Dell met Rian in high-school. She was in his advanced
literature class senior year, and she sat over on the left
most row in the very front desk. She was very quiet, which
always intrigued him because he wasn't. He was verbose and
socially savvy despite feelings of insecurity. In fact,
though he didn't know it at the time, his insecurities were
very normal, and 90 percent of the population has the exact
same ones. It was stuff like:
1. Looking ignorant and unrefined
2. Having something unattractive in his nose or teeth
3. Running out of things to say and having the other person
notice.
Rian was reserved, but obviously intelligent. He
could tell this when she was called on at random by Mrs.
Duvic to answer questions about Hamlet or Candide. She was
pretty in the same shy way that she was quiet, with
shortish light-brown hair neatly parted and tucked behind
her ear, and round features and green-brown eyes. She had
some freckles too, and they were the cute kind. She was
one of those people that just moved like a ghost through
high-school. No one knew much about her, but almost any
girl would have called her "cute" or "sweet", in the
annoying way girls do, mainly because she was quiet and
stayed out of people's business.
A few times, Dell had engaged in light, disinterested
conversation with Rian before class and thought very little
about it. But in one watershed moment, on a Friday
afternoon before he had managed to slide into the hall, he
was softly accosted by her voice.
"Dell? What are you doing tonight?" (This was not a
bit suggestive.)
"Hmm? Oh hey Rian!" Dell managed to respond. "Um, I
don't know, not really. I think I might be going to
Scott's game but I'm not sure. What about you, doing
anything fun?"
"Well, um, I don't know. I was wondering if you maybe
wanted to do something."
"Um, oh! Yeah, maybe. I think so. What, uh, what
are you doing – what do you want to do?" Dell was a little
taken off guard, having never considered a social
engagement with this particular girl. On the other hand,
attention from any girl was nice, and he really had no
aversion to her whatsoever.
"Well, do you want to give me your number, and I'll
call you? Maybe we can do something," Rian said, her
ability to maintain eye contact impressing him.
"This girl isn't as shy as she seems," he thought to
himself, "I have always noticed that she was pretty smart
and not painfully shy, even though she was quiet." "Yeah,
sure," he said out loud, while un-shouldering his pack and
grabbing a pencil. "Here," he said, handing his number to
her as nonchalantly as possible.
"Ok, cool. I'll call you, ok? When should I call
you?"
Dell was glad she seemed nervous too.
"Whenever. I'll just be home. Yeah, call me later,"
Dell said, "See ya." And he walked down the tiled halls to
his locker, where he met up with some fellows and resumed
his normal afternoon routine.
Truth be told, Dell was both excited and terrified by
the prospect of a date with Rian. He didn't have much
experience with girls, and felt, quite irrationally, like
he alone was incapable of talking to them. He had never
had a girlfriend, based somewhat on these terrors, but
naturally had always wanted one. His dealings with girls
were generally of three categories. First and foremost;
sexual fantasies, second; friendly, platonic interactions,
and third; moderately unfair judgment (mainly toward girls
he found superficial). Some of those in the third category
also spent time in the first, and some of those in the second did too.
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YOU ARE READING
Dell's Journey
Viễn tưởngThere comes a time when every man must go on a journey. This is Dell's story.