He sighs heavily before answering me with a vague, “Nothing.”
“Obviously it’s something, Jake. What gives? You’ve been a more than a little quiet and a little shorter tempered than usual. You’ve already mentioned that you’re not sleeping well, so what’s going on?”
He’s quiet so long that I think he’s ignoring my questions and just watching the game. “A couple of weeks ago when I was grabbing some groceries, I ran into someone we knew a long time ago. Remember Erin Anderson?”
“Erin Anderson?” I think back to high school and dig for a memory of an Erin Anderson. “Oh yeah, redhead who was here for about a year or so in junior high. What about her?”
“She’s apparently back in town. Said she was going to be starting a job here but wouldn’t elaborate about it.”
“Okay. So, what’s the problem?”
“When I ran into her in the aisle, she was turned towards the shelves and gave me a full side profile view. I couldn’t help but just stare at her. She’s this short, little redhead with big green eyes. She turned towards me and gave me a stunning smile. Then, it’s like she realized who I was and her smile faded faster than an ice cube on a hundred degree day. I tried to smile at her but she just turned away. So, I walked up to her and tried introducing myself and she responded with, ‘I know who you are.’ That was it. She turned her attention back to what she was looking at as if to just completely dismiss me, like I was no longer standing there.”
“So, the great Jake Stevens was dissed by a girl?” I ask as a questioning smile appears on my face.
“It wasn’t just that I was dissed, Maddox. When I asked her what her name was, she said, ‘Doesn’t surprise me that you don’t remember my name. Why would you? You only made my life a living hell in seventh grade.’ I had no clue what she was talking about and even asked her about it. The only thing she would tell me was her name was Erin, and then she walked away.”
“Wasn’t that the girl you teased in seventh?”
“Yeah, once I got home that night, I couldn’t get her out of my head so I called my mom and asked her if she remembered an Erin from when I was in school. She told me that Erin Anderson was only in school with us for less than a year. Her dad was in the military and she moved around a lot. Mom knew instantly who I was talking about because that’s the girl I got that in-school suspension for. We had to meet with her and her parents after school. Remember that shit?”
“Absolutely. You teased and picked on her that entire year. She was the journal girl, right?”
“Yeah, as soon as Mom started talking about it, I knew instantly who she was. I guess I just keep thinking about what a dick I was to her back in school. Apparently, she still thinks that of me because she wouldn’t even talk to me.”
I sit there and watch as the play of emotions cross his face. I can’t tell if he’s upset that there’s actually a girl out there oblivious to his charms or if he might feel guilty for how he treated her twenty years ago. Could Jake finally have met his match?
“So what are you going to do about it?” I ask and take another drink of my beer.
“Nothing. She doesn’t want to talk to me, and I’m not gonna make her.” Jake then focuses his attention back on the game but I can tell he’s not actually watching the action on the screen. I’m glad that he finally told me what’s been eating at him. He’s apparently not going to do anything about it, but that’s not really my problem.
After the game and Jake heads out, I grab my phone before climbing into bed. It’s after eleven and I can’t help but wonder if Avery is still awake. I don’t want to call her just in case she’s sleeping, so I settle on sending her a text.
Sleeping?
Nope. Reading. Jake leave?
Yep, just left. We’re back on at 9am tomorrow morning.
Well, you should head to bed then. Good night, Maddox
Good night
I hit send and then stare at my phone for a few more moments wondering if she’s going to reply. I’m just starting to set my phone back down on the nightstand when it rings. I glance down at the screen and smile when I see her name.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” I answer in way of greeting.
“Can’t sleep. My book just got scary.”
“Scary? Do you need me to come over and protect you?”
“Like check under my bed and in my closet for monsters?” she asks with a chuckle.
“Definitely. I’ll have to check under your sheets, too. Maybe in your pajamas. You never know what kind of scary monsters can lurk within your pants.”