He heard his last name being called, but he was so engrossed in the story, it passed by with only the faintest hint of acknowledgement. Then he heard it again, but this time it was a little bit longer, and a bit more concerned. And then Danny realized someone was trying to talk to him, so he looked up. Zane was standing there, looking down at him, smiling.
“Welcome back to the planet, Elliot.”
“Why thank you. It is a lovely place, and I think I will stay here for many, many years.”
Zane chuckled a bit, and Danny smiled. Danny couldn’t remember the last time they had witty banter like that that didn’t end up with him in a trash can or in a locker.
“Hey, you mind if I sit with you?”
Danny was initially shocked, but then said “sure” and started moving his stuff around so that Zane had a place to set his tray down. Danny looked at his book to remember his place, put in his bookmark, and set it on the chair next to him.
Danny looked at Zane’s tray and saw he had two plates of stuff and five glasses of various liquids that were all different colors. And they appeared to be arranged by hue, but that was probably just a coincidence.
“I know what you’re going to say. But the drinks are free, and they just leave the glasses out there. Plus they are tiny, so instead of getting up 18 times in a meal, I just get a bunch from the get go.”
“No, I totally understand. I’m just stoked the blue stuff is out. It wasn’t when I went through… Excuse me…”
And Danny got up and got a few glasses of this blue punch drink that no one really could determine what exactly it was. But everyone loved it, and it was usually gone right after it was put out. Danny came back and sat down in his chair.
“So, am I taking Chris and Blaine’s spot here?”
“Oh. No, I’m here alone, as usual.”
“Usual? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of you on your own before ever.”
“Well, Blaine is trying to catch up with everyone in his department and Chris’ classes are all six hours long, so she is perpetually stuck in the art lab. So, I fend for myself these days.”
“Ah.”
“What about you? Where’s your entourage of Thi and Jenn?”
“Oh, them. They’re probably out somewhere making out…”
Zane’s face fell at this, so Danny didn’t press it.
“Anyway, what are you reading? It seems you liked it, seeing as how you were ignoring me earlier.”
“It’s alright. It’s for my lit class later today.”
“Is that your major?”
“No. I don’t really have one. Couldn’t make up my mind. You?”
“Yeah, same. I don’t know what I want to do in the future. I feel like I’m still a kid.”
“Exactly! I’m eighteen, what do I know about what I want to do with the rest of my life?”
There was a pause in the conversation, so both of them started eating. But then it got kinda awkward sitting there in silence. So Danny tried to think of something to say.
“So, um, how’s football practice going?”
Zane gave him a look that was a mixture of “what do you know about football” and “why do you care”. But he decided that he was just trying to be nice, so he went with it.
“Actually, it’s going terrible.”
“Oh, I’m sorry… why?”
“Well, I’m not the best anymore. I mean, in high school, I was the star. No one could throw like me. Thi and I could do no wrong. But now, there are at least four people better than me. So I end up sitting on the bench, or running pointless drills for hours. Thi, on the other hand, is kicking butt and taking names. I mean, no one can touch him. He’s just too fast. So, he’s quickly become hot, and meanwhile, I’m left behind.”
“Well, I’m sure that your time’ll come. I mean, these guys in front of you will graduate, and you can move up, right?”
"That's just it. This is still just the freshman. The only way I'll see any action on the field ever, is if all of them happened to get injured, leave to go to a better school, or get kicked out."
"That sucks... I'm sorry, man."
"Meh. It's ok. I mean, I knew I couldn't play forever. I just thought I'd at least get to play some. And as it is, no one even likes me on the team. They all adore Thi, but I'm always in the shadows. I don't know how to deal."
"You don't know how to deal with not being in the spotlight, or losing it to your friend?"
"Both... Gah! Why am I telling you all of this?
Danny just smiled gently, "Because I'm here, and I'm listening. Also, I know what it's like to be constantly overlooked."
"Yeah, I guess you would." Zane said, but not maliciously.
After a brief pause, Danny started to say something, but thought better of it. However, Zane noticed it and said, "Say it".
"Say what?"
"Whatever it was you were going to say, but didn't."
"Well, it's kind of personal... Do you mind?"
"No."
"What happened between you and Jenn? I mean, I really thought y'all were going to hook up..."
Zane's face dropped. "Yeah, so did everyone."
"So what happened?"
"Well, I was doing a lot of soul searching, and apparently she got bored of waiting. And went directly to my best friend."
"That breaks like rule #1 of guy friends rules..."
"I know! Apparently they don't have the same set of rules in Brazil."
Danny smiled. Zane continued.
"I mean, really, in the end, I guess I didn't love her like I thought I did. The most irritating thing is that it seems like Thi is trying to rub it in my face that he got her. When in all reality, I could have had her, if I had wanted her. She's settling for him. Not that he's not great, don't get me wrong, but she liked me first. And now they like to make out every chance they get. I swear, I'm going to walk out of the next restaurant that we go to that they make out in the booth the whole meal. It's hard to eat with that. And it has nothing to do with the fact that it's them either. I mean, people tell me it is, but really, I'd be just as disgusted if you and Chris were making out in front of me."
"No, I totally understand."
There was another awkward pause. This time it was Zane who broke it.
"Ok, so now I get to ask you something personal."
"I don't know, Zane..."
"Turn about is fair play. You asked something, now I get to."
"Ok, fine. What?"
"How come you and Chris never dated?"
"I guess that's a fair question. And the truth is, it was just really bad timing. I'm pretty sure she liked me, and stopped liking me before I even realized there could be something between us. And then when I liked her, she really didn't like me back. But then I kinda realized that I didn't really care. I mean, it wasn't really something I was that interested in pursuing. I mean, if it had of happened, I would have been fine with it. But also, not having it happen was fine too."
"How very zen-like."
"Well, let's just say I did some soul searching too. Plus, we're too good of friends to mess it up with something like dating."
"What was your soul searching about?"
Danny looked over at the clock on the wall, and realized he was about to be late for class, so he stood up and grabbed is tray. Zane looked a little shocked.
"Sorry, I'm about to be late for class... I'd love to stay and chat, but I really gotta go."
"No, hey, me too, actually."
"Hey Zane. You know, if you're ever bored or anything, we're in room #318, if you ever want to hang or something. Or just need to get away..."
Zane smiled. "Thanks, Danny. I may take you up on that."
The boys put their trays away and left the cafeteria going in opposite directions, and Danny felt a tiny bit lonely.
No comments:
Post a Comment