Playing it Straight

Chapter 5

As the school year started to ramp up, Lily began to fall into a rhythm. She would meet up with Ryder for lunch, go to cheer practice in the afternoons, hit the library during breaks between classes, and she spent most evenings hanging out with Jenny. Friday nights in the fall were spent with her cheer friends and occasionally Jenny when Lily could convince her to join. But Saturdays were always spent on the football field and then drinking after, either celebrating a win or mourning a loss. Since everyone was back on campus, house parties had become the norm, so she hadn't been back to the bar since that first weekend. That meant she only saw Charlie in Spanish class. They hadn't started to work on their first project, but Lily knew they should. It was mid September, and school had already been in session for a while, so there were only two weeks left to prepare.

Each day in class, Lily still had the overwhelming urge to get to know Charlie better, but she didn't know how. The two would make small talk and complete the assignments, but after class, Lily would stare at her phone trying to come up with something witty to text Charlie before putting it away in frustration. Their text thread still only contained their message from the first day of class. Sometimes Lily would read those words, trying to find something to message about, but nothing ever came. "Ugh, why are you so ridiculous? It's just a text message. It's not a marriage proposal," Lily thought to herself the seven hundredth time she attempted a message to Charlie.

One weekend, after spending most of Sunday in the library, Lily decided she needed a coffee break. She went to this cute little cafe near campus. When she walked in, she scanned the space and saw Charlie sitting in a booth. She had a textbook out and was eating lunch. Lily froze, not knowing if she should walk over and say hi or ignore her. Before she made her decision, Charlie looked up and saw her. Charlie put down her book and walked over. "Hey!"

Lily froze for a second before regaining her composure. "Hey."

"Are you here for lunch?"

"I was just taking a study break to grab a coffee. I've been at the library all morning."

"Oh man, that sucks. You definitely deserve a break then... Are you meeting someone?" Charlie asked as Lily's eyes flew around the room.

"Nope, just me." Lily laughed nervously.

"Do you want to join me?"

Lily paused for a second. The truth was, she did want to join Charlie. It sounded perfect, but she didn't want to appear overeager. After a beat, she responded. "You know, now that you mention it, lunch does sound good," her cool, confident mask sliding into place. She ordered, then took her lunch to the booth Charlie was occupying as Charlie rushed to make space, moving notebooks and loose papers.

"So, I guess I wasn't the only one studying," Lily smiled.

Charlie chuckled, "No. I have an Econ test on Monday. Econ has been kicking my butt, and I need to make sure I am on top of my shit. What were you studying for?"

Lily paused. She didn't know how to explain it without sounding like a giant nerd. "Well..." she paused, and Charlie's look begged her to continue. "I wasn't exactly studying for anything." Charlie's face took on a puzzled expression as Lily rushed on. "I was prestudying."

"Prestudying?" Charlie repeated the world like it was a foreign concept. Maybe it was to everyone but Lily.

"Yeah, prestudying...it's kind of like when you sort your laundry in preparation to actually do your laundry. I was doing some readings, making notecards, highlighting key ideas, making an outline for some classes..."

Lily stopped talking as she took in Charlie's confused expression. "And do you have any tests coming up?"

"Not yet, but I know I will soon. I would rather be prepared."