Page 4 of Lessons in Falling
Unfortunately, I was not drunk.That captain spot waiting for me two months down the line made sure of it.
They’re not here, are they?She crossed her arms, leaned against the dresser to face me on the top bunk.At this point, it seemed kind of ridiculous to still be up here.But getting downwould feel too much like defeat.Why would I go into their room, when you’re here.In mine.
And she couldn’t have given me a better in.I smiled.Ours.
She blinked at me.The silence between us felt louder than most stadiums, and the next moment more crucial than a penalty shot.Like she was about to set our dynamic for the rest of the summer into stone.
Valentina burst out laughing.
She literally bent over, hands on her knees, and laughed so hard she lost balance for a dreadful second.Her entire body was still shaking when I honest-to-God thought she’d hit her head on the dresser behind her, sprinkling the white wood crimson.I didn’t even realize getting off the bed, all traces of my own amusement wiped away, until I stood right in front of her.
She must’ve caught herself, though, because she slid down to the ground, back against the dresser, and there was no visible sign of a laceration, and no blood on the wood.She was still laughing, and my heart was still beating twice as fast, for some reason.
I did not need my new roommate to bleed out ten minutes after she got here.
You okay?I asked unnecessarily, crouching to her level.She was okay.Clearly.Smiling up at me, round eyes wide,stillvisibly amused.
Valentina snorted.All that bleach must’ve gone to your head, Callahan,she said—slurred, really—one hand driving across my platinum-blond buzzcut.
I didn’t think she meant for the touch to be as electrifying as it was.I think it was meant to be condescending.Her gazeheld mine when her hand fell back into her lap, and I could breathe again.If you think I’m sharing a room—a bedwith you for eight weeks.
Really?My lips quirked.You didn’t seem to mind the last time we shared a bed.In fact, I remember you were sound asleep when I was barely out of you.
The reminder shot color into her cheeks, and she scrambled off the floor to gain some semblance of control over the situation.Meanwhile, the words directed blood into a completely different part of my body.Any and every thought about that night did, really.
Valentina shook her head, and I straightened back up to my full height with her.I could tell she tried not to let her eyes wander… up my chest, across my shoulders, all the way to the smirk on my lips.She was obviously failing.Her eyes were glued to them right up until they flicked upward to meet mine.Why are you here, Caden?
And I swear, I would’ve given her a proper answer this time.That I wasn’t quite sure myself.That this was my first vacation in… ever, probably.That, when Mike had asked during penalty practice if I’d wanted to join him and his friends, thenobefore I scored had been an automatic response.I hadn’t even thought about it.
Come on, man,he’d said, walking to the other corner of the goal to get the ball.You could use a vacation.
Are you trying to tell me I look like I could use some rest and relaxation?I’d asked, but the bags under my eyes probably answered for me.How dare you!
Mike had snickered, but the look my captain pinned me with said he hadn’t been joking.The dark circles under youreyes have dark circles, dude.You missed four out of five penalties today.You’re supposed to take over this team, and you need to be back on your A-game by then.Two months on Oakport, and we can get you there.You want to be captain, right?
His question had been rhetorical, which was why I’d lied.Of course,I’d said—but that was just the thing, though.I didn’twantto be captain.I wasn’t even sure if I still wanted to be on the team.After winning the NCAA championship, one would think the school might take it easy on us; that there’d be less pressure.After all, we’d won them a trophy.What more could they expect?Not all of us could be Henry Pressleys, going pro and earning millions.
Turned out: a lot.To defend that title, for example.Apparently, for me to carry the team that was supposed to defend that title.Which came with a truckload of pressure and expectations I hadn’t expected and had made enjoying the game significantly harder.
So, Mike had been right that day.The circles under my eyes were beginning to look criminal.I had not been playing as well as I could have.And there was at least one person that did deserve my best.
Valentina didn’t give me the chance to say any of that— at least a shorter, less whiny version.Because right after the words left her lips, her gaze diverted.Like she’d forgotten she’d asked me a question in the first place, her eyes darted through the room, looking for something she, clearly, couldn’t find.She twisted and turned, walked from one side of the room to the other, and only remembered I was there when I said,Outside.
Her eyes latched onto me, and I couldn’t help my chuckle— although I did try to hide it with a cough.Your suitcase,I elaborated.It’s by the door.
That’s not what I’m looking for.But she went out into the hallway, anyway.Her head still shook in denial when she rolled the thing back into our room and closed the door behind her.
Ourroom.
It sounded more intimate than I’d like—as if there was more than that bunkbed we shared about our lives.As if we’d made a conscious decision to be here together andlikedthe fact that we were.Which was very obviously not the case.
I watched Valentina roll her suitcase through the room before I answered her earlier question.Mike invited me.That’s why I’m here.
Which wasn’t all that much more revealing than my previous cryptic answers.
She groaned, but I wasn’t sure if it was in response to my bullshit (yes, I could admit to that much) or the fact she’d discovered my clothes in the top two drawers.Which, judging by the noise, she must’ve wanted for herself.Probably a combination of both.
Your things are in my drawers,she confirmed.You are in my room.In my bed.Valentina took a deep breath before she turned back, finding me leaning against the ladder of our bunkbed.And I’m so drunk, I’m not even sure if I’m just imagining you.I mean, what are the odds?I let myself think about you once, and—She shook her head again, turned back around like I might really just be a hallucination.Like she could get rid of me by simply focusing on something else.
