Okay so this chapter is a little longer than the rest, it's 1991 words (not including this) if this was too long let me know if they should be shorter or longer like this. Anyway ENJOY!
Later that evening we ordered Wings and tacos. It seemed like a weird combination but everyone here was craving something different. Cameron and I got wings, Leah and Chandler got tacos. I was sitting on my bed with Cameron. Leah was sitting on her bed and Chandler was sitting at Leah's desk.
"How could wings be someone's favorite meal? It's like an appetizer" Chandler said, then taking a bite of his taco. This is the argument we were all having for an hour.
"What?!" I said defensively, throwing my hands in the air.
"No way you just said appetizer" Cam started, "How is it like an appetizer? You would think nachos are like an appetizer"
We all nodded. The one thing we agreed on. "You know there's a party at my building tonight if you guys want to come" Chandler said, mostly looking at me.
"Yeah," Leah said looking at Cam who was looking at me.
I shook my head no. "I can't sorry" I bit into a wing. "Why not?" Cameron asked confused.
"I have to go meet up with someone from my poetry class" They all looked at me in confusion like I'm supposed to tell them what I'm doing every second of the day.
"Someone?...Like a guy? Are you guys going on a date?" Leah asked.
"No, No. We're working on an assignment together"
"So it is a guy?" Chandler asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, But you guys still have fun" I made myself sound tired. A party sounded nice right now. I just wouldn't like to be introduced to new people, as long as I was with the people I knew I was fine.
"Either way, you're not the party type" Cameron chuckled. He sounded like he was joking but it also sounded like he was making fun of me. I couldn't tell because he's never actually embarrassed me in front of anyone. I looked at him in disbelief and that's when he realized what he did. I got up and stormed out of the room. I could hear Leah say "Not cool" and she got up but she didn't come out of the room, Chandler did.
"Calliope! Calliopeee!" He sang out my name while jogging. I was already in the elevator. Right as the doors were closing I saw a familiar veiny hand stop the elevator door.
I looked at my shoes. "I have to go meet up with my partner for class, you should get ready for your party"
"You're going to the library?" He asked, pressing the lobby button. I nodded still hurt by Cameron's words.
"I'll walk you" He smiled.
"Good because I have no clue where I'm going" I cracked my fingers. He laughed. "What time were you meeting up with your date?" He was staring at me.
I jerked my head back. "It's not a date" I sounded annoyed.
"Did he compliment you?" He said sternly.
I squinted my eyes at him.
"So then it is a date" He looked at the elevator doors as they opened. We walked out of the building as the breeze hit us. It was a nice breeze, a fall night breeze.
"No" I rolled my eyes. I don't think it was a date, Elijah said we were working on the assignment so that means it wasn't a date. Right?
I looked at the time on my phone and it was 8:40. "How long does it take to get to the library?" I glanced at him, he was watching himself walk.
"About 10 minutes but with the way you walk...probably 15 to 20 minutes" he said, flopping his head side to side.
I looked at him, I had an offended look on my face. "What? You have short legs" he teased. He looked me up and down, but mostly looking at my legs.
"Don't look at my legs" I laughed. He looked away and chuckled then looked down at me. His hands were in the front pockets of his jeans. His hair dropped down to his eyes, but the breeze blew it slightly out of his face. His nose was perfect, like a button at the end. For a moment we were just staring into each other's eyes, like we couldn't take them off each other even if our life depended on it. We came to a halt.
"Here is the library" he looked up at the beautiful building. "Oh wow! It's beautiful" I was in awe. The windows were large and light blew out of the building. Lighting up his green eyes. He grabbed a piece of lint off of my hoodie that was sitting right above my breast.
"It really is beautiful," he stared at me, not talking about the building anymore. He placed his hand on my cheek, grabbing my waist with the other, and slowly pulling me towards him. His hand was warm. I had a fluttering feeling in my stomach again like when he smiles, it felt right. I look at his eyes, nose then lips before I close my eyes and then the library door swings open, interrupting, hitting the wall, making a crashing noise. We flung apart. It was Elijah, he was standing there waving at me. "Callie! I thought you stood me up" he laughed and said a little too loudly. He was ignoring Chandler who was now standing at my side. I awkwardly laughed and started to rub my knuckle. Chandler elbowed me, like a signal, telling me to calm down. I put my hands to my sides.
"What time will you be out of here?" he whispered. "Um, I'm not sure maybe in like 2 hours?" I whispered back. "Why are we whispering again?" I was confused. "So he doesn't get the idea to walk you back to your dorm" he whispered once more. "I'll ring my dorm when I'm ready" I stopped whispering. He nodded then gave a friendly nod towards Elijah, who was still ignoring his presence.
