F A N F I C T I O N > V . M A R S
Caffeinated (Half-)Conversations by Amberina
The first time Mac talked to Duncan -- really talked to him, not just a generic greeting because they kind of recognized each other from school -- was over the summer. She'd been minding her own business in Java the Hut when Mr. All-American himself sat down next to her.
"Hey," he said, but that was a generic greeting and not when the talking started. No, the talking started after a couple of cappuccinos' worth of caffeine was percolating through her veins.
Her fingers danced on the edge of the table, drumming a nervous rhythm. He was reading a book of Shakespeare's sonnets. Mac found that a bit pretentious, though she figured maybe he just liked overrated, dead white guys.
He looked up after a while, an amused expression on his face. "You're worse than Logan hopped on caffeine."
"I am not," Mac replied vehemently, though she didn't know exactly what she was being compared to. From what she'd seen of Logan, though, there was no way she was worse.
"You really are," he said with a chuckle. He placed a tasseled bookmark inside his book and closed it, placing it on the table. "I don't think you and I have talked before."
"No, we have," Mac said with a nod. "If 'hi! bye!' counts."
Duncan chuckled again, as if he was nervous himself. Go figure. "So..." he began and then his eyes darted around. It was almost like he was worried about someone catching him talking to her, except he'd broken up with Meg weeks ago so it couldn't be a jealous girlfriend thing. "You talk to Veronica, right?"
Ooh. It was one of those things. "Some. What do you want?"
"I was just wondering if she's," he paused and glanced around again, "mentioned anything? You know, about me?"
The truth was that Veronica hadn't said anything about him. At all. Of course, Mac and Veronica weren't really friends in the usual sense. They helped each other out on occasion, but they did not "hang out." Or whatever people usually did with their friends. "Yeah, she has. But... don't say I told you, all right?" Mac said, leaning in conspiratorially. "I think she... she's interested in you again. I mean, I can't say for sure but... she gets this sparkle in her eyes when she mentions your name."
A grin spread across Duncan's face. Of course, Mac had known exactly what he wanted to hear but it was good to be right. Kind of made her feel all warm and moxious. "Thank you," he said and grabbed up his book. He rushed away, without so much as a goodbye. Oh well, their first conversation would have to wait for another day.
Mac was a little miffed that he'd used her. Well, not really. She was miffed she hadn't thought to charge him for information. That was so not like her.