Breathe (Sway Part 2) Page 3

  I dialed Justin’s number at school because that line didn’t have caller ID. I wanted to catch him off guard. That way he couldn’t avoid me.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Is that how you answer the phone now?”

  “Yeah. Who is this?” he asked.

  I felt my insides begin to sink. “Very funny,” I chided.

  “Okay, I’ll try this, then. Who are you lookin’ for?”

  That time I heard enough of his voice to realize that I wasn’t talking to Justin. “Justin Bishop,” I said, embarrassed.

  “He’s not here. Is this Natalie?”

  “No,” I exhaled, sinking lower. “This is Annie.”

  “Oh, Annnnnnnie,” he hummed, as if he knew all about me.

  “Yeah, and you are?”

  “I’m, uh, Justin’s roommate, Alex,” he sniffed.

  “Ah, the missing roommate.”

  “Not that roommate. Some chick snitched to housing that Justin’s other roommate had moved out, so they moved me in at the start of the semester.”

  “Do you play baseball, too?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You wanna elaborate?” I guess I was in such desperate need of conversation that I was willing to force one with this stranger.

  Alex chuckled. “Okay, well, last season I batted around .387. I hit fifteen home runs—all over the wall.” He had to throw that in. “I don’t remember my RBI number. I played third base and pitched relief, but not often, because I don’t much care for it.”

  “Why not?”

  Alex breathed out a long, loud breath. “Because I don’t—listen, you can go to the school’s web page if you wanna know anything else about my baseball career. Alex Winthrop, number three. It’s all listed there—even has a picture.”

  I wanted to laugh at his tone. He sounded as if he thought I was dying to know what he looked like.

  “Did you play at Martin last year?”

  “I thought we just went over this.”

  “I guess we did. Do you know where Justin is?” I asked.

  “I guess since you’re on the phone, he’s with Natalie.”

  “Who’s Natalie?”

  “Just this chick.”

  “Chick?” I’d ignored the word the first time he’d said it.

  “Yeah—chick.”

  “I bet you don’t have a girlfriend,” I said.

  Alex laughed. “What makes you say that?”

  “Most girls don’t like to be called chick. So, guys who call girls chicks are usually single.”

  “Thaaaat’s right,” Alex cooed. “You’re the chick who’s gonna be a shrink.”

  “Psychiatrist,” I corrected.

  “Tomato—Tomatoe.”

  “Not really.”

  “Why don’t you explain how being a psychiatrist is different from being a shrink, cause it’s all relative to me.”

  “First of all, shrink is rude slang and not the correct way to refer to a doc—” “Whoa, wait,” Alex cut me off. “You’re not seriously one of those bleeding heart chicks who believes we should all censor ourselves to keep from offending anyone, are you?”

  “I think a person should be mindful of what comes out of their mouth.”

  “Or what goes in it?” Alex quipped, sounding proud of himself. I was sure he was smiling.

  “I walked right into that one,” I grumbled.

  “I won’t hold it against you. It’s sort of my thing. I’m into going for shock value right now.”

  “What you said wasn’t all that shocking to me.”

  “Oh, right. You expected to hear something like that from a guy who refers to girls as chicks.”

  “That’s sort of my thing, predicting other’s behavior.”

  Alex laughed. “Well, I bet you never predicted this,” he said, and then hung up on me, which surprisingly made me laugh, too.

  10

  Justin

  “Hey, dude that Annie chick called,” Alex said, as soon as I entered our dorm apartment. My chest tightened. I wasn’t ready to talk to her.

  “She sounds cool. Feisty.” Alex grinned, raising an eyebrow. “I like that. I told her to look me up.”

  I laughed. “You have got to stop trying to pick up girls that way.”

  “What?” he held his arms out. “Once they get a peek at this,” he pointed to himself with both index fingers, “they come runnin’.”

  “She won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Ryan Mullins,” I said, forcibly masking my hatred of him.

