Tomas was on his way to the main library when he spotted her.

The red-haired beauty known as Aila was coming his way! Should he hide?

He briefly thought about heading for the bushes until he realized he could use this situation to his advantage. Sure, he had embarrassed himself a bit first time they met, but he had acted suave and he could do so again.

Besides, the wedding was in two months and he needed a date…

While continuing on his way, he strolled leisurely on the opposite side of the sidewalk so as to not appear too obvious to want to meet Aila again as well as avoid bumping into her literally. That would leave quite a mark or a scratch depending on where they collided.

“Tomas, is that you?”, Aila squealed as she headed towards her direction.

Why are her hands opened?, he thought right before he was squished.

Ahhh, it appeared that a hug was in order. He hated physical contact, especially bone-crunching bear tree hugs, but for Aila, he was a softie.

Sighing, he let go of the hug and greeted her as an old friend. Not that she was old, she was ever-resplendent in her glow. It was familiarity he referred to, not her age. She was one of those women who had so much vitality that they would be young at any age.

“How are you, Tomas? How have you been since we last met?”, she asked with sparkles in her eyes.

“I’m just…wonderful.”, he responded, “and you? How have you been faring my lovely lady?”

“Good as always. There’s a new coffee shop around the corner from where I live and their coffee is just divine....Mmmm.” She took a sip and placed it on her lips like it was the last drink on earth.

“Really? I’ll have to check it out then.”, he said before some other university girls approached where they were standing.

“Hey babe, how you doin’?”, they jeered at him and made gestures Tomas did not understand.

One of them, a girl with the words MATERIAL GIRL on her shirt strutted up to Tomas and waved a card with her number at him. “Call me”, she yelled when she had given him the card.

Holding it in his hand, he was bewildered as Aila burst into laughter, clearly comprehending the situation better than he did currently.

“Do girls do that often to you, Tomas?”, Aila asked after she had stopped laughing.

“This is the second time this week actually. I’m confused why they think I would want their number.”, he replied back.

“You really are a nerd, aren’t ya? Didn’t your mother explain…ok, I’ll tell you what those disgusting girls with their immodest outfits meant.”

Tomas listened attentively as she described what they expected from him calling them and recoiled when he heard the word, hookup.

“That sounds like something my brother would do, not me.”, he told her.

“Well, at least you don’t have grown men trying to slap your butt. One of my uncles would try to slap my butt when I was a teenager…”, she recounted to him.

“What did you do?” “Let me finish Tomas! Now, I poured beer over him one time when he was chasing me around to slap my butt. Disgusting man. In my opinion, all grown men are disgusting.”, she stated.

“Aren’t I a grown man?”, he inquired.

“You’re not disgusting or sexually perverted in the head, Tomas. In fact, you’re smart, funny, hardworking, kind, and attractive. Totally my type…if I dated that is.”, she chuckled nervously after saying that thought aloud.

He’s the enemy, Aila reminded herself.

“Would you like to go out for ice cream?”, Tomas asked. His heart had spoken instead of his brain and now he was scolding himself internally for it. Why would an attractive girl like him want to eat ice-cream with a nerd? Nerds didn’t get the girl; only ultra-muscular Terminator men did.

“Of course! I love ice cream! I know just the place!”

She led him away to her favorite ice cream place within walking distance while he continued to chide himself without realizing her hand was in his until they came to Baskin Robbins.

“I’ll get a banana split for me and he’d also like a banana split as well.”, she ordered at the counter.

“You’re not letting me sample the new flavors, Aila.”, he teased, feeling like a little kid. He had not eaten ice cream in so long. Always studying for a different math exam as opposed to enjoying life with other college students. This would be his third year and he knew barely any of his peers except for maybe some in the math department who felt challenged by him and were competitive enough in their pursuit of a grade that they constantly drank coffee to keep themselves awake. However, he could not call those people his friends, more like enemies for the way they treated him.

They sat down at a table and devoured the ice cream like there was no tomorrow.

When Tomas had finally eaten all the vanilla ice cream, he looked over at Aila and made eye contact.

“So did you like this excursion, Tomas?”

“Yes, I wish I would do this more often.”, he answered.

Remembering why he had initially tried to bump into Aila, he decided to be bold and ask the question straight out.

“Aila, would you be date to my brother’s wedding?”

Silence reigned for a few moments and when Tomas had given up hope, Aila finally responded.

“YES! I love weddings, Tomas! Of course I would go if I could.” She jumped from her seat and cheered at his proposition.

“I know we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, but you’re the only girl I know that I could ask…wait you said yes?”

“I’m going to a wedding…when is the wedding? I have to prepare a dress to wear…and do my hair.”

“You’re beautiful just the way you are.”, he commented.