“No. Not fictional ones, at least.”
“Good, let’s go.”
“Huh? Where?”
“We’re going back to my room and you’re watching the first two episodes of Buffy with me.”
“Did you finish correcting your test?”
“Oh, right, the test.” Mitch had the decency to look sheepish.
I glanced at my phone. We’d been going at this for almost an hour, and I didn’t want to burn her out. “Okay, look. Give me another solid thirty minutes, and I’ll let you show me your silly T. V. show.”
“Deal.”
In the end we went for forty-five minutes, and Mitch had a spotless re-work of her exam, so she’d get all possible bonus points. She’d actually really buckled down, and, well, I was proud of her.
“This is good, right?” Mitch held it up, a little dumbfounded.
“Yeah. You said quarter credit, right? So that should take your forty-four to a fifty-eight, only two points off of passing. You do well on your next one, and you’ll have a solid grade going.”
Mitch shook her head. “Yeah, but the second exam is where I bombed out last semester.”
“We will get you ready. I promise. But you did well today. When do you have math?”
“Tuesday and Thursday at eleven, recitation on Wednesday at nine.”
We compared schedules, and came up with Wednesday after lunch as a good time to start. “Okay, go to class, take notes, and at least give the homework problems they give you an honest try, and we’ll go through them.”
“Okay. Now, you and me and Buffy.”
Her face was shining with excitement, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “You are such a dork.” We left the building, walking back towards her dorm. “So what about this show is so special?”
“Oh my god, what isn’t? The writing, actors, how Sarah Michelle Gellar kicks ass while looking super hot.”
“She’s not gay, is she?”
“Depressingly no, although her taste in men is… problematic. She’d be happier as a lesbian. Like most women.”
“They would not. I’m happy being straight.”
“Spencer, just like with Buffy, you have no idea what you’re missing.” There was just a little naughty husk in her voice, and I could feel my ears burn. I pushed my hair back over my ear and looked down as we walked, not speaking for fear my voice would break.
She’d apparently got enough of a reaction out of me, and her voice returned to normal as she started talking about the various characters and someone named Joss Whedon, who, in Mitch’s opinion, should be nominated for sainthood. (We know now that is decidedly not true, but we didn’t at the time.)
As we entered her dorm, which was coed, there were a number of people in the lobby watching a basketball game.
“Hey, Mitch, Hawks are on.” One of the guys from the couch called out to her, his arm around a pretty brunette leaning on his shoulder.
“That’s nice, but I got plans, Jimmy.”
“I see that. Do they involve taking that pretty young thing up to your dorm room?”
I felt my anger spike at his lecherous tone but Mitch spoke up immediately.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Jimmy. This is Cindy Spencer, she plays with me on the tennis team, and she’s just a friend. Cindy, that’s Jimmy, resident asshole.”
“Fuck you, Kirkpatrick. HALO in my room tonight if you’re interested.”
“Okay. Maybe. Later guys.”
We headed up the stairs, and I laughed about the whole thing. “So I take it you guys are friends?”
“Sure. Jimmy has no filter, but he’s mostly okay. One day I’m going to take that girlfriend away from him though.”
“You will not!”
Mitch grinned at me. “No, probably not. Besides, Ellie is like, for real straight. I don’t get a curious vibe off her at all.”
“Can you usually tell?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s this one.” She pointed to a door, which had a rainbow flag on the outside. Mitch closed it behind us, and I realized I was suddenly in a room with a lesbian, and that room had beds in it. Shit, Cindy, play it cool. She’d just told everyone you were just friends. She’s not going to make a move. And she wouldn’t get anywhere if she did, right?.
“What do they call it? Gaydar? So that’s a real thing?”
“Depends on who you ask, and it isn’t one hundred percent anyway. Still, I’m almost always right.”
I took a moment to look around Mitch’s room. To be honest I’d expected it to be a mess, with clothes thrown around and books and pizza boxes everywhere. But it wasn’t. It was reasonably neat and the bed was made. She had pictures on the shelves, several of her in a purple and white tennis outfit, one surrounded by others dressed the same way. There was also one of a middle-aged couple that were obviously her parents, along with a few others. It was kind of strange, seeing that Mitch had family and friends. It made her larger-than-life image more real, somehow.
