Chapter 21: Chapter 21

"Mr. Matchmaker, tell me the kind of girl you'd like to date." I sigh and turn my laptop off. I can do this right at home.

"Who knows? It could be someone fun. I just don't have time to go out with anyone." I agree with him because he was always training or traveling for games. "Given how busy I am, I think she'd have to be easygoing and calm. I'm easy to get along with and talk to."

"Gets along with people well?" I laugh as I ask. "This is not about a dog. A girlfriend is what we're talking about."

"I'm sure you understand." We both laugh, and I give him a shoulder shrug. "But, yeah, just a nice person who goes along with things."

"I get it, that makes sense." I nod. Chase was an easygoing person. He was so easygoing that I couldn't figure out how anyone could be like that. "But you're not looking for a date." I'll repeat what he already said.

"No, but you never know when something good might happen." He shrugs, and I'm with him.

What on earth would that feel like? How do you feel when you like someone and they like you back? When I was with my last boyfriend, I thought I knew, but as time went on, I saw that we didn't really go together and that I was forcing myself to like him.

"I guess so." I just shrug, and then I look at the bottom corner of my computer screen to see what time it is. "Oh no, I need to go home. I have to eat dinner before I go to work."

"Cool, I'll walk you." He gives a shrug and stands up, which makes my eyebrows go up. Someone else wants to walk me home? Do I look as defenseless as these dudes make me feel?

"No need to, it's not that far." I tell him again as I put away my notes and slide my laptop into its case.

"I'm not too far away and I'm going the same way as you." He just shrugs. "It's also fun to talk to you, and it would be nice to not have to walk home by myself."

I'm nice to talk to? I've always thought I talked too much and rambled on, but he might find that funny. Either way, it's nice to have a new friend.

It's still pretty warm and sunny outside, so it's nice to walk home. Summer hasn't quite left yet. Chase is a good friend because he talks well and makes me laugh a few times as we walk. We quickly got to the corner where my house is, and I sighed because it was such a short walk.

"Hey, I know I haven't texted you much, but I'm not very good at it and I've been very busy." He doesn't say anything when I tell him.

"I haven't been upset or anything, so everything is fine. Would you like to learn with me?" I smile when he asks me.

"That would be fine, no worries. When do you guys meet?"

"It's fine if you can't make it on Tuesday at 7 p.m. We could also study any time; just send me a text, and we'll figure something out." He tucks his hands into his pockets and gives a shrug.

"Okay." I smile. "Well, I have to go, but I'll see you again."

"Yeah, see you Julianna." When I smile at him, he smiles right back. As I walk down the metal steps to the front door, I give a wave. When I use my keys to open the door, Kent is already in the kitchen. He's mad and walks around with the newest iPhone to his ear.

"No, tell them so." He says it in a rough way, and I quietly shut the door. "I won't do that, no." I raise my eyebrows when he says more. He seems to be mad.

I quickly take off my shoes because I want to go with him. I put my keys on the ledge by the door, so Kent and I are home alone. I really need to leave this place.

"I'm so tired of all this talk that I'm going to stay at Brown." He says something mean, and when I look over, I see that he still hasn't seen me. "No, I don't care. I picked this school, and I don't like it. I'm not going anywhere because I have good friends here and-"

This is a tense call. I want to know who it is.

"I won't be moving there." In a sharp way, he says it. "You can tell them "no," because I'll have this fucking degree in a year. You made me choose a school, right? Just that I didn't pick the one you were hoping for."

I know it's a parent on the other end of the line.

"I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not going anywhere right now." In his final words, he says. "And I mean it, I have something here that's better than any paycheck anyone will sign." He yells, and I start to sneak down the hallway quietly, but I have to go by the open kitchen. "I'm staying. There's no more to say." He says it angrily, and as I walk away, I see him throw his phone on the counter.

He covers his face with his hands. If it were anyone else, I'd try to help, but Kent doesn't like me, and I don't think he's the kind of person who likes to be comfortable. I keep moving quickly, and just as I'm about to finish, a floorboard that squeaks when I step on it gives me away.

He immediately turns around to see who's here, and I shut my mouth. He's very mad. His chest is going up and down, and his nostrils are flaring very strongly. But strangely, he doesn't seem angry at me. He seems more surprised that I'm here and still trying to calm down after the phone call.

"When did you get here?" He asks in a quiet, straight-forward way, and I swallow the lump in my throat.

"Not long," I tell him. "It was only for 20 seconds, and I wasn't paying attention because I wanted to give you some space." Because I knew Kent was very private, I had to defend this in a crazy way. My heart was beating fast, almost in anticipation, and I was surprised that he was holding my eyes this way, since he didn't like eye contact. "I'm really sorry-"

"No, I'm the fuckwit who had a private conversation in the middle of our shared living space." He mutters to himself and rubs his face with his hand. "I'm sorry you heard it."

He's never apologized to me before, so that phone call must have hurt him a lot.

"That's fine." I nod, fiddling with my hands awkwardly. "I know you don't like me and all, but I'll be in my room if you want to talk about it." I knew he wouldn't listen to my advice, but I wanted him to know I was here if he ever needed to talk.

"You...you'd want to talk to me about this, right?" If he asks, I just give him a shrug.

