by Anna Rezes
“I have my moments,” I confess. “Just ask Ben.” I pivot my body to shield her from curious eyes.
She smiles even as her tears continue to flow. Taking a calming breath, she confesses, “My patient died last night. I shouldn’t be this upset. How am I supposed to be a good nurse if I can’t handle death?”
She looks to me for support, but I keep quiet and continue rubbing her back, showing compassion the only way I know how.
“I cried all night last night. It was just so unexpected,” she sniffles. “I was talking and joking with him, and then an hour later he was gone. Just like that. I knew he was sick, but I just. . .” She loses her words as the cloud of sorrow envelops her. Her loss is a reminder of how terribly fragile life is.
“I wish I could be strong like you,” she confides.
Her words make me sad because no one should wish to be like me. “Compassion is not a flaw, Morgan.”
“Look at me! I’m sniveling like a child in the middle of a restaurant. That has to be some kind of flaw!” The corners of her mouth curl up as she finds humor in the situation. “You must think I’m a basket case,” she says, wiping the last of the tears away.
“No, I think you’ll be a great nurse because you care so much.”
“Thanks, Em.”
The waitress comes by with our drink order. Reading the situation, she tells us she’ll give us a few minutes to look over the menu. We don’t get the few minutes because we’re interrupted by Ashley. With her bleach blond tipsy attitude, she approaches our table, and unlike the waitress, she doesn’t read the situation. Instead, she plops herself down in the booth across from us dragging her date in next to her.
“Emily, we spotted you from the bar. It’s so good to see you, girl! You never wanna hang out with me outside of work, and you never respond to my texts. Don’t think I haven’t noticed,” Ashley complains, beyond tipsy. “And Damn girl, that kiss!”
“Ash, come on,” the guy with her says, trying to pull her out of the booth. “Focus for a second. We’re interrupting here. Let’s go.”
Ashley strains to focus on Morgan. She leans across the table and grabs ahold of Morgan’s hands. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m Ashley. I work with Emily at the pet place.”
Morgan responds with a genuine smile. “I’m Morgan. You’re not interrupting. I’m okay. I’m done having my moment.”
Ashley looks to me. “Why haven’t I ever heard you talk about her before?”
“You have. You were only focused on—”
“I just came back to town,” Morgan interjects.
“Well, it’s good to know she has other girls in her life. I thought I was the only one aside from her sister. I was beginning to think she only surrounded herself with super-hot guys.”
Morgan is still smiling, so Ashley continues, “Do you know all her man drama? First, there’s Ben, who she claimed was just a friend! Then the blond hottie that came from nowhere, Patrick. Oh my God, I still can’t believe you slapped him.” She looks at Morgan and reiterates. “She slapped him, like, across the face because she’s a crazy person.” Ashley laughs, and in her drunkenness leans on the guy next to her. Then almost as an afterthought, realizing he’s there, introduces him.
“OMG!” She strokes his chest. “This is my friend, Jeremy.” I expect him to be irritated or impatient, but he looks to be enjoying the entertainment Ashley provides.
“Hi.” Jeremy grins, giving us a small wave. His eyes are almost a silver blue, standing out against his mocha complexion. His black hair is trimmed short, helping with the sleek, sexy look he has going. His outfit is trendier than most men I know as if Ashley plucked him from the pages of a fashion magazine.
“Jeremy is my gay BFF.” Ashley wraps her arms around him as if he were her boyfriend.
He doesn’t mind; in fact, he seems used to it. “Someone has to keep you in line,” he says.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jeremy,” Morgan says. Then turning to Ashley, she questions, “Will you go back to the slapping Patrick thing?”
Before I can think up a distraction, Ashley jumps back in. “He basically professed his undying love for her, and she slaps him! Have you seen him?”
“Ashley,” I interrupt. “He did not profess his undying love! He kissed me.”
“What!” Morgan screeches.
“My hand! He kissed my hand,” I quickly concede.
Ashley adds, “I’m still not convinced nothing more happened over the Fourth.”
“Oh, there was definitely something going on,” Morgan agrees.
