The Writer

Chapter Six

The next time I had WRT 101 I walked into class telling myself that I was going to sit right beside Maxwell. I'd walked in, almost jumping out of my skin when Maxwell waved and greeted me like last time. I almost ran in the other direction out of nervousness, but I took in a few breaths before heading to seat right beside him. He seemed surprised, but he had a wide smile on his face when I placed my bag on the desk and took out my notes.

"Not running away again, are you?" he asked, laughing. My cheeks burned at his teasing, but I didn't say anything in response. The lecturer came in soon after, and we started out with the ink shed panel, then moved on to generative writing.

I paused typing into the word document on my computer to look at Maxwell from the corner of my eye. He was doing the work as well, humming under his breath when he would stop periodically to read what he'd typed up.

"Maxwell," I called, making him turn over to me.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you taking this class? Aren't you a music major?" I asked, watching as he muttered a low ''oh' before smiling.

"Everyone needs English credits, but you can take a writing class instead," he explained, making me nod in understanding.

"We'll be doing a short peer feedback section for the work you're typing now in a few minutes," our lecturer said, making me and Maxwell look towards her. She had a short pixie haircut and blonde hair that was graying out. I looked away from her when Maxwell chuckled a bit, making me turn my gaze to him instead.

"I guess we'll be partners then," he said with a small smile, making my face grow warm as I turned back to my laptop, biting my bottom lip as I stared at the words I'd written so far. There was suddenly a pressure on me to write better, even though it was just a warm-up piece.

After a while, we sent out documents to each other and read them through. I showed Maxwell some things he could work on, and he just nodded as I spoke to him. When it was his turn to give me some feedback he just shrugged, sighing a bit before talking to me.

"I don't know what to say, I just like it." The words made my face grow warm as I smiled at that. As much as I appreciated the compliment I don't think I'll be sitting with Maxwell in the next class since I need actual feedback. Though, I was happy he liked it — really happy.

At the end of class I got up and started packing my things, and when I was done I zipped up my back, jumping back a bit when I turned to find Maxwell still sitting down beside me on the desk. He was and smiling at me, c*****g his head to the side and letting out a chuckle when my face grew red in embarrassment.

"Err..."

Doesn't he have a class now? I asked myself, trying to look at anything but his smiling face. I wanted to be around him, but his smiles made me giddy and nervous, and sometimes all I wanted to do was run in the other direction until my cheeks stopped flaring.

"Do you want to eat lunch together? This is your last class today, right? My lecture at the end of this class on Monday is three hours, so I don't have it again on Wednesday," he said, smiling up at me as I adjusted the strap of my backpack. The lecture hall was emptying out, and we were soon the only ones left in it. I found myself nodding, and Maxwell's smile widened as he got up from his seat.

"Great, I'll pay for lunch so don't worry," he said, walking towards the exit with me following behind him. We walked out of the humanities building together, and soon we were walking side by side as we headed for the student union building.

When we got into the cafeteria at the top floor he dropped his bag on a two-person table before following me to one of the lines to get food. I found myself stealing glances at him from time to time, watching as his lashes fluttered, or how his thick brows bent in a frown when he was deciding what to get for lunch. I'd look away whenever I realize I had been staring for a little too long. If anything, I don't want to make Maxwell uncomfortable.

When we were done ordering we headed back to the table he'd saved with his bag. We sat down, eating in silence until Maxwell spoke up.

"Have you started reading it?" he asked, making me look up. I frowned a bit, not able to say anything because of the food in my mouth.

"The book I gave you. Have you started reading it?" he asked, making me let out an 'oh' when I swallowed before dropping my fork and running a hand through my hair.

"Yeah, I have," I answered, feeling my face grow warm with my words. I looked up to find him grinning at me. He picked another fry and dipped it into the tiny pool of ketchup he had on his plate.

"Do you like it so far? Anne Rice's The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty has always been my best series. That's the first book. If you want the others I could give them to you too."

"But they're your books—"

"I have more than one copy of each, don't worry," he chuckled before smiling. He made my face grow even warmer as I looked down at the chicken stir fry in front of me. He's talking about it so casually. I said to myself in my mind, biting the inside of my cheek as my thoughts went to the discussion Caleb and I had the other day.

"Hey, do you want to come over to a party?" Maxwell's voice made me look up from my food. I found him staring at me. He had a smile on his face, and his brown eyes were gauging me as he waited for a response.

"Party?" I asked with a slight frown. It was the beginning of the semester, and Maxwell was talking about going to a party? Well, he'd always been very social, so I wasn't too sure why I was surprised. I watched him nod, confirming his statement.

He picked another fry from his plate, tossing it into his mouth before he spoke, "Yeah, a party. My friend Advik is having one this Saturday. It' mainly for drama and music students, but you can come too if I take you."

Does he want to go with me? Somehow the thought of that made my chest flutter.

"I don't usually go for parties," I said, watching him smile before shrugging.

"There'll be alcohol, drugs, and most probably s*x, but you don't have to do any of that. I'm planning to leave early that night, I have an assignment to submit on Saturday before twelve AM," he said, opening the can of soda that had been sitting beside his plate.

"Oh," was the only thing I could say to that. I just watched him chuckle a bit. He didn't say anything after that, and the table went quiet as we continued to eat.

After we were done eating we left the building together, heading to the residence building. Maxwell hummed something under his breath as we walked side by side. He was wearing jeans that were ripped at the knees, and he sighed whenever the hands of his over-sized sweater slid over his balled hand.

He looks cute. The thought made my face grow red, and I tried not to look at him throughout the rest of the walk back, but I couldn't help wondering how it would feel to touch his hair and kiss him. I'm getting ahead of myself. I thought, blushing as my converses threaded on the concrete path.

Maxwell's read my stuff. He knows what I think. He knows what I want to do with him.

"Oh, we should probably exchange numbers," he said, bringing me out of my thoughts as I stopped in my tracks. I blinked turning to my side to find Maxwell taking out his phone before moving so he was directly standing in front of me. I took out my phone too, and we exchanged numbers before he smiled and gave me some space. I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding, squeezing my arm as I tried to calm down and just focus on heading back to the residence building.

When we got into the building, it surprised me when we started walking towards the same direction again, and eventually into the same elevator. I pressed the button for the third floor, and Maxwell came up behind me before pressing the button to the tenth floor.

"We're on the same tower, just different floors," he said, stating the obvious with a smile. I looked away from him, standing still until he backed away from me and stood at the other corner of the elevator. The lift started moving upwards, and I found myself stealing a glance at him when it stopped on my floor.

"See you later Xanny."

What? I turned after stepping out of the lift, but I was met with a closed elevator door.

"Xanny?" I muttered under my breath, trying to taste the nickname. I was a bit confused, but I decided not to think too much about it. I shook my head, running a hand through my brown hair before walking in the direction of my room I shared with Ollie.

I smiled when I got in, thinking about what had just happened. Maxwell was talking to me, and that was a good thing.