Literature, lust and love - Professor Romanoff

THIRTY-TWO

I collapsed on the grass next to my friend as the sun started setting behind the trees. I regretted my choice of running around the track as soon as my lungs started to hurt after 200m.

"You're getting worse, Desdemona," Yelena mocked as she handed me my water bottle.

"I'm really tired, Lena! Coach has been hammering us with workouts for weeks, my body is shutting down." I had thrown myself into the workouts, desperate to get back into shape and become strong again, but I had forgotten how tiring it was.

"I'm fine," she pointed out, and I looked up at her scowling. "That is not a pretty face."

"Shut up," I scoffed, rolling my eyes and looking up at the clouds. I appreciated Yelena as a friend because she didn't give me any sympathy, so she really made me deal with my shit. It had been six weeks since transferring, and whilst I was extremely lonely, I was really enjoying Wanda's class as she was such a sweet-tempered soul, and I had created a great friendship with Yelena. Alex and Emily were always together, which I was very happy for them about, as it was wonderful to see them both happy, and it meant that I didn't have to lie to them as much. I caught glimpses of Natasha in hallways, but if we were ever approaching one another, one of us would always turn away. I wanted nothing more than to run to her and hug her, but I realised that was selfish after putting through it all, and the thought did cross my mind that maybe she was happier without me.

Yelena poked me in the stomach and I rolled over to look at her. She grinned cheekily at me and I groaned. "What is it now?"

"Want to go get cheese fries?"

"Sure," I chuckled, relieved that Yelena had chosen a calm activity for us to do today after a long day of classes and sport. I heaved myself off the ground, slipped my bag strap over my shoulder and followed Yelena to the cafe. Obviously, we bickered the whole way there, but we finally stopped when we sunk into the booth at a local cafe and started deciding what we wanted.

"You know, I never asked you why you came here?"

"Would you like to know, Desdemona?" Yelena raised her eyebrows at me, looking blankly at me.

"Obviously, I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise."

Yelena rolled her eyes. "American humour, I just can't seem to get it! I came here because of my sister."

"Oh, nice! Does she go here as well?"

She held my eye contact a bit longer than I expected before she turned her attention back to the menu. "Yes, she is a few years older than me."

"What's her name?"

The waiter walked up to us and asked for our order, which turned out to be two helpings of cheese fries and a Fanta for myself. After scribbling down our order, granted it wasn't much, he walked away with a chipper smile, and I returned to our conversation.

"Talia."

"That's a nice name," I replied politely, trying to wrack my brain and figure out whether I knew of her or not.

"She's a nice person," Lena said, which I nodded appreciatively at. She suddenly changed the subject, surprising me. "Do you have a boyfriend, or girlfriend?"

"Uh, not at the moment, but if I did, it would be a girlfriend." I glanced at her expression but it didn't seem to change, which made me feel safe in her opinion.

"Did you?" She asked, clearly picking up on my jittery nerves.

"I did."

"What happened?"

"I fucked it up. She was the best thing to ever happen to me and I broke it off."

Lena's eyes softened slightly, which was something I had never seen from her before, but it was soon gone as she straightened her posture. She didn't ask anything else, which I was grateful for, but her silence did intrigue me, as I wondered what she was thinking about. Soon, however, our food was brought over and I spent the next 15 minutes trying to listen to Yelena's strong speech about how hot sauce made everything better.

"Oops, I spilt!" Yelena looked down at her shirt and I laughed out when I saw a red line of hot sauce from her fry. "Do not laugh, Desdemona! This is a disaster!"

"Yelena, it's fine. We can just go back and clean it."

"Okay, let's go." Yelena stood up abruptly and I couldn't stop the giggles from pouring out of my mouth. We walked towards the door but I felt a hand grab onto my arm before I could open the door. I turned around about to fight someone, but I relaxed instantly when I saw that it was Wanda.

"Hey, Wanda!"

"I thought I heard your laugh, Desi."

I blushed and she laughed at me. Yelena cleared her throat so I looked at her before turning back to Wanda.

"Wanda, this is my friend Yelena."

"Oh, I know. We've met before at a facu-"

"I really have to go clean my shirt, but it was nice to see you again, Wanda." Yelena briskly walked out of the cafe and I laughed again.

"Not a day goes past where she doesn't make me laugh. That girl is just unironically funny."

"It's good to see you smile so much Desi." Wanda commented and I smiled a bit more.

"How are you? Are you sad you have to miss out on seeing me next week because of my away game?" I pouted, teasing her. We both knew she was relieved to not have to see me bicker with Tom the whole way through the lesson, but she did confess that she would miss me.

"Oh, I'm great," Wanda pushed her hair behind her ear dramatically, making me look at her hand. I saw the glint of silver and I squealed.

"He proposed!!!" I grabbed her hand and stared at the beautiful ring.

"He did!" Wanda giggled and I pulled her into a hug.

"Oh my god, this is amazing! Please let me come to the wedding, I promise I'll be good."

Wanda chuckled and pushed me back. "Desi, he proposed two days ago, we haven't set a wedding date yet."

"That sounded awfully like a no," I said, pulling puppy eyes at her. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Yes, you can come, Desi. Maybe I'll let you help me with my vows, you've got poetry in you."

"Wanda Vision, I like the sound of that, it's cool." Wanda had spilt all the beans about her boyfriend one time we were in the library, and I soon became her favourite confidant because I always got so excited at the little things. "You're going to be an amazing wifey, I can see it now. Ah, young love!"

"Shut up, Desi! I'm 28, not 18." Wanda kicked me in the shin and I gaped at her.

"Professor Maximoff, I could sue you for assault. I'm not going to do that because I would so love to come to your wedding and pass your class. Although if I did win the case, I wonder if I would automatically pass your class," I pondered while Wanda rolled her eyes at me.

"Lord have mercy, how I got stuck with you, I don't know."

"You won't be saying that when you make everyone cry with your beautiful vows," I teased sing songily and Wanda nodded her head in acceptance.

"Now go help your friend before I really do something that you could sue me for," Wanda pushed me towards the door as I chuckled.

"Bye lovebird!" I waved.

"Bye, hon!" She waved back and I jogged away to try and find Yelena and her shirt.