by L. M. Heidle
I climbed into my Mustang, putting on my Ray-Bans, and pulling out onto the street before I called her back, smartly after I turned the volume down. I didn’t even get a word out before she squealed so loud my ears rang.
“Oh my gosh!” That dull headache? Yeah pretty sure it was going to upgrade. I should have stuck to my original plan of calling her later, but I knew she wouldn’t stop calling. At least I’d thought to grab my pills on the way out. “You’re bringing a girl home!” I tried to interject that I wasn’t sure yet, but she didn’t take a breath as she rambled. “Daddy said her name is Alexandria. What’s she look like? I bet she’s beautiful. Can I have her number? No, wait, that would probably be weird. That would be weird, right?” I opened my mouth but didn’t get a word out. The next ten minutes of my life went that way, her asking me questions but never letting me answer them. “Tray, I’m so excited, but I’ve got to go. Love you.” I pulled into the parking lot at school as she hung up. You’d think it wasn’t possible to have a conversation without saying a word, but it was a common occurrence with Alyssa.
After finding a parking spot, I jogged over to where Alex’s class should be letting out. I leaned back against a tree, bending my knee as I rested my foot against it. She walked out of the building a few moments later talking to a tall, blond guy. The pressed slacks, pink polo, and the effort he put into a pathetic attempt to walk with ‘swagger,’ left no doubt he was a tool. He made a better impersonator of Bambi than he did Rico Suave. I’d bet my left nut he still lived with his mom. Regardless of how pathetic he was didn’t change the fact I didn’t like how close he was to her.
My jaw started ticking when he put his hand on her lower back. I kicked off the tree, walking to her and without a word I placed my lips on hers for a quick kiss. “Hey, angel.” She stumbled a little, which of course meant I had to wrap my arm around her shoulder, tucking her into my side. “Careful.” I turned my attention to the tool next to us. His eyes jerked back and forth between Alex and me. I smirked. That’s right, you’ve got no chance in hell. I kept my eyes on him as I asked her, “Who’s your friend?”
He squared his shoulders as he stuck his hand out. “Adam.”
I shook his hand, squeezing harder than necessary. “Trayton.” He pulled his hand away, shaking it out. “Her boyfriend.” His face paled a little.
He whispered, “Boyfriend?”
“That’s right so get lost,” I demanded. I may or may not have gotten a thrill at how fast he took off. An elbow connected with my ribs while I watched him scamper off. “Ouch. What was that for?”
“Was that necessary?” She nailed me in the ribs again as she faced off with me. “Next time why don’t you just piss a circle around me? Adam is a nice guy.”
I scoffed, “Those were not nice thoughts running through his head.”
She brought her body flush with mine. “And how would you know that?”
My hands instantly went to her hips, bringing her even closer. I whispered in her ear, “Because no man can have pure thoughts around you.” I lightly kissed below her ear, causing a shiver to run through her body. I loved how reactive her body was to mine. I moved my lips to kiss to the right of her mouth, then dragged my lips over hers as I moved to kiss to the left of her mouth. She kept trying to take my lips as I continued to torture her by kissing above and below her mouth. She stomped her foot and grabbed my t-shirt, using it to stand on her tiptoes as she slammed her lips against mine. Our tongues had barely touched when someone coughing caught my attention. I regrettably took a step back. As much as I wanted to shove her against the tree and make sure everyone knew she was off the market I didn’t. Mostly because I had a feeling she’d be pissed, and I needed her in a good mood if I was going to get her to agree to go to New York.
She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? Isn’t your class on the other side of campus?”
“It is, but I missed you.” She raised her eyebrow and crossed arms made it clear she didn’t believe me. “What? I did.” She added a tapping foot to her crossed arms. “Okay, I need to ask you something, too.” I lightly grabbed her arm, leading her off the sidewalk. “What are you doing for spring break?”
“Kass and I talked about going to the beach, but I think we’re just staying here now. Why?”
