46.

Fiction #2 for Work shopping on 4/28.

*moving the text from word to the blog removed all the spacing, paragraphs and things like that. I also marked in the text 4 pages worth so feel free to just print that part other wise it's about 9 pages.


Missed Connections
Katie rolled over covering her eyes with a pillow as the sun shone across her face, why had she decided to put her bed under the window anyways. Downstairs she could hear the dog barking, most likely at someone walking outside. She opened one eye to look at her alarm clock, 10:20 am, class started at 10. She got out of bed with as much energy as she could muster grabbed the first pair of jeans she could find and her favorite old tee shirt, the one with the coffee stain on the left sleeve, slipping her feet into a pair of flip flops as she gathered her hair into a pony tail why do I always manage to sleep through my alarm she wondered.
She ran down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen hoping there was something she could eat while she drove. She looked through the cabinets and found nothing, “guess coffee will have to do” she said to the empty room. She reached up to grab a travel cup and then her eyes fell on the black and silver coffee maker…. Empty not a drop had been left for her, “thanks mom and dad” she sighed angrily. She grabbed her keys and headed out the door.
Key in the ignition her phone beeps, “class started, where are you?” it was Eddie, the nerdy freshmen that always sat next to her in class. Her phone beeped again, “Hope you’re coming, I saved you a seat” wow, this kid just doesn’t know when to give up.
“Please don’t tell me you’re texting Katie,” Chris looked over to see his roommate furiously typing out some undoubtedly grammatically correct text to his crush. “Ed man I told you, she’s never going to like you, especially if you keep annoying her like this.”
“I’m just letting her know that I’ve saved her a seat, and besides how can you say that, she gave me her number didn’t she?”
“Yeah, so you could text her the answers to last week’s test, trust me man, a girl like that could never like a guy like you.”
“Whatever” Eddie dropped his phone into his bag and took out an extra sheet of paper, now copying two sets of notes.
“Please do not take notes for this girl! You’re wasting your time,”
“Just leave me alone ok, we can’t all be Mr. Cool like you Chris.”
Chris sat back in his chair, yeah, cool like him. Too bad he wasn’t cool at least not to Steph, the one person on this campus he would do anything to have notice him. Before transferring here Chris was just like Eddie, a nerd, he spent his weekends playing video games and writing fan fiction for whatever sci-fi trend was hot at that time. He wore jeans from K mart and tee shirts with video game characters on them, and he wasn’t wearing them ironically. When he transferred he decided to remake himself, become a cool guy one that went to parties and drank beer and maybe even talked to girls, however when he moved in he was met with a replica of himself only a foot shorter and with curly blonde hair, Eddie. They got along fine as roommates, but Eddie was constantly bringing Chris down, yelling at him not to forget their video game marathons in crowded hall ways or following him to parties, Eddie was like a permanent cock block and Chris couldn’t get rid of, and he just didn’t have the heart to be mean to Eddie.
Chris looked two seats over to where Steph sat, her brown hair had purple streaks in it, last week it had been green. She was into art and bands that no one cared about until they were overly famous, which then of course caused her to hate them. She smoked cigarettes and wore clothes that always looked slept in. She was always going to concerts and meeting crazy musicians, last week Chris had managed to talk to her for a few minutes after class, it was sheer bliss she had even offered him a cigarette and when he refused she simply said, “That’s cool.” It was great until Eddie had showed up and dragged Chris away saying that he shouldn’t hang around people that smoke, “second hand smoke can still cause cancer blah blah blah.”
Steph looked up from her ratty notebook and saw Chris staring at her; he didn’t look away fast enough, great now she thinks I’m a creep, maybe if I wave at her? Great, I waved and she looked away I’ll never get her now.
Steph sat in her desk furiously scribbling away trying to piece together her weekend. Her mom warned her that living like this would lead to destruction, why do mothers always have to be right. The flow chart she was creating in bright green ink was making her sick, concert Friday night, coke in the bathroom with that chick from that band…. Or was she with the bartender…. Then onto the bus to interview the drummer from that band, what was there name again?….then a bottle of tequillia and…. Black out.
Saturday morning she had woken up at her sisters, who didn’t look all too pleased to have her 19 year old sibling passed out on her couch sleeping off a hangover. Then Saturday night, she remembered playing pool with some guys she had met that afternoon in the city, they went to a BYOB place and she could remember drinking something that had made her insides burn and then waking up in bed with the guy with the green shoes, Chad? Chaz? Chuck? Fuck, if only she could remember what had happened.
Steph turned to stare out the window and saw Chris staring at her, why did she have to be so messed up, why she couldn’t be a nice girl and date a nice guy like Chris. Too bad he would never want her, not with a past filled with weekends like this and Monday mornings spent trying to figure out if she’d need to get tested again or not. Just then the door slammed open and Katie walked in and sat down.
Eddie had saved her a seat and it was perfect, right behind Paul, so close she could smell the faint scent of hair gel and laundry detergent. “Thanks” she mouthed to Eddie before opening her bag and digging out her notebook. She opened it to a new page,
“Here, I started taking notes for you” Eddie handed her a sheet filled with his shitty chicken scratch.
“Uh thanks, you didn’t have to.” Eddie sheepishly shrugged his shoulders in reply, whatever, that kid was so weird sometimes. Now, back to Paul. Katie looked at her notes from the class before she had started sketching his chiseled features in the margin. She stared at the image imagining what it would be like to kiss those perfectly pouted lips that now sat above one of the three holes on her notebook paper. She heard a cough and looked back up to the front of the room and almost screamed; Paul was turned in his desk, staring straight at her.
If I just turn around and ask that late girl if she has a pencil would it be really weird? I mean why did I wait a half hour since the start of class to ask someone for a pencil, ugh but I really want to turn around and see Chris. Ok, just say that you’re pen ran out of ink! That’s totally understandable.
Paul turned around to see Katie staring at a face drawn in her notebook, it almost looked like him, he cleared his throat to get her attention, while using this time to stare at the boy two seats down,
“Uhm, do you have an extra pen, mine ran out of ink.”
Katie almost died; Paul was actually talking to her! She grabbed her bag and started riffling through it, please please let there be an extra pen somewhere,
“Here, I have an extra pen,” Chris said reaching across Eddie towards Paul, now it was Paul’s turn to swoon, he couldn’t believe that Chris was actually talking to him, let alone lending him a pen.
“Uh wow. Thanks,” wow thanks? What’s wrong with you Paul thought as he turned back around, the guy you’ve been obsessing over for the past two weeks lends you a pen and all you can say is wow thanks!

(That's 4 pages so feel free to just print that.)


I can’t believe I’m even obsessing over some one, I haven’t even told anyone I’m gay yet and here I am fantasizing over a guy that just lent me a pencil, what’s wrong with me. But he does have the most amazing green eyes, I need to talk to him again I always see him with that kid that sits next to him. I don’t even know if Chris is gay I mean he could be… but then again anyone could be, he’s just so gorgeous I have to talk to him.
Maybe I could write a note to give to him after class, or maybe forget to give him back the pen and then have to run into him later, or stop by his room tonight….
Chris looked back over to where Steph was sitting she looked like she was working really hard on something, I wonder If she’d have coffee with me or something, I mean we did talk last week , maybe I should write her a note….
“Hey, Katie I’m glad you made it to class what happened?”
“I over slept….” Katie didn’t mean to be short with Eddie it’s just that how could she be expected to keep up a conversation with him when Paul had just spoken directly to her!
“Class is dismissed, and Miss Gellar, don’t think I didn’t notice you slip in late…” Professor Tuttle was saying at the front of the room, all around people were packing up and trying to race one another to the door Chris felt a hand on his arm,
“Hey, thanks for the pen,”
“Sure no problem,” He took the pen and raced out the door hoping to catch Steph.
“Katie since we got out of class early would you want to come to my room to see my newest video game, the graphics is so advanced it’s like you’re in the game,”
“Uh no thanks Eddie,” Katie mumbled as she ran out the door trying to catch Paul. As she rounded the corner out of the classroom however her wish was granted, she ran smack into Paul’s back.
“Uh sorry, hey since we got out of class early and all would you maybe want to get a smoothie or something?”
“Huh oh uh no.” Paul was trying to watch Chris talk to that weird girl that always had different colored streaks in her hair, was he asking her out?
“…So uh yeah since we got out go class early I was wondering if maybe I could uhm get you uh a cup of coffee or something,” Was Chris actually asking her out, Steph was so happy she could cry, this can’t really be happening.
“Hey Chris, what are we going to do now,” Eddie appeared at Chris’ side as always totally killing any chance he could have ever had with Steph now.
“I don’t know Eddie...”
“Hey, why don’t you join us, Chris was going to buy me a cup of coffee, weren’t you?” did Steph really want to spend time with him and his dorky roommate Chris reached down and pinched his leg, he had to be dreaming.
Paul followed Chris to the little coffee shop off campus, he was pretty sure that he was on a date with that girl, but his roommate was there, the nerdy kid from class as he was walking he heard a voice from a few feet behind,
“Hey, Paul right?” it was the girl that had asked him to get a smoothie… Katie?
“Yeah, Katie right, hey, listen sorry I forgot I had some free time want to get a cup of coffee?” Paul asked using Katie as a cover to spy on Chris.
Katie was too shocked to actually speak; Paul had just asked her on a date! She wanted to spin in circles and scream
“Yeah sure, coffee would be cool” she responded trying to keep her emotions in check.
Steph, Chris and Eddie walked to the coffee shop in an awkward silence, well semi silence, Chris and Steph were silent, Eddie was going on about some video game or TV show or something Steph wasn’t really listening all that mattered was that Chris was voluntarily spending time with her!
The bells on top of the door chimed as they walked in the tiny coffee shop, it was packed but there was a table free in the back, “I’ll go save that table, I like iced coffee with lots of sugar,” she said to Chris trying her hardest to keep her cool. The bells chimed again as Paul and Katie walked in a few seconds behind them. Steph sat at the large table and thought to herself that this was odd, since of course it was kind of clear, at least to her that Paul was not interested in girls.
“Katie, you made it,” Eddie practically shouted in her direction,
“Uh yeah,”
“You should sit with us, what do you think Chris”
“Uh why not, that table seems big enough,”
“ Oh well thanks, but see I’m here with Paul,”