I turn to Morgan and say, “Are you kidding me? You were there!”
“Oh good,” Ashley focuses on Morgan. “Tell me about this boat ride they went on! She claims it was totally innocent but come on. The chemistry between them is crazy intense!”
I shake my head and look to Jeremy who is silent, although he’s paying close attention. He shrugs as if to apologize and then throws gasoline on the fire. “Ashley keeps talking about the make-out session in the parking lot.”
“With Patrick?” Morgan shrieks.
I lower my face into my hands in defeat. Surely, they can’t talk about this all evening.
“No, with Ben!” Ashley corrects, straightening from her slouch against Jeremy. “It was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. She, of course, tried to push him away, but he pinned her against his Corvette with that perfect body of his and kissed her until she was wrapped around him. He had to, like, hold her up. Oh my God, it was so hot!”
Morgan looks at me to discredit Ashley’s story, but this time Ashley is dead on. I do have a bone to pick with her though. “Ashley, what possessed you to tell Eric about it?”
“Eww, I so totally did not tell Eric anything. Eric’s gross, I don’t talk to him.”
“Yeah, then how does he know?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he was eavesdropping when I was on the phone.” She flips an ultra-blond lock over her shoulder and leans across the table. “Sorry you had to work alone with him. I told him a long time ago that you were only into girls and thought boys were icky.”
“You’re the one who told him I’m a lesbian?” I ask, liking the idea she was trying to look out for me.
“Duh! He’s a creep. He leaves me alone because he knows my dad will fire his ass if he messes with me. Why? What did he say to you?”
“He said I shouldn’t settle for high schoolers and now that he knows I’m not a lesbian he’s throwing his name into the running.”
Ashley laughs so hard it draws attention from the tables around us. Tears of laughter escape her eyes just as the waitress picks this opportune moment to check on us. Luckily, Morgan and I know what we want without looking at the menu. Ashley and Jeremy don’t order anything, insisting they already ate.
Ashley pulls herself together before the waitress leaves. “I think it’s hilarious! Eric is delusional if he thinks there’s any chance. He totally must not realize he put himself in a lineup with Patrick and Ben. He’d crap himself!”
“Humanities,” Jeremy says out of nowhere.
“What?” Ashley’s face twists with confusion.
Jeremy looks at me. “I thought you looked familiar. Do you have humanities lecture on Thursdays?”
“Yeah.”
“Ben or Patrick? Which one sits with you?”
“Patrick.”
“He wasn’t there last week.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
Ashley laughs. “See! I’m not the only one to notice how gorgeous he is! What do you think Morgan? He’s hot, right? You wouldn’t slap him if he kissed you, right?”
“Yes, I would!” Morgan responds. “He’s my cousin.”
Ashley’s smile disappears. She reaches for Morgan’s hand and pleads, “Will you give him my number? Emily won’t. She says he’ll chop me up and leave me in a basement somewhere.”
“He’s eh—Hey Ben,” Morgan says, and we all turn to see him approaching the table.
“
Hey,” Ben says to everyone, but his eyes lock with mine triggering the flutter of butterflies trapped in my stomach.
I’m tempted to say, “Hey there, Mr. Sexy-pants,” but before I can say anything, Morgan slides me over so Ben can sit next to me.
“Hi Ben,” Ashley swoons.
“Hey, Ashley.”
“This is Jeremy,” I introduce, motioning to him.
“Hey,” Ben nods to him.
“So, when’s the rematch?” Morgan asks Ben in her no-nonsense voice.
“We’re thinking next weekend.”
“Even with the extra practice, I’ll still whoop you guys!” Sweet little Morgan is big on trash talk. She’s competitive when it comes to sports, even if it’s just a friendly game of whiffle ball.
“Oh, we don’t need to practice to beat you, Fletcher.” Ben’s smile turns cocky. “We’ll try to take it easy on you.”
“Easy on me?” she says. “Please, a little rain and mud wouldn’t stop me, but I get that you guys don’t want to get your nails dirty.”
“Uh oh,” Ashley giggles.
