You act surprised. “Wait – Inez?”
She turns to you and blinks. “Yes?”
“I thought I recognized you. It's good to see you.”
She joins you against the wall, but her face is wary. “Do we know each other?”
You nod. “It was that party, at the start of the semester."
She frowns. "I don't remember you."
"Well...." You look down at your shoes, feigning embarrassment. "I never got up the nerve to speak to you, actually."
"How did you know my name, then?"
You shrug. "I asked a few people."
She leans against the wall now, her body relaxing. "You don't seem to have a problem speaking to me now," she points out.
"It took me two months to run into you a second time," you say. "Who knows how long before I get a third chance?"
"Strike while the iron's hot," Inez says.
"Exactly."
"Well, since you've been all brave and all...." She reaches out and tugs your sleeve. "Follow me."
Now we're getting somewhere, you think.
She leads you out of the building and halfway across the quad, to a semicircle of concrete benches arranged around a statue of some decades-dead alumnus.
"Sit," she invites you, and you both do.
"So," she says.
"So."
"You're at a party," she says. "You see me across the room – and it interests you enough to ask who I am. Interests you enough that you still remember me – and my name – two months later. So what was it?" She leans forward onto her knees. "Am I that hot?"
"No," you say quickly.
"No?"
"I mean 'Yes,' but that wasn't it." Your mind grasps for something a little more romantic. "It was your smile," you tell her.
"What about it?"
"I like the way it always makes you look like you're up to something."
"That's not quite it," she tells you. "When I smile, it's because I find most of what I see in the world around me to be ridiculous."
"Oh." You grin and nod quickly, like you understand what she's talking about.
She just stares back at you, watching.
"Do … do you find me ridiculous?" you venture.
"Jury's still out." And then she just stares back at you again.
You find you can't meet her gaze. You study the toes of your shoes instead.
"What religion are you?" she asks suddenly.
"That's an odd question to ask right out of the gate," you point out.
She shrugs. "Not really. I find that a large segment of the population loves talking about religion. It's getting them to stop that's the problem."
"Heh," you agree. "Well, I don't really have one."
"You find that more and more these days," she says. She turns her hand palm upward, checking her wristwatch, which she wears on the inside.
"What about you?" you ask quickly.
"I'm a Taoist."
"Now that's interesting," you say. "I've never met a Taoist before. What's it like?"
"Not much to tell," she says. "It's less a religion than a philosophy. There aren't any Taoist churches or holidays or anything."
"Then how do you be one?"
She shrugs. "You just float downstream," she answers.
You have no idea what that means, but something tells you that now's not the time to show ignorance. So you change tacks. "What's your major?"
She fixes you with a hard look. "Really? That's the best you can do?"
"Fair enough," you say. "What do you do when you're not doing schoolwork?"
That smile again. "Well, I spend a fair amount of that time asleep."
"You know what I mean," you tell her.
"Give me an example."
"Well," you say, "back home I've got a pretty sizeable coin collection."
"Why?"
This woman, you decide, has a talent for turning conversations sideways. "Because I enjoy it," you answer simply.
Her eyes narrow and she twists up one corner of her mouth. "It just always seemed like a weird hobby to me. I mean, it's basically just buying things, right? You go to the coin shop, buy a Liberty head dollar, and then you've . . . well, you've got a Liberty head dollar. You seal it up in a plastic container and file it in a box somewhere."
"That's pretty much it, yes," you admit. "But I've got coins from as far back as the colonial era, and even a few from ancient Rome. Each one is a bit of history. I can look at my silver denarius and wonder about all of the different people's hands it must have passed through over the centuries."
She nods. "Okay, I'll grant you – that is kind of cool."
"Why?" you ask her. "What's your hobby?"
"Puzzles."
"Jigsaw?"
She shakes her head. "Pencil and paper. Crosswords. Cryptograms. Sudoku. Logic puzzles. Riddles. You name it."
"I've never been good at those," you admit.
