[Sparklies]: 107.Pretzel With Cheese, Please.Chapter Two

“Hey, Hazel,” Jessi whispered into my ear during another interesting lecture about the Revolutionary War. I directed her an evil glare.

“What?!” I spat. She smirked. I glared more and pointed to an empty sheet of paper on her desk and she nodded. Seconds later, she handed me the paper. It read ‘Choose: Blind date or date with Landon.’ I glanced over to her. She wasn’t joking—the look on her face was completely serious, and since that didn’t happen often, I had to believe her. I picked up my pen and wrote ‘Blind date, definitely. Leave me alone! I’m trying to take notes!’ I handed it over to her and she smiled. I resumed writing about the deaths that Professor Black was blabbing on and on about. Only a few seconds later, Jessi handed me the paper back. I groaned.

“Miss Stewart, is there a problem?” Professor Black asked. I nervously shook my head.

“No, sir. It’s just…my I stubbed my toe this morning, and I touched the floor with it wrong. Sorry,” I lied. He nodded and went back to his lecture. I let out a breath of relief and read the note. ‘Okay. Tonight, seven o’clock. I’ll drive you. Dress nice!’ Great way to spend my Friday night, eh? With some guy I don’t even know? For the rest of the class, which was only five minutes, I wondered about why I was supposed to dress nice instead of the Revolutionary war.

When Professor Black dismissed us, I walked lazily up to my dorm. That was my last class, and I was in no hurry to go on my blind date. It was four o’clock, so I dropped my books on my bed and left again.

“Where you going, Hazel?” I was walking down the hallway, quickly, and I looked up to see Jeremy Richards walking by my side. I smiled at him. He was my second best friend, next to Jessi, and he was very, very gay.

“Library,” I told him.

“Mind if I join you? We can read a book together. Or, maybe today will actually be the day that I can get you to talk about hot guys together?” He joked. I giggled.

“Sure. Let’s go,” I said. Just as we walked through the huge double doors into the more-huge library, my cell phone went off. “Crap. Be right back, Jer.” I said, turning back into the hallway. “Hello?”

“Hazel? Hi. This is Landon,” The voice on the other end told me.

“Urgh. How did you get this number?” I asked, crossing my free arm across my chest.

“Your friend gave it to me. Jessi, I think her name was. Look, I’d really like to meet with you, but I’m busy tonight. A friend and me are going out. Will you meet me somewhere for coffee sometime?” Landon asked. I seriously had considered it.

“Will it get you to stop bugging me?” I questioned.

“Yep,” He said, laughing. I laughed, also.

“Sure. Why not? But, for now, I have to go. I need to get ready for a hot date,” I joked. I could almost feel his smile on the other end.

“Okay. Bye, Hazel,” He said.

“Bye,” I replied and hung up the phone. I turned it off and stuffed it into my pocket. I quickly walked back into the library, searching the aisles and aisles of books for Jeremy. I found myself wondering how someone can disappear that fast. I walked with my head turned to the shelves, which would soon be the reason that I crashed into someone. I yelped as I fell to the ground, landing, hard, on my butt. “Oh, I am so sorry!” I said, looking up. “Never mind,” I said, seeing who it was. Fate was not on my side that day.

“Hazel! You go to Harvard?” Landon asked me. I shot him a look of disgust and nodded.

“Why are you here? You can’t possibly be smart enough to go to Harvard,” I said, my tone extremely bitter. Instantly, I regretted it. “Sorry. I’m not in the best mood right now and I was just kind of in a hurry to find my friend, Jeremy.” Landon only laughed.

“No, it’s okay. Actually, I do go here,” He replied. I looked at him, eyes wide.

“How can I not have seen you? I only met you a week ago, but I still haven’t seen you around,” I said, frowning. He laughed quietly, running a hand through his hair and standing up. He put out his hand for me to take and I did. He pulled me up in one swift movement.

“Well…I sort-of go here. In a sense, I do,” He said, his face slightly contorted with confusion, as if he didn’t know exactly how to say it.

“How can you ‘sort-of’ go here?” I asked, glancing around for Jeremy. Landon looked down at his shoes.

“Well, you see,” He began. I sighed and glanced at my watch, causing me to gasp.

“Crap. Landon, I’m terribly sorry, but I have to go. My friend is taking me somewhere,” I said, my voice rushed. Landon looked down at his watch, which looked expensive.

“Actually, me too. I’ll see you later, Hazel,” He said. We both walked, very fast, in opposite directions, me completely forgetting about Jeremy. I picked up a jog after I left the library and made it to my dorm just in time to hear the end of Jessi’s phone conversation.

