A Breath of Fresh Air

After Class

Jenn found herself thinking about that man quite a lot throughout the day. No matter what she was focused on (or supposed to be focused on), for some reason her thoughts wandered back to Riker, and her classwork suffered a bit from her distracted mind.

She was frustrated by the time it got to her last class, since her professor suddenly announced a test the next day that she was totally not prepared for. It was because she kept thinking about the stranger she had met literally just a few hours before, and now she had to spend her night cramming in information about variables and formulas that she knew she would forget almost immediately after the test.

She walked out of class into the afternoon sun, glad that she was finally able to head home. She'd been looking down at some review notes as she walked, and she nearly stumbled over her own two feet when she looked up and saw a familiar man leaning on his familiar red convertible.

Riker was looking down at his phone, and of course as soon as Jenn saw him he looked up, their eyes locking. Riker waved with the biggest smile, gesturing for Jenn to approach.

"Hey..." She mumbled as she approached, forgetting throughout the day that they had made the plans to meet up after her last class.

"Hi! I was just about to text you, actually." Riker stated, quickly putting his phone away to focus his full attention on her.

"Oh? Why?" She asked, though it was kind of a dumb question.

"Just to tell you where I am." Riker replied with a shrug.

Jenn tugged on her backpack, awkwardly shifting her weight. It was so weird to try and be casual with someone she had just met.

"I already knew where you were. You told me where to meet you this morning, remember?" She asked, as if she herself hadn't forgotten the plans to meet at all.

"Right, yeah, I forgot..." He stated in honesty, letting out a light chuckle as he stood from the hood of his car. "Uh, anyway, how was your day?"

"Same as always. Long, boring classes." Jenn responded, taking a step back to keep a respectable distance between them. She could already tell that Riker was the type to ignore the need for personal space, and she had no idea how she was supposed to deal with a naturally clingy person.

The guy laughed, nodding his head. "Mine too. The highlight of my day was honestly saving you."

"Saving me?" Jenn repeated, finding the choice of words a bit weird.

"Um, yeah, this morning. From your asthma attack?" Riker reminded her, his tone confused as to why she seemed to disagree.

"Well, you didn't really save me but, I guess that was the most interesting part of the day." Jenn stated, looking away as she unintentionally invalidated Riker's leap to action earlier. She didn't want to give him so much credit, since all the latter really did was help get her inhaler, it wasn't that big of a deal. Nothing she couldn't have handled herself, at least.

"Oh, was that too much? I'm sorry, I felt like I was saving you but, I guess you could've gotten your inhaler on your own..." Riker quickly mumbled out, an apologetic look masking his features, instantly making Jenn feel terrible for what she'd just said.

"No don't feel bad! You did help me. A lot. I just... um... nevermind. Wanna get going?" She asked, pointing back at Riker's car in hopes of changing the subject. She was already doing terribly with the casual conversation, so why the hell she still allowed Riker to drive her home was beyond her;she honestly baffled herself sometimes with the situations she puts herself in.

"Sure." Riker relaxed a bit, turning with his car keys in hand to unlock the door. "So um... I'm kinda hungry, do you mind if we stop somewhere to eat?"

"T-Together?" Jenn asked while getting in, a bit caught off guard by the suggestion.

Riker shrugged, settling into the driver side as he started it up. "Yeah... only if you want to though? Like, I was thinking that you might be hungry too, so maybe we can grab some takeout, or stop at a cafe or..."

Riker thought it over for a minute, questioning if she really wanted to allow Riker to take her somewhere to eat or if she should just ask to be taken home. So far she's found himself more curious about Riker than uninterested, and though it was unlike her to accept such offers, Jenn sort of just wanted to see where the day would lead if she agreed. Besides, she could just leave if this was some cheap attempt at a date. "I don't mind. We can grab something to eat."

Riker's eyes widened with excitement, his lips curling up into a small smile. "Really? Um, then I know a little place we can go to!"

Jenn gazed out the window as Riker pulled out of the parking lot, truly going along with the ride as she had no idea where she was going with the man she had only met a few hours before. All she knew was that Riker was interested in lengthening their time together, and Jenn could only wait and see what happens as the day goes on.