Weekend Friend

17.

"IT'S A DATE," Audrey bluntly informs me on Tuesday morning as we walk Bear through the quad. The trees dotting the perimeter have started to change colour, with vibrant orange leaves sprinkled in with the green. Students have sprawled themselves across the lawn on picnic blankets and tapestries, and various student organisations have set up tents to pitch themselves to anyone willing to listen.

October in Seattle is notoriously grey and wet, but today is one of those rare sunny days when the air is crisp and dry. It's why I'd felt morally obligated to put on my favourite plaid skirt this morning, styling it with sheer black tights to ensure that I won't regret it later on in the day.

"Not officially," I insist, tugging on Bear's leash to steer him away from what looks to be geese shit. "He didn't say Jensen, do you want to go out with me. He didn't even say date. Because that would've made things way too clear, and nothing is ever allowed to be that easy."

"But he did ask if you wanted to get coffee with him." Audrey pins me with her best no-nonsense glare. Her brown eyes compliment her all neutral ensemble. She looks like an expensive dirty chai latte. "He wants to see you. Don't let those intrusive thoughts of yours try to tell you otherwise."

"Well if it is a date, I have no idea what to expect." I think back to the first time I went out with Ryley and cringe. "I mean, the only other first date I've been on started at a frozen yoghurt shop and ended three years later with me in tears."

"That's...intense." Audrey offers me a sympathetic smile. "But it's why you should be excited about today. Besides, a date at Pastries & Pastels is low stakes. He'll buy you a coffee, you'll both pretend to admire the mediocre art on the walls, and you'll talk like normal people because you already know each other."

"I actually don't know much about him," I admit, embarrassment heating my cheeks. I wish I could sink into my oversized cable-knit jumper. "I don't know whether he has siblings, how he takes his coffee, his star sign..."

Audrey chuckles. "Well the whole point of dating is getting to know each other, so those are all perfectly normal questions you can ask him. Except I'd ask what his birthday is rather than his star sign, it's a less risky approach."

"You're right," I sigh out. "I don't need him to know that I'll be looking at the compatibility of our signs tonight."

The girl sat on the nearest bench suddenly jumps up as if she's only just remembered she has a lecture, and we wordlessly commit to occupying it.

As I sit down, Bear positions himself between my boots, looking up at me with his big needy eyes that know I have treats in my jacket pocket. Knowing there's nothing to be gained by staving him off, I pluck the baggy of bacon flavoured treats from my pocket and offer him two in the palm of my hand. They vanish in a heartbeat.

Audrey crosses her brown Sambas at her ankles as she settles in beside me. "Anyway, what does Parker think? She must be pleased that her little scheme resulted in a date."

It's amusing to me that while Parker and Audrey have spoken a grand total of maybe five times, they know so much about the other through me. Their paths have never crossed academically, with Parker holed up in the business school and Audrey in the College of Arts and Sciences like myself, studying Political Science and Journalism. They also don't encounter each other socially, with Audrey having never been a part of Greek life. In addition to being deeply entrenched in Student Government and the newspaper, she's a member of the Improv Club. In short, they exist in very different social orbits, with me as the only commonality between them.

But despite knowing that they won't ever be chatting about me behind my back, I still hesitate before telling her the truth.

"Oh, well I...haven't told Parker yet."