Rumor Has It

six.

          "Hey there stranger," Theo spoke, making sure to let a slight grin to cross over his lips.

          My mouth parted to reciprocate the greeting, but I couldn't find my voice. Instead, I bobbed my head slightly with a half-assed smile. He nodded back, almost in agreement, and rocked on his feet slightly while his hands wrapped around the drink he carried with him.

          "Did you want to sit? Here," I said as I began to collect the scattered mess I created, "I'll can move my things."

         "Actually, yeah," Theo said as he ran his fingers through his messy locks of hair. "Oh, and I brought this for you." He rested the smoothie down on the table and scooted it towards me. "You looked like you were fresh out."

          I tried to fight the lame smile I could feel bubbling at my lips, but I couldn't. "And just how did you know I wanted another one?"

          His lips formed another smile while his eyebrows raised with enticement. "You just seem like you're a smoothie kind of girl."

          "Thanks?" The word that was supposed to sound as grateful as it could in the moment came out sounding more like a question. Although I was excited about having another smoothie, I was also confused about this whole situation.

          "Is everything okay?" Theo laughed, bringing his elbows up to rest on the table. They propped themselves up in the same way they had when I saw him in the dinning hall the other day, supporting his arms upwards as he made a fist to rest under his chin. For a moment, I was mesmerized by the way his fingers fiddled with the various rings they wore, but when one of his fingers began to swipe over his lower lip I pulled myself back together.

        "Totally..." I adjusted myself in my seat, leaning back in the chair to appear relaxed, "just kind of confused is all."

        "About?"

        With an arm extended out in front of me I closed my textbook and notebook, because I figured I wouldn't get anything productive done by the time I had to leave. "You. This smoothie. How you just happened to magically find me." I paused and pursed my lips with as a slight tease. "It all seems a little sketchy if you ask me, Theo."

          "Sketchy?" He asked with a laugh.

          With my lips still pursed, I raised my eyebrows and averted eye contact. "Very."

          Theo leaned forward and extended his arms out in front of him, nearly reaching across the table, and clasped his hands together. "First off, I promise I'm not stalking you. I have class upstairs just before this and I always stop in here for coffee." His face flushed with the slightest of pink color, but he applied a smirk to maintain his, somewhat, natural confidence.

         "Sure," I teased, "whatever you say."

          "You looked like a little busy bee over here reading ," he paused to investigate my textbook, "Language Arts in the Classroom..." His eyebrows raised as we exchanged a look. "Sounds kinda lame, but thats besides the point."

         I couldn't help but laugh at his bluntness. "I mean, you're not wrong." Taking the smoothie in hand, I brought the straw to up to my lips and asked the question that would bug me for days if I didn't ask, "Should I pay you back or..."

          "Absolutely not," Theo's answer came almost immediately after I asked.

          "I don't really know you, I feel like I need to buy you something or pay you back," I said after taking a quick swig of the strawberry smoothie.

          "Well, get to know me and that'll be the repayment." Theo propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on within the palms of his hands; he batted his eyes dramatically and let a goofy smile of his lift the mood.

          "What do you want to know?" I asked as I reciprocated his silly posture.

           Without missing a beat, he said, "Everything."

          I squinted in uncertainty, "My next class is in half an hour."

          "We better get talking then," he said as he leaned in ever so slightly.

•           •           •

          And within that half an hour we did just that; we talked about ourselves and everything in between we possibly could. Of course it was terribly awkward in the beginning because neither of us knew where the hell to start. So we reverted to the basics to save us from a lack of conversation.

          You'd think we'd be tired of talking about our major and whatnot, but that was a big foundation in this chat. If you were to ask me what I thought Theo was majoring in, I would've probably said Business or some basic major like that, but oh boy was I wrong. Never in a million years would I have thought he would be one to major in Fashion, Apparel, and Merchandise. He wasn't too surprised to learn that I was studying English, because apparently I just have that English teacher look according to him.

          I will say that throughout the time we talked, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would've. Theo, although having an obnoxious amount of confidence, isn't as bad as Kurtis and his friends painted him out to be. Let's not ignore the elephant in the room either; Theo is quite possibly the most attractive guy I've found myself talking to. I found myself reverting to old habits of mine that I was all too familiar with when chatting with guys, in which I may or may not hold an interest in, and I held back as much as I could in the moment. Although he held my attention, I also held memory of how we met which I wasn't too fond of.

          When it came time for me to get going to my next class, I started to pack up my book bag and try to find a natural end point for our conversation. I quickly caught onto the fact that Theo wasn't going to let this chit-chat of ours die in this coffee shop.

          "I'll walk you, c'mon," he said, standing. "I'm not just going to buy you a smoothie and not walk you to your next class." Theo rolled his eyes in a sarcastic manner, earning a soft laugh from me.

          "You don't have to really, I'm fine." I tried to compromise, because this all just felt like a lot for one day and in such a short amount of time. "It's really not far, its just right across the road."

          "Good, wasn't wanting to walk that far," he teased with a wink as he and I made our way to the exit.

•           •           •

    The walk to my next class wasn't as awkward as I was expecting for it to be. Theo was sure to fill the awkward silences with something witty he thought up. I'll admit he isn't as serious as he appeared to be when I first met him; he's actually kind of funny in like a dad joke kind of way. I did find myself easing up around him as we were on the short walk, but every time I felt myself get a little too flirty, I snapped myself out of it. 

   "Thanks again for the smoothie," I said as we approached the doors to the lecture hall, "it was nice to get to know who this Styles guy is."

          "No problem." Theo tossed locks of hair out of his face, leaving them disheveled as they fell lazily onto the opposite side.

          "I'll see you around then?" As these words left my mouth, I felt a familiar burn within my chest, a feeling I've both missed and dreaded.

          "Oh, I'm sure you will," he said. A second of silence, which felt like minutes, went by with nothing spoken. I began to step back as I lifted my hand in a lazy wave and mumbled a simple 'see ya'.

          Before I could turn my back to walk towards the lecture hall entrance, Theo's voice called out, echoing in the large entry way, "What about Friday night?"

          The stinging in my chest turned into a strong burning sensation while I fought off a stupid smile as my teeth pinched down on the inside of my cheek. "I'll think about it," I replied with a simple smile, and slightly sweaty palms.