Chapter 2

I did resist for the rest of the summer. I didn't interrupt his scheduled gaming time even once, and the couple of times I came over in the middle of an unscheduled raid I just sat patiently and waited. It was difficult to resist exploiting the weakness, especially when I was bored beyond belief, but I told myself that it was a good chance to knock some books off of my reading list. By the end of the summer I realized that I was beginning to understand some of the stupid words that he kept using and was able to keep up with the concept of the game. I wasn't sure whether to be proud of myself or horrified.

When classes started again there was a marked decrease in gaming. We were both taking some harder classes and were swamped with projects and papers. It took some serious scheduling to even manage to see each other during the week, and sometimes it was only for half an hour before one or both of us had to run off to study group or class. We missed each other, but both of us agreed that our education came first. We also made a point of making the time up on the weekends whenever we could.

My photography club scheduled a week long trip the week after midterms, leaving on the Wednesday after grades were posted and coming back late the following Tuesday. I was excited about going, but not looking forward to missing a weekend with Jason. He skipped his study group the night before I left so that he could take me out to dinner and still make sure that I got into bed early.

"So, I have some bad news," he said when we met at the Mediterranean restaurant.

"That's not what I want to hear tonight," I whined. "Why does bad news always crop up at the stupidest times?"

He shrugged, not looking too happy about the situation himself. "I didn't want to ruin our last night together for a while, but I didn't want to tell you on the phone while you were gone, either. So, I'm going to have to go out of town next weekend."

"Oh, no ... is everything okay?"

"So far," he replied. "But you know how I told you that my grandmother is sick? She's not expected to make it until Christmas, so my family is all getting together in Portland for an early Christmas thing. I'm leaving that Thursday afternoon and getting back super early on Monday."

We were sitting on cushions on the floor, and I leaned into him, taking his hand in mine and squeezing. I'd never had a family member die, so I felt very useless in the face of such a thing. He looked down at me and smiled. We sat in silence through the appetizer, watching the belly dancers go by and just enjoying each other's company. Finally he said, "So maybe we can get together for lunch next Wednesday and Thursday before I go, at least?"

"Definitely," I said, leaning up to kiss him. I didn't mention that I had been given Wednesday off of classes, including string ensemble practice. In the back of my mind a plot had already begun to form.

The trip to New York was a lot of fun, both studying other people's photos and taking our own. We got to talk with a couple of famous photographers and, in the case of one, even hang out while they were working with a model. In between educational and artistic ventures, however, we had plenty of time to ourselves. That meant that I had plenty of time to go shopping for an important part of my plan. As we packed up on Tuesday evening, I wondered vaguely if airport security would rifle through my shopping bags and see what I'd purchased. Part of me was mortified at the idea, but I couldn't help the wicked grin that came across my face when I thought about scandalizing some TSA person for the day.

We arrived back on campus around 3am, and I went directly to my dorm. I sent Jason a text message to let him know that I'd gotten home ok, but didn't get a response so I knew he was probably very asleep. I very quietly unpacked my bags and repacked a small duffel bag, trying not to wake my suite-mates. I knew that if they heard me up and moving, they would poke their heads in to see how the trip went. I imagined them walking in just as I was opening one of my new purchases and found this substantially less amusing than the idea of airport security looking through them. After all, I had to see these girls every day!

Finally ready, I passed out on my bed just as dawn was breaking.

I woke to the sound of my cell phone beeping loudly at me. I answered it without looking, muttering a rather grumpy salutation.

"Good morning sunshine!" Jason's voice came from the other end of the line. "Are you ready to have lunch with your favorite boyfriend? Today I will treat you to your choice of Subway, pizza, or bad Chinese food."

"You're my only boyfriend, so you kind of auto-win in that category, don't you?" I asked, blearily. "If you keep being so cheerful this early in the morning, I will be forced to remind you that you are also my least favorite boyfriend, by default."

"Ouch! That stings. But really, it's already 1pm. How much more into the afternoon can it get before it's no longer early in the morning for you?"

"Shit, is it really that late?" I asked. My stomach rumbled an answer before he could confirm it. "You know, bad Chinese food sounds lovely. Let me throw on some jeans and a shirt and I'll be down. Meet you at the Student Union?"