Ben bites his lip. “You want to play right now?”
“There’s no lightning,” Morgan adds.
“Fine.” He stands up. “I’ll make some calls.”
Just like that, he’s gone. Our food comes a few minutes later. Morgan fills Ashley and Jeremy in on the whiffle ball game and extends an invitation to join us.
Ben doesn’t reappear until we’re almost finished. He slides in next to me wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I lean into him as he explains the game plan. “We’re meeting at Winters’ place in thirty minutes.” He looks at Morgan. “You might wanna change out of your heels.”
“I could still kick your ass in heels, but I’m not going to ruin my shoes just to prove a point.”
Ben and I bounce along the half-mile country driveway leading to James Winters’ house. Winters pulls up next to us on his four-wheeler and rides alongside until we reach the back of his house. Ben parks next to a row of cars while James speeds off to do another lap on his ATV. I’m impressed Ben could pull together a group of thirteen people within an hour’s notice. I don’t have those specific set of skills, but I’m glad he does.
Morgan parks next to Ben’s Corvette and she, Ashley, and Jeremy pour out of her car to walk with us to the makeshift baseball diamond. The rain is only a drizzle now, but the field has standing water left from the hours of rain. Alec and Reece are huddled close under an umbrella. Next to them is Gavin. He stares at Ben’s arm around my shoulder, and as if to make a statement Ben pulls me in tighter.
Morgan wraps Gavin in a hug and says, “I told you she liked him, Gavin, you just didn’t listen.”
“Yep, should’a listened,” Gavin replies with amusement, and the awkward moment is over. Wow!
“Fletcher, it’s been a while,” Alec calls, severing his connection to his girlfriend or whatever she is. He breaks free from under the umbrella to hug Morgan.
After pulling away from Alec, Morgan introduces herself to Reece. “Hi, I’m Morgan.”
“I’m Reece, Alec’s girlfriend.” Reece holds tight to the umbrella even though the rain has stopped. She’s glowering between Alec and Morgan.
“It’s good you’re here,” Morgan says, rubbing her hands together. “Cause he’s gonna need a shoulder to cry on once I’m done wiping the floor with him.”
“Ooo!” Ashley taunts.
Morgan turns to her. “He’s a cry-baby when he loses.”
“You wouldn’t know since I’ve never lost to you,” Alec returns.
“That’s only because you’re always on my team, but not this time!”
The rest of the guys come over to meet us. I’ve met them all before, and although they are pleasant to me, they all love Morgan. Ashley and Jeremy blend right in with the group and soon Ben and Winters are breaking us up into two teams. Ben’s team consists of me, Morgan, Jeremy, and two other guys. Ashley ends up on the other team, but it’s all the same to her. Not wanting to participate, Reece moves to watch by the cars.
The whiffle ball is made of plastic, but over the years the guys have added layer after layer of duct tape to both the ball and the cheap plastic bat. This makes them sturdier, but the surface is less predictable, making for an interesting game.
The other team is first up to bat, and Morgan strikes the first player out. The second batter hits the ball and slides through a puddle into first. Alec hits a line drive down center field where Jeremy dives to catch the ball.
“Whoa, Jeremy, good catch!” Morgan praises.
Jeremy smirks, tossing the ball to her. “I have two state championships under my belt.”
“That’s my best friend!” Ashley yells from behind home plate.
“Ashley, stop cheering for the other team,” Alec complains, handing her the bat.
Ashley blows him a kiss and steps up to the plate. She bunts the ball, submerging it in a giant mud puddle. By the time Morgan finds it, the first player is rounding home while Ashley makes it to first.
Morgan, covered in mud smiles at Ashley. “Good play.”
Ashley curtsies.
Ben catches the next fly ball, and it’s our turn to bat. I’m up first. Gavin pitches and I take a swing and miss. Nervous about another strike, I bunt the ball into Ashley’s mud puddle and run to second.
Jeremy hits a homer. Morgan knocks the ball into left field and runs to third. So when Ben hits a ball to the outfield and is rounding second, the game rules change. Alec tries to block Ben from third at the same time Winters comes from behind with the ball. Ben slides into third taking Alec down with him in the process.