"Kent, to care about someone, you don't have to like them." I tell him again. "Also, trust your gut if you think you're in the right place and there's something worth staying for. I'd do the same thing." As I walk down the hall to my room, I just smile and shrug at him. I hope it shows that I know what you mean.

When I got to my room, I got rid of a lot of stress all at once. That may have been the nicest thing we've ever talked about. I thought he would be mad when he saw me again, or he might tell me I didn't know what I was talking about and shouldn't just tell him what to do.

I felt sick just waiting to see what would happen next, because I knew it would make things even more awkward than they already were.

"Julianna?" Kent is standing in my doorway when I turn around. I swallow my heartbeat and clear my throat.

"I'm sorry if that wasn't appropriate. You shouldn't have to deal with me." I'll admit that I was starting to feel tense. I don't want him to yell at me or make me feel worse than I did when he told me he didn't want to be my friend.

You think I'll get angry with you, right?" He asks in a sad voice, and all I can do is shrug.

"I know you like being by yourself." When I talk to him, I'm so scared that I almost have to whisper.

"I made dinner for you, and I know you have to go to work soon. I was going to save it for leftovers, but we can share it if you want." He makes the offer with a shrug, and I say yes without even stopping to think. You're crazy, Julianna, and this is a scary idea.

But it's also a very interesting one. He wants something from me for the first time, so maybe we shouldn't hate each other. I don't want to be unhappy in my own apartment all the time.

"Okay." I sigh and set my bag on the bed before following him into the kitchen.

He puts stir-fry in two bowls, and I smile and raise my eyebrows.

"What?" I laugh when he asks me.

"You have a plan for what you eat, huh?" I ask. He said, "You eat that every Wednesday."

"Have you been keeping track of what I have for dinner?" He asks with a laugh, like he's having fun, and my cheeks turn red.

"No, I'm just observant," she said. I defend myself, and he gives me something to eat. He walks to the table, and after giving it some thought, I decide to join him. I haven't spent this much time with him in weeks. "Did you um do you want to talk about it? Or just eat? To be honest, I'm fine with either."

"Sorry, but that phone call didn't really matter." He shrugs, and I bite my lips together so I don't say what I'm really thinking. But I can't help myself.

"You seemed very angry after that." I shrug. "It takes a lot to get me that worked up about something." I'll admit that I'm trying to ease into it. I thought it was interesting and wondered if he would actually talk about it.

He looks at the table and moves his food around while I sigh. He feels like he has a lot of different feelings.

"Look, I'm not going to make you talk about it. But you don't have to pretend it doesn't matter "As I take a bite of the dinner he made, I tell him in a quiet voice. It's easy for me to put it in my mouth, which makes me happy. Mr. Grumpy and Mr. Strange can both cook.

We eat in silence for a while until I hear him start talking again. "My dad went to Dartmouth, got his MBA there, and started his own business with his roommate when he was 23." I stop eating and look up at him, who is still playing with his own food. He doesn't want to talk about this, and it's clear why.

"I didn't want to go right to school. I wanted a year off instead to find out who I was." He keeps talking, and I don't say anything. This seems like something he would never say out loud; it seems very private. "Dad didn't think that was a good idea, so he made me pick a school and start classes. So I chose Brown."

"That looks hard." I give him a quiet shrug, and he nods and runs his hand through his dark hair. I watch as his arm muscles get bigger and his bicep gets tighter. He's so handsome, but I'm not even in the same league as him, let alone comfortable with him.

"I like it here, and I want to finish this horrible degree so he will leave me alone. But he keeps calling me and saying he's been talking to the dean at Dartmouth and could get me a spot there so I could transfer." What he says makes sense to me.

All of this just kept showing that Kent's family was wealthy. He might not have gotten everything he wanted, though.

"But, you don't want to go." I repeat, and he agrees.

"No." I understand why he sighed. That made me happy, but I didn't know why. There was no reason to be happy about a guy staying around who didn't like me. "He has a lot of requests, and I can't seem to meet all of them."

"You can't make yourself do that." I really told him that. "You'll die before you turn 25 from a heart attack." He gives me a small smile and looks at me for the first time since he started talking. "I don't know what is best, but I do know that it's your life. You have to live with what you want and what you choose."

"I know." He's upset. "That's why I keep fighting it, because I don't want to live like my dad."

"I didn't know you were so sad. I mumble, and he gives me another short smile, which makes me feel better. "Does anyone else know about this?" When I ask, he clears his throat.

"No, really." He just shrugs. "Mark and Kyle know that I have problems with my dad, but they don't really know what or why. Because I don't like talking about it, I don't."

"Your secret will be safe with me." I tell him this as I pick up more food with my fork. He gives a grateful look and a nod. Then he starts to eat again. "You know, you're not a bad cook." He almost laughs when I tell him.

"For a girl who sells cookies, that's a lot of praise." When he makes fun of me, I roll my eyes.

"I'll say it once more: you ate them." He shakes his head and gives me a small smile when I tell him.

"I'll keep hearing about it forever.' He sighs and shakes his head, and I smile to myself in a quiet way.

I can't believe it, but I know something only a few people know about Kent. It seemed strange that he chose to tell me out of all the people he could have told. Even though I shouldn't be so happy, I am because he shared his dinner with me and wanted to talk to me.

Call me crazy, but I couldn't stop thinking that everyone should like me. And the one who was hardest to please seemed to be changing.