Under the Acacia - 2. Running

Late again! Why did I ever let Jo trick me into going out with her? Just for a minute, she said. It’s just like juice, she said. We spent the whole night at that frat party and no, Gin and Tonic is definitely not ‘just like juice’.

But hey, I have to admit, those Beta-Sigma boys do know how to throw a party. The music was so loud but you could barely hear the song. It was all just thumpa-thumpa and nothing else. There must have been, like a hundred people at that party just yelling and laughing, filling the rooms with noise – but not the annoying kind of noise, but the fun kind, the kind you’d want to drown in. The food was awesome too, which, in my language, means they had loads and loads of Siomai. And the hosts, although very macho and would have normally ignored me, were actually pleasant. I guess they knew I was with Jo, so they didn’t pick on me as much as they picked on that other kid, Ralph. Poor kid. He’s pledging to be part of the frat. Jo told me they were just stringing him along and that they weren’t really accepting him at the end. I wasn’t surprised though. You see, the Beta-Sigma boys have a type. Sadly, Ralph doesn’t anywhere fit that type. Not that he’s ugly, because Ralph is actually really good-looking. He’s just not tall enough, or athletic enough, or popular enough to fit the Beta-Sigma bill. Sad, I know, but I’m sort of happy it wasn’t me that was being ordered around and picked on. Being friends with the most popular freshman in school has its perks, and I intend to indulge in them.

So, did the antisocial and gay wonder-boy, Mark, actually have fun at this party? Well, I would be lying if I said no. I wasn’t really mingling with the people there, and Jo was somewhere else busy, well… being Jo. But there were just so many cute boys. I mean it was a frat party, right? There were all sorts of jocks. The basketball team was complete except for their point guard, Khalil, who by the way, was Jo’s first ever boyfriend. I saw a couple of guys from the soccer team. And much to my delight, the Swim team was there too! Swimming was the biggest sport in our school, Gillman University. We have been national champions for the past whole decade. So these boys, besides having gorgeous bodies where the school’s kings. Sadly, though I tried really hard to find a boy who might just be playing on my team, all of them seemed straight to me.

There was this one guy though. He wasn’t gay, but I never really could tell either way. I don’t know if it was just me but, I kinda caught him staring at me. I turned away real quick, you know. I thought he might have been looking at someone near me and he might think me staring back is… well you know how straight alpha males are right? I didn’t want any trouble. But there was no one there at my little look out spot but me. I looked his way just to check if he was still there. And again, I caught him staring at me, but he turned his head right when our eyes met. I was going to try and get a closer look but Jo had, by then, come. She scooped me out of my little corner, and went back to our dorms. In the morning I learned we had just left before this huge brawl happened. Hope no one was hurt.

Anyway, I didn’t really regret not approaching him. I’m sure I would’ve gotten myself into an embarrassing situation if I had. Plus, this notion that he was staring at me, while not confirmed, I guess, is enough to you know, keep me smiling. What if he wasn’t really looking at me? What if it was just the Gin making me see things? I’m totally fine with me just dwelling in my fantasy of this cute boy with really short hair, and perfectly pink lips and gorgeous green eyes. Hey. Everyone deserves a little fantasy once in a while.

I wasn’t late yet. But I was surely gonna be if I didn’t take some sort of short cut.

My dormitory is about a kilometer or two away from my college building and I didn’t own even a bike. Our campus is in this huge fifty-six hectare lot just dotted with these huge Acacia trees. Some were planted there by the Americans who founded the school, but most were actually there already. And apparently, not a single Acacia was cut, ever. Save from the athletics facilities like the courts and the baseball fields, Acacia were everywhere. Don’t start visualizing this jungle-like scene, okay? Acacia trees require so much ground and sky space that the trees are actually far apart. They only connect at their very crowns, almost covering the sky.

Mornings in our school are beautiful, especially when the sun has yet to reach its seat up high, when it still inches its way from the horizon. How the light pierces through the green thicket of the University, how it lights up each leaf, making it give off this effervescent green glow, and how those little blotches where there aren’t any leaves give way to streams of light, is my definition of magic.

You can imagine how awesome my school looked. Most buildings had balconies and porches to let in the endless supply of fresh air. Complexes where built around existing landscapes, so you can bet there were a lot of atriums and open halls. Also the roads were irregular. Although there were ‘official’ roads and pavements, you could always find a secret lane, a hideaway in the root buttresses, just under the Acacias.

Oh geez. I only had about 5 minutes to make my way on foot to class. I saw a tiny path through the trees, but it seemed that the bushes were a tad high. But this subject was my major. I needed to get an above average grade, and every class counted. So I actually did it. I went through those bushes like a boss. There were some bugs, and a couple of branches, but they weren’t that hard to handle.

Yes! I could now see my building. Homestretch. I decided to make a dash for it. I had two minutes left but my teacher usually doesn’t allow tardies to even sit-in in the class.

I was pretty sure my path was clear. So I went all Flash on the trail. It felt awesome running again (Note to self: try to make time for some running). I love how when you run, you slowly become super-human, a super-natural phenomena – speeding up time, shifting your body’s balance, challenging the air as you pierce it. I was so into my running. In fact I was so into it that when this six-foot tall human suddenly comes out behind one of the trees, I wasn’t able to stop.

Bang.

