The Funny Thing about Love: Feel Good Sweet Romance stories

by Laura Burton

  After getting all the chemicals set out that we would need and reading through my notes a second time, the door swung open.

  “So glad you could make it,” I spat out without looking up.

  “Nice to see you’re a bright ray of sunshine again.” Shane sauntered in as if he were walking the runway and had time to spare, instead of like a dedicated student who was late and needed to get his butt into gear. What was up with him?

  “Do you even own a watch or phone or any piece of equipment that helps you keep track of time? Or are you just incapable of getting places on time?” I wasn’t really angry at Shane. Well, I was annoyed he’d been late again. But that didn’t warrant such a harsh rebuttal.

  “Oh, Abby. So high-strung. You’re going to get wrinkles if you keep looking at me like that. Chill out.”

  “I don’t need to chill out!” I growled, but it seemed to crack at the walls I had up around what was left of my heart. Tears formed in my eyes, blurring my vision. I blinked furiously to hide my emotional state, but one brimmed over, running down my cheek. I wiped at it furiously, forcing a neutral look on my face, when inside I felt the pressure of this week swirling like a tornado.

  Shane ran his hand over his face. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “Shane.” I stared at him, all traces of my emotional outburst almost gone. “What in the world gave you the idea that you had the power to upset me?”

  Shane laughed. Not a short burst of laughter, but a full belly laughter, bending over and clutching your stomach kind of laughter. Somehow, it eased some of the tension in my head, and I felt myself laugh. When he’d finally composed himself, he blurted out, “You are one of a kind. You know that, right?”

  “Oh, I know. This world could not handle two of me,” I said with a straight face. But I did mean it. Not that I was some amazing gift to this planet. My sarcastic nature and realistic borderline pessimistic outlook on life was a one-deal package. The world should not have to deal with that in more than one dose. “We better get started.” I eyed his pack on the table, urging him to get his course book out so we could get going.

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on. We’re partners.” Shane smiled. I had to give it to him. It was a great smile. Full lips, straight white teeth. I could see why he always had a girl on his arm.

  “I hate how you keep throwing that word around. We’re not partners.” I felt myself getting agitated again.

  “Yes, we are. Lab partners.” His smile grew larger, causing my mood to rise from agitated to full-on annoyed.

  “No. You were late, and sadly I was late on the only day ever in my life, so we got paired up. This isn’t some partnership by choice. This is an emergency arrangement, and we’ll have to make due for the next eight weeks. Then I’ll make it on time into chemistry after fall break, and we’ll be done with each other.”

  “But what about all of this chemistry we’ve got going on right now?” Shane waggled his brows.

  “Oh, please. Save it for your date. I told you those types of lines only work on a certain type of woman, and I’m not one of them.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I hadn’t rolled my eyes in years. Then again, I hadn’t had a conversation at this intellectual level in years, either. Thank you, Shane, for reminding me why I was comfortable not having any attention from men. Except Chris. Just thinking his name sent a stab of pain through my entire system.

  “You do know that it’s completely wrong and biased to categorize women like that.” He stretched out and fingered his hands together behind his head. “I refuse to sit here and let you get away with such behavior.”

  “Oh, brother.” I rolled my eyes again, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of this conversation and the fact I was rolling my eyes for a second time in the span of five minutes.

  “So, spit it out. I can’t have whatever this is affecting our work.” Shane raised his brows, waiting for my answer.

  “Excuse me?” I raised my brows and faced him in an equally challenging stance.

  “Yes. Let’s talk this through.”

  What in the world gave him the right to pin this on me? Or imply that this situation we were in was somehow my fault?

  “First off.” I raised my index finger, close enough to his face that anyone sane would flinch from the proximity. He didn’t even blink. “We’re here tonight because you were late and talked through lab instructions, causing us to lag behind.”

  Shane tried to interrupt, but I silenced him by extending my middle finger to join my index finger still pointing dangerously close to his face.

