Hold me Tight

Chapter 6

Victoria's POV
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Ever had a feeling of a spider crawling up your skin? And even if you dropped it off, the sensation remained? For hours.

That's exactly how I felt for an entire week after Elliot left me in the middle of our lunch. For that week, I did not see him in the class. Or at the campus for the matter. His trace was nowhere to be found.

Not that I tried.

Okay I might have, but I asked Stephan only once. And he dodged my question with a shrug. He knew nothing. And when he started teasing me that something happened, or I wanted something from his best friend, I flipped him off and went back to my daily schedule.

But his absence never failed to bother me.

It stung me at the back of my mind.

I walked up to my seat and settled down. The professor followed behind me and after a few more seconds of hustles, the class started. I wondered where Jass was, but stopped as soon as I saw a familiar figure on the entry.

Elliot entered in the class, with his bag hanging on his shoulder, cream coloured baggy tshirt paired up with cargo jeans, nike sneakers and the signature black band on his left wrist.

He stopped in the second row, where I was sitting. His hand slapped the desk with a thud, a white paper sneaking from his fingers.

I looked up, eyes narrowed and folded my hands over my chest. The square neck black top pushed up my breast. I caught him sneaking a glance at it, recovering quickly.

His eyes were soft as he handed me the paper and mouthed I am sorry.

I understood that something happened that day, otherwise nobody would ever bail out of a comfy lunch like that. I also understood that it might have been serious if he vanished like that. And I also understood that I was in no position to ask him anything about it, or to be angry.

What I did not understand was my reaction. Shut. Down. This. Right. Now.

We were not friends. Mere strangers. So, why was I feeling relieved to see him? The spark that this man ignited in my chest the first time I saw him, had been growing into a fire.

I pursed my lips, debating whether to grab the paper or look forward. I guess, in the war between heart and mind, one loses and another wins. This time I let my thundering heart win, and took the note from his fingers.

He went up to sit with his friends. The class continued. I bit my lip, fidgeting the note between my fingers until the urge became unbearable and I read the content in it.

I am sorry for last week. Something came up.

-E
Dumb ways to die? Sure.

—---------------------------

I stood behind everyone for a doubt that was of utmost importance to be asked from the professor, and kind enough as he would be, we spent ten extra minutes figuring out the solution to my problem. Little did I know it wasn't two of us in the room, rather three.

Elliot stood in the corner. Waiting. One hand in the cargo jeans and engaged in typing something on his phone.

"The method that you are proposing is equally good but not precise, Miss West." Professor said, circling the points he had written in my notebook. "Focus on the veracity of the data and rather than going with descriptive go for a predictive approach in this scenario."

I nodded and parted ways. Until him and I were left. He looked up at me, smiling with baggy eyes as if he hadn't slept for a few days. He looked tired.

"Have you been walking around the city butt naked in the morning?" I asked.

His nose flared, eyes shone like twinkle in the sky. "Was that you with a flash and a camera at my butt when I ran naked in the morning?"

"Dang, I thought I was discrete." I tidied the notebook in my bag and took a step in his direction. "I am in no position to ask, but I hope all is good?"

He said, "Yeah, yea. All good. Nothing that should concern you."

Okay, first, that hurts. Second, I am his nothing.

I smiled and we walked down the hallway, crossing the main building to enter the garden. This time, I followed his pace to the left, walking toward a secluded section of the building which I had never seen.

"How did you find this place?" I asked, bewildered at the single banyan tree unleashing its stem around the mini garden. A circular pavement surrounding in all the directions of the trunk, as if someone could use it for sitting.

"This area was accessible to the art section for their paintings until last year."

He blew the dust and sat on the pavement, tapping his side, moving his head up and asking me to sit.

I walked, and sat beside him. From our view, I could see the rest of the garden, but the abandoned cafe, which turned into a storage room, blocked our view from the others.

I smiled.

He was looking at me with a relaxed smile. Tired but relaxed.

"So?" I asked.

He cleared his throat. "Look, I just- I am not like that, but I want to tell you that our meetings haven't been so great. And I would like to correct that."

"Correct how?"

"How about another lunch, or dinner maybe?"

My eyes immediately dropped on his lower lip. Pink, full and between his teeth. Lunch. Yeah, he was talking about lunch.

Should I be going? Should I keep on lying to myself that I liked him the moment I saw him? After all I spent the entire last week thinking about it.

Last Wednesday when jass and I were hanging out in my apartment, she tricked me into confessing about Elliot. I flipped her, telling her that it was just a charming effect. A distant eye refresher. I did not have time for this. My ambitions were too big to be distracted. That constant pressure which was engraved into my soul so strong, I did not have the antidote of it yet. And the path seemed so long.

Panic surged into my belly and I looked elsewhere. "I don't know. We don't even know each other."

His eyes widened. "I am not asking you on a date if that's what you are thinking."

What?

I sighed. Relief filling my bones. "In that case," I touched his shoulder, smiling. "You don't have to take me anywhere to rectify any mistake which you didn't do. It's a loop, right?"

"So, you promise to delete my butt video from your phone?"

I smiled. An actual throaty laugh. Mischief danced in his eyes. "Are you really shy or you just pretend to be this cute campus boy?"

True to my words, his ears turned pink. "I am not shy, I just feel like talking to people is a waste of time when all they want to do is talk and not listen."

I understood. I really did. Having people in your life who listened to you when you wanted them to listen the most is a gift. A rare gift granted to a few.

I spread my palm to him. Elliot raised his brows. I said, " You phone."

"No, I am not letting you post my naked butt on my social media."

I narrowed my eyes. "Funny but you have only one chance to get my number."

I kept the fact to myself that he would be the second person in the campus, in three years, to have my number.

He slid his phone in my hand with supersonic speed, smiling from ear to ear. I typed my number, gave a call and felt my phone beep inside my bag.

"So, see you at lunch?" he asked, standing up.

"Dinner, and maybe." I said, winking.

Not a maybe. Sure. Because my heart pumped crazy inside me when he winked back and gave me his twinkle smile with teeth flashing, cheek glowing.