by Unknown
I grinned. “I think that's a great idea.”
I picked up Lukas a half-hour later. He sported his adorable black-framed glasses, and a light green sweater over his treasured brown Corduroy pants. He looked dressed to impress, unlike me, who just threw on a blue LMU sweatshirt and a saggy pair of jeans. We had two pancake breakfasts at IHOP, and then saw the latest Gerard Butler romantic comedy at the Rave Cinemas 18. I gave him grief for picking it—the latest from both the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson were out—but he wanted to see something stupid, something to keep our minds off finals.
“I can’t believe you suckered me into that,” I said, as we headed toward the theater exit. “That was the dumbest movie I’ve seen in forever.”
“At least it had a happy ending,” Lukas said. “And he was so cute!”
“Ugh, whatever.” I powered on my phone. Checked the time. “It’s almost 3. Fun time's over. We should get back.”
“We will,” he said. “Let’s just walk around a little first.”
We headed to the circular seating area outside the theater. The black clouds hovered over us like giant spaceships, but no rain was falling yet, thankfully. I had remembered to put on a sweatshirt, but forgot to bring an umbrella.
Lukas wrapped his arms around his waist and said, “It's kind of cold out, don't you think?”
“It totally is. Although it’s sad when it’s like sixty degrees, and we’re both shivering.”
We headed up the escalator to the second floor of the Promenade, an outdoor mall a couple miles east of Loyola Marymount. At the top were a nail salon, a sporting goods store, and a Starbucks.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked.
He stepped in front of me. “Always.”
We entered the Starbucks, and I strutted up to the counter. “Two hot chocolates, please!”
Lukas headed to the bathroom after we paid, and I waited for the drinks. When the barista handed them over, I debated keeping both for myself. They looked divine, but Lukas’s looked even better. He’d ordered extra whipped cream.
Lukas appeared to my left, more excited about his hot chocolate than if he were splashing his way through a hot tub with Gerard Butler himself.
“Perfect timing,” I said.
“Mmm. Gimme, gimme.”
We sat down at a table near the back. I took a sip of the drink but it was too hot, so I let it sit for a minute.
“Did you talk to the landlord about next Saturday yet?” Lukas asked.
“Yeah, she said we can start moving in as early as 7:30 that morning. You got permission to stay in the dorms for Friday, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Everyone’s moving out that afternoon, so we’re gonna have the whole campus to ourselves that night.”
“How fun is that gonna be?" His voice went up a couple octaves. "What do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to think of something.” I took a sip. Much better. I stretched out my arms, and when the main door chimed, my eyes darted to the front counter. “Oh my God.”
“What?” Lukas followed my gaze.
“Hello,” Melanie said as she walked up to the barista. Her eyes were aimed down at her purse. “Could I get a venti chai latte, with soy milk?”
I waited for her to finish paying before I said anything. She looked dressed for a ski weekend, with her bulky sweater and long, red scarf.
“Melanie!” I waved. “Hey!”
I worried that she would run the other way, after everything that went down last night, but she stepped right toward us, and even shot me a tender smile. “Hi Sydney.”
“How are you?”
She shrugged, and said, “Not too bad.” She stopped beside Lukas, tapped her fingers against his chair. “Oh, hey Lukas. It's been a while.”
“Sure has,” he said, with little enthusiasm. He took off his glasses and breathed into the lenses, like he wanted to do anything but make conversation.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Melanie, as she shifted her gaze back to me.
“Nothing much. Just some last minute shopping.”
“Shopping? For what?”
“For Evan. Our anniversary’s on Tuesday.”
I forced a smile. How could I have forgotten? “Oh, that’s right.” I could tell she was waiting for me to ask what she got him, but I didn’t give her the luxury. I didn’t want to know. “Look, Melanie, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about last night. I feel really bad.”
She shook her head, put her hand out to stop me. “I told you before. It's fine.”
“It’s not fine. I freaked out on you, when you were just trying to help. I don’t want last night to be your last memory of me as your roommate. I don't want you to refer to me years from now as that crazy chick you roomed with in college. I promise you I’m not that insane, I just get a little worked up when it comes to drinking and driving—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Lukas interrupted. “What happened last night?”
I hadn’t told him yet. I'd been too embarrassed.
Melanie ignored Lukas. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” she said. “I practically forced you to go to that party. It was my fault.”
“You didn't force me to go, I wanted to go.”
Lukas tapped his fingers against the table real fast and loud, to an annoying effect. “Is anybody going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute,” I said. I looked back at Melanie. “So where are your friends? Did they come with you?”
She pursed her lips. “Yeah. For a little while, but... they kind of ditched me.”
“Oh? Why's that?”
“They wanted to go home and get ready for Reece’s party. I guess people are heading over around 5. He’s got food, too.”
“That’s the party Evan was talking about, right? The one that's supposed to be pretty nuts?”
She opened her eyes real wide. “Yeah, oh my God, he showed me pictures. Reece’s parents have this huge place in Marina Del Rey, worth, like, millions. I guess they're out of town this weekend, so Reece has the whole house to himself.”
