The next day as I'm washing dishes in the kitchen, (our dishwasher is broken), I get a text from a random number. I dry my hands on the dish towel and open it up. "Hey, is this Natalie Grey?" it says.
I frown. Usually I don't have people in general texting me, let alone someone I don't know.
If someone put my number on twitter I will kill them.
"Yes, and who is this?" I reply warily.
As I'm placing a china plate gently down on the cabinet, the person texts back. "Oh, cool. :) This is Tanner Mitchell from yesterday. ;)"
Fantastic. "Risa!" I call.
"What?" She yells back from her bedroom.
I start walking that way. "Did either of you guys give that freak my number yesterday?"
I'm standing outside her door now.
"I didn't," she shouts. "But I think Kyle did."
I open the door. She's laying on her bed, laptop open on her chest. I give her my best 'are you kidding me' face. "Really? Why in the world would I want his number?"
"Why not? And learn how to knock."
"He's creepy! Besides, I thought Kyle was setting him up with Lydia."
She rolls her eyes. "What's the big deal? You have a boyfriend. What's he gonna do?"
I sigh. "Okay." I turn around and walk out, shutting the door behind her.
I guess she's right. Although he doesn't seem like the type to care if I had a boyfriend, and besides, Ed wasn't even here. Oh, well. If I didn't see him in person, it wouldn't matter anyway.
***
My plan worked perfectly until the next day. I'd stayed home all day like a lazy person, although I had run on the treadmill. I'd ignored all of Tanner's five texts, and life was good.
The next day, though, I had to go in to my school for some work. I got the papers, thanked my teacher, and walked out of the classroom.
Guess who else is a student at my college?
Yeah. Tanner.
He sees me and immediately walks over to talk to me. "Hey, Natalie!" he exclaims.
"Hi, Tanner."
"I didn't know you went to school here?"
"You either."
He talks at me for a while as we make our way through the maze of hallways. When we reach the exit, he asks if I want to go grab a bite to eat.
"No thanks, I really should... Get home," I say, trying to be nice.
He grins. His smile is pretty good looking. I won't be deceived, though. "Oh, come on. We'll just go somewhere simple, no big deal. It's on me."
I consider. Free food.... Okay. What harm would it do?
"Okay," I say. "I'm taking my own car though," I say quickly.
He looks at me strangely, then gives a little chuckle. "I kind of figured you would."
We drive over to a nearby McDonalds. As we go inside, order, and take a seat, we make small talk. Surprisingly, nothing he says makes me want to put a restraining order on him. In fact, he actually seems relatively nice today.
Our number is called, and Tanner goes to the front to get our tray. When he comes back, he slides into the booth opposite me and grins. "Hey, Nat, sorry if I came on as a little... odd yesterday."
I laugh nervously, pulling my chicken sandwich off of the tray. "Just a little."
He shrugs. "Well, not that it's really an excuse, but I was a little bit... drunk."
I stare at him. "Seriously?"
He ducks his head, runs a hand through his hair and laughs, embarrassed. "Yep. Pretty much." He looks up at me apologetically.
I can't help it. I burst out laughing. "Wow. And I thought I acted weird while drunk."
He laughs with me, stopping to take a sip of his sweet tea. "I was hoping we could start over, and maybe you wouldn't remember me as being such a freak."
I smile. "Yeah, okay."
