Boy Meets Girl
Boy Meets Girl
Something had suddenly gotten in the way of her light, casting a shadow on the page she was reading. Irritated, she tore her eyes away from Wuthering Heights and looked up. Then she blinked. A guy about her age was apparently saying something to her. She took off her headphones.
“Sorry?”
“May I sit down?” The boy smiled.
The girl turned, half-expecting to see someone sitting right behind her. There wasn’t; the boy really was talking to her. She glanced around. There were quite a number of empty seats around the room, but no more than the number of girls cuter than herself. She nodded, then returned to her book. Or pretended to, anyway. After a minute of staring at the words she realized that she wasn’t actually taking them in anymore. She stole a quick glance at the boy. Their eyes met, and they both turned away immediately. A few minutes later she tilted her head upwards a little to see if he was still staring at her, and when she caught herself she forced her eyes to look away. Then, just to know if he had seen her doing that, she permitted herself to look at him for no more than a second. They stared at each other for ten whole seconds before he politely diverted his gaze, one corner of his mouth curled upwards into a lopsided grin. Suddenly she felt annoyed at both the boy and herself.
“You’re taking terribly long to read a page," he said.
“Do you have a problem with that?” she retorted stonily.
“No, no, of course not,” he grinned. “So, what do you think of the book?”
“Why are you doing this?”
For a second the boy looked as though he was going to play dumb. Then—
“I walk into my favorite cafe and the first thing I see is a girl sitting at my favorite spot, reading my favorite book.’ he said, looking resigned. ‘And because I believe in this stupid little thing called fate…”
“That, she said, her face completely devoid of expression, “isn't a very creative pickup line. Well, since this is your favourite book, enlighten me: who’s your favourite character?”
The boy suddenly looked really pleased with himself. “Hareton, because despite being brought up in a dark, savage, loveless environment, he still turned out to be a fine young man in the end. He gives me hope.”
The girl looked taken aback, but recovered quickly; in less than five seconds her face was once again carefully blank.
“So, did i pass the test? Do I qualify to know your name?”
After a pause, she murmured thoughtfully, “it would never work out between us”.
“Why not?” He asked, amused.
“See, to you this feels perfect. You walked into the cafe because you felt like it, and you ended up meeting this girl reading your favorite book sitting in your favorite chair. You feel like it’s fate. But for me it isn’t. I’ve been sitting alone here for a few days in a row now, reading the same book, waiting patiently for guys to approach me. I just got out of a relationship and I feel terribly lonely, so I come here in hopes of meeting my next boyfriend. Have you seen the movie, '500 Days of Summer'? I want to meet my next boyfriend the way Summer met her husband, because it seemed so romantic to me at that time. So I bought a book, picked a cafe and sat here, waiting for my prey. To be honest, I don’t even like Wuthering Heights. So you see, this isn’t a coincidence, it’s premeditated. But now that it has actually happened I realize I’d rather wait for a genuine coincidental encounter than to lie to myself like this. And also...I don’t really like guys that goes around talking to girls they don't know."
The boy looked at her, and then burst into laughter. “Okay, he said. You want to hear my side of the story? I saw you in here a couple of days ago. I thought you looked so much more interesting than all the other girls here. But I’m not the kind of guy who talks to random strangers on the street. So I said to myself, if I see you again the next time I come in here, I’m going to talk to you. Today I walk in, and here you are. But what was I going to say to you? Then I saw the book you were reading. So I Googled it and read as much about it as I could so that I would be able to act like I've actually read the book."
“But why me? There are so many other hot girls in here…don’t lie to me and say you find me particularly attractive, because I know I’m not.”
“Okay. The truth is…you actually look kind of like a girl I know.”
She rolled her eyes. "Already you're telling me about another girl? You’re losing some major points here..."
The boy grinned. "Thought I'd be honest now. She's actually my online chatting buddy. She never shows her entire face in her pictures, but her features--her nose, her mouth, they look just like yours. Though I knew you wouldn’t be her because…"
"Chris?" she asked incredulously.
His mouth dropped open. "Katie?"
"I thought you lived in Canada."
"I thought you were gay."
"I thought it would turn you off. I didn’t want it to turn into some weird cyber romance thing…I didn’t want to destroy what we had between us."
"Me neither."
"And you were so sure that if we ever met in real life things would get so awkward and uncomfortable we wouldn’t be able to talk to each other again."
"This is pretty awkward and uncomfortable…" she teased, "My real name’s Sandy, by the way."
