Travis was pretty nervous, which was funny because this wasn't the first time they've hung with each other. But still, the frequency of their time together doesn't change the fact that she was still frightening. They were at the Library to study. Or at least, Katie was. She held her hair back on a ponytail as she flipped through her Macroeconomics textbook. Travis, on the other hand, was sort of distracted.
Travis tried. He really did. But she just looked too good at the moment for him to study the effects of aggregate demand on the interest rate. They were sitting side by side (close, like really close) so that they could share the same textbook. Sitting so close to her, Travis could smell her warm strawberry scent. And it was at that moment that Travis couldn't deny just how intoxicating she was to him.
Travis was distracted to a point where he missed out on what Katie said.
"Are you even paying attention to me?" Katie scowled.
"Huh?" Travis found himself back to reality. Only a glare from a Gardener could keep a Stoll in check.
Her glare soften as she made eye contact with him. "Travis," she said softly, but firmly. "Focus."
Travis had a hard time facing towards her. He fought to keep his face from burning up. "Sorry, it's jus- er, I mean- yeah, I got you."
He looked down at the problem shown. "What you did was correct, but don't forget that as you change the aggregate demand curve, the equilibrium price level should also be shown that it changed in the graph."
Katie nodded her head as she went back to her notes to make the adjustment. "All right, thanks."
Business and economy came easily to Travis. The concept of money, trading, communications… It all came naturally to him. So Travis was at the Library on a Saturday with Katie, so that he could teach her what he knew best. But sooner or later, Katie would help him out with their Environmental science course. This symbiotic relationship wasn't new to them: they've been tutoring each other for ages. So in every sense of the word, it was a fair trade.
They were a fair trade, Travis thought.
"Stoll," Katie interrupted his thoughts. "I think it's time we study Environmental science now."
"Huh?" Travis said. Then he saw her saw her pick up a huge green textbook. "Oh yeah, okay. Sounds good to me."
The silence between them as Katie went back to studying allowed Travis to submerge in his thinking again. One would accommodate what the other lacked. And it just wasn't with academics. Travis was a goer. He lived his life with pace, always going somewhere and doing something. But Katie? Katie was a stayer. She live her with rigidness and tenacity. Against the winds of life Travis would have gladly rode, she would place herself down like a tree. And within this philosophy of how they lived life, they balanced each other. Katie was there to keep Travis from drifting away too far. And Travis, well, without Travis, Katie might never leave where she was planted.
Geez, Travis thought. I'm thinking way too much into this.
"Travis," Katie said softly. "You forgot to incorporate the 10% energy rule for your free response."
Travis looked down to see the haphazard writing that was his own. "Oh shoot," Travis realized. "Sorry about that."
As Travis tried to rewrite the entire answer again, Katie gently placed her hands on top of his. His heart stopped a beat.
"Are you okay?" Katie asked, concern on her face. "You seem awfully distracted today."
Travis had to look away from her. Katie looked way too attractive for him at the moment. And his thoughts weren't helping either.
"Nothing," Travis murmured. "I'm fine."
Katie raised her eyebrows. "Alright, if you say so." And with it, she went right back to work.
A prankster and a gardener, he mused. They worked well with each other. They would help what the others didn't know. But forget about school and forget about the long metaphor and analogy Travis tried to come up with before. In the most purest way possible, Travis needed Katie in his life. And now, he would be the first one to admit it.
"Hey, Katie," Travis softly said, trying to bring her attention.
Katie looked up from her textbook at him, eyes wide with curiosity.
He leaned forward, slowly and slowly, until their lips met, just as their hearts did a long time ago. He could taste the strawberries in his mouth.
After they parted, Katie almost screamed at him. "What was that for?" Her face flushed red.
Travis smiled. "Oh, you know."
That smile of his always seemed to get Katie Gardener, but that was irrelevant at the moment (at least, that what she tries to tell herself). "Know what?" She demanded, her face was still red.
"I'm just really grateful for you."
"Whatever, Stoll," she tried to push it off and get back to her studies. But clearly, she wasn't complaining about what happened.