From there the game turns into a full-contact sport becoming muddier and less civilized the longer we play. Easy plays become difficult. Running becomes more strenuous over the soggy uneven ground, and we keep losing our shoes in the mud. We’re all covered in sludge by the time the sun slinks from the sky. We call it quits in the fourth inning after our team takes a sixteen-point lead.
“Told you I’d wipe the floor with you,” Morgan says, wiping mud from her face to smear it on Alec’s sleeve. In return, he throws his arm over her shoulder.
“Well, you’re a girl. We had to go easy on you,” he replies, jumping away when she jabs him in the stomach with her elbow.
The banter between them makes me think of Reece. She moved halfway through our game to sit inside Alec’s car. She looked bored then; now, she looks pissed. Alec either doesn’t notice or more likely; he doesn’t care. When Morgan is around, he’s all about her. Tonight is no exception.
Morgan might be competitive, but she also thinks ahead. So, when we’re all left covered in mud and wondering how we’re supposed to get in our cars, she brings out a heap of old towels she snagged when she went home to change.
Ben grabs two towels and throws them over the seats in his car. Before I get in, Ashley grabs my arm and pulls me close.
“I had a blast, and just so you know, I was totally right. Other than Morgan and me, you surround yourself with hot guys. No wonder other girls didn’t like you in school.” She kisses my cheek and skips off shouting, “See you Wednesday!”
Ben and I say our goodbyes to everyone before leaving.
“Good call to invite Jeremy,” Ben says.
“I think they would’ve come anyway,” I respond, using my fingers to wipe some of the drying mud from his face. He gives me a look that makes me want to crawl into his lap. “I wish I wasn’t covered in mud right now.”
“I wish I didn’t have to take you home.”
I lean across the console to kiss him and end up getting more than I bargained for. It’s long and sweet and turns a little wild, but I pull away before I’m out of breath. “We should probably go.”
As we pull out of the driveway, Ben says, “I work tomorrow evening, but I found a play for us to see on Tuesday,” Ben informs me. When I had admitted to him that I fell asleep during the last one, he offered to take me to another.
“I won’t get bored if you’re there,” he insists.
“It’s a date, and I won’t fall asleep this time.”
He lifts a brow. “I’m not above shooting spitballs at you.”
I can’t help but laugh.
twenty-four
We’re back in the field playing ball when the grim reaper-like figures come up from the deep puddles. Shadowed faces glower at me from towering heights. They point in my direction and I know they’re after me, but when I turn to run, they go after my friends.
I hear Morgan and Ashley scream, but when I turn around to help them, the blanket of night sky extends for miles, and I can’t see a thing. Screams and sobs erupt reverberating in my mind, and it’s the last thing I remember before waking up covered in sweat.
My body is sore all over and now that morning has come the bruises are showing. Perhaps there are a few downsides to playing a contact sport in the mud with guys twice my size. I get up to let Maggie out and find my dad at the kitchen table with coffee in one hand and a tablet in the other. I drag myself to the door feeling as old as dirt as an ache in my hip begins to throb.
“What happened to you?” Dad asks, peeking out from behind his computer screen.
“I think I slid over a rock during our game last night,” I say, opening the door for Maggie.
“How are your arms?”
“They’re okay.”
“I thought we’d practice your skills today, then swing by the shooting range, if you’re up for it?”
It’s weird how at times I forget I’m different. Yesterday was a perfect tease of what I wish my life could be all the time.
“Sure, where did you want to go?” I say.
“The mall worked well the last time.”
The mall isn’t as awkward this time around. It’s become second nature to block everyone out of my head, and at the same time, it’s easier to get into their minds.
After the mall, we go to the shooting range at Mike’s Guns. Dad has been bringing me here for years, and I’ve always found target practice to be enjoyable, almost therapeutic. Now, I realize he was being practical and training me so I could defend myself. It worked. I’m comfortable with a pistol tucked between my fingers. I have a steady hand and excellent aim.