“Are you going?” I took another sip of the hot chocolate. It was already lukewarm.
“I promised I would. I'm gonna swing by the dorm real quick, then head over.” She studied my face, hesitated for a moment. “You know, if you guys wanna come...”
“After last night?” I laughed. “Thanks, but I think I'll sit this one out.” Lukas didn't even bother answering. His eyes told me he wanted to talk to me, and only me.
“I figured. Just thought I'd ask.”
“Thanks,” I said. And I meant it. After last night I was shocked she even suggested it. “No, Lukas and I already have our fun planned. We’re rockin it out tonight… at the library!”
“Ooooh, now that sounds like a good time,” Melanie said, before she laughed.
I crossed my arms, leaned back in my chair. “You mean you don't want to join us? It’s gonna be hours of entertainment.”
She leaned her head to the side, and pretended to think about it. “You know… I might have to pass on that one, Sydney. Sorry.”
“Chai latte, for Melanie!” the barista said.
She grabbed her drink, and headed back over to us. Lukas looked peeved that she hadn't kept on walking, right out the front door.
“I’m gonna use the bathroom real quick,” he said, and stood up from his chair.
“Again?” I asked.
He didn't answer me; he just marched toward the other side of the Starbucks.
“Is he all right?” Melanie asked. She took a sip of her latte.
“I have no idea. He's been a little on edge today. I think it's all the finals he has to study for. Or maybe he can't get Gerard Butler out of his mind.”
“Yeah?” Melanie said. “I've been thinking about Gerard Butler a lot, too.”
“Eww, really? He's so old.”
Melanie dipped
her head toward mine, and ran her tongue along her upper lip. “He's not old, he's yummy.”
I swatted my hand at her. “Gross! Stop!”
We both laughed. I loved laughing with Melanie.
“Well, anyway,” she said, turning toward the door, “I should probably get going. How long will you guys be studying tonight?”
“Until the library closes. Like 11-ish.”
“Oh wow, all right. I might be back by the time you’re done. I’m not planning on staying at the party for too long.”
“No?”
“I overdid it last night, you were right. I might have to take it easy for a few days, especially with finals coming up.”
I shot her a warm gaze, one that was almost maternal. “You know, you don’t have to go to this party if you don’t want to, Melanie.”
“No, I know.”
“You can be lame with us. You can come jam at the library, with us!”
She laughed. Leaned down and gave me a half-hug. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay. Have fun.” She headed toward the front door. Right before she walked out, I shouted, “And Melanie?”
She turned to me. Put her sunglasses on, even though it was practically dark outside, with all the cloud cover. “Yeah?”
“I really am sorry about the way I acted last night. I’ll make it up to you, okay? I promise.”
She nodded. “If you say so,” she said. She stepped out onto the pavement and disappeared around the corner, out of sight.
Lukas appeared a few seconds later, like he had been patiently waiting for her to take her exit. He sat down and smiled, like he'd done nothing weird.
“Seriously?” I said.
“What?”
“You just got up and went to the bathroom a second time because you didn’t want to sit here while Melanie and I were talking?”
“I can't explain it,” he said. “She makes me uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable? Why?”
“She’s such a phony. Can't you see it in her face? She doesn’t want to go to that party. She just wants to fit in. She just wants to be like everyone else.”
I shrugged. “Some people want to be normal, Lukas. Even if they have to do things they don't really like. I guess it makes them feel better about themselves.”
“Yeah? Well, I'm glad we don't have to be like that.”
“I know, right? We can be lame together.”
He smiled at me, and I smiled right back. I never had a best friend growing up. I had been waiting for someone like Lukas my whole life, and not a day passed this last year and a half when I didn't consider how lucky I was to have found him.
“So tell me!” he finally said, waving his hands in the air, all giddy. “What the hell happened last night? I want details!”
“It’s nothing,” I said. I took another sip of my drink. It was as cold as a chocolate milkshake.
“That wasn't nothing. Something must have happened.”
I scratched the nape of my neck, and averted my eyes toward the window. “I didn’t make a pass at Evan, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Even though I’d wanted to.
Even though I’d really, really wanted to.
Chapter 9
Lukas’s phone started beeping. “Time!” he said, and clicked it off.
“Whoa, has it been another hour already?”
“Yep.”
I sat up and blinked a few times. The brown encyclopedia books surrounding us all blended together, like a circular bar of chocolate. We had been in the library since 5:30, at a table near the back.
“What time is it now?” I asked.
He glanced at his phone again. “10:05. You up for one more hour?”
I dropped my atmospheric science book on the carpet, and grabbed my sociology binder. Started flipping through it. “Yes, that's fine.”
“Okay, I’m just gonna run to the bathroom real quick.” He stood up, pushed his chair back.
I laughed. “You go to the bathroom a lot.”
“Hey, I have a small bladder. What do you want from me?” Lukas disappeared behind the book-stacks, and suddenly, I was alone. Students had cleared out of the William H. Hannon Library with great haste in the last hour. It was a little eerie, the awkward silence in the big open hall.
