Dinner 3

When he came back, he was on the phone, and unfortunately I was too. We walked out together on our phones and finally put them away.

So, where do you want to go? I asked. Hmm... I don't know, he said. He quickly then proposed a rather popular eating spot on campus. Interesting.

We walked, and I asked about his remaining workload for his week. He summarized the rest of his semester for me. Cool.

Was I going home for Christmas break he asked. I reminded him that I was no longer a student and that I didn't get the same days off that they do. He said--you still must get days off. I replied with, if work gets done then prolly a week, if not, prolly just the Monday. I summarized my workload till then. He asked on what factors did my time off from work depended. I told him. It sounded bad. It sort of is. Salaried work is just not the same.

He inquired as to where I lived. He then asked, how I had so much time to workout if I had so much shit to do. I was a bit thrown off by the question--it was his way of asking why the fuck are you such nut. I just gave him a blank look, shrugged, and said halfway bullshitting--I dunno, I just make it a priority... I tried to quit a few years ago, but it didn't work... I guess its just a bad habbit... Little goes well if I don't workout--sleep, the structure of my day, it just isn't the same when you workout. He looked as if my statement hit home for him, and he nodded, clearly giving thought to what I had just said. I could have given him a more real answer--but that would be getting personal rather quick. I could have just said--I'm vain. An answer I have used before--but that didn't seem okay either.

I asked him what was it like to see his family over the holiday. He told me he didn't get to see his whole family and why. I sort of suspected and had poised my question to get at that. I asked him about how often he saw his family. We chatted about that for a while.

We asked each other a lot of questions. The pauses were nice--it balanced it out, and allowed me to feel comfortable around him. We were curious.

It was weird to be on one of the main pedestrian thoroughfares of campus again. The lighting was beautiful as usual.

I said I needed to stop by the atm to withdraw. He said, "Don't worry. I'll pay for it." I looked over at him flattered and with slight suspicion I tilted my head down, hesitated, smiled, and said, "I'll pay you back."

The food where we were going was not cheap.

We got in, and he asked, what do you want, as we looked around. Fuck I thought, I'm going to have to break down and eat something not perfectly clean b/c I am not going to come off as the neurotic health nut that I am this early in the whole ordeal. This youngin could likely eat nothing but doughnuts and still look like that way.

Perhaps he picked up on my anxiety or the perplexity or disgust in my face as I looked around at normal food. Even the "healthy" shit annoyed me. I have some practice at pretending to not be offended, but I dunno how I came across.

He brushed ahead of me, looked back at me, smiled, and said, "let's just get salad."

What the fuck I thought? Who is this kid?

That was the only thing I would've eaten. Though to be honest, it would've been too gay for me to do so. I had ex-ed out the possibility as a result.

His salad was perfect, and I matched it with another ridiculous no cal fiberous pile. Then he stacked it with so much protein--tuna and chicken, that everything underneath was no longer visible. I looked at it, and asked, "think u got enough?" He laughed. I love that cute Asian smile--demure, shy, knowing, the plumps lips, and pretty cheeks.

Then he put some sauce on it. Except I didn't know what it was. I asked if he knew. "I don't know man... its GOOD," he responded. Aight, I said, and poured a medium amount.

As we walked to the tables, the place was full but not packed. He asked, where do you want to sit? I had another blank expression on my face. How bout outside, he quickly suggested. Sure, I said as quickly as I could to avoid looking fuckin dumbstruck by the whole scenario.

He started walking in the opposite direction of where the outdoor tables were. I had seen them while walking towards the place, and there were a good number of people there. The weather was pretty good that night.

I followed him, and wondered where the hell we were going. I thought, I guess maybe we'll be eating on steps or something. But instead, he went through this door I had always assumed was an emergency exit.

Outside, there were a handful of tables, just like the ones on the other side, except here no one was in sight. I looked around and said, I didn't know these were here. I then realized, we were alone.