"Sounds good!"

I picked out my loosest pair of jeans and a shapeless t-shirt on purpose, then put my hair up in a messy ponytail. I didn't bother with makeup or perfume, just washed my face and left. Normally I would have tried my best to look nice after such a long separation, but this was no normal day. My understated appearance was all part of my plan. If Jason noticed, he didn't seem to care at all. He swooped me up into a big hug and spun me around once before setting me down and kissing me soundly.

"I missed you so much," he said.

"I missed you, too," I said. "It was fun, but all I could think was that it would be more fun to be in NYC with you, you know?"

He grinned. "We'll definitely go do that someday. For now, however, let us partake in sweet and sour chicken."

Lunch passed uneventfully, both of us talking about things that had happened while we were apart. Granted, a lot of what we had to say was redundant because we'd talked on the phone every night that I was away, but it was so good to hear his voice that I didn't bother pointing that out. I think he felt much the same way. As we parted he looked sad.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked. "I'll probably have to leave a little earlier since my plane takes off at 4pm and I have to be at the airport an hour before that."

It killed me to keep my secret, but I just smiled and said, "Sure. I can't wait! I'll talk to you tonight."

I waited until 7:30pm to leave my dorm, trying to make sure that he wouldn't be expecting me. I'm sure I looked funny shuffling out in a bulky sweater and a long skirt in the unusually warm fall weather that we'd been having, but I didn't care. I drove to his apartment and dashed up the stairs, listening at the door to see if I could hear him in the living room. After a few seconds I decided that the coast was clear and let myself in, slipping through the doorway as quietly as I could and into the far side of the living room. Safely out of sight from the rest of the apartment, I quickly shed my bulky clothing and stuffed it into a corner.

Underneath the top layer I was wearing an outfit that I'd picked up in a costume shop in New York. It was a Catholic school girl's uniform with a super-short pleated skirt, tight button-up shirt, and white knee socks. I'd put my hair into ponytails and finished it off with my black high-heeled mary janes. I checked my makeup in the mirror over the fireplace, making sure that it was still in place. I'd tried very hard to make myself look even more girly than normal, with soft tones and cotton-candy flavored lip gloss. Everything was perfect, so I called out for Jason.

He didn't answer me at first, and I thought that he might not be home. For a moment I was sure that I had done all this work for no reason, and I almost cried. Then I heard the sound of the keyboard clicking from the bedroom and realized that he was already playing his game and couldn't hear me. It was still a little before 8pm, but apparently they had started a little early. Oh, well, I thought. I'd tried to make it beforehand to avoid being rude. Now I was simply going to have to interrupt!

I picked up my duffel bag and walked into the bedroom, setting it beside the bed without him noticing. Then I backtracked and stood in the doorway, calling his name with increasing amounts of volume until he finally turned around.

"Holy shit," he breathed, blinking twice at the sight of me standing in the doorway in my outfit. Then he said, "No, not you guys. Sorry, hit the button at the wrong time. I'll, uh, I'll be right back." He took off the headset so that he could turn his chair completely around to face me.

"So, I didn't go to strings practice tonight," I said, a bit unnecessarily. "Do you like my new clothes? I picked them out just for you. I kind of had to guess, though. Do you like plaid?"

He seemed to be having trouble speaking, so I crossed the room to the bed. "Anyway, I don't want to interrupt your gaming time. You go ahead and play, I'll entertain myself, ok?"

"Ok," he said, but didn't move to pick up his headset. I sat down on the bed, then reclined a bit, leaning my back against the wall. The short little blue and black plaid skirt made it easy to see that I wasn't wearing underwear, especially from his viewpoint. I let him take a good look before rearranging my legs to something a bit more modest. Then I waved my hand at his computer, watching him with an expectant look. He turned around reluctantly, still glancing over at me frequently, and put his headset back on.

"Uh, sorry about that, guys. Something unexpected came up. I don't know if I'll be able to run tonight," he said, turning to look at me again. I smiled beatifically and made another shooing motion back at his game. Apparently all the other players were complaining, too, because he finally agreed to run as long as he could.