I glanced down at my notes. I didn’t need Lukas's phone timer. “Frequency description,” I said. I closed my eyes, tried to remember the definition. “A description of a variable providing the number of cases that fall into a variable’s category.”
I glanced at the definition. I didn't get it word for word, but close enough.
“Okay, Frustration-aggression theory.” I closed my eyes again. “That’s… that’s when… uhh…”
“That’s finding yourself in a library on a Saturday night.”
My eyes shot open. I spun my chair around. “What the… Evan?”
“Hey you.” He leaned down, gave me a quick hug. He had his huge backpack slung over his shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’ve been studying, too. For the last hour or so. Have you been here long?”
“Not too long, no.” A small lie. I didn’t need to tell him the exact timeframe. “I thought you were going to that party with Melanie?”
He sat in the empty chair next to me, and rested his backpack on his lap. “Nah, I bailed. I wasn’t really in the mood, so I told her I'd meet up with her later.”
“You were in the mood… to study?”
“That’s right.”
“On a Saturday night.”
“Mmm hmm.”
I squinted at him. Studied him.
“What?” he asked. “Is it that crazy I skip out on some lame party for once in my life? Besides, I need to pull up my grades.”
I shook my head and brought my hand to his knee. He didn't push it away. “No, no, that’s good!” The smarter, the geekier, the lamer Evan was, the better. His just being in the library made me want to jump his bones.
He scooted his chair closer to me. Peered down at my notes. “You’re working on sociology, right?”
“Uhh, yeah. Just started.”
“Can I study with you?” He put his left hand on the notebook, and his right hand on my shoulder. We both sat in silence for a moment, as he perused the words and definitions. I tried to focus, but knew I never could. The longer he kept his hand on me, the harder it was not to squeal with excitement.
I caught Lukas walking toward us in the corner of my eye. I wished at that point we had a signal we could make to each other, some kind of gesture with our hands that said, go away, I’ll call you in the morning. But no such luck.
“Hello Evan,” Lukas said, slightly bitter. He took a seat on the other side of the table.
“Oh, hi Lukas.” Evan had only met him once, so I was happily surprised he remembered his name.
“What are you doing here?”
“Doing what everyone else is, I guess. Just cramming before Monday.”
“Do you have a final on Monday?” Lukas looked down at his book, but it was obvious he wasn't reading the words.
“Yeah, actually, you won't believe this.” Evan sighed, and shoved his palm over his face. “I have three.”
“Really?” I looked at him. “Oh God, that sucks!”
“Yeah, it’s never happened before. But at least come Tuesday I'm almost done.”
Evan rambled for a few seconds, but I allowed his voice, as deep and sexy as it was, to drain from my senses. Instead, I watched his body movement, his gestures, his every glance. I watched how he slid his tongue between his lips, and how his dimples appeared and disappeared with every sentence that escaped his mouth. He had slicked his hair back in a way that allowed for even more curls to flip up under his ears. I wanted to run my fingers underneath them, bring my hand to the back of his neck—and pull him toward me.
“Syd? Are you okay?” he asked.
I blinked. “Huh?”
“You’re kind of… staring.”
“Oh!” I dropped my arms down to the table, and brought my gaze back to the sociology notes. I shot my eyes toward Lukas. He had a stupid little grin on his face. “Sorry,” I said. “I must have spaced.”
“You’re probably just tired of studying,” Evan said, and rested his hand on the back of my chair.
“No, no, I'm fine. I have another hour in me.”
Evan pulled the binder closer to him, and he started taking his own notes, from my list of definitions. We all sat in silence for a minute or two, as Lukas continued with his history notes, and I pretended to focus on sociology.
Lukas kept his head down. I tried to make eye contact with him, time and time again, to no avail. He stretched out his arms, and finally looked at me. I opened my eyes real wide, like an optometrist was shining a light on them, and motioned my head toward Evan.
Lukas narrowed his eyes. Glanced at Evan, then back at me. He shrugged.
All right, I had to mouth it. I pointed my finger toward the library exit and mouthed, “Can you go?”
He still didn’t get it. He leaned in closer.
I pointed, with a little more energy, and Evan noticed. When he turned to me, I smiled, and tapped my finger against my chin, like I wasn't up to any mischief. I brushed my hand through my hair, and mouthed it again, when Evan turned away. Just one simple word: “Go!”
He squinted his eyes even more, so I finally just leaned back in my chair, pointed at Evan, and kissed my wrist a few times.
“Ohhh,” Lukas said, finally getting the hint. He rolled his eyes.
Evan looked up. “Oh, what?”
Lukas dropped his notebook in his backpack and hooked his pen to his shirt. “Oh, I'm, uhh... I’m pretty burnt out, I don't know about you guys.”
“Really? But the library doesn’t close until 11,” I said, pretending like I hadn't just begged him to leave.
“I think it’s best I get to bed early, and start again in the morning.” He stood up and gave us both a wimpy wave. “Talk to you guys later.”
“All right, bye,” I said. I watched Lukas leave the library. I felt bad, but I hoped he understood.
“Do you have Mr. Hernandez’s notes about assimilation?” Evan asked. He was so focused. I never saw him like this, ever.