Accidental Date Read online

  Accidental Date

  By Erik Schubach

  Copyright © 2015 by Erik Schubach

  Self publishing

  P.O. Box 523

  Nine Mile Falls, WA 99026

  Cover photo © 2015 By Kudryashka / ShutterStock.com license

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, blog, or broadcast.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  FIRST EDITION

  Tutor

  I had been waiting for the calculus tutor in the coffee house across from the New York Academy of Art, which had the comical name of Campus Grounds. I sat at the table in the far corner so the guy would know where I was. I only knew that his, or her, screen-name was K. L.

  He was almost a half hour late, that’s the problem with setting things up over the internet. You never know if you’re going to get a flake or someone brilliant, but the school vets all of the tutors on the site so they know their stuff.

  I obviously didn’t know my stuff which is why I needed a tutor, I needed to pass calculus to keep my scholarship. I couldn’t afford tuition without it and I didn’t want to go back home to Seattle with my tail between my legs.

  I shrugged out of my downy winter jacket, I was getting sweaty in the heat of the shop. I was nursing my second coffee, hoping I wouldn’t get kicked out for loitering, but the people here were friendly. I was pulling the front of my red blouse away from my sweaty chest to let some air circulation in when a blonde girl about my age, maybe a year or two older flopped down in the booth on the other side of the table.

  The mop of curly honey blonde locks looked barely contained as they cascaded and pooled around her shoulders and flowed back down her stylish green, knee length winter jacket. Her brown eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief behind her glasses with ridiculously thick black rims that made her look like a librarian or a consummate geek with impeccable style in clothing.

  Her lopsided smile just made me smile right back at her as she said in a smooth contralto voice with a hint of an accent I couldn’t quite place. “I seriously didn’t think you’d be here. And wow, they weren’t kidding when they said you were cute.” Then she added in a whisper, “To tell you the truth, I thought they were going to set me up with a guy again.”

  I blinked twice as I blushed at the compliment, this woman was definitely not what I expected in a tutor. Who said I was cute? She seemed flirty and fun. I realized I hadn’t said anything and almost stuttered out, “K I presume? I’m Angela Sutter, Angie.”

  She soured at K, but that’s all I knew about her. She tilted her head with a grin. “Eww… None of that Kay stuff, call me Kennedi please. You ready to go?” Oh, we were going somewhere else for the tutorial session? Then why meet here? Then I realized it must have been to ease the worry of meeting a stranger somewhere not public.

  She stood quickly and helped me into my jacket. Her smile just kept forcing my matching one out of me. She was a tiny person like me. We both seemed to top out at five foot two since I could look directly into her eyes. I liked that for some reason, I’m always the shortest person in the room.

  I slung my book bag over my shoulder and she offered her arm. I grinned at her antics and accepted the proffered arm. I felt silly about it but she seemed to be in a very chipper and playful mood and it was certainly contagious. We walked past a table with a nervous looking man in a red shirt on the way to the door.

  As we stepped into the bracing winter air and the snow covered streets, Kennedi asked, “You like chick flicks?” That was a non sequitur. I just nodded and said, “Who doesn’t?”

  Her face softened and she reached over toward my face, I froze as she moved a lock of my jet black hair back over my ear. That was almost an intimate gesture and I think I stopped breathing for a moment. Was this girl into girls? She said with a grin, “I love your ebony hair, it frames your face and brings the attention to your blue eyes.”

  Then she was dragging me along the sidewalk. I was blushing, no guy had ever said something like that to me. She seemed so sincere, though I knew that nobody would ever consider me pretty. I swear I never grew out of that awkward teen phase. I oddly liked the attention and just hugged her arm in thanks for the compliment.

  She asked me all kinds of questions about myself and shared interesting and often humorous things about herself. The girl was easy to talk to and full of charisma.

  I was a little confused when she pulled me up to the window of the Royal Theater and said “Two for Midnight Never Comes.” We were going to waste time we could be studying with at a movie? I really needed the help so I just kept my trap shut. Besides, I was really enjoying the attention Kennedi was paying me. She was making me feel special, like I were important, and that was so refreshing. Maybe we could be friends after I passed my math class.

  We grabbed some snacks and then went into the theater. She asked where I wanted to sit. That was a first, nobody in my family or group of friends back home ever asked where I wanted to sit in the theater. We always wound up sitting close to the front where my neck ached from looking up by the end of the movie.

  I grinned and blushed at my own realization and said almost as a question, “Near the top?”

  She did a soldier about face with a comical wiggling of her eyebrows. “To the top!” I couldn’t stifle the giggle at her antics as I followed her up. We slid to the middle with our backs to the projection booth wall.