  “Ryan Mullins,” Alex repeated, trying to place him. “Wait... that pitcher?”

  “Yeah, he’s Annie’s...” what should I call him? “Boyfriend.”

  “Really? That dude’s got all of the SEC pissin’ their pants, and he hasn’t even played a college game yet.”

  “Yeah,” I grumbled. “That guy. They’re supposedly getting married.”

  “Married?” Alex gasped. “Well that nixes her then.” He yanked his fingers across his throat as if slicing through it. “I can’t deal with a chick who wants to get married. I can’t even think about some mess like that right now.” He shook his head, turned off. Good. I didn’t want Alex sniffin’ around Annie anyway.

  “She must be hot though. I mean, with that guy’s talent, he could probably get laid in his sleep.”

  “He sort of used to, until he met Annie.”

  “Wow, I really can’t wait to see this chick, then.” Alex rubbed his hands together. “She’s smokin’ hot, isn’t she?”

  “She’s my best friend. I don’t look at her that way.”

  “You lie!” Alex proclaimed. “You’re a guy. You look at every girl that way—their mothers, too.”

  “I can’t believe some of the shit that comes out of your mouth sometimes,” I complained.

  “What? Guys look at their chick’s mother all the time—gives them a good idea of what she’ll look like when she’s older.”

  I shook my head. “There’s more to a person than looks.”

  “Oh, so you’re tellin’ me that if there were two girls standin’ next to each other—one’s smokin’ hot with no personality, the other has a great personality, but looks dumpy as hell—you’d pick personality over looks.”

  “It would depend.”

  “On what? How dumpy the chick looked—to what degree her dumpiness was?”

  “No. I would have to meet them first.”

  “Pssshhhht,” Alex spit, swatting the air between us with one hand. “I don’t even know why I bother with you, man. You’re borderline chick yourself.”

  I was seriously regretting rejecting Jessica Lawrence right then. She’d gotten drunk and come on to me at a party before Christmas break. I told her friend to take her home. It must have pissed Jessica off because she narked to housing that my roommate had moved out, and when I came back from break Alex, The Alpha, was waiting for me.

  “I’m goin’ out so that you can be alone with your thoughts and wash your hair, or whatever chicks that stay home on Friday nights do,” Alex joked before leaving.

  “Ha-ha,” I spit under my breath. I grabbed a beer from the fridge, and sat down in front of the TV, but all I could do was think of Annie, and stare at the phone. I didn’t know what to say to her, and wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear what she had to say to me.

  I stood up and left my dorm, hoping to catch Alex. Whatever he was into tonight would take my mind off Annie. And that’s all I wanted—to not think of her for a while.

  11

  Annie

  It’d been a week since I called Justin. Waiting for a response was killing me. I tried to explain away why I hadn’t heard from him as I paced my bedroom floor.

  Maybe Alex hadn’t told Justin I’d called, maybe he was busy with school and baseball, or maybe he just didn’t want to talk to me, which was what I feared.

  Since calling again would make me seem desperate, I decided to drive three hours and surprise him at school. Bec
ause that wouldn’t make me seem desperate at all.

  I slipped on a pink turtleneck sweater, a pair of dark rinse jeans and black boots. I brushed my hair, applied a coat of lip moisturizer, and gave myself a quick glance in the mirror before gathering my things and leaving.

  The drive to Martin felt longer this time, probably because my last visit was planned, and Justin had known I was coming. He’d wanted to see me then. I wasn’t sure about now, and thought that I might be driving right back home if things didn’t go well.

  On campus, I parked in an empty space near Justin’s truck. I was so nervous that my hand trembled as I took my keys from the ignition.

  My confidence wilting, I felt weaker with every advance I made toward Justin’s building. I was so nauseated I thought I might throw up before I made it to the door.

  I heard voices inside, so I knocked hard, standing away from the peephole to avoid being seen.

