10 Feet Down (Original Version)

Chapter 10

"Damn, only two percent I get?" He says in between his laughs.

"I'm doing you a favor Tre," I point out, smiling as I hear his deep laugh.

"Thank you Evangeline," he jokingly bows with one hand behind his back. "Much appreciated."

"You're welcome, Trevante."

Our laughs eventually diminish, but the air between us was now without tension and awkwardness. The earlier fight today was left behind and Tre and I kept talking.

"What book were you reading down there?"

"A Walk to Remember."

Tre shakes his head. "Never heard of it."

"It's a romance novel."

Tre groans. "Of course it is."

"Hey it's actually a really sad love story."

"How?"

"You should read it yourself," I start. "But it's about a high school boy that's a rebel and he ends up falling in love with the shy, religious girl who's unpopular. But the twist is she's dying of leukemia and they only have a short amount of time left together."

"Sounds like the cliche love story." Tre shrugs nonchalantly. "Nothing special about it.

"It's sad because they fight through their adversity of being opposites and nobody wanting them to be together, but in the end they are because they won't ever find anybody else who loves and understands them they way they do for each other," I explain and Tre looks like he's thinking.

"It's very beautiful and tragic," I add.

"Much like life, huh," he says and I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, unfortunately."

It's kind of weird, but we never run out of things to talk about. Tre always has something to say. And when I grow quiet, unable to find something to contribute, he comes up with something else, never making it awkward. I feel like I am an extremely awkward person, but Tre never makes me feel like that. He used to make me feel that way, but the more time we spend together talking, the less of a jerk he is and the more he shows how nice of a person he is. It's a big turn from what I originally thought of him. I never thought that I would be able to have real conversations with Trevante Newman. But he has surprised me. I wonder if I ever surprised him at all?

The lights of the library eventually go out and Tre and I are left in the dark besides the light from the lamps around campus that give the roof a small glow. We eventually migrated to sitting on the ground and leaning our backs up against the ledge.

"If you could visit anywhere in the world, where you go?"

Tre rubs his jaw and then scratches his head. "I don't know. I'd probably go to a beach or some shit like that. What about you?" He looks over at me. "Where would you go?"

"I'd go back to Botswana." I answer without even thinking about it.

"Why?"

"Because it's a beautiful country. I loved traveling there and working with the people." I smile, thinking back on the memories I have of two summers ago. "It was an eye opening experience and it's what made me want to get into medicine. Giving help to those who really need it and seeing the benefits of it first hand, I don't know, it just made me want to be a doctor and continue to help anyone who needs it."