I scratched the back of my neck as I bent my neck forward. “Ya see, I’m supposed to go home.”
“Alright,” she slowly said.
I squared my shoulders as I grabbed her hands, linking our fingers. “I might have let it slip we’re dating.” Her eyes widened as her face turned white. “They want to meet you, so I thought you could come with me.” I gave her a few minutes to process what I’d asked, but when she continued to stand as still as a statue, I waved a hand in front of her. Alex?”
“You want me to go to New York?” She was talking, a good sign. “As in the city where you’re from? Where your family lives?”
“Yeah.” The color that had been coming back to her face left at my confirmation.
“So, I’d meet your family?” At my nod, she whispered, “Umm . . .”
ALEX
“Umm . . .” I couldn’t think. It was taking all my brain cells to stop myself from hyperventilating. Meet his family? I’d never done the meet the parents’ routine, and even if I had, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t have prepared me for meeting his family.
“I know we’re new and you’ve had a lot thrown at you lately, but I promised I’d go home for break. When I slipped up my uncle told me to bring you, then being the manipulative man he is, he called my cousin. She’s been blowing up my phone since trying to find out about you.” I stumbled to a bench and plopped down, dropping my head between my knees. He sat on his haunches in front of me, placing his hand on my chin, lifting until I met his eyes. “Alex, I’ll understand if you say no.” The sincerity pouring from his eyes led me to believe he was telling the truth. “But I’d like you to go with me, and not only because of my uncle.”
“Do I have to decide right now?”
“No, of course not.” He chuckled, “Although the sooner you do the easier my life will be. My cousin won’t stop hounding me.” I gave him a weak smile. “Alex, if you’re not ready it’s okay, I promise.” He stood, bringing me with him. “Let’s get you to class.”
I followed him blindly as my mind raced with images of airplanes, the Naked Cowboy in Time Square, The Godfather, a jail cell, and walking with Trayton in Central Park. Yeah, so my thought process was slightly odd. Was I ready to meet his family? No. Did meeting them intrigue me? Ah, hell yes...
I felt a tug on my hand, followed by his lips on my forehead. “We’re here.” I blinked as I registered we were in front of my classroom. “Oh.”
He leaned down giving me a quick kiss before whispering, “I’ll call you tonight.” He kissed me one more time before running in the direction of his class.
I made it to class with less than a minute to spare. I tripped over two girls as I slunk into the last seat in the back row. I had lasted all of forty-five seconds before I pulled out my phone.
Me: He asked me to go w/ him to NYC over break.
Me: Please tell me we have plans.
Kass: Nope, sorry. I was actually going to talk to you tonight. I was thinking about staying with Mark.
Me: Oh, then I need to stay and watch the apartment.
Kass: Nice try. No one in their right mind would rob us. What are you worried about? You get to spend a week in New York.
Me: Yeah...with his family.
Kass: So? Thought you decided they were just a family.
Me: I didn’t say that!
Kass: Yeah, you did. If all goes well, you’ll meet them eventually, so why not pull up your big girl panties and rip the Band-Aid off?
Me: Shouldn’t you be telling me to stay away from him? Ya know dangerous and all?
Kass: Nope, take a chance and follow your heart.
I felt som
eone kick my foot and looked up to see the professor staring at me. “If you’re done, maybe you could join the class.” I turned bright red as I put my phone away.
Putting my phone up didn’t help me concentrate on mathematical equations, though. Instead, I thought about what Kass said, and she was right. I said I wanted to take back my life, and what better way to do that than jumping without knowing where or when I’d land?
After class I sprinted out the door, nearly dropping my phone as I tried to dial Trayton and avoid slamming into anyone at the same time. I had to make this call before my mind started rethinking and I lost my nerve.
“Hey, angel, miss me already?”
I blurted out, “I’ll go.” I don’t know what I expected him to say, but it definitely wasn’t nothing. I checked to make sure I hadn’t dropped the call twice, and with each time my stomach dropped a little further. Had he changed his mind?
