by Laurie Lyons
"Yes… no… I mean no," he cleared his throat again and looked around them. He began looking about with more study in his face. He took in the area around him, the buildings, the park benches and the lights from the far off intersection. He even tapped his toe on the concrete as if to confirm its existence. What is this guy on? It was as if he was seeing everything for the first time. Lucy stood watching him, fascinated.
He took a deep breath – smelling the air - and reached out tentatively for a leaf on a branch that was close. He stroked it lightly with his finger tracing the edges and the veins of the leaf. He cocked his head and smiled at it like it was a newborn baby or a fine piece of jewelry. Lucy watched, completely enthralled with his behavior. He brought his hand under the leaf and stroked it again with his thumb and then slowly lowered his hand to let it fall and rest on its stem.
He looked around as if absolutely spellbound with everything. Lucy kept watching the leaf and for a moment after he let it go it sat motionless on the stem. He turned slightly to get a better look at a light post and Lucy could have sworn that she saw the leaf lift itself ever so slightly and slowly until it was almost parallel with the ground. It seemed, unbelievably, to be reaching for him. Lucy blinked twice and the leaf twitched slightly and fell slowly down to sit motionless again. She watched it in silence for a moment longer.
"Cornus alternifolia," she muttered.
"Pardon me?" he was staring at her now with the same level of fascination.
"Oh," she glared at her feet. Sometimes Lucy's brain decided to work all by itself. This spontaneity usually resulted in a deeply humiliating situation. Lucy's stomach clenched with the realization that this was going to be one of those times. "It's the name of the tree, commonly known as the Pagoda Dogwood," she spouted, shut up you idiot, stop talking, "best in moist, acid to neutral soils; growth rate initially slow," stop please please please stop, "it thrives in rich woods; wooded slopes and bluffs." Finally her brain listened to her pleading and was silent. There was a long painful pause.
He cleared his throat. "Do you…like trees?"
"No, I um… well they are great and all," she paused, and glanced up at his expectant face, "I ….I…. have a photographic memory," she finally stuttered out.
His grey eyes widened in disbelief his jaw fell open, "No," he almost whispered and shook his head slightly from side to side, "it's not possible."
"I assure you it is totally possible and not a big deal," she snapped at him – ready for a fight. "It's just a talent like any other talent. Some people can run really fast or play football, this is my gift." He seemed unaware of the fact that she was offended by his comments and stepped closer to her. He was again within inches of her. She breathed in and forgot that she was irritated.
"Who gave you this ability?" he almost demanded.
Lucy was taken aback, "Well I was born with it."
He immediately relaxed and cleared this throat, "Of course you were. That makes sense." He nodded almost to himself and then turned his attention again to Lucy, "How does it work?" he asked.
"Well…" she began.
"Would you mind?" he asked, "if we sit down? I am…" he paused as though finding the word, "tired, yes tired."
"Oh ya sure," Lucy had to admit that standing in the middle of the sidewalk was getting a little awkward. She motioned to the closest park bench.
"No," he said carefully clearing his throat again, "inside, please I am…" he paused and cleared his throat again, "cold". Lucy thought it was actually nice outside because the wind had died down for once. She knew she should probably just tell him to mind his own business but for some reason she couldn't. It wasn't just because he was gorgeous, although that helped. This guy was intriguing to say the least and despite the definite freak level, there was something more there. Lucy could feel it.
She was like the leaf in that she was drawn to this total stranger. Lucy felt the strongest need to hold his hand, to hug him and to run her hands through his thick black hair. She sighed lightly at the thought, and coming out of her reverie, realized with horror that she was reaching towards him. He was looking at her hand and then back at her face with interest. Lucy dropped her hand, shoved them both into her pockets, took a deep breath and started walking towards the dorm. He followed.
"I'm Lucy," she said risking a glance at him sideways.
"Lucy," he said back to her.
"Ya, Lucy. What's your name?" she asked climbing the steps.
"Who me?" He looked surprised.
