Catch Me If I Fall

by Daniele Lanzarotta

  His parents agree, even though that means they won’t have a place to stay when they come visit. But it makes sense. The only problem is that James is dating Lizzie and that means she might be around more often than I’d like. My mind takes me back to the day I found out that Alec had confided in her with things that he should’ve talked to me about. I can’t help it. I try to think of something else… anything… but at some level, I can’t let go.

  Alec leans in, “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I was just distracted.”

  After breakfast, we go back to their apartment and just sit around until it is time for the guys to get ready for the game. They get their bags and agree to meet us after the game.

  I missed seeing Alec wearing his baseball uniform, and I definitely missed that look in his eyes when he is playing. Alec and Kyle play well, and the other guys seem to do well too, but the other team wins. Their coach is nothing like our high school coach. Every time I turn around and look at the dugout, he is yelling at someone.

  After the game, we wait for them by the field. They both come out with their heads lowered.

  “It was a good game, guys,” says his dad.

  Alec looks up. “I don’t think the coach agrees.”

  I’ve never seen him this upset about a game, but then again, they rarely lost.

  “So… dinner?” asks his dad.

  “Actually, I’m not really in the mood, Dad. Sorry. Can we just go to the apartment and order Chinese food?”

  “Sure. If that is what you guys want.”

  Alec nods. “I forgot my keys in the locker room. Why don’t you all go ahead? Kyle has the number for the place. I will be right behind you.”

  “Okay,” says his dad.

  Alec looks up at me and I can see the exhaustion and disappointment in his eyes.

  He walks toward me, gives me a quick kiss and says he will see me soon.

  He goes back toward the building where they have the locker rooms. Halfway there, James and Lizzie stop to talk to him. Even from a distance, I can see the way she looks at him. It’s like she doesn’t even care that James is right there. Kyle ends up practically dragging me away and toward the car. “Ignore her, and trust Alec,” he says.

  We get to the apartment, Kyle orders food, the food gets here, and still, no Alec. I look at my phone, contemplating whether I should text him.

  Kyle comes over and sits next to me “He will be here soon. I don’t think you’ve been around when we lost a game, because you know… we’re just that good,” he winks. “Alec is not good at losing. He has this little ritual he does to blow off steam when we do.”

  This is all news to me, “What ritual is that?” I ask.

  “He goes to the batting cage and takes it out on the balls.”

  “Oh,” I say and I guess I look disappointed because Kyle goes on, “Come on,” he says. “He had to have a flaw. The guy is a damn near perfect boyfriend.”

  We both laugh at Kyle’s comment. “He really is.”

  “Eat your food. If he isn’t back by the time you finish, I will take you over there.”

  I eat faster than I should. After I’m done, Kyle and I head back to the campus. Kyle wasn’t kidding. He really is taking it out on those balls. And next to him is James - trying to teach Lizzie how to hold a baseball bat.

  “Come on,” says Kyle. “You should go hit a few. Make him take a break before he passes out from exhaustion, AND show Lizzie how it is done,” he winks and that gets me to smile.

  Kyle and I both approach the batting cages, and Kyle says, “There is someone here requesting your guidance.”

  Alec turns around. His face is red and sweat is dripping off his hair. He seems to relax a little as soon as his eyes meet mine. He looks at his watch.

  “Oh wow. I’m sorry, Sky. I got distracted and lost track of time. Get in here,” he gives me a crooked smile.

  I glance toward James and both he and Lizzie are watching us. I go in and kiss Alec.

  “I should’ve went home first,” says Alec. “Kissing you is a lot more relaxing than this.”

  I laugh. “Come on. I want to see if I can hit at least one ball.”

  Alec just stands back. He taught me enough where I can at least hold a baseball bat and swing at the ball. I hit the first one, which surprises me. I squeal in excitement, drop the bat and hug him.

  His arms go around me and he picks me up off the floor. “Okay,” he says. “Let’s get out of here.”

  We walk over to Kyle and he makes a comment about how Lizzie could burn a hole through me because she is staring so hard. I don’t bother looking back. I get in Alec’s truck and we follow Kyle home.

  When we get back, his parents are sitting down watching TV. Kyle and I end up joining them while Alec takes a shower and eats his dinner. He then sits next to me to watch TV. I end up falling asleep leaning against his shoulder and I don’t wake up until I feel him carrying me to his room.

  “Are you staying here with me?” I ask sleepily as he puts me down on the bed.

  “Can’t. My parents are up and they watched my every move as I carried you out of the living room. I’m sure they will be on guard the whole night.”

  I hate that he has to deal with us having ‘babysitters’ because of me.

  I yawn just as he leans down to give me a goodnight kiss.

  “What time is it?” I ask.

  “A little past midnight.”

  I smile.

  “What is it?” he asks.

  He watches me curiously as I get up and give him a hug. “Happy birthday, Alec.”

  When I pull away, I see that he is smiling.

  “Come on,” I say.

  He laughs. “I thought you were tired.”

  “Nah. Is Kyle still up?” I ask.

  “I’m not sure. He went to his room a while back.”

