Ch. 2: Learn

I wake up to the sun angling through the window into my eyes. Before I am even fully aware that I am awake, I know that I’m late. My eyes snap open, I jump out of bed, and as my feet touch the floor, I feel this wave of stress hit me and seep in. I throw on some pants, grab my toothbrush, and run maniacally for the bathroom.

“Chris, shouldn’t you be in class?” Chloe asks as she walks by the bathroom door and sees me frantically cleaning my tongue stud.

I spit toothpaste into the sink and look up at her. “Very observant, Chloe.”
She sticks her tongue out at me. I return the favor, toothpaste-coated tongue and all. “You’re charming, dear,” she says as she walks off.

I look into the mirror and feel like crying when I see my myself. My hair is gone. What is now nested on my head is second-growth forest that has been victimized by an oil spill. I try vainly to tear it into partial submission, jam my contacts into my eyes, and run off to find a clean bra and a shirt that doesn’t say “EX-BOYFRIEND HALL OF FAME” and hang to my calves.

As I’m digging through my closet I look at the time and scream quietly. I have fifteen minutes to get to my next class. The university is ten minutes away if I hit the lights right, and it takes ten minutes to walk across campus.

I’ll be running, then.

I slip on my Sketchers, muttering “soscrewedsoscrewedsoscrewedsoscrewed” under my breath, grab my backpack, and bolt for the door, almost running headlong into Chloe. I hear her call from the front door as I’m tearing down the hall towards the front of the complex “Goodbye darling, have a good day at school! Don’t forget your lunch money!”

I flip her off and body-slam the glass front door, pushing through it roughly. As soon as I’m in my car I try to calm down a bit. I’ll wreck if I drive to campus as frantically as I want to. I put on some downtempo, take a few deep breaths, and ease out of the parking space.

I manage to keep calm and not freak out as I sit at the red lights on the way to campus. Once I get there, I find a parking spot, grab my stuff, and tear off through the parking lot, using my keyless entry to lock the car. Luckily, I’m in the lot closest to the science building, so if I run at breakneck speed, I shouldn’t be late to the point of rudeness.

I get to the building, sighing because the halls are eerily empty, take a turn to the left, and bound up the white tile steps towards the third floor. I’m almost to the second story landing when I’m blinded by the sun coming through the window above me. I stumble, my foot catches on a step, and I pitch forward.

I was halfway to impact when I see someone dart down the steps and reach to catch me. I slam into a set of arms. One wraps around me tightly as I feel both of us reel backwards from the impact. A hand clutches the railing and keeps us from pitching over, and we both resume our balance. I realize that I had shut my eyes to brace for the fall, so the first thing I notice about my rescuer is that he is tall, warm and has great taste in cologne. I fervently hope that I don’t smell like sweat as I open my eyes.

The sun is still viciously streaming through the window behind him, so I have to squint to make out the details of his face. He has thick white-blonde hair that falls straight to his shoulders and catches the light so well that he seems to glow. I chuckle internally. My savior! I think I see him smile.
“Nice catch.” I am so glad I brushed my teeth.
“I agree.” He releases me slowly and moves beside me, offering an arm. “Shall I escort you up this treacherous path, madame?”

Interesting. His voice is soft and slightly higher-pitched than most of the guys I know. The arm he offers is slender without being weak, but does not look nearly as strong as it had seemed when it stopped my fall. I smile at him and allow him to take my arm. “Verily, sir, you are the most chivalrous of men.”
He leads me to the third floor and releases my arm, turning to look at me. “There. Safe, level ground.” I can tell by his voice that he’s amused.

I take this opportunity to familiarize myself with the rest of him, since I was already intimately acquainted with his chest. I stare at his eyes for a moment in amazement. His hair and skin are so pale that I expected him to have grey or light blue eyes, but they are a shockingly dark blue and stand out strikingly from the rest of him. His jaw-line was delicate and his face was narrow, but his nose was strong enough to keep his him looking pretty without being overly girly. If he were a woman he’d be the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen, but he also made for a very attractive guy. I’m not usually drawn to the slender feminine types, so I am rather startled when I notice myself hoping he isn’t gay.