It felt like I hit a wall. We both fell down on the ground, luckily cushioned by a pile of dried leaves. We were tangled up on each other, hands and legs were everywhere. I tried making out the creature that I hit. It seemed like he was in as much shock as I was. I struggled to get up, but when I did, I wished I hadn’t. Holy shit. It was that boy: that cute boy with the green eyes and the short hair. You know from the party last night! I was still a bit hazy from the crash but I was sure I was blushing; I just felt my face warm up. I didn’t know what to do. I already worked out this whole scenario in my head. I would give him a hand and apologize. I would bring him to the clinic and apologize again. Then we’d just fall in love with each other and fuck right there on the clinic bed.

Alas, the fates were really pissed off at me or something. I reached out and tried to give him my hand. He took it and just like that, I slipped on some loose soil and crashed into him… again. I guess he was just too heavy or something. Or maybe I was just too nervous. Whatever it was it made me slip on top of the cutest guy I have ever met and I made a complete fool of myself. Luckily though, I blacked out from the shock. Yipee.

I was told I was unconscious for a good hour. Great, not only did I embarrass myself to this guy, but I also missed Organic Chemistry.

“Oh my God! You had me worried crazy!” I heard this intense, overly dramatic voice from behind. I turned over to face the door, and there she was, Maisie. Imagine the bubbliest most power packed school-girl anime, then turn her into an Asian bombshell with huge eyes the color of Autumn leaves and compress that into a 5’3” tall frame, then you add in some outrageous dance moves and a top notch GPA , and voila, you’ll have Maisie – my lab partner in Organic Chemistry, Maisie. She’s cool. We never really hung out outside of class, but we were close enough to be considered friends.

“Geez Maisie, cool it, will you!”

“I’m fine. Just tripped or something, I don’t know.” But I did.

“Memory’s a bit foggy.” But it wasn’t. I remember it all too well, but I just can’t bear thinking how big of dork I was. Crashing into a guy twice is not at all cute.

“Oh Mark….” She snickered. “We all know what happened.”

“Huh?”

But before Maisie could answer me, someone came knocking on the door.

“Come in!”

I was sure I was going to faint right then and there. It was the boy from the party. The guy I crashed into. It was boy with the green eyes.

“Hey! Are you okay?” He asked in such a sweet muted tone, almost sheepish, but still very much commanding.

“Ummm…”

“Yeah he is!” Maisie inserted. Thank God for this girl.

“Hi, I’m Maisie! And this little boy who crashed into you and made one hell of a scene when he fainted is Mark.” And the air of delight she said that with didn’t even faze me. Why was he even here?

“Yeah. I know. Im Paolo.” He reached out his hand and I took it with a slight quiver. That moment when our hands touched was so intense that I even caught Maisie staring at me with an oh-my-goodness-gracious look. I pulled away quickly.

“You should be giving him more than a handshake, young man.” The nurse came in unannounced.

“He carried you here and called the guidance counselor to settle your absences in classes.”

I looked at him and he was blushing.

“It was nothing. It was basically my fault really.” He said with the cutest smile.

“Oh God. I am so sorry.” I looked at him trying to do those puppy dog eyes I keep hearing of.

But Maisie again, interrupted the moment. “Anyway Mark, You are off for the whole day, so rest up. I’ll bring over your homework to your dorm tonight.”

“Bye dearest!”

And just like that, she disappeared before I could have replied. Maisie is such a character. My classes would have been boring if it weren’t for her.

“You can go as soon as you feel like it, okay?” The nurse patted my head and walked away.

So I was there, in that room alone, with this really cute guy. At the party, I wasn’t really sure he was cute, but now, seeing him right there, I was definitely sure.

“Umm, so… are you okay dude?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that too?” Wow, words actually came out of my mouth. It’s probably the pain killers.

“No man. I’m okay. Made of steel” And he pounded his rock hard chest with that smile of his still on.

“Look man…” I sat up. “I’m really sorry. I was…” But he stopped me.

“Dude, seriously. It’s okay. I’m okay. Just, don’t run that fast next time.” He said with the cutest giggle.

“Here’s your ID. I took it out to check your name. And I needed it to process your class excuses.”

“Oh man. I’m sorry you had to go through all that trouble for me.” If I wasn’t embarrassed yet, well, I was definitely embarrassed then.

He propped himself on my bed and looked me in the eye. “What is up with you and ‘sorries’?”

“Look. If you want to apologize that bad, then buy me a beer.” He smiled and I could swear I saw this faint pinking in his cheeks.

“Then we’re even.”

“Really?” I asked in almost a whisper.

“Ummm… sure.”

His face lit up. “Cool! Free beer! Yay!”

I smiled back. His name was Paolo, he was six feet tall, with such beautiful eyes, and the hottest body I have ever seen in real life and he wanted to get a beer with me. Me, the clutz. Me, the nobody.

There was a bit of awkward silence after that, but killed it right away. I told him I was good to go. So he helped me out of the bed, and out of the clinic.

“You sure you can go to your dorm alone?”

“Yeah sure.” Actually, what I really wanted was for him to carry me off to the sunset, but I guess, that was just too much of a stretch.

“Okay. I’ll come pick you up tonight around eight?”

“Sure. Just ring for me.”

“Okay. No problem. It’s a date then.” And we parted ways.

Wait. Did he just say "date"?