A New Perspective
Fall finals were fast approaching, and the student body was in survival mode. Unfortunately the teachers saw this as the perfect time to introduce half a dozen new things in each class. Life was a nightmare. For them. I was perfectly fine.
School came easy, and I even agreed to help tutor Melissa in math. Before that party, I don’t think I had accumulatively spoken more than a dozen words with her. In less than a week, we were friends.
Finally my life was in order. I had school figured out. I had been able to overcome my fear of rejection; fear that anyone I talked to would be able to see through my lack of confidence. I had begun to appreciate people for who they were, not some ideal I had built up in my head. Everything was good.
And then fate decided to throw a monkey wrench into my perfect little world. But that wrench was also a glimmer of hope for the new, deeper meaning I’d been seeking.
I had fallen back into my old habit of hitting up the coffee shop between classes. Before it had been to “study” and kill free time. Now it was to satisfy my craving for a colossal quantity of calories, even though my wallet was begging me to find cheaper food source.
I ordered an absurd amount of food and turned to find a seat.
“Ryan?” There she sat by the window. She looked gorgeous as ever. The winter sun perfectly accented her blond hair, making it glow. How had I not noticed her when I walked in?
“Holly,” I breathed as I took the seat across from her.
This was the first time I had seen her since that night. Well, morning, rather. My stomach jumped to my throat. I felt my insides turn to butterflies, and my tongue felt dry.
“It’s good to see you.” She smiled.
I only managed a head nod in response. She would to have to carry this conversation.
“In fact, I was hoping to run into you,” she continued after a moment.
Somehow, that made sense to me. I think at that moment I would have agreed with anything she said.
“Here I am!” I laughed nervously.
“Order for Ryan!” the barista called.
Thank God.
“One second,” I quickly excused myself.
I stood almost as quickly as I had sat down. I left to retrieve my food hoping to find some dignity while I was at it. I took the walk away from her to attempt to recover from the shock of seeing her. Unfortunately, the walk back didn’t help. How could someone be so lovely? Life wasn’t fair.
But then, a thought. She had chosen me. She had found me in the club, and again now. She was the one pursuing me. And I didn’t look half bad myself. You can do this.
I sat back down.
“So, why were you hoping to run into me?” I asked.
Easy enough.
I took a bite of food as reward for my small conquest. Besides, I couldn’t ruin the situation by saying something stupid with my mouth full. She watched me for a second, a small smile teasing the corners of her lips.
“I wanted to show you something, but I’m not sure how well you’d take it,” she stated.
My mind immediately went to its darkest recesses. I coughed on the muffin in my mouth.
“To be honest, well, I haven’t been perfectly honest with you,” she went on, “and I really want to clear some things up.”
Well, this was interesting. I took a sip of coffee to clear my throat. Too hot. I choked a little. This was going well.
“What do you mean?” I asked stupidly.
Maybe community college really would be the height of my achievements.
Now she was the one who looked a little nervous. How much more could she be hiding from me? I was a governmental experiment, and they had supposedly been keeping tabs on me somehow. That had been a lot in its own right.
“I am part of that secret government organization I told you about,” she started slowly, watching me closely. “And they would like for me to recruit you.”
“Okay…” I replied.
Was that why she was here, simply to recruit me? Why did she sound so hesitant?
“How would you like to come down to see our base of operations? Get a feel for who we are and what we do?” she finished carefully.
Well, if nothing else, this was the perfect push the plot to my story needed. But even though I was sitting across from the exact person I had thought about so obsessively for the last few weeks, and she was offering me exactly what I wanted—more time with her—I didn’t want to jump too quickly and seem desperate. Damn, I was a living embodiment of the flaws of a romantic comedy.
“I’ll have to think about it.” Already had. I would agree.
“Is there any way I can contact you? You know, so you don’t have to go searching everywhere for me again?” I tried to give a coy smile. It came out lopsided.
“You know? This is actually the first place I looked.” She put my attempt to shame. “But sure, here’s my number.” She slid a small piece of paper across the table to me.
“Don’t be afraid to use it,” she said as she stood up.
And with a wink she was gone, a whirl of blonde hair as she disappeared gracefully out the door.
Wow.
I sat and finished everything in front of me while contemplating the little she had said. Over-analyzing everything and nearly despairing in the end.
I must have come across a complete fool. A full one-eighty from last time. But she had still seemed interested in me. Or had she? Well, yes. She certainly was last time. That or government recruitment programs were really stepping up their game on an individual level. But if I was some sort of super-soldier prototype, that would make sense, right? But I hadn’t been given the virus cure on those grounds. Of course, Holly could be their way of ensuring that I may not have been recruited directly but would still fall in line.
Did any of this really make sense? I laid my head in my hands on the table.
I decided to blow off class and consult the one person who might have insight into such matters.
I found Tom at home throwing a tennis ball repeatedly at the wall.
“How long you been here?” I asked as I entered the living room.
He caught the ball and looked at me.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” he asked, dodging my question completely.
“I have come to you for your infinite wisdom on all matters of the carnal kind,” I replied.
“Ah, finally you see I am a man of great knowledge in the ways of the world.” He smiled and sat up straight.
“In a manner of speaking. I need to know if I’m getting screwed,” I countered.
“Well, I am a bit of an expert in that area as well,” he continued undeterred. “Though, generally from the other side of the equation than yourself,” he said with a laugh and threw the ball again.
“Touché.” I snagged the ball out of the air in front of him, dropped down onto the couch next to him, and told him about the coffee shop with Holly.
“Awesome! Finally a chance to actually put to use some of the abilities you’ve been given! This is exactly the type of situation we’ve been waiting for!” he exclaimed.
“Right...” I said, rolling my eyes, “But that’s not exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Did… Does Holly actually care about me? Is the government just using her to recruit me?” I asked.
“Probably both. Who cares? Sounds like an awesome perk to me,” he replied.
“Be serious please,” I implored.
This was possibly my future, after all.
“Look, in all seriousness, they probably used her as a classic honey-pot scenario for the whole virus thing at the hospital. She was the one who gave you the pitch, right? So yeah. But after that? Is it coincidence you ran into her at the club? I doubt it. You are a crazy-valuable asset to them now. But did she need to take you back to her place and screw your brains out? No. You’d have followed her around like a lapdog regardless. I’m sure she could see that too, if she were any good at her job. So obviously, for whatever reason, she must actually like you. It also sounds like they are still trying to recruit you, which means they aren’t about to force you into mandatory government conscription. So for that I’d be thankful.”
Besides being highly insulting, his rant did have some good points.
“So if I were you, I’d have said yes right there. But good job getting that number finally!” He raised his hand for a high five.
I pondered what he said.
“So you really think I should do it?” I asked slowly.
“Of course!” He gestured towards his raised hand.
“Okay. I guess I could give this a shot. For your sake more than mine. As long as you promise everything stays between us,” I responded.
He nodded solemnly, so I gave him his high five.
I texted Holly shortly after talking everything over with Tom. I was too nervous to call, just in case I sounded as stupid over the phone as I had at the coffee shop. Much to my surprise and delight, she replied almost immediately. We agreed that she would pick me up next Monday after my last final. Never have I ever had a weekend drag on so slowly.