you seen his feet?”
“Yes, but you know what I mean.” Her eyes go wide and I swear I can see her heart beating from her chest. “Is this too good to be true?” She’s the only person in my life that can go from zero to full blown meltdown in thirty seconds, but I wouldn’t trade her for anything.
“Relax, Shana,” I say, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Kyle just really likes you. He seems fine to me. No missing body parts or crazy secrets, just a guy who’s falling hard for a girl.” Whatever cork she had holding all the air in her lungs releases slowly and she takes a deep breath.
“Yeah?” she asks. “You really think he’s falling for me?”
“I do. He acts like a guy in love.”
“Oh God." Bringing a hand to her chest, she fists a portion of her shirt and closes her eyes. "I’m falling for him too. But it’s fast, right? I mean, we’ve only been dating for two months.” Her eyes blink open.
“Pah, two months is more than enough time to fall for someone," I say. "Hell, my parents said they knew they were in love after their first date. So, it can happen.” Shana smirks as she nods, and the awkwardness of my words sinks into both of us. The small flicker of loneliness I had been feeling is sucked into the tiny dark hole that my parents' situation has been burning in my chest.
Shana knows those words just struck a chord with me, so instead of letting it simmer she promptly changes the subject.
“You know, Kyle’s friend Lucas still really wants to go out with you. It would be perfect. We could do a double date Wednesday. Go on the buggy ride, then have dinner. Lucas is really cute too. You’d like him.” Her smile is sweet and pleading at the same time. She has been trying to talk me into going out with Kyle’s friend forever now, I’m just not interested. But I know that if he’s anything like Kyle, he’s great. More than great, even.
“I don’t know, Shana.”
“Oh, come on. You never date. I’m telling you, Lucas is perfect. He’s even a dorky art major like you.” She scrunches her nose at me mockingly.
“Ha-ha, shut up. And that is so not true. I just hung out with Craig the other night. He came over, we watched a movie, and fooled around a bit. If that isn’t a date then I don’t know what is.”
“No, sweetie, that’s called fucking,” she says, tilting her head and causing her long brown hair to cover her shoulder.
“Whatever.” I laugh. “Okay fine, maybe I was tipsy when I invited him over but it was like a date, plus we didn’t even have sex.”
“Sure. Okay.” She shrugs. “So, are you telling me that you are open to the possibility of you two falling in love? That you could really see that one day?” I look from her gaze to the table, our forgotten textbooks lie open. I know what she’s trying to get at but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.
“No,” I say, closing my book and sliding it into my backpack. “I mean, it’s Craig, he’s just…”
“Convenient,” she says, finishing my sentence. I roll my eyes. “You barely date, and when you do, it’s never with guys you could actually end up with. Just a bunch of Mr. Right Nows.” The softness in her eyes pulls at my resolve, making it harder to stay annoyed with her. “I know we are still young, but don’t you want forever with someone someday?”
I let her words sink in and continue packing my bag without answering. She silently follows suit.
“Fine,” I say, insecurity creeping through my chest. “I will think about it, but no promises.”
Shana squeals, wrapping me in a tight hug. "It will be so much fun," she says as if I’d already agreed.
"Yeah, yeah." We rise from the table and I grab my purse, tucking it under my arm, and follow her out to the lobby. Lenny, the campus security guard, is sitting in a black desk chair by the exit staring at his phone. His squinted eyes brighten just a bit when he sees Shana and I approach.
"You girls be safe," he says, clearing his throat. We both nod and thank him as we walk past. The warm night air makes my skin feel sticky, and I turn in the direction of my car. It takes me a second to realize Shana isn’t