Chapter Twelve
"Knowledge verses belief. What is the difference? Is there a difference?" Professor Collins bellows, his voice bouncing off the walls. Out of all my classes I would say philosophy is the hardest, yet the most fascinating.
It really makes you think and then you question not only what your thinking, but how you're even thinking in the first place.
"Can there be false knowledge, or must it all be true?" I draw a swirl in the corner of my paper while feeling Trent's eyes. Let's just say since I ran off yesterday I haven't really spoken to him. "Yes, Ms. Bennett." Professor Collins points to a girl with her hand raised and sitting towards the back.
"I don't think knowledge can be false because we all have different perspectives."
Professor Collins nods taking a step towards the left side of the room before turning back to us with a raised brown. "Different beliefs?" He takes a few more strides. "So that brings us back to the original question. Is knowledge the same thing as belief?"
"It's not. Knowledge is facts and facts are proven," Someone else calls out and Professor Collins holds his finger up.
"Yes, that is true if you're suggesting science, but what about history? We base our knowledge of history on not only primary sources, but also years and years of research. Solid research, but at the same time we could be wrong, so is history really knowledge, or is it just a belief?"
Some kid barks out a laugh. "We're here, aren't we?"
Professor Collins smiles along with him. "Yes, but how we got here—that is the question." I stop drawing my spiral seeing as I had expanded it to the lines of the paper, but I quickly start crossing it out because it's the only way to distract myself from Trent's unwavering gaze. "What about you, Mr. Montgomery?" My pen drops from my hand as some heads whip in our direction. "What are your thoughts on knowledge? Do you believe it is all true?" Professor Collins leans back against his desk with a knowing smile on his lips and that only makes my heart thump a little harder against my ribcage. He only called on Trent because he caught him staring at me.
Trent's eyes stay on me for an extra second before he meets Professor Collins' gaze and he clears his throat.
"I think knowledge can't be true, or false because we as people don't even know what knowledge is. We just have it."
Professor Collins grins and says, "that is an excellent point," before turning to addresses the rest of the class. "You see for as long as philosophers have been around, since Plato and Socrates, knowledge has been something they have studied, and today, still don't know the answers to. Of course it's strange to think about because, like Mr. Montgomery pointed out, we all have knowledge, so why even question it? But what philosophers try to figure out is what the limit is to it. What's the limit of human knowledge? What's the limit of knowledge and what's mere belief? It's definitely hard to wrap your brain around." He pauses and glances up at the clock above the door before turning back to us. "Alright, well, I guess that's all we have time for today. So," He rubs his hands together and walks behind his desk, "as outlined by your syllabus, for next week I want you to pick a Greek philosopher and research their beliefs of human knowledge and write an essay on how it compares to what other philosophers believe today. Class dismissed." He waves his hand and everyone stretches before packing up their things.
I close my notebook and hook my pen on the end of the spiral before standing up. I walk down the risers and go to grab the door from someone, but Trent beats me to it.
"Are you mad at me? Because I swear I didn't mean for that to happen the other night. I would've walked you back to your dorm after the first movie if you wanted to, but I just wanted you to stay a little longer—"
"No." I interrupt his ramble and walk out the door.
"Wait," Trent's eyebrows furrow as he falls into step beside me, "you're not?"
I let out a laugh, shaking my head. "No." I push open the exit to the building and walk outside.
"But wait," Trent stops me at the bottom of the stone steps and turns to face me. "Then why did you run?" I open my mouth to answer, but then Trent puts his hand up. "Wait, let me guess." He drops his hand and gives me a look. "Because it was awkward."
My lips part as I try to conjure up some kind of coherent response, but Trent just throws me a grin before grabbing my arm. Once my brain registers that I'm being dragged to the side of the building, do words finally come out. "What are you doing? Where are we going? What the he—?" Before I can finish Trent backs me up against the building and brings his lips down to mine. My body stiffens for a second, but then I relax against the wall as my stomach flips.
Seemingly satisfied Trent pulls back with a grin. "I'm glad you're not mad because I've been dying to do that." I bite my lip to hold back a smile and he groans throwing his head back. He meets my gaze again, this time with his green eyes swarming.
"You're gorgeous, you know that?" All of a sudden the heat inside my coat feels suffocating and it shows on the tops of my cheeks as I cast my gaze down, but Trent only chuckles and takes a step back, letting me move off the wall. We walk back over to the pathway and start walking across the lawn in comfortable silence. As I glance around, I find myself catching a few random words from people's conversations. "Let's go bowling."
I whip my head back in Trent's direction a little muddled by his random statement. "What?"
