Love of Learning 2
Three hours later, they were still talking animatedly at the pizza house that Xander had led him to. A crowd had indeed pressed inside soon after they arrived. It also left while the two of them lingered.
As the conversation continued, William could see exactly why it was that Rupert Giles had taken a shine to Xander Harris. The boy was ebullient, enthusiastic, and had something of a knack for stumbling upon conclusions and observations that got right to the heart of whatever matter was at hand.
William had already seen, from watching the boy with his peers, that Xander was a friendly young man whose warmth drew others to him with ease. Of course all the boys at the school seemed to William friendly (Americans in general struck him as friendly, sometimes startlingly so). The atmosphere of the all–boys´ school seemed to put them more at ease and make them more affectionate with one another than he had previously known boys to act.
They as often hit one another in play, as hugged or bumped against each other in friendly ways, but there seemed to be quite a bit of bodily contact, in a way that there hadn´t been in his own days of boarding school in England.
He sometimes came in to his own classroom to find the young men in his classes wrestling together like young puppies, which was disconcerting when he needed them to settle down and consider the early poems of Yeats. Other times, when he had to drop by the dorms on his night as supervisor of their night study, he found the young men all lying about together, one boy lying his head on the stomach of another while they read, another leaning over the shoulder of his roommate while they both studied a text together.
But Xander seemed to him even more friendly and affectionate than his peers. Or at least he acted so that evening, when William had a chance to note it. He spent much of the time at the restaurant attempting to get Xander to let him steer the conversation to books he might choose for his mid–term comparative essay, or the analytical research paper that William wanted him to write as extra credit, to catch up with the work he had missed by arriving after the term had already started. But when William would make suggestions or explain potential topics, Xander would gesture animatedly while he reacted, often touching William´s arm or shoulder as he made a joke or asked a question.
Of course more often than not they got off topic, what with eating the pizza, ordering a second round of sodas, Xander talking about how he liked his new school and asking William questions about how he enjoyed teaching there, where he had taught before that, what sort of things he liked to do when he had free time...
And if William let himself stop and think about it, he might have reflected that he was being perhaps too personable with Xander. Yet they were often encouraged to make such contact with students, to form relationships with them. At the insular institution, the instructors were supposed to provide not only teaching and advice that would relate to academics, but help to act as a support system for these boys who were so often far away from home.
So what was the harm, really, in telling Xander that he had been engaged for three years, but that his wedding kept being delayed for various reasons? That Elizabeth, his fiancée, was to have gotten a job in the States, if not in the very state in which he taught, so that it would be easier for them to see one another, but that so far the types of jobs she would find appealing seemed to elude her or to go to other applicants, leaving them with an entire ocean between them?
And it was funny how this very talkative boy was thoughtfully silent when William told him bits about himself or mentioned that even though he liked the other faculty members he had no particular friends among the faculty. When William did speak about himself, of course briefly, Xander nodded sympathetically and seemed genuinely concerned and interested.
Suddenly William realized that they were the only two people left in the small restaurant. He cleared his throat. It wasn´t so very late, but the dinner rush for this mid–week night was obviously over, and the students that would normally monopolize the area on weekends were no doubt at their dorms or at the library.
"I expect we ought to get you back to the dormitory," he said. Strangely, he found himself reluctant to leave. Perhaps it was because he had only a stack of grading waiting for him at home, and it had been so enjoyable to have this animated conversation with this young man.
"Oh come on. I´m not going to turn into a pumpkin yet," Xander scoffed.
William blinked at that, but then Xander was telling him to "wait a sec" and rushing back up to the counter to talk to the man who took the orders.
"What did you get there?" William asked curiously when Xander came back with a white sack full of something.
"Cannolli," Xander said. "You haven´t lived till you´ve had their chocolate–chip filling. And hey, I figured that since you wanted me to think about doing my report on that crazy–long Dickens book, the least you could do was rent the movie version and watch it with me tonight."
"Rent the..." William actually put his fingertips to his temple. He remembered agreeing to no such thing. Yet the whole evening did have a sort of festive air to it, and it would be in some ways related to encouraging the boy´s interest in his studies...wouldn´t it?
"Right," Xander rushed along. "So we´ll just grab the cannolli, head to the video place and get the DVD, and head back to the dorms and watch it there in the common room."
"To the dorms," William echoed. Well, that hardly seemed the most comfortable solution. He had supervised a few movie nights among the boys at the lower school, and though the facilities of the lounges were perfectly fine, they weren´t at all William´s preferred atmosphere to watch films. Still, it seemed like the appropriate and expected place that a teacher and a student would view a movie together.
Then again, William still couldn´t recall having agreed to watch the film in the first place.
"Oh, wait," Xander said. His expression became distraught. "I just remembered –– big marathon on the sci–fi channel tonight, and a bunch of the guys have had that common room TV claimed for hours. We´ll never get to watch it over there." He glanced at William, and then looked down at his shoes. "I don´t know if maybe...um..."
William realized that he was holding his breath, and laughed nervously.
"Suppose maybe we could . . . oh, forget it," Xander said.
"No," William said. His voice sounded thick to him. "What were you about to say?"
"Oh." Xander shrugged. "I was going to say that we could reschedule and watch it another time."
"I don´t know that it would be proper to –– " William stopped himself as he realized he wasn´t responding to what Xander had actually said. "Wait, what did you say?"
"Watch it another time," Xander repeated slowly. He wasn´t smiling, but there was a quirk to the edge of his lips that seemed to indicate that he might any moment. "You know, because I´ve totally monopolized you, and you probably have all kinds of things to get done before class tomorrow."
"No, actually. I´ve . . . my preparations are already complete." William hesitated a moment, and then rushed to say, "In fact, I doubt I will do much more this evening in the way of work. So. If perhaps you wanted to watch the film tonight . . . we could watch it at my apartment. Only because your dorm television is unavailable."
"Oh, really? That would be way cool! But I don´t want to get in the middle of your thing."
"No," William said, more confident now. "I insist. After all, we do want to get you caught up on your work. And if you find that the film piques your interest and makes you more inclined to try the novel, so much the better."
"Great," Xander said happily. He jittered on the balls of his feet a little, as though he would actually bounce with excitement if he felt completely at ease.
