The Moment I Knew

Tahlia felt herself smiling throughout the whole school day as she wandered around the UCLA campus to her next class. Her mind wasn’t focusing on the hundreds of students scrambling around to go their next class. Actually, she wasn’t worried about being late. All she was thinking about was the wonderful time that she had with Logan.

She hopes that he continued to see her. The nerves that she had stuck in the pit of her stomach were relentless as they fluttered at each given moment. Tahlia already felt like an outsider in the campus being that most of them were geniuses and stuck up. It was a rarity if someone would actually talk to her and if they did, she couldn’t hold the conversation long enough to befriend them. Tahlia’s shyness has gotten in the way of making new friends around the campus.

In the long run, she knew it would be beneficial to have at least a couple of friends, but so far she had none. She was invisible around campus and right when she arrived to her next class she peaked in to comprehended that she had a gap period. Scolding herself for not remembering, she jogged down the long flight of stairs to find a decent spot to quietly eat the lunch she packed for herself.

Finding a piece of lush green grass to reserve her bum on, she sat down crossing her legs as she gathered her sandwich and Ritz cookies filled with cheese and a zip lock baggie filled with strawberries. Tahlia let her eyes wander and naturally a few stared back. The stares did make her feel self-conscious and a bit odd since she felt it was still nerdy to bring her own lunch kind of like the stares she got back in high school.

This time there was no one at her school. She made sure of that. Her grades surpassed most of her classmates and even though she was inches to choosing Berkley over this place, she changed her mind quickly when she find out a few of the other top students were going there.

Luckily no one who applied to UCLA wasn’t accepted or didn’t have the money to go. Tahlia sighed in relief when she saw that she would finally be able to grow as a person instead of being haunted by the memories of her past. She rather not have anxiety being on campus and hoping she didn’t run into anyone she knew.

Taking a bite out of her strawberry, it almost fell out of her mouth when she heard someone say, “That looks delicious.”

In panic, she turned her head hoping that the person was talking to someone else. Instead, it was the boy that has been plaguing her mind. A smile curved on her lips as she whispered his name, “Logan.” Tahlia felt the juice of the fruit dripping down the corner of her mouth. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she wiped the excess juice off her skin before continuing, “What are you doing here?”

Logan took a seat next to her as he drummed his fingers on his lips. “I wanted to see you again—sooner than later and I knew that you had to be at school around this time. I hope you don’t think I’m a stalker because I’m not, I um, took a wild guess on that whole being at school thing.” The sheepish smile made her heart flutter.

Biting her lower lip, she shyly peered up at him. “I don’t mind.” She passed the baggie of strawberries towards him and he graciously took one. Watching him take a bite out of the fruit made her feel like some obsessed teen so she turned away right when she saw what she was doing.

“Uh,” Tahlia started, “Do you have anything planned? Other than seeing me?”

Hearing his responses always surprised her. No matter what they were, they either flatter her or make her shy when his sole reason was to see her again or be around her. Tahlia watched Logan choke on the strawberry and she quickly slapped his back. “You okay?” A hint of laughter laced in her voice.

When his blue eyes hit hers, she instantly looked away to avoid the nerves that bundled within her stomach. “Yeah, I’m fine. I know you don’t know me that well, but I’m a horrible planner. I usually just go with the flow and being around you now makes my mind go blank on what I was supposed to do.” The nervous laugh made her comfortable enough to look up again.

It was a small reassurance that he was just as nervous as she was. Tahlia knew that Logan was just as fearful or nervous as she should say when they were around each other. Their first date he fell flat on his face and when she went to aid him, his face was beet red.

Plus she didn’t know what to say to that answer so she just nodded, letting the birds chirping occupy their ears for a while. Giving Logan the other part of her sandwich, he quickly declined. “I don’t want to steal your lunch-”

“You’re not. I get full rather easily.” Tahlia offered him a smile as he hesitantly took the sandwich.

“Fine. Then I’ll take you to a late lunch after your last class.” Logan compromised.

It did shock her how he knew her schedule after telling him once, but he did have to memorize lines for years already and her schedule was pretty simple since most of her classes are back to back. The only one that wasn’t was this one. Eating the meal she prepared for herself she agreed to his compromise. When she looked down at her watch, she frowned seeing that she had twenty minutes to get to class.

“I have to go.” She was disappointed that she had to part with Logan after a short period of time being with him or what felt like a short amount of time.

Logan gave her a smile as he helped her up, “No worries. I’ll walk you to class.”

Tahlia felt her face turn red again when she felt his warm hand intertwined around hers. She didn’t know why she felt like everyone was staring at her when he guided her down the small hill and then having her lead him to her last class of the day. She was aware that Logan was famous enough to get recognized if looked at properly and he was a little too relaxed to be honest.

As if he read her mind, he reassured her. “Don’t worry too much. It’s rare when people recognize me. It’s mostly teenagers and kids that acknowledge me.”

That still didn’t put her at ease as her eyes shifted side to side the whole way to her class. When they finally reached to the front of the door, she saw some of the students walk into her class looking at her oddly or ignoring her all together. While she was paying attention to them, Logan was focusing on her. “I’ll wait for you.” His voice made her snap out of her daze as she looked at him. “I’ll wait for you, okay?” he repeated himself.

Nothing would come out of her mouth when she tried to protest. His dazzling smile made her melt and the sudden kiss that he placed on her cheek almost made her heart explode into confetti. Standing there in a daze, Logan told her that he would come back once class was over.

With a simple nod, she turned towards the classroom and walked in suddenly having most of the girls in the class staring at her as if she was new. Her heart pounded the entire way to her seat and when she sat down, she heard the girl beside her whisper, “I didn’t know a girl like you favored movie stars. Must be wonderful to have a guy like him cater to you.” She could easily hear the jealousy in her voice as Tahlia sat there quietly.

It looks like most of the girls figured out who he was before she walked in. Tahlia felt like running out of the classroom for the day, but her professor walked in seconds later and suddenly she felt stuck between the murmurs of the girls that showed her hatred for being with someone like Logan. And she just sat there, almost in tears.