Whizzer & Trina Talk (Again)

Trina

Winter break comes and goes, and soon we're all back at school and ready— well, no, not really ready at all— to learn. To tell the truth, I'm drained from seeing my family. I actually forgot how excited I was to go to college last year until I found myself counting down the days until I got back. Anyway, we're here and we're tired.

"How did it go with your family?" I ask Mendel as we're weaving our way through the crowded hallway. I actually didn't expect that many people to show up considering it's our first day back, but I was proven wrong.

"I didn't visit them," he answers.

I glance at him. "Friends, then?"

"No. I didn't visit anybody. I stayed in my dorm for two whole weeks." He sounds like he's telling the truth, but I still check his expression for any hint of sarcasm. There is none.

"Why did you do that?"

He shrugs. "It's kind of boring when I go home. This way I got to do a lot of studying."

That doesn't sound appealing at all, studying for two weeks straight in a small dorm, but it sounds a little better than visiting home. "What a eight your roommate?" I want to know.

"Gone all two weeks. It was just me and my work. Kind of peaceful, actually."

I nod. I should be taking notes for spring break. Anything would be better than having to explain to my parents why I'm still upset about the breakup with Marvin, which I came close to having to do this time but managed to change the subject before I could get to the part about him and his boyfriend going to my school.

I talk with Mendel a little longer, and it's nice to just catch up instead of how we usually talk. You know, me being a mess and him trying to be helpful but not knowing where to start. Soon he has to go and I'm left alone in the hall— though not exactly alone, because it's still packed.

How many months are left now? I think we get off in April or May. Not too long. I wish I could go those next few months without even thinking about my ex, but that's probably not going to happen. Not just because of circumstance, but because there's a part of me that doesn't want to. Our relationship might be well past over, but we're not.

Then I think about Cordelia and Charlotte. They've both been really nice, and I'm secretly glad to have made more friends than just Mendel. The problem is, they're friends with Marvin, and Cordelia literally lives with Whizzer. But maybe it's time to move past that.

In fact, I see Whizzer just leaving his classroom, and I start working up the nerve to go and talk to him. If you don't do it now, Trina, you never will. You two haven't even spoken since Halloween. It's been two months. Go talk to him.

So I do. "Whizzer!"

"What?" He turns fully and then spots me. "Oh! Wait. Trina. Hi."

"Hi." It doesn't take a genius to figure out he's already uncomfortable. And maybe he has reason to be. I wasn't exactly friendly to him the last time we met, because I was still holding the whole Marvin thing against him. But like I said before, it's time to forget. "I feel like we haven't talked much. How was your break?"

He looks away. "It was fine. I guess. Not too eventful. Well, I should probably be heading to my next—"

"Whizzer, wait," I sigh. "I know this is awkward. And I know you'd rather be doing anything else, and honestly, so would I. But we can't have this tension between us forever. Let's forget about Marvin for a second."

He rubs the back of his neck uneasily. "I've been trying to forget about Marvin for the past two weeks. We had a fight, actually— God, he was being so stubborn."

"Wait, what?" I frown. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It wasn't his fault. But it wasn't really mine either. We just had an argument, and I blew up and left." He shakes his head. "Whatever. That's not important right now." He points at me. "Forgetting about Marvin. Talking. What was it?"

"Right," I answer. "Okay. I guess I just wanted to ask... how's it going?"

"Besides the obvious? Yeah, it's going fine. I don't know if you knew, but Cordelia's my roommate, and..."

"No, I knew that. We've been talking a lot lately," I admit.

Whizzer smiles. "Oh, that's great. I mean, not great. Neutral. But not, like, bad. It's just that I don't care— No, not that. I mean, I shouldn't care."

"I get it," I assure him, because believe me, there have been a lot of times I've had to tell myself I shouldn't care. Like now, when Whizzer told me about their fight. But I shouldn't. And I won't.

We're standing in the hallway, saying nothing. Why is this so awkward? Despite the fact that he's dating my ex— or was. I don't know the circumstances, but for some reason there's a part of me that hopes they'll mend their relationship. Why? Is it because I still care about Marvin? Or I don't think Whizzer should be hurt the way I was? It's crazy because I barely even know him.

"So, what's your situation?" Whizzer asks finally. "You know, apartment or dorm? Or are you living with your parents?"

I shake my head. "Dorm. I don't think I could handle living at home and doing all my schoolwork. It's kind of nice with the dorm, though. There's a bathroom for our whole floor and a lot of the time there's someone else in there, so you're never alone."