  “Second, you aren’t my bestie or even my friend whose shoulder I’d cry on and share my little sob story with. You’re Shane Davis, for goodness’ sake.” Did he not know he was M.E.T.’s womanizer with the worst reputation? How could a girl ever trust him, let alone open up and tell him her deep and dark secrets?

  “I know.” He grinned, as if being Shane Davis was the greatest thing in the world. He leaned back in his seat and his chest expanded, showing me just how much of his chiseled form there was to go around. Ugh!

  “Shane, that isn’t a good thing. Now, let’s get to work.”

  “Abby. Sorry for being a jerk. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Mia always tells me I can be an ass when I should be serious. It’s what I do. I really am sorry.”

  “Your girlfriend?”

  “Baby sister. She’s seventeen and a senior in high school.” This time, the smile on his face seemed genuine, and it made something inside me stir. I’d always missed having a sibling. But Mom couldn’t have any other kids. I had been a miracle baby.

  I wasn’t sure if it was the sweet way Shane spoke about his baby sister, or if it was his kindness despite my crabbiness, or just the culmination of all of that combined with my horrible mood, but my eyes misted for the second time that night. In front of Shane. Please, kill me now.

  “You’ll feel better if you talk about it, I promise.” Shane touched his hand to my arm, and a warmth spread from where his hand touched, up my limb and into my chest, warming my insides. I wasn’t a warm insides kind of person.

  “Fine.” I exhaled. “My best friend is dating this girl.”

  “Okay.” Shane spoke each letter separately.

  “You don’t understand. My best friend that I have loved for the last four years found a new girlfriend.”

  “I see.” Shane studied me.

  “What do you mean, I see?” I shook my head.

  “I always wondered why you didn’t date. I just assumed it was because you always had your nose buried in a book or your face glued to a lab test. But you’re into chicks. I can dig that.”

  “What?!” I shrieked.

  “You’re best friend found someone else. I feel for you.”

  “Wow.” I shook my head in the negative. “Such amazing deductive skills, Sherlock. My best friend, Chris, who is a boy.” I stressed the word boy, making sure he understood the meaning. “Is in a relationship with a girl that isn’t me. Hence, my current sunny disposition.”

  “Okay.” Shane shrugged. “So you’re not into chicks?”

  “No, you idiot.” How was I going to get through eight weeks with this moron?

  “You sure?”

  “Ugh, Shane!”

  “I’m just wondering. You never date. It could be. Hey, no judgement here.”

  “I like guys. They just don’t seem to like me,” I admitted, shocked I had voiced as much out loud. I’d never shared that particular concern with anyone, even if it was a valid worry that kept me up at night. Why had Chris never even looked at me as if I were a girl?

  “Nah.” Shane chuckled. “I don’t believe that.”

  “No. It’s true. As sad as it may seem, Chris has never even seen me as a girl. And in the two years I’ve been here, I haven’t gone on a single date.”

  “That’s just sad.” Shane sighed deeply.

  “Thanks for that. You know, after the week I’ve had, that was exact
ly what I needed. That extra kick to the stomach while I’m down holding on to the last shred of dignity I have. You really are a star, Shane.”

  “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant...” Shane paused, clearly fumbling for the right words. “It’s just sad that no one here has dared approach you.”

  “I don’t think that’s the problem.” I felt very uncomfortable discussing this with Shane, of all people.

  “Abby, trust me. I’m a man.”

  “Those words offer me no form of comfort whatsoever.”

  “Abby, what I’m saying is, I’m a guy. And I would never ask you out—”

  “Wow, Shane. You know how to make a girl feel special. Do you practice this, or does it come naturally to you?”

  “Stop interrupting me and taking my words out of context. I was saying I would never approach you. You’re this confident, brainy girl that has this expression that reads Leave me alone. I don’t want you to talk to me. Guys get spooked by those kinds of girls. We’re not fearless like that.”

