Monday, May 25, 2009

Text Message Blues II

A pretty blonde was staring at him and he had absolutely no idea why. He had been too preoccupied with his iPhone, text messaging his girlfriend Natalie an apology for not showing up to her choir rehearsal the night before, that he hadn't even noticed someone sat down next to him. His eyebrows scrunched together as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Jean asked, his eyes finally taking in the girl's face. She looked oddly familiar.

"Oh, I was just asking if you had an extra pencil," the girl said. Her blue eyes smiled.

“Ah, well…” Jean patted his pockets and pulled out a red mechanical pencil, “No, sorry, this is my only one. I don’t carry much with me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m sure there’s someone in here with an extra one.” She smiled sweetly and turned in her seat.

Jean stared at her for another second, before his iPhone vibrated. He looked down to see a text message from Natalie. It read: “It’s ok, sweetie. Plz make it tonight. I’ll be practicing my solo. Love you!” Jean sighed gruffly. He hated those stupid choir practices. Unless he had homework to do, he just sat there and made sure to look attentive whenever Natalie looked his way. Reluctantly, he sent her a quick message letting her know he’d be there.

Putting the phone into his pants pocket, he glanced again at the blonde. He had seen her somewhere before, but he couldn’t figure out where. He was just awful with remembering little details like that. He could remember a face, but anything else was always a little hazy. It was something he was continually working on.

Suddenly, she looked at him. He averted his eyes quickly and took to studying his pencil a little more carefully than normal.

The girl laughed, causing Jean to turn his head toward her.

“What?” he asked nervously.

The girl smiled, shrugging. “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone study a pencil so hard.”

Jean blushed, setting the pencil down.

“If you were trying to figure out where you’ve seen me before, it was at the Corner Pocket Tavern, a couple nights ago. You were at the bar, people watching, and I was getting water.”

It was as if the haze lifted. That’s where he saw her. He had gone that night for some of their oysters. He had gone alone because his roommate had decided that Jeopardy was more important than spending time with him. But it was something Jean didn’t mind too much because he rather enjoyed people watching.

“Yeah, I do remember. It was driving me nuts. You were with that redheaded girl?”

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