“The stupid dollop of joy actually gave me joy. This feels like a whole new world.”
He burst out laughing.
“Well, this assignment was learning about someone else’s life. Someone else’s world, right? Seems like we are off to a good start.”
Cringing, I stuffed a piece of muffin in my mouth to distract myself. He must have known what I was thinking, so he inched closer, his shoulder softly bumping into mine.
“I’m looking forward to next time when you show me a little bit of yours.”
I searched his eyes to see if he was being sincere, and it seemed like he was. Still, this was a silly coffee shop he went to. As far as his world, I think this was just the tiniest part, and I was already overwhelmed. My world was going to be so disappointing to him.
“I think I’m getting the better part of this assignment.”
His eyes grew serious and he whispered, “I promise you, you’re not. My world isn’t all heavenly drinks and dollops of joy. In my world, everything comes with a cost.”
For some reason, I wasn’t ready to deal with this intense version of Liam. This was only our first day working together. Today needed to stay light. We’d have plenty of time to learn the negative side of things later. I nudged him with my shoulder like he had done mine and smiled.
“Well, I do know one thing. Whatever this muffin cost, it was worth it. It’s like a little piece of heaven in my mouth.”
That infectious grin came to Liam’s face, and he rolled his eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re getting into this whole heaven-themed thing. I saw your face when we walked in. You were about to bolt.”
Returning his smile, I nodded.
“It’s true. But I barely feel the pain in my back right now. It really is like I’m sitting on a cloud and, as surprising as this may sound, the company isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
Liam smiled, and as we continued to eat and drink, we actually forced ourselves to focus on the assignment. Mrs. Rogers had given us suggestions and a folder filled with activities that would help us learn more about the person we were partnered with. I pulled out the easiest document and we started to learn about a few of our favorite things. Mine were harder sometimes than his. Favorite movie, favorite television show, even music. They weren’t normal things in my life.
“You seriously want me to write thatThe Golden Girlsis your favorite television show?”
Liam was looking at me like I was crazy. I just shrugged.
“I don’t watch a lot of television. When I go to bed, there is still a lot of activity in my house and I put the television on to tune it all out. We don’t get many channels, but we get one that airs old reruns.The Golden Girlshappens to be what’s on at that time.”
He shook his head.
“So, if that station happened to be airing, say…Girls Gone Wild, would that be your favorite?”
I punched him in the arm but he just laughed.
“So, what’s yours then?”
“Stranger Things. It’s a Netflix series. We can add it to your list of things to watch at my house.”
“We can’t just spend all our time watching shows on Netflix.”
“Well, it’s not like we do the assignment and then just walk away from each other, right? Don’t you think after three months we’d at least be friends? I mean, you don’t totally suck to hang out with.”
It seemed true. Surprisingly. Why couldn’t we be friends after this? I looked to him, a bit bewildered.
“It’s weird, right? The assignment, the pairings, the presentations. I thought Mrs. Rogers was crazy, but now I’m starting to think this was her plan all along. Branching out. Making unexpected connections. Finding new friends.”
Liam nodded.
“Well, I think it’s working. At least for us.”
I smiled back at him.
