Carter (A short piece of writing)

The rough , western Pennsylvanian winter stiffens the joints in his body and fills his lungs with cold air from the blistering twenty mile per hour winds. The general population cringes at the thought of enduring this type of weather for more than a few moments, but he walks comfortably, content with the forecast despite the heavy snowfall. People passing by sense something off about him, one of those eerie feelings that resonate through a college classroom because of that one quiet kid's constant refusal to let out as much as a murmur. It's certainly not his appearance that causes it. If anything, the Ralph Lauren coat, Express sweater, and Timberland boots help to decrease the mystique surrounding him.

"Calm, cool, and collected. Bearing the wind like it ain't no thang,' said the current passer. He was a man dressed similarly to Carter, wearing an expensive outfit far out of his price range.

"Ha ha, yeah, I'm just doing me man," he replied, expecting the conversation to end there. Instead, the man stopped, clearly with different intentions.

"I'm guessing you're a student here at (i have no name for the college yet), right?"

"Yeah," Carter halfheartedly answered.

"Nice, me too."

Carter waiting for the man to continue while the man apparently waited for him to respond. A long pause ensued, making the situation more awkward for Carter than it already was. A strange guy initiated a conversation with him and basically forced him to take part in it; Carter obviously had no other choice than to assume that he is a homosexual.

"I know this is kind of weird, uhh, but I'm just having a bad day but I was wondering, umm, if maybe you would go to the cafe and eat with me or something?"

Carter was dumbfounded.

"Umm, why?"

"Like I said, I'm having a bad day, and I understand if you don't want to because I'm just some dude but I would really, really appreciate it."

The man was distant and spoke with desperation. His pupils were the size of baseballs and he never looked directly at Carter when he spoke. His eyes darted towards any sound his ears picked up. He was speaking fast and slurring his words. To say that he was hyper would be an understatement.