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so he asked Our hero entered the hall and to his surprise saw her walking toward him from the other end. Normally she gets to class at the very last minute, but here she was twenty minutes before she needed to be there. She had been early last week as well and this made him wonder what had changed. Maybe this was a new schedule for her, he didn't know. Soon they met by the door to the classroom and sat down next to each other by the wall. Sitting with her was unlike anything he had imagined and was better at the same time. It was a simple thing, but something that he had wanted to happen. He was also quick to notice that the illusion up close wasn't shattered. She was even more attractive the closer she got to him. When they were seated she asked him how his paper had went and he asked the same of her. There was one due today so it was a natural thing to discuss. After a while they left the topic of the paper behind and moved into the broader category of school itself. He soon learned that she was a business major with a year and a half left to go. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do when she was done, but knew a business degree was flexible enough. The English class had been an attempt at a double major, but she had changed her mind. The conversation flowed without any effort and he enjoyed being so close to her and getting to know her better. Maybe if he had spoken to her earlier in the semester they would have been closer by now, but that didn't matter. They were talking now and no one else was around to interfere. Then she stood up trying to open her water bottle as she rose and walked over to the sink to fill it. When she got to the sink, she realized that she couldn't open it and sat back down. She made a few more attempts, scrunching her face as she twisted with no success. He found it adorable, but knew that he should do something rather than watch her struggle. Without a trace of sarcasm he offered to open it for her and he did. She laughingly said that she had already loosened it up and went to fill the now open bottle with water. Once she sat down again, the exchange became a little more personal. He found out where she lived and that she had a younger brother who was thirteen. That sibling was also a source of teenage slang, which was the focus of her paper. He also learned that she walked to and from class and this made him ask why she wasn't wearing her scarf. She replied that today she had gotten a ride and forgot that she would need it on the way back home. Then she joked that her ears would get frostbitten. Both of them knew that that wouldn't happen. It wasn't that cold out. He wanted to say something about how he thought she looked great in her corduroy jacket and scarf, but didn't know how to say it without sounding awkward. Whenever she talked he took notice of her mannerisms and how relaxed she seemed with him. What was she thinking? Why was she being so talkative today? Was she just shy until someone spoke to her? Since he had spoken to her first had there been a breaking of the ice? He didn't have the answer to any of those questions, but he did know one thing. It was the highlight of his day spending time with her. He was going to ask her out, when Heidi was seen in the hall and sat down to his left. Suddenly he feared that he had missed his chance. One can't ask such a question when there is another woman present, so he waited. Once inside he asked the question that he had been wanting to ask for so long and by her expression he knew what the answer would be before she said it. She was seeing someone already and seemed flattered and sad for him at the same time. ... Yes, I am dropping out of the third person to add some commentary, but I don't want to say that much. Sometimes these moments read better from a distance and I fear that overanalyzing it will diminish the emotional quality of what happened. Obviously this was another case of a crush of mine that went nowhere, but that doesn't really bother me. Even though she is seeing someone, I'm still glad that we were able to connect on some level and have a great conversation. Oh, we didn't discuss anything overly important, but she did answer quite a few of the questions that had been going through my mind most of the semester. Plus as I said she really didn't destroy any of the illusion. She came across as I had imagined she would. She is young and with her age a little uncertain of herself, but she has a quality that I like in people. From what I could tell from when we talked, she is very down to earth and honest. Some might that I don't really know her, but that doesn't mean that I can't envy her boyfriend. I should also mention that my asking her out was a catalyst for advice from a couple of friends at work. One of them was positive that it would never work with the age difference. He said that either I wouldn't be able to keep up with her or that she would drive me insane. I guess that he was thinking that she was still in the midst of party mode. As to whether or not that was the case, I'll never know although she didn't seem like the party type to me. One might say that waiting until the end of the semester to ask her out did have one advantage to it. Since she now knows my interest in her, there won't be as many awkward days between us as there would have been in the beginning. |