Lucy laughed. "Of course you, what, you think I have imaginary friends or something?" He paused and looked directly into her eyes. Lucy froze as their eyes met for the first time. His were a deep grey and Lucy had never seen that eye color before. His eyes were so clear that she could see right through them. Ignoring all rules of polite, safe distance, she went up on her tiptoes to get a better look. They seemed to go on forever, into this vast world of crystalline light and color. Lucy became more enraptured by the second.
"My name is Nathaniel," he whispered because she was so close to him now. She could feel his warm breath on her cheeks.
Lucy mumbled something that sounded like, "Nice to meet you," and she forced her heels back down to the concrete. She stared at the ground and made a promise to herself to not look him in the eyes anymore – it could become addictive. As he opened the door for her, he glanced around the quad again and up at the sky as if making sure nothing was watching them. Lucy headed into the building forgetting that she had papers to write, phone calls to make and a bed to sleep in. She forgot about everything except being where she was. As they walked into the foyer he cleared his throat again.
"Do you have a cold?" Lucy asked.
"No. Why?" Nathaniel sounded surprised.
"Well you keep clearing your throat," she explained. "I thought you might be getting sick."
"I haven't used my voice in a while that's all," he said distractedly as he looked all around him with the same sense of study. Lucy wondered what that meant. She hoped he wasn't a convict or something but had to be honest that it didn't really matter to her. Lucy just needed to know more about him.
They entered the small hole in the wall that passed for a coffee shop in the girl's dorm. There were only two other tables occupied; one by a mousy girl who was studying alone and the other by two giggly girls who were clearly making plans or reliving plans. Neither table looked up as they came in and Lucy was a little disappointed. She wanted to see if anyone else had the same reaction to her new friend as she had. She threw her bag down at a table near the window. Nathaniel obediently sat down.
"Coffee?" she said glancing in his direction being sure not to make eye contact.
"Um sure?" he said it like a question. Lucy walked over to the counter, poured two coffees, and grabbed a handful of cream and sugars and two stir sticks. She put them on the counter by the register and fished through her pockets for some change.
"Two coffees?" the pimply-faced clerk asked.
"Yup," replied Lucy with a distinct, 'isn't that obvious?' tone to her voice. He shrugged, probably assuming that Lucy was just cranky with midterms and handed her back her change. Lucy turned back to the table to see that Nathaniel had opened her book bag, pulled out her copy of Hamlet and had it flat open in front of him reading. Lucy was usually a private person so it was surprising that it didn't bother her that he had rifled through her bag.
From this distance, he was still gorgeous. He sat casually in the chair, like he had been sitting there for hours rather than thirty seconds. His shoulders were broad and defined, she watched as he shifted his arms to flip the page and wondered if he would even notice at this point if she never came back to the table. He looked up as though in answer to her question. He scanned the room quickly and found her standing twenty feet away staring at him. Nathaniel smiled and something like relief passed his face. He would notice if she had left. Lucy felt butterflies fill her stomach and bat up against her lungs. She swallowed hard and walked tow
ards him.
Lucy put the coffees down and slid into the seat across from him. Nathaniel was still smiling at her. She was torn, she wanted him to stop so she could focus but the thought of that smile going away was painful to think of. He took the coffee she offered him and left the copy of Hamlet forgotten open sitting between them on the table.
"Thank you," he said, "this is more comfortable."
"No problem," Lucy replied adding cream and sugar to her coffee and taking an experimental sip.
"So you were saying?" he prompted. He propped both elbows up on the table tucking his hands under his arms and cocked his head to the side, ready to listen.
"Oh," Lucy snapped back in again, "my memory."
"Yes," he encouraged, "your memory." Lucy took a deep breath.
