It Happened on Maple Street

I didn’t tell Ann I’d met him. I didn’t tell anyone. Tim was my secret. I didn’t want anyone else giving me their opinions about him. He hadn’t asked for my phone number. Which I knew would be the first question out of Ann’s mouth, and her prognosis, upon hearing the answer, would not be good.

I couldn’t bear Ann’s sympathy.

Besides, he’d said “See you around,” and that could mean that he wanted to see me again. Couldn’t it?

I hoped so.

God, I hoped so.

Because thoughts of Tara popped up randomly over the weekend while he was at home on Maple Street, Tim looked for her on campus all day Monday, but she seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. Then Tuesday morning he turned the corner outside the library and there she was not more than twenty yards away and heading straight toward him.

That girl, Ann, was with her, but he wasn’t going to lose his chance.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.” Even he couldn’t miss the welcoming smile on her face. She was glad to see him. It was all the encouragement he needed.

“Hey, you want to wait for me before geology lecture today and we can sit together?”

He could feel Ann’s stare, but he ignored her.

“Sure.”

Score.

Tim was standing in the hallway outside the lecture room, early for a change, when Tara walked up an hour later.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

They had that down. It was about all they seemed to say to each other.

“Ready to go in?”

“Yeah.”

He held the door open and she walked off with purpose ahead of him, stopping at a seat a lot closer to the front than he would have chosen. Saying nothing, he sat.

She took notes in class. He hadn’t expected that, either. There were more important things at hand to talk about. Who cared about rocks?

The more he sat there, taking in her deep powdery smell, the less he wanted to be sitting in class. He had to get out of there before he embarrassed himself. Jeans didn’t leave room to hide pertinent evidence.

Class ended and Tara was gathering up her stuff like she had someplace to be. He had to make his move.

She turned, looked him straight in the eye, and he forgot what he’d been about to say.

“You want to sit together on Thursday?” he asked.

“Okay.” Her smile had him going all over again.

Kids were leaving around them. Some guy knocked into him. “You busy after class on Thursday?” he blurted next, not quite the way he’d planned.

“No.”

“You want to hang out?”

“Okay.”