hug.
She beamed at him, and hugged him back. “ Hey! You were great out there! ”
“ Thanks, ” he answered proudly, clearly happy with his performance. After a moment, he looked past his sister over to me. “ And who is your lovely friend whom I have not yet been introduced to? ”
Kass rolled her eyes at him, but turned so that she could see both of us. “ Derek, meet my roommate and super awesome hot friend, Addy Trent. Addy, meet Derek, my super awesome, mildly attractive, sometimes cool brother. ”
Derek shoved his sister for that introduction, but I laughed. They were clearly close and I was just a little bit jealous. I was an only child, and there were times when I had wished for a sister or brother to share with. Or to blame things on, either way.
Derek took a seat on the other side of the table so his back was to the stage and he was facing both of us. “ So, Addy, my sister ’ s super awesome roommate, ” he started with a smile, focusing on me. “ Tell me everything about you. Your deepest, darkest secrets, your happiest and saddest moments. And most important of all, your favorite color. ”
For a moment, he had me worried with that deepest, darkest secrets line, but as he added the favorite color thing, I realized he was only kidding. I laughed with relief and he smiled, thinking it was more his humor than my relief that was the culprit.
“ Well, my favorite color happens to be —” I paused, my mind drifting back to that day in the shoe store.
What are you going to get, Addy?
Converse, duh. What kind of question is that?
I meant what color, idiot.
My favorite, what else?
I shook my head, focusing on the here and now. “ Green. My favorite color is green. ” I smiled widely, never imagining that I would be lying about the simplest thing.
“ Green ’ s good, ” Derek replied, still smiling at me.
We spent the next few hours together, hanging out and joking, talking about anything from music to movies to school.
Derek was a musician and loved his band, but he was premed in school and hoped to one day be a great urgent care doctor. He lit up when talking about his classes and what he hoped his future would look like. Kass teased him a little about it, that he was the smart one with idealistic dreams that would one day be crushed by the real world. But when she winked at him, I could tell she hoped that they wouldn ’ t be.
He asked about me, asking about my major, my interests, where I saw myself once I graduated with my business degree.
“ I ’ d like deal with the ethics side of business specifically, ” I admitted. “ There are a lot of people who do business purely for the money, not caring who they hurt along the way, but I think there should be people involved who do care. People who are going to make sure that businesses don ’ t take advantage of the little guy just to boost sales. ”
I found myself rambling and stopped, grinning sheepishly. I shook my head. “ Sorry, I just really get into this stuff sometimes. I know it sounds really nerdy. ”
Derek shook his head. “ It ’ s not nerdy at all. ”
But Kass turned to me and grinned, saying, “ It is definitely nerdy. ”
I swatted at her playfully, at which point she held up her hands and retreated towards the bar for some more drinks. Derek told her to grab him one, too.
While we had a few minutes alone, we continued to talk. He was impressed with my goal, and my dedication. Apparently, Kass has been talking about me more than a little to her brother. He told me that it was nothing but the good stuff. I rolled my eyes at him, “ Doubtful. ”
He laughed. “ No, seriously. She thinks you ’ re pretty great. ”
I glanced back over at my friend and roommate. She was talking to someone at the bar, waiting for our drinks to come out. “ Yeah, well, she ’ s pretty great herself. ”
“ There was one thing she didn ’ t mention to me, ” he said, thoughtfully.
“ What ’ s that? ” I asked,
She beamed at him, and hugged him back. “ Hey! You were great out there! ”
“ Thanks, ” he answered proudly, clearly happy with his performance. After a moment, he looked past his sister over to me. “ And who is your lovely friend whom I have not yet been introduced to? ”
Kass rolled her eyes at him, but turned so that she could see both of us. “ Derek, meet my roommate and super awesome hot friend, Addy Trent. Addy, meet Derek, my super awesome, mildly attractive, sometimes cool brother. ”
Derek shoved his sister for that introduction, but I laughed. They were clearly close and I was just a little bit jealous. I was an only child, and there were times when I had wished for a sister or brother to share with. Or to blame things on, either way.
Derek took a seat on the other side of the table so his back was to the stage and he was facing both of us. “ So, Addy, my sister ’ s super awesome roommate, ” he started with a smile, focusing on me. “ Tell me everything about you. Your deepest, darkest secrets, your happiest and saddest moments. And most important of all, your favorite color. ”
For a moment, he had me worried with that deepest, darkest secrets line, but as he added the favorite color thing, I realized he was only kidding. I laughed with relief and he smiled, thinking it was more his humor than my relief that was the culprit.
“ Well, my favorite color happens to be —” I paused, my mind drifting back to that day in the shoe store.
What are you going to get, Addy?
Converse, duh. What kind of question is that?
I meant what color, idiot.
My favorite, what else?
I shook my head, focusing on the here and now. “ Green. My favorite color is green. ” I smiled widely, never imagining that I would be lying about the simplest thing.
“ Green ’ s good, ” Derek replied, still smiling at me.
We spent the next few hours together, hanging out and joking, talking about anything from music to movies to school.
Derek was a musician and loved his band, but he was premed in school and hoped to one day be a great urgent care doctor. He lit up when talking about his classes and what he hoped his future would look like. Kass teased him a little about it, that he was the smart one with idealistic dreams that would one day be crushed by the real world. But when she winked at him, I could tell she hoped that they wouldn ’ t be.
He asked about me, asking about my major, my interests, where I saw myself once I graduated with my business degree.
“ I ’ d like deal with the ethics side of business specifically, ” I admitted. “ There are a lot of people who do business purely for the money, not caring who they hurt along the way, but I think there should be people involved who do care. People who are going to make sure that businesses don ’ t take advantage of the little guy just to boost sales. ”
I found myself rambling and stopped, grinning sheepishly. I shook my head. “ Sorry, I just really get into this stuff sometimes. I know it sounds really nerdy. ”
Derek shook his head. “ It ’ s not nerdy at all. ”
But Kass turned to me and grinned, saying, “ It is definitely nerdy. ”
I swatted at her playfully, at which point she held up her hands and retreated towards the bar for some more drinks. Derek told her to grab him one, too.
While we had a few minutes alone, we continued to talk. He was impressed with my goal, and my dedication. Apparently, Kass has been talking about me more than a little to her brother. He told me that it was nothing but the good stuff. I rolled my eyes at him, “ Doubtful. ”
He laughed. “ No, seriously. She thinks you ’ re pretty great. ”
I glanced back over at my friend and roommate. She was talking to someone at the bar, waiting for our drinks to come out. “ Yeah, well, she ’ s pretty great herself. ”
“ There was one thing she didn ’ t mention to me, ” he said, thoughtfully.
“ What ’ s that? ” I asked,
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