A Girl Nobody Wanted

After collecting all the books, we both stood up at the same time. “I am 50 sorry. I was in a bit of a hurry,” he apologized. “Oh! That's okay. I was not paying attention to where I was going” I replied, smiling. He shook his head with a smile. “By the way... I am Andrew... ” he said, offering his hand. “l am Sarah. Nice to meet you, Andrew."l shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Sarah. Which year are you in?" “I am in the second year. What about you? " I asked. “Oh! 1 am not a student,” he replied, laughing. “I thought so..." “Why am I too old to be a student?” he asked, faking a frown. “No... no... You dress formally, and you know... You look too sophisticated to be a student.” 1 said. “Ah... Then it's fine..”" he grinned. “50... Who you are actually?” I asked, wondering my self how I became this talkative all of sudden. I am usually shy to talk with strangers. Not just strangers... I am not even comfortable talking with most of my batch mates. But something about him, makes me feel comfortable with him and let me speak with him without any shyness. “I am a lecturer... I am assigned to the Interdisciplinary Studies Department,” he replied. Oh my! Is he a lecturer? “Oh! You are a lecturer?” “Why... Don't tell me, 1 am not sophisticated enough to be a lecturer though I look more sophisticated than a student,” he replied, chuckling. “Noll I mean you look young..." “Ahitl This is my very first appointment. You know, just graduated...” he chuckled again. “Aww... That's really nice...” I said in total appreciation because it was my dream too. I want to be a lecturer after I graduat “God! I am getting late...” he said, nervously looking at his watch. “Can you please show me, where the Dean's office is?” he again asked. “Of Course... Mr.."l hesitated because he didn't tell me his surname when he introduced himself. “Mr. Patterson,” he said, laughing. “Let's go, Mr. Patterson,” I said with a smile. There was only a short distance to the Dean's office. So we reached there soon. “Thank you, Sarah... See you around,” he said, offering me a smile. I went to the lecture room after that. I was anyway in far better status than earlier after the unexpected interruption. The lecture went well without any trouble. Right after the lecture, I went to the cafe and then to the home. jake called me after I finish cleaning and cooking. He took a video call, and we talked with each other until midnight. My life is turning to a fairy tale a little by little... Who thought I would find this much happiness one day... I thought handsome princes loving poor girls happens only in movies... But I am lucky enough to have such a prince in the real-life Next day morning, I was at the bus stop to get a bus to the university. Suddenly a car stopped in front of me. I walked towards that car with a smile. “Good morning, Luke." I greeted. “Good morning, Madam. Get on.” he opened the door for me. “Where you went?" I asked. “I had to go to one of my relative’s house. I spent last night there. * “Where is your house?” I asked because 1 didn't really know where Jake or Luke lives. “My parent's house is not here. They live in the Down Town. I have a small house here, just like Jake's. 1 will take you there one day.” he replied. “You both live alone... Why don't you just stay together.” I asked. There is plenty of space in Jake's place for two of them, and they are best friends after all. So I didn't see the point why they don't stay together. “Well... You know, Jake doesn't like to stay with me. He doesn't want to let people know that I am an important person in his life” “What? But why? I can’t understand.” I said with confusion. “Well... It is the same reason why he can’t let anyone know about you as well, He doesn't want to show that he is close to anyone,” he replied casually. So, whatever the reason Jake wants to hide our affair, is not something simple. It must be something complicated and scary. “Do you know why he wants to keep all of it a secret?” I asked. “Yes...” he replied without even looking at me. His eyes were focused on the road. “If he can let you know the reason, why can't he let me know that too. It is not like that I am going everywhere telling people about it” I said sadly. It hurts me to even think that Jake doesn't trust me enough. “If 1 was not there with him since we were just toddlers and experience everything in his life together with him, he won't I me know either. It is actually not that he let me know, but I kind of know everything about him." “Our fathers are best friends. So we got to spend time with each other since we were infants. His father usually doesn't approve most of his friends. So I am like the only long term friend he has. We were inseparable since we were kids. I have spent more time in his house than in mine. However, when we come to high school, there were many changes in his life. had to go through a lot. After that only, he wanted to keep everything a secret. We started to spend less time in public, hanging out with each other, though we spent hours talking to each other over the phone every day." Luke kept on talking. I was looking at him with my eyes wide opened. Why his dad didn’t approve many of his friends? Is I that strict? Will he approve of me someday? What are the troubles, Jake had to go through during high school so that his life got changed a lot? God! I needed answers to many questions. I am sure I am not going to get answers to them from Luke, anyways. However, I wish Jake will come up with answers to all of these pretty soon. “sarah... Not even for a second think that he is not trusting you or love you any less because he has to hide things from you. He loves you too much, that's why he wants to keep you out of all the troubles” Luke said, looking at me. We have already arrived at university at that time. So he had parked his car. “I know that, Luke. But sometimes it is kind of overwhelming to stay in the dark” I said, closing my eyes and resting my head on the headrest. “Believe me, Sarah. Stay in the dark is far better than knowing the truth.” his voice was filled with sadness and worry. It actually made me panic. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was just staring at the steering wheel. “One day will everything be okay, Luke," I asked involuntarily. “Let's make everything okay, Sarah. Believe in him and your love,” he said, holding my hand tightly. We both spend a few more minutes in his car, just holding hands, without saying anything. Then I got down from his car and walked a bit away and wait until he gets down. I saw Mr. Patterson got down from a very luxurious car. He must be super rich to afford that kind of a car, there is no dout If that is s0, why he chose lecturing as his profession? Indeed he must love lecturing very much, and he must be very passionate about it. Otherwise why a rich, handsome guy would choose an academic position, right after graduation? I think he caught me staring at him. He waved at me and smile. God! What an embarrassment? Don't know what he thought about me. I just smiled at him. Fortunately Luke came, just then. So, it saved me from further embarrassment. I met Mr. Patterson again in the afternoon when I was going to the canteen. “Hello, Sarah," he said, smiling brightly. “Hello, Mr. Patterson. Hope you have settled down well in the faculty” I said. “Yes... Yes... All of your lectures are friendly and welcoming. So I found it really easy.” he said, smiling again. “That's nice..." “I was actually wanted to meet you, Sarah,” he said with a serious face. Meet me? Why? “Don’t get panicked. I am preparing lecture content for psychology, which you will have in your next semester,” he said. “Oh! Do you teach Psychology? That's interesting” I smiled. “Yeah, I am teaching you psychology and one NON-GPA subject, Music. * “Music!! Really. That's amazing. I didn’t know we could take music as a NON-GPA subject.” I said excitingly. It was indeed a piece of good news. I love music, and I would love to take it as a NON-GPA subject. “You are into music?” he asked. “Yeah... love music. I love singing and playing the guitar” I replied. “Great!! Then I think you can help me with that subject too. 1 am planning to organize some events and things like that. Professor. Hofstader showed me there is a requirement of giving the highly technical undergraduates like you all, an opportunity to explore more about the aesthetic subjects. So you will all have a well-balanced mind.” he said. “Of course, I agree. But you first needed my help regarding your Psychology lecture, right?” I asked. “Yes, I thought it's better to have some discussions with a few students, before finalizing the content. Since I already kno you, I thought of beginning with you,” he said. “Oh! Sure... 1 am happy to help” 1 said with a big smile on my face. When 1 look up after agreeing to help him, I saw Jake was just behind Mr. Patterson. He was staring at us, and he didn't lo happy at all... oe FR