“Well, that guy shouldn’t have been cheating, and it’s that other guy’s loss for breaking up with you over something so stupid,” he said. We both finally sat up and were facing each other. I drew my knees to my chest.
Do you remember my Dad?” I asked James, who nodded as he listened intently. “Well, I told my ex-boyfriend, Chris, about my Dad, and how he abandoned me. I told him that I was hesitant to date anyone because I was terrified of ever being abandoned again, and that I had trust issues. This guy promised to never break my heart, he begged me to trust him, and what did he do? Abandoned me for doing the right thing. I’ve just been dealing with a lot, and my world has fallen apart. The only good thing that happened to me is that Wake Forest offered me a full ride to play field hockey there in the fall.” He had a look of being both happy and sad for me on his face. It was an expression I had never seen before. He pulled me in for another hug, then let go and offered me a hand to help me to my feet. Once standing, I realized how much taller he was than me. I was 5’-7” and he was easily 6’-0”, same as Chris.
“Congrats on the scholarship!” he said. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
“I really don’t want to go home,” I said, looking up at him in a daze.
“Well, you can’t be alone, not after that stunt you just tried to pull, so let’s go back to my house. We can hang out while you unwind. How does that sound?” he said, as he smiled down at me and squeezed my shoulder. It was just nice to have someone who cared.
When we got to his house, Mrs. Barr greeted us at the door, having no idea that her son had just saved my life.
“Allie! So nice to see you!” she said, as I followed James through the door.
“Hello, Mrs. Barr,” I said, trying my best to act normal.
“Can I get you something warm to drink? I just made some hot apple cider.”
“Sure, that sounds nice, actually,” I said, as she ladled two cups and handed them both to James.
“Come on, Allie, let’s go up to the den,” he said as he made his way to the back stairs, and I followed.
James’s house was an almost identical layout to mine, so I could see his bedroom window from my own. When we were kids, we would flash the lights to greet one another. Once we got upstairs, he set the cups down on the coffee table and flopped down on a giant beanbag. I climbed onto the couch and closed my eyes.
“What do you want to watch?” he asked. “I have tons of movies.”
“Whatever you want, I don’t really care,” I said, my eyes still closed as he walked over to the shelf and picked out Billy Madison.
“This is hilarious, have you seen it?”
“Yeah, it’s good,” I said as he put it into the DVD player, and I sat back up. He turned around to look at me, hit play, and then went to sit back down in the beanbag.
After the first ten minutes, I quickly fell asleep and then felt James nudging me awake.
“Hey, it’s probably time for you to go home, Allie,” he said, “Unless you just want to sleep here on the couch. Your sister does that sometimes. I can call your mom and let her know where you are.” I pointed at him to signal that I chose the second option. He laughed and then went to call my mom. “She said it’s fine,” he said as he set down the receiver, walked over with a blanket, covered me, and turned off the lights. Before he left, he sat down on the couch for a moment and nudged me awake again. “Hey, Allie?” he asked.
“Mmm?” I replied at the edge of sleep.
“Please don’t ever try that again, okay?” he said quietly. “You scared the shit out of me. I’ll see you in the morning. Get some sleep. Good night.”
“Goodnight, James. You’re my hero.” I murmured, as I reached up to grab his hand, kissed it with thanks, and then promptly fell asleep.
30
“Allie?” I heard someone say, as my eyelids fluttered open. It was James, kneeling beside the couch with a tray full of breakfast.
“What time is it?” I asked as I looked around the sun-drenched room.
“It’s 10:30. I think you needed to sleep,” he said, with a smile.
I sat up and pulled the blanket over my lap, then James set the tray down on the coffee table and sat down beside me.
“My mom makes the best breakfasts. You have to try the blueberry muffin,” he said, as he handed it to me. I peeled back the wrapper, took a bite, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head.
“This is unreal,” I said, with a mouthful of muffin.
“Told you.”
As I worked my way through breakfast, we talked about what it was like attending boarding school and if he had kept in touch with any of our old neighbors. Most of them had since moved away, and neither of us had heard from them in years.