"Well, it appears I was born with it. My parents said they started to figure that something was different about me when I was two and could tell them exactly what my grandmother was wearing when she came to visit two months before. By the time I was reading the whole thing took off." She took another breath and checked for a reaction. Nathaniel seemed enthralled, eager and ready for more. Lucy continued. "They realized that everything I saw, that everything I read was stuck in my head forever, there seemed to be no limit to my memory, I could recall things I had just seen as clearly as I could recall something I had seen years before. They brought me to doctors and scientists and psychologists, testing me over and over. They made sure I didn't have a brain tumor, autism or epilepsy. The scientists tried to quantify everything in my head. I had sleep tests, awake tests, tests with images, numbers, letters, words I didn't know, places I had never seen and I was infallible every time."
"Infallible," Nathaniel almost whispered.
"Yup," Lucy tapped her temple, "it gets in here and it cannot leave, even if I want it to." She continued, "When I was twelve we met Doctor Hannon who has been watching over me ever since. He's awesome. He has written hundreds of journals and articles about me. He knows more about my brain than anyone. He's a good scientist and I like that he prefers to see me as a person and not a subject. It has been determined that my photographic memory is possibly the most accurate and effective in the world."
"He sounds like he cares about you." Nathaniel said with a smile.
"The feeling is mutual," Lucy replied. She relayed the "show" they just put on in the auditorium. "I am also fairly certain that I got my full scholarship because of him. My marks were pretty good but this school was the only school to offer me such a lavish deal." Nathaniel glanced around with his eyebrows raised. Lucy laughed in response. "I know, this place doesn't look so lavish but room, board and books all included for four years with an option for a masters or even a doctorate down the road is pretty lavish."
Nathaniel whistled. "That is excessive, you must be very smart."
Lucy shrugged, "Ya, I do ok. But the school really wanted the Doc to do his research here and I think they might have thrown my deal in as a part of the package. He is one of the foremost specialists on the internal workings of the human mind in North America. Since he started working with me, he has published some amazing work on the nature of the human memory system. Me studying here makes his life a lot easier. My mom is also thrilled to have me here with him."
"A chaperone." Nathaniel smirked.
Lucy smiled, "It's kind of pathetic but I don't really need one." Nathaniel raised his eyebrows and she laughed out loud, "Sad but true. I mean, I could call him if I ever needed bail money or to bury a body or something but I haven't really needed to."
"So you aren't a criminal," Nathaniel nodded with a smile, "pretty boring Lucy."
"You wanna hear boring?" She sat forward and spoke softly with a heavy note of conspiracy in her voice, "I had this master plan in high school that I was going to read every reference manual I could and go on Jeopardy to win enough money so I would never have to work a day in my life."
"That didn't work out?" he whispered back with mock surprise. He was almost laughing now, "I can't imagine why it wouldn't work. It seems like a flawless plan."
"No," Lucy rolled her eyes dramatically, "apparently they do research on all the applicants and once they figured out who I was they said that I wasn't allowed to go on the show."
"They research the applicants?" Nathaniel was laughing now. "Why, I never would have thought! They ruined everything! Now you have to work for a living!"
Lucy laughed too, "My master plan for world domination was thwarted." They both laughed. He was tall, dark, handsome and funny? This was almost too much for Lucy to take in.
"So what's the master plan now?" he asked.
"Well, school, job and grow up," Lucy shrugged, "pretty simple."
"What did you mean when you said you remembered things that you don't want to?" he asked.
"Well," Lucy shrugged again, "I remember every crappy book I have ever read and every ghastly movie I have ever seen."
"That's all?" he prompted.
Lucy chewed her lip and stared at the copy of Hamlet on the table, "I can recite every nasty note written to me by caddy girls in junior high." She rolled her eyes, "The rumours got pretty bad for a while. They claimed I was a robot, an alien, that I took drugs to improve my memory, lots of dumb stuff. I remember every word, everything."
"That must be awful," Nathaniel said with real sympathy in his voice. He reached over and laid his hand on hers. His skin was soft and smooth and very warm. Lucy's hand almost melted under the pressure as if her bones were liquefying under his influence. Warmth radiated up her arm to her elbow and she felt that whole side of her body relax to the point that if the table were not there it would have hung limp at her side like a noodle.
