Page 14 of Another Love, Another Time
“No need to worry. His coach told him not to worry about me, that I am just a girl.” I scoff.
“Remind me not to piss you off.”
“You would do good to remember that.” Another grin spreads across my face.
“Hey, is your name Auggie?” A girl with shoulder-length brown hair and a pink two-piece interrupts our conversation.
“Yes, why?” Auggie gives her a questioning look.
“Well, my friend over there…” She points to a girl in the pool whose face is as red as a tomato. She is still smiling and darting her eyes between Auggie and the floor. “She goes to your school, and she thinks that you’re cute. Do you want to be her boyfriend?”
Always the nice guy, Auggie answers, “Tell your friend ‘thanks,’ but I can’t. I already have a girlfriend.” He looks at me.
“Oh,” she replies.
“Who?” The girl and I say at the same time.
“Riv, you know you’re my girlfriend,” he says. Then, he looks at the girl again. “She doesn’t want our parents to find out.”
The girl looks between Auggie and me as if confused. “Yeah, sure. Well, see ya.” The girl jumps back in the pool and swims over to her friends.
“What was that?” I ask.
He shrugs like it’s nothing.
“Well?” I ask again.
“Which part? Her asking me out or you being my girlfriend?”
“I guess… both?”
“Well, I am irresistible. Have you seen me lately?” He grins. “And you are my ‘girl’ and ‘friend,’ the only girl I keep this close. There is no room for other girls.”
Just then, my mom pops her head in to tell us the pizza is here. We both grab our towels, dry off, and wrap them around us.
Auggie loops his arm through mine as we walk out the door, and turns to me. “See? Still enough room for both of us to fit through.”
I push him off me. “You barely fit.”
Laughing, we continue to walk toward our room. There is an aching feeling in my chest. I don’t like how some girl just came up to ask him out. He’s my Auggie. I don’t want to share him. I wonder how many times this happens at school.
And why do I like how he referred to me as his “girlfriend” even though he said he meant it in the literal sense? I know that some of my friends have started asking boys out and vice versa, but I guess I didn’t think that this would be happening to Auggie. I know Auggie is cute, and he is a nice boy. He doesn’t have amean bone in his body unless you mess with someone he cares about. He always wants everyone to get along.
My thoughts drift to his appearance. He has started to keep his hair longer on top. I like his hair short, but I do have to say that the way he’s keeping it now looks good on him.
We get back into the room where my parents are staying, and I change into my pajamas. Meanwhile, Auggie changes into a pair of basketball shorts and the shirt I bought him today at the tournament. The gray shirt has the tournament name on it and reads “I love my wrestler” on the back.
Ever since Auggie’s tenth birthday, T-shirts have become our thing. Any time one of us sees one that we think the other would like, we get it. In this case, I knew he had to have it.
I need to get him one that says, “Stay back,” but I know I can’t. I hate that we don’t live closer, and I only get to talk to him through our phone conversations. I turn to him and pull him into a hug. Then, I whisper into his ear, “Thanks for coming to see me today.”
He hugs me back. “Me too. I said you would kick butt today.”
We pull apart, head over to the pizza, and get ready to play one of the board games Aunt Connie brought today.
Chapter 5
Auggie, Age 13
