AllFreeNovel
Share Us
FOUR
Briar
I walkinto my astronomy class and smile when I see Arlo already sitting there. I’ve been thinking about him almost nonstop for the last two days and I blush when he turns in his seat and catches me watching him.
He smiles shyly at me as I make my way over to him, dropping down in the seat next to him.
“Hey!”
“Hey, how are you doing today?” He asks as he slides a coffee cup with the campus coffee logo on the side over to me.
I don’t really like coffee. I had been drinking tea the first class but I don’t want to be rude, so I thank him before I pick it up and take a quick sip. I’m surprised when it’s not coffee. Instead, the rich flavor of my favorite breakfast tea greets me. It’s the same English breakfast tea that I got from the coffee shop last time and I look at him, surprised.
“I saw the tea tag last class. Thought you might need a pick me up.” He says, blushing as he looks away from me.
“I did. This is perfect. Thank you, Arlo.” I say sincerely.
The professor starts class then before I can try to start a conversation. I dig my laptop out and start taking notes. We’re silent for the rest of the class as we both listen to the lecture and type out notes.
“Ok, class. It’s time for our first group project. You’ll need to pair up for all the projects in this class so be sure to choose wisely. The first project will be to find the constellations and to chart the phases of the moon. The rest of the project details are in the class syllabus. You can email me or stop by with any questions. I’m going to pass around the sheet now. Just write your name next to your partners and pass it back front.”
She hands the sheet to the first student before she walks back to her podium.
“Alright, class dismissed.” She says.
Everyone starts to pack up and Arlo and I both shove our laptops back in our bags and then wait for the sheet of paper to be passed to us. We didn’t talk about it, but I can already tell that we both want to work with each other. Otherwise, he would have looked around and tried to find someone else to pair up with.
Finally, the sheet lands on Arlo’s desk and he writes his name down before he glances over to me. I nod at him and I watch as he scrawls my name next to his on the line. I pass it over to the students behind us before I grab my bag and stand up.
Arlo stands up with me and we walk out of the classroom and down the hall with the other students. Just like on Monday, Arlo walks me to my English class next and we start to toss around ideas about when we could meet to work on our project. He walks into my English class with me and waits while I take out my laptop so that I can check the syllabus further. I pull my laptop out, opening it up and try to turn it on.
Black screen.
I frown as I hit the power button again, but the screen remains black. My laptop was older but it’s been running fine. I was just using it ten minutes ago! I groan as I close the lid and run my hands through my hair.
“Computer problems?” Arlo asks over my shoulder.
“I guess so. It was working fine this morning but now…” I trail off as Arlo moves closer to me, opening the laptop back up.
“I work with computers. If you want, I can take a look at it.” He offers.
“Really!? That would be great. Thank you so much, Arlo.”
I beam at him and he blushes as he picks up my laptop and opens his bag. He slides mine in and his out, handing it over to me. I look up at him questioningly.
“It’s so you can type out your notes for this class and the other one you have this afternoon. I’ll meet you after that and let you know what I found about yours.” I take the laptop from him, smiling at him gratefully. He’s so freaking sweet and thoughtful. He asks for my number and I rattle it off. I feel my own phone vibrate in my pocket and know that he’s sent me a message, so I have his number too.
“Maybe we can grab dinner together.” He finishes as he zips his bag up.
“I’d love to.”
I lean up on my tiptoes, kissing his cheek before I drop back down.
“Thanks, Arlo.”
He blushes and smiles slightly at me before he nods and heads out the door.
I spend the rest of my daydreaming about Arlo and how sweet he is. I text him after my last English class and he offers to pick me up from my place before dinner. I send him my address and he texts me back a time.
