Chapter 3 #3
She laughed. “Yeah, my roommate said the same thing. Guess she was right.” She reached out, took his hand in hers. “You ready?” Nora gave his hand a little squeeze, and she saw a shudder go up his arm.
“Definitely,” he answered. He kept his voice level in spite of the nerves he was clearly holding in check only with a ton of effort, and she couldn’t help but be touched. And impressed despite herself. “Is the Green Lantern still okay?”
“It’s perfect. Let’s go!” And she started off, leading him back towards the main quad. He followed along, squeezing her hand in return. It felt—she wasn’t even sure what the word was. Nice was woefully inadequate. Maybe she didn’t need the word, just the feeling. Maybe that was enough.
Daniel
They walked and chatted, and Daniel was thrilled just to be holding her hand as they made their way to dinner.
He couldn’t explain why that was such a big deal; he was nineteen years old, not an eighth grader discovering girls for the first time.
He’d had a girlfriend before and they’d done—well, not that much, to be honest, but certainly a lot more than hand-holding.
It shouldn’t have felt as important as it did.
He needed to stop overthinking and overanalyzing and over-whatevering, and just enjoy the moment.
This funny, beautiful girl wanted to be with him here and now.
She wanted to feel his touch, and hear what he had to say, and he had to trust it.
Bianca had said the same thing, and she’d never steered him wrong.
Nora stopped suddenly, turned to stare at him. “Who’s Bianca?”
“What?” Had he said that out loud? He blushed, feeling the heat in his face and in his heart. “Oh, God. I can’t believe I—I’m sorry.”
She was smiling now, a gentle smile, but it didn’t quite go all the way to her eyes. “Sorry that you’re two-timing me?”
“Bianca’s my cousin. Well, we call each other that, I’m not sure if we’re actually blood-related or not, but she’s family.
I told her about you, and she told me not to,”—he tried to recall her exact words—“get all caught up in my own head and not let you see the real me.” Now he laughed; what else was there to do?
“I guess getting caught up in my head is the real me.”
“You tell your maybe-not-actually-a-cousin about all your dates?” Now her smile did reach her eyes, and she was patting his arm.
“Well, you’re the first actual date I’ve had since I started here last year, so, yeah.
” Why had he told her that? He knew the answer instantly; because he wanted her to know him, even if it was embarrassing.
Because that smile and that look in her eyes said that she wanted to know him.
“We’ve always told each other everything, since we were little.
She’s the best. There’s nobody in the world I trust more than her, and I’m pretty sure she’d say the same about me. ”
They were walking again; he hadn’t even noticed until they’d passed through the main campus gate.
“She was right to tell you not to be nervous. I’m glad I’m here with you.
” He also hadn’t noticed the way she’d not only taken his hand again, but laced her fingers with his.
He wasn’t noticing a lot of things, but he heard her words, and he believed them.
Nora
“You know, your shirt really picks up your eyes, too.” Nora had only just noticed that.
And that the shirt was freshly ironed. She ran her free hand down Daniel’s sleeve.
“And I didn’t figure you for having an iron in your room.
” Maybe that wasn’t fair; what did she actually know about him, really?
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I was just—well, you’re a CompSci major, and I guess I was stereotyping. ”
He laughed. “No need to apologize. It’s a stereotype for a reason.
And you were right. I had to go down to the girls’ floor to find somebody who actually had an iron.
” He went silent for a moment, and Nora saw something—indecision, maybe—in his eyes.
But it passed as quickly as it appeared, and he took a deep breath. “Time to see if I was right about you.”
What did that mean? Nora had no idea what was coming next.
“I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or an omen or what. But the girl I borrowed the iron from—well, not borrowed, she did the ironing, as long as I’m being honest. Anyway, Anjali, she’s the last girl I kissed.”
That was too absurd. She couldn’t help herself; she broke out into a fit of giggles, and she didn’t stop until she was out of breath. “That’s—you’re making that up, you have to be,” she finally said, once she got control of herself.
He laughed in return. “I told her! She said I shouldn’t say anything, and I told her you’d think it was hilarious.
And I was right!” He really was cute when he laughed.
Adorable. And something more—he didn’t care that he looked silly.
Or sounded ridiculous. Or maybe he just trusted her that much already to be ridiculous with her, when he probably wasn’t with anyone else, except the maybe-not-a-cousin he’d told her about.
It took them both a couple of minutes to settle down, and as they started walking again—her still holding his hand—she asked, “So is there a story as to why she’s the last girl you kissed?” Maybe it wasn’t fair to pry, but he’d been the one to bring it up, and Nora was genuinely curious.
“Last and only, at least here. It was one kiss at the Christmas party last year.” He proceeded to tell her about it: a cup of punch, a moment under the mistletoe, a soft kiss that promised nothing more and then the kindest rejection she’d ever heard of.
“That’s sad. And sweet, I guess. But you know what I think most of all?”
Daniel didn’t.
“I think it’s her loss. And good luck for me.” Then she stopped, turned to face him, leaned up and kissed him—just for an instant, the slightest, quickest touch of lips. “There, now she’s not the last girl you kissed anymore. Isn’t that better?”
He didn’t say anything, but the smile on his face was answer enough.
Daniel
How could the slightest brush of her lips against his, for a fraction of a second, change his whole world? Daniel didn’t know.
He also didn’t know how Nora looked like she was glowing, under the neon light of the green lantern sign that gave the café its name, when that same light made almost everybody look pale and sickly. He wondered if she thought he was glowing, too.
He shook his head with what he knew was an idiotic grin on his face.
“What’s going on in there?” She actually tapped a finger on his forehead. Who did that? Nora Langley, apparently. And he didn’t mind one bit.
“Just getting all in my head again. I was thinking how pretty you look in this light, and how usually it makes everyone look all washed out and terrible, and then I was wondering how I looked to you under it.” Now he felt himself blushing. “I know I shouldn’t have said any of that, probably.”
She shook her head. Her hair fell to the side so nicely when she did that.
“You definitely should have said it. I want to know you. Isn’t that the whole point of tonight?
” She took both of his hands in hers, squeezed.
“And just so you know, you do look very pretty under this light, too. But I think you’ll look even better inside.
And I’ll be a lot warmer.” Then there was a rumbling, gurgling sort of sound, and for a moment Daniel felt his face go violently red, until he realized it hadn’t come from him.
Nora must have realized it at the same time, but she wasn’t blushing at all.
“I guess I’m pretty hungry, too.” She pushed the door to the Green Lantern Café open. “Shall we?”