I sat down in her desk chair. “Anyone I should watch out for on the team?”
She gave me that little half smile of hers. “Wouldn’t you like to know. Let’s put it this way. I will bet you dinner at a fancy restaurant that Carrie dates a woman before she turns thirty. Like a serious date, even a relationship.”
“You’re lying!”
“I get that feeling. She wouldn’t even consider it now, but she will.”
“That’s crap and you know it.” I almost asked her about me, but honestly I didn’t think I wanted to hear the answer. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted it to be. Mitch threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave, and while it was cooking she pulled out a blue DVD box from her little closet.
“This, Cindy, this is the good stuff. Well, I mean, the best stuff comes a few seasons later, but this is still good stuff.” She slipped the disc into the player before pulling the now inflated popcorn bag from the microwave and emptying it’s contents into a plastic bowl and flopping down onto her bed with a remote.
“Do I get any popcorn?” I made a little pouty face.
“Come sit by me and you can have as much as you want.” I had a bad angle at the TV from here anyway, so I complied. I was expecting the same odd warmth I felt anytime I was near Michelle, but somehow, here in her room, it was even stronger. But it wasn’t scary.
Mitch held out the bowl and I took a handful as I settled in next to her. She pressed play. I saw the episode was called ‘Welcome to the Hellmouth’ before the title screen dissolved away. “What’s a Hellmouth?”
“You’ll find out.”
I don’t know if you’ve ever had someone play a show or a movie that they love for you. You can almost feel their desire for you to like it as much as they do rolling off them. They’ll glance at you during the parts that they like, just to watch your reaction, or try to embellish the show with facts or tidbits they’ve gleaned over the years. And you feel almost obligated to return their enthusiasm for whatever they’re sharing with you. It can be really awkward, and to be honest I was kind of dreading it.
However, the show was really good, and Mitch’s obvious enthusiasm was infectious, just like always. What was it about her that just made me smile? Six hours and one pepperoni and mushroom pizza later we’d binged eight episodes. I didn’t want to think about all the work I hadn’t gotten done this afternoon, but I’d had so much fun. We’d ended up under a single blanket, and I was leaning against her, her arm around me as we watched the show. She was so warm, and I didn’t want to go home.
Mitch stood up and disposed of the empty pizza box, and I looked across the room at the other empty bed. “So your roommate is coming back?”
“Not ’til tomorrow. She won’t come back from her boyfriend’s before class starts Monday.” She didn’t sit back down, instead glancing at the clock. “It is starting to get late, though, and I’ve got an eight o’clock tomorrow.”
“You kicking me out? I didn’t see that coming.” I gave her a wide smile, trying to put comedy into my voice, but her face was hard to read.
“C’mon, get real.”
I cocked my head and tried to keep my voice light. “What? I’m not pretty enough for you to try to seduce?”
“Cindy, you’re beautiful, but you know I wouldn’t do that, right? We’re friends, and I know how you feel about it.” She plastered on a smile. “So you, Spencer, are safe from my charms.”
I laughed, but even I could hear the seriousness in her voice. “I’d be impervious anyway.”
She grinned wickedly. “So you think.” The playfulness was back in her voice, and that made me happy.
“You’re right, though, it’s getting late.” I stood up. “So Wednesday afternoon before practice?”
“Yeah. I’ll meet you at the library. Since I know where it is now.”
How did this girl always keep me laughing? I looked into her eyes, so incredibly blue. I got lost for a second before she broke the silence. “Thanks, Cindy.”
“You’re welcome, Michelle.”
She opened her arms for a hug, something we’d never really done before, other than quick celebratory ones on the court, of course. But this was different, and I knew it, but I never hesitated, wrapping my arms around her as I went into her embrace. She held me for just a moment, and something inside of me thrilled at the simultaneous strength and gentleness of her arms. I rested my head on her shoulder, and she smelled amazing, although I could never have described her scent.
After a moment we separated and I felt a real sense of loss. I nodded to her and headed out into the evening, my heart beating faster than it should have been.