A/N: This is the second chapter I've posted today. Please read Chapter 24 first. Thank you, dear readers. <3

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The more I walked around Holy Cross, the more it reminded me of that suburban community in Edward Scissorhands. Not that it contained cookie-cutter residential development houses. With its sculpted perfection, I felt as though I'd stepped through a magical portal. 

It's our first date! 

Or is it a date?

Who knows? Who cares? Eric will be there.

As I followed Helen, we descended more flights of stairs than I could count because the campus had been built on a hill. I'd burn lots of calories walking around here. That much was certain. 

We traversed a bridge that led from the main road to another brick building covered in ivy. My heart thudded with anticipation and not just because Helen walked at a brisk pace. I bet Care had never had palpitations this bad, and she drank enough caffeine to kill a small horse.

Oh, my gosh! Eric!

"This is Stein Hall, the center for languages and the humanities," Helen said as she held open the glass door for me. It opened into a wide foyer with beige walls, light-gray carpets, and soft lighting from overhead fixtures. "If you go here, this will probably be your second home."

Imagining that I was one of these students prompted a dreamy smile. "And Eric's here?"

Helen grinned. "Yep, the MRC is on the third floor."

"MRC?"

"Multimedia Resource Center," she replied. "The language labs."

"Great, I'd love to check them out."

We took the staircase. Because my head was in the clouds, rehearsing everything I'd say to Eric, I managed to trip over my own feet even though we were going upstairs. That took talent.

Clumsy idiot!

"Are you okay?" Helen asked with a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied with a casual wave of my hand. "Just a bit nervous."

Way to be cool, Jess.

She descended a few steps towards me. "If it helps, I'm sure guys are even more scared of us," she whispered with an encouraging smile.

I chuckled. "I'm excited about seeing the labs. That's all." Helen gave me an incredulous look. "No, really. I'm serious. Like him and me...it's not what you think."

"Perhaps," she said in a faint whisper, "but I bet he's nervous too."

"He probably has a girlfriend anyway," I muttered under my breath in a vain attempt to calm my nerves and return to Planet Earth. "He's just being nice and showing me the labs."

Helen chuckled.

"Wait, sorry. Oh, gosh. Are you guys...?"

What if Care had gotten it wrong? What if Helen was bi? What if she actually did like him?

Oh, this is a nightmare. Why didn't you keep your mouth shut?

She gave me a puzzled look when we reached the landing. "What? Eric and me?" She burst out laughing and shook her head. "Hon, we're great friends." She winked. "But I bat for the other team."

Oh, yay!

She gave me a broad smile. "No competition here."

"Between us, I don't bat for any team," I said in a muted whisper. "In fact, while you all are at the ball game, I'm playing D&D with friends or watching a Star Wars movie marathon."

"Then you and Eric are perfect for each other," she said with an excited squee.

Wait, when did this become about Eric?

It was always about Eric, my conscience growled in reply. Dumb-ass!

It was always about the language labs, my rational mind retorted. This isn't a date.

He needed some excuse.

Ugh!

Admit it, you like the guy. And he likes you.

A year ago! But that doesn't mean--

"Hey, are you okay?" Helen asked as we entered the upstairs corridor. "You look a bit pale."

"Yeah, I'm just going to go to the ladies' room for a sec," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Sure, it's straight ahead at the end of the hall."

After speed-walking to the restroom, I gripped both sides of the sink to gather my composure. I splashed cold water on my face and scrutinized my pasty reflection under the harsh, fluorescent light.

I should have worn makeup.

No, dummy. Your grandparents would have known something was up, my rational mind growled.

My clothes are a mess. I mean, did you see Helen's outfit?

I exhaled a long, steady breath as I tucked a stray lock behind my ear.

Stay positive. You got this, Jess.

I returned to Helen, who was staring at her phone and giggling. She quickly tucked it away and sobered up when I approached.

"Ready?" she asked.

"I guess?" I cleared my throat. "I mean, yes."

Since when did I become a nervous wreck around a guy? 

Pull yourself together!

When we entered the lab, Helen spoke to the attendant seated behind glass to get me a guest login for the computers. The Multimedia Resource Center had four rows of eight stations, with two sets of four oak veneer cubicles facing each other. Each section had its own terminal and headset. Foreign language movie posters dotted the beige walls along with advertisements for graduate scholarships to study in abroad.

Oh, God! That's my dream. One day I'll go to Europe. 

On a sunny day like today, only one guy was working in the lab, staring at the screen with a puzzled expression.

The guy from the coffee shop.

It was Eric.

My heart leaped into my throat and I took a step backward before he could see me.

"Holy..."

"Told you it was a makeover," she whispered. Helen pulled me into a corner and gestured towards him with her chin. "Made him ditch the glasses for contacts, suggested a new style, and helped him shape up his posture at the gym."

