Chapter Three
Natalie
Class ended with me thinking about my art assignment for the new semester. I lingered in the classroom as my fellow classmates filtered out of the room, onto their next class or maybe off on a break. I had nowhere to be at that particular moment, except to study. Sometimes I liked watching people, wondering what their lives were like outside of school. How much different were their lives from mine? Were they happy? If not, what was going on in their lives to cause unhappiness? The amazing thing about watching people is that you could never tell what kind of life they lead by their expression, or the way they held themselves. Hell, with all this reflection, I probably should have been a writer; then maybe I would know human nature a little better. I smiled at a few of them as they walked past me, quizzical looks on their faces, probably wondering why I wasn't escaping with them. To be honest, I was exhausted. Exhausted from my life, and now this project. I took my classwork seriously, because honestly, it was all I had. Maybe all I would ever have, and that certainly was a scary notion. It had occurred to me that I should stop the melancholy thought process before it got the best of me.
I looked down at my notebooks, unsure whether I should head out just yet. I flipped through the notes I had made in art class, hoping that an idea would pop out at me. For the first time in a while, I didn't know what to do. No brilliant ideas had come to me thus far, and yet I had to get started working on it before I got behind. I was puzzled by the assignment, and wasn't sure how I should handle it. I loved the class, and everything to do with my new semester, but the classes certainly forced me to dig deeper as an artist. The professor had assigned a task for us to complete, and I wanted to do a good job on it. My art career was very important to me, and I was determined to excel. I didn't want just any job when I graduated―I wanted the best job out there. I hoped to one day work in Europe, in one of their finest galleries, that is, until I became a famous artist myself. Until then, however, I planned on working amongst the greatest art pieces in the world. The assignment was to draw a changing object once a month, and at the end of the semester I would hand it in. I hadn't a clue what object I would use. I would have to find something that would constantly change. Something interesting, fascinating even, something to knock the socks off of my professor.
I grabbed my books and art supplies and slipped them into my bag. I stood up, pushing the chair in, and I headed out the door. I was lost in the puzzle of my art project when I walked down the hallway toward the end of the building, and pushed through the doors. Sunlight shone in my eyes, and I ran smack into Jet, dropping my bag and spilling my books all over the ground. What. The. Fuck.
“Great, you again.”
He laughed, “Yep it's me, and sorry about that. It wasn't my intention to body check you.”
“What exactly was your intention?”
He bent down to help me pick up the books. He handed me the books one by one and I slipped them back into my bag as neatly as I could.
“Art, right? I heard you were into this stuff.”
“This ‘stuff'?’ Wow, you're a real charmer today aren't you?” This guy was really one of a kind, in the most unfortunate sense of the word.
“Well, I'm showing interest in you, aren't I? Come on, you know I didn't mean it like that.”
“Yeah, lucky me. Are you stalking me right now? ‘Cause I'm pretty sure the balls and sticks aren't found on this side of campus.” I almost smiled when I said it, but I caught myself. No need to encourage him with friendliness.
My books were safely back in my bag, which was now slung over my shoulder, so that was my cue to start to walk away from him. He followed beside me quickly, in an annoyingly persistent way.
What was with this guy? He couldn't have actually been interested in me. I was nothing like him. But wow, he had a real hard-on for me.
“Will you hang out with me sometime?” He stumbled over his words as he tried to keep pace with me.
I stopped then and turned to look at him. “Hang out with you? Why would I want to do that?”
I turned again, and headed away from him. I couldn't think for the life of me why he was bothering me, out of all the girls on campus. I wasn't his type at all. I didn't know what he saw in me, or whether this was just a game of his to get me in the sack. My luck, I was some bet he had to win against his buddies. Oh man, I better not be a bet. Either way, I wasn't impressed at all by his behavior, and wondered what I could do to get him off my back. I had bigger issues to deal with than this guy.
“Come on, Natalie, just give me a chance. I'm really not a bad guy. Yes, I have a reputation, and I always like to have a good time in one way or another, but it's all in good fun.”
“I bet it is.”
“I'm not out to hurt you, Natalie.”
I ignored him. What did he expect me to say? Of course, he was going to say something like that. Did I really expect him to tell me he was going to stampede all over my heart? This guy was a real rich one.
I was headed to the library, and was surprised to find he stayed with me the whole way. He may be a glutton for punishment after all.
“Please, Natalie?”
“Why do you want me to hang out with you?”
“I like you, and I think if you lightened up, you would actually have some fun with me.”
I snorted, “Jet, please, I don't need to lighten up. I'm really not interested. It's not even so much you. I'm not interested in anyone right now.”
“That's the best news I have heard all day, and here I thought it was just me you hated.”
“Oh, well then, I'm glad to brighten your day.”
We arrived at the library, and I thought with no small amount of amusement, that there was no way a guy like Jet would be caught dead in a library where souls arrived to study. He was just a stupid jock; no real depth going on inside him, and I wouldn't be caught dating him, either. What the hell would the two of us talk about? That's why he couldn't be genuinely interested in me; it just didn't make sense for us to start dating.
“What do you say, Natalie, hang out with me sometime?”
I was in a hurry to get in the library to study, so I pushed through the doors, and yelled over my shoulder, “Maybe ... sometime. Bye.”
“Well, I'll take that. It's good enough for me.”
I didn't look back as I heard the door close behind me, and thanked God he hadn't followed me in. I looked around for a table in a quiet area. When I found one way in the back of the library, I settled there and got down to studying. I started taking my books back out of the bag, and lined them up on the table. Here I go again, I thought. I refused to think about that imbecile; all I wanted was to focus on my studies for the time being.