I looked over at her bent head, and that swell of love that’s always there with her filled my chest and left me feeling choked up. How is it possible to feel so much for someone else? Someone not of my blood? At that moment, I wanted to take her home to meet dad, and that’s when I knew I was locked in all the way in.
CODY
Two days later, we were walking to the cafeteria together for lunch, hands swinging between us as she smiled up at me. I was in a fine mood today because of the phone call I’d received earlier from mom. Apparently, some research lab had contacted dad about using a radical new procedure to get him well.
According to mom, they were still in the testing stages but had had excellent results so far, and the best part, since dad would be a test subject, he wouldn’t have to pay. It sounded too good to be true, but knowing mom, she’d done all the research necessary and felt confident that they were on the up and up.
I couldn’t wait to tell Lisa since I’d shared some of my worries about my dad with her in the last few days, seeing as how coincidental her dad being an oncologist was and the fact that she was studying to go into the same field, albeit to deal with children.
When I have moments of fancy, I see it as divine providence that we’d found each other; that of all the girls on campus, she was the first the only one to catch my interest.
The guys were being their usual rowdy selves though they were getting used to taming it down in her presence unless they wanted me to pound them into dust. I glared at Chad, who opened the door for her, but he just ignored me with a grin and an over-dramatic bow for her.
She was by now the only female who sat at our table except for her friend Jess and sometimes her dorm mate. There was an electric feeling in the air around us, a kind of tension if you will. Maybe it was the excitement I had over dad’s news or the way Lisa clung to my side more than ever.
In the time that we’ve been together, she’s grown more comfortable with me. Not to the point where she’d fling herself at me on sight, but the potential is there. She’s still not comfortable jumping into the conversation among us at the table, but I notice her friend Jess tries to lead her along like a little lamb. It’s cute their relationship, and in thinking about that, I realized that I find an interest in every aspect of her life.
It’s weird experiencing this. Almost like I’m outside of myself, looking in as this whole new world opens up for me. It could be because everything had been coming up roses since the first day we met. It could be because something in her warm blue eyes always makes me feel lost in time for a moment. It could be any number of things. All I know is that I want more. I want that feeling to go on so I can stay on this new high for as long as I wish.
Love! I’m almost certain that’s what this is. As with everything else in my life, it came in with a bang. Unexpected, but no longer unwelcomed.
“Bruh, get a room.” I looked at Steve with a frown.
“What?” He shook his head, “never mind.” I scowled at the others who were grinning in agreeance with him.
My phone went off on the table in front of me, and I frowned when I saw it was Steve texting from right across from me. “Stop staring at her like you wanna devour the poor girl.” I looked up at him and then over at her beside me to see if she’d noticed, but she was busy greeting Alexis, who’d just joined us.
I noticed that Alexis wasn’t her usual bubbly self and, in fact, seemed highly annoyed about something. I was even more certain that something was wrong from the glare she gave me. Since I didn’t know her that well and therefore, there could be no reason for her to be mad at me, I figured she had to be miffed about something else.
So, I thought nothing more of it when we broke after lunch and headed back to our afternoon classes. That night I rushed through practice to get to her. It was one of those rare times when she wasn’t in the stands waiting for me, but I figured it was getting a bit too chilly for her.
Her phone went to voicemail when I called her, which I found surprising but okay. I was still not worried when it did it a second time, but by the third time, I started to worry. I headed over to her dorm and sweet-talked my way in, which isn’t as hard as some parents like to think, even though it was an hour or so past regulation since this is not a co-ed dorm.