by Stacy Borel
Come on Hadley. What’s worse, being in water you’re afraid of, or showing everyone here that you’re a huge chicken and never get asked to do something like this again? On a leap of faith, I quickly took the last two steps down, and, like Wrigley had promised, he was right there, an arm going under mine, and he guided me around onto his back. I desperately wanted to squeeze the life out of him until he had us up on the shore, but killing the one that was going to ‘save’ me wouldn’t be wise.
Instead, I focused on my breathing and tried to enjoy this very temporary moment of holding onto the guy I’ve been crushing on my entire life His warm skin was pressed again my bare stomach and it was an incredible feeling. His hands gripped my thighs as we got to a spot where he was able to touch bottom. I was grateful I’d shaved my legs the night before.
“Watch out for snakes!” Aurora shouted, laughing hysterically at herself.
There weren’t any snakes, but she was trying to get me to freak. Maybe I’d hold on to Wrigley tighter. I did inadvertently, and whether he was doing it on purpose or not, he squeezed my thighs a little firmer. It sent a very unfamiliar sense of warmth through my body and I felt slightly turned on. It was embarrassing. As he walked up the shore, I still clung to him like a scared monkey. He was completely out of the water with me on his back.
“You’re on land!” Faith shouted. Livi laughed and nudged her friend.
My cheeks felt hot. “Uh, right.” I loosened my grip on him and let go with my legs. I slid down until I felt my feet touch the ground. It seemed almost sensual how slowly he guided my wet body down his. I could’ve swore I heard him groan. “Sorry about that. I don’t mean to be a big baby. Hopefully, I didn’t break your back or anything.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re a tiny thing, Hadley. I don’t even think I exerted energy.”
I glanced around. There were tall weeds in every direction and a sound of a bird echoed off the bridge. It was actually quite beautiful. I wished the music was off so I could sit on the little shore and enjoy it. Wrigley had other plans. He marched towards the rusted hunk of metal like a man on a mission.
“Get it big boy!” Austin catcalled.
“Yeah, we’ll see you try a back flip from this high.” Wrigley responded. He was climbing a semi steep hill to get up top.
I stood there, refusing to move. Was he seriously going to back flip off from that high? Couldn’t he hurt himself? It’s not like we knew how deep the water was down there. Although it was likely deep enough to jump. When he was standing at the top, he turned and put his heels on the edge.
“Get it, hot stuff,” Faith called out and I couldn’t help but notice how annoying her voice sounded.
Wrigley didn’t respond. Instead, he bent at the knees and then flung himself backwards. His whole body leaped into the air and he did a full three-sixty before he sliced through the water. It was so graceful that I held my breath and tried to memorize it. Wrigley was good at so many things—this was just another to add to the growing list.
When he came up for air, he slung his head side to side and his hair whipped back and forth flinging droplets of water. If only my brain could put it into slow motion and play it like a movie reel. He looked like a movie star filming something like Baywatch. He wiped his hand down his face and then smiled brightly.
“How’d you rate that?” he asked proudly.
Why was he looking at me to answer? I glanced around like maybe the other awkward girl on the sand would respond. “Uh, a ten?” I said, unsure.
He frowned. “You sure about that?”
Ugh I hated this. I wanted to be a chameleon and turn green like the reeds. “Yes, I’m sure,” I sighed.
“Good,” he said egotistically. He started wading toward me. “Your turn.”
My eyes grew huge and I looked at Aurora, panicked and wondering if my friend would come save me. “I’m not jumping that.” I pointed at the offending bridge. “You can’t make me.”
He was now waist deep and he grinned an evil grin. Like the devil was rising from the water looking beautiful and edible. “Yes, I can.”
I had half a mind to make a run for it. I was sure if I just took off across the land I was on, it was bound to meet with another road at some point. I looked like a helpless college student; someone was bound to pull over and assist me, right? I had no shoes on and I was in a bikini. I looked like a Girls Gone Wild episode and who knew who’d stop and pick me up like this.
