You can hardly stand Keith when he's with Caleb or your other friends so alone...? Well maybe "hardly stand" is being overly mean. Keith's a very ADD sort of person and very much obsessed with boobs, tits, melons, and the rest of the female form and unlike you or Caleb he's a lot more awkward and open about it. Like he's trying to get rid of his sexual frustration by pushing it out onto everyone else instead. He can be calm, some times, and in those moments he's not bad at all but those moments can be rare and you'd rather not call him up praying that this is the time you get him on a good day.
So you head over to your desk and grab the piece of paper, add it into your contacts, then dial it up. A very shakey-sounding Fatima greets you so you try to greet her in a more reassuring manner. "What's up?" you say to no response, "Uh it's me? Will Prescott? We hung out yesterday?"
"Oh! Rght, Will!" Fatima replies as the light bulb goes out, "Um, yeah I wasn't expecting you to call so early. sorry. So what's up yourself?"
"Yeah, nothing and that's kind of a problem." you grumble as you sit down on your bed, "My other friends are all off doing stuff so really the day's kind of a bust." You put a bit of a pause there, both to steel yourself and in the hopes she'll add some kind of "oh poor you" acknowledgement but you get nothing so you continue, "So I kind of thought that, I dunno, I could help you get some of the supplies that the book said it wanted?"
"Well I don't..." she stops herself in mid thought, "Actually, you know what? Sure. Sienna's going to be with her bandmates until some time this afternoon so I could use the company. And hey, we can go grab some lunch afterwards or something." That takes you a bit by surprise, "The tradeoff is that you're carrying my supplies." and there's a small bit of a teasing tone in her voice.
"Oh, well, yeah. Alright." you say not really sure how to react.
The teasing tone continues, "And you're totally paying for lunch."
You take a second to try and remember how much money you've got left over from that summer job. Less than you'd like, you think, but you can definitely cover it. "Yeah, sure, why not?" you finally answer.
"Great!" Fatima replies in a rather chipper manner, "So then I'll meet you up at the art supply shop in that little strip mall on 30th, alright?"
With that the call's ended and you're left feeling rather good about yourself. Yeah, great job Will Prescott! You didn't sound like a stuttering idiot! Of course maybe that's the difference between hanging out and worrying about whether or not this girl is a potential romantic partner. Maybe you should try it more often, you muse.
* * * * *
It's about thirty minutes later and you finally arrive at the strip mall. You figured you'd take a little bit in order to give Fatima time to arrive but you're there about another five minutes or so before she arrives. "Sorry," she says as she gets out of her car, "I wound up getting caught up in some traffic. Hopefully you weren't waiting too long."
You shake your head and tell her its cool before following her into the art supply shop. The middle-aged woman working the register greets her by name and Fatima likewise returns it the greeting. "I take it they're familiar with you here?" you ask as you follow her down into a small aisle and pull out the checklist of supplies from your pocket.
"I'm in here about once a week." she replies as she looks around the aisle for some new graphite pencils. "Drawing and painting and stuff is pretty enjoyable. It helps keep my mind at ease when I can absorb myself in trying to create."
"So what do you draw?"
"Anything really. Some times it's just some goofy doodles, some times I try and practice with colors or whatever. I kind of started out doing that anime stuff every 12 year old internet artist does when they're starting out." You notice her face scrunch up a bit at that, "But I got better thankfully. I do a bit of graphic design too so like... I've had a few local bands and some small businesses pay me to do some small advertisements."
You're impressed by that, "It sounds like you've got a good idea of what you want to do." you say.
"I do." she nods and turns back to you, "I'm going into Keyserling's nursing program once I graduate."
"Damn," you say a little wide-eyed as she grabs a package of pencils and you continue down to the next aisle, "that's kind of not what I'd expect given what you told me your hobbies were."
"Andrea and them were surprised too, well not Sienna since we've been friends forever, but I dunno." she says as she checks out a few brushes, "I've got a cousin who's a nurse and my mom teaches 4th grade at Polk so I guess wanting to help people is just kind of ingrained into me." After she finds something she turns back to look at you once more. "So what about you? Any plans on what you're going to do once you graduate?"
