Page 11 of Tiger's Quest
He pressed forward undeterred. “Oh.” He didn’t even blink. “What about Saturday?”
I searched my brain frantically for an escape. “Uh . . . I didn’t bring my planner with me, so I don’t know my schedule that far ahead.”
He nodded as if that made perfect sense.
“Look, I have a terrible headache, Artie. I’ll see you in lab next week, okay?”
“Okay, sure. I’ll call you later.”
I quickly slipped into my car and shut the door. Grinning, because I knew I’d never given him my phone number, I drove through the quiet streets of Monmouth and up the mountain to my peaceful home.
DATE 2
For my next date, I was better prepared for the weather. I wore my red WOU sweatshirt and also brought a thicker coat and a red cashmere scarf and gloves that I had found tucked in a drawer. Normally, I would have shunned anythinghehad bought for me, but I didn’t have time to buy new ones, and even if I did I’d be using his money anyway.
I met Jason in the stadium parking lot and immediately began cataloging his good qualities. He was cute, a little on the skinny side and shorter than average, but he dressed decently and was smart. Leaning up against his old Corolla, he raised his eyebrows in shock when he saw me emerge from the Porsche.
“Wow, Kelsey! Nice wheels!”
“Thanks.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yep. Lead the way.”
We shuffled into the crowd of people heading over to the football field. Most were wearing red or Western Wolf shirts, but there were also the navy-blue-and-white colors of the opponent, Western Washington University, scattered here and there. Even a couple of Viking hats were bobbing up and down in the crowd. Jason led me to a truck surrounded by couples having a tailgate party. A small grill was full of smoking sausages and hamburgers.
“Hey, guys! I want to introduce you to Kelsey. We met in our anthro class.”
Several faces peered over and around their neighbors to get a good glimpse. I waved shyly back at them. “Hi.”
I heard a couple of “Hey, there’s,” and “Nice to meet you’s,” and then they went back to their conversations, forgetting we were there.
Jason filled up a plate for me and then popped open a cooler. “Hey, Kelsey, want a beer?”
I shook my head. “Soda, please. Diet, if you have it.” He handed me an icy diet soda, grabbed a beer for himself, and pointed to two empty lawn chairs.
Sitting down, he immediately rammed half his hot dog in his mouth and chewed loudly. It was almost as bad as watching a tiger eat. Lucky for me, it was a little less bloody.
Ugh. What’s with me? Am I intentionally looking for things that annoy me? I really have to chill out or Jennifer’s right: I’m going to miss out on life.I looked away from him and started picking at my food.
“So, you aren’t a drinker, eh, Kelsey?”
“Umm, I guess not. I’m underage first of all. Secondly, alcohol lost all appeal for me when my parents were killed by a drunk driver a few years back.”
“Oh.Sorry.” He grimaced and scooted his beer out of sight under the chair.
I mentally groaned.What am I doing?Immediately, I apologized, “It’s okay, Jason. Sorry to be such a downer. I promise I’ll be much more perky at the game.”
“No problem. Don’t give it a second thought.” He went back to scarfing down his food and laughing with his friends.
The problem was that I did give it a second thought. I knew my parents’ death wasn’t something you should normally bring up on a first date, but . . . I knew thathewould have reacted very differently from the way Jason did. Maybe it was because he was older, more than three hundred years older. Or maybe it was because he wasn’t American. Maybe it was because he’d lost his parents too. Or maybe it was because he was just . . . perfect.
I tried to shut it down, but I couldn’t help myself. I flashed back to a time when I woke up from a nightmare featuring my parents’ death, and he was there to comfort me. I could still feel his hand wiping the tears from my cheeks as he pulled me onto his lap.
“Shh, Kelsey. I’m here. I’m not leaving you, priya. Hush now. Mein aapka raksha karunga.I will watch over you,priyatama.”He’d stroked my hair and whispered soothing words to me until I felt the dream fade.
Since then, I’d had time to look up the words I didn’t understand in India.I’m with you. I’ll take care of you. My beloved. My sweetheart.If he were here with me now, he would’ve pulled me into a hug or onto his lap, and we would have been sad together. He would have stroked my back and understood how I felt.
