. She giggled and nudged her blond friend, whispering something inaudible. Our boy had never seen these two before. Probably transfer students. Fair game.

Mustering up his mojo he made a charming comment directed at the duo (something like “What is the world coming to when two beautiful ladies are spending Friday night in a pizzeria?”). When they laughed he took it as his signal to walk over and introduced himself, asking if he could share their booth and striking up conversation on their majors. They were both sophomores and didn’t oppose his company. Rosanna, the brunette, was a cosmetology student and her friend Rebecca was studying early childhood education.

By the time the pizza chef returned with the steaming panzarotti bag Rebecca excused herself to do “laundry”, leaving Cal alone with the giggly Rosanna, who liked surfing, listening to the Plain White T’s and twirling her hair (apparently). He had pretended not to notice the game of footsie going on between the two of them under the table that had led to the blond’s sudden exit. He had this one in the bag.

Not long after Rebecca’s goodbye the pizza chef left his station – probably for an extended smoke break out back. Rosanna got a little comfortable and took off her collegiate sweatshirt and flipped her hair, batting her eyes at Cal, who smiled and continued to play it cool. With himself and Rosanna alone in the restaurant he laid it on thick and romantic. She seemed to be impressed by the fact that he was an English major. He recited some Khalil Gibran from The Beloved.

“I am a lost human heart, imprisoned in the foul dungeons of man’s dictates; tied with chains of earthly authority, dead and forgotten by laughing humanity whose tongue is tied and whose eyes are empty of visible tears.”

Within minutes they were lip locked against the wall leading to the restroom. As things became heated Rosanna’s cell phone interrupted. It was Rebecca. Apparently a laundry emergency – someone’s red undies getting mixed with the whites. An obvious cock blocking move. She gave Cal her phone number, said she was free Tuesday night and ran off, giving him the “call me” gesture before running through the door. Breathing a sigh of disappointment he picked up his take-out bag from the table to head back to his room … alone. Just as it seemed that all hope had been lost a leggy brunette walked through the door. Cal’s jaw dropped. She was a flawless 10. Rosanna who?

With the pizza chef was still missing in action, Cal worked fast, moving in for small talk. He commented to the modelesque enchantress that the attendant had been missing for quite some time and was probably closing up shop, as it was nearing 11:00 P.M. He offered to share his uneaten meal with her down by the beach adjacent to the frat house. She smiled and reluctantly accepted after he averred that he was not a stalker and could provide her with references.

The waves of Lake More Superior lapping against the sand provided a romantic backdrop as they ate and talked. Adora. She was a Chilean exchange student and her accent was smoking hot. Cal said something dorky in Spanish about burros to make himself look silly. She laughed. The joke acted as a catalyst and got her talking. Having recently enrolled at Kindly because of the forensic science program Adora didn’t know many students and was feeling a little homesick. Cal cozied up, giving her a sympathetic snuggle and offered his services as her personal tour guide.

By the time the clock struck midnight they were back in his room getting ready for a frivolous game of strip Go Fish (she didn’t know how to play poker), which Cal resolved in his head that he would intentionally throw in her favour. Losing hand after hand she smirked at his “bad luck”. As he stood up to remove his pants he tripped as he removed a leg, almost falling. He turned it into a sexy Elvis dance (thanking Flight of the Conchords for the novel idea). Adora giggled and blushed.

The next morning he groggily opened his eyes. The sun wasn’t even up yet. Cal fully expecting to awake to see a sleeping beauty on the other side of his bed. She was gone, having left before he had an opportunity to sneakily take her photo for the ‘Wall of Shame’. Next time. And he was certain there would be a next time.

» Create your own collegiate storyline at the Kindly State University
» Tour KSU with the SL Mean Girls
» KSU’s Flickr photo group

Kindly State University is a college roleplay sim that opens to players on Wednesday, October 17th.
Players must register for access to the sim. For FAQ, updates and info on how to apply (and all the perks that come with) visit www.kindlystate.com.

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Kindly Press:

• Get a (Second) Life: “RP: Kindly State University” (Oct 31, 2007) *Portuguese*
• Higher Ed Marketing: “Fake U on SecondLife” (Oct 27, 2007)
• Massively (MMOs): “Kindly State University – School is back in session” (Nov 19, 2007)
• SLCN.tv: That’s S’Life (Oct 25, 2007)
• The Wired Campus: “Make-Believe College Emerges in Second Life” (Oct 26, 2007)