The Whispering Blade - Chapter 2 Yes. Maybe?

Oh my god, I just want to go home. I checked my phone; it read 3:46 pm. So about 15 minutes left till the lecture is over.

It’s been a long day of classes, and as a college senior, senioritis is really hitting me. And it’s only the beginning of the fall semester. Today I had three classes with no breaks in between, so I am mentally zoning out right now. I tried to kill time by playing on my phone.

“…and make sure that you finish your edits and recommendations by Monday. See you all later,” my professor reminded us as he released us.

While some students stayed behind to chat with their friends, I closed my laptop and stuffed it into my backpack, and gathered all my stuff before I exited the lecture hall. I’ve never been the type to have friends, partly out of choice, and partly out of circumstance. Of course, there are some exceptions. On my way to the garage, someone behind me tapped my shoulder. I turned around, and oh god, it was her.

“Who, oh heyy Isa, how’s it going?” I asked after I quickly composed myself.

“Hey, Ezra! Long time no see! I am so mentally out of it right now… When I get home, I just wanna lay in bed and do nothing,” Isa huffed. “I can’t believe it’s finally Friday. It feels like it should’ve been Friday three days ago!”

“Tell me about it,” I laughed. “I could barely make it through my last class.”

We began walking together since we both needed to go to the garage. The last time we hung out was over a week ago, which is odd since we saw each other 2 or 3 times a week. I realized the last time we were together that I did not want us to be just friends. I wanted something more than that, and I think she kind of senses that I want something more than just a friendship with her.

I’ve known her since my sophomore year of college. I met her while I was sitting in the waiting room in the Liberal Arts building to meet with an advisor. We were both trying to change our majors.

I remember signing in and finding only one open seat in the crowded room, next to her. She caught my eye immediately when I saw her deep brown eyes and the curls in her black hair, but I didn’t keep staring because I didn’t want to come off as a creep. Half an hour passed by in a blink, and we ended up being only ones left in the room.

I kept to myself the whole time and just scrolled through my phone, but occasionally I could feel a look coming my way. I kept staring at my phone when she asked, “So what are you here for?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m changing my major. What about you?” I answered.

“I’m also changing my major! Sorry for randomly asking, but I just get so bored sometimes when it’s dead silent,” she explained. “So, what’s your name?”

“Ezra, you?”

“Isabella, but I go by Isa.”

We started with the usual small talk and found out that we had a lot of things in common, like our favorite musician, movie, food, and goals. I was changing my major from Economics to English, and she was switching from Political Science to Journalism. We both felt like we clicked on a lot of things.

“Isabella, you’re up,” a voice called out.

“Oh, I got to go!” Isa said to me. “This might seem weird, but I really enjoyed talking to you, we should hang out sometime.”

“Oh, uh, wait, really? I mean, sure!” I blurted. “That sounds great!”

“Awesome, here, let me see your phone!”

After putting her number in my phone, she got up and said goodbye as she went to her appointment. Later that evening, after debating whether it was too soon to text her, I embarrassingly double texted her, which officially became the start of our friendship.

Running into her now was actually super convenient since I was planning on texting her about something later.

“So did you hear about the meteor shower happening tonight?” I brought up as we entered the garage. “It’s supposed to be one of the biggest ones ever.”

“Oh, yea, I think I heard about it on the radio this morning,” Isa replied.

This is it. If she says yes, then tonight I’ll ask her if she wants to be more than friends.

“Do you um, would you like to go watch the meteor shower with me?” I forced out, half-expecting her to laugh about it.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I already have plans for tonight!” she apologized.

“No, don’t worry! It’s no big deal,” I played off.

“Okay, well, I need to head home. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. We should hang out soon.”

“Okay, just text me. Bye!”

“See you later,” I said as I watched her walk away.

I could feel my stomach churning from all the pent up anxiety and butterflies. I ruined it. Over two years of friendship down the drain just because I started catching feelings.

I got into my car, exited the garage and sped all the way home to my apartment. When I walked in, I noticed a note on my door.

‘Going to be back from work late tonight. If you hear someone coming in later, don’t freak out. That’s me,’ my roommate Eli wrote.

I was hoping that I could talk to him when I got back, but I guess that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I got into my room, jumped into bed, and tried to forget that that whole exchange ever happened. Who knew how tiring beating yourself up could be. Before I knew it, I fell asleep and rested like the dead.

Ring ring…ring ring…

I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing; it was almost 8 pm. With my eyes barely peeking open, I checked my phone notifications. It was a message, from Isa?

‘Hey so my plans just got canceled, is the offer to watch the meteor showers together still on the table?’ she texted.

My heart did a couple of somersaults as I reread the message to be sure I didn’t misread it. I quickly tried to think of a way to not sound too excited. I waited exactly 3 minutes before I responded so that it wouldn’t look like I read the message immediately when I got it.

‘Oh, yea, we can still do that. Want to meet up at the parking lot at Lake Navarro, the one next to the forest?’ I replied.

‘Yea, what time?’

’10 pm?’

‘Meet you there!’

YesyesyesyesyesyesyesYES! I don’t believe in gods, but maybe there just might be one out there. I started grabbing everything that I thought I would need to watch the meteor showers like lawn chairs and blankets. I wanted it to seem like I didn’t try too hard when, in fact, I put a lot of thought into making sure she felt comfortable.

I checked the time on my phone again, and it was only 8 pm. I had another hour and a half to spare before I needed to leave my apartment. I guess I have time to wash up and everything.

After showering, shaving, and finding the right outfit to wow Isa, it was 9:18 pm. That was close enough to 9:30 to leave. I carried all the chairs and blankets and shoved them into the trunk of my beat-up sedan, punched in the address on my phone, and headed over to Lake Navarro.

This is going to be the night that my life changes forever.