We meet again

I went back to college the next week with the joy of succeeding in avoiding Clyde. After the unexpected kiss, I'd not seen him for the remainder of the short semester break. I'd made sure to avoid all places where I could run into him. Almost everyone in our families had studied in Notre Dame. It wasn't coincidental that Clyde, Kim and I went there and my sister who was still in the nearby St. Mary's College would be joining us soon. Clyde and I were in the same year because he was so intelligent that he'd skipped a grade. His intelligence made him even more attractive. How could anyone be so perfect?

We majored in different fields and I'd never realized how that was a good thing until that semester. While Clyde was in architecture, I majored in History. I stuck to The College of Arts and Letters, avoiding the School of Architecture whenever I was at campus. This was to my advantage because it ensured that we rarely met. Besides, I never hanged out around Campus a lot but loved staying in my room all day reading, eating, gossiping and watching reality shows with the girls.

That's why in the third week since I'd gotten back, I had not met him and I was grateful. I counted myself lucky and strong to have avoided him for that long. My body desperately wanted him close and I sometimes found myself fantasizing about all the things we could do together. I yearned for his touch and remembered the kiss clearly, it was stuck in my mind But, I wasn't going to let my teenage hormones drive me as I hated the guilt that came with wrong doing.

One fine afternoon as I strolled out of O'Shaughnessy hall where I'd attended my Ancient Japan class, I ran out of luck. What happened was totally unexpected therefore it greatly shocked me.

There he was, casually leaning on his car right outside the hall. By the time I saw him, he'd already spotted me so there was no way of escaping without looking like a scaredy cat. I stood rooted to the ground for a while, not knowing what to do. To hide my nervousness, I fished out my phone, pretending to text while walking. Why the hell am I even nervous yet he's younger? I hastily threw the phone back into the bag and summoned all my courage to my support and walked confidently towards him, looking elsewhere to avoid meeting his intense gaze.

“Hi Clyde,” I said in a low tone, putting my hand forward for a handshake.

“Shan?” He beamed with delight and quickly pulled me to a hug. Warmth spread all over my body due to the contact. I decided not to hug him back so he pulled away almost immediately.

“I hope you're doing well,” I said, trying not to show any emotion on my face. Lines of sadness appeared on his beautiful face but I ignored them. “I have to go.”

I turned to leave but Clyde grabbed my wrist and looked directly into my eyes.

“Clyde,” I warned, trying to pull my hand away from his extremely tight grasp that I'd underestimated.

“Why are you avoiding me, Shan?” He inquired, like he didn't know what had happened between us. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“Because I don't want a repeat of what happened last time,” I replied, averting my gaze. After some seconds, I looked at his gleaming eyes. “Satisfied? Now let me go. I’ve got to have my lunch.”

“I want a repeat,” he grinned. “And more.”

Maybe he'd forgotten how he dumped my sister after everything he put her through. It seemed that he was not as intelligent as I thought so I decided to be the mature one that had to pump some sense into his brain.

“Are you crazy?” I retorted. “You broke Keri's heart and every member of my family hates you. You should know that my family is the most important thing in my life. You can't just think we can be together and everything will be perfectly okay. It's not that easy, Clyde. Why don't use your brain to think before making stupid suggestions?”

“Of course I know that,” he said, “but that can't stop us if we want each other. We can't run away from what we feel just because of a mistake I made in the past.”

What?

“We?” I snapped and tried to get away from him. “I don't want you Clyde. There's no we. You should know that it'll never happen. Ever seen me hanging out with boys below my age?”

“Well, you kissed me and I know you like me so much that it scares you to admit.”

“That wasn't meant to happen,” I cleared. “It was a mistake that needs to be forgotten and I'm over it. Trust me, it won't happen again.”

“Oh really?” He stepped closer, letting go of my hand.

“I'm going for lunch.” I looked away. “Bye Clyde.”

“Where are you going to have lunch from?” He asked

“A restaurant in LaFun.”

“Are you walking there?” He glanced at the cars in the parking lot.

“Yeah,” I said. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Can I drive you there?” He asked. “I will have my lunch there too. I think we need to spend more time together.”

“Nuh, I'm good. Actually, I'd rather walk. Haven't exercised all week.”

I took a step away but he quickly opened the passenger door, grabbed and pushed me in. I should have stood far or on the other side of his car. Too late!

The students in the vicinity just stared, not caring to help me. What if I was being kidnapped? Damn stupid self-centered students. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have done thing if I were in their position so I shouldn't judge them.

Clyde slid into the driver's seat, fixed his seatbelt and drove without uttering a word. So rude!

“What the hell was that, Clyde?” My question fell on to deaf ears.