I walked up towards the building and Elijah opened the door for me. "Was that your boyfriend?"
"No"
"Good to know" he grinned, I rolled my eyes.
"Can we hurry and brainstorm, I'm really tired" it came out bitchy.
"Look Calliope-"
"It's just Callie"
"Callie, if you didn't want to meet me you could've said no" he sounded hurt. "Sorry Elijah, I'm just really tired. I could stay for about an hour and a half" I sat down. It was a tiny lie, I was telling the truth about being tired. I just really wanted to see Chandler, I still had butterflies in my stomach from what could've been a kiss, if it weren't for Elijah.
"Alright" he grabbed his book out of his backpack, he accidentally set it too hard on the table because it made a loud crashing noise.
"Shhhh" a stranger motioned with her finger."Sorry, sorry" Elijah whispered. That made me laugh, he was so clueless on how loud he was being.
About an hour in brainstorming for our poem I yawn and I'm no longer able to keep my eyes open. Elijah places his hand on mine. "Callie, we can rap this up, okay?" he whispered. I nodded. I started to put my hoodie on.
"Do you want me to walk you?...it's pretty late" he offered. I look at my phone and I shake my head saying no thank you. He asked me one more time but I said no once more. I watched him walk off into the distance. I called my dorm. I heard a voice on the fourth ring.
"Hello?" a voice responded. It was Chandler, it sounded like I woke him up, his voice was raspy. "It's me Callie, can you come get me" I sounded more sleepy.
"On my way" he sounded alert. It didn't take him long to get to the library and when he did he hugged me, tightly. The rest of the walk we didn't really talk, we were both exhausted. When we got to my dorm I invited him in. Leah and Cameron weren't here.
"Oh wait, am I keeping you from going to your party?" I said worried.
"No, no. I'm pretty tired, Leah and Cam went though" he assured me.
"Oh well, do you want to spend the night? Since you know-the-um party music is going to be loud and you wont get any sleep" I lied, I really wanted him to stay with me. Not for sex. I just wanted his presence here.
"Yeah I would love too" his smile glowed. "I have to change, I'll be right back" I grabbed my pajamas and headed for the door. "Oh no no please stay, here I'll step out" he opened the door and stepped out to the hallway before I could respond. A few minutes later I opened the door and motioned for him to come in.
"Do you want to read me some of your poems?"
My face lit up, I was surprised. "Oh um yeah sure" I've never read my personal poems out loud to anyone, their my feelings and about my anxiety. I grabbed my journal from my desk and we made ourselves comfortable on my bed, sitting shoulder to shoulder. I skimmed through the pages to find a good one.
"Some might sound weird because there just words that float around in there" I pointed to my head. He smiled at me, his smile said 'whatever it is, I'll love it'.
"My Heart will explode.." I started,
"Explode because of all my worries, all my fears, all my hunger, and all my tears...Once it explodes it takes everyone with it. I'm left with no one. The shame. The shame it brings to my heart, the one that exploded and fell apart. Now I'm left with scarred tissue, and everyone leaves like it's no issue..." I looked at him, he was staring at my lips, trying to snatch the words away. I finished, "My poor exploded heart".
"More, please. Your a talented writer Ms. Calliope". I smiled and flipped through some more pages.
"Fear...New...People. My fingers dance with the others. 'Don't worry' they say, 'You'll be fine' they say. Hell do they know, their fingers don't dance, their heart doesn't stop. So no, I won't be fine. I'll be far from fine. All my worries never disappear..." I stop reading and get up.
"What are you doing? You didn't finish that one." He gave me a look of confusion. I didn't respond. I looked through my desk, trying to find a pencil. I climbed back on my bed and spread his legs so I can lay in between him. My back now on his chest as he sits, I can feel his heart beating fast on my back. He wraps his arms around me. I scratch out the end of my poem and begin to write, I read what I'm writing out loud. "All my worries never disappear, except when he hugs me, I float and disappear. My worries may still be there but when he hugs me my mind is no where near"
He gave me a genuine smile that lights up the whole room. He takes my journal and pencil out of my hand and turns the lamp off. He scoops me up and lays me on my side. "Thank you" he smiles into my ear. I was now the little spoon. He put his arm around me and kissed my neck and my ear. I felt his heart once again beating fast on my back. "For what?" I turned towards him so we faced each other. "For making all my worries disappear, Ms. Calliope". I was tracing his sleeve of tattoos with my finger. "That was about your social anxiety, right?" he said it so softly that he practically whispered. "....Yeah" I said embarrassed, I looked down even though he couldn't see me. He knew how I was feeling because he decided to hug me tightly, pulling my face into his neck. We fell asleep like that, tangled in between our words.