“There he is,” Catherine stopped briefly, looking meaningfully at Sheila, Bev and Aleph, and then pointedly back into the center of the quad, where several young men and two girls moved in curious choreography while kicking a beanbag back and forth, before resuming her stride and her lilt, “playing hackey-sack with that girl, who looks like you.”
Sheila and Bev giggled, glancing furtively at Aleph, who smiled, just a little.
They all watched the game – particularly that girl and he, who almost seemed to glow – silently for the few moments it took them to traverse the westward length of the quadrangle toward the dining hall. As they passed, three of the players – two boys and a girl – broke from the circle and also headed toward the dining hall, while that girl and he, and another boy, kept dancing around under that arcing bag.
They moved in concert.
“Well, at least that’s not his heart they’re kicking around,” Sheila quipped as they left the quad.
They laughed, Bev and Catherine and Sheila, while Aleph quietly said, “Oh.” She paused, glancing back, her slight smile lingering.
“Yes, it is.”