University of Tampa Student Directory
Name: Skylar M. Masterson
Email: [email protected]
Nickname: Skye
Birthday: June 23, 1982 Age: 20
From: San Diego, California
Major: English Literature and Creative Writing
Prospective Grad. Date: Spring 2004
Involved In: The Minaret - editor and web designer; Quilt staff member; work-study program (Library Division and Athletics Department); Honors Council
Dorm: Vaughn Center Roommate: Kasey Thompson
Known For: �Getting run down in the dorm because she has her nose in a book� - Robert Harrison
�Arguing with Mr. Jamison all class, every class� - Shane McAllister
�Writing some of the most controversial yet well liked pieces in the Minaret� - Abigail Morris
�Ignoring the baseball players� - Peter Johnson
COMMENTS:
M. Reagan (December 17, 2002): Why �Skye� instead of just Sky?
K. Thompson (December 18, 2002): Because her parents raised her to be weird. They�re hippies.
A. Morgan (January 13, 2003): Do you wanna be my friend?
J. Gray (January 18, 2003): Am I still going to have to recruit you?
R. Harrison (January 28, 2003): The roomie has a profile now. Just in case you�re wanting to know more about �the cute one.� *runs away before he�s slapped*
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January 16, 2003
Nickolas G. Carter,
Your profile has been uploaded to the University of Tampa�s student directory. Please check it and report any mistakes to Julian Gray in the Student Relations Office.
-Stephan Gaiman
Name: Nickolas G. Carter
Email: [email protected]
Nickname: Nick
Birthday: January 28, 1980 Age: 23
From: Tampa, Florida
Major: Computer Graphic Design
Prospective Grad. Date: Spring 2004
Involved In: Baseball - pitcher/first base; UT Peer Mediator; CMENC; WUTZ DJ
Dorm: Vaughn Center Roommate: Robert Harrison
Known For: �His power arm� - Jack Meyer
�Filling the dorm with his siblings whenever his family comes to visit� - Robert Harrison
�Being cuuuuuuute!� - Megan Harper
�His work ethic in school and out. He�s the most determined guy I know� - Alec Morgan
COMMENTS:
R. Harrison (January 20, 2003): You should have them add Vaughn Center Association of Gamers on your �Involved In� list. I�m trying to convince Julian to do it for me! Help the cause!
P. Johnson (January 24, 2003): You DJ?! How did I not know that?
A. Morgan (January 28, 2003): Happy birthday, man.
Anonymous (February 1, 2003): I know someone who has a crush on you! Perhaps you should prepare yourself to have a secret Valentine?
R. Harrison (February 4, 2003): DUDE! You can post comments anonymously?!
Thursday - January 16, 2003 (2:35pm) - Campus
�Hey coach, I have all the papers ready for tryouts, the weight room has been cleaned up, and I took inventory of all the equipment and uniforms,� Skye announced as she handed a binder of documents to Coach Preston, the head baseball coach.
Glancing quickly over the papers, he mumbled, �We�re getting new uniforms this year. We�ll do measurements after the final cuts and we should have them by the first of the season.�
Nodding, Skye leaned against his desk and watched him go through her work a second time, much slower than the first. �So do I need to be at tryouts?�
He shook his head. �I know how busy you are, Skye. You don�t have to be there unless you want to be. Obviously you�ll have plenty of work to do starting the day after and onward, but you don�t have to watch us run their out of shape butts.�
Nodding, she grabbed her backpack from under her desk in the coaches� office and pulled it onto her back. �Alright. I�ll probably stop by and check out the prospects from the stands.�
He laughed and shook his head at her. �I don�t doubt you will. Thanks for doing this for me, Skye.�
�No problem,� she called back as she left the office. �I�ll see you later, coach.�
The clouds marred the bright sunshine and cast shadows across the campus, signaling an immanent afternoon rain. After studying the sky for a moment, she continued on her way across campus to the communications building and her awaiting staff preparing for the first edition of the campus newspaper since their return from winter break.
�Hey Skye! Hold up!� a female voice called from a few feet behind her.
Hesitating as she glanced at her watch to find herself already fifteen minutes late, she willingly stopped on the middle of the sidewalk and turned around to find her roommate speeding towards her, her long dark hair flying behind her.
