Sierra and Ryan meet again! 

Chapter 6

There were a million different things running through my mind as I stared at Ryan in wonder.

One part of my brain was shooting questions in sheer panic – What is he doing here? How did he know which University I go to? Is he really waiting for me? What am I going to do? And another part of my brain had automatically started to come up with different ways of escape so that I wouldn't have to talk to him.

I could just walk past him and pretend to not know him or I could just make a mad dash towards my apartment. But knowing Lilly, she wouldn't let me do either. I snapped out from my trance and turned to Lilly, "How did you recognise him? Have you seen Ryan before?" I asked her. Looking amused Lilly replied, "No. This is the first time I'm seeing him, but your description was so detailed that I knew it was him in mere seconds" she said with a smirk. I blushed at that and quickly turned back towards Ryan.

What I saw made my heart go into overdrive. Ryan was no longer leaning against his car. Instead he was striding confidently towards the area where Lilly and I were standing. I panicked and looked towards the campus gates. This was my chance to make an escape. I had to run before he reached me. Understanding my plan of escape Lilly reached out and wrapped her fingers in a steel grip around my wrist before I could make a move. Still panicking I looked towards her to see that she was glaring at me and motioned for me to stand still. 
Before I could open my mouth to protest, Lillian fixed her gaze somewhere above my head, smiled sweetly and said, "Sierra, I think someone wants to talk to you."

Oh no.

I took a deep breath and turned around. "Hi Sierra" he said in his velvety smooth voice. He was looking absolutely stunning today in his grey T-shirt, blue jeans and black denim jacket. But what stood out the most, as usual, were his eyes. "H- hello" I replied not exactly looking him in the eye. Lilly jumped into the conversation so that I would get some time to gather my thoughts. She thrust her hand towards

Ryan and said "Hi! I'm Lillian, Sierra's best friend." Ryan smiled and shook Lilly's hand. "Hello Lillian, nice to meet you. I'm Ryan." Lilly replied excitedly "I know who you are.

Sierra talks about you all the time!" I blushed furiously and hissed "Lilly!" While Ryan chuckled and looked at me saying "She does? That's interesting". I looked away from him to hide my blush, all the while wishing for the ground to open up and swallow me.

"Oops. Sorry sorry, wasn't supposed to say that" Lilly said not looking the least bit apologetic. I glared at her. She just winked at me and turned back to Ryan and continued, "So I'll leave now, have tons of assignments to complete." Liar! She had completed all her assignments this weekend! I knew because I was in bed watching TV while she sat finishing all her pending assignments yesterday. She was doing this on purpose. She was leaving me alone to face Ryan.

The urge to hit her on the head with something was really strong. This was the same Lillian who had promised to accompany me to Aroma two days ago. Traitor! I looked at her with a pleading expression but she paid no attention to it. "Bye Ryan! See you later Si, have fun you two." With that she walked away, leaving me standing there beside him. What a lousy best friend.

What was I supposed to do now? Was I supposed to say something to him. But what would I say? Hey Ryan, your eyes are really beautiful. No that would be stupid. Hey Ryan, what's up? No. That would be really lame. While I fought an internal battle with my brain about what to say, Ryan beat me to it and started talking, "I waited for you on Saturday, you know. For almost two hours. Why didn't you come Sierra?" He sounded genuinely disappointed.

I looked at him in surprise when I realised that he had been as upset about not being able to meet, as I was. His gaze was fixed on my face, as he waited patiently for me to tell him why I had stood him up.

"I-I really wanted to go. But that day outside the library, I h-had gotten wet in the rain which led to me having fever. So um, I couldn't make it. I'm really sorry" I told him honestly, all the while looking at everything else but him. Looking into his eyes made me nervous. So I avoided them as much as I could. After I finished answering his question I looked up to see his reaction. He didn't look angry. Instead he looked extremely concerned.

He took a small step towards me and said "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Are you okay now? Has the fever subsided? Have you been to the doctor?" I was stunned. He look so worried and it was all because of me! I was squealing like a mad woman inside my head.

"No no. It wasn't that serious. Lillian took good care of me. I'm fine now" I replied softly with a small smile. He didn't look convinced though." Are you sure?" I laughed a little and said "Yes." It was his turn to look surprised. He broke into a smile and kept looking at me weirdly. "What?" I asked, confused. "You look even prettier when you smile and laugh. You should do it more often." he replied, still giving me that look.

I felt my cheeks get warm and quickly looked down at my shoes to hide my blush. Ryan reached out and took my hand in his and my heart skipped a beat. He said softly "I was disappointed because I thought you didn't want to meet me. I am really sorry." "It's okay Ryan, you don't need to apologize. You didn't know" I told him, while I tried to ignore the feel of his hands on mine.

He didn't reply. I looked up to see what was wrong. He was beaming at me and his eyes had lit up, which made him look breathtakingly handsome. "My name sounds amazing when you say it" he told me. Oh Dear Lord. If he continued to say things like this, I don't think I would last very long.

I retracted my hand from his and took a step back. "How did you know I go to this University?" I asked him, wanting to change the subject.

His eyes twinkled in amusement and he replied "You'll find that out very soon." He put his hands in his pockets and said "For now, let's start over. Hi, my name is Ryan Anderson" he extended his hand out to me. I timidly shook it saying "I'm Sierra Williams." "So, Miss Williams, would you like to go for a cup of coffee with me tomorrow?" he asked me still holding onto my hand.

He was asking me out on a proper date. Stupid heart, stop beating so loudly. "I-I have work tomorrow. I have a shift at t-the library from 4-6 in the evening, right a-after my classes." I told him feeling slightly more nervous than before. He seemed unfazed by the news. "No problem, I'll pick you up at six outside the library then. Okay?" I nodded, not trusting my voice because I'm sure it would give my panic stricken state away. Ryan smiled and squeezed my hand to convey his happiness and said "See you tomorrow. Don't fall sick again. Take care." With that he turned and started walking towards his car. I stood there looking at him until his car disappeared from view.

My first date.

With Ryan Anderson.

My life was about to change forever. I could feel it.

God help me.