  “So you’re saying a guy needs to be courageous to even speak to me?” My voice rose with indignation.

  “I’m saying, not all men have the guts to do it.” Shane shrugged his shoulders.

  “But you’re confident, suave. You have no problem speaking to any woman. Why doesn’t a guy like you ask a girl like me out?”

  What was wrong with me? Why was I carrying on this conversation? I didn’t want a guy like Shane to look twice at me.

  “You don’t want guys like me asking you out. It’s written all over your face, your expression. There.” He pointed at me. “In that look right there. The first time I spoke to you, I sensed it. Girls like you don’t like guys like me.”

  Who knew a guy like Shane was so good at reading people? Or was it just women? From all the years of practice? Yuck!

  “I don’t want people to keep on overlooking me. I don’t want Chris to keep dating other women and not seeing me.” My eyes watered.

  “So, what are you going to do about it?” Shane asked matter-of-factly.

  “What do you mean, what am I going to do about it?” What could I possibly do? I’d thought about this for four years, and every attempt to change the situation had left me exactly in the same spot.

  “Well, how far are you willing to go, to get Chris to notice you?” Shane stared at me with this look I couldn’t quite decipher. It made me nervous.

  “I’m not sure I understand your question,” I said, biting my bottom lip.

  “Are you willing to try something new?” Shane’s eyes narrowed.

  “Um… I guess.” Knots formed in my belly.

  “Are you willing to let someone help you? Tutor you? Guide you through the process?”

  “I don’t know…” My voice dropped to a whisper.

  “Come on, Abby. Do you want to keep standing on the sidelines, or do you want guys to see you?”

  I tilted my head to the side, contemplating his question. Was I ready for people to see me? Really see me? Not just cast me a passing glance and move on, but stop and pay me attention? Was I even good enough to warrant such attention?

  “Do you want Chris to really see you?” Shane pushed.

  “What exactly are you suggesting?” I asked.

  “Give me four weeks. And I promise you, at the end of those four weeks, not only Chris, but every guy on campus, will be interested to get to know Abby Henderson.”

  “I’m not interested in every guy on campus.”

  “Four weeks, Abby.” Shane held out his hand and eyed me expectantly.

  I eyed his hand and his face and wondered if I should place my hand in his. This felt like one of those defining moments. Like one of those thriller movies where the good guy makes a deal with the devil and the whole thing goes downhill from there. I waited for the ominous music to kick in.

  When it stayed silent, I decided to put my tiny hand in his enormous one, hoping I wasn’t signing the last shred of my pitiful life away to some devious mastermind that would destroy all that was left of me.

  “Okay.” I shook his palm and felt that same warmth I’d felt earlier when he’d touched me. Weird.

  “Now, let’s get to work.” Shane switched gears so fast, my head spun. Or maybe it was my mind still spinning with the deal I’d just agreed to.

  I just hoped I wouldn’t come to regret it.

  -Chapter 4-

  When I agreed to four weeks at the mercy of Shane, I expected some elaborate plan that would involve getting out of my comfort zone. Some kind of strategizing, maybe meeting up with him to go over some pointers. Something. Anything, really. So far, nothing. Zip. Nada. I hadn’t heard from him. I’d seen him again on Monday in my chem lab, but he’d been all serious, no talking. When I’d tried to bring it up, he’d hushed me, reminding me of our predicament last weekend and how he didn’t want to lose another Friday night catching up.

  I could understand. There were more enjoyable things to do. But what the heck? He’d practically made me sell my soul to him, and now he left me hanging? I guessed I was either completely clueless about stuff like this, or he’d changed his mind and was trying to find a way to get out of it. And I couldn’t just text him or call him and talk about it, because idiot me had once again forgotten to get his number.

  And Shane hadn’t offered it.

  Huh. Maybe he had just been trying to shut me up so we could get our work done and he could get on with his weekend. Maybe that was it. Maybe he didn’t cancel after all but just delayed it, and he was trying to move things along. But that didn’t make sense. He was the one pestering me to talk about why I was so upset.

