The guys are sitting around their usual table at the Warsaw.
"So, then I told Mimi why don't you just get some spray paint. Boy, was she fuming!" Drew said.
Oswald started laughing. Lewis kept staring at his empty mug.
"Hey, Lewis, what's the matter? That empty mug can't be that interesting," Drew said.
"I think Lauren's avoiding me," Lewis said.
"Now, why would you think that?" Drew asked.
"Well, I haven't seen her all week..." Lewis started.
"Oswald, have you seen her?" Drew asked, interupting Lewis.
"Sure, I have! What kind of stupid question is that?" Oswald said.
Drew sighed. "I meant, have you seen her this week?"
"No," Oswald said. "Why didn't you ask that in the first place?"
Drew rolled his eyes and ignored Oswald's question. "I haven't seen her either."
Kate came in and walked over to the guys' table.
"Oh, Kate, have you seen Lauren lately?" Drew asked.
"No, I haven't seen her in about a week," Kate answered.
"I'm going to her dorm," Lewis said, suddenly, got up, and left.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just call her?" Oswald asked. Then received a smack in the back of his head from Drew. Oswald looked around to find where it came from.
I'm at my dorm, sitting at my desk, going over some notes. I pressed my fingers over my eyes. All the words I was reading were starting to blur. I sat there like that until I heard the knock at the door.
I got up and opened it. "Lewis, what're you doing here?" I let him in and closed the door.
"Where've you been all week?" he asked.
"Here. Mostly reading," I said, motioning to the stuff on the desk. "I was just going to take a break. Everything was starting to blur together."
"You're working yourself too hard," Lewis said. "I mean, I know you have to study, but you need some time away from it... or atleast a break here and there."
"Yeah, I know," I said. I sat on the end of the bed. "It's just that everything major comes at the same time... honors bio paper, bio poster, marketing paper, coupla speeches. That's just mid-semester. It's driving me nuts!"
Lewis took a few seconds to figure out everything I just said, then sat down next to me. "You'll do okay. You're probably just driving yourself nuts."
"I know," I said, then looked down at the floor.
He lifted my chin with his finger so I'd look him in the eyes. Without speaking, we moved closer until we kissed.
We stayed that way for several minutes, then, eventually, we started to tip over. Now, laying sideways on the bed, we stayed like that for several minutes. I didn't know how it happened.
Realizing, I pulled away. "What just happened?"
From the look on Lewis's face, I could tell he hadn't even noticed we'd tipped over until I pointed it out.
"I don't know," came his response.
Again, we stayed that way, but for a few moments, staring at each other. Then, as if on cu, we both sat up at the same time.
"I think I'd better get back to studying..." I said, sorta dazed.
"Yeah, I guess I'll get going. I'll call you alter," Lewis said, standing.
"Okay," I said, not really listening.
He left. I stayed sitting on the end of the bed. I turned around and looked it over.
'What the hell happened here?' I kept asking myself that question over and over. I turned, swung my egs over the end of the bed, rested my elbows on my knees, and my chin in the palms of my hands.
At Drew's house, the light was on in the kitchen. Lewis went around to the back and knocked.
Drew went over and opened the door. "You knocked. My God, next thing you know, hell's gonna freeze over."
"I'm not in the mood, Drew," Lewis said, then sat at the table. "I gotta talk to you."
Drew followed suit and sat next to him. "What about?"
"Well, first, you mention none of this to anyone, okay?" Lewis said, looking at the table.
"Okay," Drew agreed.
"Okay," Lewis said, then paused.
Drew knew this was something big. He could tell from the look on Lewis's face and the fact that he was staring down at the table.
"I talked to Lauren, sorta," Lewis said.
"So, you found out why she hasn't been around?" Drew asked, choosing his questions carefully.
"She's driving herself nuts studying for one thing," Lewis said, sounding more like himself. He paused and his tone changed again. "But there's more..."
Drew waited. He started thinking there was something really weird going on.
Lewis took in an audible breath. "So, I told she needed a break... we ended up sitting on the end of her bed kissing and fell over. Of course, I didn't even noticed until she pointed it out." The last part of what he said just came out all at once and his tone of voice had gone back to normal.
"Wow," Drew said, not knowing of anything else he could possibly have said. He paused. "Well... wow." He was definitely at a loss for words. He paused again, then went to say something, but stopped.
Lewis stopped staring at the table to watch Drew do that a few more times. "Well?"
Drew gave up. " I don't know what to say." He paused. "Usually this would qualify for a beer or something."
"So, you know what the problem is?" Lewis asked.
"Yeah, I know. Just sorta caught me by surprise," Drew said. "You don't want to mes this up."
"Exactly," Lewis said. "So?"
"What?" Drew asked.
Lewis sighed. "So, should I go apologize or what?"
"Well..." Drew started, sounding like he was going to say no.
"Thanks, Drew, that was alot of help," Lewis said, sarcastically, got up, and left.
Drew remained at the table. "I wonder if, when she says jump, he asks how high..."
Still at my dorm, I was just about to fall asleep, when I heard the knock at my door. "Man..." I rolled out of bed and walked blindly to the desk to turn on a light. I clicked it on and started blinking. I took a few seconds to let my eyes adjust to the light, then went to answer the door. I put the chain on and peeked out. "Lewis?"
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"Why?" I asked, wary of what happened earlier.
"I wanna apologize," Lewis replied.
"All right," I said, then closed the door. I took the chain off and opened it again.
Lewis came in and and I closed the door behind him.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I swear I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't even know," he said.
"I figured that from the look on your face. Still, it just scared the crap outta me. Well... you know what I mean," I said.
"Yeah," Lewis said. "See you tomorrow?"
"Sure, yeah," I said, then let him out. I closed the door and leaned against it.
I woke up, again, at about 2am. I couldn't sleep, so I got up, changed out of my pajamas and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, put my sneakers on, grabbed my jacket and left. I headed for DrugCo. I knew Lewis would still be there. I got to the building and went inside. Now, it was just a matter of fnding Lewis.
I went down a couple of halls and stopped. I thought I heard something.
"Dammit!"
It was muffled, so it didn't come from this hall, but atleast I knew I was on the right floor. I started down the hall again, not really even thinking about why Lewis said that. I turned a corner and saw Lewis closing a door after himself. He seemed to be cursing himself.
Lewis turned in my direction. "Lauren? What you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep," I said, then moved closer. "What happened, you get in a fight with the lab monkeys?" I noticed several cuts on his face and neck... and tried my darndest to not burst out laughing at him.
"Yeah, I was conducting wrestling matches," Lewis said. "One of 'em got the better of me... They're not that bad, are they?"
"Nah," I said.
"Good," he said. "Well, I'm done for the night. You wanna go back with me, we can stop and get something to drink..."
"Sure," I agreed.