Page 19 of Captured Heart

“It’sverysensible.”

“...beats the heart of a true jokester.” I keep a straight face to pretend I’m dead serious. “I don’t like to brag, but I’m getting so funny my friends have started calling me comedic...Katie.”

Nothing. Not even a twitch of his lips, and somehow, that makes me want to crack up.

“That’s a horrid name,” he says. “And aren’t I the only one who calls you Katie?”

I try to stifle a giggle when he doesn’t buy any of it. “Okay, fine. You got me.” I lift both hands as if I’ve been caught red-handed. “They really call me...Katelyn...the Droll Troll.”

His furrowed brows tell me exactly how dumb and unimpressive my joke is, but that only makes it funnier to me.

The giggle I’m trying to hold back bursts out of me, but I catch it midway and put my serious face back on. “I keep telling them to hold off on the compliments. I’m not even that good yet, you know, still honing...my craft. But they insist. And who am I to argue? People can spot talent when they see it. Besides, I just recently discovered that it’s my destiny.”

A quizzical brow is raised in my direction. “I don’t know you that well, but that claim lacks plausibility.”

“I was skeptical too when I found out a few weeks ago, but after hearing the evidence, I have no doubt it’s true. Do you know what the doctor gave my parents when they left the hospital after I was born?”

He knows I’m talking crap, but I like that he still plays along. “What?”

“Amirthcertificate.”

His face drops, his eye twitching as if his sense of humor is having a stroke. This is when the laughter comes rolling out of me, because the look on his face iseverything. I double over, holding my sides because they’re starting to hurt.

He stops and turns to face me, staring at me until my laughter finally subsides. “Do you always laugh so hard at your own jokes?”

“Yes. Clearly, no one else is going to, especially not you. You don’t smile at a damn thing.”

“It’s very...”

“Weird?” I fill in when he can’t find the word to complete his sentence.

“No.”

“Goofy?”

“No. It’s...it’s adorable.” He breaks eye contact the second he says it and looks anywhere but at me. “Listen, do you wanna get something to drink?”

For a nanosecond, I was going to entertain the possibility that he might be flirting with me again, but the quick transition to something mundane and impersonal lets me know that I’m just overthinking again.

It’s only awkward for a few seconds, though. He jumps straight back into the conversation, throwing out questions as we walk to the café. He listens intently to every answer as I blabber away. I catch myself going off the rails a few times and quickly reign in the nerdiness before he loses interest.

We stop at Café Al Mada, and I buy myself another iced coffee. He doesn’t get anything, which is weird because he asked if I wanted a drink. We continue our stroll through the campus, and it’s nice to have a slow day for a change. Taking in the surroundings. Breathing in the fresh air. I tend to take these simple pleasures for granted because my head is always buried in a book. This is a break I didn’t even know I needed.

Alex stops and nods his head toward a nearby tree. “What do you say, Rebel? Wanna go butt wild and sit under that tree?”

I try to glower at him again, but a giggle pops out instead. “I’m starting to think that you enjoy yanking my chain.”

“I think you enjoy yanking your own chain far more than I do,Droll Troll.”

He leads me to the tree and finds a shady spot. I sit in front of him, leaving sufficient space to ensure it isn’t awkward for either of us.

“So, what’s your deal?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...why did you ask me to hang out with you? You were out for a walk, and then, out of the blue, you ask me to hang out with you. It’s a little weird.”

“People do that, you know? They can be doing one thing, and then, without warning, decide to do something else. It’s a phenomenon scientists have been studying for centuries. What do they call it again? Oh, yeah. Living life.”

---