She sighed.
“Sorry, Eric. I meant to tell you sooner. I mean, ugh. I didn’t know when to tell you.” She rolled over to look at me. I waited for her to finish. “I got some offers from a bunch of other schools. I’ve kind of narrowed it down to two: Emory in Atlanta or the University of Sydney… in Australia.”
I felt my body grow numb. I hadn’t expected this.
“Wait. I thought you liked playing at our school?” I tried to stay calm. Suddenly the thought of her leaving seemed horrible.
“Oh I do! But I’m doing really well this year and I got a bunch of scholarship offers from other schools. Our school is good, but it wasn’t my first choice.” She scooted closer to me.
“Why didn’t you get into a better school your freshman year? What about any of the UC schools? Don’t they have great volleyball programs?” I was starting to panic. My chest hurt. She was going to leave?
“I hurt my leg on the bike my senior year of high school, and I didn’t really get to play. It made it difficult to get a scholarship. I would have loved to go to anywhere in LA, but they aren’t offering me one now.”
Silence sat between us. I could feel her body breathing as she tried to spoon with me. It was hard because of the thick sleeping bags between us. A few minutes passed.
“Sorry,” she began. “I should have told you. I really like being with you. You’re super fun, smart, charming, and,” her voice lowered to a whisper, “the sex is amazing.” I tried to say something, but she kept going. “I haven’t really decided where I am going to go, but I am probably leaning toward Australia. The chance to go to another country seems really exciting! What do you think?”
“It sounds like an amazing opportunity,” I said as convincingly as possible. The thought of her playing volleyball so far away gave me a conflicting shower of emotions. I wouldn’t get to see her, and I felt a pang of jealousy when I thought of all those beefcake Aussie men hitting on her. Once I felt the jealousy, I felt a pang of shame. Here I was, ready to end our relationship for Aimee, and yet I still wanted Kelly.
I started to think that this whole thing with all the girls in my life was just a big mess. How long had I been dating Kelly now? A few weeks? We had a ton of fun, but I shouldn’t be feeling this way about her, or anyone for that matter. I was really mixed up. Thoughts of Aimee, Katherine, Kim, and Beth floated in my head.
“Of course, Emory is a really great school too. They have a great business program and some really amazing engineering programs. Their volleyball program is one of the best in the country too.” She paused for a second. “Then it would be easier to come home on holidays…,” she pushed her body back into me and seemed to wait for a reply.
“They both sound like amazing opportunities…” I trailed off. I didn’t know if she was looking for my advice, or my opinion, or for me to scream that I didn’t want her to go. “I think I agree with you. Australia sounds awesome! I wish I could go!” I tried to act excited for her. I surprised myself by the actual excitement in my voice. Australia really did sound exciting, and I knew that she would have an amazing time there.
“Yeah! I’m really glad you are happy for me. I was kind of nervous telling you.” She wiggled around to face me.
“Why?”
“I know we haven’t been dating for very long, so it really shouldn’t matter. But I like you… a lot. And I thought that you would have been upset that I was thinking about leaving.” I couldn’t quite make out her facial expression in the darkness of the tent.
“Honestly, I am a little sad that you are leaving, but it sounds like it is something that you really want.”
“Yeah, but I felt like we were developing something. Are you going to be okay without me to take care of you?” I could hear the teasing in her voice and could barely make out her sticking her tongue out at me.
“Of course!” I laughed at her. “I’ll just cry myself to sleep till you come home every Christmas, but other than that I should be just fine!” I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. Kelly made me feel good.
“Okay. Awesome. I still have a while before I need to make a decision, and I won’t leave till summer anyways. So we can still have lots of fun till then… if you know what I mean.” She made a cat-like purr and flipped back over so she was spooning me again. “We can chat more about it tomorrow! I am going to pass out. Soooo tiredddd.”
Within seconds, her body started to twitch as she fell asleep. I lay awake thinking about her for a few more minutes. I would miss her. She did make me happy. But this was probably the best solution. She would be really happy at a new school. She would find other boys to make her happy, probably ones a little more athletic than me that would share some of her hobbies, and I would weave through this tangled web Aimee was creating. Hopefully, Kelly and I wouldn’t lose touch.
My last thoughts were of her singing songs with me in her truck. Then sleep hit me.
Chapter 6
The first thing I did when I got home was take a long, hot shower. Camping always seemed to make me feel like I was covered in oil and grime, even if I had taken a shower during the trip. It probably didn’t help matters that I had spent the first couple of hours of the morning doing jeep off-roading with Kelly and her brothers. It had been a blast, and I had thanked Kelly and her family half a dozen times for inviting me.
The ride home had been uneventful. Kelly had talked more about the different schools, drama in the sorority, and problems she was having in one of her classes with her team-study assignments. When she asked about what was new with me, I stuck to work topics. As I dropped her off, we made plans for me to catch her game on Wednesday and then have dinner with her afterwards if she was caught up with homework.
