“I do, actually. I’m Sarah,” she introduced herself with a British accent.
“Great music, isn’t it?” I asked as the next song began, Ladon Pigg’s Falling in Love In A Coffee Shop. I couldn’t help but steal a glance back at Zia who was sitting alone now, her hands cupping her face with her elbows resting on the table.
I hoped some guy didn’t come waltzing in to sweep her off her feet while I was over here getting to know Sarah from England.
“Surrey, actually,” Sarah told me when I asked her where she was from. “I’m studying abroad from University of Surrey. I major in international studies,” she explained.
The conversation with Sarah was undeniably interesting as she told me about the things she had experienced so far during her time here. She said she would be leaving for her home country in mid-December once the semester was over.
During the conversation, I got a text from Zia, letting me know she was leaving and that she hoped I had a good night. I was unable to hide my disappointment, which I wasn’t aware of until Sarah commented about it.
“Is everything alright? You seem a bit out of sorts since you checked your phone,” she told me.
“I’m sorry. It’s my friend I came here with. She just told me she was leaving,” I tried to explain.
“Was she angry?” Sarah inquired.
“No, no. She wasn’t angry. She just didn’t have any reason to stay, I guess.” I knew I shouldn’t feel this bad about it, and I felt even worse for bringing it up with Sarah. It was defeating the purpose for why I was even talking to her to begin with.
“So you like her, then?” Sarah guessed.
I ran one hand through my hair nervously before answering. “Yes, I suppose I do like her. But it doesn’t really matter much, because she obviously doesn’t see me in that way.”
“Have you asked her?” Sarah suggested.
“No,” I said. “I’m just not used to this. I never have to chase girls. I usually spend most of my time trying to get away from the ones chasing me.”
Sarah laughed. “Honest one, aren’t you? The answer seems pretty clear, really. You just need to be honest with her. What are you afraid of, anyway? What have you got to lose?” she challenged.
When I left the Daylee Grind that evening, those were the questions that repeated in my mind as a version of Passenger’s Let Her Go had me running for the exit.
What was I afraid of? What did I have to lose?
What I was afraid of was what I had to lose. And what I had to lose was something I never even had to begin with.
CHAPTER 6: ZIA
The next day, Sunday, I finished a paper I had been working on for class, and I had all evening to think about what the next outing would be for Dylan and me.
I had an idea, so I texted him to see if he might be available any day this coming week.
Me: Hey! Are you falling in love with scarf girl or are you up for a weekday meeting this week?
Dylan: Haha nah I’m cool. What do you have in mind?
Me: It’s a surprise for now. Which night could you meet around 6:30 pm?
Dylan: Tuesday ok?
Me: Yep, that’ll work.
Dylan: Sounds good. C u Tues.
Me: Wear sweats. And a muscle tank.
This should be fun.
* * *
When Tuesday evening rolled around, Dylan showed up right on time at my apartment. I was ready to go when he arrived, dressed in my cobalt blue yoga pants and a neon yellow racer back tank top, with a yoga mat in tow. A running jacket with thumb holes was warranted with the chill in the air.
Dylan was wearing a black hoodie covering a white ribbed tank top and a dark gray pair of sweats, as instructed. Did this guy ever look bad?
“You going to tell me where we’re going yet?” he asked as he observed my outfit. “I mean, I really didn’t think girls liked being hit on at the gym.”
“You’re probably right, but lucky for you, we’re not going to the gym. Well, not exactly,” I said.
“Not even a hint?” he prodded.
“Okay, okay. But keep an open mind!” I didn’t want him to back out before we even got there.
“Haven’t I so far?” He had a point there.
“Touché. Follow me,” I said with a smile. I wasn’t going to give it away that easy just yet.
We walked together the few blocks to the studio making small talk along the way. Once we got to where we were going, I stopped outside the front of the studio and turned to face him.
“Well… this is it,” I pointed up to the lighted sign above the front entrance.
Dylan looked up, read where we were, looked back at me and smiled the biggest smile I think I’ve ever seen. Then he actually started laughing. “Yoga?”
If he hadn’t been laughing so light-heartedly in such a way that made me laugh right along with him, I might have had second thoughts about my venue choice tonight.
“Alright, I can try yoga,” he acceded with a genuine smile.
I couldn’t help but notice the happy feeling I got when I heard him laugh. It wasn’t just a fake or forced laugh. It was the real deal, like he was really amused. Score one for me.
I told him that I was going to let him pick who he wanted to talk to himself this time. Consider it the next step in the process, I told him.
As soon as we went in, we noticed that the class was already pretty full with only a few spaces still available on the floor. We grabbed Dylan a yoga mat, then he took a space in the middle of the room and I took one in the back.
During the class, I watched Dylan as he maneuvered himself into the yoga poses, surprisingly well for a guy as muscular and well-built as him. Was there anything this guy wasn’t good at?
I saw him make small talk with a couple of the girls around him here and there. When the class was over, I hung back and gave him some space to carry on a conversation with one of the girls whom he had offered to walk out.
