“Man, you know that girl in my physics class? The one…”
“Of course I know her. You’ve talked about her all semester. She’s so gorgeous. She looks like an angel. She smiled at me. She got new shoes. She…
“I asked her out today.”
“…me. Well, I don’t really know her, but I feel like I do. After all… What?”
“I asked her out.”
“Really? Wow. What did she say?”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, bro. What did you expect her to say?”
“Does she know you’ve been stalking her all semester?”
“Noticing someone at every class is not stalking.”
“Obsessing about them is.”
“Well, she and I have a date this weekend.”
“That’s awesome, dude. Let’s go out tonight and celebrate!”
“I can’t.”
“What? Your date is tonight? We always hang out on Friday nights.”
“I know. But I have to study.”
“You have a test tomorrow?”
“No. I have a date tomorrow.”
“And she’s giving you a test?”
“No!”
“So what was that bit about having to study? If you have a test on Monday you can study on Sunday like you normally do.”
“There is no test.”
“I’m confused.”
“I need to study so I don’t look like an idiot in front of Dora.”
“Her name is Dora?”
“Yeah.”
“Does she carry a backpack?”
“Uh, yeah. Why?”
“It was a joke. Never mind. What are you going to study for a date?”
“Physics. Well, Albert Einstein.”
“Dude, You are not making any sense at all.”
“She loves Einstein. So I need to make sure I can at least talk intelligibly about him and his work.”
“What? She said, ‘Sure, I’ll go out with you, but I’m already in love with Einstein.’?”
“Ha ha. She doodles when she takes notes. I’ve seen her write his name a lot when she’s doodling.”
“I probably wouldn’t mention the fact that you watch her doodle. That sounds a bit stalker-like to me.”
“Quit saying that. I haven’t been stalking her.”
“Of course, she sounds a bit weird too. Who obsesses about a dead scientist? Maybe you two are right for each other.”
“Shut up. Anyway, you go without me tonight. I’m headed over to the library.”
****************
“Hi. I’m Chase. I’m here to see Dora.”
“Come on in. I’m Sheila, her roommate. You can have a seat if you want. She’s running late, as usual. Dora!”
“I’m here. Hi, Chase, I’m almost ready. I just need to get some food and water for Einstein and then we can go.”
“Einstein?”
“Right behind you. Isn’t he adorable?”
“You named your cat Einstein? Let me guess, he moves at the speed of light?”
“Not Einstein. He’s the laziest cat on the planet. Aren’t you, baby boy?”
“So, he loves music?”
“Huh? I don’t know. He’s never told me. Do you love music, little einy-steiny?”
“You’ll have to excuse her. She’s a little obsessive about that cat. He might be going on your date with you.”
“Did you hear that, Einstein? Sheila thinks you should go on our date. Do you want to go on a date with me and Chase? Do you?”
“So how did he get the name Einstein?”
“I don’t know. That’s just what he was named when I got him. But Sheila’s right. I do love him. Everybody’s entitled to obsess over something, aren’t they?”
“I sure hope so. So should we order in so Einstein doesn’t feel left out?”
his stalking technique needs to brush up. Had he followed her home surreptitiously, he would have seen that that einstein ws a pet cat. All that studying for nothing in the field of love… unless he uses it to solve certain still as yet unsolved issues about gravity and matter!
Good point! A little more careful stalking and he could have avoided the pointless studying. 🙂
“Does she carry a backpack?” I’m still laughing (quietly) at that line. Smart guy, offering to order in so she won’t miss the kitty. Keep her, Chase!
Does Mason like to watch Dora?
Okay, now I’m imagining the girl they were crushing on is Dora the Explorer. I’m so glad Larry seems to have gone to a similar place!
I wasn’t sure how far the Dora joke would carry over. I figured anyone with kids around would recognize it, but wasn’t sure beyond that. At least I didn’t write in a pet monkey. 🙂
Very funny, and excellent dialogue. It flowed really well, very believable. Although, I’m surprised the guy was so accepting of her cat crush. That would be a deal-breaker for me.
Thanks, Shelli. I have to agree with you on the cat crush. That would be a deterrent for me.
Pretty smart of him to ask if they should order in. He’ll get major points for that. And maybe the roommate noticed, too; you know, in case Dora’s obsession is a little too much for him…
Good story!
Thanks, Eric! You make an interesting point about the roommate as a possible fall back plan. 🙂
Ha ha funny story. Loved the dialogue just perfect Chuck! ^_^
Thanks, Helen! 🙂
I got a nice chuckle from the backpack line too.
The cat might be a deal-breaker, but if Einstein were a dog and she knew that was the name of Doc Brown’s dog in Back to the Future… well that girl would be a definite keeper!
I had forgotten that about Back to the Future. Yeah, that would add a level of awesome to an otherwise creepy obsession.
[…] In Love With Einstein by Chuck Allen ~ @chuckallen ~ Between 500 and 1000 words ~ Romance […]
That last line shows he’s far less clueless than his friend realises. Smooooooth.
Exactly! 🙂
Worrying that she’d be doodling the name of a cat over and over!
I’m with you on that. I’m not much of a cat person myself, but then I can’t think of any pet that would come to mind over and over while doodling.
I actually would have gone with “Is her best friend a monkey?” 😛 but this was very sweet and funny. Love it. 🙂