He was an Adonis, shimmering in the dim light. He wore a tailored suit that accentuated every masculine curve I had admired.
“Evening, Tess,” he said.
I forgot what I was supposed to say. He laughed and eased into the chair across from me.
“So, where are the people we’re making jealous?” he asked.
I wanted to gesture to the entire restaurant. The place was already full, nearly all the tables occupied by couples. It took me a moment to remember where Craig and Jane were seated. When I saw them, I pointed.
John took a quick glance and chuckled.
“What’s Jane doing with that guy?” he asked.
“How do you know Jane?” I wondered.
“She’s probably one of the most gorgeous girls on campus. Plus, she was at the party last Friday and my buddy introduced me.”
“Oh,” I said disappointedly.
“It’s going to be hard to make that guy jealous,” John said.
I smirked; if only he knew.
“Then I guess you’re going to have to try extra hard,” I said with a smile.
I must have said something he liked. A bottle of wine landed on the table, which the waiter promptly uncorked and poured out two glasses. I sipped on mine, and John didn’t seem to know what to do with it.
“I’m not much of a wine drinker,” he said as he raised the glass to his lips. He quickly downed the entire draft, to my surprise.
“This isn’t that bad,” he added.
I laughed at the goofy smile on his face; he grabbed the bottle and poured himself another drink.
“Okay, I think they’re looking at us,” I said, “just act like we’re on a date, and I said something funny.”
He thought for a second, followed by a laugh. I chuckled along and gave a thumb’s up under the table to Craig. Craig wasn’t really paying attention to me, though.
I’d never seen Craig so distracted. He and Jane were talking and laughing like an old married couple. John turned to look as well.
“They seem to be getting along well, do you think this is going to work?” he asked.
“We won’t know unless we try,” I replied.
I didn’t know what to talk about with John. Sure, we had spent several hours in study sessions, but we didn’t spend much time talking about each other. It was looking like I hadn’t planned this out as well as I thought I had.
“So,” I started, “What do you do for fun?”
“I play football,” he replied.
“You must do more than that,” I said.
“I like to exercise a lot, it helps me play better,” he added.
“Oh,” I said.
“What do you do?” he asked.
“I study, read, sometimes I’ll go for a walk,” I said.
“Reading? Really? Sounds boring,” he replied.
The silence that followed became a heavy burden that neither of us wanted to bear. I didn’t know what to talk about in the slightest. I realized that the guy I had spent so much time idolizing was about as interesting as a cucumber.
“How is the team doing?” I asked, trying to break the silence.
“It’s going well,” he replied while slurping at the soup that had been set down in front of him.
“Care to elaborate?” I asked.
“Well, we’ve won the last four games. So we’re doing well,” he informed.
I rolled my eyes and looked over at Craig and Jane again. Why couldn’t my date with John be like theirs? I thought I was an interesting person, but I don’t want to sit here and talk about me all night. I wanted to get to know John better, and maybe become someone that he would like spending time with.
“You know, this isn’t working,” I said.
“I told you it probably wouldn’t. She’s practically a model. He’d have to be crazy to go back.”
I felt insulted, and I didn’t know how to say it without screaming. Instead, I just finished what I was eating and set my napkin down; then I summoned the check.
“Oh, don’t be like that. You’re cute, it’s just that she’s on a whole different level,” John said, trying to reassure me.
“Thank you for coming out, you can leave now,” I said.
He didn’t budge. Instead, he stared back at me with those eyes I was so lost in last week. I felt small when he stared, but I didn’t waver in my intentions.
“Don’t be like that; it’s only been an hour,” he said.
“Don’t feel insulted? I know Jane is attractive, but you don’t have to point it out like that,” I replied angrily.
I snatched my things off the ground and started walking for the exit. Finding out the person that I was interested in had no personality was devastating. I could barely breathe as I walked, and thought about the mess I’d made for myself.