Page 36 of The Golden Goalie

“Why haven’t you eaten?” my mom asks as I dive back for a second bite. I have a feeling I’m going to regret this soon, but I’m so hungry right now.

“I just got too busy.” I pause before my next bite. “Is it okay that I’m eating this? I didn’t even ask.”

“Eat as much as you want,” Rico says. “Just...don’t get sick,” he adds as almost an afterthought.

I smile at him. “No promises.”

His eyes widen slightly, but he doesn’t say anything. And I go back to devouring my pizza. Rico stands. “You can sit here.”

“No, I’m going to bed; you can sit here,” my mom says as she stands. “Thank you for the pizza and all the other stuff,” she says to Rico.

“What stuff?” I ask in between bites.

My mom kisses my forehead. “Night, Baby.”

“Night, Mom.” She disappears, and I slide into her seat. Rico stands up and walks out of the room for a moment but comes back with a water bottle.

“Oh, thanks,” He even opens the cap for me.

“So, who’s Cal?”

I shake my head as I take another bite. “Only the most annoying guy on the planet. He won’t get it that I’mnot interested. Tonight, he even told me it’s okay that I’m pregnant...like he was giving me hispermission.” I use myfingers for quotation marks. “Who even does that? And we’re not even dating. He won’t get it that I'm not interested. And when I finally snapped at him, he asked me if I was on my period. I can’t even have a period while pregnant!” My brain finally catches up, and I remember who it is I’m talking to. I grimace. “And that was way more than you wanted to know about me.”

“Not really. You said he left you in the parking lot by yourself?” he asks. I nod and take a long swallow of water. He’s quiet for a few beats. “You work at the library on campus?”

I nod again. “This pizza is so good. Where is it from?”

“Xpress Pizza. What are your normal hours?”

“I’m there right after lunch every day until closing. I clock in at one and get done a little after ten every day except Thursdays. Thursdays I don’t start until two.”

“How come you didn’t eat today?” he asks, surprising me with the change of topic.

“I got busy and didn’t get something to eat.”

“You don’t take lunch with you?”

I scrunch up my nose. “I’m always going to pack a lunch before I leave for the day, but I always run out of time. And yes, I know I’m irresponsible. I’m going to do better. I spent three hours trying to get everything planned out, so I can be a responsible human being.” I sit back in my chair, finally feeling full. “That was really good pizza; thank you.”

“I think you’re really hard on yourself,” he says, surprising me.

“Or not hard enough,” I argue.

“You’re going to class full time and working a full-time job on top of growing a baby. I think you’re doing pretty well.”

I put my hand on my belly. “Yeah, well, there are alot of things I’ve messed up.”

“We all have,” he argues. He studies my face a minute. “You look better.”

“I feel really good right now, after that pizza. We’ll see if I regret it later.” I take a deep breath, feeling myself relax for the first time today. “Why are you here?”

“I dropped some stuff off,” he says vaguely.

I look around the kitchen. “The pizza?”

“Well, that too.”

“Are you being purposefully vague, Rico?”

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