"Wow, I didn't even recognize him."

"It's a hobby of mine," she said. "I can't put meat on Eric's bones to save his life. He's a pure ectomorph. But--"

"That doesn't matter."

"Voilà." She beamed with pride. "Behold my magnum opus."

We wandered into the main computer area, my throat drying up like the Sahara. Eric glanced up from his computer and stood to greet us. He looked a bit surprised as we approached. It confused me at first. Then I realized he'd never seen me without a uniform. 

Plus I was thirty pounds lighter.

"Jess?" he said in that deep baritone I craved.

"E-Eric?"

He gathered himself and held out his hand to me. "It's good to see you again."

Helen cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look, prompting him to pull back his hand just as I went to shake it. 

Both of us gave a nervous scoff. 

My cheeks burned like they'd been set on fire, but Eric decided to ignore Helen's tutelage and shook my freezing hand anyway. A nice, firm handshake. Not too rough.

His hands were even colder than mine.

Helen's look betrayed a mixture of pride and pity. One that seemed to say, Awww, look. The dorks found each other.

"I'm so glad you could make it," he said with a shy smile. "Would you like me to show you one of the language programs I'm working on?"

"I'd--I'd like that very much," I replied.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it," Helen said with a knowing smile. "Text me when you're done. I can arrange lunch and a library tour."

Oh, dear. I have only three texts.

Blend in, Jess. Blend in.

I nodded with a smile. "Will do." 

Helen turned to leave after giving me a knowing smile. I followed Eric as he returned to his station. He gestured to the terminal beside him. The office roller chair was surprisingly comfortable.

"What are you working on?" I asked, having forgotten everything I'd rehearsed.

"The French subjunctive if you can believe it," he said with a sigh. 

"Remember when we were in Madame Waters' class?" I asked with a chuckle. "Just like old times."

He grinned as if to say, How could I forget?

"Only this time it's in all the different tenses," he added. "It's a nightmare. I was acing the class until this."

"I thought you studied Math?"

"It's a core requirement," he replied. "We all have to take at least eight classes in various subjects in order to get a well-rounded education. And two foreign language classes."

"You've got this," I said with a smile. "You're super smart."

"Continuity and differentiation are one thing." He ran his hand through his hair as he sat before the terminal. "But this? We don't even have this in English."

Yes, we do. Sort of. But it's an archaic form.

Don't show him up, my rational mind said.

You already said you love languages, my conscience replied. You could help him.

He'll hate you for it.

"While you're having fun," he said, "I'll just puzzle this out. Unless you understand it..."

See? Told ya. He's trying to connect, dummy.

"I'll give it a try first," I said at last. "To make sure I remember it right."

The computer booted, and I signed in with my visitor ID login and password. I almost died when I saw all the computer-assisted learning software, not only for popular choices like Spanish and French but also for less common languages like Gaelic or Norwegian. 

They didn't simply offer flashcard exercises or fill-in-the-blanks but also multimedia exercises and state-of-the-art speech recognition. I gave an impressed squee.

"Oh, my gosh! You could lock me here for four years," I said in an excited whisper. 

His eyes twinkled with delight. "I knew you'd like it."

"How do I start?"

"You'll have to take a C-test first to get a placement," Eric said with an apologetic voice.

"That's fine. It'll be like a word puzzle."

He raised a puzzled eyebrow. Oh, God! I forgot how cute that was! My heart almost leaped towards him when he smiled and returned to his exercise.

After I'd submitted my test, I got an automatic result: Placement in FREN 301.

"Is that good?" I asked with a puzzled look.

Eric leaned over to peek at my terminal and came so close that we almost touched. My pulse throbbed all over as the gentle scent of citrus and spice from his shower gel wafted towards me. 

"That's third-year placement," he replied with wide-eyes. "Impressive. Though I'm not surprised with your talent."

"Oh, awesome!" I started his software and opted for the French subjunctive. "We can work on it together. Which one are you on?" 

He showed me how to access it, and I finished the exercise in five minutes. The side panels of my cubicles obstructed his view, so Eric couldn't see my result.

Ninety-eight percent.

With a groan, I realized that I missed an accent aigu. "For God's sake!"

"Hard, isn't it?" he asked.

"We can work it out together if you like," I said, deflecting his question.

"Sure, if you don't mind."

After I'd dragged my chair closer to his terminal, we exchanged an awkward smile. Trying to ignore how close we sat to one another, I explained the subjunctive to him like an equation.

Just like I had over a year ago.

But I refused to simply give him the answers. Harking back to my knowledge of Socrates, I asked him a series of questions to lead him towards the answer. After a few tries, Eric often corrected his own errors without my help.

