HIS WISH
ONE
Arlo
I brushmy brown hair off my forehead with one hand while my other flies across the computer keyboard, finishing up the last bit of code. I’ve been up all night working on this newest software and if I don’t finish soon, then I’m going to be late for my first class. It’s the first day and I’m sure the professors won’t mind too much, but I hate being late.
I hit save and tug on some new clothes before I grab my backpack off the floor, shoving my laptop inside as I head out the door. I live in an apartment complex across the street from campus and it will only take me a few minutes to get to my first class. I have time so I stop at the campus coffee shop to grab a bagel and some orange juice.
I finish placing my order and pay before I stand off to the side and wait for them to call my order. There are quite a few other students waiting and I know that it will be a few minutes before my order is ready. I send a few emails, letting the company that I work for know that the latest software is done, and I’ll drop it off this afternoon. I shove my phone in my pocket and grip my backpack straps tighter, looking around the coffee shop as I wait for my order to be done.
That’s when I see her.
She’s about 5’4 with wavy brown hair and cornflower blue eyes. She’s standing off to the side looking at the menu. Her straight white teeth bite into her plump bottom lip as she stares up, trying to decide what to get. I stare at her, getting lost in her beauty.
I wonder how I’ve never seen her around here before. She doesn’t look young enough to be a freshman. I wonder what she’s like. She looks nice but looks can be deceiving.
I was a total nerd in high school, obsessed with computers and reading. I was that skinny kid who sat in the front row and wore button-down shirts. I got bullied a lot until I finally decided to do something about it. In senior year, I started to work out more and I bulked up quite a bit. I was still the same nerdy kid, but I didn’t look like such an easy target anymore. It was still me though and I had never worked up the courage to ask a girl out before.
They call my order before I can work up the courage to go over to her. I give the pretty girl one last look before I walk out of the coffee shop and make my way across campus to my first class.
Tulane University is in the center of New Orleans and is filled with tall brick buildings and rolling green grass. Brick sidewalks bisect the grass and connect one building to the next. I make my way down one brick pathway and up the steps to the front of the science building. It’s a red brick building with four floors and I make my way up to the second one. Astronomy 204 is all the way at the end, and I walk inside. It’s an auditorium style classroom and I slip inside to find a seat.
I’m a computer science and information technology security major but my minor is in astronomy. This is my last year and I’ve been working for a website developer, designing software and running their security for the last two years. The pay is great, and they let me do most of my work from home so I know that I’ll keep working there after I graduate.
I take a seat towards the back of the class, close to the aisle. I sit down and finish eating the last of my breakfast while the classroom starts to fill up. Most of the other students walk in and sit towards the front of the auditorium. The professor has yet to show up, and I check my watch seeing that it’s almost ten am.
I pull out my laptop and bring up a new word document as I lean back in my chair and wait for class to start. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I look up to see the pretty girl from the coffee shop standing next to me. My mind blanks as I stare up into her bright blue eyes. She smiles down at me as she pushes a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Is this astronomy 204?” She asks in her sweet voice.
I just nod dumbly up at her. She beams at me as she slides her backpack off her shoulder.
“Is this seat taken?”
“You want to sit next to me?” I ask, looking around the room.
I know I’m not that scrawny kid from high school anymore but sometimes it feels like it. I never quite got the confidence that I should probably have with my new physique.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah, of course, it’s fine.” I say as I hurriedly move my bag over to the other side.
She plops down in the seat next to me and smiles at me again as she sets her coffee cup down on the desk and pulls out her laptop. I watch her get settled in and she takes a sip from her cup before she turns back to me.
“I’m Briar Simmons.” She says, holding out her hand to me.
“Arlo McCoy.”
“I’m glad I got it right this time. I walked into the wrong classroom first thing this morning and then had to spend the next ten minutes wandering around the building looking for it.” She says, laughing slightly.
I want to offer to walk her everywhere that she needs to go for the rest of her life but luckily for me, the professor walks in then and starts class and saves me from embarrassing myself.
I try my hardest to pay attention to the professor but all through class I find my eyes drifting back to Briar. After the third time, she catches me watching her and gives me a shy smile. I jerk my eyes back to the front of the class and focus on keeping them there.
I only make it another five minutes before my eyes wander back to Briar and I blush when I find her already watching me, her bright blue eyes filled with humor and warmth. I face the front of the class again and my own lips tug up into a smile.
I think I might be in trouble here.