  See, this was why I didn’t mind skipping the whole boy drama. I didn’t even like Shane, and I had just spent ten minutes of my life I would never get back thinking about him and not getting any further with the problem I was trying to solve. A complete and utter waste of my time, if you asked me. I didn’t understand the girls that put themselves through this voluntarily. This sucked. Big time.

  Chris, on the other hand, had not left me alone. He’d texted, called, left me countless voice mail messages. All of which I’d successfully avoided so far. His texts I’d replied to with the standard quick message of I’m busy, speak soon. But we never did speak soon. Every time he called, I let it go to voice mail.

  There really wasn’t anything left to say. Sure, I missed my best friend. Grabbing a coffee together after his shift or watching a movie. We didn’t watch so much as we would stuff our faces and talk through any sappy parts and laugh when characters fell in love and professed their undying devotion for each other. Maybe now he was watching those movies with Evie and making out with her.

  Now, he was as ridiculous as we’d always thought those characters were.

  My life officially sucked on every level. Not only was I single, but the only guy I wanted was into someone else. And I was avoiding him because I was too chicken to tell him. I had thought when he was with Imogen, things couldn’t get worse. I was wrong.

  I had finally worked up the courage to bare my soul to him, and the stars just wouldn’t align for me to have my chance at happiness with Chris. I was doomed.

  I got up and got ready for the last day of the week. The promise of the weekend should have brought me some joy, but it didn’t. Still, I couldn’t spend another minute in bed wallowing. Haley had been up for two hours already. She’d gone for her run and was in the middle of her cooling down stretch-yoga routine in our living room, panting like a dog hyped up on steroids. If I wanted to have a hot shower, now was my shot. It probably wasn’t fair to sneak in before her, but she was most likely still hot enough she wouldn’t mind the water running cold. Plus, if I didn’t get moving, I’d be late for my first class. And I didn’t want a repeat of last Monday.

  I raced through my morning routine and downed a cup of black coffee before I raced out the door.

  “Don’t worry about me. I like my showers cold,” Haley yelled as I grabbed a granola bar and opene
d the door.

  “Love you, too, Haley,” I shouted, before running through the door and nearly crashing into a wall.

  “Hi.” Chris held me straight by my shoulders and pushed my backpack back onto my shoulder. It had sagged down my arm as I’d pummeled into him.

  “I’m late,” I snapped, not in the mood for chitchat and still set on my whole avoidance idea.

  “I thought I could walk you to your first class.” Chris matched my step, which had picked up in pace to an almost jog.

  “No Evie this morning?” I questioned. Not that I really cared, but I was curious why he was here, without her.

  “She’s on the swim team. Early morning practice.” Chris’s eyes took on that stargazed look as he stared off into the distance.

  “Bet she looks fabulous in a bathing suit,” I huffed under my breath.

  “What?” Chris shook his head, awakening from his daydream. Or whatever that was.

  “Nothing. I’m really running late.” I kept my voice in check, but I was struggling to conceal my annoyance.

  “You’re always running late. What’s going on?” Chris slowed down, but I kept walking. His hand reached out and curled around my wrist. “You’ve been acting weird ever since you got back from summer break. What’s really going on?”

  Wow. Genius. How could he not know? We’d shared everything together. Well, everything apart from the fact that I was head over heels for him. But still, how could he be so dense? Did he not see what was right in front of him? Did I need to spell it out?

  “Really? What do you think could be the problem?” My anger simmered under the surface, getting very close to the boiling point, ready to erupt.

  “I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.” Chris’s voice rose.

  “Take a guess. What could possibly be the problem? What has changed since summer break?” I folded my arms over my middle, balancing my weight on my right leg.

  “Are you upset about Evie?” Chris’s forehead wrinkled.

  Ding, ding, ding, ladies and gentlemen. We have a winner. I guess he wasn’t as dense as I thought.