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God. Now I can get Ally off my back. She’s already driving me insane. Pretty sure she’s sent me a text every five minutes."
“Wow.”
“You don’t know the half of it. She’s been debating for the last hour whether it’d be weird to ask for your number.” What am I supposed to say to that? I didn’t want to offend him, and definitely not her, but I’m not sure I could handle that. My grabbing life by the horns involved a lot of baby steps, and jumping into a relationship with his cousin was a big leap.
Thankfully a call came through giving me an excuse not to answer. I pulled the phone away from my ear to see Lucas’ picture. “Umm, Tray I gotta go. I’ve got another call.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Bye.”
ALEX
“Hey, Luc.” I slowed my walk as I stepped out from the shade of the trees, feeling the sun warm my face.
“Hey, Lexy-Mexy.” A genuine smile lit my face at the nickname. I loved how he and my brother had nicknames for me. It’d always made me feel like I was one of them and not the annoying little sister tagging along. “What’s new?”
Well, let’s see. I’m dating the son of a hit man, and in a few weeks, I’m going to fly—for the first time—to New York City to meet his family. Completely normal, mundane stuff. “Besides school kicking my butt everything’s good. I’m definitely looking forward to the break.”
“You and Kass getting out of town?”
“That’s the plan.” Technically it was. She was going with Mark, and I was going with Trayton. Okay, so I was splitting hairs, but there was no way I was telling him I was going out of town with a guy. He would flip.
“Where are you headed?”
Shoot! How is it possible that I’m a grown woman, but I still feel the need to white lie my way out of this? “Ah, not sure yet. I just know I’m getting out of town for a week.”
“Well, wherever you end up, remember what I taught you.”
“Don’t go anywhere alone. Walk with a key facing out between my index and middle finger.”
“And.”
“And don’t take any drinks from strangers, especially men.”
“Good girl.” I rolled my eyes. We went over his rules almost every time we talked. It was like he was waiting for it to happen. I’d asked him about that one time, and all he said was you never know what life holds.
I heard someone speaking in rapid-fire Spanish in the background, and by the tone of his voice, he wasn’t happy. I’d picked up a lot of Spanish over the years from Lucas, but the only thing I understood was this guy’s very colorful and creative expletives.
Expletives that stopped the instant Lucas said, “Parada.” A chill ran down my spine from the hostility and venom in his voice. In all the years I’d known Lucas, I’d never heard him talk like that, or even close to it. His voice softened slightly as he spoke, “Alex I’ve got to go.” With that, he hung up.
I was concentrating so hard on the oddity of the call that I didn’t hear Kass come bounding up, so when she bumped my shoulder, I let out a startled scream. “Whoa, sorry. What’s wrong? Who were you talking to?”
I kicked a rock off a sidewalk as I started back toward our apartment. “Lucas.”
“What did ‘ole Lucas have to say? Finally, man up and ask you out?”
I rolled my eyes again. She’d always thought Lucas had a crush on me. No matter how many times I insisted, it wasn’t like that. The thought alone made me queasy. After years of trying to set her straight, I finally gave up and ignored her stupid theory. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”
When we made it to the apartment building she scanned her card and headed for the elevator, but it was broken. Again. We both groaned as we headed for the stairwell. “Let out early. Professor had some appointment with his wife. So, not going to tell me about Lucas?”
What was I supposed to say? He apparently had a temper I didn’t know anything about, which wasn’t hard to believe. My brother, Lucas, and I used to be thick as thieves, but after the accident everything changed, a gap formed. A gap that slowly grew year by year. At first, Lucas and I made plans to meet up, but something always came up. Usually, it had to do with his work. I never realized the life of a mechanic could be so demanding, but he was always busy. Now I settled for phone calls and the occasional visit, but I didn’t want to get into how much that sucked right now.
I dug in my book bag for my key, only to remember it was in my pocket. As I was unlocking it, I spoke over my shoulder, “Things still good with Mark?”