  “Go get him,” I say excitedly. “I have something for you in the kitchen.”

  As he goes to wake up Kyle, I walk into the living room and smile at his mom. “I think we are okay.” She smiles from ear to ear and rushes to the kitchen to get the cake that she hid earlier. She lights the candles and we start singing as soon as Alec comes back out with Kyle.

  Alec smiles as soon as he sees the cake and hears us. His mom ends up crying and he gives her a hug. He is looking at me as he hugs her, and he says, “Thank you, Mom. I’m sorry I was such a pain about this over the years.”

  We eat cake and he opens his gifts. After, we end up watching movies until we all fall asleep in the living room.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The following day, Alec and I make plans for two weeks from now, when he comes home for Valentine’s Day.

  On Friday, it’s been four days since we actually talked on the phone. He always texts saying that the coach is on them about practice because of the game they lost, and that he is exhausted.

  During lunch, Sebastian rushes to find me.

  “Hey, Skylar. That psycho Lizzie added me as a friend,” he shows me his phone. “I’m pretty sure she is trying to play games with you.”

  “Why do you say that?” I ask.

  “She keeps posting pictures of her hanging out at their apartment.” He pulls up her page. “Oh, crap.”

  “What?” I ask.

  He doesn’t move.

  “Let me see it, Sebastian.”

  He hands me his phone. Her page is flooded with pictures of Alec. Alec practicing; Alec, her and James at his apartment; Alec and James both trying to study as she puts herself in front of them taking selfies with captions like, ‘Time for my boys to take a break. Don’t you think?’; her wearing Alec’s favorite baseball cap and kissing his cheek while she holds his book away from him… This last one was taken in the middle of the night. The clock behind them says it is two in the morning. Tears flood my eyes.

  My phone rings and makes me jump. It’s Alec. He knows I’m at lunch and I can usually talk then. I ignore it. He calls two more times before I get a
call from Kyle.

  “Do you want me to answer that?” asks Sebastian. They are just going to keep calling.”

  I nod. Sebastian answers and I hear him tell Kyle everything. Once Sebastian starts to talk about the pictures, I can’t stand it anymore and I block out every word.

  “Kyle said there is a logical explanation for this and asked if we can go over for the game this weekend,” Sebastian says after he hangs up.

  I shake my head.

  “Okay.”

  He sends Kyle a text and we go back to class once the bell rings.

  ALEC

  I woke up with this horrible feeling. I just had to talk to her. “What did he say?” I ask Kyle.

  He pulls something up on his phone.

  “Jeez, Alec. Lizzie is losing it. I kept telling you to stop talking to her. You are too damn nice and thought there was nothing to it, and look at what it is costing you.”

  “What?” I ask confused.

  He throws his phone at me, and he throws it hard. He is pissed. I’ve seriously never seen Kyle so mad.

  I hold my breath as I see the pictures. “What the hell?”

  I grab my keys.

  “Where are you going?” Kyle asks.

  “I’m going to see Skylar. What do you think? We haven’t talked in days because of practice and school. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea.”

  “We have a game tonight.”

  “I don’t really care about the game right now. Do you seriously think I can play while I have this on my mind?” My hands are freaking shaking and I drop the keys.

  Kyle shakes his head. “Give me the keys. I will drive. Text coach and say that we have a family emergency.”

  I text the coach and then I text her a few times on the way. She never answers, but I also know that she is in class.

  “I don’t understand why Lizzie would pull something like this,” I say.

  “Because she is Lizzie. You should’ve known better,” says Kyle. “Think about how this looks - she is always at the apartment, and she pays more attention to you than to her boyfriend.”

  “You are pissed.” I say.

  “Hell yeah, I am. I kept telling you that she has a crush on you and to get away from her. You know she loves playing games. The pictures she managed to take just make the situation look a thousand times worse.”

  “What am I gonna do?”

  “Honestly, I would let Skylar cool off. Nothing you try to explain now will be seen as it really is.”

  Kyle insists we stop and grab something to eat to give them some time to get home from school before we get in town.

  When he drives up her driveway, I practically jump out of the car before he even stops all the way.

  Her dad opens the door before I can ring the doorbell.

  “You need to leave,” he says.

  “But I just want to talk—”

  “Alec,” he interrupts me, “you need to leave. I’ve known you since you were a little kid and I’m trying to keep level headed and not go off on you like I would if you were any other guy, but you need to go. Let her be. When she is ready to talk to you, she will let you know.”

  I turn around and leave, feeling helpless.

  I go to my house. Thankful that no one is home, I go up to my room and look out the window. Her blinds are closed. I keep looking out at the roof, hoping that she will go up, but she never does.

  The next morning, I call my sister.

  “Alec?”

  “Hey.”

  “What are you doing up so early?”

  “I didn’t sleep. I have a situation.”

  “What did you do?”

  So, I tell her, and every time I think about it, or even now, saying it aloud, I see how stupid I was. I clearly see all the things that Kyle kept bringing up and I just brushed off like it was nothing.

  “What do I do?”