  The door flew open, and a guy stood silently gawking at me. Alex looked just like his photo on the baseball team’s web page. Clean cut, almost pretty—he was that sort of good looking. He had short blond hair, aqua blue eyes, and dimples. He was six-feet-three-inches, one hundred-ninety-eight-pounds of right-handed trouble.

  I smiled, suddenly feeling at ease. “Hello, Alex,”I said, my voice creamy. His eyes widened. He pulled the beef stick he was chewing on out of his mouth, which was moving as if he wanted to say something, but he remained mute.

  “Who is it?” someone called from inside.

  “Don’t know,” Alex called back, still staring at me.

  “Well, let ‘em in or not, but shut the damn door.”

  It was only about twenty degrees outside, and I was sure the cold night air had consumed the smallish space beyond the door.

  Alex motioned for me to come inside. I took a few steps and was positive that he was checking out my ass as he closed the door behind me.

  There were several guys sitting around the kitchen table playing cards and drinking beer. They also stared at me. I quickly scanned their faces but didn’t see Justin.

  I turned to Alex. “You...” I pointed at him. “Hung up on me.”

  “Ah,” he chuckled. “You’re Annie?”

  “I am,” I confirmed with a smile.

  “Hey, Bishop!” he shouted, with one hand bent around his mouth, acting as a partial megaphone. “Annie’s here!”

  I heard Justin’s voice, getting louder as he got closer. “What the hell are you doin’ still talking about Annie? I already told you she’s—” Justin stopped everything when he saw me. Talking, walking, possibly breathing.

  “That’s what I was trying to tell you, bro. She’s here.”

  “Hey,” I said, my voice low and hoarse, my heart pounding in anticipation of what would happen next. Justin stared at me for a long moment, and then shook his head. “Dammit Reynolds,” he groaned, as if frustrated that he couldn’t stay mad at me. Especially now that I was standing in his living room, which was exactly what I’d hoped.

  I shimmied out of my jacket, threw it across the back of the couch, and went to hug him. In my boots, I was tall enough to get my arms around his neck, to put my head on his shoulder. I wanted to hold on to him like that forever.

  12

  Justin

  Annie smelled too good, like her leather jacket and that flowery shampoo she uses. She leaned back and looked at me. Her eyes were watery. I swear, if she cries...

  I felt as if I hadn’t seen her in years instead of weeks. She lay against me again. I’d missed her so much—more than I thought. Something I was thinking when Natalie walked in and saw us wrapped around each other.

  I let go of Annie, whom I hadn’t even mentioned to Natalie, but we’d just started seeing each other, and I honestly wasn’t sure of the status of my and Annie’s friendship.

  The guys were quiet, glancing at the three us.

  “Uh, Nat, this is my friend Annie,” I said carefully. Annie turned around, catching on. “Hi, Natalie,” she said and smiled, despite Natalie’s pissy demeanor.

  Natalie crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one side. “You expect me to believe that you’re just friends with her?” she snarled. The guys snickered. It was sort of hard to believe that I could just be friends with Annie, especially after making out with her.

  “Well, I am,” I blurted, wishing I’d said something smarter than that.

  “We really are just friends. We’ve been friends since we were kids,” Annie added.

  “So, where are you sleeping tonight, Annie?” Natalie asked.

  “I... uh... I can stay at a hotel. I think there’s one up the road.”

  “She’s staying here,” I said.

  “Where is she going to sleep?”

  “My bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “I don’t like it. I don’t like that she’s going to be here with you all night. I mean, look at her.”

  “The girl has a point,” Alex muttered.

  “I think I’m going to go,” Annie said, reaching for her coat.

  “Don’t—you just got here.” I hated that I sounded whiny.

  “I don’t want to cause any problems.” Annie looked at me. “I only wanted to see you.” She was killing me. The sadness in her eyes, the desperation in her tone. I let out all my breath in frustration. Even though the words would taste like acid in my mouth, I knew what I had to say to ease Natalie’s mind.

