CHAPTER 10
Max looked around and was surprised to find Allie already sitting at a table.
Wow, she's already here,
he thought.
A cute little smile came over the brunette as she waved him over. "Over here, Max!"
"Hi, Allie!" Max joined her and sat his backpack down.
"Thanks for meeting with me. I know you offered to help me a while back. I have a calculus final coming up, so I finally decided to take your offer."
"No worries. I was actually surprised you accepted my help."
"John said it was a good idea to accept your help," she explained. "He said you helped him a lot in high school."
"Yeah, I remember that," Max replied with a chuckle. "We weren't even friends or anything. We just happened to sit by each other in class and I didn't mind helping him because I like math. I never really thought anything of it, but I guess he feels like he owes me after all these years."
"Yeah, that was really nice of you to help him. I think he really appreciates you for that. He's always saying positive things about you."
Max shook his head and chuckled to himself, thinking,
What a good guy.
Before pulling out her stuff, Allie looked over and asked, "Do you like coffee?"
"Not really."
"I don't really like it either."
The young boy laughed, surprised. "I figured you did since you wanted to study at a coffee shop."
"I just really like this shop," the short petite woman explained. "It's a really good place to study when you want to get out of your room."
Max looked around, seeing what the coffee shop had to offer. "We should at least buy something if we're going to sit in here."
"Oh, I will," Allie assured. "They have really good muffins. You should try one!"
They studied together for a few hours. Max was impressed that the cute girl didn't need too much help. Unlike the people usually tutored, the sophomore had a good understanding of her material.
The boy wasn't the only one surprised from their first time being alone. Allie noticed he never once tried to put a move on her or even ask anything personal. It made her wonder if he was even interested at all.
As they finished up, she noticed he was about to leave without giving her a hug or even asking to meet up again. Curiosity finally got the best of her, and she asked, "Can I tell you something?"
Max stopped right in his tracks. "Yeah, sure."
"I had some reservations about hanging out with you," she admitted. "But I feel much better now. You never did anything creepy or even hit on me."
Max was a bit taken back. "Ummm... I don't think I'm that type of guy. I don't think I could hit on someone even if I wanted to."
The young boy's acceptance of his own awkwardness made Allie laugh. She could see how nervous he became when he was confronted. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asked, daring to push the boundaries a little further.
Max scratched his head and avoided eye contact. "Ummm... Not really..."
"Not really? What does that mean?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders and responded, "I don't really like talking about it..."
Hearing that only made the young woman more curious. "Oh, come on! You can tell me."
"Well... I kind of thought I was dating someone..." he said, finally looking her in the eyes. "But... I wasn't. And... she's with someone else now."
Guilt filled the cute little sophomore as she sensed the pain in his eyes. "Max... I am sorry..."
The boy was hurt, but he tried to blow it off. "No, it's okay. It's not a big deal. But yeah... I'll see you later."
Before he could leave, Allie ran up to him, and he gave him a soft hug. "Yeah, I'll see you around. Thanks for helping me study."
As they went their separate ways, Allie continued to feel an enormous amount of guilt for pushing such a sensitive subject. She constantly shook her head, wondering,
What was I thinking?
That night, she couldn't get it off her mind.
He clearly didn't want to talk about it,
she thought to herself.
I should have taken the hint.
I guess I really misjudged him,
she continued to ponder.
I should make it up to him somehow... I'll think of a way!
****************************************
A few days later, Max walked into the same coffee shop to find the cute little sophomore waiting for him, once again.
"Max, I got us a table!" she said as she waved him over, just like last time.
As the young man put his backpack on the table, he noticed Allie didn't have any of her study material. "Where are your books?"
The cute little brunette just giggled. "I didn't invite you to study."
"You didn't?"
"I just wanted to hang out."
"You do?" Max asked, almost blushing. He couldn't believe a cute girl would want to hang out with him, expecting nothing in return.
"Yeah, I do," she responded with a smile. "And I also wanted to apologize for last time. I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me about your last relationship. You made it pretty clear that you didn't want to talk about it."
Hearing a sincere apology was a breath of fresh air for Max. "I wasn't upset at you. It's just a complicated story so I didn't feel like getting into it."
"It sounds pretty interesting..." Allie admitted. She patted him on the hand said, "You can tell me if you want, but you definitely don't have to. I'll be understanding either way."
With a warm heart, Max simply responded, "Thanks."
Allie left the table to place an order. When she came back, she brought a large frappuccino and a muffin to the table.
"I thought you didn't like coffee," Max said with a confused expression.
"I don't, but this isn't really coffee. It tastes more like a milkshake." The cute brunette then sucked on the drink through a straw before passing it to Max.
Max looked at her with a confused look on his face.
"Try it," she said.
"Okay..." He began opening the lid before he was stopped.
"Just drink it through the straw, silly!" Allie said, laughing. "We're not in elementary school. I don't have cooties!"
Max blushed as he slowly put his lips on the straw, knowing the cute brunette had already used it. Though it was obviously far from a kiss, it was the first time he swapped saliva with someone in a long time.
"How is it?" she asked.
"It's really good... I mean the drink is. I wasn't talking about your spit."
Allie made a confused face at the young boy but could see how nervous he was growing. Just as she suspected, he wasn't Mister Suave around women.
"It's not that your saliva didn't taste good," Max frantically tried to explain. "I didn't even really taste it. I meant to talk about the drink and nothing else, but it came off wrong."
The cute girl started to laugh before stopping him in his tracks. "It's okay, Max! I know what you meant."
Max had a sigh of relief and chuckled with his new friend. "Oh, sorry!"
"So, you like the drink?" she asked with a smile.
