Page 43 of Coping Skills

Elena stood next to Coop, her dark hair hanging down her back in a braid, coming out from under a red Marycliff beanie. One of the ones they sold in the student center. When she laughed, something clenched and shifted inside him, a mix of pain, anger, and longing. He missed her laugh. He hadn’t seen her or talked to her since that night, even though he’d almost texted her or called her more times than he could count.

It was Coop that kept him from doing it. “Dude, she used you,” he’d said. “That’s fucked up. Delete her number.”

He hadn’t, though. Even though thinking about her made him angry and hurt, he couldn’t bring himself to delete her number. That felt too final. And even though he knew it was over, that he shouldn’t see her or talk to her anymore, the thought of being unable to if he wanted to was too much.

She hadn’t tried to contact him, either.

But now she was here. What was she doing here? She’d said she couldn’t handle watching someone she loved risking a head injury. Did that mean she didn’t care about him anymore? Maybe she hadn’t ever really cared. But then why break up with him?

He shook his head, he’d been asking himself the same relentless questions over and over and never came up with a satisfactory answer to any of them. None of it made sense to his logical brain. When the questions got to be too much, he’d hit the weight room or lose himself in math homework. There were always right answers there. If he got something wrong, he could ask for help to figure out where and how. Things were simple, clear cut. Not a tangled mass of emotion and sensation, overwhelming and unpredictable.

She turned, then, and her eyes met his, the smile left over from talking to Coop fading as she looked at him. Hot anger poured over him, scalding down his spine. Why was she talking to Coop? And why was Coop flirting with her, making her smile? Coop had been the one to tell him to stay away from her. Was he fucking around with her behind his back?

The thought made him want to vomit. He turned, not able to stomach the idea of the two of them, and started toward the parking lot. He had to get away.

“Daniel, wait!”

It was Elena. He walked faster. He didn’t want anything to do with her right now, the wound she’d left still too raw and open.

“Please. Can we please talk?”

He stopped, whirling on her. “No. We’ve done more than enough talking. You’re the one who ended things. Why do you keep coming back?”

She stopped, and he could see her throat work as she swallowed. He recognized that look on her face, the way she swallowed. It was what she did when she was fighting back her tears. That knowledge almost undid him, but he clenched his jaw.

“Goodbye, Elena.” Without waiting for a response from her, he pushed through the doors of the stadium and left, hoping she wouldn’t follow him.

He heard footsteps behind him, and resigned himself to a worse confrontation in the parking lot. At least it was cold. Hopefully that would keep her from drawing it out.

Turning, he was surprised to find Coop there. Surprised, but still angry, his hands clenched in fists at his side. “What the fuck, man? Did you tell me to stay away from her so you could take your chances or what?”

Coop’s eyes widened, his hands going up, palms out. “Whoa. What are you talking about?”

“I saw you.” He ground his teeth, taking a deep breath, trying to force himself to be calm. “I saw you talking to her, making her laugh, being your usual charming self. This, after you told me to delete her number, not talk to her anymore. What was that all about?”

Shaking his head, Coop took a step closer. “No, man. You got it wrong. I wasn’t flirting with her. We were just talking. She came to see you.”

With another deep breath, he examined Coop’s face, but couldn’t detect anything to indicate he was lying. Daniel relaxed a fraction, his shoulders lowering, his fists unclenching. “Yeah? What was she laughing about?”

Coop let his hands drop. “Nothing. I made some joke about the weather. It wasn’t even that funny. But she was nervous, so she laughed.”

“What was she nervous about?”

One of Coop’s dark brows rose. “I’d guess talking to you. It didn’t go so well last time, after all. And from what I saw, her fears were entirely justified.”

Daniel’s breath rushed out in a whoosh. “Can you blame me?”

“I didn’t say that.” Coop shook his head. “Just making an observation.”

Turning, Daniel headed for the car again, Coop falling in step beside him. “Did she tell you why she came?”

Coop eyed him out of the corner of his eye. “She said she wanted to apologize. She apologized to me for always kicking me out while you guys were together, and she said she needed to apologize to you, too.”

“Huh.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Coop opened his mouth, hesitated, but then spoke. “I think … I think maybe you should call her. Let her say what she has to say.”

Daniel’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Didn’t you tell me to delete her number? How’m I supposed to call her?”

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