I toweled myself off after the shower and put on a pair of sweatpants. Then I indulged in my usual pastime: South Park on the TV with my computer/homework machine out on the coffee table. I only had thirty minutes of real work to do, but I figured I could stretch it out for a few hours as I channel surfed. As I was setting up, I noticed the charging cell phone that I had left on the table after my verbal victory over Beth on Friday. It seemed like forever ago, even though it had been only forty-eight hours. I hit the button to turn it on and started to flip through the channels when I realized South Park wasn’t on.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I stared at my phone in amazement as it drum rolled a synthesized hummingbird heartbeat. Did I really have that many messages? I grabbed it quickly and read the front screen. Seven voicemail messages and two missed text messages.
I checked my text messages first.
Hey stud. Kim and I are going to be in San Diego tonight totally bored after the game. Can you come entertain us?
It was from Katherine and was sent yesterday around three thirty. The next one was from Kim a few hours later.
Hi Eric. Did you get Katherine’s txt? Can you come? :O>)
I didn’t feel too bad that I had missed them. Although a night on the town with them seemed like fun, I was sure that they could easily amuse themselves in San Diego without me. Don’t coaches have a ‘no orgy on road trips’ policy? Maybe they weren’t staying with the team. San Diego was close enough so that they might have driven there and gotten their own hotel.
I texted Katherine back:
Sorry! Was camping and didn’t get phone reception. Would have come down if I could have. Hope you had fun without me. :-)
Then I texted Kim something similar.
Then I took a deep breath and checked my voice messages.
The first message was Beth. She sounded playful; which surprised me since I had hung up on her Friday.
“You just hung up on me? That was so rude! I know how you can make it up to me! Come over next week and have dinner with me. We can hang out with my parents or just be alone. Whatever you would like. Call me back.”
I smiled to myself. I had to admire Beth’s perseverance. She was definitely related to Aimee.
My smile turned into a smirk when the second message was also Beth.
“Hey Eric… I’ve been waiting for you to call me back when I realized that I didn’t give you my phone number, so I’ll give it to you. I know you are going camping this week, so just call me before you go so I can plan next week.” She read off the number twice and then hung up. I looked for a piece of paper to write it on and then typed it on my computer quickly. Then I realized I had just taken down the number and cursed, deleting the message on the phone.
The third message was also Beth. I was starting to hear the theme song to Psycho in my head.
“Ugh. You haven’t called me back yet. You must have already left to go camping. I hope you have a good time! So I was thinking, Thanksgiving is in a few weeks, I don’t know if you are planning to spend it with family, but if you want to have it with us, that would be great. Also, if you are free next weekend, maybe we could go to the Getty? They are having an exhibit that should be interesting. Call me!”
This was unexpected. I hit delete on the phone and let out a sigh of relief when the next message was Jack instead of Beth.
“Hey dude… ummm. So yeah. Beth just called and asked if I was camping with you. I knew you were going camping, but I couldn’t really remember where. She was really persuasive. I think she has a crush on you! Too bad she’s sixteen, huh? She is really hot, but don’t tell Aimee I said that. Anyways… call me back. We’re flying to New York again for Thanksgiving, but my parents wanted to know if you could come have dinner with us before we left. Talk to you later.”
Holy shit, Beth was calling Jack now? What the fuck was wrong with her? I deleted the message.
“Hey Eric, it’s Brent. Guess I should have just texted you. Call me when you get a chance.”
Finally! No Beth crazy stalking antics… unless she had somehow called Brent and asked him to contact me to set up some elaborate schemed where she would ambush, rape, and then kill me. Okay, I was getting paranoid. But then Jack’s next message confirmed my paranoia.
“Dude! Will you please call Beth back? I know you are camping, but she was really insistent that she has to talk to you. Thanks!”
Luckily, the last message wasn’t Beth.
“Hey Eric, it’s Aimee. I know you’re camping or something this weekend, but I wanted to make sure you got my invitation to my birthday party. Call me!”
I looked at the pile of mail on the counter and carefully sorted through it for the chic invitation to Aimee’s party the week before Christmas. It was shades of purple and smelled like cherries. The scripted font proudly announced that she was turning twenty-one, that that she desired my presence, and that gifts were not necessary.
I pinned the invitation to the empty cork board in my kitchen and then juggled the phone in my hand. I went to the directory and hit the button for Brent.
“Hey Eric,” he answered after a few rings.
“Hey dude. Sorry I was camping this weekend and didn’t have my phone on me.”
“No worries. I was going to ask you what time you were going to hit the party over the weekend, but then I remembered that you were going camping.”
I laughed lightly in response.
“But the band you and Aimee went to see ended up getting signed by my father’s company. They are having a little party next weekend. Want to come?”
“Awesome. Yeah, I’d love to come.” I couldn’t hide my excitement. Even though I wasn’t playing music anymore, I still loved to be around it, and I was happy that Brent was trying to include me more in his activities.
“Sweet, dude. It will be Friday night. I’ll text you the info. Going to be at my pad, and the gang plus probably a hundred other people will be there.” We exchanged small talk for a bit more, and then we broke off the call.
I threw myself back on the couch and laughed. Besides the whole Aimee, Kelly, and Beth thing, life was pretty good right now. I was hanging with great people, getting invited to amazing parties, doing well at school, and performing at my job. I was still sad that Kelly was leaving, of course, but the pain of that and the pain that Jack would experience from Aimee seemed far in the future.