Frowning, I said, “Okay, you may be able to, but that doesn’t mean you should.”
As he approached me, my instinct was to back up, but I stood my ground. My head tilted back as I looked up at him and he blocked the sun from my eyes. I swear if he tried to throw me over his shoulder, I was going to ball up my fists and swing at him as hard as I was capable of. Thankfully, I didn’t need to.
Livi, whom I didn’t hear approaching, walked up beside Wrigley and stood so close that her shoulder was touching his arm. She looked at me with such distaste I almost flinched and then she turned to him, the look gone as if it had never been there.
“Come jump with me,” she said flirtatiously.
She grabbed his hand and started yanking him toward the hill, he’d just climbed.
While he allowed her to move him, he looked over his shoulder at me. “Hey, if you change your mind, I’ll jump with you.”
I was really disliking her more and more, but I was grateful she’d taken his attention away from me and that jump.
“What a bitch.”
I wasn’t paying attention to much except Wrigley, because I hadn’t heard Aurora coming either. Her face was disgusted and she had her lip curled.
“No, it’s fine,” I admitted.
“It really isn’t. He hasn’t paid her the least bit of attention, and here she comes swooping in all Wrigley come jump with me” She imitated Livi’s voice in an exaggerated, annoying tone.
“Okay, and he let her.” I pointed out.
Aurora shielded her eyes from the sun as she peered up the bridge to see them getting to the top. “And that’s what makes him a dense dickhead.”
That made me giggle. “Maybe, but I honestly don’t want to jump. I don’t mind being out here and relaxing on the boat or the beach, but being in the water isn’t my thing.”
She touched my shoulder and I peeked at her out of the corner of my eye. “It’s fine. I’ll let him pass on this one because you really mean it. But if this happens again, I’m pointing it out to him since you won’t.”
I nodded, not feeling like arguing. There really wasn’t anything to point out. If Wrigley didn’t want to be pulled away from me, he wouldn’t have allowed it. It’s not that I thought he was being a jerk or setting out to abandon me after carrying me over here, I just think he was wanting to do his thing and have fun. He enjoyed things like bridge jumping and swimming in murky water. And that was okay with me. I didn’t need someone’s attention or them to be by my side to feel content. I’d learned a long time ago to find comfort by myself.
After squeezing my arm reassuringly, Aurora went back to Bishop. I watched her and couldn’t help smiling as she flirted relentlessly. Faith and Livi hung around Wrigley, Austin, and Chris as they took turns trying some new jumps off the bridge. Every time Wrigley went, he would swim up to the shore and pass me, shaking his his head like a wet dog so drops of water would fly at me. I’d laugh and cover my face. But I spent the rest of the day, sun bathing out of the water. It was time to go when the tide was coming in and water was lapping at my feet.
I got back on the boat by myself this time. While I had a mild panic attack that I kept to myself, I didn’t feel like being the damsel in distress and expect Wrigley to swim me back to safety. Instead, I held my breath and doggy paddled like a son of a bitch until I reached the ladder. The guys chuckled at me because my swimming looked more like flailing, but Wrigley didn’t step in to help. He knew better.
Once on the boat, all of us seemed drained from the sun. We sat in the
same spots as before, with the exception of Austin, who now drove, and Chris sat up front. On the back of the boat, I propped my legs up and wrapped my towel around me to block the wind. I could have fallen asleep but Wrigley sat so close, he kept me awake. While we didn’t speak, his shoulder was brushing against mine with every bump and turn. Livi kept a close eye on us and, if looks could kill, I’m pretty sure I’d be a puddle of mush she’d toss over the side of the boat. I did my best to ignore her.
When we got back, Livi and Faith waved bye to the boys and mentioned that they’d be seeing them later that evening. A pang of jealousy hit me at the idea of them showing up at Wrigley’s place and casually hanging out. I didn’t know what it was like to just hang out. I’d never went to someone’s place to just sit, watch movies and eat pizza. I’d been asked once by a new girl who’d lived a couple blocks away, but she quickly learned how awkward I was with people and that I wasn’t part of the crowd she sought after to mix with. It also wasn’t missed by me that Livi and Faith didn’t bother saying goodbye to Aurora or me. It was evident, after today, that there would be no budding friendship and getting to know each other sleepovers. I frowned.
