Gary knew that during the late morning period all of his friends were either in class, or at home. Unlike several of his mates who he’d met in earlier years of his study, Gary lived a ways out of town with his parents still. It wasn’t the most fun thing in the world, but it was practical considering the costs associated with living in the college town.
Normally at this hour of the day he’d spend his time doing homework or some other productive activity to pass the time, but being so early in the semester he had nothing to do yet. His next class wasn’t for a while, so Gary figured he may as well grab lunch. He headed to the student union building where there was a decent cafeteria.
The crowd was fairly quiet. Surveying the room, Gary saw a number of students grouped together, catching up on what they did over their breaks, but there weren’t many tables that were taken. He didn’t mind, this way he wouldn’t have to fight for a seat. He took his time looking at the various vendors, but decided that he wanted a classic lunch, heading over to a burger and fries joint. The staff were polite as he ordered a combo meal, and waited for the meal to come to him. It wasn’t a long wait until he was handed a platter. He thanked the server and headed over to an isolated table to sit down.
Gary’s parents had always instilled manners in him to quite a strong degree. There were very few foods that they thought were appropriate for eating with hands. Still, nothing prepared Gary for when he took a bite of his fries and felt a distinct crunch with a slightly vinegary flavor to it. He coughed, trying to keep his mouth shut, and forced a swallow. He looked down at his platter, seeing the salad that he had just choked on.
It looked different, somehow. There was the salad that he was eating, of course, but there was also a cutlet of pork surrounded by rice on a large plate, and some cheese squares off to the side. He didn’t remember making such an order, but at he looked up from his plate to see where he bought from, Café au France, he wondered what other types of food they would even sell. Sure, it was college standard, far from authentic, but it was good, and healthy. It was easy to eat junk on campus all day when he didn’t have his own kitchen to go to.
Still, as he ate, he couldn’t help but think over Dr. Martinez’ comments after class and how well he seemed to know Gary already. It made him uncomfortable, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. After all, it wasn’t like he had said anything out of the ordinary. He absolutely did have the student registry to access. Maybe he was just a particularly keen professor? Gary couldn’t think of anything about himself that stood out though. He was just a guy.
His phone buzzed, a message from one of his friends, Matt. “You’re in KINE341, right?”
He jogged his memory. Right, intermediate biomechanics! Gary quickly texted an affirmative, and then noticed the time. 1:02 PM. Jeeze, he was going to be late. He quickly grabbed his bag and placed his tray of empty food on the nearby receptable, running off to meet Matt for the upcoming class. He could make it with a couple of minutes to spare at this rate. Still, he cursed himself for getting lost in his own thoughts as he made his way across campus.