The Ring
Ryan sat typing away on his laptop when the young girl he has seen in his previous two Architecture classes came and sat next to him. Smiling he glances at her curvy body and bright blue eyes. Her jet black hair catching his attention with the one streak of red in her bangs. She smiled back and opened her own laptop waiting for the monotone hum of their professor’s voice to begin.
45 minutes into the class, Ryan’s eyes were starting to get heavy listening to the professor go on about the different types of shingles that could be used in roofing construction. Hearing the clicking away on the keyboard next to him he glances over to see what was so riveting about this lecture that the girl next to him felt the need to take notes. Looking over, he was amazed by the image on the screen. She was designing a beach front home on her computer screen.
Ryan couldn’t help the words that escaped his lips, “Woah”.
Startled by the comment, she turned to him slightly embarrassed. “Hi”, she whispered, then turned back to the computer screen.
“That’s amazing, did you just do that now?” Ryan couldn’t help but ask.
“No, I have been working on it since the last class but can’t seem to find a decent place to put my back door”, she looked slightly frustrated and he could see the wrinkle lines in her forehead.
“Why not have two doors, one under each of those archways”, he replied after close examination of her design structure.
Her eyes lit up at the prospect and she went back to typing vigorously on the computer and moving her mouse to position the doors. Turning back she smiled and put her hand foreword, “Eva”.
“Ryan”, he responded shaking her outstretched hand. Looking her in the eye, Ryan saw a glimmer of something before his thoughts were interrupted.
“Alright class, break off into pairs, and please answer questions three through eleven in your work books please, turn in only one sheet with both partners names on it and then you may be dismissed”, the Professor announced.
Eva smiled letting go of Ryan’s hand, “partner?”, she asked holding up the workbook.
“Sure”.
Working vigorously on the assignment in front of them, fifteen minutes passed before Eva went off topic with another question, “So the ring on your finger, gay, virgin or memory?”
Ryan couldn’t help but snort at her question before asking, “What?” his smile curious at what she was entailing.
“The ring”, she pointed out, “it’s on your right ring finger, plain gold band, you’ve obviously worn it for a while because of the wear and tear on it, and the T engraved is fading, rings on that finger only mean three things, you’re gay and taken, a choir boy and sworn to god your virginity, or someone important to you died and passed that down, which is it?”
This girl was simply something else in Ryan’s opinion. Chuckling at her choice of answers he looked up into her curious eyes, and then down to his ring. Thinking of the reason he wore it. “I’m not gay…”
“Thank god”, Ryan heard her say under her breath. Laughing to himself he looked up at her smiling face and continued.
“I am definitely not a virgin, and nobody so far that would leave me a ring to wear has died, so I guess I fall out of the normal reasoning for wearing the ring”.
Cocking her head to one side Eva gave up and just asked, “So is there a reason for that ring?”
Ryan twirled the ring around his finger once thinking of the reason before smiling and looking into the shiny blue orbs of hope he knew he was about to shatter, “Yeah actually, my girlfriend gave it to me.”
For a split second he saw her eyes flash before composure came over her not unlike the girlfriend he knew would be waiting for him in just a few minutes outside the walls of the lecture hall.
“Oh, girlfriend”, he could hear the slight disappointment in her voice, “that’s sweet, how long have you guys been together?”
Ryan thought about it for a moment trying to calculate for himself before answering, “Almost five years”.
He could see the unhidden shock on her face before she asked the next question, “Is she out of high school?”
Ryan laughed finally putting two and two together with her questions of territory markers, “Yeah, yeah she is, she’s a linguistics major here are Berkeley actually.”
He could see Eva wracking her brain for information before looking up at him with another question, “Really? So am I, other than Architecture that is, maybe I know her, what year is she, I mean the major isn’t really that big here.”
Ryan was a little shocked at her confession of double majoring, “She is finishing her last year, she just transferred from France last semester”.
Eva was a little taken aback from the newest piece of information, and started to wrack her brain for any resemblance of who this girl could be before Ryan continued.
“She is studying French, Italian, Greek, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, German, and some sort of Chinese.”
Popping her head up as the person concluded in her mind she cocked an eyebrow towards him before turning her questionings toward the new subject, her new interest, “Taylor something right? She is like the new prodigy of the language department here. Professor Grayson is my mentor and all he talks about is her.”
Ryan chuckled as he nodded his head, “Yeah, Taylor, that’s her. I can barely speak English properly and she is on language 9 or something.”
“Wow, how is it dating her, the prodigy of the school and all.”
“It’s interesting, I haven’t picked up any new language, but things can get interesting.”
“I bet, she’s written 2 books, worked in DC translating for the President, and I always see her eating lunch with a couple of Professors at school, always with the bushy eyebrow one from the law school.”
Ryan laughed as he scribbled the answer to the last question of their assignment and then signed his name at the top of the paper, sliding it to Eva, “You sure know a lot about her.”
“Well she did get the Coleman Grant, everyone who’s in the program knows her, we were all going after that Grant.”
Ryan could sense the bitterness in her voice as he watched her scratch her name out on the paper.
“I’ve never met her, but she must be something special, she seems to have it all.”
Ryan laughed inwardly at the bitterness that was weaved in Eva’s comment but let it go as he put his bag over his shoulder and stood up ready to leave, “I wish I could describe her without sounding like an idiot. But I can’t, I’ll see you next week?”
