Dylan
The last thing I had expected Alex hill to say was that he liked me. We had been speaking about music and getting to know each other for a while now, but I was still reeling from that revelation. I don't think anyone had ever said those words to me before, and meant it, so it was a lot for me to take in. Growing up in a relatively small town, nobody was interested in the 'weird kid', especially not other guys.
This meant that I was inexperienced and out of my depth right now. Presumably, we were on a date. Two people who like each other getting a coffee is a date, right? I think so. When I imagined dates, it didn't look much like this. Usually I imagined hand holding and kissing, or whatever, but I don't think that either of us had that intention. I suppose that's because it's a first date. Maybe.
Everything was so uncertain.
I mean, before today I was so sure that the guy in the park was just a stranger who was most likely heterosexual with a family, judging by the child, but now everything had been flipped and my expectations subverted.
"Did you come to my university just to see me?" I asked the question that was burning at the back of my mind.
"Not exactly, no." He had a goofy smile, "This was always in my calendar to attend, but I was only looking forward to it for the last week."
It took me a second to realise what he meant, but I suppose he was referring to meeting me a week ago. My head was still reeling from all of this and I couldn't wrap my head around how this guy could possibly like me from a singular interaction. When I did realise, however, I bopped my head happily.
Getting lost in my thoughts, I took a moment to react, but Alex just sat patiently, waiting. It was nice that we had a comfortable conversational pace going; I didn't feel rushed to react and it was helping me keep calm. Keeping calm and composed was certainly hard when he looked like that and acted as cool as you'd think a celebrity would.
"To be quite honest, I thought you were a dad." I admitted.
He broke up into a laugh at that, looking at me incredulously.
"Do you mean Amelia?" He shook his head, "She's my niece."
"I know. Kai told me earlier." I hummed, "Although we did discuss that some celebrities have secret children, so it's nice to know that that isn't the case."
Alex tilted his head, his smile somehow getting even wider. Kai had said that this guy played serial killers and psychopaths in horror films, but I couldn't understand how. He must be a pretty good actor, because I don't think he had stopped smiling the entire time I had seen him. He seemed like a pretty happy guy.
"It would be pretty hard for me to have a pregnancy scandal, Dylan."
Once again, it took me a second to realise why. I had presumed that he was bisexual, but I realised that's just because I was previously working on the basis that he liked women because he was with one in the park. In retrospect, that was stupid.
"Sorry, I'm just nervous." I ducked my head, "I've actually never done this before."
"You've never been on a date?" Alex looked surprised.
"So, this is a date." I confirmed to myself.
"It's a date."
I glanced up at Alex and saw that he was staring at me with a strange look on his face. I didn't really understand what he was thinking, but it didn't look like it was a bad expression. Sitting this close, I couldn't help but admire his face; he really was an attractive guy. In a ruggedly handsome way, he looked like he had simultaneously just rolled out bed and showed up, but also put in a charming amount of effort.
Effortlessly sexy was the phrase that I was looking for.
Realising that I was staring, I adverted my eyes and looked around the café instead.
Alex's phone began to buzz, pulling me out of my thoughts and back to the reality of the situation. Glancing down to where it lay on the table, I saw the name 'Jake' flash up on the screen. Alex cursed and made a move to grab it before hesitating, looking up at me.
"Do you mind if I take it? I know it's rude, but it could be important." He sounded apologetic.
"I don't find it rude."
Alex slipped out of the booth and excused himself from the table to take the phone call. Glancing around the café, I realised that a few people were glancing in our direction and watching Alex on the phone. He must get this a lot; people staring at him and watching his every move. I know that I wouldn't enjoy that, so I felt a little bad for him.
Tapping on my phone screen to check the time, I realised that we had been talking for about an hour here at the café. I had gotten to know Alex a little better, but it still felt strange talking to him. He hadn't mentioned a Jake, though.
"I'm so sorry, Dylan, but I have to go."
Alex didn't look happy anymore.
"That's fine. Kai is probably wondering what happened to me, anyway." I shrugged, grabbing my bag.
"Do you mind if my driver takes you back? I'd drive you but I didn't bring my car." Alex rubbed the back of his neck.
"I can just take the bus, it's fine."
"No, please, I brought you here so it's only right I make sure you get home safely."
That was nice of him, but it really didn't bother me to have to take the bus. I had my headphones in my bag, so it would be fine. If it would make Alex feel better, I suppose I could go with the driver instead, though.
"Okay." I nodded, "I don't mind."
Alex stopped forward and held out a card with his number sprawled across it. It was clearly Jenny's card, but he had written what I was presuming was his own number across the front in sharpie.
"Text me." He smiled, "I mean, if you want to."
Staring at the piece of card with his number on, I could barely wrap my head around it. Today had been a whirlwind, but I had a bubble of excitement inside of me. Everything about Alex was exciting and new, but not in a scary way. He was kind and interesting to talk to, and I even felt sad about our time together ending.
