There was definitely something unusual about his descriptions. That bit with the apple—women didn't have apples, but men did. An Adam's apple. Then there was the bit with two streams of white-hot fire. That could only happen if there were two...
Hello! Was it possible Tristan was gay? Was it possible that it could be anymore obvious? That would explain why he had been looking at me, but then it wouldn't because no one knew about me.
Obviously relieved to be taking over the class again, Cathleen began outlining her expectations for the semester, only I wasn't paying the least bit of attention. Tristan kept sneaking glances my way, and Kim kept purring in response, obviously still under the assumption he was ... retinal-copulating her.
What was he really up to, though? Maybe he was trying to identify himself to me as a friend or simply as someone else who also happened to be gay. I could always ask him out. Maybe I should play hard to get and let him come to me. Oh, this was just stupid. Tristan wasn't interested in me that way. I have one terrific experience in California and look at me now, someone in serious need of getting over himself.
Oh, who was I kidding? I'm cute as a button! Baby got button. Shaddup!
Cathleen decided to spring an in-class writing assignment on everybody twenty minutes before we were supposed to leave then began calling some of the students up to her desk one at a time for a private consultation. After the student spoke with her, they packed up their gear and left. Unfortunately, Tristan was one of the first people out the door, which meant I wouldn't be able to talk to him, but that didn't mean I couldn't look for him while I was on my way to another class. Then, too, who's to say he wasn't going to be looking for me? Uh-huh, and things like this happen to me all the time. Okay, I'd just look for him. Not that I was interested...
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3
They're all freaks,” Ryan ranted as we headed towards the student center after class, “every last one of them.” It was obviously bothering him, since he was still going on about it when we walked through the doors and back into warmth. “I can't believe we already have to write a short story for next week when the second class this week is canceled. And what do you think of that teacher?"
"Bitch!” the three of us announced in unison.
"You should hear what she said to me when I went up to talk to her about the exercise I wrote.” Kim shoved her coat and backpack into a booth then slid in after it. I sat next to her, and Ryan took the side across from us. “She wondered if English was my second language."
"Is English her first language?” I shivered when I thought about all the words I was going to have to look up when I got back to the dorm, provided I could even figure out how to spell them.
"She didn't even get to our papers.” Ryan sat back with a smile. “Hell, she barely made it past that dork's paper. What's his name?” He snapped his fingers and pointed to Kim. “Titan? Trojan? Tutankhamen?"
"Tristan,” she answered, aggravated that he wasn't saying the name of her future boytoy correctly.
"Whatever. And what was up with that poem he read in class?” Now he was intentionally doing that thing that he did so well. Little did he know that he was starting to irritate me, too. “It sounded like he was creaming his jeans at Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Ryan mimicked Tristan's voice. “The apple was finger-licking good..."
"Oh, my.” I looked up, and my heart skipped a beat. Speaking of the stud, Tristan was coming towards us! Looks like I wouldn't have to search for him after all.
"Hey,” he greeted us, and sat down right next to Ryan. “Don't I know you guys from somewhere?” He was trying to be cute and was succeeding marvelously.
"Yeah.” Ryan smiled back, though it was obviously fake. “We're interns at a VD clinic."
"Cathleen was wrong about you.” Tristan's smile never wavered. “She said
Jan (ILT) J. C.; Gerardi Greenburg