AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We did. I still can’t believe it.” We stare at each other for a second before she says, “But enough about me. I haven’t heard anything about your life these past five years. Tell me about college.”
I sit back and adjust my body, buying time as I stare straight forward. She places her hand on my arm, but I don’t look at her.
“Why do I get the feeling something happened?” she asks.
I let out a long breath. “Because it did.”
Her hand grips me more as she waits for me to continue.
“Things were going well. I was getting good grades. Really able to focus on school and baseball. After losing the only girl that mattered”—I turn to her and wink—“I didn’t really go looking for another one, so no distractions there. Baseball was right on track for where I wanted to be. I was starting as a freshman, hitting bombs as a junior. I was catching the eye of some scouts,” I say with so much hope, just like I felt back then.
When I don’t finish my thought, she encourages me by saying, “Then, what happened?”
“Right before the season started my senior year, we were on our way to a concert one night.”
I stare forward, not wanting to see her as I speak, but by the way her grip changes slightly on my arm, she knows she’s not going to like this story. Hell, I hate this story. Besides talking to the school psychologist, I’ve never had to tell anyone. Benefit of living in a small town: everyone already knew what happened without me having to say a word.
I run my hands down my legs, trying to calm the emotions bubbling up. “I was sitting in the front passenger seat while Zack, our star pitcher, was driving, and Mark, our shortstop, was in the backseat behind him. Anthony, just a friend who wasn’t on the team, was supposed to come but bailed out last second because of a girl.”
I give her a tiny smile, then look back forward. I think he’ll forever be thankful to that girl.
I take a deep breath, and she rubs her hand on my arm.
“We were driving through an intersection when someone ran the red light and ran right into us on the driver’s side.”
Her breath hitches, and it makes me tense as well. I adjust my seating, hoping the uncomfortable feelings that just washed over me will go away once I’m positioned better, only to realize this feeling’s never going to go away.
Tears prick my eyes, and I blink them away. When I sniff in, more fall, and I wipe them quickly, trying to hide what’s going on inside me.
She scoots to my side and holds my arm, placing her head on my shoulder. We sit like this for a few seconds.
When I say, “They didn’t make it,” my voice cracks, and she holds me tighter.
I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as I sit up taller. That’s when she sees my knee.
She reaches over and rubs her hand down the scar I have from the accident. “Is that where you got this?”
I nod, letting out in one long breath all of those feelings from that night and the months to follow.
“I was in the hospital for a few days. Had to have surgery on my left knee and my left shoulder.”
She reaches over and runs her fingers over my scar.
“So, you couldn’t play your senior year?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“Nope. All that hard work went down the drain because of some drunken asshole. But the worst part was the guilt I felt for losing my friends. It would eat away at me when I was pissed because I had lost my last season, but then I’d remember that they’d lost their lives. I couldn’t get rid of the guilt I felt.”
“It wasn’t your time. God still had plans for you,” she says as she leans up and kisses me softly.
Having her here with me is the most healing thing I’ve ever felt. She’s always made my life better, and after telling that story, I just want to hold her all night long.
I look into her eyes. I’m so deeply in love with this girl that I can hardly breathe.
“Let’s go back to my place,” I whisper as I lean in to kiss her.
She grins as she shakes her head. “Nah, I’d rather stay right here.”
She lifts her shirt, and when she removes it completely, my body goes from devastated to turned on in point-five seconds.
