Choosing Us

Part V: Friends

Liv was sitting with her sunglasses on, sitting down on the grown with her back supported by the tree. As I became within talking distance, she pulled down her glasses and smiled. "So... first you are going to tell me what that was all about, and then you are still going to owe me an iced Frappuccino." I nodded knowingly. Liv stood up as I was nearing her and put her arm around my shoulder and began swaying us both back and forth. We walked this way back to my car. One of the positives of being joint-enrolled in high school and college was having the freedom to leave after second period. Our college class did not start for another hour and a half, yet I had a sneaking suspicion that Liv was going to interrogate every aspect of my prior interaction with Wyatt. 

As I was nearing the end of my patience with our conversation about Wyatt, Liv tossed her empty  coffee cup into the recycling, and we entered the large stone building and made our way to where our economics class was located. "I think there is the slight possibility that you might be making a really big deal out of someone just taking a job at our school." I said beginning to become irritated. Liv took her seat next to me and turned to pinch my cheeks. "That's why you are so precious to me- you're adorably and perpetually naive," she said with the most dismal baby voice. I stared at her, unamused, until she freed my cheeks. "I have so many other things to worry about... the last thing I need is to have false hope that someone even gave me a second glance," I said in a resigned tone. "That's exactly why you need a distraction, and believe me. There was more than just a second glance," Liv said in a more serious and sincere tone. "I love you, but you're wrong." I said to her and pulled out my notebook and pen preparing myself for Professor Tilman's economic class. Dr. Tilman was notorious throughout the university for being late to his own class and frequently quoted for saying, "I'm too close to retirement to care about this." I had done well within his course so far in the semester which resulted in Dr. Tilman appearing less irritated with me than other students, that included Liv. Speak of the devil, Dr. Tilman entered the room and clumsily shut the door behind him. I had never been so relieved for that clumsy and sweaty man to enter a classroom. For the next fifty minutes, I was able to turn down the noise in my head, and focus on something that I felt confident in, school. 

Once we were assigned next classes readings, Dr. Tilman asked to speak with Liv. I looked over at  her with a confused look but shrugged with acceptance. I walked beside Liv towards the front of the class, but once we made it to the front of the classroom, the professor explained that Liv had a hold on student account and needed to go speak with the registrar to get things straightened out or else she would be dropped from the class. Understandably so, Liv was anxious to resolve the hold on her student account and asked, "So, I know you totally want to come with me to the registrar's office." She said as she weaved her arm into mine and smiled sweetly. My response was simply a smile and nod as we turned and walked in the direction of the Registrar. 

"Olivia Williams, you can follow me," a well dressed middle-aged woman said after opening a door. "I'll be waiting outside," I said as Liv followed the woman. I took my phone out of my bag before grabbing the remainder of my items and saw that my mother had sent me a text:

"Hey honey, we made it to the hotel safely. Your dad is tired, but he is a fighter! I love you! Will let you know how the appointment goes tomorrow."

I was haphazardly walking while texting my mom to offer supportive words, and characteristically, I was in my own word. So much so, it wasn't until I had thoroughly bumped into someone and fell to the ground that I realized that I should have been paying attention to where I was and the reality of running into someone. Following my explosive cursing episode from having hit a similar area of my leg that had previously sustained the earlier injury, my eyes surveyed the items I had dropped, and I made a quick effort to collect my items but my attempt was interrupted by a hand invading my field of vision. It appeared to be offering me assistance to my feet. My eyes moved from the stranger's hand up their arm and to a man's face. At first, I almost did not recognize the man, but quickly was reminded once he said with a chuckle, "I know. I can't seem to stay away from you either, Tori." My mouth slightly parted out of shock, and I had to remind myself to breathe as I realized the man in front of me was Wyatt Daniels. My hand reached for his, and with little effort, he pulled me to my feet. "I have to go." I said in a panicked voice. I was terrified of the likelihood of my eyes betraying me with tears from the harsh combination of pain and embarrassment. "Thanks." I said turning on my heels in the opposite direction of where I actually needed to go, but I just needed a quick escape. I heard quick footsteps behind me. "You should probably sit down for a second. That was a nasty fall," Wyatt's voice said in a kind and concerned voice. "I'm fine. Seriously. You don't need to worry about me." I said trying to end the interaction. The sound of footsteps ceased and I felt a moment of relief until I heard, "Please, just stop." I stopped on my heels and turned around. "I just want to be alone. I know you are trying to be nice, and all, but I don't need you to be nice to me or to look out for me. Everyone is so fucking concerned with if I'm okay." I arms waved to emphasize my built up fatigue and frustration. "Why can't I just continue to live my life as it was before, when no one gave me a second look or thought?" I was beginning to realize that my fall was the least embarrassing thing I had done within the past 5 minutes, but rather my emotional outburst had just taken first place. I held my hands up defensively, "and now, I have been an absolute asshole, and I am going to go home for the day and never make eye contact with you again." During the entirety of my monologue, Wyatt remained still and unmoved by my rant. He waited until he saw that I was done, and said, "I know you're not okay. I don't expect you to be. I don't mean to hover or annoy you." Wyatt took a step towards me and put one hand over his chest to portray sincerity. "I genuinely enjoy speaking with you, and I also have been trying to figure out a time to ask about your calcium intake considering how you still have not managed to break a bone despite incredibly hard falls." He said with a light hearted smile. My previous discomfort and embarrassment apparent by the warmth and color of cheeks began the slow process of resending as I became more at ease with the situation due to his kindness and humor. I even smiled a briefly. "Thanks," I said in a meek voice. "Nope. I don't accept your thanks. I don't accept or need a thanks for telling the truth." He said playfully tilting his head. "You know what I mean," I said shyly. "You..." I tried to organize my words and thoughts but all the came out was, "You're really nice." A slight chuckle came from Wyatt and he turned his head away then returned it back to me. "Well, Tori, you're really nice too." His smile was large and bright making his eyes squint with sincerity. "What are you up to, if you don't mind me asking." He asked. "Oh, Liv and I just got done with one of our classes, and she needed to get some stuff figured out with the Registrar, so I walked her up her." He nodded taking in the information and as if trying to connect unseen dots, "So, you take college classes?" His asked as his eyes wrinkled with curiosity. "Yeah. Trying to knock out as many college credits as I can," I responded. My phone buzzed and I saw that it was from Liv: "Hey, so there's some sort of financial hold so my dad is headed up here to get this settled. Don't worry about waiting on me." Wyatt watched and responded, "everything alright?" "Yeah, Liv is going to catch a ride with her dad; so, I'll probably just head back to my car." Before I could finish my sentence, Wyatt stepped closer to me and asked, "where'd you park?" I replied, "In the Kingston Parking lot, near the chemistry building." He gave a knowing nod and said, "my car is just over there, " pointing to a black Toyota Camry a block away. 