"I will." I nodded.
Alex stepped towards me, his arms lifting from his side, but he seemed to think twice about it. I was kind of glad because I wasn't much of a hugger, and I wanted to get to know him a bit better first. I think he could understand that.
"I'll speak to you later, Dylan." Alex opened the car door for me, "I'm sorry for ending it so abruptly, but I've enjoyed spending time with you, so thank you."
"Me too." I smiled.
Climbing into the car, Alex spoke to the driver quickly before stepping back. A guy in a full suit approached Alex with his phone in his hand, rapidly texting. He seemed to be about the same age as Alex, probably late twenties, and seemed to be very put together. I figured that he was the Jake who had called earlier.
Jake was leading him to another car in the carpark when we drove away, joining the main road back towards the University. The driver was also dressed in a suit and I began to wonder how this many people could stand to wear those things all day, every day. I could barely stand a few hours in a dress shirt this morning.
Lawyers wear suits...
Before long, I was being dropped outside the dorm buildings, holding my backpack with one hand and Alex's card with another. I thanked the driver profusely, which made him smile, before I headed across the quad and up the stairs to my flat.
Even before I unlocked the front door, I could hear the blaring music coming from the flat. Cringing internally, I knew that that sound meant that Nate had thrown another party and that they were all currently in the kitchen. Hesitating on tapping my key card to the door, I contemplated just walking to the park and spending some time there.
"Oh, hey, you never texted me."
Confused, I turned to look at the guy who had appeared behind me. As I looked at his face, I realised he was the cashier from the grocery store that had given me his number. My stomach flipped and I felt nauseous all of a sudden. He looked at me expectantly, using his hand to motion that I should reply, which just made things worse. I had spent the last week thinking about Alex and had forgotten this guy had even given me his number for the most part.
"You going to ghost me in real life, too, or?"
"No." I eventually stammered out.
He pulled a face at my response, stepping around me and knocking on our flat door despite me holding the keys. As he waited for the door to open, he continued staring at me. It was making me increasing uncomfortable and I kept twitching my hands to calm myself down.
"What are you doing with your hands?" He barked a laugh.
"I'm seeing somebody." I blurted out, wanting this to end.
His eyes dragged across my face as if he thought I was lying. It wasn't exactly a lie, since I had seen Alex today, but we weren't exactly anything more than interested in each other. To say we were seeing each other was probably an overstatement, but this guy didn't know that.
"Sure, whatever." The guy laughed as the door opened and he stepped inside.
"Did you forget your keys or something?" Nate asked, holding the door open for me.
I held them up meekly, feeling a tad pathetic for not just using them and instead allowing that awkward encounter to prolong itself. Being ambushed with a social interaction like that had sort of threw me off of my rational thinking. Nate furrowed his brows at the sight of the keys but decided to just let it be, following his friend to the kitchen. Of course those two knew each other...
With the kitchen occupied and my stomach growling, I decided to just knock on Kai's door. His reply was almost instant and he was at the door before I could even finish knocking. The smile on his face was wide and his eyes were curious.
"I've been waiting for you to get back! Come on, you're telling me everything over some chips." Kai rushed out, grabbing his coat and slipping shoes on.
I nodded enthusiastically, excited that I would get to eat a bowl of chips. Food had slipped my mind for most of the day because of all the excitement and I was getting desperate. Kai also knew that chips were my favourite, so that helped. Not to mention, I was sort of excited to talk about Alex with Kai. We rarely ever got to actually speak about guys we were actually involved with, just ones that Kai fancied.
We barely made it out of the flat before Kai was shoving a phone in my face, showing me some article on one of those tabloid, tacky websites that published paparazzi photos with clickbait titles. This particular one showed a series of photos of none other than Alex Hill and, oddly enough, me. I felt sick.
"Is that really me?" I frowned, zooming in on the photo.
"I don't think any other university students have been climbing into Alex Hill's car today." Kai scoffed.
"Well, it was actually his drivers car. His is at home." I corrected him, making Kai scoff.
"Potato, potato."
What the heck did that mean?
Kai's phone in hand, I scanned through the contents of the article with pursed lips. It hadn't even occurred to me that people might take photos of Alex and I together. You couldn't really see my face in most of them, since I had my back to the camera, but it still felt like an invasion of my privacy.
"The article below it is just making stuff up!" I cried, handing him back his phone.
"Welcome to the internet, people tend to do that." Kai shrugged, "I thought you'd want to know, but I also think you shouldn't dwell on it. If you spend time with people like Alex Hill, who live in the public eye, stuff like this is bound to happen."
I hummed a response, thinking that over. Above all else, I just felt sorry for Alex. This was all new to me and I was already annoyed, so I can't imagine how he must feel. Reaching into my pocket, I thumbed the straight edge of the business card thoughtfully.
Was this what it was like for him?