CHAPTER 3

***

Molly, true to Chris' word, was in her room, eyes glued to her laptop screen. From behind I could see her tight-fitting shirt, hugging a modestly attractive figure. She was more than one step away from an hourglass, but truth be told, that was a-okay in my books. A lot of girls may have looked conventionally sexy, but Molly looked real. It was a nice change, especially considering what I got up to away from the house. Her red curls hung down past her shoulders, slightly down her back, covering some kind of casual sweatshirt. She was so married to her work that she didn't even see me come in, creep up behind her, and hug her from behind.

"Hey, you." I started warmly.

She gasped in surprise at the sudden, unforeseen contact, but quickly relaxed. "You scared me!" She accused lightly, trying awkwardly in her chair to return the hug.

"Sorry." I said lightly. "Whatcha working on?"

"A paper for my classics course." She replied, looking over the screen. "How's your studying session going?"

"Like the rest, I guess." I replied, trying to be subtle about keeping my hands on her shoulders. "History's bland. Don't ever switch into it."

She chuckled. "I don't think a classics major is that much different." She told me warmly. "Just a few... y'know... thousand years."

"...Yeah. Other than that, same thing." I teased.

"Shush." She giggled. "I would have thought you'd think it was too late to bother me."

"Chris tipped me off." I answered. "We were all upstairs, watching TV and he got onto the topic of how lovely your hair is and stuff."

I could practically hear Molly's smile. I could picture it even though I was behind her. "Aw, he's such a sweetheart." She said lovingly. "He should be more serious about school though. He has a performance exam on Monday."

I snorted. "Y'know, people complain about stereotypes, and there he is. Theater major, leather vest, flamboyant hat that would put Liberace to shame..."

"So?" Molly asked. "It's not like he's harming anyone with it."

"Oh, I'm not saying that." I protested. "I'm just saying that he's going to give people the wrong vibes. Some people get weirdly angry when people are like that."

"Maybe, but that's their problem, not his." Molly argued. "You're giving him a hard time because of who he is. Lighten up a little."

Why was Molly the only girl in the world I had no clue how to talk to? "Sorry." I mumbled lamely, gingerly taking my hands off of her.

She sighed. "No, don't be." She said, closing her laptop and whirling around her chair to look at me. "I've just had a long day. I hate studying."

"So do most students." I told her. "That's why they don't do it much. They just have fun instead. Remember 'having fun'?"

She chuckled and stood up, hugging me. "Maybe I need a refresher." She told me. "Maybe I'll do something fun on the weekend."

"There we go." I smiled and broke off the hug. "Maybe we could do something together. How about I take you bowling? My treat."

"Bowling?" Molly asked me incredulously. "...Bowling?"

"Hey, you liked it in grade 9." I justified myself, shrugging.

"Oh boy. Four years ago. Thank you, Sir White Knight, for realizing that I never change." Molly took an over-exaggerated courtesy.

I laughed. "Alright, alright. Bowling's off the table." I let a pause sink in for effect before I asked, "So, when are you going to find your White Knight anyway?"

"I told you a thousand times, I'm not looking." Molly answered me. "I don't need to be part of a relationship to make me happy. I'm just fine on my own."

I shrugged. "Hey, sometimes, things just happen." I told her. "You may think you're fine on your own, but suddenly some guy comes up to you and bam! All of a sudden you can't think about anybody but him."

"So you keep saying." Molly told me. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were hitting on me."

"Well, good thing you do know me better then." I answered with a slight chuckle. "We wouldn't be a good match. The age gap thing would be too weird. That doesn't mean I'm blind to the fact that you're a good catch though. I don't want some guy seeing that and taking advantage of you. I just want to make sure you end up happy."

"Aw, I've got a big, bad older brother." Molly teased, before skipping up and hugging me again. "Thanks." She remarked as she broke the hug.

"You're worth it." I told her, using my finger to sweep a stray strand of hair away from her eye. She smiled up at me then looked down, and her eyes remained glued to my pants. "Uh, Aaron..." she started.

"What?" I asked.

"Your fly is undone." She informed me uneasily.

"Aw, son of a bitch." I remarked as I quickly did it back up. "That's embarrassing."

"I mean, it's cool." Molly replied, a subtle finish in her tone indicating she was giving the undone fly's origin some thought.

"I didn't mean for you. My whole study group probably saw me come back from the bathroom with it down." I lied coolly. "This is going to be like the third time. I wonder why they didn't say anything."

"If it's the third time, maybe it's because they figured you're never going to learn." Molly giggled. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now what about you?" She asked, walking back to her chair. "You haven't had a girlfriend since high school. If you're so sure I need a boyfriend, why don't you have someone to love?"

"You know me." I sheepishly replied. "I don't know how to talk to girls."

"Now that's just not true." Molly replied, working on her paper again. "I saw you every day in high school. You never weren't chatting up some girl. You're the smoothest guy on the planet."

"That's just your subconscious taking pity on me." I teased.

"You take one psych class and now you're a genius, huh?" She teased back.

"I am a genius, thank you very much." I told her with a smile. "Besides, I just don't think I've met the right girl yet. Or maybe I have, and she just hasn't noticed me."

"Well then, she's blind." Molly told me, still looking at her computer, away from me. "Any girl would be lucky to have someone like you."

My smile faded, but she couldn't see. "Yeah, sure." I replied, making it sound like the smile was still on my face. "Well, whenever you do get a boyfriend, make sure you run him by me first. I want to make sure he's worth your time. Us guys, we got a thing for detecting fuckboys."

"Huh?" Molly asked. "What's a... that?"

"Fuckboys?" I asked. "Guys who are just in it for the sex, have no emotional attachment. They're usually heartbreakers, but girls usually can tell they're not worth it. Unless the girls just want sex themselves."

"Oh, that's just pathetic." Molly replied. "You'd think by university we would have learned that sex is more than just arbitrary humping. You know what? I bet those guys are really lonely on the inside."

I stayed quiet for a while. She didn't notice, content to sit typing away. "Bet they are." I finally said. Silence followed, broken by the vibration of Molly's phone on her desk. After a small period of her reading it, she turned the chair around with a smile on her face.

"I think we have a winner for this weekend." She told me, grinning, showing off those perfect teeth of hers.

"Oh yeah?" I asked her. "What's that?"

"How would you like to come over and have dinner with my parents tomorrow?" She asked me, smiling.