Oblivious to Him - Part II

Chapter 26 - New Haven, New Perspective

"Next time we go on a trip together to explore a city, remind me never to dance in heels the night before," I sighed, rubbing the bottom of my foot. "My feet might seriously fall off if we keep walking," I kidded. 

Oscar chuckled and sipped his latte, eyeing me playfully over the top of his mug. "Well, only if you remind me to take you out dancing as often as humanly possible. You looked stunning last night," taking another slow sip with a devastating wink.

I let go of my foot and wrapped my fingers around my coffee mug, barely able to keep the goofy grin off my face at his flirtatious gaze. "Well, only if you promise to explore...", I trailed off.

"Promise to explore what?" he murmured.

"I don't know," I blushed. "I can't think straight whenever you look at me like that."

"Look at you like what?" he prodded.

"LIKE THAT!" I laughed, reaching out to force his head to the side and away from me. "Oscar, your parents are, like, two tables away! Put your lovey-dovey, gooey eyes away before you melt me into my chair."

He laughed, grabbed my hand before I could pull it away, and smacked a wet kiss on my knuckles. "I'd like to see that," he joked.

"Oh, you will," I promised, "With you around, I think I can finally ditch my winter clothes." I pulled at the collar of my turtleneck, trying to let in some cold air. Before he could respond and deepen the blush creeping up my neck, "But enough of your shameless flirting. What do you think about Yale? Do you still want to go here?"

He nodded his head thoughtfully, "I honestly wasn't expecting to love the campus this much, but having it intertwined with the city, I feel like it's the best of both worlds. It's like if Hogwarts were hidden in the middle of London."

"Exactly! And the art museum!! Oh my gosh, it's better than I ever dreamed of. Like, we could go there to study every single day. Or have date nights!" I exclaimed, "Ugh, I can't wait to go here." I sighed again.

"All we have to do now is get in," he noted. I sat up a little straighter and cracked the tension out of my neck. Yeah, and we both know that won't be hard. At all," I shivered at the mere thought of what the next few months would be like: filling out a monster of a college application, then all the backup schools, and lastly, the worst part of all: waiting.

He waved off my growing concern, "Oh, we'll get in. I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right," I confessed.

I didn't want to let my thoughts go down the dark path of being rejected by Yale, but it was hard to stop that thought train when I was literally sitting in what I see as my future—in a cozy New England coffee shop, with the love of my life, joking, teasing, and dreaming together. With my Mr. Gneiss Guy sitting right in front of me after all these years, it's hard to dream of anything else but this.

"I am." He stated without any doubt in his voice. "I might go get another one of these to go," he pointed at his now empty mug. "Do you want one?"

I shook my head, "I'm good, but thank you."

He scooted out of his chair and lightly kissed my cheek as he passed. I turned to watch him head towards the counter and couldn't stop a smile from escaping even if my life depended on it. I don't know if it's the lack of sleep or the abundance of information from our tour of the campus and museums, but I was practically giddy. 

It was surprising how fast everything deepened with Oscar. From knowing him only as flirty emails and pictures of his socks and shoes for seven years to figuring out who he was in a smelly boys' locker room, you would think our connection would only just be beginning. But it felt almost scary at what I felt for him. How could you not fall in love with a cute boy with surfer hair, adorable dimples, and the personality to put every other guy to shame?