"I can give you a ride, if you want?" He then quickly added, "but, totally no pressure if you don't want to." This was the first time I saw him appear nervous. His eyes shifted in search of my answer from my facial expression. I may not be a betting woman, but I would say the chances of my cheeks betraying me were shockingly high. "Sure," I said trying to conceal a smile. A relieved smile appeared on his face, and we began walking towards his car. As we approached the car, I noticed that his car was well-kept and shined brilliantly in the sun's light. I noticed that it became appropriate to separate to either side of the car, Wyatt followed me to the passenger side. He picked up his walking pace to reach the door handle and opened it. I paused, allowing him to open my door and said, "thank you, Wyatt." He winked at me in response and waited until I was fully situated in my seat before closing the door. He strode around to the driver's side and entered the car with agile grace. As I am sure he had done countless times before, fluidly buckled himself up, turned the ignition and turned on the radio. "Okay... no pressure, but this is an important question," he paused to increase the anticipation for his next words. "What kind of music?" I laughed and said, "just about anything... - but no country." I corrected myself quickly at the end. He smiled, "okay, no country. What about oldies?" I smiled and said, "that'll work." He pressed several buttons on his stereo and then Queen began playing throughout the speakers of his car. 

It was a short drive, but we listened to music and made pleasant small talk. Eventually, we arrived at the parking lot where my car was located, and I directed Wyatt to where my car was. He was able to find a parking spot near my car and put the car in park. He turned his body in my direction and asked, "maybe, sometime, you would like to study together or something?" I was caught off guard by the question as I still had not fully explored or considered what it meant that he was my substitute teacher and how I felt about that. "Ummm..." I began. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to do that-" He said, but I, without thought, interrupted him, "I do! ... I mean, I do want to, but I just don't know if I should." He looked at me confused and then nodded with understanding and responded, "Boyfriend?" I shook my head and said, "No. I don't have a boyfriend. I just... you're my sort-of-teacher." His head tilted and looked as though he was in thought. "Oh." He said understanding. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. That's the last thing I meant to do. I don't know what I was thinking. It's not an excuse, but I remember my mom telling me that you had just had your eighteenth birthday, and seeing you on campus today..." Wyatt began rapidly explaining. "I'm 20 years old, and I just assumed- wrongfully assumed, that the age difference- well, wasn't a difference, and that we could be... friends." His voice trailed off when he got to the word, "friends." Sensing his discomfort, I put my hand on his upper arm and said, "I know. I just need time to think." I noticed the solid feeling of his arm muscles under my hand. He had still been wearing the button down shirt and it was thin enough that his body heat was available through the fabric. "For the record," I began trying to refocus attention back to our conversation rather than his arms. "your assumption was not wrong for thinking that we could be friends. I just... I'm the stereotypical good girl. I listen to my parents. I obey my parents, and try to do everything in my power to avoid anything that would upset or disappoint them, and I worry that spending time with the man who is subbing for my mom is in that gray area of uncertainty for me." There it was! I finally figured out my hesitation. I was afraid to admit my interest in Wyatt because I was concerned of what my parents would say or think. Wyatt's eyes appeared to be distracted and deep in thought until they slowly shifted back up to meet mine, "Do you want to spend time with me?"He asked seriously. His eyes were mesmerizing and easily took my breathe away. I nodded yes quietly admitting this truth to both myself and Wyatt. My heart began to race with having been honest for once in my life about something that I wanted that may not align with my parents' expectations. "Do you want to spend time with... me?" I asked timidly. Wyatt moved closer towards me not breaking eye contact. "Yes, but I only want to if you are comfortable doing so. No guilt. No worries of disappointing your parents." He said seriously. "So, I think I should talk to your parents and introduce myself." I almost choked as the words were leaving his mouth. "Introduce yourself?" I asked surprised and confused. "Yes, so they can know that I, like their daughter, am a stereo-typically good young adult. That I am a good guy and someone they can trust to be... friends, with their daughter." I smiled in disbelief and responded, "I can't ask you to do that." "You didn't." he said, "But, I would like to." At this point, I just shook my head in disbelief and had probably the worlds most stupid smile on my face. "Okay... so... friends?" I asked playfully. "Friends." Wyatt agreed sharply.