Page 8 of Give You Up

“Yeah, my roommates and I will be there.”

“That’s great. Hopefully, we can find somewhere quiet to get to know one another.”

Getting to know her beyond the party and class isn’t in the books, but I don’t tell her that.

“That’s a plan. Cool. See you . . .” I wait for her to give me her name again. She doesn’t disappoint.

“Lily.”

“See you tonight, Lily.”

She smiles big and hurries back inside the classroom. I hitch my backpack higher on my shoulder and jog over to my pickup truck. The girls ogle my torso. I smile but don’t do much else, like stopping for their number or an invite to their place for a quickie. I am not here for them.

One girl has never left my mind, and damn it, Syn is looking mighty fine. Badass, too, with her piercings. I also dig her short haircut. It’s what my mom would lovingly call a pixie cut.

Her changed appearance is different from the wholesome, shy girl who stomped on my heart before leaving town without a word to me. Syn leaving me in pieces changed me for the worst.

Dad’s been harping on me to clean up my act. I will when he is good for his word. And Mom? She looks at me with sad eyes after hearing of my latest fuck-up.

She doesn’t understand why I get into fights on and off the field. Or why I cannot commit for shit to a girl. If I did, I would have to give up a girl’s secret as well as my dad’s, and their secrets are not mine to tell.

At my truck, I hit the unlock button on my key fob, open the door, and toss my backpack on the seat before climbing inside.

On the drive over to the house for a replacement shirt, I mull over what happened in class. I expected to run into Syn on campus sooner rather than later, but I never thought we would have a class together. Or that our first contact since Bayside would be her spilling coffee on me.

Had the stain come from a different coed, I would have trashed the jersey, but from Syn? The jersey will have a dedicated spot on the wall across from my bed.

It will be the first and last thing I see every morning and night, a harsh reminder of why I gave up everything in the name of closure.

6

Syn

After I am done with my classes for the day, I rush to the school library, ready to start my shift.

“Wait, what do you mean my position was given to someone else? Is that possible? How come I’m hearing of this now? Why didn’t you get ahold of me sooner? I can’t believe I’ll be working with the football team.”

I slump in the seat across from my boss.

“Syn, it’s not the end of the world.”

Easy for her to say. She is not the one who will be in proximity to her ex. “Grr.”

“Syn?”

I blow out a breath. “I don’t understand. Am I being punked? Or did you get me into a secret audition for an episode of the Twilight Zone?”

I tip forward, and resting my elbows on her desk, I prop my chin on the heels of my palms and implore her with my eyes to please explain how I am in this mess. I get decent grades, I’m an exemplary employee, and I’m not a habitual partier. God, I am boring.

Cindy does not lose her poker face.

“Syn, I’m sorry, dear. Please make your way to the team’s practice.”

“Where would that be?”

“Um, the stadium.”

“Where is that? I’ve never set foot in the place.”

---