Page 18 of Space Oddities

“Wow, Audrey, hi!” one of the girls says, beaming. With the energy of youth, both girls plop their plates down on the table and take a seat. “What a surprise.”

“Yes, today seems full of surprises.”

At my voice the girls freeze, as if they just noticed me. Mandy introduces them to me and then they dive into their lunches, commenting on upcoming assignments and askingAudreywhat happens in her next book.

The tension seems to seep from Trish’s shoulders, and her answers become more animated.

It’s wonderful seeing her talk about something so passionately. Trish is one of those people who usually sits back, observes, and lets others have the spotlight. A great listener.

Now, sitting here just as fascinated as her three classmates, I listen to her explain the character arc of her latest hero, a millionaire cowboy.

“I love how you have both millionaire and cowboy together. Two really great tropes,” Alyssa, one of the other girls, says.

“Tropes?” I ask, picking over the shockingly small amount of food left on the table.

“Oh, sorry. I forgot you’re not in our class. We didn’t mean to bore you with writing talk,” Helene, the other student, says.

“Not at all.” I eye Trish, who still has her sunglasses down. “I find all of this fascinating.” When she doesn’t say anything, I reach over and pluck off her sunglasses. “Why don’t you tell me all about tropes, Audrey?”

For a moment, Trish’s deer-in-headlights look worries me that maybe I’ve taken it too far, asked too much.

She purses her lips before giving way to a smile. “You want to know about tropes, huh?”

I place my elbow on the table and prop my chin on my hand, eager. “I want to knoweverything.” Out of the corner of my eye I see Helene elbow Alyssa, their eyes even wider than Trish’s had been. I’m pretty sure I just set fire to some juicy on-campus gossip.

“All right then, sugar. Let me tell youall aboutromance writing.”

* * *

“Oh my lands.”Trish wipes her hands and places one on her stomach. “I may keel over from a food coma, but I have no regrets.”

Mandy, Alyssa, and Helene left five minutes ago, late for a matinee movie. Late because they were so enraptured with what Audrey was teaching them about writing and her suggestions for their latest work in class that they lost track of time.

I did too.

A gulp of my drink washes down the final bite of food. My cheeks hurt. I thought it was from all the chewing, but as I laugh again at Trish’s dramatic, uncomfortable expression while she rubs her stomach, I realize it’s from smiling so much.

I don’t think I’ve ever smiled for this length of time before.

Huh.

“Hey, where’d that smile go?” Trish rests her hand on top of mine. “You eat too much too?”

Turning my hand over, I intertwine our fingers. “Something like that.”

Comfortable silence surrounds us, even with the guitar strumming from the singer on stage and the background hum of generators from the food trucks. Much louder than Trish’s quiet generator running back at my house. But as soon as our hands touch, it’s like it’s just the two of us. And for once the moment isn’t influenced by outside forces that previously have gotten in our way.

I give her hand a squeeze. “You okay?” We both know I’m not talking about our stomachs.

She bites her lip, nodding, not letting go of my hand.

Today is just full of surprises.

* * *

Trish

Sugar honey iced tea.

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