All he needed was a little nudge. Once the knowledge was wrapped up in a box he recognized, he processed it with dizzying speed. Each time, Eric improved a little bit more until the final exercise, where he got a hundred percent. 

"Yes!" he whispered in triumph.

I gave him a gentle tap on the arm. "See? You can do it!"

His dark eyes locked onto mine. "Thanks to you."

"It was fun."

"No one teaches us like you," he said. "You'd make an excellent professor."

My cheeks burned. Eric couldn't have given me a greater compliment. 

"You're logical in your approach to languages," he continued. "Most lecturers say we have to memorize, but you've helped me recognize the patterns."

"It's the same method I use to teach myself." 

"Thanks, Jess." 

"Anytime."

He gazed at me with a look of pride as our eyes locked. While my body flooded me with happy hormones, an inexplicable urge took control, almost ordering me to leap into his arms.

Girl, what is your damn problem? Get it together!

Why am I struggling with this? I'm asexual.

Remember the levels of attraction, muttered my conscience. This has nothing to do with sex.

He broke the silence that crackled with electric tension. "Now let's have some fun. I didn't invite you here for free tutoring."

"What would you like to do?"

"We can learn a language together or watch a foreign film," he suggested. "Whichever you like."

"Let's watch a movie," I said in an excited tone, grateful for the distraction. "We can choose one together."

After a few clicks, Eric brought up an extensive list of films in every language I could imagine. It felt like I'd died and gone to language heaven. Tons of choices in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, and more.

God! You really could lock me up in here for four years.

"Choose any language you like," he said with a nod. "I can come here anytime."

"Oh, gosh!" I said, scrolling through the long list of digitized films with a racing heart. "How will I ever decide?"

He chuckled.

"I hope you don't get bored," I said.

"Are you kidding?" He gave me a playful jab. "I love movies."

"Me too. But they have only one set of headphones per station."

"Ah, I can fix that." He went to reception and came back with a headphone splitter, plugging it into the jack. "Now we can both listen."

"Perfect!"

I focused on the list of German titles, most of them from Nazi and postwar German cinema. They must have added those options for a specific class. 

"What do you think about..." I scrolled through the options. "Die Brücke? It's a postwar German film about a group of teenage soldiers during the last few days of World War Two."

"Ha! No rom-coms for you, I see."

"Heck, no!" I exclaimed. "Not when I have all these gems at my fingertips." I paused, wondering if he hated war movies. "Wait a sec. What do you think? Is it too serious?"

"No, not at all." He leaned back in the office chair with a grin. "I'd choose something similar."

"Do you speak German?"

"No, but it has subtitles," he said, plugging in both sets of headphones, "so I'm game."

Eric used his sign-in details to get access to the film and scooted over so that we could have an equal view of his screen. As soon as it started, he stared intently at the subtitles. Every once in a while, though, I caught him stealing glances at me out of the corner of my eye.

Get a grip, Jess. Focus.

Once the film had drawn to an end, I turned to Eric with the broadest grin. "That. Was. Amazing!"

He gazed down at me with tender affection in a way that made my heart melt. It couldn't dampen my enthusiasm, though. 

"I can't believe I understood some of that without the subtitles. And I taught myself German." I exclaimed. "Thank you. This is the best day ever!"

His eyes twinkled with delight as he rose to return the splitter. Without thinking, I stood up in front of him and did something crazy. 

I reached out to hug him.

Me. 

The touch-averse numb-nut who didn't even hug her grandparents after her adoption.

Wait, Jess! Abort, abort! What are you doing?

At the last minute, I changed my mind and gave both of his shoulders an awkward squeeze. Like some alien who didn't know how to greet a human.

Way to go, idiot!

He chuckled. Either at me or with me. I wasn't sure which.

"Sure, I enjoyed it too," he said in that calm, deep voice. Jesus, I could listen to him reading out phone numbers. No joke. "It's a thought-provoking movie we can discuss over lunch if you like."

Our eyes locked briefly before my breath caught in my throat. This close, I could see for the first time in over a year how his pupils blended into his dark irises. Like the depths of space. But with a keen analytical gaze that pierced through all pretense.

Come on, Jess! What the hell? Answer him.

"Sure, I'd love to."

Eric gave me his shy half-smile. His buzzing phone ended the awkward silence between us. He scanned the message before showing it to me.

1-508-555-4691 14:37
Hi Eric! Having fun?
Let's all have lunch
at Lower Kimball at
three? - Helen

"Are you hungry now?" he asked. "We can make our way there."

"Sure, sounds great." As if in agreement, my stomach gave an ominous rumble. "Oops, sorry. I didn't have much for breakfast."

"We can grab some coffee on the way if you like."

If I'd like? Can I get a hellz yeah?