Courtesy of Mendel

Mendel

It's April now, and Trina and I have been together for exactly two weeks. It's still such a new relationship, and I honestly don't know what to think about it. Obviously, I'm happy, because I was the one who asked her out in the first place. But this is the first dating experience I've had since middle school, and I'm terrified I'm going to mess it up.

When we spend time together, it's usually in the library or in my dorm, because my roommate is out most of the time and we're alone. If it gets too quiet we'll hang out with Whizzer and Marvin and Cordelia and Charlotte, mostly at Whizzer and Cordelia's apartment. The six of us have been getting along a lot more since spring break, and I think Marvin might finally— miraculously— be okay with seeing his ex-girlfriend with someone else. Ignoring the fact that she had to see him with someone else for over six months.

Speaking of Marvin and Whizzer, they seem to be doing okay. I'm not totally sure what kind of relationships they (or at least Whizzer) have been in before this, but it looks like they're getting pretty comfortable, after a year. As for Cordelia and Charlotte, they've changed a lot from that condescending medicine major and drunk girl I met at the party in October. Their relationship has done well for them, too.

But enough about those four. Let's get back to me and Trina.

We're at the apartment now, the six of us, and the chaos is slowly beginning. Actually, that happens every time we get together. The spring break trip was a clear example of that.

Cordelia's taking out a basket of laundry, and Whizzer goes over to sort through it. He takes it from her hands and dumps it on the floor, to her dismay.

"Ugh," Whizzer mutters, tossing aside piece by piece of clothing. "Where is it?"

"That was clean laundry," Cordelia complains.

"Cordelia, I have a dinner party to go to tomorrow night, and I need my one good dress shirt."

She raises an eyebrow. "Who invited you to a dinner party?"

"One of my professors. Move, I'm going to look downstairs." He leaves the apartment, evidently to go check the laundry room for his missing shirt.

Trina and I stand off to the side in the meantime, sharing a look every one in a while then quickly turning away. I feel like a middle schooler again, being embarrassed at the slightest glance. I'm glad when Charlotte comes out of the kitchen and starts talking.

"What do you guys want to do now?" she demands. "We can't just invite everybody over and bore them for three hours."

Cordelia looks up from the laundry she's scooping back into her basket. "Shouldn't you be getting started on dinner?"

"Why do I have to make it all by myself? I don't even live here."

"You act like you do anyway," Cordelia grins, picking up a dish towel and flicking her with it as they both walk into the kitchen. Now Trina and I are alone. Maybe it's good, though. We should spend more time alone together, shouldn't we?

It doesn't matter, anyway, because Marvin ruins it by walking out of the bathroom. He looks around the living room, confused. "Where is everyone? When I left the room was full."

"What about us?" Trina asks, pretending he hurt her feelings.

"Ha. I'm trying to forget about you guys." Marvin looks at the laundry, then glances up. "No wait, I was joking. You know I'm totally fine with— with this."

"We know, Marvin," I sigh.

Charlotte comes in again, so I guess Cordelia's making dinner for now. She sits on the couch and crosses her legs. "Hi again, everybody."

"Hi," I mutter, leaning on the armrest.

"How are your psychology classes treating you?" she says to me with a hint of sarcasm. "Think you're fully trained yet?"

"You think you're way better than me because you're studying to be a family doctor, don't you?"

"At least I don't make it my whole personality."

Trina shoots us a look. "Stop arguing."

"Is that Mendel and Charlotte?" Whizzer's voice comes as he enters the apartment. "They're always going on about something. It's getting kind of old."

"We'll play nice," Charlotte tells him, turning to glance at me. I give her a forced grin and a thumbs-up. She just turns away.

"Did you find your shirt?" Trina asks Whizzer, who's coming into the living room now. He nods and holds it up, then looks to Marvin.

"What are you wearing tomorrow, babe?"

Marvin blinks. "Oh, that? I don't know. I guess I'll just go in whatever I wear to school—"

"Ugh." Whizzer rolls his eyes. "You don't want to dress up at least a little bit? This is a semi-formal dinner party, Marvin. Don't embarrass me."

"Fine. I'll wear a tux," he replies sarcastically. "Would you like me to get it fitted today?"

"I said semi-formal."

"Did you not— I can't do this. You're impossible." He shakes his head and goes into Whizzer's room to get away from all this.

"Look for some nice clothes while you're in there," Whizzer calls. He faces the three of us again. "Well, that was exasperating. Is somebody making dinner here?"

"If you want food, pick your lazy ass up and make it yourself," shouts Cordelia from the kitchen.

"She's making it," Charlotte assures him. "Sit down. Relax."

Trina glances toward Whizzer's bedroom. "Is Marvin coming out of there, or...?"

"He's just in a time-out," Whizzer answers calmly.

"I'm not in a time-out!" I hear Marvin protest.

