Page 28 of Save Me a Seat

“Oh,” Austin said casually, sitting back in the barstool focusing his attention on Jane. “What’s up?” he asked.

Jane took a deep breath and looked at Austin. “You asked me about high school the other day. And I…well, you kind of caught me off guard when you mentioned it.”

Austin sat still, staring back, with a somewhat blank expression on his face, not sure where Jane was going with it, “Oh, yeah. My brother Chris had mentioned that you went to high school with us, which I didn't know, so I thought I'd ask you.”

“Yes, and like I told you, we did go to high school together.” Jane nodded, trying to ignore the nerves in her stomach. “I mean, it was impossible not to know who you and your brothers were in high school,” she said matter-of-factly with a shrug. “You guys seemed to be everywhere. But when you asked me about high school, I wondered if you were referring to something in particular that had happened between the two of us.”

“The two of us?” he asked, seemingly confused but he sat up, interested in what she was going to say.

Jane stared back at him, hoping he wasn’t being a dick on purpose by acting oblivious. “Yes,” she said, looking down at her hands and then back at him.

“Oh, shit,” Austin said a little flustered, grabbing his drink off the bar and taking a sip. “Did we hook up?”

“Are you serious?” Jane shot back with hurt in her voice, surprised by his bluntness.

“No,” Austin snapped, quickly realizing what he said could have come across as rude. “I don’t mean it like that, I just don’t know what you’re getting at, and I’m trying to rack my brain,” he answered.

It had been tough enough to get the courage to come over, and now it clearly seemed like he had no idea what Jane was talking about.

“Well, for the record,” Jane answered calmly, feeling herself start to heat up, mostly out of embarrassment at the moment. “We didn’t ‘hook up.’”

“OK…” Austin remarked, placing his drink back on the bar. “Then please tell me what you’re talking about because I’m super confused. Your name sounded familiar to me but in all honesty… I don’t remember you. Did we have a class together?”

“Yes,” Jane replied, realizing that Austin truly had no idea who she was back in high school, “we were in chemistry together. I sat in front of you in Mr. Gerbs’ class.”

“Oh my God,” Austin exclaimed, making the connection, but still not remembering exactly what she looked like all those years ago, “and I totally cheated off of you,” he laughed.

“You did?” Jane asked, almost feeling like he had to be joking.

“I swear,” Austin confessed, “You were the reason I passed that class. Whenever you moved, I would quickly copy whatever I could see on your test. I had it down to a science,” he joked with a laugh. “Thank God Mr. Gerbs’ used multiple-choice in that class. It was horrible, I know, but I seriously hated that class. I always wondered if you knew,” he chuckled. “Is that what you’re talking about?”

Jane closed her eyes for a second and shook her head, wanting to say yes, but knowing she couldn’t now. She needed to get this off her chest, “No, that wasn’t it,” she said, taking a second to process what he was saying.

“It wasn’t?” Austin asked surprised. “Something else happened with us? Not sure what you’re referring to?” he asked, obviously confused.

“You… well, I… oh my God, this is embarrassing,” she said, tripping over her words.

“What is it?” Austin asked, still confused and taken back a bit by the expression on Jane’s face.

Jane took a deep breath, “I asked you out in high school and it didn’t go so well,” Jane confessed.

Austin’s face went still and he squinted his eyes at Jane for a second, obviously clueless, but surprised by the revelation.

“You asked me out? In high school?” Austin asked slowly. “Are you sure it was me?”

Jane stood feeling hot from head to toe, proud of herself for getting it out but also feeling the same sense of embarrassment from high school. Thankfully she now had the confidence as an adult woman not to let it totally humiliate her, much like it had in high school. But it wasn’t helping that her embarrassing moment from high school hadn't registered on Austin’s high school radar. “Oh, yes,” she said slowly, “It was definitely you.” She stared back at him, watching his face, and knowing that he was telling the truth. He had no recollection. She couldn’t tell if she felt surprised or shocked by his ignorance, but she did feel, in a weird way, a bit relieved that he didn’t remember.

“I’m sorry, Jane,” Austin said, shaking his head, “but I don’t know what you are getting at,” he said with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice, which hurt a little. “But I do remember you sitting in front of me in chemistry class,” knowing he didn't have a full recollection of what Jane looked like back then.

Jane stared at him with a serious expression, remembering what it felt like, all those years ago, to stand in front of him like she was now and have him just stare at her, kind of like he was doing now, too. “I actually think you thought it was a joke that your buddies were playing on you, but what I didn’t know was that it was actually a joke that they were playing on me.”

Austin’s face changed immediately and he looked at her with serious eyes, “What friends?”

“Your buddy Tim Walsh. He convinced me that you wanted to ask me out, but that it would be better if I asked you out, so after pressing me enough, I finally got up the nerve to do it,” Jane explained.

“Timmy,” Austin said, shaking his head up and down with a sly smile on his face. “He used to do that shit all the time. Don’t worry; if it makes you feel any better, you were not the only girl he did that to. The guy loved to be an ass, always trying to get a laugh,” he replied, kind of like it was no big deal.

“Well, he got a laugh, and at my expense,” Jane shot back, shaking her head with a bit of anger. She felt tears starting to spring into her eyes, but she didn’t want Austin to see her reaction. Here she was, worried about telling him but, at the end of the day, it didn’t seem to be a big deal to him.

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