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“Marine Biology.” Well. That had not been any of my guesses. I expected something artsy, like filmmaking or music or something off the wall. Not Marine Biology.
“Really?” I knew I looked surprised, and I didn’t mean to sound incredulous, but he narrowed his eyes again, just a little.
“Yeah, really. What, you don’t think I could do it?”
I held up my hands placatingly. “Hey, no, I didn’t say that. I don’t even know you. I would never make that kind of assumption. You just seem…more artsy than scientific at first glance I guess. I didn’t mean any offense by it.” I cringed at my own words. Of course he would take offense to it, to all of it. Why had I worded it like that? Maybe the whole thing was a bad idea.
He gave a little snicker. “Art’s cool and all. I like to look at it, but I’m not very good at drawing or painting. I like to write a little, I guess, but the ocean, and all the life in it, always had a special place in my heart. Especially the mammals, which is what I’m specializing in. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I used to watch all the shows about the ocean whenever I was able to watch TV. I went to the beach whenever I could. My dreams got me through a lot.” He stopped speaking abruptly, as though he’d said too much. He seemed to want to stay as closed off as possible. He didn’t ask me what my major was, so I didn’t bring up Political Science.
We arrived at the coffee shop and placed our orders. I always went for something full of sugar and flavor, like chocolate or caramel. Or both. I liked coffee, I just liked it to taste good. Jamie ordered a black coffee. I paid for our orders, then watched in amazement as he put exactly two little packets of sugar in it, stirred it, and replaced the lid. He turned back to me. “What?”
I chuckled. “I didn’t peg you for a black coffee drinker.”
“It’s not black. I put sugar in it.” We headed out the door, and I made a beeline for my usual table. I always sat at one of the shaded tables around the corner from the door. It was off the beaten path, quiet, and no one ever bothered me there.
Jamie followed me. I glanced at him. “Two packs of sugar do not count as sugar, my dude. Like, can you even taste the sugar in there? It must just get swallowed up by the flavor of the coffee. That’s just black coffee in my book.”
He huffed out what may or may not have been a laugh. “It takes the edge off the coffee, but I can still taste the coffee.” He eyed my caramel travesty topped with whipped cream and more caramel. “Unlike you.”
I sat down at the table, and he plopped down across from me. “Hey, I can still taste my coffee,” I said indignantly, “it just tastes good.”
“Mine tastes good,” he insisted, “Probably better than yours. Sorry to disappoint, again. Not an art major, don’t like my coffee full of artificial flavors. I guess I’m just not the person you thought I was.”
Well, that time I could tell he was being a smart-ass. I laughed. “Hey, I told you I admire you, and to be honest, I think you’re a really cool guy.” I paused after I said it. I hadn’t meant to assume, and I had no idea what pronouns Jamie went by. I’d been saying “he” the whole time because everyone else did, but I’d never heard Jamie say it. In fact, I wondered if the name Jamie wasn’t a birth name and had been chosen because it was gender neutral. “I’m sorry,” I added quickly, “I don’t know what pronouns you go by. I didn’t mean to assume.”
A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes so quickly I almost missed it. Then he smiled. It was a small smile, but a genuine one, and the first one I’d seen from him, well, ever, that I could recall. “You’re good. I go by he/him,” he replied, “I really appreciate you asking, though. Most people don’t.” There was a hesitation before he added so quietly I almost didn’t hear him, “Maybe you aren’t exactly what you seem, either.” He shook it off, as though he’d said too much again.
I broke the ice that time. “I try not to be,” I said with a grin. He gave a huff of what was definitely laughter. “So,” I said, trying to keep up the conversation, “Calculus sucks.”
He nodded as he took a sip of coffee. “Yeah,” he said as he sat the cup back down, “it really does.”
“Wow,” I said, “I got one right. I really expected you to tell me that you find it riveting and it’s your favorite subject. I thought you were going to say you were enthralled every time we’re in class and that I shouldn’t joke about trying to stay awake while I listen to Professor Gray drone on every day.”
He laughed out loud at that, and a smile lit up his entire face. It was beautiful. Beautiful in that I’d never actually seen him look anything but closed off, and I was finally getting to see him smile.
“No,” Jamie said, still chuckling, “Calc definitely sucks. But I have to take it so I can complete my quest of becoming a science nerd who wears dresses and nail polish, just to keep people on their toes.”
I laughed with him. We talked a little more about class and how the homework always sucked and how much of a hard-ass Professor Gray was. We didn’t talk about much else, and then our coffee was gone and there were no more excuses to linger.
Jamie stood, grabbing the choker before throwing his cup away. He stopped and looked back at me before he left. “Thanks,” he said, “For the coffee and the choker. And…” he trailed off as I just waited. He gave me that little smile again. “And thanks for being unexpected. See you around.”
I smiled back at him. “See you.”
???
“Dude, where the hell were you? Coach was pissed and Brad kept talking about how his friend saw you heading to the coffee shop with, and I quote, ‘girly boy from the quad.’ I mean, you told me you’d be at practice.” Jeff was looking at me from his bed, demanding an answer.
I absolutely loathed the look Caitlin was giving me from beside him. She didn’t even have to speak for me to hear her say, “I told you that you had a thing for him.” It was the most I was right look I’d ever seen, and I was about to shove a girl for the first time ever.
Jesse was looking back and forth between all of us curiously, trying to figure out what was going on. He was the only one out of the loop. But whatever Caitlin thought she knew was wrong, and whatever Jeff was implying was also wrong, no matter what it was.
“I bought him a coffee. I felt bad, okay? Brad is a Class A douchebag, and I wanted to try to make it up to him. You know he gets shit all the time. I hear people talking about him and I know he does, too. He didn’t deserve to get attacked in the quad for literally no reason.”
Caitlin flicked her stupid flamingo earrings, as though trying to prove she knew more than our friends did. I just hoped that for once she would keep her mouth shut. I wasn’t sure how I’d explain the choker to Jeff while everyone was so suspicious, and he was angry that I’d missed practice. I could not say that I’d bought the guy a necklace then took him out for coffee. Luckily, Caitlin loved being in the know when other people weren’t, and it trumped her love of gossip. She just smirked at me like she had so much dirt.
“Dude!” Jeff cried, “Why the hell did you skip practice for that? Couldn’t your little date have waited until this evening?”
My cheeks burned hot, and I became irrationally defensive. “It wasn’t a date! He was there, and I was there, and we started talking. I still felt really bad, so I offered to buy him a coffee. I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal out of it. Jeez. Don’t call it a date.”