“Hey, what’s the face for?” Wrigley asked, holding his hand out to help me off the boat.
“Hmmm?”
“You’re kind of pouting.” He gave me a sideways grin. “While it’s very cute, I wanna know what caused it.”
I almost stumbled as I made the large step from floating object to hard cement. He gripped my hand tighter. He’d just called me cute. Well, not me, but I guess my pouty lip, which I didn’t even know I had.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, trying to blow him off. “I’m just tired I guess.”
He raised a brow. “That’s a lie, but I’ll let it slide.”
Stop paying attention to me like that, I scolded him in my head.
Aurora sidled up beside me and cleared her throat. “We ready to go? I need to shower before I meet up with Bishop later.”
“You’re going on a date?” I asked.
She flung her hand in front of me. “Don’t sound so formal, Hadley. We’re meeting up for a movie.”
“Sounds like a date to me,” I mumbled.
“It’s a date,” Wrigley laughed, agreeing with me.
“Ugh, gross.” Aurora blew us both off.
Wrigley grabbed Aurora’s bag from her shoulder and started walking towards the Jeep. “Is he paying for you?”
“I don’t know.”
“I know my man. And Bishop isn’t going to let you pay your own way. Therefore, it’s not gross, it’s a date. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“See.” I bumped her with my shoulder. “Apparently, what Wrigley says is golden.”
He gave me a sideways glance. “Why do you say that?”
Open mouth, insert foot syndrome. “Oh, just that the girls today, they’d hold on to your every word. It’s just like high school all over again.” I tried my hardest to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. It really wasn’t, but it could have sounded like I was jealous.
“No, they didn’t.”
Aurora stepped in to defend what I was saying. “Livi would lick your feet if you asked her to. And because you blow her off, you’re more of a challenge for her.”
He shook his head. “You’re both crazy.”
I had nothing else to add. I’d already said enough, and like Aurora, I just wanted to get back to our room so I could shower, get into pajama pants, and start my school work for the next week. We got to the car, and the ride back was quiet. Wrigley had country music on low, but that was the only sound besides the wheels on the road. When we got to the parking lot, Aurora jumped out and thanked Wrigley for inviting us. She disappeared inside, and I turned to look at him.
I felt awkward. “What she said. Thanks for asking us to come. Something a little different for my Saturday.”
He stood on the other side of his Jeep, driver’s side door open. “No problem. Hope you had fun.”
“I did.” I wrung my hands in front of myself.
“Just like last time, Hadley. Keep your phone near you. I’ll text you.” He winked and climbed in.
I took a step back and tried not to stumble. Okay then. Another promise of communication. Lordy, what did I do with this sensory overload. Swallowing hard, I gathered myself and went inside.
WRIGLEY DID TEXT ME later that night. He wanted to know what movie he should watch, Logan or the last Fast and the Furious. I truly didn’t want to pick. I knew whatever movie I chose; he would be watching with Livi. I couldn’t give away that I even cared so I told him to go with Logan, which was probably the least likely that Livi would enjoy. He said it was a good choice and one he’d wanted to see. I got the impression he may have wanted to ask me to come watch with them, but, for whatever reason, he hesitated. He kept the conversation going for a little while, but eventually said goodnight.
I went to bed that night feeling bitter, with a pint of ice cream sitting in my stomach. Wrigley being around me was throwing my emotions all over the board. It was like life wanted to screw with me and see how I could handle the only crush I’d ever had and see how I dealt with it. Here’s a game of Monopoly, Hadley. Wrigley is Park Place and you can’t afford him. You can’t pass GO, and no collecting two hundred dollars.
