“Okay, everyone,” the professor called. “See you next week!”
With a groan, I hauled my heavy body from my chair and walked towards the door. Other people pushed around me in a crush of desperate bodies and I was dragged along, powerless to stop myself.
Dan was waiting in the student union, just like he’d said. When he saw me, he smiled.
“Hey,” Dan said. “How are you? How was class?”
I sighed with relief. Class was good – class was something I could talk about, and not feel flustered.
“It was good,” I said. “I mean, you know, not really. It felt like it dragged on forever.” I flushed. Oh, shit, I shouldn’t have said that, now he’s going to think I’m obsessed with him!
“For me, too,” Dan said. “I stayed up way too late last night and now I can barely keep my lids open.”
“Oh,” I said quickly. “Um, do you still want to get coffee? I mean, tea,” I added. “If you’re not feeling well, we don’t have to do this today. We could do it later, or next week!”
Dan laughed and put his hand on my shoulder. “Molly, relax,” he said. “I’m fine. I want to do this, okay?”
I nodded. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m just nervous.”
Dan gave me a friendly smile. “No reason to be nervous,” he said. “I promise, I won’t bite.”
I flushed. "I didn’t exactly think you would bite me,” I said, shaking my head.
Dan laughed. “Look, I get it – you’re nervous,” he said. “But really, Molly, calm down. There’s no reason to be upset about anything.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Thanks for that.”
Dan led the way across the campus to Port City Java, a hip little coffee shop frequented by students and townies alike. Immediately, it occurred to me how much Alex would hate some place like this.
Get him out of your head, you’re with someone else, I thought as Dan led me towards the counter.
“So, what are you having?”
I looked up and scanned the board. “Um, I don’t know,” I said. “What’s good?”
The girl behind the counter laughed. “Everything,” she said. “What do you like?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I hate bitter things,” I said.
Dan nodded. “Let’s get her a buttercrunch toffee java freeze, and I’ll have a chai tea latte with soy milk.”
When I reached for my wallet, Dan laughed and shook his head.
“No, Molly, this is my treat,” he said. “Don’t even worry about it.”
We stood awkwardly by the counter and I listened to the whirr and buzz of the various fancy coffee machines.
“What are you liking most about the program so far?”
I shrugged. “Just being in it, honestly. It was always my dream to go to library school. Well, my dream and my friend Rebecca’s dream, too. She’s in the program but her schedule is totally different, we had to sign up for different sections because she works part time.”
Dan whistled. “Working and going to school is tough,” he said. “What about you?”
“I’m not working right now.” I blushed. “I actually got a scholarship, which is like, super rare for a terminal master’s program.”
“Good for you,” Dan said.
The barista slid our drinks to Dan and I smiled when I saw the chocolate-laden confection topped with whipped cream.