  “She’s practically engaged to someone else. Show her the ring, Annie.” I hadn’t seen it myself yet. I couldn’t read Annie’s expression. She seemed reluctant somehow, but Natalie’s eyes were on her, demanding that she show proof.

  As soon as Annie flashed the ring, the room erupted. Then came the questions about Ryan like a tsunami. Hard, fast, and making me feel like I was doomed to die by drowning. I didn’t want to hear how Ryan had given Annie the ring. What he’d said to her. What he’d promised or what they’d done afterwards.

  “Mullins gave you that ring?” Alex asked, holding Annie’s hand in his.

  “Do you know Ryan?”

  “I’ve just heard about him. You’re really getting married?”

  “At some point, yes.”

  My body tensed. I didn’t want her marrying that goon.

  “I’m sorry,” Natalie said. “I didn’t know who you were and I...”

  “It’s okay.” Annie smiled at her, and then they went back to blabbing about the great Ryan Mullins and the enormous diamond he’d put on Annie’s finger.

  13

  Annie

  “I thought she was never going to leave,” Justin moaned, after seeing Natalie out.

  “You picked her,” I said, taking his beer away from him for a sip.

  “We’ve only been out a few times, but she’s acting like I’m her boyfriend.”

  “Girls can be territorial like that,” I said. It was natural for a girl to want to lay claim on a guy she liked.

  “It sucks when a girl doesn’t understand the concept of dating. Like, suddenly I’m her property because I’ve fed her a few times.”

  “Really? You fed her.” I laughed.

  “You know what I mean. I’m just frustrated, I guess.”

  “C’mon.” We sat down with the guys at the table, who had given up on the card game in favor of eavesdropping on us.

  Alex winked at me. “You looked me up, huh?”

  “I couldn’t come up here without knowing what you looked like, could I?”

  “Told you it works.” Alex nodded to Justin.

  “How else would I know if I was kicking the right person’s ass?” I finished. Hard laughter echoed in the room.

  “Did he tell you that he hung up on me?” I asked Justin, pointing at Alex.

  “No. He didn’t.”

  “Well, the chick was asking me a hundred questions.” Alex held his arms out as if asking what else could I do?

  “Forty-seven,” I said.

  “Forty-seven what?” Alex asked, appearing
clueless.

  “That’s how many RBI’s you had last season.”

  “I know that, girl! It was a trick to see if you would find out and report back to me. Who can predict other’s behavior now?”

  I smiled so wide that I almost laughed. He was going to be fun. “Enjoy that one, because you won’t get over on me again.”

  “We’ll see, sweetie. You seem a bit amateurish to me.” Alex’s open hand waved in a so-so motion. He was so cocky.

  “All right,” Justin moaned. “You two are super entertaining and all, but it’s refill time.” He stood up and looked at me. “You want a beer?”

  “Please.”

  “I don’t have any bottles. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Oh, so you’re a proper chick—won’t drink from a can?” Alex cooed.

  “I could drink from a can. I just don’t.”

  “Big difference,” he smirked.

  I got up and followed Justin to the kitchen. We heard everyone shuffling around, and then a mismatched chorus of their voices sounding off, letting us know they were leaving. Even Alex left.

  Justin and I filled our glasses, and then sat on the couch. It was so quiet that I felt nervous again. It was only him and me now. No buffer.

  “Let’s see it,” Justin said, pulling my left hand toward him. “That’s a serious ring,” he commented, after a glance.

  “Your mom sucks at keeping secrets.”

  “I didn’t realize this was something you wanted to keep secret.”

  “It’s not. It’s just that I haven’t been able to tell anyone anything without them already knowing. You suck at keeping secrets, too—except when it involves you,” I added.

  Justin looked at me; his eyes glazed over, somewhere else, or in deep thought. “You’re really going to marry him after this whole time apart thing,” he finally said.

  A thousand things ran through my head, a hundred ways to explain myself, to defend Ryan, to make Justin understand, but when I opened my mouth all that slipped out was a delicate, “yes.”