never taught her manners.”
“Believe me.” Brian lifts his eyes to Ran’s. “I’ve met her mother.”
“Whatever,” I spit. “I don’t have the ticket, Brian. I’m sorry.”
“You should be. What am I supposed to tell Sophia?”
I fold my arms across my chest. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you could tell her that your ex-girlfriend of three years that you cheated on by sleeping with some sorority blonde you barely knew decided she didn’t want to hang onto anything that reminded her of you. That might do the trick.”
“Maggie, you’re a real piece of work.” Brian shakes his head condescendingly. “Three years and this is how you treat me?”
“Dude,” Ran speaks up. “I don’t think you have any business accusing Maggie of doing the mistreating.”
The two are face to face, just a three-foot gap of space separating them. The angry air that passes between them feels thick and physical, like I could reach my hand into it and touch it with my fingertips.
“Whatever. I’ll figure something else out with the ticket.” Brian storms toward the door. “Thanks for nothing,” he hisses over his shoulder.
“Same to you, Brian,” I say, proud of myself for holding my own, but hating the burning sensation of tears that sting the back of my eyes and scratch my tongue. I will not cry. I cannot cry. I’ve shed too many tears for Brian in the past. He doesn’t deserve any more from me.
When he’s out in the hall, Ran quietly walks over and shuts the door into its frame and it’s like the act triggers the dam to break. I push back the tears with the inside of my sleeve and sniff as quietly as I know how, hoping Ran doesn’t notice.
“Well this is sad, Maggie.” Ran drops down onto my bed and fingers a loose thread on his pant leg.
“This is sad?”
“Yeah,” Ran confirms, nodding briskly. “Because I thought I might have had a chance with you. But if you’re attracted to jerks like him, I realize I’m not your type of guy.”
I hold my finger to my nose to wipe it, as well as stifle the laugh. “I’m not attracted to guys like him,” I defend, pulling a tissue from the box on my desk. I blow into it loudly, sounding like a foghorn. “We started dating when I was just barely sixteen. He’s not the type of guy I’m interested in now.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Ran mocks, throwing his hands in the air. I try again to hold back my laughter, but I’m not successful and I snort. Between the snorting and the snot, I’m making myself real attractive. “Because he’s very pretty, but that’s about all.”
I look over toward his helmet holding the plastic fish bag inside it. “You brought me a goldfish?”
“I didn’t bring you just one goldfish.” Ran glides across the dorm and pulls the bag from the helmet. “I brought you two. To avoid that really depressing swimming in circles from occurring. Plus, they still had a two for one deal.”
“But I didn’t give you any compliments. If I remember correctly, I actually gave you several very harsh insults.”
“I decided to wipe your slate clean.” Ran hands me the bag with two iridescent, golden fish fluttering around inside and snatches my used Kleenex, tossing it into the wastebasket under my desk. “Everyone deserves a second chance in life. Some people more than others.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I yank the fish from him. “That I’m in desperate need of a second chance?”
“Not necessarily.” Ran’s eyes hold my own. “But it feels really good to give those second chances. So I’m doing this more for me than for you at this point. Using you to make myself feel good.” He coils back from my attempted slug against his solid shoulder. “Watch it.” He grabs my wrist playfully and twists up the corner of his upper lip. I bet those lips feel amazing. “I said I give second chances freely. Thirds and fourths are harder to come by.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I drop my hand to my side, but Ran’s still wraps around my wrist and I pray he can’t feel my pulse thrumming on his fingers. My eyes flit up to his, and when they meet, I see his falter slightly along with the quick intake of breath I hear pulled in between his lips. “So what are you here for? Just to drop off my new pets?”
“Yes.” Ran lets go of my wrist. “And to ask you to dinner.”
“Because our