She doesn't answer, but just nods, her gaze drifting off across the quads to one side. You're losing her.
"What sort of music do you listen to?" you ask quickly.
Inez checks her watch again. "Look, it was nice to meet you and all, but I've got places to be."
She stands, and you rush to join her. "Wait – can I get your number?"
She steps forward, patting you lightly on the chest. "Tell you what," she says. "When we run into each other a third time, that's when we can exchange phone numbers."
"But—"
"Nice meeting you," she says with a half-hearted wave. When she turns away, she's got that same mischievous smile on her face again.
So close, you moan. That was so close.
But at least now you know, finally, how to start a conversation with her. Should be easy enough.
You jump back five minutes, leaning back against the wall as people start streaming out of their classrooms.
When Inez appears, you come away from the wall, acting surprised. “Wait – Inez?”
She turns to you and blinks. “Yes?”
“I thought I recognized you. It's good to see you.”
She joins you against the wall, but her face is wary. “Do we know each other?”
You nod. “It was that party, at the start of the semester."
She frowns. "I don't remember you."
"Well...." You look down at your shoes, feigning embarrassment. "I never got up the nerve to speak to you, actually."
"How did you know my name, then?"
You shrug. "I asked a few people."
"Huh," she says. "That's not creepy at all." And she turns and walks away.
"Wait—" you call after her. But she's gone.
You stand there puzzled as people continue to stream around you.
"Let's try that again," you mumble. You jump back sixty seconds, leaning back against the wall as people start streaming out of their classrooms.
When Inez appears, you come away from the wall, acting surprised. “Wait – Inez?”
She turns to you and blinks. “Yes?”
“I thought I recognized you. It's good to see you.”
She joins you against the wall, but her face is wary. “Do we know each other?”
You nod. “It was that party, at the start of the semester."
She frowns. "I don't really do that many parties."
That's not what she's supposed to say, you think to yourself, and your mind races trying to figure out how to respond.
She frowns at you.
No good – let's try that again.
You jump back sixty seconds, leaning back against the wall as people start streaming out of their classrooms.
When Inez appears, you come away from the wall, acting surprised. “Wait – Inez?”
She turns to you and blinks. “Yes?”
“I thought I recognized you. It's good to see you.”
She joins you against the wall, but her face is wary. “Do we know each other?”
You nod. “It was that party, at the start of the semester."
She frowns. "I don't remember you."
"Well...." You look down at your shoes, feigning embarrassment. "I never got up the nerve to speak to you, actually."
"How did you know my name, then?"
You shrug. "I asked a few people."
She squints back at you. "Who?"
"My friends Jim and Kathy."
"I don't know any Jim and Kathy either."
"Well, they know you, I guess."
"Well, this has been absolutely fascinating and all," Inez says, "but if you don't walk away right now I'm going to show you some of the things I learned in the self-defense class I took back in high school."
"What?"
She lifts her chin and her eyebrows. "Scram," she tells you, in the kind of soft, calm voice that's more intimidating than a shout.
You step away quickly and she strolls off in the opposite direction.
You find yourself wandering back outside, and end up on the concrete benches that Inez had led you to before. That should have worked, you muse. It worked before.
Oh well, you think. At least I can get her number the third time I run into her –
But you stop yourself. The Inez who made that promise was three altered histories ago. If you meet this Inez again she's more likely to just clothesline you.
You could keep on trying, of course, but that seems to be an iffy proposition at best. Maybe it's time for a break. You decide to take yourself to the student union instead for a cup of coffee. You just sit there quietly for several hours, waiting for your head to clear.
By the time your coffee has gone cold, the sun has set outside the windows and you've decided what to do next.
Go wait outside her classroom again and ask her for directions.
Go wait outside her classroom again and pretend you met her once at a party.
Go wait outside her classroom again and tell her you and she had a class together sophomore year.
Go wait outside her classroom again and tell her she’s beautiful.
Go wait outside her classroom again and ask her out on a date.
Or you can think better of it, deciding instead to