Can I have a catch?

It's hard to forget that day. It was ten days before the beginning of a new school year. It was ten days before I began my official graduate work. And it was 10 days before my 22nd birthday. The sun was shining like only the sun in the mid-west in late summer can shine. It was at an angle, as it was well past noon and the leaves were slightly rustling in the wind that never stops blowing on campus. I was walking the mile towards ARC, the gym on campus reminding my shell of a self that I was happy and healthy and of course, that life would move on. It always moves on, with, or without you. I was at the lowest point on the scale by then. Imagine a 5 foot 10, athletic build of a young woman weighing in barely over 140. I'd stared at my peanut butter and strawberry sandwich earlier in the day trying to convince my stomach that it did in fact want sustenance. It had continued to be a losing battle all summer. But hell, my clothes were loose and I felt sort of like a supermodel, albeit a starved, shaking one. Clad in my black and green flip flops, those silly stretchy black capri yoga pants I could never seem to drop off at Goodwill and my lacy maroon tank-top, I skipped down the stairs to the main floor of the climbing wall and checked in. "Hey Sam! How's that castle problem you've been working on? Figured it out yet?" Frothingham (Froth for short) yelled out from behind the desk. "Not yet. But I'm working on it. I've got a long ways to go." I replied jovially. I still hadn't manged to work past 5.9's and it was a point of contention with myself I'd been working on. "Eh. You'll get it. Let me know if you need any help. I'm belaying later." "You bet! Thanks." I probably would ask him later for a catch, but I wasn't ready yet. I'd use the auto-belay for awhile. I hate depending on other people for help, even if it's expected of me. I walked past a few faces I knew after weeks of climbing and a few people I nonchalantly said hi to. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone and sat down on the bench to get my super tight shoes on and harness-up. I can honestly say whoever thought it was a brilliant idea to wear shoes that cut off circulation even before giving the wearer a blister, climbing; well they were on my list. Sadly I had succumbed to popular convention and had bought a pair of shoes two sizes too small for me. I'd suffered through them all summer. Wincing I stood up and went for the easiest of the auto-belay routes. I had to double check that I'd tied in, because once I had forgotten, climbed up 20 feet and realized my error. I had never instantly become that scared, but down-climbing had been a fete I wasn't eager to duplicate. Climbing up one hold at a time I could feel my muscles warming up and remembering what the whole climbing thing was about. After coming down and choosing one a little harder, my confidence was slowly building and I was ready to attempt the castle problem again. The only problem was I couldn't auto-belay on it. I needed help and hated asking for it. However, in normal climbing fashion, I walked up to a guy I'd seen around in the gym named Andrew and asked if he wouldn't mind belaying me. I offered to reciprocate the favor, but he said he'd already gotten a partner that day. I looked at the guy next to him who seemed almost to slink back on the bench with an intent look on his face. Fine I thought, it's just for this one catch anyways. The partner finally decided to introduce himself as Steve. For all that we would go through later, you'd think I would have remembered what he was wearing, or the overall impression he left on me. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I thought he was kind of short, but that's it. Funny the way memory works. "Nice to meet you", I said in my friendliest voice. I knew I was interrupting the normal two person climbing most people are used to and was anxious to re-attempt my most recent failure; well aside from losing my boyfriend to a tall, Viking-type, blonde skank. Eh, you can't win them all. After we had tied in, and I started climbing, I felt pretty good about myself. I was about halfway up when I reached the crux of the problem. I had to jump just a little bit to reach the next hand-hold, and up until then had continually come up short. It was sort of embarrassing, but everyone has to start somewhere. So I kept at it. This time, I went for it. My other hand slipped almost simultaneously as the other hand went up. I caught the hold I wanted, but lost my feet holds too. I was hanging from my one arm and to be honest, wasn't all that strong to begin with. I felt my shoulder do something quite strange, but didn't think too much of it. I gave up on that route after a few more tries, but got onto two other routes. The longer I climbed, the more my shoulder hurt. Eventually my pain threshold was reached and I said goodbye to the two guys and thanked them for climbing with me. I begged off more routes on account of my shoulder and went for a run instead. I flew up the two flights of stairs up to the running track that circled the majority of the building. I loved the expansive windows and the ability to check out the fitness class rooms, weight lifting area, outdoor pool and the indoor basketball courts. In the same moment I could feel completely alone and independent and yet an integral part of the campus machine. I laced up my shoes, did a quick stretch, and was off, running like a hamster blissfully unaware that it's going nowhere. Unaware that fate had other plans for me, I enjoyed the sun dipping toward the horizon and a good beat in my iPOD. I almost tripped over Steve on my 5th lap. I still think he almost ran into me to get my attention. "Hey. I just moved on to campus and don't really know anyone. I was wondering if you'd be up for grabbing a drink or food later on." he asked, without a hint of awkwardness. For the life of me, I had no idea why he'd want to get to know me of all people, but I agreed to give him my number and make plans later. I didn't have my phone on me, so it rang in the locker rooms somewhere. With nothing left to say, I took off to finish my run and he disappeared. I didn't even watch him go. Who was he anyways? What use were MBA students in the first place? Just guys with overstuffed egos! That's who.