Nathaniel let out a breathless chuckle. “Yeah, I think so too. Where are you headed? Do you have class?”
I shook my head.
“Want to entertain me for an hour, then?” he asked casually, though by the look in his eye, I could tell he didn’t want to bealone. “All my friends have class or are headed home. I don’t feel like studying now before my next class. Just…thought maybe I’d wander around campus or something.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have refused. I valued my alone time. But I knew Nathaniel could use the distraction, so I nodded and let him guide me through the old church grounds toward the field of grass where students liked to picnic on sunny days.
We found a small footbridge above a creek and sat down, legs swinging over the edge, our thighs brushing.
Nathaniel pulled out a cigar and offered me one. Although I’d never smoked before, I accepted, not sure what I was supposed to do with it.
“How did you know I was following that guy?” I asked once he’d lit both of our cigars.
“I turned around to make sure he was gone when I saw you,” he said.
“How did you know I wasn’t just…walking in the same direction?”
Nathaniel raised the cigar to his lips, releasing a puff of smoke before answering, “I don’t know…you looked tense.”
I coughed abruptly when I breathed in the smoke, throat and nostrils burning unpleasantly.
Nathaniel grinned, slapping me on the back to clear my airways. “First time?” he asked.
I lowered the cigar, no longer interested in smoking. “Yeah.”
“It’s a bad habit anyway,” he said, “best not to start.”
“Then why do you do it, Mr Med school?” I asked.
Nathaniel chuckled. “It’s the only thing that calms me down when I’m upset.”
A stab of guilt pierced into me. “I’m sorry for what that guy called you. It’s…an awful word.”
“Yeah, it is,” Nathaniel agreed, “but it’s okay. I’m used to it.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Are you…okay?”
Nathaniel let out another breath of smoke as he nodded. “I’m fine. I just don’t want to think about it anymore.”
“What would you like to talk about instead?” I asked.
“You,” Nathaniel answered without hesitation.
I raised an eyebrow. “Me?”
“Mhm.” Nathaniel shifted his body to face me, one leg crossed while the other continued swinging off the edge of the bridge. “Tell me more about yourself.”
I chuckled nervously. “I don’t really like talking about myself.”
“Oh come on,” Nathaniel pouted. “If you tell me one thing about yourself, I’ll tell you one thing aboutme.”
I opened my mouth to make a sarcastic remark about how I didn’t really care to know more about him, but that was a lie. Ididwant to know more about Nathaniel Carrington—my rival.
“Fine,” I mumbled, “let me try and think of something to tell you.”
