Twenty-two year old Josh looked up from the sketch he was doing of the girl who he had a crush on. The moment she had walked into class, Josh had the urge to draw her, even though he wasn't the greatest artist. But he remembered how she had moved the previous night at Sword Team, as graceful as a dancer but with a hard edge to her--exactly what samurai sword called for--and he suddenly wanted to draw her. Josh watched her now, her slender body now slightly hunched over the computer in concentration, her caramel hair pulled high to a ponytail on the crown of her head, her face a little flushed he guessed from the cold wind that she had walked through outside.
She turned, as if she felt him watching her. Josh held her blue-green eyes for just a second, before he hunched over the drawing he had started of Catie.
Twenty-year-old Catie had felt Josh, her asian TA, watching her the moment she walked into the room. She could feel his dark, slightly tilted eyes almost burning a hole into her neck, but it still sent shivers down her spine. She remembered how they had sparred the night before, and brushing up against his body to avoid the blows of the foam swords they used. He had a long, lean body, and now, he sat on the far side of the room, his jet black hair pulled back into a low, flowing ponytail, his goutee surrounding lips that could be easily made to smile. She turned to look at him, before he went back to sketching and she went back to her coding.
Computers weren't her forte, and the fact that the computer class Catie was in was learning a newly made program (this was the guinea pig class), didn't help her at all. She soon got stuck trying to figure out a section and raised her hand. She kept her eyes on the screen, trying to figure out what she did wrong.
"What seems to the be problem?"
Catie felt Josh against her, and suddenly, her breath quickened.
"This part, trying to make both the person and the ball roll. I thought I had it, but it's not working."
Josh sat down next to her, his body brushing against hers, as he looked over her coding.
"Ah! Here's the problem. You forgot a comma."
"I figured it was something simple. Don't go yet, as soon as I fix it, I am done and I need this marked off by either the professor or you."
"I am glued to the seat," Josh joked.
Catie fixed the problem quickly, giggling at the comment. She found where the comma needed to go and inserted it. She ran the program and it went smoothly.
"Nice work," Josh said, and marked her module sheet.
"Thanks. Well, that's all I need, so I am going to head out. I will see you at Sword Team tonight?"
"Yeah, I will see you then," Josh smiled. He saw Catie blush, and a shy smile cross her lips.
Josh was watching the sparring session, particularly Catie. For some reason, she seemed exceedingly aggressive, which was almost a 180 from how she was that afternoon. He was worried she was going to hurt herself, and within five minutes, his fear was founded.
The foam sword of Catie's partner went wild and hit her in the face hard. She stumbled, and almost fell over. Josh ran over to her side.
"You OK?" he asked, steadying her.
"Yeah, give me a second to get my bearings," Catie said, shaking her head and blinking her eyes hard. She gave Josh the impression that she had had worse hit her in the face. But when she straightened herself, Catie swayed a little and clutched her stomach, like she was sick.
"OK, I think I am going to take you over to the health center," Josh said, making up his mind. He helped to get off the rest of her sparring gear, and gathered her stuff and his (sword team was ending in a half hour) and put his arm around her to help her out.
If Catie hadn't been so dizzy, she would've bee enjoying the feel of Josh's arm around her. The cool night air hit her face, and helped ease her nausea, even though the walk from the gym to the health center was a short one.
He stayed with her as a nurse looked Catie over.
"She looks fine, but she might have a concussion," said the nurse.
"Please tell me that doesn't mean I have to be awakened every two hours, just to be on the safe side," groaned Catie.
"You have done this before," joked the nurse as she handed Catie the piece of paper with instructions on it. She looked over at Josh. "Are you going to be watching her?"
Josh froze for a second.
"She is going to need someone to wake her up every two hours and keep an eye on her or even keep her awake all night."
"Sure, I can watch her."
"Good. If she doesn't wake up at one point, call 911."
Josh and Catie walked out of the health center, their sword team clothes not withstanding much of the cold outside. Catie started to shiver.
"Let me take you back to my place so I can keep an eye on you," Josh said. The last thing he wanted was for something to happen to Catie.
"You don't have to do this, Josh."
Josh looked Catie in the eyes, and while she had protested, he saw that she didn't want to protest, that she had a look in her eyes that made her want to stay with him. And in the back of his mind, he wanted her to stay with him.
"I'm insisting that you do. Last thing I want to tell Professor Wanda is that you ended up in the hospital from a concussion."
"Well, it would save me a call if that did happen."
Josh guided Catie down the campus streets to his apartment, just outside of the back entrance of the college, the streetlights giving a mystic glow to the darkness. Each time the light passed over them, Josh looked at Catie from the corner of his eye, the light casting elegant shadows along her slender neck.
They arrived at Josh's place, and both of them almost ran in from the cold. They got inside the door, and Josh flicked on the light, turning towards the sound of Catie's teeth chattering.