Chapter 22 #2
I was surprised by how much he cared about his girlfriend not calling him back.
I honestly didn’t think guys were all that bothered when it came to stuff like that.
Then again, my opinion was based on Levi, and I really hoped he wasn’t a typical example of male behavior.
I didn’t have much else to go on. I hadn’t been friends with many guys back at my old school, so I didn’t have that much experience listening to a boy’s side of relationship problems. If I’d shown any signs of getting close to a male classmate, Levi lost it with me.
Thinking back, I should have realized far sooner than I did that Levi wasn’t the one for me.
“You’re really worried about this, huh?”
He let out a breath and sank back in his chair.
“I just have this feeling that she’s avoiding me.
I’m probably overthinking things, but it’s hard to get out of your own head sometimes.
” He rubbed a hand across his forehead. “I was thinking of surprising her this weekend with a visit, but if she’s not answering my calls, maybe that’s not such a good idea. What do you think?”
“Well, I don’t know Sarah, so I’m probably the wrong person to ask …” I didn’t know what else to say, but his eyes were pleading with me to offer some semblance of guidance, so I continued. “How did you guys leave things at the end of summer?”
“Everything was great.”
“And is she normally pretty honest with you?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Then it sounds like you’re just overthinking things,” I said with as much certainty as I could manage. “If you go and visit her, and it turns out there is something wrong, at the very least, you’ll be able to chat about it face-to-face.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He relaxed a little and sat up a bit straighter.
“Thanks for hearing me out. Normally, I talk with Sawyer about this stuff, but he knows a lot of girls who are friends with Sarah, so he’d probably play detective and try to find out why she hasn’t been answering my calls.
I’d much rather talk with her myself than hear it thirdhand. ”
“Well, it sounds like you’ll be able to talk to her this weekend.”
“Which feels like a lifetime away right now,” he moaned.
“I know,” I agreed. “But do you know what makes the time fly by?”
“What?”
“Economics homework.”
The tightness around his eyes released, and he let out a low chuckle. “I think you might be wrong about that, but I suppose we should get started.”
Wes was at the same stage as me with the homework, so we were able to work together through the rest of the problems. It was much easier to get through them with his help, and I found we sailed through the rest of the assignment in no time.
“We should do this again,” I said when we finally finished and started to pack up. I normally preferred to do homework on my own, but I didn’t enjoy economics, and it wasn’t nearly so painful with Wes’s help.
“Yeah, I’m down,” he agreed. “Trying to get through it on my own was torture.”
We left the library together and walked back in the direction of the dormitories. As we approached the entrance to the girls’ building, I paused and turned to Wes.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“How did you know Sarah was the right girl for you?” I wasn’t really sure why I’d asked the question. It was probably because Noah was still on my mind. I knew he was the wrong guy for me, for so many reasons, but a small part of me had started to hope that maybe I was mistaken.
Wes paused for a moment as he considered it. “I didn’t, I guess. We were a lot younger back then, and my reasons for asking her out weren’t the same reasons I’ve stayed with her all this time. I think she became the right person along the way, if that makes sense?”
“That’s sweet.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets and tilted his head as he looked at me. “Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I guess I’m just trying to figure out how I’ll know when I’m ready to date again. I had a bad breakup with my ex.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “Only you can know when you’ll be ready again, but I think the most important part is wanting to be ready. You have to want to date again, and I don’t think that’s something you can force.”
“Wow, Wes, that’s pretty good advice.”
He nodded and gave me a smile. “Just call me your dating sensei.”
I laughed. “I’m not calling you that.”
“But seriously,” he continued. “If all else fails, just listen to your gut. It won’t lead you too far astray.”
“It’s that easy, huh?”
“Hopefully. But what do I know? My girlfriend won’t even call me back.”
“She will,” I reassured him. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Just give it time.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “So, same time next week for our joint dating therapy session … I mean, economics study session?”
“I’ll be there.” I laughed.
He smiled again and turned to head over to the boys’ dorms. As I watched him go, his advice repeated over and over again in my head. So far, I’d been trying to listen to my head when it came to Noah. I was a little scared of what would happen if I let my gut take control.