Texting

Troy didn't seem to know or care what time it was because he kept talking as if he didn't want to do anything except stay on the phone. Eden was flattered but also stunned because she had never been on the phone this long with anyone, let alone a man.

They didn't end up hanging up until nearly 9 PM and when she tried apologizing for taking up so much of his time, he immediately shut her down. "Don't apologize for making my bad day better. I had a lot of fun talking to you. We should talk on the phone more often."

A blush crept onto her face as she agreed. "Okay. I'd like that."

Once they said their goodbyes, she buried her face in her hands. This was bad. She already liked him more than she was supposed to considering the differences in their life goals and the fact that she didn't even know what he looked like.

If they kept talking like this, they would have to meet up eventually, wouldn't they? But then what? Meeting up might lead to dating and she didn't want that. Or did she? Eden didn't know what to think anymore.

She needed to get her head out of the clouds. She had dreams and she couldn't throw them away because of the one guy she ever really connected with on an intellectual level.

Belatedly, she realized that Aubrey had texted her back but she hadn't responded because she had been on the phone with Troy for way too long. She replied to her best friend's text by saying it would be easier to explain the whole thing in person than over text and she would tell everything the next time they saw each other. She had already gotten all the venting out that she needed earlier and didn't want to rehash it now.

Eden forced herself to go to bed early because she wanted to make a better impression on Zim tomorrow by showing how capable she was. Troy believed in her so she should believe in herself too.

The next day, she successfully familiarized herself with the locations of all the lab equipment and chemicals, managing to meet her nitpicky boss's approval. He told her that she would begin the rest of her training on Wednesday.

She was fairly certain that meant she passed the second test. What a relief! The last thing she wanted was to get kicked out before she even had the chance to do any real lab work.

Zim was difficult to follow but Eden did her best to keep up for the rest of the week. He talked quickly and seemed to expect his underlings to understand him on the first go, which could be frustrating.

Amanda was a huge help when it came to translating what he was trying to say. She wouldn't have survived without her. It seemed like the older woman desperately wanted her to succeed here; she must be tired of dealing with Zim by herself.

Eden couldn't blame her. He talked to himself frequently and seemed like he was in his own bubble of science most of the time. Even Amanda, who had been there with him from the start, wasn't always allowed to intrude.

He was definitely a weirdo of the highest magnitude but he certainly knew his stuff. She could learn a lot from him if she figured out how to decipher what came out of his mouth half of the time.

When Friday night rolled around, she was dead beat. She cleaned out the bathtub to give herself a nice long soak with a bath bomb Aubrey had given her for Christmas.

Kayla was out again so it didn't matter that the only bathroom in the apartment was occupied long term. That was one of the main benefits of having an absentee roommate. Eden was able to do whatever she wanted most of the time.

She soaked up to her neck in the silky blue-violet water and sighed contentedly. She made it through this week so she could make it through the next. Soon enough, she would be able to work with the chemicals herself rather than watching Zim and Amanda do it.

When she got out of the tub, she saw she had a text from Aubrey. 'We're going to do something fun tomorrow! A group of us are getting together to rollerblade our way downtown and get lunch. You have to come with us because the weather is finally getting nicer and you're actually free on a Saturday'

It shouldn't be too bad since it was supposed to be sunny tomorrow as long as she wore a jacket. And it had been a while since she had busted out her rollerblades.

'Sounds fun! Who all is coming?' Eden asked.

'You'll see tomorrow. But I promise it's all people you know. It'll be great!' Aubrey promised.

She would have to take her word for it since she refused to tell. She hated when Aubrey got all secretive. What was the point of lame little surprises like this? Oh well. She would find out who was coming soon enough.

Eden briefly wondered if Troy liked rollerblading. He seemed like the athletic type between his love of hiking and basketball but that didn't necessarily mean he would.

She supposed she could ask him tomorrow after he got off of work. It was a pity he didn't get off until late tonight; she would feel bad starting a conversation when he was tired from being in the suit all day.

There was always tomorrow. She needed to tell him about getting Zim's partial stamp of approval anyway; that would be sufficient reason to reach out to him. Not that it seemed like she even needed an excuse to these days. He was a rather eager texter.

How long had it been since Eden was this happy about texting a guy? She honestly couldn't remember. It was nice though. She enjoyed having someone to text casually aside from Aubrey or Ezra.

Most of her friends weren't the types to have random text conversations. They used it primarily as a method of meeting up in person. Texting simply for texting's sake was fun too.