"You know what?" I say, holding my hands up. "I think I'm going to go before dinner tonight. Thanks, everyone, and I had a really great time, but this is just a little too much for me."

Trina nods. "I think I want to head out, too. Mind giving me a ride home?"

"Well, I don't actually have a car, but you can take the bus with me?"

"See, Marvin? Everyone's leaving because you're being a stubborn child," Whizzer calls to him.

I raise my eyebrows. "Ohh-kay. We're going to go now."

"Bye, Cordelia! Bye, Whizzer! Bye, guys!" Trina says as we head toward the door. "Thanks so much for having us! We should really do this again!" When we're out in the hallway, she exhales and looks at me. "Do you want to do this again?"

I shake my head. "Not if we can help it," I admit.

She laughs. "I love them, I really do, but I had to leave before things got out of hand."

"Uh, Marvin was in a time-out, Trina. I think things already got out of hand."

"Fair point," she breathes. "All right. Well, we just missed dinner and I'm still kind of hungry, so do you want to go somewhere?"

I hesitate. Sure, I do, but where would we go? And what would we talk about? Chill out, Mendel. Dating is no different from when you guys were friends. Okay, yeah, it is, but when it all comes down to it, you're still the same people. You've been alone together before and you can do it as a couple. "Yeah. Sure. Where should we go?"

"Honestly, I don't care. I just want someplace I can get a decent coffee and something to eat." She runs her hands through her hair, obviously drained from everything else that went on.

So now it's my decision. I don't really care where we go either, so I come up with the brilliant idea to get on the bus and go to the closest restaurant to the first stop. Thankfully, we don't have to go far, and the place looks okay. The best we can do on a busy Thursday night, I suppose.

To tell the truth, the food isn't half bad. And what's best about this is we're getting an opportunity to have a conversation. Not just small talk— we do that every day, anyway. But about our relationship. Our new, two-weeks-and-counting relationship.

"You know, I didn't think I was ready before," Trina tells me. "With Marvin and Whizzer and the stress of all my courses, I barely had time to relax. And opening up to you helped. And then I developed feelings for you. Which made things even more stressful."

I nod while she's saying this. "But... you're ready now?"

"Of course I'm ready now." She squeezes my hand across the table. "You've really helped me, Mendel. I mean it. I was in a pretty bad place those first few weeks. Oh, God." She takes her hand away and presses it to her temple. "This year. So much happened this year."

"It's a lot to unpack," I agree with a laugh.

"Like, where did Cordelia and Charlotte come from? They were just suddenly there for me. And that was really great, too. So was becoming friends with Whizzer."

"Obviously that must have been hard."

"The hardest," she responds. "I mean, what do you say to your ex's new boyfriend? You don't ever want to meet him in the first place. But then you do. And then you go on a week-long trip with him." She glances to me. "Courtesy of Mendel."

I lean back against my chair. "Is Mendel a universal thing?"

"It should be." She takes my hand again and smiles. "Everyone should have a Mendel."

"Well, I'm glad to be your Mendel."

She laughs. "So, what do you think? Are we coming back here?"

"I think so. The food wasn't bad. And the service was pretty quick." In general, the restaurant is great. It has such a cozy vibe. And I'm not sure if it's just us, but it's easy to relax and really talk to someone here.

"Yeah. You know what, I'm going to write that down. Charlotte and Cordelia and I should come here for breakfast this weekend. That's something we haven't done in a while."

"Right," I answer, even though I don't exactly know what she's talking about. I rest my chin in the palm of my hand and stare at her. Trina's amazing. I'm really glad that I've been able to spend all this time with her, and be there for her in the ups and downs of our freshman year. "Hey, so, three more years of college."

She looks up. "Oh, yeah. Wow, this has gone by so fast already."

"Agreed. What do you think it's going to be like?"

"I can't guarantee it's gonna be any easier than this year, but the whole thing with Marvin's over, so that's refreshing." She pauses. "Actual classes aside, I think college is going uphill."

I give her a smile. "That's good to hear."

We finish up at the table and head back to the bus stop, which, again, is not too far at all. By the time the bus arrives, the sun's gone down, and the sky is a dark grayish-blue. I can tell there are a lot of clouds coming in, and it may or may not start raining before we get home.

I don't mind much, though. It's nice to just be sitting here, with Trina.

"You okay?" she asks me when I turn to look at her.

"Never been better."

We both smile, and then I lean in to kiss her. I don't want to make a public display of affection or anything, but there's barely anyone else on the bus, and so it's not a big deal. I'm suddenly embarrassed when I pull away, but she's still smiling, and something about it relaxes me a little.

"I've had a great night," Trina says, resting her head on my shoulder. "I really like spending time with you."

"Same here," I reply. Her head is just beside mine. I lean slightly against it, and we sit the rest of the bus ride like that.