I walked out a minute or two later into the crisp evening air. It looked like clouds were moving in, because it seemed a lot darker than even usual for this time of a November evening. It was only appropriate to go along with my now darkening mood.
If I was honest with myself, I wasn’t sure what bothered me more; that he just left without me, or the fact that I was bothered by it at all. It started to become increasingly harder to deny that maybe I was having more feelings for Dylan than just a friend or a “psychology project.”
Deep down I knew this wasn’t good for anyone involved. I had to find a way to push these feelings out. I thought about what I could do to stop them, and as I walked out and saw Dylan standing there in the light cast from the sign on front of the building, talking to the girl he had walked out with, an idea occurred to me. It would take Clara’s help, and it wasn’t ideal, but it was something.
When Dylan saw me come out the door, he told his new friend how nice it was to meet her and he’d see her around. Then he joined me as I was already several feet down the sidewalk on the way back home.
“That wasn’t bad,” he smiled.
“Any luck?” I asked as we continued to walk toward my apartment.
“I guess we’ll see,” he shrugged. “Hey, have you eaten yet?”
“No, not yet,” I admitted, and I had definitely worked up an appetite during the yoga class.
“Come on. I’ll treat you to a burger,” he said as he looked at me and smiled, angling his body in the direction of a local diner across the street and reaching for my hand.
I thought about it for a second, but finally decided it wasn’t a good idea. The thought of spending more time alone with Dylan sent a thrill through my stomach, and because of that, I knew I had to say no. I couldn’t let myself entertain these unrealistic and conflicting feelings, and I knew the more time I spent with Dylan outside of what our purpose was, the more these feelings were going to get in the way of what I had to do.
“I should probably get home and work on some homework.” It wa
s a valid excuse. I did have some homework to work on tonight, so at least I wasn’t lying to him.
Dylan nodded quietly for a few seconds as we continued on in our original direction. “Yeah, I have a few assignments I should probably work on, too. So I guess I’ll see you this weekend?”
“Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Clara, my roommate, asked if we wanted to go with her and this guy she’s been seeing to the Thunder Lounge this Friday. It could be a good place to try out your new skills and maybe apply some of what you’ve learned so far.” I smiled with raised eyebrows, letting him know I was waiting to hear what he thought.
“Okay, sounds great. What time?” he asked.
“How about ten?” Thunder Lounge was one of those places that didn’t really get busy until around eleven p.m. so I thought getting there a little before that would give us time to get a table and hang out with Clara and Cason for a while before we started scoping out the place for potential girls.
“Cool. I’ll pick you up and we can ride over there together if that sounds good to you,” he offered.
“Yeah, sure. That sounds great. I’ll see you Friday, then,” I said as we got to the front entrance to my apartment building. I kept walking inside so that there was no opportunity for an awkward or drawn out goodbye.
“See you Friday,” Dylan said as he stood outside the entrance and waved as I disappeared into the building.
* * *
When I walked into my apartment on the fifth floor, Clara was sitting on the couch with the television on and was sending someone a text from her phone.
“Hey, Zia.” Clara smiled as she looked up at me. “What did you and Dylan do tonight?”
“Yoga,” I answered as I sat at the opposite end of the couch and grabbed a throw pillow to hug in my lap.
“What I wouldn’t give to see Dylan Porter doing a downward dog,” she said suggestively. “Why didn’t you invite me to that one?”
“Next time,” I laughed. “But it looks like we’re all set for Friday.”
Clara sat straight up facing me, eyes wide. “He agreed to a double date? I knew it! I knew it was more than some psychology experiment! Zia, this is excellent news. I know exactly what you should wear.”
“Wait, Clara, slow down! I wouldn’t call it a date for Dylan and me. I’m still going to be helping him find someone he can connect with. That is the whole point of the time he and I spend together,” I explained for what felt like the hundredth time.
Clara sighed as she leaned back into her comfortable position on the couch. “Zia, don’t you think it’s funny that you’ve helped him meet several different girls already, and yet he hasn’t had a second date… no, scratch that, he hasn’t even had a first date with any of them?”
“I don’t know that he hasn’t seen any of them outside of the times I spend with him,” I justified.
“Oh, come on, Zia. Most people do their real dating on the weekends. And who has Dylan been spending the past few weekends with? Oh, that’s right, you.”
I thought for a moment before I responded, because I knew her mind was pretty much made up about this at the moment, even though I knew she didn’t know the whole story. I knew it wasn’t like that with Dylan and me, as much as I had been increasingly wishing it could be.
“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I said as a transition into getting her to help me with my idea.
“I’m listening,” Clara said. She grabbed the television remote and turned the volume down, even though it wasn’t very loud to begin with.
“I was actually going to see if you might still be willing to set me up with Becker,” I admitted shyly.
“Becker? Seriously?” Clara questioned.
“Yes. I know the timing is weird, and that I had no interest in meeting him before. But… I guess things have changed and I’d be open to meeting him now,” I explained.