“Thank you. I woke up late, and I guess I was in a bit too much of a rush for my own good.”
“I’m glad I was coming down. I left class late because I was asking the professor a few questions about a lab report. Where are you headed?”
I check my watch and groan. “Oh hell, I’m going to Organic Chem. I hate being late.”
“Well, you already are, so can you spare some time to introduce yourself to your rescuer?” He smiles softly, and I notice that his lips are curvy and well-shaped. Damn him. Why do guys get the facial features that girls are supposed to have? I want his lips.

“I suppose it’s the least I can do. I’m Chris.” I offer my hand, and he takes it in mild surprise. Most people are startled when I do that, but I find that I can tell a lot about a person by how they shake a hand.
He gives my hand a firm grip and shakes with confidence. “I’m Isra. It was nice running into you.”
I smile again. “Is this how you meet everyone?”
He makes eye contact with me, and I get the disconcerting feeling that I’m being sucked into his head. “Only the pretty girls I’d like to ask to have lunch with me.”
I blush and look to the side nervously. “I should go to class.”
He laughs softly and takes a step backwards. “Some other time, then. I’ll see you around, Chris.” It was not a hope, it was a certainty. He smiles at me softly as I turn to go.

I dart through the door and sneak a glance back. He’s still standing there, and waves at me. I smile in return and spin back around. Crap. What was I doing looking back at him? Was I in high school? And why the hell is my pulse fast? I am entirely too old for puppy love.

I’m seven minutes late to class and feel guilty as I walk in and look for an empty seat. I sit down, get out my stuff as quietly as possible, and vainly try to concentrate. It isn’t that O. Chem is boring- actually, you know what, it is- but the fact that I can’t get my mind off Isra doesn’t help. I was obviously attracted to him, so what had made me dodge his offer for lunch? I’m not usually coy; I’ll go for what I want, and I hate being standoffish. So my reaction made no sense to me.
I was also trying to figure out exactly what about him I’d found attractive. It was probably the fact that he didn’t bother trying to look masculine. I sensed a lot of self-esteem in him. He knew he looked good, and that certainty kept him from seeming overwhelmingly effeminate. I’ve always been attracted to guys who seem certain of themselves; this is probably why I’ve never managed to date a guy who wasn’t a complete asshole. It can be hard to distinguish between someone with a sense of self-worth and someone with an ego the size of a mutant giraffe. I have always failed, so recently I’ve been cautious about dating. I’m sick of getting trampled.

That’s probably why I didn’t say yes to lunch. At least he didn’t seem offended.

  *  *  *  *  * 

Chloe grabs a knife and starts slathering Miracle Whip on a slice of bread she’d made earlier that day. I was thrilled that she’d baked bread for sandwich night because she’s a fantastic cook. Sadly, she rarely has enough willpower to make anything.
“So, did you make it to class on time today, Chris?”
I nod absently, then shake my head as her words become meaning in my mind. “No, actually.”
“Was traffic bad? You should have had five minutes to spare.”
“Yeah, traffic sucked, but that wasn’t all that happened.” I try to resist grinning like an idiot. Lily notices immediately.

“What happened. You’re grinning. Did you get laid?”
Heather looks up from the block of sharp cheddar cheese she’s mangling with a butterknife and stares at me interestedly. I sigh and get her a decent knife before answering.
“No, Lily, I did not get laid. That is not the only good thing that can happen in life.”
She snorts and arranges turkey on her bread. “Speak for yourself.”
I roll my eyes. Lily is a virgin. “If you must know, you guys, I fell on the steps.”
Chloe laughs. “Where are the bruises?”
“A guy caught me.”
Lily smirks. “I knew it! What happened.”
“He asked me to lunch.”
“Who knew your clumsiness would pay off one day,” Heather says dryly.
“I told him no.”
“Oh, was he ugly?”
“No, he was quite attractive.”