He stops walking, glancing at something over my shoulder before meeting my gaze again. "Later, let's go bowling. Ask Stephanie if she wants to come and I'll bring Zack and then I'll meet you outside your dorm building."
"But—" I start to protest, but he just grins and takes a step back.
"I'll see you later, okay?"
I stare at him confused, but he throws me his signature wink and turns around yet again leaving me baffled in the middle of campus. Shaking my head, I turn and head towards my dorm building.
Guess I'm going bowling.
****
Stephanie plays with her jacket zipper as we wait for the guys outside our dorm building. Trent texted me a few hours ago saying they'll meet up with us around five.
"I'm so sick of this cold weather," Stephanie says rubbing her arms and I let out a laugh.
"Me too, but it's almost February, so hopefully it'll warm up a little soon. "
"Boo!"
"Ah!" I jump into Stephanie and turn only to see Zack bent over in laughter. I slap his stomach making him bend over further and he brings a hand up to his chest, but continues laughing nonetheless. Shaking my head, I glance next to him at Trent.
"Hi," I say tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
"Hey," he grins before throwing the smile in Steph's direction. "Stephanie."
"Trent." She smiles and nods in a greeting while I turn back to Zack.
"Are you done?"
He grins and pulls the red cap he's wearing off his head and runs his fingers through his hair before putting it back on backwards.
"Why yes, yes I am."
I shake my head at him and Stephanie claps her hands.
"Shall we go?" Everyone nods and we start in the direction of the parking lot. Trent falls into step beside me as Stephanie and Zack walk in front of us.
"So why bowling?" I ask glancing over at Trent and he shrugs stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.
"I thought it'd be fun."
"Well," I sigh facing straight again, "I haven't been bowling in years, so I don't know how this is going to go."
His chuckles shake his shoulders. "You can't be as bad as Zack."
"I heard that!" Zack calls over his shoulder making me laugh and then reaching the parking lot I turn back over to Trent.
"Are we sharing a car?"
"No," Zack answers for him before grabbing Stephanie's arm.
"What?" She whips around to face me. "Oh no, don't make me share a car with him!" Zack proceeds to drag her in the direction of, what I assume is, his car. I open my mouth to say something, but then Trent grabs my hand.
"Too late!" His laughter matches Zack's as he starts pulling me towards his car.
"Are you kidding me?!" I hear Stephanie screech as I hop into the passengers side of Trent's car and I see him continue to chuckle to himself as he walks around to the other side.
"So why aren't we sharing a car?" I ask once he gets in and buckles his seatbelt.
He throws me a look. "I thought you didn't like carpooling?" I slap his arm and his smile grows as he puts his keys into the ignition. "We aren't sharing a car because I wanted to spend some alone time with you and—" A car horn beeps behind us and we look through the back window only to see Stephanie mouth 'help me' from the window of Zack's red jeep. Zack only waves before driving off. "And Zack likes to annoy Stephanie."
"He sure does." Amusement laces my words as Trent checks behind him before pulling out of the parking spot we're in and then puttinf his blinker on before turning out of the parking lot. We sit in silence for a few minutes and I glance out the window, identifying the stores we pass by. "So..." I look back over at Trent, bringing my elbow up to rest on the small ledge by the window. "Do you know what you're going to do for the philosophy essay?"
"No," Trent snorts before sending me a quick glance. "You?"
"No." I look straight ahead seeing Zack and Stephanie are just a few cars ahead of us.
Trent nods to no particular beat as we stop at a stoplight and drums his thumbs against the steering wheel for a second before the light turns green again. I glance out the window again seeing the stores are now replaced with trees and another car lane stretches out beside us. I look straight again before glancing over at the radio.
"Um, may I?" I ask reaching my hand out and Trent nods.
"Of course." I turn it on only to hear a piano and the strum of a guitar.
I roll my head back against the seat. "Oh no, not again with the country." Then the lyrics start and I realize it's Wanted by Hunter Hayes.
"What?" Trent asks with a laugh. "You don't like this song."
I sit up a little straighter. "Actually, I like this one." I may not be a huge country fan, but come' on, it's Hunter Hayes. Plus, I like the message of the song.
Trent smiles as if reading my thoughts. "Yeah, it's not bad."
I listen back into the song and knowing the lyrics by heart I find myself lightly mouthing the words. In the corner of my eye I see Trent glance over at me, but I don't think anything of it. We make a right down another road and more places come back into view.
"Yeah, I just wanna wrap you up! Wanna kiss your lips—I! I wanna make you feel wanted!" I whip my head in Trent's direction as he sings out of tune and he sends me a grin.
"Seriously?" I ask in disbelief and he chuckles.
"What?"
"You're ruining the song." He reaches over and grabs my hand.
"And I wanna call you mine! I wanna hold your hand forever! And never let you forget it!"
