That night I was seated at the kitchen table doing the research I had failed to do that afternoon. Gwen and Braeden had been in her bedroom all evening and I knew better than to go bother them to tell them what had happened in the library. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which was seriously slowing the flow of my note-taking. I was just so surprised. I didn’t think that guys were really like that. He had to have noticed that we were always there at the same time, or he wouldn’t have known to bring the cone at that specific time. I didn’t know if he thought I was cute or anything, but at least he knew that I existed and had known so for longer than the day I practically fell onto his table.
I was finally removing him from my thoughts long enough to read a chapter from one of my library books when Gwen walked into the kitchen with some serious sex hair going on.
“Rough evening?” I asked as she made her way to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.
“You could say that,” she smiled, smoothing her hair and sitting across from me, “Did you see him today?”
“You could say that,” I teased.
“Did something happen?”
“Yeah, we had sex in the stacks.” Gwen choked on her water.
“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes and opened a fresh pack of note cards.
“How long have you known me?” I asked before telling her the actual story, in great detail.
“A road cone? That is so nauseatingly cute.”
“I know. But all it means is that he knows that I go to the library and that he remembers that I tripped over the outlet.”
“No, it means that he noticed you and that he wanted to do something bold to get your attention! If he didn’t think you were hot, he wouldn’t have gone for it. Maybe you tripping was just the kind of thing he was waiting for because it gave him an in.”
“I really like your story, but I don’t want to get my hopes up, you know?” She nodded and stood.
“I understand, but don’t let it scare you. Go for it, Esme. You deserve it,” she said before leaving the room.
I opened a new book and found the chapter I needed. Damn it, that was all I needed, a head full of ideas that weren’t about the Great Depression. That paper was going to take forever to finish.
* * *The cone incident happened on a Wednesday, and since I had class all day long on Thursdays, I didn’t get to go to the library again until Friday. I wasn’t usually one to primp for class, and frankly made a lot of fun of those who did, but I knew that Zac was usually there on Fridays and wanted to look good. Damn good.
I made my way to the library in a black sweater, my favorite jeans, and my black boots. I was feeling confident but nervous. He probably wouldn’t even be there. It didn’t matter, I had plenty of research to do. I climbed the stairs and made my way to my chair only to find that it wasn’t there. I turned the corner to find it pushed up to Zac’s table. He looked up as I turned the corner.
“Isn’t this weird? I got here and the chair was all the way over here,” he said. I walked towards him and set my bag down on the table.
“Yeah it is weird since I’ve been coming here since my freshman year and it’s always been in the exact same place.” I sat down across from him and started to take my books out of my bag. “I guess they want it here for a reason.
“I guess they do.” With that we both went to our work for a few minutes before I just had to say something.
“So, we’ve both been sitting here for months and we’ve never said a word to each other. Why are you all of a sudden doing these things?”
“Things? What things?”
“Oh, I don’t know… bringing a traffic cone into the library, lugging this chair all the way over here. Those things.” He laughed.
“Okay, the cone was for safety reasons, and the chair was here, I swear!”
“If you weren’t laughing when you said that, I might believe it.”
“Okay, I might have moved the chair. I just wanted to sit with you, that’s all. Is that okay?”
“It’s definitely okay.”
“Would it also be okay if I asked you to go to dinner with me tonight? I know it’s short notice but-”
“I’d love to,” I blurted. I told him where I lived and he told me that he’d pick me up at eight and to dress nicely. After class I practically skipped home. A date. A real date at Harper College. It felt like a scene out of a romantic comedy and I didn’t mind at all.