Chapter 3: Second Chance

It was another two weeks before I dared to returned to the cafe.

It was sad, really, seeing that the cafe was one of my favourite spots in town.

Today, though, I am meeting Sarah, a close friend from university.

At least there'll be another person to help if the weirdo is still hanging around, I mutter to myself as I push the cafe's doors open.

Sarah had not yet arrived, so I picked a seat by the window and occupied myself with my phone.

Out of my peripheral vision, I see someone approaching.

Sarah's fast today, I thought.

It was not Sarah.

It was The Guy who had "rescued" me from a certain slimy Logan.

Instead of sitting down, however, he towered over me, saying a soft "hey" that made me entirely self-conscious.

"Hey," I say in return, not sure what else to do. Should I invite him to seat down? Would he feel obligated to, if I asked?

My mind went into overdrive.

"Good to see you again," he says without a hitch.

It was then that I realised he was holding on to his coffee, on the way back to his seat.

"Yea, me too," I say coolly. Or should it have been "You too?" Jesus.

He smiles, nonetheless, and makes his way back to his seat, where I noticed he was with a female companion.

Hmmm.

At this moment, Sarah barges into the cafe and hits me unceremoniously on the shoulder as she draws near.

"Did that guy just talk to you?" she prodded without preamble.

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you even know who he is?!"

"Uh... should I?"

"He's Dylan Yang!" Sarah whispers agitatedly, barely succeeding at keeping her volume down.

"What?" At this point, I'm just befuddled by her reaction.

"Dylan? Yang? The TA from school? Who also teaches at his own online school?"

The name sounds rather familiar, but I draw blank on the face.

"Anyway, why was he talking to you?" Sarah went on. "Have you spoken to him before in school? Does he know who you are?"

I sigh. "Can we order first? It's gonna be a long story."

As I regale Sarah with the tale of creepy Logan, I can't help but wonder why I had never noticed Dylan in school. I mean, it's not like we have an abundance of cute boys in our course of study.

I push further thoughts of Dylan (now I know his name!) out of my mind as it was Sarah's turn to update me on her life.

All in all, it was a good catch-up session with Sarah, although I had to stop myself, more than a few times, from checking out what Dylan and his companion were doing.

They seem to be having a good time. She was laughing a lot.

As we get ready to leave, I cast a final glance at Dylan, who I realised had been hanging out for some time, too.

Both him and the girl were concentrated on a laptop, faces close together.

Sarah and I part ways on the pavement, and we wave goodbye as I stroll down the streets, hoping to tick some errands off my list before heading home.

Not ten steps later, however, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turn around, squinting against the sun to make out Dylan.

"Hi," he says again, and immediately my face heats up.