122. The Seven C’s

I was running late and spotted that someone had put up one of those ‘Take What You Need’ posters on the noticeboard in the corridor. After class, Simon waited there while I talked to the tutor about my poor time management and why I needed an extension on my essay. As we walked to the refectory, I said, “which one did you take?”

“Courage,” he replied.

“Why’s that then?”

“I want to ask someone out but I think it’s too late. We might already be in the friendzone, so I’m a bit worried about risking it. What do you think I should do?”

“Well you picked courage for a reason. I think you should just go for it. If you don’t ask then you’ll never know.” I bit my lip and desperately hoped he wouldn’t notice that my cheeks were burning.

He didn’t reply for a couple of minutes then he said, “Do us a favour? Get me a latte please. I’ll be back in a minute,” and walked off towards the toilets.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

He was beaming when he came back. “I did it and she said yes.”

My stomach filled with lead.

“Nice one,” I said. “When are you going out?” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, then fumbled in my backpack for a tissue. All I could think of was why did I even start this stupid conversation in the first place?

“Tomorrow night. Oh and thanks for the coffee. You alright? You look a bit deflated.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, a bit stressed out. I was just thinking about my essay.” I scrunched up the tiny piece of paper and rolled it between my finger and thumb.

“Oh ok, I never asked you what you took,” he said.

“Resilience,” I replied.

“That’s a tough one. Getting up after being knocked back.”

“I know,” I said.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash