My cell phone rings and I pick up.
"Hey David," the voice says. "Where are you?"
It's Lisa, a fellow biology grad student who's incredibly intelligent but also very chaotic sometimes.
"I'm at the library café," I answer.
"Do you want to...?" her voice pauses for a second. "I want to go shooting." she says.
"Right now," I say.
"Please."
* * *
Lisa is an exchange student from Madrid who I met at the beginning of the semester through the international club. Myself an exchange student at the university, I didn't know anybody the first week of classes, but I met Lisa because she was also a biology student. We had all the same classes and at night we saw each other again at the international club meetings. It was only natural that after a few days we became friends.
Later we spent a lot of time in the library studying and hanging out at the international club. One day as we sat buried under a pile of books in the library preparing for an exam, she leaned over and whispered to me. "This is boring. I'm going for a walk." I needed a break and so I followed her outside.
About a half hour later we walked through the park and down the paths along the river. As I listened to Lisa tell me about micro cell structure and other aspects of the exam I noticed some dark clouds blow over head, but didn't think much of it. Our focus on the exam drowned out the faint clamp of distance thunder.
"Smells like rain," she said suddenly closing her eyes and breathing deep. "I love the smell of rain in summer."
At first the rain fell in small drops but within a few minutes it was pouring down on us. It made no sense to run because there was nowhere to run to. So we walked in silence as the warm rain fell on us. When we came to a big soccer field, Lisa grabbed my hand.
"Come on," she said smiling.
She ran onto the field and kicked off her shoes jumping around in circles. At first I just watched. She splashed around and around like a little kid. It seemed as if something deep inside of her was coming out, the rain washing away the pressure of university study and exam preparations. The real Lisa was jumping around in front of me and for the first time I didn't see that logical and intelligent fellow grad student, I saw Lisa as a pretty young woman. She pulled my hand again, "come on, don't be so boring" she shouted over the rain.
Her light green summer dress stuck to her body and I could see the outline of her panties underneath. As she turned and jumped I watched how her wet dress traced every feature of her body and the way her wet hair stuck to her cheeks made me feel uncomfortable. As she ran around the field I followed her and couldn't stop looking at her body under that wet dress.
Lisa was just a friend and I'd never once felt any sexually attraction for her. I liked Lisa, but I guess I had only seen the logical and intelligent side of her. Our focus on studying biology didn't go beyond our own biological interests. I stopped in the field and just looked at her tan legs and how her dress clinched tight around her waist; something was happening to me.
"What's wrong with you?" she shouted pushing me, her hands landing on my hips.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed back. I could smell her skin and it felt warm in my wet hands.
"Me!" I said. "What's wrong with you crazy dancing lady?"
We pushed each other back and forth as she giggled like a school girl and her strength surprised me.