On that artificial cliffhanger, I think I’m going to leave off this session for the night and go grab something to eat. We’ll find out what Taylor just saw next time.

Which will be… Wednesday, I guess. See you then!

(Chrono link for part 1 of chapter 7.5)

I wasn’t the sort of girl Brian would be attracted to.  I knew that.

I don’t think you know shit about that, Taylor. This just looks like your lack of self-confidence speaking, which has been known to repeatedly make you unfavorably compare yourself to every other girl and ignore the idea that maybe, just maybe, guys look for more than just appearance.

I could settle for just his presence and friendship.  I could enjoy it if there happened to be casual body contact between us, even if it was a bit pervy.

Heh.

Our brief conversation had let me relax and start to enjoy the possibility of an evening in Brian’s company, but what I saw next was a bucket of cold water in the face.

Hopefully not literally.

Actually, what am I saying. Whatever this is is probably worse than a literal bucket of cold water.

…hm. Besides options like Empire mooks causing havoc in the streets, there’s also the possibility that they just arrived outside the apartment and Aisha is there. That would be very fitting for the cold water analogy, what with the associations between cold water and something ruining the sexual mood.

Granted, Empire mooks causing havoc in the streets would probably do that too.

I felt my ears warming up in the telltale sign of an incoming blush and looked away, distracting myself with an exhaustive investigation of a brown paper bag by the side of the road.

Smooth.

If I kept on that particular line of thinking about Brian’s better qualities, I was guaranteed to wind up saying or doing something to embarrass myself.

I can’t say I’d object to that, as long as it didn’t have negative long-term consequences. Unlike some friends of mine, I’m not bothered by second-hand embarrassment and can find that kind of scene rather funny and adorable if it’s done right. 🙂

I’m a sucker for humorous trainwrecks.

The bus arrived and we climbed on.  I flashed my school ID, while Brian paid with tickets.  I found an empty seat, and Brian stood next to me, holding the pole.  He was close enough to me that his leg pressed against my arm.  Even though I could have moved my arm away, I left it where it was.

Taylor does seem to be getting more comfortable with the contact, even if it does get her more flustered – whenever she thinks about it too much – than it would before Tangle 6.2.

“Yeah?  I’d owe you.”

“Gives us something to talk about while I’m staying over, too.”

Good, something to fill the time with. 🙂

“I don’t think we’ll lack for conversation topics,” he smiled at me.  That boyish smile that I’d noticed on day one.

😀

I think we’ve fairly solidly determined that Taylor likes when the boys – especially Brian – smile at her like this, haven’t we?

If I was being honest, I would even say it was tied with his voice for the thing I liked most about him, aesthetically.  It was maybe unfair to think so, but I generally saw the vast majority of teenage boys as awkward people that combined the traits of a child and an adult in the most unfortunate ways possible.

That’s… a fair assessment, in a lot of cases.

Brian was the opposite, and it was his voice and his smile that really nailed the effect.

Ah, yes, I can see that being the case – he’s very mature both physically and mentally, but he’s still got that playful, boyish vibe.