"I see your aren't cold anymore," she managed to say quietly.
"No," he half smiled, "I am better in here. This is…" he paused and searched for the word, "wonderful." Lucy couldn't help but to agree. She half nodded. This was wonderful. This Nathaniel guy was something else. There was another silence but it wasn't awkward. It was as if Lucy and Nathaniel had known each other for years. She felt a need to be near him but not really a need to impress him. Lucy looked up and saw that Nathaniel was smiling at her again. That personal wonderful smile and she felt the heat from her arm spread to her chest where it sped up her heart rate. She smiled back. Lucy wasn't sure why this guy was sitting here listening to her life story but at this point while staring into his stunning kind face she really didn't care. She however, wanted to know his life story and quickly decided to change the subject to fulfill that goal. She opened her mouth to ask about him.
"So what is your major now that you are here?" he asked again with unwavering interest. Lucy paused, irritated that she had been thwarted in her efforts.
"Double major in history and English," she answered quickly. She was determined to move on. "Are you in school?" she asked and much to Lucy's annoyance, Nathaniel completely ignored the second half of her answer.
"What are you going to do with a double degree in History and English?" Lucy paused again debating whether to ignore his question but when she looked at him his face was so sincere and earnest that she couldn't ignore him.
"I don't really know but it has to have something to do with books."
"Why?" he asked intrigued.
"Because I love books." Maybe if Lucy kept her answers short enough he might move on and talk about himself. No such luck.
"Like Hamlet?" He said gesturing to the copy still sitting open in front of them. Lucy grinned. Nathaniel had figured her out already.
"Yes, like Hamlet, any Shakespeare, novels, history books, reference manuals, encyclopedias, atlases, dictionaries, you name it. If it's on paper and bound together, I adore it."
Nathaniel gave a half-cocked smile and raised one eyebrow. "You ADORE the dictionary?" Lucy giggled. He started to laugh too and while laughing said, "Please don't tell me you have read the entire dictionary?" Lucy threw her head back and laughed full out realizing how bizarre that sounded.
Nathaniel put his head down and chuckled as he barely uttered, "Right right. Sorry I forgot - world domination through a brilliant vocabulary." Lucy howled with laughter.
They laughed easily together for a moment longer. When she composed herself, Lucy sniffed and absentmindedly glanced at her watch. It was past eleven. She looked around her and saw that the clerk had pulled the flexible cage around the counter and left. At some point the mousy girl and the giggly girls had left as well. How long ago was that? She and Nathaniel had been sitting here talking for almost two hours. Time flies when you are having fun. She thought to herself. "No doubt," she muttered. She realized that both of them hadn't been talking. Only Lucy had been talking. She knew no more about Nathaniel then when they walked in here. In fact, she knew nothing about him; not where he was from, his last name, if and where he went to school, nothing. It made Lucy uncomfortable to be in the dark about things. Her controlling side began to grumble. She took a deep breath and started with, "enough about me…" but again he cut her off.
"I'm very sorry but I have to go," he said sounding sorry indeed, "it's late and I have somewhere I have to be."
Lucy's heart sunk. "Oh sure," She replied with fake confidence, "I'm sure your girlfriend is waiting for you. I have things to do myself."
"A Girlfriend?" he answered looking confused. Lucy looked at him doubtfully.
"No?" she asked.
"No," he said clearly, "do you have a boyfriend?"
Lucy found it promising that he cared.
"No," she said and he looked relieved; another good sign.
He started to stand and released her hand to take the empty coffee cups to the garbage. Lucy fought the urge to reach out and grab him again. Her hand felt cold and papery like it had been asleep for a while. When he turned to deposit the cups in the garbage she shook her hand trying to get the blood flowing. She stood and tucked her copy of Hamlet back in her bag and slung the bag over her shoulder. They walked side by side back to the foyer and Lucy could feel electricity passing from his shoulder to hers. She could NOT be imaging this.