CHAPTER THREE
1348 Words
***(MANY YEARS LATER)***
DiAngelo glanced at his wristwatch, frustration evident on his face. He was already late, yet the bus that was supposed to have arrived fifteen minutes ago still hadn't shown up. But that wasn't what bothered him the most.
Of all days, today was the day his car had chosen to break down. And the worst of it all was, missing lectures meant getting reported by the counselor, and getting reported meant no football.
Letting out a cuss word, he began to think of plan B. Just as an idea was about to cross his mind, the bus finally showed up. Hurriedly, he jumped in, hoping to find an empty seat.
But everything was taken. Everything except a bad one that was obviously avoided by all the passengers.
“Better off standing,” he turned around, but then immediately froze. His brows creased. And sharply, he faced the direction of the bad seat again.
The next thing he knew, he was fixing the seat.
“Hi,” he greeted with the best smile his face could make.
She looked up, shot back a small, unenthusiastic smile and then returned her eyes to the papers in her hands.
One glance at the papers, DiAngelo knew what it was. Still, he asked, “Oh, you are a first-year student?”
That got her attention. She looked at him and nodded. “Yes." Are you?”
For a second, he almost nodded, “ No, I am in my second year.” He shook his head, and it immediately made a disappointed look on her face. “But I can show you around,” he quickly added. “Help you with the whole registration process, if you want.”
“Really?” her smile rekindled instantly. This time, genuinely, “ I would really love that.”
“ Okay then, I'm DiAngelo,” he extended his hand to her.
“ Rivanna.” she took his hand. It tingled DiAngelo more than it should, but what got his attention most was how soft her palm was.
“ Hmmm, beautiful name, gorgeous face,” he looked at her palm, “ And then palm as soft as rose petals,” he complimented, and she smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear, even though her hair was already perfectly in place.
By the time afternoon came, Rivanna was already halfway done with the procession. The only thing left was to finalize everything the next day.
They stood in front of the building, awkwardly hesitating as they tried to figure out how to say goodbye.
Then, a sharp whistle broke the silence, followed by a voice calling DiAngelo’s name.
They both looked up.
“ Oh f**k!” DiAngelo muttered, ducking under, so the man wouldn't see him. Then, without warning, he pulled her, “ Come with me,”
“ Wait, why,” Rivanna held back.
“ Seriously, it is a matter of life and death.”
Crossing her arms, Rivanna arched her brows, “ And how is that?” She knew what was going on. Even though it was sweet of him to take out his time and help her, trying to lie to her when she already knew the truth wasn't a good idea.
Figuring this out, DiAngelo sighed,“ Okay, I'm skipping lectures. That's my coach. I was trying to buy time so that I could ask you for your number or something.”
“ Yeah, I know. ""And thanks for that,” she paused,“ Give me your messenger handle instead,”
“Let me show you,” Rivanna said, jumping onto her reading desk where her PC sat. She booted it up and went straight to her messenger app.
Her friend, Carly, who was squatting in her cathedral room, leaned in close, her eyes fixed on the screen just like Rivanna’s.
“He gave me his handle, but I didn’t message him,” Rivanna admitted.
“Why?” Carly asked, watching her scroll through the chat list.
Rivanna shrugged. “I don’t know. "I guess I didn’t want to get overly excited about someone I barely knew.” she glanced at Carly and saw the funny face Carly was giving,“ What?”
“Overly excited?” she echoed. “ Girl, you were talking about him the whole day." His hair, his smile, his lips, how tall he was, his muscles, his…..”
“ Okay, okay, I get it,” Rivanna cut her off,“ Maybe I talked about him a little too much.”
“ Well, studies say the best way to get rid of an infatuation…..”
“ Please don't say what I think you want to say,” Rivanna clicked enter, and the first thing that showed was DiAngelo's profile picture.
“Blood Mary!” then she glanced at Rivanna,“ That's the guy?” she asked, she added before Rivanna could reply.
“ My God,” Carly gushed, and then squinted her eyes as if it would give her a better view,“ Look girl, you are gorgeous as hell. Guys in college literally beg me every day just so I could give them your number. But this guy…” she furrowed her brows to show her doubt. “Look at him, he looks like a movie star. Like an angel. Are you sure it's him?”
“Okay, okay! "I get it,” Rivanna cut her off, rolling her eyes. “Maybe I did talk about him a little too much.” she shrugged again, and it made Carly chuckle,“ And that's exactly the reason why I don't want to get excited about him,”
“Well, studies say the best way to get rid of an infatuation…”
“Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say,” Rivanna groaned, clicking enter.
The first thing that popped up was DiAngelo’s profile picture.
“Bloody Mary!” for a second it was as though Carly froze. Then she turned to Rivanna, eyes wide. “That’s the guy?” she asked, and then added before Rivanna answered,“ No, there's no way that's the guy.”
“ It's him, what? Why?”
“My God,” Carly breathed, and then squinted at the screen as if that would give her a clearer view. “Look, girl, you are drop-dead gorgeous." "Guys in this college literally beg me every day just so I’ll give them your number,” she paused and glanced at the profile again,“ But this guy…” She clicked her tongue in disbelief. “Look at him! He looks like a movie star. Like an angel. Are you sure it’s him?”
“ Of course, it's him,” Rivanna scrolled again. “Look,” she pointed at her screen, “ Sophomore year at Crescent Valley College."
“ Wow. Girl, I bet you this guy has a girlfriend already. If not hundreds of them,”
“Right?” Rivanna “That’s exactly why I said I didn’t want to get my hopes up. He was so sweet, helpful and smart. Cute guys like this are usually dumb, but he’s so smart.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Carly sighed dramatically. “The perfect ones always seem like mission impossible.” She smirked. “So, what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” Rivanna murmured, brows furrowed. “What should I do?”
“If I were you?” Carly tapped her chin in thought. “I’d want to see where this leads.” Then she began to stroll away, throwing a teasing glance over her shoulder. “I mean, there’s a chance he’s actually into you. Even though it’s a very, very small, tiny little chance…”
Rivanna rolled her eyes but, before she could overthink, hit the chat box.
She typed: Hey.
And sent it.
His reply came almost immediately: What’s up? I hope I’ll see you in school today.
Rivanna stared at the screen, trying not to notice her thumping heart.
“Well, that was fast.” Carly, peeking from across the room, smirked.
- Writer
