A silence passes between us, then he answers, "Just a few days. I'm going home."
"I wish I could be there too!"
"We'll see each other for Halloween, I promise."
"That seems so far away."
But it’s not, and I know that.
He doesn't respond, and I suddenly feel the need to confide in him, "I met someone."
Another silence, then my brother responds, "I'm happy for you. What's he like?"
"We're not really together, it's complicated."
"I see."
And from the tone of his voice, I get the impression he perfectly understands what I'm going through. How is that possible?
"But I don't want to bore you with my stories. You have more important things to think about."
"You never bore me, little sister. I'm here for you if you need me. Tell me more about this guy."
I take a few seconds to think about what I can tell him. "He's a quarterback on the football team. He's so talented on the field, you should see him, Bradley! Everyone considers him a football genius. There’s already talk that he’s going to have the NFL sniffing after him once he takes over starting full-time. Well... that's the rumor going around anyway."
I stand up and pace back and forth in the room while I talk to my brother about Player.
"And off the field, what's he like?" he asks me.
I think back to our beginnings, to his jerk attitude with me. When I think about it, he hasn't changed much since the start. True to himself.
Except I can't tell my big brother that I'm sleeping with acomplete jerk who's incredibly skilled in bed, but a moron as soon as he opens his mouth. On the other end of the line, I hear a conversation without catching the words. "Dixie? I'm sorry, but I have to go. Can we talk about this later?"
"No problem, talk to you soon."
He hangs up, and I'm left alone in my room. This conversation at least had the merit of putting my thoughts back in order.
28
PLAYER
A computer labadjoins Miss Coles's office, which is just for athletic department use. When I enter, several guys from the team are working. I figure they're trying to jam in papers or essays to make up for classes we’ve missed over the past few weeks.
Ty is one of those students. The running back greets me as I pass by his workstation.
"Hey, man!"
I pause, and he extends his fist so we can bump fists.
"How's it going?" he asks.
"It'd be going better if I hadn't been asked to come here," I mutter.
Ty's gaze shifts to the entrance of the adjacent office.
"She's nice, even if she's a bit too much on my case..."
I let out an exasperated sigh, not agreeing with him. "I don't care if she's cool, I just don't want someone watching my every move."