With a faint smile, she answered, “Yeah. He’s amazing, Alex.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “I’m falling in love.”
I couldn’t help but be a little skeptic. Kass always thought she was falling in love. Granted Mark was in a different league than the normal losers she dated, but I still worried about her. I threw my bag on our faded puke yellow chair—it was free and fell back against our once white couch. I waited for her to sit down before I hesitantly asked, “Isn’t it a little soon for that?” I wanted her to find her ever after, but I didn’t want her to get her heart broken again in the process.
Instead of answering she asked, “Are you falling for Trayton?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I couldn’t because as crazy it sounded I was. “Touché.”
ALEX
Ever since I agreed to go to New York things had been different between Trayton and me. There was lightness between us that wasn’t there before. I found out he could be a pretty funny guy who loved playing practical jokes, normally at my expense.
I’d been sitting in Dr. Walsh’s class, a teacher who already didn’t like me because my uncle was the basketball coach. He got cut or something when he played, so he hated anything to do with basketball. Anyway, Trayton and his friends decided it’d be a good idea to put spiders in my coffee. I’d pulled the lid off to blow on it but ended up throwing it across the room. Where it landed on—you guessed it—Mr. Walsh. Trayton’s response after I yelled at him for thirty minutes? “The look on Dr. Walsh’s face was priceless.” I’d stood there completely slack-jawed as I watched him almost fall over with laughter.
I’d also learned that PDA didn’t bother him one bit. That surprised me more than the jokes. I think part of why he did it was to keep other guys away, which surprisingly didn’t bother me too much. Could be because while he was sending out that message he was also sending out the message that he was taken. PDA and confirmation of our relationship? That’s a win-win in my book.
I loved where our relationship was going, but it also made me feel insanely guilty. He’d dropped his wall by telling me about his family, but mine for the most part was still standing tall. Every time he asked about them I gave very vague answers or completely ignored it all together. I knew it was frustrating him, but it was also frustrating me too. I’d tried to tell him several times, but every time I chickened out, and I had no idea why.
This is why I found myself sitting on my bedroo
m floor with tears streaming down my face, surrounded by pictures. Trayton had left with some lame excuse about homework. I knew it was because I’d shut down the family talk yet again, so when he left, I grabbed my keepsake box out of the closet.
I picked up the picture of my mom, dad, Trip, and me from my brother’s graduation. I remembered that morning with complete clarity. I’d wanted to wear a tight, short red dress because I knew Matt, a guy I had a crush on would be there. Trip started shaking his head the second he saw me. He gave me his famous ‘No sister of mine’ speech.
The next picture was one of my dad and me. Every month we had a date night. We both got dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant for dinner. My dad would always complain about how no man could get full off the overpriced proportions, so every single time we ended the night at Sally’s Diner.
I picked up a picture of me sitting in the ER getting a pink cast on my arm. I had the biggest smile on my face. My brother and Lucas had told me I was too chicken to ride my bike down Killer hill. It was a huge hill that some high school guys had moved dirt around it to create jumps. They said I couldn’t hang out with them unless I could do it. I broke my arm in two different places, but I did it. I thought I was so cool because neither Trip nor Lucas had ever broken a bone before. My mom, on the other hand, did not think it was cool. I was grounded for a month.
Kass walked into my room and sat crossed legged next to me. She picked up a picture and laughed. “I remember this. Your brother and Lucas were pissed.”
She moved her hand so I could see the picture. It was the first high school dance Kass and I went to. Jason had his arm around Kass and Derek had his arm around me as we smiled for the camera. In the background, you could see Trip and Lucas standing there with crossed arms glaring. I chuckled, “Remember how they followed us?”
“I’ll never forget it. They’d never went to a school dance before that night, and they hated every second of it.”
I laughed because they really did. They sulked in the corner all night, and anytime our dates got too close they just happened to walk by. When I say too close, I mean less than five feet between us. It was so embarrassing. Derek and Jason never asked us out again. Or any guys really.