"Daniel, but my friends call me Danny."
They burst out laughing at this coincidence. Smiling, she wrote her number on his hand.
“Sorry?”
“May I sit down?” The boy smiled.
The girl turned, half-expecting to see someone sitting right behind her. There wasn’t; the boy really was talking to her. She glanced around. There were quite a number of empty seats around the room, but no more than the number of girls cuter than herself. She nodded, then returned to her book. Or pretended to, anyway. After a minute of staring at the words she realized that she wasn’t actually taking them in anymore. She stole a quick glance at the boy. Their eyes met, and they both turned away immediately. A few minutes later she tilted her head upwards a little to see if he was still staring at her, and when she caught herself she forced her eyes to look away. Then, just to know if he had seen her doing that, she permitted herself to look at him for no more than a second. They stared at each other for ten whole seconds before he politely diverted his gaze, one corner of his mouth curled upwards into a lopsided grin. Suddenly she felt annoyed at both the boy and herself.
“You’re taking terribly long to read a page," he said.
“Do you have a problem with that?” she retorted stonily.
“No, no, of course not,” he grinned. “So, what do you think of the book?”
“Why are you doing this?”
For a second the boy looked as though he was going to play dumb. Then—
“I walk into my favorite cafe and the first thing I see is a girl sitting at my favorite spot, reading my favorite book.’ he said, looking resigned. ‘And because I believe in this stupid little thing called fate…”
“That, she said, her face completely devoid of expression, “isn't a very creative pickup line. Well, since this is your favourite book, enlighten me: who’s your favourite character?”
The boy suddenly looked really pleased with himself. “Hareton, because despite being brought up in a dark, savage, loveless environment, he still turned out to be a fine young man in the end. He gives me hope.”
The girl looked taken aback, but recovered quickly; in less than five seconds her face was once again carefully blank.
“So, did i pass the test? Do I qualify to know your name?”
After a pause, she murmured thoughtfully, “it would never work out between us”.
“Why not?” He asked, amused.
“See, to you this feels perfect. You walked into the cafe because you felt like it, and you ended up meeting this girl reading your favorite book sitting in your favorite chair. You feel like it’s fate. But for me it isn’t. I’ve been sitting alone here for a few days in a row now, reading the same book, waiting patiently for guys to approach me. I just got out of a relationship and I feel terribly lonely, so I come here in hopes of meeting my next boyfriend. Have you seen the movie, '500 Days of Summer'? I want to meet my next boyfriend the way Summer met her husband, because it seemed so romantic to me at that time. So I bought a book, picked a cafe and sat here, waiting for my prey. To be honest, I don’t even like Wuthering Heights. So you see, this isn’t a coincidence, it’s premeditated. But now that it has actually happened I realize I’d rather wait for a genuine coincidental encounter than to lie to myself like this. And also...I don’t really like guys that goes around talking to girls they don't know."
The boy looked at her, and then burst into laughter. “Okay, he said. You want to hear my side of the story? I saw you in here a couple of days ago. I thought you looked so much more interesting than all the other girls here. But I’m not the kind of guy who talks to random strangers on the street. So I said to myself, if I see you again the next time I come in here, I’m going to talk to you. Today I walk in, and here you are. But what was I going to say to you? Then I saw the book you were reading. So I Googled it and read as much about it as I could so that I would be able to act like I've actually read the book."
“But why me? There are so many other hot girls in here…don’t lie to me and say you find me particularly attractive, because I know I’m not.”
“Okay. The truth is…you actually look kind of like a girl I know.”
She rolled her eyes. "Already you're telling me about another girl? You’re losing some major points here..."
The boy grinned. "Thought I'd be honest now. She's actually my online chatting buddy. She never shows her entire face in her pictures, but her features--her nose, her mouth, they look just like yours. Though I knew you wouldn’t be her because…"
"Chris?" she asked incredulously.
His mouth dropped open. "Katie?"
"I thought you lived in Canada."
"I thought you were gay."
"I thought it would turn you off. I didn’t want it to turn into some weird cyber romance thing…I didn’t want to destroy what we had between us."
"Me neither."
"And you were so sure that if we ever met in real life things would get so awkward and uncomfortable we wouldn’t be able to talk to each other again."
"This is pretty awkward and uncomfortable…" she teased, "My real name’s Sandy, by the way."
"Daniel, but my friends call me Danny."
They burst out laughing at this coincidence. Smiling, she wrote her number on his hand.