Mistop #4: Carz

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Carz was a student I knew during my first semester at Eastern New Mexico University. I would see her from time to time at the Theatre. She was the sister of a sophomore student in the department. She had a very pretty face, large eyes and long dark hair. She also had a very sultry voice. She was noticably overweight, which was why I didn't pay her much heed the first few times that I saw her.

We first got to know each other during auditions for "The Threepenny Opera." She had come over to the lobby, where I was hanging out. She sat down and we started talking. We discussed a number of topics, including religion and Christianity. I found out she was 21, which surprised me because she was also a freshman, which would have put her behind her younger sister. After about a half hour, she asked, "So when are they starting the auditions?" I told her, "Oh, the auditions are being held at the music building next door." She immediately scrambled out because she had signed up for a specific time to audition and missed that slot. Fortunately, they let her go ahead and audition. She did not get cast. Neither did I.

A few weeks later, I was hanging out at the Campus Union Building on a Saturday. I was sitting on a couch outside the AM radio station. Carz was inside and she saw me through the window. She waved at me to come into the station. I went inside. She was tearing wire copy off the AP printer. She was going to do a newscast at a local radio station that was part of our Broadcast Workshop. On Saturday nights after 10pm, they allowed students to produce their own programming and she had been asked to do the news that night and might do the news the next few weeks.

But she didn't have a way of getting to the station, which was way over on the other side of town, about five miles. Guess what? I had a car! She was glad she ran into me. The only problem was that she had to be at the station at 10pm, so we were going to have to wait five hours before we went out there. We basically hung out that whole time.

We went over to Safeway so she could get some stuff. We ran into her sister and her boyfriend there. They were buying groceries for a huge dinner they were planning to make. When they got to the check-out, their total came to more than $100. They were laughing and shaking their heads, but still bought the food. We parted at the store. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that after we left, the boyfriend might have asked the sister, "Hey, is there something going on between Fayd and your sister?"

Then we took the items that we purchased over to the Catholic Student Center. She had bought the food for a potluck and she was going to make lasagna. There was a guy there watching TV. I recognized him because he was always at the cafeteria first thing in the morning before breakfast, just like I was. It was nice to finally get to know his name.

It finally got close to 10pm. We started driving toward the station. I didn't know where the station was, but she said it was outside of town a little ways. I saw the radio towers and we were able to find it. We went in and the guy running the show seemed a little surprised that she was there. She told him she was supposed to do the news that night and it may become a regular feature of the program. She told me to come back around midnight to pick her up.

This whole time I was wondering if something unusual was going to happen between us. I thought about the possibility of the two of us kissing and maybe that might lead someplace unexpected. I had to admit that I didn't have a problem with her weight. I was just trying to figure out if she had some smarts.

I went home and listened to the radio. I heard her read the news only one time. I went back out before midnight to pick her up. She said the guy didn't really feel like the news was a good fit on the show, so he wasn't going to have her come back again. She didn't really seem disappointed, but it meant I wouldn't be driving her there every week. I actually thought that was going to happen.

After that, we went to her dorm so she could change clothes. I stood in the sink area while she got out of her dress and changed into a blouse and blue jeans. (This was the only time in college I got to go inside a girl's dorm room that wasn't at the co-ed hall.) We then went to see this guy friend of hers. He was also someone I had seen around campus, but never really got to know. He was very well-groomed and wore nice clothes. I wasn't entirely clear on whether or not he was her boyfriend. They didn't act lovey-dovey like a couple, but seemed to enjoy hanging out. They smoked some pot in my presence.

We drove back and I dropped her off at her dorm. She asked me to call and wake her up the next morning. I think it was so she could go make the lasagna at the Catholic Student Center. I went home and taped notes up all over my room reminding me to call her at a certain time. When that time came, I called her, but she was already awake. She thanked me, but didn't have anything else to say.

We never hung out any more after that. I never tried to call her again. A few days later, one of the other students who worked at the AM station in a supervisory position was complaining about several of the students in the workshop. He said he didn't like going in there when Carz had her shift because he didn't want to be seduced on the air. He also said that when she was on, "Mr. GQ" was always hanging around. This made me think even more that he was her boyfriend. And I guess I could have just asked, but I wanted to try to get solid confirmation without having to ask a direct question and get a direct rejection.

I later found out something disturbing about Carz that made me realize that I had dodged a bullet by not becoming romantically involved with her. As I've mentioned before, she and my friend Kird were at a party earlier in the semester. They both got drunk and high. They started having sex in front of everybody at the party. Kird eternally regrets the incident. However, I would have felt even worse if I had slept with her and then found that out. I probably never would have wanted to have sex with anyone else again for fear that Kird may have gotten to them first.

(Yes, I know I pledged celibacy at that age, but I have a feeling she would have been able to coax me out of it.)

Carz did not return to school the next semester. She never did come back, except for a couple of times the next year when she came to see her sister at the Theatre. We would exchange "Hi, how are you doing?" but that was it. I never saw her again my final two years in college.

I have been able to find her on Facebook. She lives in Grand Junction, CO, where she owns and operates a hair and skin salon. She got married and appears to have had one daughter. She looks about the same size as when I knew her.

However, I got a fascinating glimpse at what she used to look like just a few years before I met her. She was not always overweight. She was a very stunning young woman when she was in high school. Her eyes were absolutely piercing at an intensity that simply was not present when I first met her. I can only imagine the attention she got from guys in high school. That also would have driven me up the wall if I had started dating her and saw what she used to look like. I would have been wondering if there was some way we could get her back to that size.

And I guess there was. She also posted photos of her when she was 31 years old, and she had lost the weight. She looked really good at that time, too. I imagine she gained the weight back after she gave birth.

In the end, there are a number of reasons I'm glad this went no further than that one night. There are other women that I wish had ended after hanging out only one time, but I'll get to them much later.