Page 30 of Talk to Me

He nodded back and turned to head towards the dorms. Before he could leave, he turned to speak again.

“Thanks,” he said. “For, you know, sticking up for me.”

“Anytime,” I replied. “Thanks for the coffee. My treat next time?”

He simply smiled and turned to walk away. I watched as Theo made his way down the path, away from the English and Language Arts building and out of sight. I gave him a few minutes head start on me, since I planned to go back to my dorm, too. Since he obviously didn’t want a walking partner, I wanted to give him time to get far enough ahead before I followed.

Going back to American Lit was probably a bad idea, anyway. It would only further disrupt our professor’s planned lesson for the day. I made a mental note to email her later to apologize for the disruption and for not returning. Hopefully, she’d understand enough to not count it towards any future grading. Of course, from the look she’d given the kid who had insulted Theo, I smiled at the thought that she might give Theo and I an automatic “A” for what had happened.

After a few minutes, I headed off to the dorm. Fortunately, I had timed things well, and Theo had gotten back before I could accidentally bump into him again. I spent the rest of the late morning doing homework and listening to music as I cleaned my side of the room. At lunchtime, I decided that going to the dining hall was too big of an ordeal and sated my hunger with ramen from my snack cabinet and a soda from the fridge.

When lunch was consumed and I’d cleaned up after myself, I stripped down to my boxer briefs and laid in bed and read my library books for fun, ignoring my studies. I was at least caught up in every class, and for once, I decided I didn’t have to rush into the “get ahead of things” procedure I had during the weekends. Before I knew it, I’d read half of my book and the dinner hour was approaching.

I slipped back into my shorts and t-shirt and gave myself a once over in the mirror. My hair had gotten a little tousled while reading in bed, so I gave it a brushing. I went down to the bathrooms and brushed my teeth, then came back to the room and applied deodorant in case. Grabbing my lanyard and wallet, I planned to go to the dining hall and see who I might run into there. I was hungry and wanted someone to eat with, but trying to plan something with my usual group of friends was out of the question.

Until Collin apologized, I was going to steer clear of them.

When I opened the door, I nearly ran face first into Theo. He was standing outside, his hand raised to knock on my door. We both jumped back slightly in surprise, then smiled and chuckled at the situation.

“Hey,” I managed. “What are you doing here?”

“Four twenty-eight,” Theo shrugged. “I remembered your room number from the other day.”

“Yeah?”

Chewing at his lip, Theo looked down at his feet, then back up at me.

“I thought,” he began, “if you have nothing going on, maybe you’d want to study or…you know…hang out or something?”

“Sure,” I said, which immediately brought a smile to his face. “I was going to head out to the dining hall for dinner before I studied. Do you want to come with?”

Theo’s smile disappeared.

“I’ll wait,” he said quickly. “Just, uh, message me or something when you’re done, yeah?”

Giving him a once over, I realized that being humiliated once in a day was enough to make going to the dining hall a nerve-wracking consideration for Theo. I stepped back, pulling the door wide.

“Or,” I said, “you can come on in and we can order a pizza for delivery?”

Theo studied me, as if wondering if I was showing him pity. I could tell he didn’t want to keep me from going to the dining hall if I was really set on it.

“Or two pizzas,” I said. “I don’t really like sharing and it’s better than anything the dining hall will have.”

Finally smiling, he stepped into the dorm and I shut the door behind him.

“Can we at least share a two-liter of soda?” he asked.

His tone had a hint of teasing to it, which made me hopeful that he was going to be okay.

“As long as it’s not diet soda.” I cringed.

Laughing, Theo gave me a nod. I found myself relieved that I suddenly had no reason to go to the dining hall and search for a friend to have dinner with; one had come to me.

“I’m pretty sure that’s cheating,” Theo said.

“How is that cheating?” I asked. “You threw down a Wild Draw 4, and I threw another down on top of it. It doubles the amount you have to draw and I pick the color.”

“That’s against the rules!” he demanded.