A Slave to Love

Chapter 32: Pervert

"So who are you asking to the Halloween dance?" I asked Noah as we headed to Science class together. I still needed help walking since my leg ached too much to make the long walk from dorm to class alone, and it had already been a few days since the incident.

"No one." But he answered far too quick and defensively for me to believe it.

"Oh really? And I thought there was a pretty redheaded girl that you had your eye on..."

Noah flushed and mumbled a very miserable "She would never go out with me" in response.

"Of course she would! Jenny totally likes you. How could you even know if you don't ask?" 

"I don't know..." he bit his lip as we walked into class, passing right by Jenny's desk. Damn that girl was smart. We got nearly a hundred percent on the project we did because of her brilliant ideas. Plus she was cute, she might not be what most people would call a 'babe', but she had a sort of quiet beauty. Emphasis on quiet. She didn't flaunt anything, didn't talk much to anyone, and seemed to try to pass as unnoticed as possible everywhere she went.

As we passed her desk she looked up at Noah and gave him a timid smile. He grinned goofily at her as we passed, turning a light shade of pink, right up to his ears. Our group project had lent some common ground for them and they had since picked up the habit of smiling and waving to each other when they passed in the hallways, and occasionally saying hi. Both were too shy to do much else. It was driving me crazy.

"Oh come on! You're the football captain! You can tackle big, brawny guys without even batting an eyelash and then when it comes to girls you run the other way? What the hell is up with that?"

He slid down into his desk, picking at its chipped edge. "Normally I can ask a girl out but this is different. I really like her, but I don't want to make things awkward. I mean, she barely knows me. It'll make class weird if she says no."

"When you guys see each other in the halls what happens? Hell, what happened just now?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. Sometimes when I walk with Noah to class we cross Jenny, and every time they walk past each other they say 'hi' or something, smile, nod, and then they both blush like crazy.

"We say hi. So?"

"You do more than that! I can see it; you both blush whenever you see each other in the halls, and you're always looking at each other, and you're both so nervous it's ridiculous," I said firmly as he helped me into my seat.

"Do you watch us or something? I'm flattered, but that's considered stalking by most people."

"Well, I need something interesting to do while the teacher is talking. But you're straying from the point."

He flopped into his seat next to mine, "But what if she says no? What if she doesn't like me? What if you're wrong?"

I mock gasped. "I'm offended. I'm never wrong when it comes to stuff like this." I hit him in the arm playfully before getting serious. "Look Noah, just take a chance. Carpe Diem. Ask her out; there's nothing wrong in trying. If she says no then at least you tried and if she says yes...well, you know. And it'll give you an opportunity to get to know each other better, right?"

He pursed his lips thoughtfully, turning his head to look at Jenny and her seat up in the front of the class.

"Come on Noah, I know she likes you," I encouraged, "Don't let her slip through your fingers. You don't find girls like her everyday, so you better hurry up and ask her out before someone else does."

"Fine, I'll try to ask her," he said finally.

"Yes!"

He turned in his chair to study me. "O Wise Relationship Guru...I have a question."