I was invested no matter what I told myself. I got a thrill when I heard my phone go off and it was a text from him. I liked the feel of his touch as he’d carried me out of the water. I liked that he was making the effort to be my friend. These were all feelings I didn’t want to allow, but they were creeping in without my permission. And I oddly wanted to see where this was going. The one thing I couldn’t shut off was the attraction.
My weekend dragged, and so had the following week. When I’d seen him in our poli-sci class, he wasn’t as chatty as normal. The girl, Ryian, seemed to have his attention and I did my best to grit my teeth and walk out at the end of class. It was annoying that my emotions were being toyed with. What was worse was that he didn’t seem to realize he was doing it. I wish I could say his playful winks and sideways grins were special, just for me, but Wrigley was the type of guy who was flirty. Not with just females but with males too. And not in any kind of attraction kind of way, he was just extremely friendly with everyone. So any extra thing he did to me, I knew he would do for anyone else. There was, honestly, no way for me to tell if he ever had feelings towards me.
I was getting into a routine as the semester wore on. Early morning classes, stopping at the coffee cart, gym time three days a week, studying; wash, rinse, repeat. Repetition was good. I liked it. It made me feel accomplished and normal. Wrigley was the only abnormal part of my day. As per usual, there was a ding from my phone a few minutes before ten p.m. and I was about to close my books and head to bed.
Wrigley: What r u up too?
Me: What do u think?
Wrigley: You’re such a book nerd.
Me: Is that supposed to be an insult?
Wrigley: Nah. I don’t insult my bestie.
Me: Ha ha...Lame.
Wrigley: You about to go to sleep?
Me: Yeah, why?
Wrigley: I can always count on you to be like clockwork
Me: That’s me. Accountable. I frowned as I stared at the text. Was I ever rebellious?
Wrigley: You make it sound like a bad thing.
Me: I guess.
Wrigley: Hey, seriously, it wasn’t an insult.
Me: Ok.
Wrigley: You ok?
No reason to pout like a child because he’d said something true, even if I didn’t like it. Just go with the flow, Hadley.
Me: Totally good.
Wrigley: Ok, well, I was going to ask if you wanted 2 come over this weekend and hang out. Pizza night.
I trill of panic flooded through me. I didn’t know what he meant by the invite. Was it me going over to his house to eat and chill? Or was the Hulu and chill? I didn’t freaking know. I just knew I was be
ing invited over to his place and this was epic for me. Play it cool.
Me: Let me check my schedule.
Let me check my schedule? What are you, fifty?
Wrigley: lol. Hadley, ur free. I know u. Be here by 7.
Me: You know nothing. I could have major plans... I bit my lip as I read my text and then added quickly, or a date.
There was a long pause. So long, I checked the time between texts; it was coming up on five minutes before it pinged again.
Wrigley: So do u have a date?
Me: No, of course not
And now I sounded desperate. Like I never went on dates. Or even got asked for that matter. Flipping great, Hadley. Just keep sounding like the pathetic loser. I swallowed and looked around my room for a bottle of water. This conversation was making my head hurt.
Wrigley: K then be here at 7. Night!
There was no sense in me even responding. I wouldn’t protest because I didn’t want too. I wanted to go. And I felt like the bigger person leaving him hanging without saying goodnight back. I was definitely too cool for that. Now you sound like a twelve-year-old texting. I needed to set my phone down and go to sleep.
I lay there awake for a good hour wondering what pizza at his house would entail. My brain came up with every possible scenario. It ranged from sitting on his couch, watching movies and eating pizza, to pizza and a heavy make out session where I promptly ended it before it gets to out of control. The last part I allowed myself to think about just to satiate my wild desires and put them to rest. It wasn’t going to happen. For now, sleep was all I could muster, and I’d have to wait two more days to actually find out what our pizza night would look like.
I was officially in panic mode. When I woke up the next morning, I moved through the motions of my routine but I didn’t hear a single word my professor said. It was math and something to do with variables but it went in one ear and out of the other. I sat there wondering what was going to happen Friday. My political science class was two days a week, and I still had one more class tomorrow, which would involve me seeing him prior to going to his place.