168 Hours of Miles Fonte

Chapter 10: Tuesday

The more time I spent with Miles' friends, the more confused I got. I didn't understand the dynamics of the group. Tyler and Heather for instance, they're not dating, but he's constantly looking at her and playing around with her. You'd think he would be into her, but no, he is now skipping down the sidewalk talking about this other "chick" that works at Ben and Jerry's.

The track meet was cancelled because the coach had a back spasm, which didn't seem like a good enough reason to drop an entire practice, but the team didn't seem bothered.
Heather desperately needed ice cream and Tyler, seemingly eager to fulfill her needs, was actually only after his own self interest, the Ben and Jerry's girl.
"I swear she's gonna say yes this time." Tyler said all too excited.
Brandon and Kali walked at the back of the group, Andre and Heather were making fun of Tyler skipping ahead of us, and Miles and I were sandwiched between them.
"Gosh Tyler I don't know if you've worn her down enough." Andre said.
Heather giggled. "Yeah, but keep it up. Eventually she'll say yes, and she'll be your little milkmaid."
"More like Tyler would be her little milkmaid." Andre turned to us, "she's like 6 foot."
I looked over at Miles, he just nodded his head.
Heather jumped. "Ooh, ooh, you think she'd give us a free ice cream if they dated?"
Andre shrugged "Only one way to find out." They both smiled at Tyler.
"Don't get your hopes up, Heather." Miles said, dryly.
I couldn't help but smirk, covering my mouth as I did. Tyler gave Miles a dirty look, but then shook it off and continued skipping.

Miles turned to me. "How are you holding up?" He asked.
I shrugged, "I'm pretty good, I know where all my classes are."
"That's good."
"Thanks by the way, for what you wrote on my schedule. It helped a lot."
He shrugged and said, "No problem. Last year my roommate did the same for me, it really came in handy."
We smiled and then tuned back into Tyler's rant.
"You guys have never put faith in my method-"
"Wearing a poor girl down until you get what you want." Andre interrupted.
"It's called being persistent...so they know you really like them." Tyler reasoned.
Andre looked back at us and whispered "Same thing?"
Miles nodded, agreeing with him. I let off a little laugh, which I immediately regretted because it got Tyler's attention and he stopped skipping. I felt bad.

When we got to Ben and Jerry's the cashier was a guy, and I didn't see any tall girls in sight, so I was guessing Tyler was pretty disappointed. I thought about asking him if he was okay, but I didn't know how to go about it. Sorry your 6 foot dream girl isn't working today...maybe next time?
Tyler was leaning his hand on his cheek and stirring his ice cream around and around until it was practically soup.
"You gotta get over her man." Miles said hitting his shoulder, whacking him back into reality.
"Everytime we come here he acts like this." Miles informed me as he handed me one of the two cones in his hands, then sat down across from me, Tyler was moping in between us.
"I can't help it man! She's the perfect girl." Tyler sighed.
Andre leaned over from his table. "No girl is the perfect girl, there's no way."
Heather scoffed at his comment.
"What?" Andre said defensively, "is there a perfect guy?"
Heather shrugged, not speaking due to the strawberry ice cream in her mouth. Kali answered instead.
"Nah, there is no perfect guy..." Brandon's mouth dropped offended. She put her hand on his knee and gave him a sympathetic look. "There's no perfect person, period. People can be compatible. But that's totally different."
They all seemed content with this answer as Heather nodded, Andre put his hands up backing off, and Brandon closed his mouth. I agreed with Kali. I just could never put it into words, not as simply as she did anyway.

I hesitated at first but with more thought I blurted out, "perfection is just your perception of a person, no one is perfect obviously...but if you're really in love you wouldn't you consider them the perfect person, the perfect person for you at least?"
Up until this point I had barely spoken. I was given more attention than I wanted. They all blinked at me.
"Now that...is philosophical." Heather said, grinning at me.
Miles nodded.
I brushed off the compliment. I'd hardly call myself "philosophical". I'm not good at love by any stretch of the word. I've had one boyfriend, in 5th grade, and that one boyfriend dumped me during a chalk-drawing competition. So clearly I'm no expert.

Heather, reading my mind, asked, "so is there a guy who thinks you're perfect?"
Everyone looked at me.
My face blushed as I awkwardly tucked my hair back. "I don't think so." I said.
"And why is that? You've got a brain, good morals, you're funny, what's so not "perfect" about that?" Heather said confidently.
I could tell Heather was used to having the floor to herself, all her friends listening, I was not so used to it, so when they turned to me for a response, I tried to imitate that confidence.
"Heather, you're one to talk! You're gorgeous!" I pointed my cone for emphasis. "If you're single, then why would you expect me to be taken?"
She flipped her hair, "That may be true, but that doesn't make you any less of a catch."
I saw Miles roll his eyes at her slightly narcissistic comment.
"All right girls break it up." Brandon joked.
"Well," to fill the void, "thanks Heather." I said.
Heather smiled wide and turned back to her table.
I was totally uncomfortable. What made me say all that out loud? My friends at home didn't talk much about romance. We bottled up all the conversations that Miles friends didn't hesitate to have. It was a paradox for me.

Miles leaned over the table. "Sorry about Heather, she has good intentions, she's just dramatic."
"No it's okay." I said looking over at her. Heather threw her head back laughing at something Andre said, the rest at the table grinned. "I like her confidence."
Miles didn't respond. So I went back to eating my ice cream. It was so good I was hardly bothered by Tyler's occasional mourning sighs.

The campus wasn't far from where we were and yet this little block felt totally different. The college was spread out while here, every shop was close together and each with a different personality. Bookshop, shoe repair, model train exhibit? It was just quirky enough to remind me of back home.

Miles stood up and collected the group's trash, extending a hand toward me to give him my crumpled napkin. Brandon, Kali, Heather and Andre started getting up from their table.
"Hey, don't think Heather wasn't right about you." Miles said outright.
"What?" I asked.
"Heather may be gorgeous, but she knows it." He smiled and walked inside the store.
I was stunned. The more interactions we had, the more he surprised me. What did he mean by that? Was he implying that I'm a "catch?" I shook my head. No. I couldn't let myself be roped into fantasies, especially ones concerning Miles.

I looked over at Tyler and he didn't seem any less glum than he was before. I thought again about saying something, anything, to try and comfort him. Before I could, Miles put his hands on Tyler's shoulders. He said something in his ear. Whatever he said worked because Tyler nodded and let out one last sigh before picking up his bowl and drinking his soupy ice cream. I still wonder what Miles said to Tyler. What could Miles have said for him to suddenly just be okay? It made it even more evident that I don't understand anything about this friend group, but I was starting to enjoy their company.
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