  “Alec I—maybe give her time to calm down and then try to talk to her.”

  “I don’t want to leave town like this.”

  “I can maybe call her, but—”

  “Would you? Please?”

  “Alec, I don’t know how much help that will be. Looking at this from her point of view, this is not good at all, Alec. Lizzie tormented her for so long and you basically confided things about her a few months ago, and now this. Think about it. You are the college boyfriend who is away and surrounded by Lizzie everywhere you go.”

  I get irritated. “I didn’t DO anything, Amanda. Before,” I pause, “she just wanted to talk about other things and then I opened my big mouth and confided in her. And now, she is dating James. I can’t help it that she is around.”

  “Alec, I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Thanks anyway.” I hang up.

  I text Kyle, “Can you come over?”

  Minutes later, he is at the house and I ask him to go check on Sky.

  I watch through my window and see that he goes in. I feel a little better when a few minutes pass and he hasn’t come out.

  Thirty minutes pass before he leaves her house and comes over.

  “How is she?” I ask.

  He just shakes his head.

  “I told her your side of the story. I explained how that crazy psycho got the pictures by using James. Even James said that was some manipulative bullshit and that he was going to talk to her about it.”

  “And?”

  He shakes his head again and looks down. “She has it in her head that you are talking to Lizzie again, about her and all. She asked why did it have to be her out of all people. Chicks don’t forgive and forget that easily, dude. I could’ve told you that wasn’t the end of it.”

  I sit on my bed and just stare at the floor.

  “What do I do?”

  “Right now? Give her some space. She said she needs to think about things before she is able to look you in the eyes without falling apart.”

  “She’s been crying?”

  “Seriously, dude? Look. Let’s go back to school. Give her a few days and then we will come back. I will talk to her in the mean time to get an idea of how things are going.”

  I sigh. Just give me a few minutes. I will meet you in the car.

  SKYLAR

  I hear Alec’s truck and peek at the window to see them drive off. That is when I go up to the roof.

  I climb up the ladder with trembling hands and blurry vision from the tears. When I get up there, I wipe the tears away and see a rock with a piece of paper under it.

  “Sky,

  You can’t imagine how sorry I am. I don’t want to leave this way, without talking to you, but Kyle said you need time to think. Please call me when you are ready to talk, Sky. Nothing happened. Nothing ever will. There is only you.

  I love you,

  Alec.”

  I put the paper down. I can’t even think straight right now. I grab my phone and realize I have a newfound obsession with her page. Deep down, I know those pictures aren’t what they seem. But something about them still bothers me. Maybe it is the fact that he didn’t stop her from taking his baseball cap, or from kissing his cheek. I don’t know what to do.

  I end up going to my room and wishing that Kristi was here so we could talk about this. After a while, I leave the house and walk over to the cemetery, where I sit down and talk to her the only way I can.

  ALEC

  We get back and I sulk on the couch for the rest of the night. I still miss the game, but Kyle decides to go in for what is left of it. I just keep staring at my phone waiting on her to call, text, anything. When Kyle and James get back, they aren’t alone. Some of the guys from the team are with them.

  “What is going on?” I ask.

  “We won! We are going out to celebrate,” says Kyle. “You should come. Get your mind off things for a bit.”

  I shake my head. “No. I’m good.”

  “We can just hang out here,” one of the guys suggests.

  Everyone agrees and two of them go off to buy drinks and sna
cks.

  When they come back, one of the guys throws a beer towards me and I catch it.

  “I don’t drink, man.”

  “Just one. Come on. It will help take the edge off.”

  “Come on,” says Kyle. “We are staying in. No one is driving tonight. It’s just the guys.”

  I open the beer and drink. And I keep staring at my phone. One beer quickly turns into several, until I finally stumble my way to my room. I grab my phone and call Sky. She doesn’t answer, so I leave a message. Mostly babbling about how she can’t do this. She has to talk to me. At some point I am going on and on and I don’t even know what I’m talking about, although I remember saying Mike and Sebastian’s names. And then, I pass out.

  “What the hell!” I hear Kyle yell and I open my eyes as fast as humanly possible, considering that my head is pounding. I can’t move. I feel the weight of someone’s body on my chest. I look down and see the blonde hair.

  “What the hell?” I manage to move away from under Lizzie and get up.

  She opens her eyes.

  “You are one crazy bitch. What the hell are you doing here?” asks Kyle. “Who let you in?”

  She gets up slowly. And she is smiling. My shirt is off and she is wearing it and I can’t remember what happened. “James did.”

  “What is going on?” asks James as he comes in the room. He looks at Lizzie, confused, and shakes his head. “You just took this way too far. I’m done with you,” he says before he looks at me. “I’m sorry, man. I thought she was coming over to see me.” He leaves the room.

  “Get the hell out,” Kyle says to Lizzie.

  She grabs her clothes and leaves.

  I just stand here. I feel like I’m in the middle of a nightmare.

  “I don’t know what happened, Kyle.”

  “What happened is that you need to get a restraining order against her,” he pauses, “Do you think--?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “No.”

  “Are you sure?”