Lexi's Final Year

Chapter 33

The rest of March was a big blur for New York University students. Assignments became plentiful and classes flew by week after week. Even Reading Week went by in the blink of an eye. Yet even with time seemingly going by so fast, each student had the same goal in mind— to successfully get through the rest of the semester.

Despite the recent news of being accepted into her dream grad program, Cassie hadn't let up on her hard work. She kept doing well on her assignments in the hopes of graduating with extremely high marks. Not only that, but she also managed to make time to hang out with her friends, attend therapy, and make time for herself. After all, she deserved to take breaks here and there.

Then there was the Johnathan situation. They hadn't spoken much since he had asked her out last month. The few times they had exchanged words, it had been in passing whenever they happened to run into each other. Cassie had noticed how he didn't look her in the eye whenever they spoke. He also didn't smile as much as before. It ate away at her anytime they spoke.

Cassie was going to class one Tuesday afternoon when she noticed Johnathan leaving the same lecture hall she was waiting to enter. She waited until he got to the door to catch up with him.

"Hey, do you have a minute?" she asked.

Johnathan jumped. "Uh...sure."

The pair moved away from the classroom and stood by a pair of windows. They made sure to get out of the way of any students trying to get into the lecture hall for class.

"Look, I wanna apologize for rejecting you last month," Cassie began.

"Don't worry about it," Johnathan chuckled. "You don't have to go out with me, you know?"

Cassie searched his face for any emotion. His light blue eyes held disappointment, which betrayed his words. She bit her lip while running one hand through her dark brown hair.

"I...I owe you an explanation."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do," Cassie said in a firm voice. "I don't want you to think I said no because I have a problem with you or something, 'cause that's not the case."

Johnathan furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Cassie sighed. "It's just... I haven't dated anyone in a few years. Embarrassing, I know. So, when you asked me out...it shocked me. And honestly, I panicked. I also haven't been with a lot of people before. I've only had one boyfriend before, and the last time I dated people, it was a very unpleasant experience. Ugh, I don't know. I feel like I'm not making much sense."

"No, you are," Johnathan replied, his voice calm and level. "I had no idea."

"I never told you before, so how would you have known?" Cassie pointed out.

"Fair enough."

"And the thing is...I do wanna date you," she added. "I wanna see what happens between us. Maybe things will go well; maybe they won't. But I still wanna pursue...whatever the hell this is."

Johnathan's face lit up. "Wow. Cassie, I...Thank you for your honesty. And you know what? It's okay if you don't have a lot of dating experience. That doesn't bother me, okay? I'm still interested in you."

Cassie exhaled a sigh of relief. "Really?"

Johnathan nodded. "Really! So...do you wanna go out with me?"

"I'd love to," Cassie answered with a giggle in her voice. "Name a time and a place, and I'll be there."

"How about dinner this Saturday at Jenny's at six o'clock?"