  We shut off our cell phones then just sat there, her leaning into my personal space as we sat shoulder to shoulder as we snacked on popcorn and chatted about ourselves through the previews. Then the movie started.

  By the middle of the movie when it looked like the heroine would never find love, I froze. Her hand had snaked out to grasp my hand. She was making a move? I was right about her vibe. A million thoughts went through my mind. The predominant one was, “But she’s a girl Angie.” My hand made the decision for me as I timidly laced our fingers, to be rewarded by an almost relived smile on the blonde’s face as she tried hard not to look down at our hands.

  This just made me feel all warm inside then I remembered to start breathing again as I fixated on the warmth of her hand in mine and how I wasn’t freaking out about it. It was… nice. She made me feel like I mattered, like I was desirable. And I liked the feeling.

  At the end of the movie, she didn’t release my hand and I blushed and couldn’t meet her eyes. I kept looking down. I felt so shy around her knowing she somehow seemed to find me attractive when not even I felt that way. I kept glancing at her. She was geeky cute with flair. I’m sure it is an intentional look.

  She asked where to and I assumed that she meant to go study. Normally I’d have said someplace like the library, where it was safer with a stranger, but I was feeling really comfortable with her already from what I had learned with what she had shared with me about herself so far. I wasn’t even feeling self-conscious holding another woman’s hand out in public like this. I found myself saying, “My dorm.”

  The looks she kept giving me were starting to heat me up as we walked in the night. Streetlights were casting an almost magical glow on the snow. I was… I was loving the attention and found myself apprai
sing her differently. She was cute, damn cute. I caught myself fascinated by her lips. To my surprise I was a little aroused.

  We reached the dorm and I said, “This is it,” as I fished the keys out of my purse and looked up at her. She seemed beyond nervous suddenly and she leaned in. I stopped breathing and my body leaned in automatically and we met at the lips for a tender, electric kiss. I realized how much I actually wanted this and I fought back a tear.

  She blushed after we broke the kiss and said to the ground as she shuffled her feet. “Thanks for tonight Angie. I really had fun. Could I… could I call you sometime. You know, to do this again?”

  I blinked. “Umm… you’re not coming up? What about my math?”

  She looked confused and made a bitter face, “Math? Ewww…”

  I must have looked like an idiot standing there just blinking at her. Then I finally sputtered out. “Are… aren’t you the tutor?”

  She squinted like I was on drugs or something. “This was just a blind date that Fred and Lynn set up. They said to look for the red shirt.”

  I suddenly felt like an idiot. I had just assumed. Then I felt almost jealous that she was there to meet someone else. She probably wouldn’t have given me the time of day if she didn’t think her friends set it up.

  She started chuckling. “You weren’t there for a date were you Ang?” I shook my head slowly, now tears were threatening for another reason.

  She saw this and she was suddenly in my personal space again with a tender, concerned look on her face. She wiped an escaped tear from my cheek with her thumb. “shhhh… It’s ok Ang, I really…” Then she grinned, “Really enjoyed this accidental date. You are pretty damn awesome.”

  I blushed at the words and the sincerity in her eyes. She hugged me then kissed me again. I kissed back desperately. Then we both giggled a bit over the misunderstanding. After a beat, she said firmly, “I still want to do this again if you want to. I’d kick myself if I let a hottie like you get away.”

  I was blushing profusely now and nodding like an idiot. She thought I was a hottie? She smiled like she had just won something and stepped back a little but not leaving my personal space. “Gimme yer phone and I’ll hook you up with my digits.”

  I grinned at her playfulness. I was going to do this, I was going to start a relationship with another woman, who I admitted to myself that I did find sexy and desirable. Someone who actually liked me for me. I nodded and pulled out my phone and turned it back on.

  A second later I was giggling at the text message displayed on the screen. Kennedi tilted her head and was just grinning at my giggling. I shrugged and showed her the screen. “Apparently, my math tutor, K. L. got into a skiing accident today and needs to reschedule the tutoring session.”

  She started laughing with me until we met eyes again. Nothing was funny suddenly as we went silent. God she was sexy. I leaned in and we shared another good night kiss.

  The End

  Books in the Music of the Soul universe...

  (All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

  Music of the Soul

  A Deafening Whisper

  Dating Game

  Karaoke Queen

  Silent Bob

  Five Feet or Less

  Broken Song

  Syncopated Rhythm

  Progeny

  Girl Next Door

  Lightning Strikes Twice

  June

  Dead Shot

  Short Stories in the Music of the Soul universe...

  Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker

  Wallflower

  Accidental Date

  Valentine of My Heart

  Books in the London Harmony series... (A spinoff of the Music of the Soul series)

  Water Gypsy

  Feel the Beat

  Roctoberfest

 

 

  Erik Schubach, Accidental Date

  Thanks for reading the books on GrayCity.Net