“—Jeremy. I need to know where she is, now! We need to leave in—never mind. She just walked in. Bye,” She said, slamming down the phone and spinning around to face me. She put one hand on her hip and glared at me.

“You’re late. You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago to get ready! We only have a half hour left, now, to get you prepared!” She shouted. I giggled.

“Jeeze, Jessi, you sound like such a girl,” I said, trying to hold in my laughter as she turned to my closet and began digging through it. After a good ten minutes, she tossed something silky at me. I pulled it off of my face and gasped. In my hands hung a beautiful, navy-blue dress. It was my favourite item of clothing and it looked simply divine on me when I wore it. I don’t compliment my stuff very often, either. “Jessi, no. This doesn’t look good on me,” I lied. She stuck her head out from my closet.

“Hazel, I’ve seen it on you. It looks beautiful. Put it on while I get the curling iron ready,” She snapped, disappearing into our tiny bathroom. I sighed and changed into the dress, being sure to glance into the mirror when I was done. The dress had sparkles all over it and only spaghetti straps. From my hips down, it was flowy, but it only reached my knees. “Get in here!” Jessi called. I groaned and walked into the bathroom. It took her almost all of the remaining prep-time to fix my hair ‘just right’, but she did. She left it down and it was curly for the last five or six inches. I loved it. She quickly brushed on my makeup and then dragged me into the bedroom, where she threw some strappy, silver shoes at me. They also had three-inch stiletto heels. I sighed as I put them on.

“Whoever this date-guy is will think I’m a hooker,” I said, frowning, as she shoved me out the door. Since Jessi didn’t have a car, she was going to be driving mine. But, right before I got in, she stopped me from behind. I was about to ask what she was doing when she put a blindfold over my eyes. “Jessi! Take that thing off!”

“No. It’s a blind date, silly!” She said, pushing me down into the passenger seat. She was at least kind enough to fasten my seatbelt. I would have tried to remove the evil blindfold, but I would have then chanced ruining my hair. Jessi would have killed me.

“Jessi, how long will it take to get there?” I asked. From what I heard, she had started the engine and was now waiting to leave the parking lot.

“About ten minutes,” She said, her voice much more cheerful than my own. She turned on the radio to some pop-y station that I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand for more than the ten-minute ride. I only sighed and stared at a small, red fuzz-ball on the inside of the black blindfold.

“Are we there yet?” I asked after what seemed like ten minutes.

“No,” She replied.

“Are we there yet?” A minute later.

“No,” She replied.

“Are we there yet?” I asked, practically bouncing in my seat. It had been twelve minutes and we still weren’t there yet.

“Yes,” She said. I smiled as I felt the car make a sharp right turn, presumably into the parking lot of wherever we were. She pulled up somewhere and stopped, getting out, but leaving the keys in the car. I was very confused. Someone opened my door, unbuckled my seat belt, and pulled me out. Judging by the hands, it was Jessi. I was gently pushed around and then pushed into what felt a lot like a both. I could hear silverware clinking softly on expensive sounding china. That was my background music. I could also hear romantic music playing very faintly. I was dying to ask a thousand questions, but I didn’t. “We are very here,” Jessi whispered into my ear as she removed the blindfold. When I saw who was before me, I jumped up from the both and walked away. “Sorry. She gets a little nervous!” I heard Jessi say, her voice quiet, as I stomped towards the sign that read ‘Restrooms’. I walked in and plopped right on top of the counter. I was grateful that it wasn’t wet.

“Leave me alone. I can’t believe you would dare set up a ‘blind date’ with Landon,” I snapped when Jessi walked in. She stopped where she was and gave me a weird look.

“I thought you would be happy, okay, Hazel? When are you going to learn to accept that some people actually do care about you?” She said. I looked up at her.

“I’m sorry, Jessi. It’s just…I don’t know. I have really mixed feelings about him,” I said. She nodded and walked over to me, putting her hands on my arms.

“Go do this one date and I swear, I’ll never try and set you up with anyone, ever again,” She said. I could tell my smile was faint, but it was still there. I nodded and hopped down off of the counter. She grinned and grabbed my hand, dragging me out of the bathroom and back to the booth. I sat and she walked away after muttering, “Have a little fun, why dontcha?” I smirked at her retreating form before turning to Landon.

