A rumbling filled Jon’s ears, and a fuzzy bear appeared in his field of vision. It crawled slowly toward his slice of pizza, and he sharply tugged the food toward him. That thing would get his pizza over his dead body.
Another rumble sounded through the air, and Jon turned to run from the beast only to find himself at the edge of a cliff. His feet teetered on the edge, a deep swoop of dread flying through his stomach as he lost his balance.
The world dropped, and a snort shook his eyes open. The legs of his chair slammed back to the ground, steadying him before he fell flat on his ass in the first class of the day.
Quiet laughter surrounded him, and he blinked his groggy eyes around the room, his brain slowly catching up to where he was.
They weren’t kidding about this conference. Not a half hour in and he had zonked out.
He rubbed his eyes and leaned against the desk, tempted to take a swig from the coffee cup of his desk mate. He wasn’t a coffee person, really, but he was going to need it before the next session.
A soft flump hit him in the head, and he furrowed his brow, reaching up and rubbing the spot. He turned, eyes searching the room until they stopped on Cassidy’s. Her gaze was a shot of caffeine, better than any coffee buzz, and he quirked a grin and let his heart rate thump right up to a hundred beats per minute.
She pointed with her mustache-tattooed finger at the desk where a crumpled piece of paper rested. Well, wasn’t that an oldie move? She didn’t think he was ancient, did she? He was capable of texting; he was a pro at swiping left, after all.
Or was it right? He couldn’t remember. He hadn’t taken his phone out since he’d fallen asleep gazing at that goofy picture they’d taken together.
He pulled the paper to the edge of the desk and opened it in his lap like a middle schooler in English class, hoping not to get caught by the teacher and have the note read aloud. It would be more embarrassing than being serenaded by drag queens with a butt song.
It’s only day one and you’re sleeping? How are you gonna survive this week???
The rest of the page was filled with a comic that was drawn amazingly well. It was him in class, organizing his desk with a pen and paper, laptop up, clock on the wall reading 9:00. The next box was him zonked out and drooling, the clock reading 9:01. The next box was an award ceremony for the Doctors of America, and there were a bunch of Zzzz’s coming from all the tables.
He glanced over his shoulder at her, biting his laughter away. Her eyes studied him, probably making sure she was okay teasing her boss like this. She had no idea he’d keep this piece of paper for the rest of his life, tucked away with all his other precious treasures—like his Disney collection.
His fingers ran over the desktop and fumbled for his notepad. He was no artist, but that wasn’t going to stop him from attempting his own little comic. He drew a stick figure with a phone and a cane. A dialogue bubble said, “I’m old, but I text good.” As soon as the teacher was distracted by the packet he was reading from, Jon turned and took a shot, chucking the crumpled paper hard enough he smacked her square in the forehead.
He quickly turned back around and laughed into his chest, shaking silently, his heart and body as light as it had been at the party.
It took all he had in him not to peek at her reaction. After a few minutes without getting struck again, he chanced a glance. She was bent over, scribbling with the paper inches from her glasses. She made faces when she drew, like she was trying to mimic the expressions her little characters were supposed to be making. He turned back around, grinning like a damn fool. How had he never noticed her before? Sure, they worked on separate ends of the office, but he’d run into her. She’d been eating in the break room a few times when he came in, but it was never more than a friendly hello and how’s your day going.
Her aim was the same the second throw, bouncing off the side of his head and landing on the desk. He didn’t even check to see if they were in the clear with the instructor, snatching up the paper and smoothing it out against his leg.
Another comic, this one with him and his cracked phone. It ended with his comic version’s thumbs squirting blood everywhere, and all that was texted on the phone was “Hi.”
He covered his laugh, running his hand over his mouth. Before he could overthink it, he grabbed a new piece of paper and drew some stick figures going to the cell phone store, the girl stick figure forking out money up to her neck for a shiny new phone for him.
He was rather impressed with his drawing—it was no Monet, but it was better than his chicken scratch penmanship—and crumpled it up into a tight ball. When he turned, Cassidy had created a wall with a large coding book and her laptop, which she quickly ducked behind. She held a small sign that said, “Softly, please.”
Damn it, he was falling again. He said he wouldn’t, but how could he not with how adorable she was, how fun, how quirky? What were the chances of him finding someone just like her on that app? Guess he’d find out during the stats class tomorrow afternoon.
As soon as she poked her head up, he chucked the paper back at her. She let out a tiny squeal that earned everyone’s attention, including their instructor’s. A beautiful shade of pink flowed over her cheeks as she apologized for the interruption.
“So sorry… there was a… bug.” She slapped the desk. “I got it.”
Jon chuckled into his hand, and she gave him a playful, dirty look as she smoothed out his note. He waited the rest of the class for a response, but the buzzer went off, and he only had the two for keepsakes.
She got to the door first, and his body warmed like the sun at the fact that she’d waited for him there.
“I kept you awake at least,” she teased as they walked into the crowded hallway. “Next class you’re on your own.”
“Maybe I can get someone else to smack me in the head every time I doze off.”
“Nat should be with you. I’ll give her a head’s up.”
Her hand swung down next to his, and it took everything in him not to grab hold of it. Luckily his phone buzzed, and he was able to grab that instead.
Rae’s name and picture lit up the screen. He declined, but promised himself to call as soon as he wasn’t with Cassidy. Even if that meant taking it during the next class. Even better, actually.
“You really do need a new phone.” Cassidy frowned and talked to her feet. “I can get you one at break.”
He paused for just a second before blurting, “Is there a cell repair place around here?”
Her eyes widened. “I’m sure there is. You wanna head over at lunch?”
“Yes,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound too anxious. No way was he letting her pay for his new phone, but he wasn’t going to let her in on that until they got there.
“Okay. I’ll meet you in the lobby then.” She sighed and wrinkled her nose, stopping in front of one of the classroom doors. “Well, good luck.”
“I’ll see you on the other side.”
They shared a comforting smile, as if they were going into battle, then she disappeared inside the room, and he found his next class. He wasn’t quite sure he was going to survive this week, and not just because of the classes.