�Shouldn�t you be at practice or in class or something?� Skye asked Kasey once she�d caught up, her breathing barely affected by the sprint.
Kasey shook her head as the two girls began walking again. �I have another twenty minutes before class. I was hoping to catch up with you. Guess what I heard when I was leaving.�
Readjusting the straps of her bag, Skye shook her head. �A bunch of guys yelling death threats at each other as they played another shoot �em up?�
�Between all of that,� the taller girl hinted.
Skye rolled her eyes. �I don�t know, Kasey. What did you hear?�
A devious grin caused her eyes to glow with excitement. �The new guy was asking about you again.�
�Again?� Skye replied skeptically. �When was he asking about me before?�
She heard Kasey sigh in exasperation at having to explain what she believed she�d told her roommate so many times before in the past week. �When he was moving in. He was asking Robby about you. I heard them when they kept going by the commons room. He seemed really interested in you.�
Rolling her eyes, Skye stopped in the middle of the intersection of two sidewalks, knowing their paths would direct them towards opposite sides of campus. �I strongly doubt his interest is any more than anyone else�s would be if their only meetings with me were a literal run-in in the hallway and one of Mr. Jamison�s lit classes.�
�He�s in your LIT class?!� Kasey replied in surprise. �No wonder�� she trailed off.
�No wonder what?�
She shook her head. �Doesn�t matter. You don�t think him asking about you means anything, so it doesn�t matter if I tell you what I heard or not.�
Skye rolled her eyes again and waved the words away with her hand. �Whatever. I�m late for a staff meeting. You need to go to class. Maybe we�ll talk about this later� if I remember.�
Turning on her heels, she continued her walk towards the Communications building with more speed than what she�d had before, her mind tugging on her curiosity enough to consider what the new guy could have wanted to know about her.
�Doesn�t matter. I�ve never even talked to him before. Whatever he thinks of me, I can�t change that,� she muttered to herself as she ran up the stairs in front of the building three at a time. �Who cares if he�s cute?�
_________
Thursday - January 16, 2003 (2:58pm) - Vaughn Center Commons Room
Nick stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth, crunching loudly as he continued to shoot randomly at the guys dressed in red on the big screen TV. �So she�s always like that?� he asked around the mouthful of junk food.
�In Jamison�s class? Yes, always. Last semester, in the Brit Lit class I had with her, I swear they were about to attack each other when we were discussing Wuthering Heights. They went off on some tangent involving women�s rights and the incompetence of men,� Alec replied in amusement, groaning when his man died again on the screen. �Dude, who the hell is Gandhi?! And isn�t that sacrilegious or something?�
The redheaded boy sitting on the other side of the room playing on a separate TV started laughing. �Gandhi was a peace-maker, not a saint. He has no religious affiliations.�
�Shane!! Dude, stop killing me!� Alec yelled out again, forgetting the conversation he�d been holding with Nick about Skylar Masterson.
�Last time I check, the objective of this game was to�� The screen changed from the battlefield to a list of statistics. ��kill people, and I seem to be very good at it.� Shane ducked before the couch cushions could hit his head so that most of them hit Robert and Nick instead.
Throwing them back at the other guys, Nick took a glance at his own statistics and beamed. �I�m getting better at this game.�
His comment brought everyone�s attention back to the respective TVs. �What the hell?! You got second?! You barely know how to play!� Jonathon yelled once he noticed the placements.
�I�m just good,� Nick said, shrugging as he stood up and tossed his controller to Robert. �Gotta go to class though. Catch up with you guys later.�
The seven other boys sitting around the commons room with controllers in their hands watched as he left the room to get his books for class before turning to share looks with each other.
�Hopefully he�s this good on the field,� Shane commented, voicing everyone�s thoughts.
Alec smirked before restarting the X-box game. �Nah, he�s even better.�
_________
Thursday - January 16, 2003 (5:12pm) - Vaughn Center Commons Room
Her head spinning, Skye looked up from her journalism ethics book and glanced out the window where the sun was rapidly setting over the far horizon. The dimming light was making it harder to study the annoying ethics standards that seemed like so much common sense to her yet she could never remember them all. Leaning her head back against the plush chair�s headrest, she stretched her arms above her head and smiled when she saw a group of boys outside playing a game of baseball with imaginary equipment as they moved closer to the dorm.
