Anchoridge University

CHAPTER TWELVE

We had all finished our lunches and had gone our separate ways. I turned to look up at Zane after everyone else had left.“Well, that was an interesting lunch. Hope you’re not too mad that I invited them along.”

Zane looked down at me and smiled. “I’m not gonna lie I was hoping to eat with you alone. But it looks like we still have time to kill before class. Let’s go grab some coffee.” I couldn’t help it but I blushed a little at that. I looked up at him and smiled. “ OK sounds good.”

We exited the dining hall and started making our way to the coffee shop on campus. “So are you excited for the party this weekend?” He asked me “Yes! I’ve never actually been to a party before, except for the casual birthday party of course. In high school I mainly just focused on my studies.”

He started laughing. “You know, somehow that doesn’t really surprise me. Don’t worry I’ll make sure you have fun.” He gave me a wink. I blushed and looked away.

We had made it to the coffee shop. There was a small line so we didn't have to wait too long. I ordered a green tea with passion fruit, as I’m not really a fan of coffee. And Zane ordered a black coffee. I went to pay for my drink. But Zane insisted on getting mine as well, since he's the one that invited me. I conceded and let him pay for both, I'll have to get his next time.

After we got our drinks, we looked for somewhere to sit. It was a nice day out, so we went outside and sat by a big tree. I leaned against the trunk and closed my eyes while I took in a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. I felt something tug at my hair so I opened my eyes.

I saw that Zane was playing with one of my curls. Twisting one of them around one of his long fingers. He was looking down at it and seemed to be fascinated by it. “I love your hair, it’s almost as beautiful as you are.”

I blushed looking away. “Thank you. I only recently started wearing it curly over the summer. I used to straighten it almost everyday.” He pulled on the curl he was playing with and watched it spring back up. “Why would you do that? Sure sounds like a lot of work.” I turned back to look at him.

“Well, it’s hard to manage. I’ve only just learned how to take care of it after watching a bunch of videos and figuring out what works for me. Luckily I didn’t damage it too badly by straightening it all the time.” He reached out and tucked one of my curls behind my ear. Then he smiled and said.

“I’m sure you look beautiful either way Little Star, but I think I prefer the curls. They suit you.” I looked away. I swear I haven’t stopped blushing since school started at this point. “Why do you call me that? Little Star I mean." He stopped, grabbed my chin, and turned my head to face him, then gave me one of his smirks.

“Because when I first saw you, and you looked up at me with those big doe eyes of yours. I thought your eyes looked like they had shining little stars in them. And when you told me your name was Celeste, I thought it suited you perfectly.” I was blushing profusely now staring into his eyes like this.

He released my chin and I immediately looked down as he chuckled. “You’re so cute when you blush Little Star.”

Flustered I cleared my throat. “It’s not fair that you can make me blush so easily. I swear it feels like you’re going to turn me into a tomato!” He bent over laughing, clutching his stomach. “A very cute tomato I promise!”

I crossed my arms and pouted. “One of these days I’m going to make you blush.” Still laughing he wiped away a tear. “Oh really? I’d love to see you try.” I looked up at him and smiled. “Challenge excepted.”

He got up and offered me his hand. “Come on Little Star, let’s get to class.” I took his hand and he helped me up. We started walking to class and I looked up at him. “Do you have poor circulation or something? Your hands are always cold.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah something like that.”

We made it to class and he opened the door for me. “After you Little Star.” I laughed and shook my head. Then we took our seats and waited for class to start.