Receiving a silent nod, Ryan could see the annoyance that flashed in Eva’s eyes as she looked up from packing her things and acknowledged him, but forgot about it as he walked out of the lecture hall to the awaiting arms of his indescribable girlfriend.
45 minutes into the class, Ryan’s eyes were starting to get heavy listening to the professor go on about the different types of shingles that could be used in roofing construction. Hearing the clicking away on the keyboard next to him he glances over to see what was so riveting about this lecture that the girl next to him felt the need to take notes. Looking over, he was amazed by the image on the screen. She was designing a beach front home on her computer screen.
Ryan couldn’t help the words that escaped his lips, “Woah”.
Startled by the comment, she turned to him slightly embarrassed. “Hi”, she whispered, then turned back to the computer screen.
“That’s amazing, did you just do that now?” Ryan couldn’t help but ask.
“No, I have been working on it since the last class but can’t seem to find a decent place to put my back door”, she looked slightly frustrated and he could see the wrinkle lines in her forehead.
“Why not have two doors, one under each of those archways”, he replied after close examination of her design structure.
Her eyes lit up at the prospect and she went back to typing vigorously on the computer and moving her mouse to position the doors. Turning back she smiled and put her hand foreword, “Eva”.
“Ryan”, he responded shaking her outstretched hand. Looking her in the eye, Ryan saw a glimmer of something before his thoughts were interrupted.
“Alright class, break off into pairs, and please answer questions three through eleven in your work books please, turn in only one sheet with both partners names on it and then you may be dismissed”, the Professor announced.
Eva smiled letting go of Ryan’s hand, “partner?”, she asked holding up the workbook.
“Sure”.
Working vigorously on the assignment in front of them, fifteen minutes passed before Eva went off topic with another question, “So the ring on your finger, gay, virgin or memory?”
Ryan couldn’t help but snort at her question before asking, “What?” his smile curious at what she was entailing.
“The ring”, she pointed out, “it’s on your right ring finger, plain gold band, you’ve obviously worn it for a while because of the wear and tear on it, and the T engraved is fading, rings on that finger only mean three things, you’re gay and taken, a choir boy and sworn to god your virginity, or someone important to you died and passed that down, which is it?”
This girl was simply something else in Ryan’s opinion. Chuckling at her choice of answers he looked up into her curious eyes, and then down to his ring. Thinking of the reason he wore it. “I’m not gay…”
“Thank god”, Ryan heard her say under her breath. Laughing to himself he looked up at her smiling face and continued.
“I am definitely not a virgin, and nobody so far that would leave me a ring to wear has died, so I guess I fall out of the normal reasoning for wearing the ring”.
Cocking her head to one side Eva gave up and just asked, “So is there a reason for that ring?”
Ryan twirled the ring around his finger once thinking of the reason before smiling and looking into the shiny blue orbs of hope he knew he was about to shatter, “Yeah actually, my girlfriend gave it to me.”
For a split second he saw her eyes flash before composure came over her not unlike the girlfriend he knew would be waiting for him in just a few minutes outside the walls of the lecture hall.
“Oh, girlfriend”, he could hear the slight disappointment in her voice, “that’s sweet, how long have you guys been together?”
Ryan thought about it for a moment trying to calculate for himself before answering, “Almost five years”.
He could see the unhidden shock on her face before she asked the next question, “Is she out of high school?”
Ryan laughed finally putting two and two together with her questions of territory markers, “Yeah, yeah she is, she’s a linguistics major here are Berkeley actually.”
He could see Eva wracking her brain for information before looking up at him with another question, “Really? So am I, other than Architecture that is, maybe I know her, what year is she, I mean the major isn’t really that big here.”
Ryan was a little shocked at her confession of double majoring, “She is finishing her last year, she just transferred from France last semester”.
Eva was a little taken aback from the newest piece of information, and started to wrack her brain for any resemblance of who this girl could be before Ryan continued.
“She is studying French, Italian, Greek, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, German, and some sort of Chinese.”
Popping her head up as the person concluded in her mind she cocked an eyebrow towards him before turning her questionings toward the new subject, her new interest, “Taylor something right? She is like the new prodigy of the language department here. Professor Grayson is my mentor and all he talks about is her.”
Ryan chuckled as he nodded his head, “Yeah, Taylor, that’s her. I can barely speak English properly and she is on language 9 or something.”
“Wow, how is it dating her, the prodigy of the school and all.”
“It’s interesting, I haven’t picked up any new language, but things can get interesting.”
“I bet, she’s written 2 books, worked in DC translating for the President, and I always see her eating lunch with a couple of Professors at school, always with the bushy eyebrow one from the law school.”
Ryan laughed as he scribbled the answer to the last question of their assignment and then signed his name at the top of the paper, sliding it to Eva, “You sure know a lot about her.”
“Well she did get the Coleman Grant, everyone who’s in the program knows her, we were all going after that Grant.”
Ryan could sense the bitterness in her voice as he watched her scratch her name out on the paper.
“I’ve never met her, but she must be something special, she seems to have it all.”
Ryan laughed inwardly at the bitterness that was weaved in Eva’s comment but let it go as he put his bag over his shoulder and stood up ready to leave, “I wish I could describe her without sounding like an idiot. But I can’t, I’ll see you next week?”
Receiving a silent nod, Ryan could see the annoyance that flashed in Eva’s eyes as she looked up from packing her things and acknowledged him, but forgot about it as he walked out of the lecture hall to the awaiting arms of his indescribable girlfriend.