Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 16

Whitney and I walked into the room that was quickly filling up with a large crowd.

"So who can we sit by that I won't absolutely hate?" I asked her quietly.

"You're not giving this much of a chance," she said as she scanned the room, "and I don't really know anyone, remember I'm the new one here too."

"I guess that's true," I said, "isn't there like a back corner we can sit in?"

Whitney gave me a side eyed glance and didn't even humor me with a response this time. She started walking towards a mostly empty table near the middle of the room and I followed after her.

I sat there quietly as Whitney introduced us to the few others that were there, trying not to look too out of place.

"Want to go up and get something to eat?" She asked me after a few minutes.

"Yes please," I said quietly.

Whitney stood behind me in line when we got over to the food table, and I scanned over the options.

"You can relax a little bit you know?" I heard her say into my ear.

I jumped slightly at her voice so close to me and turned around to look at her.

"I'm trying," I said, "not exactly my scene, I feel like everyone is staring at me."

"Why would they be staring at you?" Whitney laughed, "there are other students here."

"I know there are, but they all look like the nerds that belong here," I said, "I don't exactly fit that image."

"So you're calling me a nerd, huh?" She asked as she folded her arms in front of her chest.

"Maybe I am," I said.

"Thanks for that," she grinned, "and I already told you that you look professional, you don't need to worry about it."

"Well I still feel awkward either way," I told her.

"How about if I promise to tell you if you do something that you should feel awkward about, but until then you need to stop worrying," she said.

"Fine," I sighed, "I'll try harder."

"Good," she nodded, "now hurry up so we can eat."

I rolled my eyes at her as we moved up in line and began to grab food. It actually ended up being a pretty good meal, I was pleasantly surprised.

The speaker started while everyone was finishing eating, and she was another pleasant surprise. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

Once she was done, everyone began to shuffle out of the conference room and move along to the individual breakout sessions.

"Well," Whitney said as we walked towards the door, "what did you think?"

"I hate to admit it," I sighed, "but it was pretty enjoyable."

"I told you it wouldn't be as bad as you thought it would be," she said with a grin.

"Anyway," she continued, "which sessions are you thinking about going to? Looks like there's a few options for each time slot."

"Oh you're definitely not getting rid of me," I said, "I'm going to whatever ones you do, I'm not doing this shit by myself."

"Okay then," Whitney laughed, "fair enough...even though you'd be fine."

"Not happening," I said as I shook my head, "just tell me which one we're going to and I'll follow."

"Alright," she said, "suit yourself, but I like all the boring, nerdy shit."

"Very funny," I said as I grinned at her, "I'll survive, let's go."

We went through the first part of the day together, going to a few different speakers and lunch in between. They had all been pretty interesting so far, but it was just getting to be a lot of information to take in.

Thankfully we had an afternoon break so we could go and get checked in to our hotel room.

"I needed this break," I said as we walked through the hotel lobby.

"Agree," Whitney said, "it's good timing."

We went up to the front desk and Whitney gave them her name and they handed her two key cards. We got in the elevator and rode up to our room that we'd be sharing.

She had warned me that we only had one hotel room, but we would each have our own bed. I knew it was still going to be a little bit awkward, but hopefully after the time we'd been spending together it wouldn't be too bad. If it was, it was only for one night.

We got up to the room and I swiped my key in front of the door and pushed it open. I flipped the light on and stopped in my tracks.

"Uhh," I said as I turned to look at Whitney.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked as she stepped up beside me.

"Oh," she continued.

We both stood there and looked at the one queen sized bed in the middle of the room. There was a couch, but it didn't look like it would be a great place to sleep.

"There's uh, there's definitely supposed to be two beds," she said.

"Yeah I kind of figured that," I responded, "it's not a big deal though."

"I don't know Bailey," she sighed, "sleeping in the same bed is not a good idea...for a number of reasons."

"Well I'll sleep on the couch if you're so concerned," I said, "but I don't want to deal with trying to get another room, I'm sure they're booked up with the conference being here."

"You're probably right," she said as she set her bag down, "but I don't want you to have to sleep on that couch, it doesn't look comfortable at all."

"It's really fine, I'm sure I've slept worse places before," I told her as I looked at her and grinned.

"Okay, only if you're sure," she said.

"I'm positive, it's only one night," I responded.

It would be much better if you'd just let me sleep in the damn bed with you, I thought to myself. Wishful thinking, I wasn't going to push my luck.

"Damn, I'm sorry," Whitney said, "I know we told them two beds."

"You don't need to apologize, the hotel probably just fucked up," I said, "now stop worrying and let's go back down."

"Fine," she conceded, "but just know that I feel bad."

"Oh I do, maybe I'll use it against you later if I need something," I said.

She jokingly glared at me and I put my hands on her shoulders and led her out of the room.

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