Chapter 7
There was a knock at my door. It seemed to pull me out of my dream like a yank on my arm. I had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room with the TV on low volume. It was something I had never done before, but I must have been tired. I looked at the clock on the DVD player. Two thirty-four in the morning.
The knock sounded again at my door, and it sent a shiver down my spine. Who the fuck would be here at this time in the morning? Didn’t people have to ring to get into my complex?
I got up carefully from the couch and tiptoed to the door. I peeked out the eyehole and gasped at the distorted fish-eye view.
It was Beth.
I opened the door quickly. This wasn’t a super-safe neighborhood, and even though she was in my apartment complex, I would be worried about leaving my laundry unattended in the communal clothes washer/dryer.
“Hi Eric!” she said joyfully when I opened the door. She looked like she had just stepped off the runway. Her body was barely covered in an extremely tight and tiny black dress. The lower part of the garment was shorter than the one Katherine had worn to the club a few weekends ago. I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander down her long, beautiful legs. They were impossibly perfect and a smooth color of white cream. Her feet were encased in a sharp pair of black stilettos. The only color she had on her was a red ribbon tied around her throat in a large bow and a matching clutch handbag of the same deep red. Her hair was unbound and hung down her back in a cascade of tossed ebony silk.
“What are you doing here?” I gasped. My mind spun circles around the room and bounced off of her beautiful body.
“I had a job, then I had a party, then I drank some. Now I am here.” She beamed at me. Her words were slightly slurred, and when she spoke I caught the faint scent of alcohol.
“Okay. Did you call a cab? How did you get in?”
“I had the driver bring me here. I thought you might be back from your camping trip.” Her eyelids fluttered, and my stomach flipped with them.
“How did you get inside the complex? How do you know where I live?” I picked my jaw up off the floor. I could feel the palms of my hands begin to sweat.
“I tried your apartment first, but you didn’t answer. Then I tried every other apartment, and someone buzzed me in. Aimee’s car has a navigation unit in it, and I knew that she had visited you last week,” she smiled coyly. “Hey Eric, guess what?” She giggled in a tipsy way and beckoned me toward her with her left pointer finger. I noticed that she didn’t have her big-ass watch on her right wrist, but her nails were painted blood red to match the bow around her neck.
Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in close as she began to whisper.
“I’m a vampire. You have to invite me in so I can suck your blood.” She laughed again as I pulled away from her in horror. I took a step back into my living room before I realized that she was joking with me.
“You need to go home, Beth. You can’t be here now.” She frowned at my words.
“It is cold.” She rubbed her hands against her smooth upper arms and shivered a bit. “Invite me in, Eric.” She didn’t smile this time, or seem drunk. It was a command.
If anyone in the world was a vampire, it would probably be Beth. The girl was crazy weird and had supernatural beauty. Of course, there weren’t vampires in real life. Or at least, they didn’t suck your blood.
“Come in,” I said quickly, regretting it as soon as she smiled and bounded inside. I closed the door behind her.
“Where was this job? Was it modeling?” I said as she spun around on her stilettos and tried to take my living room in with one look.
“Santa Monica. Yes.” She walked past me and into the kitchen. I followed her like a dog on a leash.
“Santa Monica is right next to Bel Air? Why are you here?” I don’t know why I had thought that her job mu
st have been close to my apartment. Swanky fashion shows didn’t really happen in the armpit of the San Fernando Valley.
“I thought we covered this, Gorgeous. I wanted to see you, so I told the car service to come here.” She opened my fridge and bent over slightly to look at its secrets. The motion pulled the lower part of her little black dress dangerously close to the top of her thighs. My cock twitched, and I suddenly thought about reaching up inside the dress a few inches to her panties, pulling them aside, and then penetrating her tight body while she stood there in front of the fridge.
I needed to get her out of here.
“Okay. I’ll call you another cab.” I stepped out of the kitchen and reached for my cell phone on the dining-room table. I tried to force the image of her bent by my fridge out of my mind, but it was as stubborn as she was.
“Wait!” I stopped suddenly at her command and then gritted my teeth. “You promised that we would hang out together. Tonight is perfect. I told my parents I would come back tomorrow morning.” She opened my freezer and gave a triumphant gasp.
“So you lied to them?” I flipped open my phone and realized I didn’t have the taxi company number on my phone contacts. I had never used them.
“No. I never lie. I do these shows often, and normally stay overnight in the hotel with some of the girls. They didn’t ask if tonight was any different. If they had asked me if I was going to see you, then I would have told them.” She had her charming smile on her face when she rounded the corner out of the kitchen. She had found a bottle of vodka I kept in the freezer, and she held it up slightly to me.
“Where are your glasses?”
“Oh hell no, Beth. You aren’t staying here, and we definitely aren’t drinking any of that.” I went over to my computer. “I am calling a cab for you.”
“No!” she shouted and dashed over to the coffee table. She slammed down the screen of my laptop, and I narrowly avoided having my hands caught in its jaws.
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