Rumor Has It

“Is anyone home?” The phone was ringing off the hook when Ashley slammed through the front door of her college apartment. She set down her grocery bags and purse on the kitchen counter, grabbing for the phone only to hear a dial tone as she pushed the “answer” button. “Ugh!” 

She immediately punched three buttons to return the call. She knew it must be Erika calling with a report.

Sure enough, Erika answered on the second ring. “Hey I was just leaving you a message…” 

“I figured. Couldn’t wait–I knew it must be you so I just star sixty-nined you. What’d you find out?”

“The guy from the party…? Totally single. Cindy said his name is Tyler and he was definitely checking you out. You were not imagining things. EEEKKKK!!” 

Ashley squealed along with Erika. Tyler had been super cute and maintained an air of mystery the whole night they were at the frat party near campus. They knew they’d never seen him before, but it was the start of a new semester and plenty of new people show up then, even in January. 

“So, do we know anything about him? How to get in touch with him?” Ashley asked, realizing too late how eager she sounded. 

“Yes, but let me do a little more research. In the meantime, Cindy got his number for you, so let me know when you’re ready to write this down...”

Ashley reached for the pad of notebook paper and jar of pens she and her roommates kept beside the phone on the kitchen counter. “Okay, go ahead.” 

“555-721-4635.”

“Lemme say it back to you…” Ashley repeated what she’d jotted down to Erika, who promptly confirmed it. 

“Just give me a day or two to make sure he’s legit before you reach out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I won’t call until like, Wednesday? Is that too long?”

“No, that’s good. I’ll get back to you by then.”

“Cool. See ya at the gym in the morning?”

“For sure. Byyyeee!”

Ashley hung up and pinned Tyler’s number to the cork board on the wall beside the phone, then began actually unpacking her groceries, flipping on the stereo in the shared living room before she got started. Ace of Base pounded through the speakers, matching her vibe as she danced around the kitchen. She had so many questions about Tyler, but she could wait until Wednesday. Probably. 

Ashley raced to the phone when she got home from class on Tuesday afternoon. Quickly hitting *4 the phone auto-dialed Erika’s saved number. Erika answered right away.

“Hey girl, what’s up?”

“Erika! I have a class with the guy from the party! Remember? Tyler? He’s in my meteorology class.”

“We have a meteorology class here?”

“I know, right? And it’s over on the north side of campus–have you ever even been over there? Anyway, the building is super creepy, like very old and mostly deserted. I ran into him in the hallway looking for the right classroom, so we walked around until we found it and ended up sitting together in class!” Ashley’s pitch rose a few octaves as she finished her sentence.

“No way! Are you kidding? How did that even happen? Thirty thousand people on this campus and you wind up in class with the one guy you’re crushing on!”

“I know. We had a great conversation and I ended up giving him my number. Oh, and we had this weird conversation right before class started. Have you heard of that guy on the news that was like, offering girls a massage and then using this flesh-eating lotion on them? Total serial killer out in California?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen a little of that. Wasn’t he eating the girls? Like a cannibal? What does that have to do with meteorology?”

“Nothing, but the creepy building had us all talking about it. Tyler brought it up, like joking about how this creepy building is totally the sort of place someone might hide the bodies, down in the basement or an empty classroom. But a few other people in the class had heard about it, too.”

“That might be the worst headline I’ve ever heard,” Erika replied. “But you said you gave him your number–do you think he’ll call?”

“I hope so! He said something about studying together, so we’ll see. I’ll definitely let you know when he does!”

“K, gotta run–I have to get to class. See ya in the morning!”

After disconnecting from her call with Erika, Ashley heard the broken dial tone that indicated a voicemail was waiting. She dialed the number for voicemail and listened to the messages, writing down information for her roommates when the calls were for them. The fourth message was from Tyler, completely polite and appropriate (knowing any one of her nosy roommates could potentially check the messages before she got to them).

“Hey Ashley, it’s Tyler from meteorology class today. Was wondering if you’d want to hang out later? Give me a ring when you get a chance.” 

Ashley immediately redialed his number. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey, got your voicemail! I’d love to hang tonight. What are you thinking?”

“Cool, maybe just grab some pizza and a movie? I have an early class first thing and need to be prepared for what may be lurking in the psychology building tomorrow morning,” Tyler quipped and Ashley smiled. 

“Pizza and a movie sound great. Do you have one in mind or want me to bring one over?”

“Yeah, why don’t you grab the movie and I’ll get the pizza? What do you like on it?”

“Mushrooms, or just plain cheese is fine with me! I’ll look through our DVDs and find something fun. What’s a good time to come over?”

“Whenever. I’m finished with classes for today. Maybe six?”

“Sure, I’ll be there then.” Ashley wrote down Tyler’s address and tucked it carefully in her purse next to her keys, then went to the shared DVD collection in her apartment’s living room. She started to grab Dazed and Confused, knowing how much she and her roommates had loved it. Then she noticed one of her roommates owned Interview with a Vampire. Hands down, the obvious choice, even if just to get a laugh out of Tyler. 

*****

Just after Erika hung up from her conversation with Ashley, her phone rang again. It was Cindy, Erika’s most gossipy friend who seemed to know everything about everyone. 

“Hey Cindy, what’s up?”

“Girl, you’re not gonna believe this!”

“What? What’s going on?”

“Have you heard about this serial killer in California? The guy with the lotion?”

“Oh my god, Ashley and I were literally just talking about this like 5 minutes ago!”

“Really? What did she say about it?”

“Ashley? She said a bunch of people were talking about it in class today. Including that guy from the party the other night. Tyler? The one we asked you to find out about.”

“Okay, so that’s why I’m calling! I had asked a few people about him before anyone gave me details. Then my boyfriend’s roommate’s girlfriend told the guys that she’s from the same hometown in California as the serial killer…and she’s pretty sure it’s Tyler!”

“No way! Whatever, that’s just speculation.”

“That’s what I thought, too, until she told me they haven’t caught the guy in California yet. They think he’s left the state, and–get this–they said it’s likely he’ll pose as a college student to try and hide from the police while still luring new victims. Do we even know where this Tyler guy is from? Whether or not he’s actually a student?”

“How can we find out?”

“I already did! I have a friend that works in admissions who looked him up. He’s not a student here.”

“But he was in class with Ashley today…”

“Maybe he did that on purpose, to get near her after they met Saturday night?”

“Oh no–Ashley got his number, said they might hang out soon. I need to call her back.”

“Yeah, tell her to stay away from that guy!”

“I will. Bye!” Erika hung up and redialed Ashley’s number but got her voicemail.

“Hey girl, it’s Erika. Listen, I don’t think it’s a good idea to hang out with that Tyler guy. I just talked to Cindy and she had some sort of sketchy info on him. Better to steer clear of that one. Call me back when you get this!”

Ashley heard the phone ringing but was already shutting the apartment’s front door, video in hand. She’d let it go to voicemail.