Bay City Runaway

Chapter 14

(1995)

"You ready for this?" said Tyrice, picking at his french fries at a table in the Union.

"Yeah, I think so," I said.

It was the day before the trip, and I was packed and ready to go.

"So what do you think you're going to say?" asked Terrence.

"I'm gonna tell her how I feel. I'm going to be entirely honest. Tell her that I miss her."

"How long a trip is it?" asked Spencer, munching on a taco.

"It's like six hours."

"Dog, that's a lot of time to discuss feelings and shit," said Tyrice. "You need more than that. You need to build up to that. Get her talking. Get that magic going."

"Well, I can't really talk to her much about the summer because that was spent with another girl. Well, I guess I could talk about my classes so far."

"I'm gonna teach you something," said Tyrice, "It's called the eighty-twenty rule."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You need to let her talk eighty percent of the time. Show you know how to listen. People love to talk about themselves. I'm not talking about the third degree. Just show interest in her."

"Except for one subject," added Zach. "Don't get her talking about other guys. That's friend zone territory. You don't want none of that shit."

"When you've got her warmed up, sharing and shit, then you lay on your feelings," said Tyrice. "Tell her that you can't stop thinking about her. Tell her it's over with that other chick. Tell her that's how you feel, man. Just keep it real. Namsayin?"

I was feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of all of this. It seemed like there was lots of room for error.

"Call her tonight, man," said Zach. "Say, 'hey, listen, can we do a little catching up tomorrow on the bus?' Something chill like that."

"Ok, I'm trusting you guys. I'll give it a shot."

That night I did call her at her apartment. Her roommate answered.

"Hello?" she said.

"Jennifer? This is James. Is Laura there?" I said.

"Um...let me see."

I heard the phone clunk as she set it down to find her. She was gone for about twenty seconds.

"I'm sorry, but she's not here. Do you want to leave a message?"

This threw me off. I had expected to speak to Laura. It just felt like a weird thing to leave a message about. It felt like it would make things too formal. So I said, "No, that's ok. I'll catch her tomorrow at the bus."

"Ok. Cool," she said.

"Ok, bye," I said.

The choir gathered in the back of the Catlett Center near the loading dock at 7:00 A.M. There was a lot of excitement and buzz. I looked for Laura, but I couldn't find her. There were two busses, and I had no idea which bus hers might be. The smell of diesel exhaust and bus toilet deodorant brought back memories of choir trips with Laura in high school. I began to yearn for her and those times.

After loading my bags, I stepped on to the bus. I craned to see her through the line of choristers in the aisle, but I could not. I slowly made my way toward the back. Then I saw her. She was sitting with Jennifer.

"Good morning," I said.

She smiled and said, "Hey, James. What's up?"

"Are you excited?" I said.