Page 57 of Tell Me Softly
I stumbled onto the bus like a drunk. As soon as I saw him, Taylor pointed to the empty space next to him.
Sorry, Taylor, I thought.I’m not going to be able to do it.
***
It would be better to flounder under the icy look Taylor would give me two and a half hours later after we’d reached Falls Church.
I felt guilty, but I needed to get my emotions in order. I couldn’t have sat there next to Taylor when my body was literally shaking from when Thiago had touched me. Had something changed between us? Was I wrong, or was he looking at me differently? If so, what about that message he’d written me telling me to forget what had happened?
I got out of the bus and grabbed my purple backpack. My friends were all smiling and laughing, and I could tell some of them were drunk. I couldn’t believe Thiago and Klebb hadn’t noticed. Everyone had been going crazy in the back of the bus; even a fool could have seen that.
I looked around outside. It smelled like pine trees and fresh-cut grass. I’d been to Falls Church before, usually just to watch our team get trounced. But with Thiago on our side, I was sure Carsville would come out on top. Falls Church was cute, with its little town square and its big white church. It reminded me of a Norman Rockwell painting. The people there were mostly Catholic—it was a very conservative area—and our guys always made a point of joking and cursing whenever they went anywhere to try to get under the locals’ skin. I actually think the kids from the school envied us: we did whatever the hell we wanted, and they were always busy following rules.
We stayed in the same motel as always. It was like one of those places from the fifties you see in movies, with the rooms overlooking the parking lot, the metal stairs, and a crappy diner with bad coffee and frozen waffles. The good thing was, it did have a pool and a little hot tub, which we all took turns getting in and out of. Coach Klebb had family in town, and he always used the game weekend to visit them, inviting his brother to the motel and notreally paying much attention to what we were doing as long as it didn’t get out of hand.
We’d had pool parties the last two years. But with Thiago there, I doubted that would happen again. Ellie walked up to me waving our key cards.
“Come on, girl,” she said. We always shared a room. Kate was staying with Marissa, and Lisa was staying with Chloe. Our rooms were all next door to each other, so meeting up at midnight wouldn’t be a problem. When she opened the door, the smell of smoke and air purifiers smacked us in the face. Ellie’s nose wrinkled as she said, “You’d think they’d have at least replaced the comforters.” The room was small, no frills, but comfortable, with a king-size bed, a small TV, a desk, two chairs, and a bathroom in the back. I smelled the towels folded on the bed. They were clean, and the toiletries looked decent.
“I’m a little carsick,” Ellie said, falling back on the bed.
It was starting to get dark out, and my stomach was rumbling.
“You’re not carsick, you’re drunk,” I told her, tossing my suitcase on the bed, unpacking, and sticking my clothes in the closet.
“You’re right! You know what I need? Food!”
“I’m not going out for food,” I said. “You always do this to me. It’s your turn.”
“Come on! Pleeease?” She frowned like an angry baby. “I’ll do it tomorrow!”
We had stopped for dinner on the way here, but if we wanted anything beyond that, we were on our own. There was a 7-Eleven across the street that had a bunch of frozen meals and chips. The closest thing besides that was a fast-food place a few miles away.
“Fine,” I said. “What do you want?”
“Pringles! Sour cream and onion! And a frozen lasagna—I love that stuff.” I raised an eyebrow at her. God knows what thosefrozen meals had in them, but whatever. She finished, “And some M&M’s for dessert.”
“Jesus, Galadriel!” I said, laughing and throwing a pillow at her face.
“I told you, don’t call me that!”
“Relax. You’ll get your garbage snacks in no time.”
As I walked out, I saw that most of the doors were open, with people walking into and out of each other’s rooms. Kate was outside leaning on the railing, holding her wallet.
“You too, huh?” she asked.
“Afraid so.”
“I think you and I are the only people who aren’t hammered here,” she said and followed me downstairs.
“I didn’t even have a drink,” I responded.
We walked to the 7-Eleven, feeling thankful we’d made it before everyone else came in and emptied the place out. I grabbed all that Ellie had asked for and got myself a bean burrito and pita chips with some hummus I liked––the same brand Mom usually kept at home.
When I got to the register, though, there was Thiago. He looked over at me and back at the cashier as I set my things down and waited. Then my heart froze: he was buying a box of condoms. He knew that I’d noticed, and a spark brightened his green eyes.
“You gotta do something to pass the time, right?”
