In training Friday 080822~15:50
Posted by gullybogan in Relationships, University.Tags: flinders street, melbourne model, melbourne uni, open day
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Dear Reader,
We boarded the train home from Melbourne University Open Day, and sat down opposite each other in a fourset. A boy with Wolfmother hair sat next to Sybylla. He had the same showbag she had.
«So, what did you think of Melbourne,» he asked her, seconds after we’d cleared Flinders Street.
She shrugged. «It was pretty good, i guess.»
«What school do you go to now?»
«I’m not at school.»
«Uh-huh. I liked the Melbourne Model, did you?»
«Yeah, it was great. It blew me away.»
«Is he your boyfriend?»
She smiled. «No, he’s not my boyfriend.»
«Uh-huh. So, do you go to Open Days often?»
«This is my third. How about you?»
«Yeah, next weekend i’m going to Deakin. Just to make sure. Are you going?»
«I don’t think i am.»
«If you do go, i might see you there.»
«Yeah, you might.»
«I hope i do.»
«Mm. I hope you do too. If you do, you make sure to come up and say hi, ok?»
I was amazed that he wasn’t getting the irony in her voice. What are they teaching teenage boys these days? He plunged on, clueless.
«Ok. So what courses are you looking at?»
«Architecture, mostly. But Engineering had a pretty good jazz band, so now i’m a bit torn.»
«I’m doing Arts. Or thinking of doing. Maybe i could meet up with you at Deakin next week? We could go around together?»
«Yeah, ok. That’d be neat-o. So which school are you at?»
And then they got on like a dorm on fire. Except that Sybylla was being deeply ironic the whole time. It was painful to watch, like a poolside interview, post-race.
The boy suddenly stopped mid-reference to some fantasy novel he was reading, and looked ashen-faced out the window. «This is my stop next…» And he looked at Sybylla like he was about to lose the love of his life for ever, and this was his last moments with her.
«Here,» Sybylla said, with her motherly voice, «let me give you my number, so you can call me when you get to Deakin. Just in case i do go.»
«OK,» he said, trying to sound cool. «What is it?»
«No, no,» she said. «Let me show you. You say your number, and i’ll ring you, then i hang up and you add my number from the missed call alert. Always do it that way, otherwise the other person could give you a fake number, ok?»
He nodded, and they did all that. They finished just in time for him to get out the doors before they closed.
He waved as the train slid past. And then he was gone.
«What the hell was all that about?» i asked her.
«Prick of a kid.»
«Prick of a kid? You flirted with the guy for half an hour! You’re, like, five, ten years older than him?»
«OK, so i’m a pederast. Big deal.»
«So you know you’ll be getting cootie-calls from him.»
«You think i used my proper phone? This is my pranking phone, the one i use to harass ppl with, and never answer. I’m not new at this, you know.»
«That’s just cruel. That poor kid’ll be jacking off thinking about you for the next week, and then he’ll be crushed when you don’t turn up at Deakin to hold his hand.»
«Uni is for learning. I think he’s learnt something really important today.»
«Yes, he has. You should tutor.»
«Oh, i’ve had offers. Don’t you worry about that. But i’m thinking i might make more money out of a self-help book. All i need now is a good title with a number in it… The Six Things Your Porn Never Taught You About Women, or The Five Habits of Truly Compulsive Masturbators, that sort of thing.»
We spent the rest of the trip home coming up with names for her self-help book, as you can imagine.
I’m not sure whether or not she’s going to Deakin next week. I’ll let you know if she does go, don’t you worry about that.
Yours,
Gullybogan
I feel kinda sorry for the callow youth…..
Points for effort, he has to learn somehow.
“Uni is for learning. I think he’s learnt something really important today.” lol.