Oblivious To Him

Chapter 19 - It's not a Date

I was currently sitting in the theatre scrolling through my inbox.

It was Friday, and since I was the first one to recite my monologue to Mrs. Dervis, I was busy looking back through my recent conversations with Guy. I re-read some of the emails from this week and my heart did a little flip every time I thought about how close I was to finally know who Guy is.

He was still sending me hints about himself but it was mostly just him adding details to the things we have talked about over the years. They haven't been super helpful in my search for him but I think he's doing that on purpose.

I promised myself that I wouldn't mess with trying to figure out who Guy was anymore but maybe if I happen to run into Austin again before the weekend, I will let slip a major hint or two.

Or just blurt out the question that has been burning on the tip of my tongue for days now.

Having him out of class has been both a blessing and a curse.

I must have been zoning out hard because the next thing I know the bell had rung and students were starting to file out of the auditorium.

I needed to get the ball rolling on phase two so I quickly shoved the rest of my things into my bag and made my way towards the gym. I was about to turn the corner when I felt a strong, warm hand grip my shoulder gently.

I turned to find that bright honey colored eyes were smiling down at me. Austin was wearing an olive green hoody that made his eyes seem brighter and jeans that highlighted his athletic physic. He was also wearing those damn converse that made my heart skip a beat every time that I saw them.

Austin took a second to long to release my shoulder before he spoke, "Hey! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages! How has your week been going?"

I shook the nerves off before smiling back, "Good! I've missed seeing you in class. It's not as much fun without you. How is football practice going? Do you think you will be ready for the game tomorrow night?"

He waved his hand in a dismissive manner before smugly stating, "Oh, we have that game in the bag, I don't know why the coach is even making us practice at this point. I would much rather be suffering through that stupid class with you."

I was about to respond with something witty, or at least I was trying to come up with something when I saw that this conversation wasn't going unnoticed.

Drew was leaning up against a locker looking as if steam was about to come out of his ears. I was so engrossed in his glare that I missed the beginning of Austin's question. I tucked a loose curl behind my ear and tried to put my focus back on the striking blonde boy in front of me.

"I'm sorry could you repeat that?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes before asking, "I said, do you want to go out Saturday night after the game? Or at least come to the game to watch me play?"

The word yes was about to slip past my lips when I remembered that I promised Mia that we would have a sleepover Saturday.

No offense to Austin, but I would much rather watch movies and eat ice cream than watch football.

I sighed and shook my head no, "I'm sorry, I actually already have plans for tomorrow night."

A look of confusion danced across Austin's face before he tried to cover up how my rejection had just affected him. If I had to guess, rejection was something he wasn't familiar with.

"Okay, how about we go for dinner on Wednesday next week then? You can't possibly have anything planned for a Wednesday night," he determined.

I hesitated for a second to think.

I was trying to figure out what would happen if I said yes. I didn't want to risk losing Guy before I even get him and agreeing to go to dinner with someone a few days before meeting up would definitely put a hitch into things.

Then again, I was a teenage girl and a walking greek statue had just asked me out to dinner. A Greek statue who could be my best friend. He had the shoes, the charm, and the odd determination to get me to say yes.

"I can move some things around but dinner sounds great! However, just so you know, it is not a date."

He smirked at me and rolled his eyes, "Don't worry, just think of this as a getting to know you dinner. You said we were strangers so I am just trying to change that."

"Well, then I look forward to getting to know you but if you don't mind, I need to go do something that's a little time sensitive," I started to scoot past him and he smiled at me one last time before letting me pass.

As I walked by Drew kicked himself off of the locker and matched my pace, "You didn't listen to me," he accused at a level that only I could hear.

I looked forward and didn't respond since I honestly didn't know how too.

"I told you to stay away from Austin," he warned.

I stopped in my tracks and sent him a glare of my own, "Last time I checked, you don't get to tell me what to do. You probably don't even know my name," I said flatly.

He ran his hand through his messy black hair before sighing, "Why won't you just listen to me? If you know what's good for you, then you won't go on that date on Wednesday."

"Why? What will happen if I do?" I put a hand on my hip as I waited for him to respond.

If he was going to keep telling me to stay away from Austin then I wanted an explanation.

"You just shouldn't okay?"

I rolled my eyes, "That's not a good enough answer to convince me otherwise. Now if you would excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

Not wanting to get annoyed or confused any further I turned away from him and took a couple of steps in the direction of the gym. I noticed that he didn't follow me this time but as I was leaving I could hear him mutter something under his breath.

I was worried that I had just made a bad decision by choosing to go to dinner with Austin but I made it clear that it wasn't a date. It would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally know if Austin is the person I have been emailing all these years. Besides, I could use him for phase two anyway so getting to know him better wouldn't hurt me in the long run.

I took a deep breath and kept walking towards the gym.