Chapter Two.
"I'm Toby." It played in her head, over and over, as she lay in bed that night. He went shortly after that statement, because his mother had shouted him over to help. She only hoped he would speak to her again.
* * *
She did have to speak to him again, because her mother did the embarrassing thing of baking a cake to welcome them to the neighbourhood and asked her to take it over.
Toby answered the door. "Hey." She said, finding her tongue. "My mom did the cake, not me."
"Thanks. I'll just put it in the kitchen. Would you like a drink?"
She nodded and he gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen, where he poured two drinks and took her out into the garden. They sat on a rickety bench, side by side, in silence.
"So, where do you go to college?" He asked her.
"Oh, I don't. When I go back to school, I'm in my final year. You?"
"CCNY. I'll be in my second year."
They only stopped talking when they realised it was getting dark. It was like as though they were friends forever. He was quiet and softly spoken, but his humour was dry and his wit was sharp. He had a way which got under her skin and he was all she could think about. She took it to be annoyance, because sometimes he was too quick for her, and his wit left her thinking about the conversation long after it had moved on, finally realising what was meant by it.
"I'd better go." She stood up and turned go.
"CJ... Wait." He caught hold of her arm and spun her gently around to face him. She could see her face reflected in his deep, brown almost black eyes as he stared intently into her own. She turned away, breaking the hold his eyes had had on her.
What?"
He froze. "Nothing. I'll call by tomorrow."