Dating Winter

Lewis Longing

Damn. Why was I so frigging clumsy? I'd probably broken her toe.

"I'm so sorry," I said in that very English, extremely polite way.
"No, I'm the sorry one. I dunno what came over me, slapping you like that," she said as she lifted her leg onto the low wall and examined her toe briefly.
"Do you need to get checked out?" James said as he retrieved his phone and tried to show some concern.
"I'm fine James. It all happened so quick. My shoes are pretty strong. Don't worry."

"You two know each other?" I asked weirdly.
James' reply sounded judging. "This is Lewis. He lives in his own little world sometimes. But, to be fair he isn't in any of your classes."
"Yeh, I think I've seen you before in the computer lab," she said, looking at me, searching for recognition.
"Oh, you two share a class then."
"Yeh, I'm Grace, I moved to the sixth form last term, so still pretty new here. James does Further Maths with me."

She was clever. She might even be a geek too. A hot, polite, intriguing geek.

It wasn't as if I was in dating mode. I mean I was a busy guy and had a few dalliances recently but girls weren't exactly top of my agenda, what with Uni applications coming up and having to take turns doing jobs for grandad. Grandad had had a fall last month and, although he was doing his darnedest to build up his strength again, he needed help with shopping and cleaning. Mum was having to go round almost every day to help him shower too.

The fact was, I did long for the chance at a relationship, but had somehow tidied that idea away in a box under the metaphorical stairs, hoping to bring it out and dust it off again next summer. That's assuming nobody had chucked it out in the mean time.

"He's in one of his dazes again," I heard James say, as I snapped out of it.
Grace looked like she wasn't in any pain, which was a relief. She was foraging in her bag.
"I bought some cookies earlier. Chocolate chip. Bit basic but hey."
She ushered both of us over to a nearby seat and we both appreciated the sugary biscuits, which she shared out freely.
"Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Go for it. So are you guys ready for Christmas?" she asked showing an ease of conversation that suggested she could chat to any stranger, with no awkwardness at all.

James' phone rang before he could reply. He walked off for a minute, probably to speak to his brother. Those two were thick as thieves.
"Well, it's only the start of December. Plenty of time to work up to festivities," I smiled.
Were her cheeks always this rosy? Part of me wished it were me who made them glow this way.

She glanced over to me and smiled again. "Christmas is special. If you take away the religious stuff and the commercialism of it, underneath it's about celebrating being alive, being part of a community, knowing that everyone around you is trying their hardest to celebrate something too."

This was surprisingly deep for half past eleven on a Saturday, in the middle of town. Nonetheless I liked her sentimentality.

Seeing James tap his phone and walk off, I knew he'd texted me while chatting to whoever. Checking my messages, his read, 'Dude. I'm making a start on the Game shop. Join me ASAP.'
'Sure', I texted back.

I could see the little bubbles again on my screen.
His reply was short and to the point.
'Leave the female to it.'
I found myself giggling at this response and Grace started looking at me quizzically.

Getting up quickly, I made my excuses.
"Gotta go. My bro needs me. If anything, to stop him spending his entire savings on a shoot-em-up game."
"Right. Take it easy," she replied sweetly, probably wondering what all the rush was about.

Taking a few steps away I glanced back and realised she looked so pretty. There's no better word for it. Even shoving part of a cookie in her mouth and half giggling as crumbs fell all over her scarf. Pretty as...

***

... a picture. Pretty as a picture was too cliche. 'Pretty in pink' sounded cliche and was factually wrong because she wasn't wearing anything that colour. Struggling to find someone pretty to compare her to, I rushed into the game shop and found James with headphones on, trying out a new simulation. He looked fairly content so I decided to peruse the winter sports games as these were my favourites. I loved pretending I was an Olympic skier slaloming down a snowy Swiss mountain. Sometimes I got so engaged in this fantasy that I could even smell the mulled wine and see the bubbles of the hot tub that followed a hard day's skiing.

A nudge came from behind.
"So, do you wanna go halves with me?" he asked gently, as if trying to get me on side.
"Halves on what?"
"The simulation."
"Is it worth it?" I thought about my bank balance and the fact that I still hadn't bought any Christmas presents.
"Man, you'll be fine. Loads of extra shifts at work this month."

He made a good point. The store I worked in had a Whatsapp group which was forever offering out overtime, if anyone wanted it.

"Show me what makes it so good."
For half an hour we checked out the simulator and had a laugh, just like we always did. I'd be lying though if the back of my mind wasn't otherwise occupied.

That girl had got to me. Intrigued me. Made me wonder what she was up to right then.

An hour later, after buying the game and letting James take it home first, I was back on my bike, freewheeling down the hill towards my street. I was going to find out a little more about her. She was probably way out of my league, but a guy could dream. Right?