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Don’t worry about Professor Lewis. He’s a dick.
I smiled for the first time that morning, and scribbled a quick note back.
Maybe it’s the lack of A/C?
She snorted quietly. I was no longer paying attention to anything Professor Dick said. Writing notes with a potentially cute girl next to me was the most excitement I’d had in weeks.
The scrap of paper slid back across my desk.
A/C went down last year. Keeping the football team active was more important to the board than making sure we all don’t sweat to death.At the bottom of her note was a tiny drawing of an eagle carrying a football – the same eagle outside the hall – with a banner that read “SOS.”
I held back a laugh, not wanting to irritate the professor further.Remind me to wear shorts tomorrow.
Her response was nearly immediate.
Remind me to fake a devastating illness tomorrow.
I drummed my pen on my desk, already captivated by this girl. I wanted to see her face. What did she look like? What color were her eyes? Did her smile match her sense of humor? She probably had the best laugh.
But then who will keep me company in class?
I held my breath. Maybe I’d crossed the line with a girl who didn’t even know my name. People liked their safety, after all. Their privacy. But the scrap of paper was already back on my desk.
You’re right. You’ll never survive without me.
Next to it, she’d drawn a small Tic-Tac-Toe board, with the first X already marked. I smiled to myself, scrawled my O, and sent it back. Professor Lewis droned on, and I played Tic-Tac-Toe with the nameless girl. He passed out yellowing books, and we moved on to Hangman.
He started reading passages from an ancient book of Shakespeare, even though it had little relevance to our lives. They should’ve been teaching us how to grow vegetables out of nothing, and how to stitch up a loose hem. Instead, Professor Lewis read Shakespeare, and we moved back to Tic-Tac-Toe.
Finally, the professor looked up at the clock. “All right, that’s it for today. Read pages 1 to 50 for homework, and be prepared to discuss them tomorrow.”
I stuffed my notebook into my backpack, suddenly equal parts nervous and excited to see the mystery girl’s face. I tried to imagine it to no avail. Had she tried to picture mine? “Mr. Dawson!”
Professor Lewis’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Yes, professor? ”He looked at me with a frown. There was a blotch of ketchup on his tie, and I wanted to point it out to him, but somehow I didn’t think that would help my situation. “I expect you to be on time tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.” He turned away from me to talk to a brown-noser next to him, and I knew this was it. This was the moment I would turn and see her face. Why was I so nervous? All we had done was pass notes and play games like we were in grade school again. I turned in my seat, ready to thank my mystery girl for keeping me sane through class.
Instead, I found myself speechless. In front of me sat the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her white tank top only emphasized her tanned skin, covering taut muscles.
Dark waves framed a face free of makeup – not that she needed it. Surely I was imagining things. How could I get along with someone so well, passing notes and playing games, and she was this stunning? The heat must be getting to me. My mystery girl smirked. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I wasn’t sure how I managed to get the syllable out of my mouth. She probably thought I was a doofus, taking pity on the idiot sitting next to her.
“You’re pretty bad at Tic-Tac-Toe. It’s a good thing it won’t be on the final exam, otherwise you’d be screwed.” Her green eyes twinkled with mischief, and I laughed out loud.
“It’s okay, because you’re terrible at Hangman. Who waits until the last second to guess vowels?”
“Maybe I was just giving you a chance to win at something.” By now, students for the next class were trickling in, but I didn’t want to stop talking. I wanted to hear her laugh first. Hell, I wanted tomakeher laugh.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling like a fool. “Keep telling yourself that. We have all semester to see who the real Hangman champion is.”
She shook her dark hair back over her shoulders, a loud laugh escaping her mouth and echoing in the still-quiet room. It was everything I had imagined it would be, and I wanted to bottle it up so I could experience it every single day. This girl was special. I couldn’t mess this up.
Your name idiot – tell her your name!
I grinned at her, so enamored by her natural beauty and the easy way her laugh made her come alive. She was water, flowing whichever way the brook took her, and I found myself yearning to float along with her.
“I’m Ray.” I stuck out my hand. She smiled back, one of her bottom teeth slightly crooked. On anyone else, it would’ve stood out – a stain on a canvas. On her, it only added to her allure. She grasped my hand firmly.
“Mila. I was planning on meeting a friend for lunch, but you’re welcome to come along if you’d like.”
“Your friend won’t mind?” As much as I wanted to know more about Mila, I didn’t want to be the awkward third wheel if the “friend” ended up being her boyfriend.
Mila shook her head. “Not at all. She’s my roommate, so I’m sure she’s sick of me by now anyways.”
I grabbed my backpack and followed Mila out the double doors. The heat of the day and the discomfort of my jeans were long forgotten. Had I gotten lost on my way to class? I couldn’t remember. All I knew was this dark-haired girl in front of me was everything I had ever wanted in life, and I would follow her to the ends of the earth.
