Page 26 of Made of Steel (Made of Steel 1)

"You're going to knock him dead."

Kins laughed. "Same to you."

As soon as the door closed, I texted Eli to let him know I'd be right down. He was probably just here to talk about our project, but I glanced in the mirror anyway. It was still strange seeing myself with brown hair and brown eyes. I wondered if Eli would be attracted to what I really looked like. I quickly shook my head. This is what I really look like. I was done overthinking everything. I had originally planned to make new friends tonight. Instead, I'd be focusing on improving the one relationship I had already started. And seeing if it could be more.

It had been a long time since I had been this nervous to see a boy. I shook my head. It had probably been ten years. That was way too long. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. I can do this.

Without another thought, I walked out of my dorm room and locked the door behind me. There were some people gathered at the elevator. But I was feeling too antsy to wait around. I pushed through the door to the stairwell and started walking down. I liked this feeling in my stomach. I was used to being nervous. Not in an excited way, though. Every day it seemed like I lived in fear. Terror danced around in my stomach. God, this type excitement made me feel alive.

When I stepped outside, Eli was leaning against a lamppost staring down at his phone. He was wearing the same button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up as he was in class. He was even still sporting a backpack over one shoulder. But he had changed into a pair of pants that hugged him in all the right places. It actually made me like him even more for being sensible. It got cold at night here even though it was hot during the day.

A pair of earbuds were hanging out of the front pocket of his shirt again. I suddenly wanted to ask him a thousand questions. What was he listening to? Was he homesick too? Did he leave some heartbroken girl behind in Utah?

He put his phone in his pocket and slowly lifted up his head. His eyes seemed to light up when he saw me. I realized that I had been awkwardly standing there staring at him. I quickly walked over to where he was standing.

"Hi." My voice sounded strange in my throat. I needed to calm down. As far as he knew, I still just wanted to be friends. He was probably here to talk about the project or something.

He smiled and lifted up the plastic bag he was holding. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No. But you already bought me lunch."

"Well, now I've bought you dinner too. I hope you like Chinese food."

"I love Chinese food." I looked back over my shoulder. "Did you want to come in to eat?" The thought of being alone with him made me a little more nervous. I probably shouldn't have just invited him up to my room. That made it seem like I was putting out or something. Is that why he was smiling at me right now?

"As enticing as that is, no. I have a surprise for you. "

Thank God. I exhaled slowly. "What is it?"

"You better come find out." He nodded his head toward the far side of campus and we started walking together.

"You do realize that I have a dining meal plan that I should be taking advantage of?"

He laughed. "Yeah, me too. Maybe we can check that out a different day. The menu tonight looked really strange. I'm glad I caught you before you headed over."

"Oh, I wasn't going there tonight anyway. My floor was having this pizza party thing for everyone to meet."

"I'm sorry. If you want to go to that, we can always do this another night."

"No, I was happy that you texted me. Crowds aren't really my thing. I'd rather just slowly meet people as I run into them in the bathroom or something."

He smiled. "I never would have guessed that."

"Really?" I stepped closer to him on the sidewalk to avoid someone walking by. As soon as the person was out of the way, I could have stepped farther away from him, but I stayed where I was. I liked being close to him. I had that overwhelming feeling of how safe he made me feel. For the first time since I had moved here, I didn't have this creepy feeling that someone was watching me. Eli somehow calmed my nerves at the same time he was making my stomach do back flips.

He laughed. "Yeah, I was kidding. It takes all of five seconds walking with you on the sidewalk to see how bad you are at crowds. It's almost like you're scared of everyone."

I laughed. "I would have thought it was a small town thing. But you seem to be adjusting alright."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, besides for my roommate, you're one of the only friends I've made."

Friends. It was my own fault for being put in that category. "Same to you, buddy."

He laughed and shook his head. It almost seemed like he was annoyed by my comment. And that made me smile. Kins was right. He still wanted to be more than friends. We stopped at the edge of campus at the street light and he put his free hand in his pocket. He stared at the crosswalk that had a red hand telling us not to cross, not saying a word.

"What are you listening to?" I asked.

"What?" He tore his eyes away from the crosswalk and glanced down at me.

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