"Oh god! Please, stop!" I say and try to pull my hand out of his grip, but he just tightens it and continues.
"Cuzz Baby I! I wanna make you feel wanted!" I yank my hand out of his grip and move his hand back on the wheel.
"Focus on the road!" The laughter gleams in his eyes as he glances over at me with a huge smile on his face and I stretch my arm out, pointing in front of us. "I'm not kidding! I don't want to get into an accident!" He shakes his head in laughter and complies to my wishes, focusing back on the road, while I slump back down in my seat letting out a sigh of relief.
After a few more minutes, we turn down another road as the bowling alley comes into view. We pull into the parking lot while seeing Zack and Stephanie parking and we park in an available spot a few spots away from them. I watch as Stephanie runs out of the car like a madwoman with Zack following behind her and I can't help, but laugh as I unbuckle my seatbelt before hopping out of the car myself. I meet Trent at the front of his car and he shakes his head.
"What?" I ask and he holds up a finger.
"One day, Lacie O'Conner, promise me one day you'll let me open the car door for you."
A smile slips onto my lips. "I promise." I pat his shoulder. "Only if it'll help you feel more like a man."
"Hey!" He yells defensively as I laugh and walk ahead of him to the entrance. He quickly catches up to me though and slings an arm around my shoulder. "Gentleman." He corrects holding a finger up with the opposite hand and I shake my head. Then he reaches out and pulls the door open for me and I give a little bow in a 'thank you' as we both step in.
The bowling alley is dark besides the colorful fluorescent lights illuminating the alleys. The sound of pins being knocked down fills my ears along with pop music and it smells a little like pizza and feet. Trent and I walk along the push carpet and meet up with Zack and Stephanie on line. We each put twenty bucks down on the counter, chipping in to pay, before getting our shoes. I hold them in the tips of my fingers as we make our way to our lane and try not to think about how many people used these exact shoes before me. I sit down in one of the plastic chairs by our lane and Stephanie plops down in the one beside me.
"I can't believe you made me share a car with Zack," she says slipping on her shoes.
"I have ears you know," Zack mumbles across from us while I just finish tying the laces of my shoes. I plant my feet back on the ground with a sigh and look up at the screen above our lane.
"Really?" I deadpan and Trent looks over at me, in which I just point up at the screen. "Who left Zack in charge of putting in the names?" The word 'peas' is typed in the second row.
"Curly sue? Are you serious?" Stephanie groans and Zack lets out a laugh.
"Well, have you looked in the mirror?"
"Ugh," Stephanie grunts in response before standing up and walking over to grab a ball. "Well, watch as curly sue kicks your ass." She picks up the ball and walks over to the lane as Trent chuckles. She swings her arm back and throws the ball spiraling down the lane. It connects with the pins and all of them go tumbling down. "Ha!" She gloats walking back over to us. "Beat that."
"I actually think I can," Trent says stretching his arms back and cracking his knuckles.
Stephanie folds her arms across her chest. "You really think so?"
"Yeah," He nods holding her gaze.
"Yeah," Zack echoes patting Trent's back, "You're talking to Richfield High's middle school bowling champ."
"Really? Middle school?" I say and Trent sends me a grin before looking back over at Stephanie.
"Well," Stephanie slides back into the seat next to me, "how about we put some money on this?"
"Okay," Trent folds his arms across his chest and leans back in his chair, "how much?"
Stephanie shrugs. "Five bucks."
"You're on." Trent nods.
I have a feeling this is going to be a long game.
****
I glance back up at the scoreboard as Trent steps up to take his last turn. I finished with a solid seventy nine and Zack finished two points behind me with a seventy seven.
"Losers club," Zack says reaching over and giving me a high five and I return it with a laugh. Stephanie finished with a one hundred and nine and Trent currently has a ninety nine, but if he gets a strike he can beat her. They were the only ones who took the game seriously while Zack and I just laughed at each other's gutter balls.
Trent picks up a bowling ball and walks over to the lane. I can't help, but smile to myself because he really looks like a clown in the bowling shoes. He swings his arm back and launches the ball down the lane. The pins clatter down and we all hold our breath as one teeters on its side before collapsing down with the rest.
"Yes!" Trent pumps his fist in victory and Stephanie groans slapping her thigh.
"Damn," She mutters to herself as Trent grabs another ball for his second turn. He sends it down the lane and it knocks down seven pins leaving him to finish off with a one hundred and sixteen.
"Pay up," Trent says wiggling his fingers and Stephanie grumbles reaching into her pocket. I take off my shoes and slip my boots back on before grabbing my jacket and walking back over to the counter. I place my shoes down and then feel an arm slip around my shoulders as another pair of shoes are tossed down in front of me. "So," Trent says looking over at me.
