Chapter 5
Spring semester was a different story. Regina found out that Mary Margaret's friend Graham had a crush on her. Graham kept bugging Mary Margaret, asking her for advice and if Regina liked him back (she didn't). I helped Mary Margaret plan with Graham to ask Regina on a date, and acted as double agent, because I warned Regina. It was better this way, because he could be let down easy and would get the hint that she wasn't interested. Then he could stop bothering Mary Margaret about it. When he did finally ask Regina to go ice skating with him, it was kind of funny to watch him stutter and panic out of nervousness. She politely said no, and blamed it on her fear of ice skating. They did, however, become very good friends after that, and got lunch together on campus every week or so.
I had my own struggles that semester as well. Two weeks into the semester, I received an email from an unknown address, a school email address. Regina and I were sitting in a dorm meeting, just so we could get service hours. I looked at my phone and read the email:
Hi,
My name is Killian Jones. I am in your English Literature class. I sit in the front row; I am the kid in the black leather shoes at the end of the row. I didn't want to do this; I realize that this is quite possibly the creepiest way to talk to someone for the first time. I am pretty sure that this is going to the right person, since there are like 3 girls in our class. You also sit in the front row and have a red leather jacket. Anyway on the walk back to dorms today I was going to say something to you. I think that you're pretty, and I was too nervous to say anything because I thought that you might have a boyfriend. I would really like to get to know you if you don't. My number is (555)-867-0609 if you would like to text me. And I hope that we can put this means of first contact behind us. I am really not that shy; I just didn't want to sound stupid and didn't know how to start a conversation. Thank you.
I handed the phone to Regina to see what she thought of it. She agreed with me that it was kinda creepy. I had never seen this guy in my class, or even heard of him. The only way he could've found out my name is by looking at the class list online, but even then, he would've had multiple girls to choose from. I'm not on Facebook, so he couldn't have looked me up there. I decided to ignore the email. I took a screenshot of it and sent the picture to Mary Margaret to see her take on the whole thing.
That night at dinner, Regina and I sat in our usual spot. At some point during dinner, two guys passed our table on their way out, and one of them made eye contact with me. I looked at his shoes and they were black leather. "I think that was Killian," I told Regina. "I still haven't answered his email. What should I do?"
"You should tell him I'm your girlfriend," she said. "Then he won't be interested because he can't be."
"I'm not going to lie! I don't have to. I'll tell him I have a boyfriend, but I don't know how to without hurting his feelings."
"Who cares? The email was super creepy. Just tell him you have a boyfriend then."
Later that night, I still hadn't answered the email. Regina and I were hanging out in my room when I got another, so we read it together:
Hi,
I felt the need to send this after seeing you at dinner. I want to talk to you and I don't know what I should do now. I know you don't know me but please trust me. You don't have to reply if you don't want but I would really appreciate it. You can either reply to this email or text me. I would appreciate it, thanks.
(555)-867-0609
Again, I took a screenshot and sent it to Mary Margaret. She agreed with Regina that it was creepy, and she told me to tell him to back off because he had crossed a line or something. I ended up emailing back this:
Killian,
While I appreciate the compliment, I currently have a boyfriend of two and a half years. I am sorry if this hurts your feelings. I would appreciate that if you want to contact me further, please do it in person,
Sincerely,
Emma
I thought it sounded a little mean and pushy, but Mary Margaret told me I was being too nice. He didn't answer the email.
The next time I saw Killian was in class. He was two seats down from me. For a few classes, he would make conversation with me and the girl in between us, but nothing more. I wondered if he still liked me or if he really didn't care that I had turned him down.
A few weeks later we had our first exam in the class. The teacher moved me to the back of the room so that no two students would be sitting directly next to each other. Killian finished the exam before I did, and on his way out we made eye contact and smiled at each other.
I decided when I got back to my room that I would text him. I figured it would be a good thing to make another friend, since I only had two. My heart was pounding and I couldn't breathe as I sent him, "What did you think of the test?"
A bit of time passed, and I got a reply that said, "Who is this?" We ended up talking about the test and our professor for a while. We got our tests back the next class. The following class we walked back to dorms together. I found out that he lived only an hour and a half away from me. After that, we became pretty good friends. We texted a lot and always walked back from class together. One Friday I got a text from Killian asking if I wanted to go to an improv show with him. Neal was visiting me that day, so I had to say no. Then it got a little awkward.
K: You have a boyfriend right?
E: Yeah, why?
K: Yeah
K: Sorry, it's just that every time I meet a girl who actually has a nice personality that is the story
E: I'm sorry :( it's the truth though. Do you not believe me?
K: Oh, no I believe you. I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that this always happens.
E: I'm sorry :(
K: Don't get me wrong though. I'd like to be good friends. I need a friend who doesn't live on my floor in dorms.
E: Ok :)
After that happened I decided to tell Neal about Killian. He said he was excited for me that someone liked me because I had mentioned once that no one did. Neal told me I should be friends with him and ask him to dinner. When I said no, he threatened to not talk to me. Eventually I agreed. I texted Killian, and we planned on getting dinner together on campus that night.
I was very nervous for dinner. I'm not good at talking to people, and I had never been with Killian longer than the 15-minute walk back from class. I was pleasantly surprised by how things went. We stayed for over two hours just talking about everything and nothing at the same time, and it was strange how much we had in common.