Heather stares eyes at me unbelievingly. “You’re insane. Why the hell did you tell him no? How long has it been since you’ve had a date?”
I start to feel a little defensive. “Not very long.”
“In all honesty, Chris,” Chloe cuts in, “I think that was kind of dumb. I saw you this morning. I’m surprised he recognized you were human in time to keep you from kissing the steps.”
“…Thank you, Chloe. He wasn’t my type, guys. That’s why I said no.”
Heather leans over the table and points the knife I gave her at me. “What did he look like?”
I smile. “Tall, pale, white-blonde hair, dark blue eyes.” I look at them. “You know, feminine. I’m surprised I was attracted to him at all.”
Lily sighs. “He was one of those wimpy girl-boys, wasn’t he. I hate them. They cry too much.”

I refrain from asking her how she knows that. “No, actually, he was quite certain of himself. He didn’t look like he was trying to hide his girlyness. He just rolled with it, so he came off looking pretty without being a wuss.”
Heather pounces on this. “He was gay.”
Lily narrows her eyes at Heather. “Have you ever met a homosexual, Heather?”
She sulks and falls silent. Lily continues. “Anyway, gay men do not ask girls to lunch.”
Chloe giggles. “Maybe he wanted to chat, not date. Get tips on hairstyle” She lisps slightly and flips her hand at me as she continues. “Tell me, darling, how did you get your hair to look like you’d just rolled out of bed?”
I glare at her. “Not funny.”

Heather nods emphatically. “Chloe could be right. I got asked out by a guy like that once. Turns out he wanted to go shopping because his boyfriend told him he had bad taste in clothes.”
“Ouch,” Lily chuckles.
“At least you know you have style, Heather.”
“His boyfriend obviously thought he didn’t dress enough like a gimp.” Lily smiles toothily.
Heather glares at her. “Fuck you.”

I cut in before they actually start fighting. “Lily, let me take this moment to remind you that Heather is holding a sharper knife than you are.”
Lily looks down at her hand. “Well damn.”
“Shall we adjourn to the TV?” Chloe moves towards the door.
We settle down on the couches, but Lily isn’t done quizzing me on Isra. “You need to tell us what exactly happened.”

I relate the story to her, and when I get to the part where he leads me up the steps, she bursts out laughing. “’Shall I escort you up this treacherous path, madame?’ What idiot says that?”
Chloe giggles. “I’ll bet he plays D&D and jacks off to the Brothers Grimm.”

I get defensive again. “Shut up you guys. He just had an odd sense of humor. He didn’t say it in a serious tone of voice. And there’s nothing wrong with D&D.”
Chloe ignores me. “I’ll bet he’s doing it right now. ‘Oh yeah, I saved the damsel. I am the man. I AM THE MAN! Unh! Unh!’” She makes a few vulgar hand motions until Heather throws a pillow at her.
“Stop being sick. I grew up on the Brothers Grimm.”
Lily considers. “How is it possible to masturbate to any of that stuff?”
I groan. “Can we not figure it out? I’d like to get a decent amount of sleep tonight; this will give me nightmares.”
Chloe opens her mouth again, but Heather hurls another pillow and hits her squarely in the side of the head, messing up her hair.

“What was his name, Chris?” Lily continues. When I glare at her, she adds. “Last question, I swear. The show’s about to start.”
“Isra.”
“Okay, he gets cool points for that,” Lily says, then bites into her sandwich.
I take a sip of Coke. “Well, at least you guys don’t think that’s dumb.”
Chloe looks up from the book she’d started to read. “I didn’t say I liked it.”
“Thank you, Chloe.”

I scarf down my sandwich while we watch the Daily Show, and then head off to shower. I triple check the alarm clock before I get in bed and turn off the light.