A warm honey scent plays with my nose as I speed walk to family history class. People pass by me. Their eyes seem to stare at a spot on the cement sidewalk. I look down to see what it is but there’s nothing but pebbles, grey blobs of gum, and dried leaves. My shins begin to scream anarchy as I speed up my already fast pace. I want to make it on time to class today.
With roughly one-hundred feet to walk before I could take my speed walking into the Benson building, at last I see a face whose eyes find more interest in my own than the grey cement beneath our feet. Oh, no. The creep from the tennis courts is also a creep on my way to save the dead. He must have figured out that we turn hearts in that class.
“Hi,” I squeak out as I change my pace almost into a run.
He adopts my direction and my pace and begins to talk to me with his creamy peanut butter voice, “Hey! What’s the rush? Late to class or something?”
Trying to hold my usual smile on my face I say, “Yeah. I’m really late! Bye.” And once again I increase the velocity of my feet. And one catches on an elevated piece of the sidewalk. Argh! So that is why everyone stares at the ground while walking to and from class, so they don’t make fools of themselves in front of people they’d rather not be in front of at all.
Luckily my fall wasn’t so bad and there was no blood the wanna-be knight in shining armor could clean off. Instead his hand was waiting to help me up. I look at it for a moment, look away, and hoping I had just imagined it look up again. It was still there and in the interest of time I accepted his cavalier offering. Half-heartedly I said, “Thank you.” And when I was about to cause my poor body more pain by literally running away, I was jolted backwards and almost fell again when I realized he hadn’t let go of my hand!
“Hey! Slow down! I’ve been meaning to ask you…”
