Neither Here, Nor There

V

"Thanks for helping me find my book," Saige tells me gratefully. She smiles and then ducks her head. "Maybe we could hang out sometime?"

"I um..." I stutter. "Yeah, sure, that'd be cool."

I hear Max sigh behind me.

"We could go grab lunch and I heard there is a new movie coming out," Saige says. She smiles at me and then adds, "should I check this out?" She holds up the book we found.

I nod and then walk over to the circulation desk. I take the book from her and scan it, adding it to her account.

By just glancing at her recent checkouts, I can tell she is an avid reader. My type of girl.

Max seems to sense my thoughts because she growls softly.

Rolling my eyes, I hand the book back to Saige and smile. She shakes my hand and her hand is warm and soft.

"What was that all about?" Max hisses. She looks pissed.

I check to make sure no one is around and lean on the counter. "She's pretty Max. Bonus, she's alive."

I wince at my own words for they are mean and sharp. But they are true too.

"I see how it is," Max snaps icily. She sits on the counter next to me and cups her head in her hands. "I wish I didn't do it."

"Me too," I murmur. My fingers reach out towards her face but again, they go straight through her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few classes are boring and I had Max to keep me amused throughout the whole time. Of course, I am paying very close attention and I have already gained the trust and affection of many of the teachers.

"Q!" I hear a voice behind me and spin around.

Saige is running toward me and she looks radiant. The sun streaming through the windows makes the highlights in her hair more pronounced and her skin sparkles slightly.

"Hey," I say casually, shoving my hands in my pockets. Out of the corner of my eye I see Max skulking.

"What're you up to?" Saige falls in step with me, her hands are also in her pockets.

"Well, I'm heading off towards the library..." I start.

"You like that place don't you?" Saige laughs. Her laugh is beautiful, like a clear bell in the silence of the morning.

I nod and then shrug. I reach into my backpack and take out my ID badge. I slip the lanyard over my neck and quicken my pace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She was totally checking out your ass," Max accuses me. We were back in my dorm room. I was ready to go to bed. I had already scarfed down a dinner of ramen noodles.

"Max," I groan. "We have been over this: she is a living human, I am a living human. We can actually date each other."

Max didn't say anything after that and I think I may have offended her.

"Night Max."

"Night Q."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks later~

I blink against the fluorescent lights of the library. It's fairly early in the morning but I have nothing better to do than to help the sleepy students who are trying to find books for projects or whatever.

"Hey Q." Saige's familiar voice cuts through the silent air. "Help me find a book?"

I look into her eyes and see a mischievous glint in her eyes. I grin and nod. "What now?"

"Just some references to some wars and stuff," she says.

I lead her to the history section and immediately start to scan the spines of books for something good.

"Hey Q?" Saige asks me. She places her hand on my hip and my breath hitches.

"Yes?" I turn around to grin at her.

"Have I ever told you how much I like your shirts?" Saige breathes. Her other hand traces the words on my shirt spelling out: The only way to resist temptation is to yield to it.

I am at a loss for words but soon regain my voice. "And I like yours."

My eyes glance at the band promoted on her tshirt. Nirvana. Not bad.

Saige stands on her toes and places a soft, chaste kiss on my cheek. Before she can move away, my hands automatically move to her head and hold it there. I turn my head so our lips meet and we just kiss for a while.

I can still remember our first date.

Flashback~

Past tense~

"Q!" Saige ran up to me gripping something in her hand. "I got tickets to 50 Shades of Grey!"

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate for a first date?" I teased. I checked the name on the ticket and it is indeed 50 Shades of Grey

"Nah," she grinned at me and then winked. "But lunch first."

We went to a cafe across the street and got sandwiches with some tea.

"So tell me about yourself," I said. I sip my tea and notice her eyes are on my lips.

Licking her lips, she said, "well, I like music a lot, I'm majoring in lit with an art minor."

I laugh to myself. "That's a good combo for unemployable."

"That's what my dad said," Saige grumbled. She checked her watch. "As much ask would love to talk with you about me, your or us, we have to go catch a movie."

I'm sure my heart skipped a beat when she said 'us.' I nodded and stood up. "Ill pay," I said.

Saige winked and me and reached into my back pocket for my wallet. I gulped. She took some money out and then put it back in my pocket.

The movie theatre was jammed with students and lots of them were couples. I was watching Saige throughout most of the movies partly because I didn't want to watch any of the sex scenes and partly because she was just so damn beautiful.

And that's where we had our first kiss. The credits were scrolling, people were leaving (undoubtably to go have a good fuck with their girlfriend/ boyfriend) and Saige was staring at my lips again. I leaned in and kissed her softly with my eyes closed. When I opened them, I saw her eyes were open to and she leaned in to deepen the kiss.

End of flashback~

Present tense~

"Stop kissing Saige, Q," Max demands.

"No," I say.

"No?" Saige looks curiously at me.

"I'm talking to my dead ex-girlfriend," I tell her without thinking.

"What?"