I ***ed up Again

I took a seat in the classroom on the first day of sophomore year at Arizona State in my public speaking class.

"Students, this year..." Was all I listened to before I started to zone out and stare at the cute boy sitting diagonally from me.

He had shaggy sandy blonde hair and a big nose that worked well for him. He was chatting up the tan brunette next to him that was giggling. She smiled and leaned in closer to him, while pushing out her non-existent boobs. Jealousy flared inside of me at the sight. Of course he would be flirting with her, she was the typical sorority type and I was just average. I didn't wear mini-skirts or v-necks.

So, I just rolled my eyes at the sight and turned my attention back to the teacher.

"So, you'll find a number on your desk and there are two other people in the class with that number. They'll be your group for the first project. Get to it." He announced before going back to his desk and taking a seat.

My eyes went wide and I looked around at the girls sitting near me. They all seemed to find their numbers quickly and group up, so I just stood there like a moron.

"Hey, are you a three?" I heard someone ask.

I turned to see who it was and I thanked my lucky stars. It was the cute guy!

"Yeah, I am. I'm Palmer, by the way." I smiled as I stuck my hand out for him to shake.

"Lovely name, Palmer." He complimented while shaking my hand. "I'm Josh."

"Thank you, Josh." I blushed.

"So who else is in our group?" I asked, looking around. Everybody seemed settled in their groups, but we were supposed to have a third in our group. I spotted a group of four and assumed that somebody just ignored their number to be with their friend.

"Looks like this is it." He shrugged. "Let's have a seat."

As we sat down I remembered that I didn't have the slightest clue what we supposed to be doing.

"Um, what's this project about?" I asked.

"We have to make a speech on each other." He answered. "You know, public speaking and all?" He chuckled.

"Oh, right. So, tell me about yourself?" I suggested as I pulled out a pen and notebook to take notes.

"Well, let's see, I was born and raised here. Chandler to be specific. I grew up with my parents and my older brother John-"

"Okay, so those are basics. Tell me about you." I told him. Being a journalism major gave me good practice at interviewing.

"Me? Well, I don't know. I'm a communications major. I want to be a producer someday, hopefully for movies, but I'd settle for some shitty sitcom." He joked.

"So do you want to move to Hollywood?" I asked.

"Hopefully." He grinned. "My goal is to be a director someday."

"What inspired you?" I asked, taking notes.

"Everything, I guess. I'd say my brother mostly, though. He had no clue what he wanted to do and now he's in a band and they're getting pretty big. He's a huge inspiration to me." He confessed. I smiled, he's a family guy, aw.

"Were you two close growing up?" I asked.

"Yeah, I mean, we did everything together on family vacations and stuff when we were younger but as we grew up we kind of grew apart."

"I'm sorry. That must be hard." I frowned, sympathetically.

"No, it's alright. We're still brothers, we've just got a lot of differences now." He shrugged. "I'm bored of talking about myself. Tell me about you."

He leaned in and looked into deep my eyes as if he was looking right into my soul. My breath got caught in my throat and I got very nervous.

"Okay, well I was born in Maryland. I have a half brother and a half sister, both on my mom's side. My sister is six years older than me and my brother is nine years older. After my mom divorced their dad, she met my dad and they had me, but he was apparently married and paid her to keep it quiet." I told him.

"Whoa..that's crazy." He gasped.

"Yeah," I shrugged, not going into anymore detail.

"Also, I'm a journalism major, and I want to work for a magazine someday."

"That's cool." He smiled. "So, since class is almost over do you want to meet up for dinner later?" He asked.

"Um, sure." I chuckled nervously as my cheeks started to get hot. I looked down at the desk and then back into his eyes.

"So, how about Angelou's at seven?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure." I nodded excitedly. "I can't wait."

"Awesome. Well, I'll see you then." He smiled as he stood up and grabbed his books.

I waved goodbye to him and shoved my things into my purse.

---

"Hi, just one today?" The hostess at Angelou's asked.

"No, two. Um, I'm waiting for someone." I informed her.

"Oh, alright. Is a booth okay?" She asked as she grabbed two menus.

"Yeah, that's fine." I nodded before following her and taking a seat at the small booth. "Thank you." I told her before taking a look at the menu.

I looked around at the casual pizza parlor for Josh, but I didn't see him. I sighed and told myself he was probably just running late, but I couldn't keep the negative thoughts from creeping into my brain. I thought about him with miss no-boobs or some other girl.

The waitress kept coming over and refilling my drink, while trying to cheer me up. Even she knew I got stood up.

"Hey! Palmer, sorry I'm late. I got caught in some traffic and yeah, I'm really sorry." He apologized as he rushed over to my table.

Every negative thought in my mind vanished and I grinned.

"Oh, it's no problem." I assured him.

"Thanks, I'm really sorry though. I feel like such a dick." He sighed. "Can I have your number in case something like that happens again?" He asked.

"Oh, sure." I nodded as I pulled out my phone.

Happens again? That means he wants to go out on more dates, right?

"Thanks." He said as he handed me my phone. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it, really." I told him.

"You're so nice." He chuckled. "Any other girl would have thrown her drink in my face."

"Has that...happened before?" I asked, letting a small smile creep onto my lips.

"...Maybe." He laughed.

The whole dinner was a ton of fun. We talked and laughed and flirted like there was no tomorrow. The only bad part was that he kept glancing at the blonde two table over. Sure, it made me a little self-conscious, but he was here with me, not her.

Once we paid our checks, he walked me out to my car.

"This was really fun." He said, as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, it was." I agreed.

"Do you maybe want to come back to my place?" He asked.

"Oh, I can't. Please don't think I'm crazy, but my cat has been alone all day and...yeah. I shouldn't have said that..." I blushed as I mentally scolded myself.

"No, it's fine." He told me. "I'll see you around, Palmer." He smiled before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Yeah, see you around." I grinned as the blood rushed to my face.

I got in my car and waited until he walked away before squealing excitedly.

Maybe I'm a little luckier than I thought.