Probably getting ready for tryouts tomorrow, she thought as the boys got closer and she could figure out their identities. �Or they�re just acting like morons,� she decided out loud as she watched Shane jump on Robert�s shoulders, throwing both of them into the grass while Pete and the new boy stood to the side and laughed at them.
The new one carried a backpack on his shoulders and was dressed in jeans and a sweater, a striking contrast to the other three in their athletic sweats. Feeling disappointed that he obviously hadn�t been practicing with them - and thus must not be a player - Skye attempted to pull her eyes away from the tall blonde as he walked confidently towards the front entrance to the building while the three others ran around him like five year olds who�d just been released from their cages. He ran his hand through his hair, pushing the longer strands away from his eyes, and began laughing as Robert tackled Pete and Shane jumped on top of them as they lay in the grass. Skye felt a flutter in her stomach when he turned back towards the dorms, giving her a better look at his smile.
Stop it. He has no interest in you. You�re just setting yourself up for heartbreak. He�s too pretty to have a relationship with anyone, she reasoned with herself before turning away from the window and going back to the rules of journalistic ethics.
_________
Thursday - January 16, 2003 (5:14pm) - Campus
Robert pushed the two other boys off of him and jumped to his feet before jogging to catch up with his roommate. �Nick, you really need to lighten up. We got tryouts tomorrow. Get excited!� he demanded jokingly. �Think of Skye! She won�t be able to ignore you when you�re captain of the team!�
Rolling his eyes, he turned his head to look at the panting boy. �What does she have to do with anything?�
�I don�t know. What does she have to do with anything?� Shane began. �Obviously she means something or you wouldn�t have been asking Alec about her throughout the entire Halo game. Not that I mind. You distracted him enough that it was cake to kill him.�
Nick stopped in his tracks and looked around him, an uneasy feeling settling in him. �Do you feel like someone is watching us?�
Pete started laughing. �You mean, besides that group of underclassmen girls to our left? I think they want your body, Nick.�
Nick couldn�t help but laugh as he began walking towards the dorm again. �Guys, I have some homework I need to do. We meeting for dinner?�
�Sure, we�ll discuss our strategy of how we�re getting on the team over cafeteria food. Sounds like a plan,� Robert agreed.
Shane grinned evilly at Nick. �Ooh, and I�ll see if Skye wants to come with us!�
Shaking his head, Nick left the other boys and jogged up the stairs that led to the front door, pulling out his ID card in the process. Slipping it into the electronic lock, he pulled open the heavy door and walked into the warm building, shivering at the sudden temperature change. The unnaturally warm weather had disappeared, leaving them with a chill in the air that grew fiercer the further along in the day it became. The cool days were a welcomed change with the upcoming tryouts.
Letting the door slam in his wake, Nick waved across the bottom floor�s game room after Kasey caught his eye and then began the climb to the fourth floor. Starting fast, he climbed the stairs four at a time, his long legs easily taking the challenge, until he came to his floor. Surprised by the silence that met him, Nick hesitated before finishing the final flight of stairs and moving towards his hallway. Walking past the commons room, he stopped suddenly, feeling that he missed something in the dimly lit room. He backed up a few steps and saw the figure of a girl curled up in a chair, a blanket wrapped around her and a book in her lap as she studied by the diminishing light from outside.
Nick bit into his bottom lip as he considered whether it�d be a wise idea to interrupt Skye�s studying to finally introduce himself. Just from the few literature classes he�d seen her in and the stories his new friends had told him, she was passionate about her work and didn�t take kindly to being bothered when she was in the middle of something.
Deciding against speaking up, Nick reached towards one of the walls and flipped on the lights for her before quickly disappearing back down the hall, not stopping until he was safely at his door. Unlocking it, he pushed it open and, glancing towards the commons room to see if she�d gotten up to see who�d illuminated the room for her only to be disappointed by the empty hall, went inside, shutting it securely behind him. Falling into his desk chair as he dropped his backpack into the floor, he hesitated for a second, once again debating whether it�d be a wise decision to go talk to her, before opening his laptop and starting on his assignments.