"Sounds creepy," her remarks.

"Sometimes. But sometimes it's nice. That's how Charlotte and I started talking."

Whizzer nods. "Yeah. Hey, how are things with Mendel?"

"Fine."

"Just fine?" He raises an eyebrow. "Has he asked you out or anything?"

"What? No. Why would he have asked me out?" I know I'm blushing, but I don't care.

"No reason. I just thought he wanted to." Whizzer pauses. "Also, he told me he wanted to."

What.

I think he can sense my surprise, because he quickly changes the subject. "Uh, what... what's your major?"

"Mendel wanted to ask me out?"

"Mine is, um, fashion design. It's kind of cool but it's also boring sometimes because—"

"Why would you tell me this?" I groan. "Whizzer! Have some decency!"

He looks at me. "Why is it such a big deal? If you don't want to go out with him you can just tell him that."

"But what if I don't know?"

"You... don't know if you want to go out with him or not?"

I put my face in my hands. This is so much to process. My ex's boyfriend (?) has been talking to the guy I'm currently trying to repress any feelings for, and all of a sudden it turns out he likes me back. But how am I supposed to feel about that?

"I'm sorry I said that," Whizzer says quickly. "It's his business, not mine. And I guess now it's kind of yours. But trust me, it's going to be a long time until he actually does anything anyway. He's really nervous. So you don't need to worry about it right now."

That's a little reassuring. I lift my head and manage a smile. "Thanks, Whizzer. Just for everything."

"Yeah, of course," he responds, glancing around the hallway. "It was nice talking to you, Trina. Even if I made things awkward for you and Mendel."

"Don't worry about that. They won't be any more awkward than they already were."

"That's good to hear," he mutters. "Well, I'll see you around. Wait, give me your phone."

"Why do you want my phone? Don't you have one?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to put my number in it," he replies, staring at me with a slight frown.

I blink. "Oh! That makes sense. Yeah, of course." I take my phone out and unlock it before handing it to him. "Just maybe don't tell Marvin right away. I don't know how he'd take it. That is, if you two are even still talking."

"We aren't much, but I think we should be."

I smile. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks. You, too."

Marvin

I'm back in my dorm after a long and boring two weeks. I haven't spoken to my friends in ages. I wonder if just because Whizzer and I had a fight, we have to have a custody arrangement or something. From what I know, he's had Cordelia and Charlotte this whole time. I guess I could still talk to Mendel, but I don't want to talk to Mendel.

Speak of the devil (Whizzer, not Mendel, thank goodness), there's a loud knock on my door just as I'm trying to concentrate. When I open it, there's my boyfriend. Or, whatever we are at this point.

"What do you want?" I ask bitterly.

"This." He pulls me in by my shirt collar and kisses me, which is unexpected but greatly relieving. The problem is, I still don't know if I'm mad at him. Finally, he lets go. "Okay. Now that we've broken the ice, we need to talk."

I nod quickly. "Agreed."

"I gave Trina my number earlier," he tells me. My jaw drops, and I see a look of surprise cross his face. "No, wait. That's not what I was supposed to tell you."

"You what?"

"Okay, I remember now. I wanted to say I'm sorry for trying to pressure you to either come out or visit my parents instead of yours. I shouldn't have been so pushy and I should have respected your opinion."

"Yeah, yeah, dummy, I've forgiven you for that. But back up. You gave Trina your number?" I demand. "As in, my ex-girlfriend, Trina?"

He bites the inside of his cheek. "Well, yeah. I wasn't planning on telling you before we even got to talk again, but... yes. I'm going to be in contact with her, and I think that you should be able to deal with it."

"Oh, all right. Fine, you can talk to her. It shouldn't be my decision anyway. But why?"

"Well, we already both talk to all the same people. I don't see why not."

I sigh. "It's fine, it's fine. Actually, let's circle back to our fight from a couple weeks ago. I'm sorry about the whole thing, too."

"Don't be. You deserve to take your time."

"Yeah, but... maybe I'm just scared. To have you meet my parents. And to meet yours. I don't know. It just seems like things are going too fast."

He nods. "I get it. Well, from now on, we can go as fast or as slow as we're comfortable with."

"I love you," I tell him.

"I know."

I smirk. "You know, you could say it back."

"Yeah, but you already know I do too." He smiles. "How about we go inside?"

"We are inside."

"Inside your dorm, jackass."

"All right," I laugh. "Sure. But you know, I was about to finally get some work done."

"We can go study in the library again tonight," he suggests.

"Better than nothing," I reply with a shrug.