“I-I don’t know. I like to play outside.” She shrugs before she takes the hood off her head and a long braid falls out of her jacket. She straightens some of the loose pieces and sits up a little more in her seat.
“I like to color and paint sometimes.” She sighs and sinks her shoulders back into her desk. My heart instantly feels pulled to this little girl. I’m not sure what her story is yet, but I’d like to find out.
* * *
By the time three p.m. rolls around, I’m exhausted, but grateful. The day left me feeling excited for the rest of the year with these students. I’ve always liked school, so much in fact, that my brother used to make fun of me when we were kids for how much I loved going to school. Joke’s on him though because I turned it into a job, albeit not a high paying one, but a job nonetheless. Thinking about it, Chase and I are both living out our passions, with him being in the NFL.
I glance at my phone as I’m getting in the car and roll my eyes when I see the three missed calls and a few text messages. All from Andrew, my ex. Scanning through the texts, they’re all an assortment of some half ass version of an apology.
Andrew
Abby. I made a mistake I know that, just fucking talk to me.
You can’t ignore me forever.
Wanna bet?
Andrew
You have to come back to Miami sometime. You’re being immature about this by not even talking to me about it.
I delete all the messages without reading the rest. God, I need a drink.
Opening my eyes and seeing the sunlight peek through the curtain, a deep breath fills my lungs knowing it’s Saturday. I reach for my phone on the nightstand and check the time,9:30? Holy shit, I don’t even remember the last time I slept in like this. Fighting the urge to stay in bed all day, I swing my legs over the side of the mattress and extend both of my arms to stretch above my head with a yawn. Feeling like a brand new woman after all that rest, I decide to head downstairs for a quick workout. I’m still working through my laundry pile, but I’m able to find a sports bra and a pair of black leggings to throw on before brushing the knots out of my hair and tossing it in a bun on my head.
After some trial and error, I finally find where the gym is located in Chase’s apartment complex. He explained it to me, but it was a series of “go down the east elevator, turn left, down the hall, pass the picture of a sunset…” People shouldn’t be allowed to give out directions using words like east, if you think I know the compass, you are going to be wildly disappointed.
It took me a few missed turns and asking a kind older gentleman in the hallway, but I got there. When I lived in Miami I did spin classes twice a week and I miss it already. Making a mental list of things to do asap, I add ‘find a spin studio’ to the top.
Since I have nothing on the agenda today, I decide to take a walk downtown once I’ve finished. I’m in desperate need of coffee and it’s nice and warm out already, so some fresh air will do me good. Just on the corner of Chase’s apartment complex is a coffee shop, Marker’s Café. It has the cutest curb appeal, with fresh flowers out front next to the sign that lists off a few of the items they have inside. Blueberry lemon scones? Say less. I grab two coffees and some pastries to take back to the apartment for Chase and I. He was sleeping when I left, but should be up by now. I figure if there’s any way to say “sorry your little sister had to come live with you out of nowhere,” it’s through coffee and food.
“Ab, that you?”
I’m setting the coffee and to-go boxes on the kitchen island as Chase walks out of the hallway. He looks like he just woke up, rubbing his eyes and his hair is all kinds of disheveled.
“Hey, good morning! I grabbed some coffee and food after the gym. Which I found, no thanks to you and your confusing directions by the way. Your coffee is the big one and just take whatever food you want, but please leave me one of the blueberry lemon scones.”
“Oh, hell yeah, thanks! And what was the matter with my directions?” He bites off a piece of a bagel. “Have a hard time reading all the signs that say ‘fitness center’ or something?” I roll my eyes as he smiles. He fluffs my hair like when we were kids as I walk past him down the hall to my room.
A shower is the first thing on my to-do list today. I feel sticky and I’m incredibly aware of the amount of sweat that seeped out of me during that workout. Thankfully this place is pretty big for it being an apartment so I’m able to have my own space. There are two bedrooms and three bathrooms, an open floor plan with a giant living room and a dining room that looks out onto a balcony and the prettiest all white kitchen I’ve probably ever seen. Hard to believe my brother lives in a place like this.
Before getting into the bathroom, Chase calls out to me and nudges my door open after I tell him to come in. He gives me a look, one that says, “I feel weird asking you about feelings, but I’m your brother and I care,” as he runs a hand through his hair.
“Hey, you’re good right? Well…I know you probably aren’t good, but you’re doing okay?”
Chase knows everything that happened with Andrew. Mainly because the day I got here I was a blubbering mess and it just kind of spilled out of me. I had every intention of just saying we broke up, but before I knew it everything just poured out of me. Chase, who is normally very level headed and a glass half full kind of person, was anything but as I was telling him how things went down over the summer. He asked me countless times if he should go kick his ass and while that might be exactly what Andrew needs, I know he’s not worth it.
“Yeah. I’m good, I promise.” I pause for a moment and then try to change the subject. “I’ll probably start looking for a place soon too, just so you know!”
As I’m thinking about Chase’s question though, it dawns on me that this is the first time I actually believe it when the words leave my mouth. I’m good. I cried for weeks over that relationship and how it all ended. In hindsight, we should have broken up so much sooner because I know I wasn’t truly happy for a long time, but it was comfortable and there were a lot of good times too. Clinging to those good parts was how I justified staying through all of the bad. The first night here at Chase’s apartment, I promised myself after sobbing in the living room, that I’d never cry over Andrew again, and so far I’ve made good on that.
“It doesn’t bother me that you’re here, you know. There’s no rush on my end for you to find something.”
“No, I know you’re not asking me to, I just…I don’t want to get in the way of you, your life, your… extracurriculars.” I’m stumbling over the words to say because this conversation has taken an awkward turn and of course, I’m the driver. Chase and I haven’t spent a lot of time together in the last few years, so I wasn’t sure what kind of lifestyle I’d be walking into when I asked to stay with him. An NFL star defensive player sounds like someone who would have a pretty popular social life and the last thing I wanted to do was intrude on any of that.
“Stop. It’s fine. I’d rather you be here anyway, in case Andrew tries anything dumb, like coming to Tampa to find you or some shit. As far as my extracurriculars, I’ll make do.” He shoots me a wink and I shake my head at him. Andrew couldn’t be bothered to pick me up at the library fifteen minutes from our house, so something tells me he isn’t driving five hours to pretend to care now. Chase turns towards the door but pauses before walking out.
“I’m having a few guys from the team come over tonight for some poker. You’re welcome to come hang out, you know, if you don’t have plans or anything.”
