SPILLING SECRETS: First meetings - Samuel POV

“Samuel! I’m here!” Emma shouted, waving her arms from her sit at the back of the cafeteria with no care about the safety of anyone sitting around her.

Samuel had met Emma many years ago, but the fact they managed to become friends was really surprising considering their personalities were complete opposites. And, to be honest, being so different is what made their friendship somewhat “special”. Emma always had amazing stories to tell, although sometimes they were too creepy for his taste, and Samuel soon became her tech support and official provider of all kinds of geeky data. And that was exactly the reason she had asked for his help that morning.

This time it was a friend of hers the one that needed help with her computer, but that’s all the information he had for now. The mystery had kept him intrigued all morning, wanting to finish his classes as soon as possible so he could go to the cafeteria and mess around with whatever wrecked device she would present him with. But all that emotion disappeared as soon as he spotted the girl that was sitting right next to Emma. Oh no. Her friend is... really pretty.

“Hey Sam! You want something to drink?” Emma asked, smiling happily. Samuel tried to smile back, but his mouth was so tense that he probably looked like someone that was just kidnapped but couldn’t say it out loud. “Oh, wait, introductions first. Samuel, this is the friend I told you about. The one that —”

“Yeah, the friend with problems. Computer problems, I mean. No mental or psychological problems or anything like that. Not that I think it's a bad thing to have those kinds of problems...”

Why can't I keep my mouth shut? I need medical help. Something must be wrong with me. Emma, detecting Samuel's nervousness, scratched her forehead and was about to come to his rescue when the ‘problem’ girl beat her to it. To Samuel's surprise, she didn't sound upset after listening to his nonsense, but rather the opposite.

“Yeah, I have many problems, but let’s start by taking care of this one.” She laughed softly, pointing to the laptop placed on the table, right in front of her. “My name is ______. Nice to meet you.”

“Samuel. But everyone calls me Sam.”

“Even though he may not look like it right now, he knows a lot about computers and things like that. I promise.” After winking at the boy, Emma gave a little push to the empty chair in front of them so he could take a seat. “I'll be back in a minute, okay? Just do your magic, and see if you find a solution.”

“You’re leaving?!” His voice sounded a bit too desperate, so he hurriedly added: “Ahem… Yes, of course. No worries.”

Trying to look like a knowledgeable guy, and not like a scared bunny dazzled by the lights of the truck that’s about to run him over, Samuel cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up his nose, avoiding eye contact for a few seconds. He was not that good at interacting with females, but he was determined to overcome his shyness and do his best at showing some confidence.

“May I?” he asked before touching her laptop. The girl nodded with a smile. “If it's something quick I can fix it right now. But if it isn’t, I'll have to take it home with me... Are you okay with that?”

“Of course! If you have to, it's all yours.”

Alright, time to find out what's wrong with this thing. Concentrate. Samuel inspected the computer thoroughly and, after a few minutes of silence, he was almost sure about what the problem was. Just as he had thought, it wasn't something he could fix right then and there.

“What’s the diagnosis, doctor?” she asked, breaking the silence and making him look back up at her. “Does it need to be admitted to the hospital?”

“I'm afraid so... I need to operate on it, but all my tools are at home” he explained, feeling a bit embarrassed for playing along with the analogy. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, unable to stop every solution possible from flooding his mind. “I'll return it to you as soon as I’m done. I'm almost sure I know what's wrong with it.”

“No need to hurry. Oh, by the way… Emma told me you both live in the same neighborhood” she said, catching Samuel off guard. How much has Emma told her about me? “We could all meet up sometime.”

“Sure!” Samuel agreed, sounding a little bit too excited. He quickly cleared his throat and lowered his tone of voice. “Count me in. I'm usually in my dungeon playing around with… things. I mean, technological things. It’s not like I have a sinister hidden basement or anything...”

"I surely hope you don’t" she replied, chuckling. “I can give you my phone number, if you want. That way you can let me know when the laptop is ready.”

“Oh, okay. Here, you can type it in yourself.”

Samuel handed her the phone and the girl added her number to the contact list. But right when she was about to give it back, something made her freeze and look at the screen with curiosity in her eyes. What is she looking at? What’s with that expression?

“Is this you?”

When she turned the phone around and Samuel could see she was referring to his wallpaper, he felt like fleeing to another country. Of course the guy dressed as a superhero and smiling to the camera was him. I should delete that photo.

“Ah... Yes, that's me. I was just fooling around with some friends...” He knew no excuse could help him regain his dignity, but at least he should try explaining why he took a picture covered in spandex.

"It looks good on you" she said with an amused smile, and Samuel’s cheeks caught on fire. “Did you make the costume yourself or did you buy it?”

He didn’t know how to have that kind of conversation with a girl he had just met without making himself look like a loser. Eager to escape the situation, Samuel stood up abruptly. It would be best if he just left as soon as possible.

“Leaving already?” she asked, standing up as well. Shooting a confused look to the door where Emma had disappeared through, she added "Emma will be back soon…"

“It's just... My next class starts in a few minutes and I don’t want to be late” he lied, glancing at the imaginary watch on his wrist and slinging the laptop bag over his shoulder. unable to look her in the eyes. “Don't worry about Emma, she won’t mind if I leave.”

“I’ll be waiting for your message, then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Sam.”

“Same here. See you around, ______.”

After exchanging one last nervous smile with her, he whirled around and exited the cafeteria in a hurry. A sigh left his mouth right when he reached the bustling hallway. That didn’t go as well as he had expected, but at least he didn’t act like an awkward potato, as usual. At least not the whole time. Now all he had to do was to work hard on fixing her computer so he could get back to her as soon as possible. Maybe being friends with Emma will not only give me headaches…