Clara sat quietly, looking at me for several seconds. “You’re right about one thing. The timing is definitely weird. But if you really want to meet him, I’ll send him a text and have him get in touch with you,” she said as she grabbed her phone. She held it in front of her face, but continued looking at me, waiting for my affirmation.
“Okay, thank you.” I smiled and I moved to hug Clara before I got up and walked into my room to go take a shower.
By the time I had got out of the shower, there was a text on my phone from an unknown number. Becker didn’t waste any time, I thought. I read the message from him as I walked into the kitchen to make something to eat, since I was still hungry from the appetite I had worked up in the yoga class.
Clara had migrated to her bedroom to study, but came back out when she heard me moving around in the kitchen.
“Did Becker call yet?” Clara asked. “He seemed pretty excited that you wanted to meet him.”
“He texted while I was in the shower. I just texted him back.” As if on cue, my phone announced another incoming message. “He wants to know if I want to hang out sometime this week.”
“What are you going to tell him?” Clara asked as she sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “I’ll see if he wants to meet me tomorrow night at the Daylee Grind,” I answered as I typed the question to him and hit send.
I made plans to meet Becker at seven-thirty p.m. the next night. I didn’t want to wait until the weekend, because I already had plans to meet Dylan, Clara, and Cason at the Thunder Lounge on Friday, and I wanted to get this over with before I saw Dylan again.
I had to get Dylan out of my head. It wasn’t quite a “getting over one guy by getting under another” situation, but one could say the idea was similar.
CHAPTER 6: DYLAN
The following Sunday afternoon, I went for a workout out at the gym on campus. I had met Ethan and Jonas there, and was doing my best to avoid their questions about how my Halloween night had gone.
It was fairly easy to deflect the questions. All I had to do was get them talking about how their own night had went, and that effectively distracted them from mine.
As we were leaving, I got a text from Zia.
Zia: Hey! Are you falling in love with scarf girl or are you up for a weekday meeting this week?
Me: Haha nah I’m cool. What do you have in mind?
Zia: It’s a surprise for now. Which night could you meet around 6:30 pm?
Me: Tuesday ok?
Zia: Yep, that’ll work.
Me: Sounds good. C u Tues.
Zia: Wear sweats. And a muscle tank.
Sweat pants? What in the world did she have in mind, I wondered. I realized I didn’t care as long as I got to see her.
* * *
Zia answered her apartment door in an electric blue pair of yoga pants with a running jacket to match, thumb holes included. A neon yellow tank top hugged her toned body and peeked out from beneath the jacket, her hair tied back in a tight pony tail.
She carried a yoga mat under one arm as she came out, and I found myself questioning what it was exactly that she had planned for us to do that night.
After giving her an appreciative glance, I asked, “You going to tell me where we’re going yet? I mean, I really didn’t think girls liked being hit on at the gym.”
I had dressed as instructed in a dark gray pair of sweat pants that were loose around the ankles, along with a white, ribbed tank top and a black hoodie. All signs were pointing to some type of workout, and I was beginning to have my doubts. Not that I wouldn’t mind seeing Zia work up a sweat. She certainly looked great in her yoga pants.
“You’re probably right, but lucky for you, we’re not going to the gym. Well, not exactly,” Zia said as we took the elevator down to the first floor.
“Not even a hint?” I prodded.
“Okay, okay. But keep an open mind!” she urged defensively.
“Haven’t I so far?” I reminded her. By that time, we had made it out of the elevator on the first floor and out to the sidewalk in front of her apartment building.
“Touché. Follow me,�
�� she said with a smile. I guessed she wasn’t going to give it away that easily just yet, so I waited patiently as I walked beside her a few blocks to the South.
We made small talk along the way until we arrived in front of a yoga studio. Then she turned to face me.
“Well… this is it.” She pointed up to the lighted sign above the front entrance.
I looked up, read where we were, looked back at Zia and couldn’t help but smile an enormous smile that was at least holding back a laugh. Then I actually started laughing. “Yoga?”
I was afraid I was going to offend her, but I just couldn’t help it. I didn’t even know why it was so funny, but it was even better when Zia started laughing right along with me.
“Alright, I can try yoga,” I acceded with a genuine smile, and I could tell it made her happy. Score one for me.
“I want you to decide for yourself who you want to talk to tonight,” she told me. “Consider it the next step in the process.”
I had a feeling this was going to be a test of some sort, so I figured I had better put some of the training she had given me so far into play.
The room was already pretty crowded when we walked in, and Zia helped me get a yoga mat that the studio provided before we took our places on the floor. Zia took a spot in the back and I found one a few rows up ahead of her toward the middle of the room.
I had never actually tried yoga before. It was more of a girl’s sport, but I knew the importance of stretching during and after a workout, and I thought of myself as a fairly limber guy compared to most. Not that I could brag or anything, but I held my own surprisingly well during the yoga class.
I made a little small talk here and there with a couple of the girls right there around me, but for the most part, there was not an opportunity to really talk to any of them until after the class was over.
First Impressions Series (1-2) Page 9