She let me hold her hand the rest of the way.
We stopped by Senior House so I could get my camera. Grace grabbed a blanket and the skinniest joint I had ever seen. On our way out, Daria, our RA, stopped us as we passed the registration desk. “Where are you two headed?”
“The park,” Grace said. “What are you doing here?”
Daria popped the last bit of a fish stick into her mouth. “Lots of people movin’ in today. I’m just gonna keep getting bugged. I might as well sit here. By the way, I wanted to talk to you, Grace. The cello-playing at night can get pretty loud. It was okay for the first few days, when no one was here, but . . .”
“I don’t mind and I’m right next door,” I interrupted.
Grace turned around and shook her head at me. “Don’t. It’s okay. I’ll keep it down, Daria.”
We turned and left the building. “Daria looks like a man, huh? Like David Bowie or something?”
She scrunched her face up. “Yeah, but David Bowie looks like a woman.”
“True. Maybe you should learn some Bowie songs to keep Daria happy.”
“Yeah, maybe I will.”
At the park, she laid the blanket down near a big sycamore tree and sat with her back against the trunk. I lay on my stomach, facing her. I watched as she lit the joint, inhaled, and passed it over to me. “Do you think we’ll get busted here, out in the open?”
“No, I come here all the time.”
“Alone?”
“A bunch of people from the music department hang out here.” She took a long hit and then looked up, startled, and coughed a puff of smoke out. “Oh shit.”
“What?” I turned around to see a man in his early to midthirties coming toward us. He was dressed in khakis and had a severely receding hairline. “Who’s that?” I asked, grabbing the joint and stubbing it out.
“That’s Dan—I mean, Professor Pornsake. One of my music teachers.”
“You call him Dan?”
“He told me to. I don’t think he likes his last name.”
“Understandably.”
She nervously brushed grass from her lap and sat up straight. I turned on my side, propped my head on my hand, and looked up at Grace’s face. She was high as a kite on just the small amount we had smoked. Her eyes were narrow, red slits, and she was grinning maniacally.
I started to laugh. “Oh my god, you’re super stoned.”
She made an attempt at a serious face, “Don’t start!” she said, mock-scolding me. We both lost it and fell into a fit of silent, hysterical laughter.
“Grace!” Dan called out as we struggled to pull it together. “What a pleasure seeing you here.” He had a bushy mustache that moved dramatically when he talked. I fixated on it and didn’t realize that Grace had introduced me.
“Matthias?” She nudged me.
“Oh, sorry, nice to meet you, professor.” I leaned up and shook his hand.
He smiled strangely at me. “So, how’d you two meet?”
“He lives next door to me at Senior House,” Grace said.
“Oh.” There was something in his expression that made me think he was disappointed.
“Well, I’ll let you two get back to whatever it is you were doing.” He looked directly at Grace. “Make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Grace seemed far away, lost in thought as she starred at him walking away.
“He has a thing for you, huh?” I moved up on the blanket.
“I don’t know, but I can’t mess up here. I’m on thin ice already.” I pulled off a string that was hanging from the bottom of her dress. “Thanks,” she said, looking dazed.
“You’re welcome.” I blinked a few times and then yawned.
She patted her lap. “You wanna lay your head?” I rolled onto my back and laid my head on her thighs. She leaned against the tree again and relaxed before mindlessly running her hands through my hair. “Fast friends,” she said lazily.
“Yeah. I like you. You’re kinda weird.”
“I was gonna say that about you, I swear.”
“Did someone break your heart? Is that why you don’t date? Please tell me you don’t have a thing for Pornsake?”
She laughed as she dug around for the joint. “Why? Would that make you jealous?”
“Jealous? No, it’s your life. I mean, if you want to be kissing that guy and potentially ingesting any food item lost in that absurd mustache, be my guest.”
“Ha-ha. There’s nothing going on with Pornsake . . . and gross! And no, I didn’t get my heart broken. I just have to stay focused on school to keep my grades up.”
I knew there had to be something more than the fact that Grace wanted to stay focused, but I didn’t push her. We had only just met, yet she had spent the whole day with me and part of the day before not focused on music, so I knew there was another reason. I might have thought she wasn’t into me and didn’t want to send mixed signals, but I saw the way she looked me up and down and the places that her eyes would land.
I took my camera, turned it around to face us, and then clicked the shutter three times.
6. I Needed to Know You Matt