"Lydia, I'm not going out on a Thursday. You know I don't like to go out on weeknights." Lydia and I had gotten to behavioral psych earlier than normal, and apparently there's a party off campus tonight that's going to be huge.
"Come on Nat. It's still so early in the semester, and I know the only other plan you have for tonight is to sit in that stupid tissue lab." I frown at her.
"It's not stupid, Lydia. I'm trying to--"
She sighs, "I know, you're trying to save lives, change the world, whatever... Fine, I'll just ask Becca to go with me, her boyfriend just dumped her so she needs a pick me up." I shake my head at her quick shift from disappointed to peppy. It was an unspoken agreement that Lydia wouldn't pressure me to do things. If I said no, than that was pretty much it.
Students begin to trickle into the classroom. Meaning that Grayson should be here any minute, as he was normally one of the last ones to show up. Honestly, I had actually been borderline nice to Grayson lately. Ok, maybe not, like, actually nice, but I've been trying not to roll my eyes when he flirts with Lydia during behavioral psych. That's an improvement, right? Finally about 3 minutes before class starts he strolls in. Per usual he greets Lydia with a smirk and a nod, and she melts into a puddle of giggles and hair twirling. It's like clockwork, really. This morning though, there is one giant change.
Grayson turns to me considerably less flirty than he was with Lydia, "Hey Natalie."
I stare at him, confused at how to respond. He never says hi to me. Suddenly Lydia kicks me beneath the table, snapping me out of my catatonic state.
"Ouch- I mean, Hi Grayson." He quirks up an eyebrow and spins around as Dr. Nielson begins his lecture.
"Smooth Nat." Lydia whispers as she starts taking notes.
I shake my head and start taking my own notes, hoping to forget about that failed interaction. God maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this whole thing, I don't even know how to react to a normal greeting, my acting is horrible. People will totally be able to tell that everything is acting. I had stopped taking notes as panicked thoughts ran through my brain.
Lydia looks over at me, concerned, "Nat? Are you alright?"
I quickly plaster a smile on my face, "Yeah, totally. I just spaced out for a second." Never mind, my acting is spot on.
After class I try to quickly exit the room. I want nothing more than to head to the lab for the rest of the day. Before I get out the door I feel a hand on my arm trying to stop me.
I start to turn around assuming it's Lydia, "Lydia, I'm trying to-" Ok, definitely not Lydia.
"Uh, hey Grayson, what can I do for you?" My tone is suspicious. I've also noticed most of the class has stopped to watch what was going to ensue.
He smirks, and then it clicks. Oh no, don't you dare do this in public you son of a-- "I was just wondering if you would want to go out with me tonight?" I hear other girls in the room whispering excitedly to one another, none of them realizing that I would gladly trade places with them in a heartbeat.
Grayson squeezes my arm, trying to coax a reply out of me, "Uh, Y-yeah, sure, that sounds great."
He drops my arm, "Awesome. See you tonight, babe." He walks out and I grimace at the pet name. I hated being called babe, sweetheart, honey, anything like that felt demeaning to me.
Lydia immediately rushes too me. Her voice a few octaves higher than normal (I call it her sorority girl voice), "Oh my god! Natalie! You are so lucky I would kill to be you!"