“So you can both sit with us, there aren’t any other tables anyway,” Chris wanted to smack his roommate couldn’t he see this girl was clearly on a date with this guy.
Paul wanted to squeal like a girl, his plan was working out much better than he thought; he was actually being invited to sit with Chris!
They ordered their drinks and made their way back to the table, where they sat in silence. None of them really knew one another at all. Eddie was firing questions rapidly at the collected group, things about television and movies and news stories, no one was really interested in what he was laying on the table; however under the table was a whole ‘nother story. Katie rested her foot against what she assumed was Paul’s loafer wearing foot, while in reality he was searching out Chris’s sneaker clad foot. Steph had rested her hand on Chris’s Knee.
Eddie was gesturing wildly when he knocked over a cup of coffee causing Steph to jump up from the table. While she was in the girl’s room trying to get Hot chocolate out of her shirt Chris noticed that the same foot was still resting against his. He looked under the table and saw Paul’s foot next to his own.
“Uh dude, I think you got the wrong the wrong foot.” Katie looked under the table and noticed that she had been resting her foot against the table leg, and indeed Paul and Chris had been in an intense game of footsie while they had all sat in awkward silence.
“I’m sorry it’s just that… I just thought that you…I thought you knew it was my foot.”
“Uhm what, listen, why would I be interested in playing footsie with a guy…” The last part of Chris’ sentence dragged on as a blush crept to Paul’s face. Paul was so embarrassed he wanted to die. Katie was in shock, if Paul was gay why had he asked her out to coffee?
Paul grabbed his stuff and trying to stay cool exited the coffee house, there was no way he could stay there now. The first time he actually tried to hang out with Chris, and it blows up in his face, of course Chris was straight, he never gave any hints that he wasn’t I was just so desperate for him to be available for me.
Steph returned to the table still blotting at her clothes,
“Where did that Paul kid go?”
“uh he had to leave,” Chris said trying to keep the poor guys dignity somewhat intact. As they returned to their weird excuse for conversation Katie noticed a very aggressive foot practically attacking her own. She acted like she was reaching for her purse and looked under the table, it was Eddie,of course it was him.
“Look Eddie, you’re a nice guy and all, but I’m really not interested in you, and it’s getting a little creepy with all your texts and saving me seats and taking notes for me, I’m sorry but just can you please knock it off.” Katie looked at the blonde haired boy, he looked as if he was about to cry at any second.
“But, you gave me your phone number…”
“So you could text me answers,”
“You sit next to me…”
“No, YOU sit next to ME”
“You came here! After I invited you you came and you’re sitting with me”
“Listen Eddie I only came here to be with Paul, clearly that didn’t work out but you had nothing to do with me coming here I’m sorry.” Eddie gathered his things and ran from coffee shop not trying to keep his cool or anything once the door slammed Katie winced. “I didn’t mean to upset him; I just can’t deal with that kind of stuff I had to set him straight.”
“Yeah, cool” Chris replied now clearly distracted.
“So steph, why the purple hair, what happened to the green?”
“Huh oh, I duno,” she was too busy to give the other girl a real answer; she couldn’t believe she was practically alone with Chris!
“Uhm, I guess I’ll leave you two alone then…” and with that Katie grabbed her stuff and headed for the door wondering how this day had gone from shitty to bizarre.
At the table Steph and Christ were finally left alone. She wanted to tell him everything about how she could never remember her weekends and how she likes to stare at him in class but nothing seemed to fit in this moment, just being here, sitting together everything was fitting together perfectly.
Chris was beyond joyous; Steph and himself were sitting alone at the coffee shop! He had no clue what to say to her he wanted to tell her that he thought he was in love with her, but he knew that that was too over the top instead he decided to try to break the ice,
“So, have you ever seen so much drama before noon?”