You shrug, "I don't know actually. I've never really thought about it." you say, "My dad's been on my ass about getting this open entry-level position up at Salopak where he works but I don't know... that stuff doesn't really interest me, you know? That's more Caleb's, uh my friend Caleb's rather, thing."
"Mmm, well don't stress yourself out over it. I'm kind of a special case since a lot of people don't know what they want to do when they graduate high school. Hell, a lot of them get halfway through college and still don't know what to do." she says in a reassuring manner, "I know Andrea doesn't have a clue what she's doing either, uh don't tell her I told you by the way. Most of the people in our graduating class are probably in the same boat."
There's a bit more light conversation and once Fatima finishes up with her art supplies, which true to your word you carry, it's back into the store to start knocking off what you can from the ingredients list. The subject of the book is still a bit of a sore spot for her but she seems to put it aside as bet she can as you two are able to get roughly a quarter of what's needed. Once you're out in the parking lot you ask if you can see any of her art some time and thankfully she actually did bring a sketch pad with her that she lets you flip through. You're genuinely impressed by what you see and she, for her part, is grateful for the compliments.
Afterwards you suggest taking your truck to save on gas and it's over to the Flying Saucer for a rather simple lunch. Nothing fancy, just a bit of afternoon coffee and sandwiches since you're trying to stretch out what you've got left, you really do need to start looking for another job, but neither of you mind it too much. "Hey, so about earlier, in the store." you begin, "Do you know anyone else who has an idea of what they want to do? Any of your friends?"
"My friends?" Fatima ponders after taking a sip of coffee, "Um, I know Sienna's going into microbiology when she graduates. Virology or something like that."
"Microbiology... what." is all you can get out given that it goes with the complete opposite impression Sienna gave you.
"She doesn't really like people knowing but she can talk your ear off about the study of new super-viruses if you let her." she replies.
"You're kidding, right?"
Fatima looks stonefaced for all of about ten seconds before she starts cracking up. "I'm sorry!" she says while finishing up giggling, "No she wants to play music naturally. She really is passionate about it."
Lunch continues for another little while before the bill's paid and you drive Fatima back to the strip mall to get her car, parting with a friendly hug. Fatima tells you that she really enjoyed hanging out and hopes you guys can do it again some time and you return the sentiment in kind. As you hit a red light on the way back something in the passenger seat catches the corner of your eye: it's Fatima's sketch pad. She must've brought it with her and forgot to grab it before leaving. And that's when you realize what you hadn't realized at the time: that on the way back to your truck after lunch you had been holding hands...
* * * * *
"Damn, where have you been?" Caleb asks as you step out of your truck after pulling into your driveway.
"Out, same as you." you reply flippantly. This elicits a roll of the eyes from him. "So I thought you were going to have to help your mom do something."
"I did. We got a new TV for her room and I had to help her pick it up. It's not like that takes forever or anything." he shoots back, "Not like whatever you were apparently doing. You said you were out, huh?" he eyes you up and takes a whiff, "Yeah, I know bullshit when I sense it. You know you can't do anything without me around."
You know he's just busting your balls but you can't help but be defensive, "I've got other friends too, you know. I was hanging out with one of them actually."
"Your hand doesn't count, dude." comes the reply.
"Fatima Zahedi, you know her?" you ask.
"I know OF her, why?" Caleb asks in response.
"That's who it was. She hangs out with a couple of other people: Sienna Goldman, Jelena Petrovic, Andrea Varnsworth..." you let that last one hang, "Dane introduced me to them yesterday."
"Stoner Dane? Bull fucking shit." is all Caleb can respond with.
And that's when you remember the sketch pad still in the front seat of the truck. You can put him in his place right here, right now. Call up Fatima, tell her she left her sketch pad and ask if she wants to come get it. When she shows up Caleb would practically have to defer to you for who knows how long. But wouldn't that be a bit like using her? That makes you feel a bit, you don't know, wrong. Maybe you should just return it next time you see her and let Caleb think whatever he wants.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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