I'm Normally Perfect (re-upload)

Chapter Twenty

'And you?'

'I don't care for gardening.'

'That's not what I meant.'

I smiled again, I was only teasing him, 'I'm fine. Organising the library.'

His brow furrowed, 'Do you have a job here or something?'

I laughed, 'No, I'm sorry, I wasn't being clear. I'm organising the library at Alex's house. Our house, I guess I should say.'

It took a few seconds, then his brow knitted together again, 'You...live together?'

I nodded, 'I moved in just before this term.' I thought I'd told him that.

'Oh.' He sat there waiting for me to continue before saying, 'I moved off grounds, as well...into a flat...with some blokes.'

'Did you? It's nice, isn't it? Living on your own?'

'Yeah,' he twitched in his seat a bit before saying, 'I didn't know she lived nearby.'

'She doesn't.'

'Well, you have to be within six miles of Carfax.' He said it rather snippy, as if he was trying to catch me out on a lie.

'How do you know that?' Was everyone aware of this besides me?

'They wouldn't let me move into the first flat I wanted with my mates because it wasn't close enough so we had to find one that was closer.'

'Oh, well.' I shrugged, 'She's pretty far out, but Vice-Chancellor Davies approved it.' I was most definitely going to have to discuss this with Alex.

'Oh, are you mates with him, too?' He was beginning to sulk.

I huffed in amusement, 'No, we've met, that's all.'

We sat in silence for a bit before he said, 'Well, I just thought I'd stop in and see how your break went and all that.' He pushed his chair back and stood.

'Thanks.' He remained there, staring at me and I wondered if he was expecting me to say something else. I finally asked, 'Yeah?'

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and said, 'Maybe I could ring some time? If you're not too busy organising the library and whatnot.'

'Oh.' I wasn't thrilled over inviting someone to Alex's house.

He must have sensed my reluctance because he added hastily, 'Or you could give me a bell if you wanted,' he pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and scribbled his number on it, 'if the mood struck or whathaveyou. I have a car so you wouldn't have to worry about getting a lift from Alex.'

I accepted the bit of paper, 'Thanks, but I may be pretty busy.' I didn't want to get his hopes up since I wasn't planning on ringing.

'Right. Well. See you around.' He waved half-heartedly and slung his bag over his shoulder. I watched him go and when I turned back and looked across the lane it was to see Alex watching. I waved and she pointed in my direction as if to ask "Is everything quite all right?" So I waved in a way to suggest everything was fine. I gestured as though I were holding a tea cup and she nodded to signal that it would be fine and held up three fingers, I nodded that three o'clock was fine.

I was relieved when teatime arrived. I'd forgotten exactly how tiring other people were and wondered what I had been thinking when I figured I'd be grateful for the time apart. I placed my bag beside the chair I sat in and hung my coat on the rack. After choosing a piece of ginger cake Alex had brought from home, I plopped down in my chair and heaved a sigh.