Chapter 9
“Hey, Velma…” he said, patting her on the back awkwardly. “What’re you doing here?”
~*~
The classroom was sparse, barely any decoration on the walls, but that wasn’t uncommon in this college. Teachers didn’t have permanent classrooms; they were assigned to them for the duration of the class and then left at the end of the class period so the next class could get in and use the room.
Seneca had been trying to figure out where to sit in every class. Was he a front-of-the-class student, or was he a few rows back kind of student? Should he participate a lot in class or should he keep to himself?
He chose a seat in the middle of the second row, trying to blend in with the few students there. Apparently grammar wasn’t a very popular class? Or maybe it was because it was an 8:30am class... Seneca was feeling rather tired himself and if it weren’t for his nerves he’d be wanting to close his eyes and take a nap.
A haggard looking young woman with short dark hair came into the room, slightly stumbling as she rushed towards the desk, her arms full of books and a tote bag hanging from her arm. She plopped everything down next to the desk and logged on to the laptop.
“Good morning everyone! I’m Nora Ainsworth, you can call me Ms. Ainsworth. Or Nora. I don’t care which.” she said with little humor in her voice. She looked tired. “I can see we don’t have a large class, but that’s not much of a surprise. This is Grammar 201, I am your teacher, let’s get into it, shall we? First, commas are tricky little buggers.”
~*~
Seneca left the class, yawning. So this was why people didn’t sign up for 8:30 classes. He felt like he needed a nap after the class was done, even though Ms. Ainsworth had tried to be exciting. Thinking about it, he didn’t think he could be a teacher where your students all act like sleep deprived zombies. That would be like a comedian who didn’t get any laughs and kept going anyway.
It was an early day for him, and he didn’t have any other classes today so maybe a nap would be a good idea. He just had to get home and kick back and relax. And read this whole ten pound textbook…
Seneca stepped out into the chilly, gloomy, late morning air, making sure he wasn’t in the way of any passing students. He got a few glances, but mostly people kept their eyes to themselves, not caring who they passed. That was something that Seneca hadn’t guessed when he’d signed up for this whole thing. In high school, everyone paid so much attention to each other and the drama going on between everyone, but no one cared in college. People were either dressed really well or poorly. They ate cups of noodles or they ate the best vegetarian meals and no one cared. It felt like culture shock.
“Senny?” a voice came from his left, and he turned his head. Standing there was Velma. “Oh my gosh, it’s you! Senny!”
She rushed at him and put her arms around him. Seneca made a point of not breathing when he was so close to other people, but her perfume was so strong it wormed into his nostrils forcefully. It smelled expensive.
“I’m in town for a few weeks on business and I heard you were going here! Word gets around, you know? I was just going to get coffee, and there you were! Aren’t I the luckiest girl in the world? Would you like to join me? My treat.” she said all of this in her nasally tone. She’d tried hard in high school to clear it out, to have a more elegant tone to her voice, but honestly she still sounded like she had a small bee up her nose.
“I, uh, I was just going home, actually…” Seneca tried to step away. Why were all of these people from his past trying to pull him backwards? Why were they suddenly showing up?
“It’s just coffee. Come on, It’s really good. Let’s go.” It wasn’t a question. Seneca was remembering now how Velma was very good at asking first, then telling later. She’d say ‘I wonder if this dress makes me look good,’ then she’d say ‘Tell me I look good, Senny. I put all this work in…’
“Senny, it’s been forever!” she said as he followed her around the grounds. “How long has it been?”
“Well, we’ve been out of high school for about 3 years, so that long?” he said without trying to engage.
She rolled her eyes. “I feel like it’s been longer than that. How long has it been?” she looked him up and down while they walked. “For us?”
Seneca stopped walking. “Velma, I don’t know what you want from me.”
She balked. “I just want to catch up like old times. That’s all I want.”
“But which old times, Velma?” he asked while she took a step backwards. “Why are you bringing up what we had before?”
“I- I miss you, Senny.” she said, a caring look on her face. “I look back on those time and it makes me happy.”
“We had nothing in common, and I don’t go by Senny. You wanted to call me Senny, I never liked it. If you’re hoping that something is going to happen, nothing is going to happen.”
“But something could happen,” she said, stepping closer. “Something happened before,”
“I’m deeply in love with someone else!” Seneca shouted, frustrated. “Velma, nothing is going to happen. I don’t know why you and Ethan are suddenly trying to pop up, but I don’t want to go backwards. I’m moving forward and I’m not looking back.”
“Whoa, who says that’s what I want?!” she stepped forward, asserting herself. “I’m here because I heard that you could use a friend. Don’t bite my head off just because I showed up. I don’t deserve that. It must have been a while since you saw your girlfriend because any man who was confident in his own relationship wouldn’t think that an old girlfriend would disrupt anything. If you’re scared that something could happen, then you don’t have enough faith in your relationship!”
Seneca stood back for a moment, shocked. She was right. Why was he worried? Why did this bother him so much? These were old friends who wanted to get in touch, why was he making this all about him?
“I’m- I overstepped. I’m sorry. I’ve been stressed lately and I haven’t been myself. And I had to get up ridiculously early to get to class, I’m kinda tired.” Seneca laughed nervously.
“Good thing I know exactly how to fix that. With coffee. Come with me.”
They headed to the small coffee shop, and in true coffee shop style the interior was warm and cozy with a few people sitting around, chatting with each other, warm beverages in their hands.
“Two lattes,” Velma ordered without saying please when they got to the counter. Turning to Seneca she said “So, I heard that things didn't work with Krista. She’s happily married now, eh? Why didn’t that turn out?”
Seneca raised his eyebrows. “I’m guessing you heard from Ethan about Krista then? We didn’t see each other enough to make it work. Once or twice a year for a week just isn't enough to make things work. Especially out in the boonies like we were located. Before I Moved and Mom became president. She found a nice jeweler and I found Gloria and we called things off.”
“That’s crazy. It seems like you guys were perfect for each other. Such an attractive couple. Of course, not as pretty as me,” Seneca snorted and Velma rolled with it, “- but Krista has her points! I saw her in the tabloids when you guys broke up. Gloria’s done a good job of staying out of the tabloids.”
“We’re not very public. We have a quiet life away from cameras.” Seneca said as he picked up the latte. It wasn’t his regular order, but he’d appreciate it nonetheless.
“And you like the quiet life?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s great,” he smiled. “We get to live off the coast, grow things in our yard, decorate our house, talk with the neighbors. It’s a good life. Quiet.”
“I never thought that you’d settle for the quiet life,” she sipped the foam off of her drink. “You were loud, obnoxious as the rest of us, and you always had to prove something. Henry was the only one who gave you the smallest bit of peace. Of course no one could beat Henry at anything, he was perfect. I don’t think he got anything less than a 95% on anything. I was really sorry to hear he died.”
Gloria’s boyfriend at the time killed him and then I killed the boyfriend because he was going to kidnap Gloria? Yeah I probably shouldn’t tell her that. “I was too. I was there and I still fight with it. That I could have done something about it.”
“I know, Senny- Seneca. I heard. I’m so sorry.” Velma patted his hand, but it didn’t linger. It was a friendly gesture, not a romantic one.
“But I’m not here to dwell on the past, I’m in college to move forward. I’m going into editing, or writing. Or both, who knows?”
“I’m in trading and stocks. It pays pretty well, I have a flat in San Myshuno, and not to brag but I have a n amazing view.”
Seneca envisioned waking up next to Gloria and seeing her copper hair messy from sleeping. “Yeah, I do too.” he said, smiling.
Comments
Post a Comment