While You're Here

17

Ruben walked out of the change room with his shirt askew and laces undone. He yawned, stretched, and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Oh, come on," I said. "Where's all that energy you pester me with?"

"Gone," he replied, kneeling to tie his shoes.

"We're gonna be late."

"You sound like me."

"Well, now you know what it was like when you dragged me here the first time."

"Dragged you? You had fun."

I huffed, shrugging. "Not the point."

We walked towards the room together, slinking into the bustling group unnoticed. Not even a minute passed before people started coming over, greeting Ruben with smiles, hugs, and handshakes. Instantly, his mood brightened and life poured back into him.

"Why did you bully me into coming again?" Ruben asked, turning to me as he started his stretches.

"I needed a distraction," I said. "And we're prepping for exams."

"I don't think toned calves will help me pass my exams."

"Not with that attitude they won't."

Ruben looked at me skeptically, but said nothing else. I swallowed, looking away and focusing on doing my own stretches. Was that the truth? Well, kind of. Maybe not the entire truth. But what Ruben didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

The class was every bit as intense as the first time. All the hours of sitting in my room hunched over a new project seemed to have finally caught up with me. By the end of class, my throat burned, my lungs ached, and my legs threatened to give out. I all but lunged for my water bottle and downed half of it in one go.

Ruben laughed. "Good class?"

"I think. . . I'm dying."

"Come on," he said, putting his hand on my back. "Let's get you some air."

We stepped outside just as the group down the hall left their own studio. Immediately, I began scanning the faces in the crowd, looking every which way. I thought maybe Wesley would be here again, but there was no sign of him.

Ruben stared at me like I'd finally lost it. "Are you good?" he asked.

"Uh huh," I mumbled.

Then, I saw him. Well, not Wesley, but I thought I might. The same roommate he'd been here with that time we ran into each other was only a few people away. I looked around, hoping Wesley might be close behind, but the person with his roommate wasn't him.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

He looked this way and our eyes met. There was no way he'd recognize me, I thought, and then immediately realized how wrong I was. His eyes widened just enough to tell me that he did know who I was. Panic set in and I grabbed Ruben's arm.

"Time to go," I said. "It's too hot in here."

"What?"

I pulled Ruben away through the crowd. I kept my head down, trying to stay out of sight. This was not how I wanted to meet Wesley's roommates and I definitely didn't want them getting the wrong idea. Not that there was anything to get wrong.

"You're acting crazy, Q," Ruben whispered.

"Okay," I said. "Maybe I was expecting Wesley to be here. That's all."

"Oh my God."

"It's no big deal."

"You went to a zumba class so you could hook up with your crush?"

"No! And I don't have a crush on him."

"Your behaviour suggests otherwise."

I assured myself he was wrong. It wasn't so strange to hope you might run into a friend. People with real crushes did much crazier things, didn't they? At least, that's what I thought watching Madi fabricate a new personality when we were sixteen and all those cheesy television series that never left their channel's rotation.

When I knew for certain Wesley's roommate was nowhere in sight and wouldn't find us, I let out a breath and downed some more water. "This," I said, waving my hand around, "was a very bad idea."

Ruben doubled over with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "Oh, Quinn, you are so screwed."