“Hi, my name’s Landon,” He said, smiling so that his adorable dimples appeared. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“My name’s Hazel. Nice to meet you,” I said. We shook hands over the table and then I couldn’t hold the question in any longer. “So, how do you ‘sort-of’ go to Harvard?” His face suddenly got a shade paler.

“Um, well…I teach creative writing,” He said. For a second or two, I just stared. Then I gasped.

“This is against school policy,” I informed him. He only nodded.

“I know, I know. I told that to Jessi, but—” He began, but I cut him off.

“You knew this date was with me and you didn’t tell me today in the library?” I asked, my eyes wide and my eyebrows low. He looked down at his napkin.

“Well, yes. She told me not to tell you, no matter what,” He replied. There were thousands of questions floating around in my mind.

“How old are you if you’re a professor? You don’t look that much older than me,” I said.

“Twenty,” He said. I was only nineteen.

“How can you be a college professor when you’re only twenty?” I asked. He began to answer, but the waiter arrived.

“What would you like tonight?” He asked. I had forgotten to even look in the menu.

“Do you have spaghetti?” I asked. He nodded. “I’ll have that, please.”

“Same here,” Landon said.

“Would you like a side salad?” The waiter asked. Landon and I both nodded. “Dressing?”

“Thousand Island,” Landon answered.

“Bleu Cheese,” I said. The waiter nodded and walked away.

“Answer my question,” I demanded. Landon looked at me.

“I’m smart?” He said, almost like a question. I glared. “Okay, okay. I skipped four grades in elementary school and I graduated high school early.”

“What about middle school?” I asked.

“Just like any other teenager,” He said.

“College?”

“I went to Harvard for five years. This is my first year teaching,” He said. I frowned, doing the math in my head.

“That means you graduated high school when you were only fifteen!” I squeaked. A woman at the next table glared at me. Landon nodded. “About this against the policy thing…”

“Nobody has to know. Besides, I’m not your professor,” He said. I glanced up at the waiter, who was placing our salads in front of us.

“That would be a good point if I didn’t start creative writing on Monday,” I said. Landon looked up from his salad and frowned.

“You do?” He asked. I nodded, taking a nibble of dressing covered lettuce. “This may become a problem.”

“No, you think?” I asked sarcastically. We ate the rest of our salads in silence. I couldn’t believe it. The one guy I liked, even a little bit, was my professor. Not good. 

When the spaghettis came, we ate those in silence, also. Finally, just as the waiter removed our plates, he broke the silence.

“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me just because I’m a professor, Hazel,” He stated. I looked into his beautiful, perfect eyes, which were filled with concern.

“I don’t…I just don’t know, anymore. It’s like this: I think I might like you, at least a little, but I don’t want you to get fired and I don’t want to get kicked out. I’ve worked my whole life for a chance at Harvard, you know?” I took a small sip of my water. He nodded.

“I know. I really wouldn’t like to get fired, either. What do you think we should do?” He asked. It made me smile. He actually cared what I thought.

“Can I get back to you on that?” I asked. He smiled, nodded, and put down a pile of bills. I frowned. “You don’t have to pay for me. I can get it—” I stopped. I didn’t have any money with me.

“It’s no big deal. You can always pay me back, if it bugs you that much,” He said. I nodded and we stood up. He held out his arm for me, but I neglected to take it. Someone might see us, like the Dean or someone else important. “Do you need a ride?” He asked. I didn’t want to say yes, but Jessi had taken my car and I had no money for a cab. I wasn’t about to walk back to the campus in those shoes, either. I nodded. He smiled and gave the valet his ticket. Soon enough, the fancy, black BMW was right in front of me. Landon opened the door for me and once I was in, he shut it. I smiled to myself. He really was a gentleman. He quickly slid into the other side and then we were off.

“So…” I said. I wanted to talk about something, anything, but I only drew up blanks. Landon glanced over at me.

“If I wasn’t your professor, what would you think about me?” He asked. I looked out the window.

“I just might like you,” I muttered. He chuckled. We were silent for the rest of the ride. The second his car was stopped, I opened the door and moved to get out. Landon grabbed my hand, causing me to fall back down to the seat and turn to face him. Nearly causing me a heart attack, he leaned over and kissed me. When he pulled away, I was frozen.

“Good-night, Hazel. Will you meet me at Starbuck’s tomorrow?” He asked. I was still frozen, but I nodded. “How’s eight-thirty?” He asked. I nodded again. “Good-night,” He said, his smile wide. I nodded and stiffly got out of the car. As I walked to my dorm, I felt like a robot. Once I entered and made sure Jessi was gone, I slid down the wall and cried.

Why me?