J E F F R E Y BROOKS
Jeffrey deflated a little at Eve’s initial reaction. Of course she wasn’t going to want to go with him, and it was stupid of him to have asked. But when she said yes, a mixture of excitement and dread swelled within him. A part of him had almost been hoping she’d say no: he’d done fine during dinner, but he was almost sure he’d do something stupid or be exessively boring and make her regret this entire date if they spent too much more time together. At the same time, he didn’t want this time they had together to end.
He shrugged at Evelina’s joke about him being a serial killer, “You’d be my first victim, so I’d say you might get a decent portion of the documentary.” He nodded when she insisted that she wouldn’t let him pay for her subway ticket. Jeff figured that was fair enough, though all he said was, “Okay.”
He let Eve lead the way to the station, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked. This entire evening had been full of more impulsive behavior than Jeffrey normally displayed in a month (at least, without the influence of his friends), but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t having a great time. Evelina was interesting, and talented, and there was something about her that Jeffrey found so charming. Maybe there was something there. She slowed down to walk down the stairs, and he just barely noticed her looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Of course, she looked away the moment he turned to look at her, but he couldn’t help but smile.
Somehow, it hadn’t even occurred to Jeffrey that Evelina might ditch him until she’d told him not to worry about her ditching him. “Okay,” He said, and- fighting the urge to ask if she was sure she didn’t want him to just pay her fare- added, “I’ll wait for you right inside.”
It didn’t take him long to get through the turnstiles and find a place to stand that was out of the way, but not somewhere Eve would have trouble finding him. As he waited, it struck him that he should text his roommate to let her know he might not be back until late. Not that she would worry, but there was a chance she might get worried, so it was better to let her know. He slid his phone back into his pocket as Evelina walked up to him. “Hey, if it works.” He said, with a smile and a shrug. Then a guard approached, and even though he’d personally done nothing wrong, Jeff found himself feeling nervous.
He didn’t get much of a chance to react, though. Eve grabbed his hand and started pulling him through the crowd. Jeff didn’t even really register her calling him David; it just rolled right off his back. He nearly ran into someone and said, “Sorry!” He actually did bump into someone else and shouted, “So sorry!”
There was a moment when he thought they were going to miss the train, but someone saw them running and held open the door, giving them just enough time to get inside before the doors closed. “Thank you so much,” He said to the stranger, who’d already started to move on. Jeff couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Evelina giggling, but he shook his head, “I’m not sure I’d classify that as ‘fun.’ Very thrilling, though.”
They only let go of each-other’s hands when they’d settled into a seat. The subway car wasn’t overly crowded, so there was a seat available for both of them. Jeff was thankful for that. He laughed when Eve promised not to be rowdy later, and nodded, “I’m not sure I could handle a repeat of that.” After the excitement, Jeffrey wasn’t sure what to talk about, but he also didn’t want to have any awkward silences to make this whole thing feel uncomfortable. As he was struggling to figure out what to do, he felt his phone go off in his pocket. He was sure it was from his roommate, probably some sort of “I wasn’t worried about you. Stop texting me on your date, loser.” Instead, he found himself staring at a screen of surprisingly sexually explicit emojis. Instantly, he felt incredibly embarrassed, and mumbled, “Why are you like this?” With a sigh.