"So," I echo. "I guess you're a college champ now?" He chuckles as we walk towards the exit with Stephanie and Zack behind us.
"Ugh, I really have to get back in a car with him?" Stephanie groans pointing to Zack and I let out a laugh.
"I mean you could ride with us..." I trail off as we step outside and Stephanie holds her hands up.
"Arrogant ass that just beat me at bowling or annoying moron?" She moves her hands up and down questioningly before lifting one higher. "I think I'll go with annoying moron."
"Glad to know that's how you feel about me. I'm a little hurt, Curly Sue," Zack pouts as he brings a mocking hand up to his chest and she reaches up and knocks his hat off his head in response. I shake my head at there antics as I walk over to Trent's car and he drops his arm, pulling his keys out of his pocket.
"Ooh, can I drive?" I ask.
"Sure," He tosses me the keys and walks around to the passenger side.
"Wait, really?" I grip the metal keys and he nods.
"Hey! Can I drive too?" I hear Stephanie ask and I turn to see Zack vigorously shake his head.
"Hell no."
"But why not?"
"Because... Cherry's my baby."
"You name your cars?!" Stephanie's yell is the last thing I hear before I'm wrapped up by the car.
"Does your car have a name?" I ask Trent as I buckle my seat belt, only mockingly at first, but notice his lips quirking up as he immediately looks away. "What?" I ask and he lets out a laugh while running a hand over his face. "What is it?" I pry and he shakes his head.
"It's stupid."
"Tell me," I urge and he runs a hand over his face again before looking over at me with a deadpanned look.
"The Montgomery mobile."
"Oh," my eyebrows go up in surprise for a second and I put the keys into the ignition before turning back to him. "Well then I guess that makes you red velvet man and me vanilla women." He shakes his head at me with a laugh and I check behind us before pulling out of the parking lot.
The rest of the car ride consists of Trent giving me directions while also serenading me at the same time. By the time we reach campus I find myself singing along with him. Both of us just belting out the lyrics to the annoying, yet popular songs on the radio.
I shake my head laughing along with Trent, who's currently cracking up beside me. After pulling the keys out of the ignition I take in a few deep breaths before looking back over at Trent. We stare at each other for a few seconds before a small smile spreads across his lips.
"You're a terrible singer."
I tilt my head to the side. "I could say the same for you."
He chuckles again as we both get out of the car. We meet up with Zack and Stephanie and head back to the girl's dorm building in comfortable silence. I take in the night around us and after a few steps I feel Trent discreetly slip his hand into mine.
Finally reaching the building we all stop and glance at each other. Zack looks down, noticing Trent and I's intertwined hands and a knowing smile creeps onto his lips.
"I think it's time we let these lovebirds fly," he says and I turn away suddenly feeling bashful. "Don't you think?" Zack turns to look over at Stephanie, but she's already by the door.
"Goodnight!" She calls.
"Goodnight, Curly Sue!" Zack calls back, but she flips him the bird and he's left chuckling to himself. Shaking his head, he turns back over to me. "Goodnight, Peas."
"Goodnight, Zack attack." I send him a smile and he smiles back before he nodding to Trent and walking off.
"So..." Trent says turning to me and dropping my hand.
"So..." I repeat as my eyes find my boots now that it's just us.
"I need my keys." My gaze snaps back up to his and my mouth drops a little.
"Oh, crap, sorry." I reach into my jacket pocket and pull them out. "Here." I go to hand them back, but Trent puts a hand under my chin and brings his lips down to mine. My heart slams against my ribcage and I feel his keys almost slip from my hand, but then I jump back. "Stop doing that!"
"Doing what?" He asks, trying to be serious, but his quirking lips give him away.
"You keep catching me off guard with y-your kisses." He doesn't try to stop the grin from stretching across his face and I throw my hands up making his keys jiggle. "I'm not kidding! You always do it at the most unexpected—" He brings his lips back down to mine, silencing me, and I bring my hands up between us with the intention of pushing him back, but he pulls me closer, smiling at my defiance, and securing his arms around me. Finally I pull back and meet his gaze. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"
"Nope." He grins and I shake my head, shoving the keys into his chest seeing as the metal indented my skin from gripping them so tightly.
"Goodnight," I say taking a step back. "And thank you for taking me out... I guess."
"You're welcome," He nods and takes a step back as well. "And thank you for coming." A smile breaks out across my lips before I can stop it as I walk backwards to the door.
"Goodnight," I repeat gripping the handle.
"Goodnight." His grin has my stomach fluttering and my mind immediately bashing it for doing so with only one thought coming to mind.
Damn that grin.