And Then There Was Victor

Chapter 9

For the first time in my life I had developed a crush on a guy and I had no one to tell it to. His name was Adrian, he sat in front of me in Biological Science, and he was unlike any guy I had ever liked. He was a straight-up dork with messy blond hair and glasses, rather thin and wore flannel shirts even in Florida. But he was so nice and so cute that I found myself looking forward to seeing him and discussing Dr. Akim's notes from hell. My heart melted when he stammered if I wanted to study after class together. I had answered a little too eagerly that I would love to. He had flushed red and I had spared us both the awkwardness of the embarrassment by leaving the class and agreeing to meet in the tutoring lab at 2:30 pm.

"We're going to Subway," Jon said.

I stared at Jon and Victor who looked at me rather expectantly. As if I had nothing better to do than hang out with them two.

"Ok," I said.

"Are you coming?" Victor asked.

Oh my goodness, I had become part of the guys. Yara would never believe this.

"Nope." I hid a smile of excitement.

Jon raised a brow at me. "What is that?"

"What is what?"

"That look, you've got a date!" He pointed to me in the most ridiculous accusatory manner.

"I do not!" I hissed, looking around as if a wild Adrian would appear and overhear this assumption.

But Jon had decided that I was ditching them for a guy. The moment they left I let out a sigh of relief, having guy friends had suddenly posed an unforeseen complication. Like having five extra brothers instead of just one. I dreaded the thought of Adrian actually dating me and having to introduce him to the guys. I ate four peanuts before my stomach nerves clenched completely closed. Typical. Anytime I liked anyone my appetite would be gone which meant you could always tell when I didn't like anyone because I'd inflate like a pool toy.

The Atrium clock moved like molasses and finally at 2:15 I decide to enter the tutoring lab and be casual about my activities. It's not a big deal, completely not a big deal. He was not there, which of course, I should not have been surprised, we had agreed on 2:30. I decide to place myself in the most flattering pose imaginable without looking ridiculous. Adrian didn't arrive until 2:40 and by then my pose had been forgotten by the thought that he had stood me up. I lit up at seeing him and then I turned down the wattage, my smile was too eager. He did return the smile as he took a seat across from me.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," he said. "I'm in the Government club and it ran over."

Government club. How college-like. I could see him being a politician, a legislator. Wouldn't it be amazing for us to have met in college? I become a civil rights attorney and my husband, Adrian (I actually didn't know his last name), gets elected as the first Democratic Governor of Florida, representing the local people and bringing with him new innovative environmental laws! Huh? Oh, he was talking, shit, what did he say?

"I said have you been waiting long?" He pushed his blond hair out of his face and gave me a side smile.

"No." Lie. "I was going over my notes, there's so much I'm still overwhelmed with."

Adrian dove right in, he didn't stop, didn't even flirt, he was 100% focused on the course and I was, once again, trying to keep up. He was in the middle of explaining a concept when a bag was shoved at my face by someone who stood next to us. I jumped back and looked up to find Victor looming over us like a helicopter. It was a Subway bag and I realized, with a start, that he had brought me lunch.

"I figured you wouldn't have time to eat," he said but his eyes were on Adrian.

He was inspecting him, looking him over with a clear curl of distaste on his mouth. I felt like my brother was here, questioning Adrian's intention, ensuring he was keeping his hands in a respectful distance. I flushed red and grabbed the bag making Victor look at me.