OFF TRACK

14

TREVOR
DECEMBER

It's been weeks since Summer and I hooked up but tonight she and a hundred other people are over at our apartment for an after party. Our team just won our fourth game in a row and we're a bit excited about it. Plus we go on Christmas break in three days so everyone's down for one last party.

I didn't want the hook up with Summer to be a one time thing but it's starting to feel like it was. We've crossed paths many times since, she's come with Ellie to a few of our games, we've all gone out to dinner but there just hasn't been the right chance to talk about doing it again. But maybe she doesn't want to do it again. Maybe everything was just in my head.

"Summer!" I cheer finding her in our kitchen with some blonde girl who isn't Ellie.

"T-dog!"

Yeah, she's really started calling me that and I honestly don't mind. A week ago we were at dinner with James, Alex Ellie and a few other people from the team and they were all thrown off by the nickname.

"Trevor, this is Lily, another one of my roommates," Summer smiles, "She's also from San Jose."

"And if you see a loud brunette with short hair? That's Violet," Lily laughs.

"I'm surprised she's not on a table yet," Summer says looking out towards the crowd of people in our apartment.

"Speaking of, I'm gonna go find her," Lily starts to walk away, "I'll find you later?"

"Sounds good," Summer smiles at her as she walks away.

Once we're basically alone in the kitchen, I stand beside her, "Have you been avoiding me?" I blurt out.

We were flirty via texting for a couple weeks, but then she just stopped responding earlier this week and this the first time I've gotten her alone to ask about it.

She jerks her head towards me, "Why would you think that?" She sounds genuinely offended.

"Summer, then why haven't you answered my texts?"

She takes a deep breath almost like she's contemplating on what to say, "Things were getting too real."

"What?"

She looks up at me, her eyes look full of hurt? Concern? I can't tell but it's not good.

"Ever since that day at the golf course I've had this stupid little crush on you Trevor. I thought maybe you liked me back. But then we had sex and it made everything more complex and weird," she looks down at her drink with a shrug, "I just don't have the time for whatever this is, so I took a step back before I could hurt you." She takes along sip of her drink.

"Come here," I take her hand in mine and drag her behind me.

"Hey!" She tries to pull her hand from
mine but I hold on tighter.

I drag her up the stairs to my room and shut the door behind us.

I step into my closet, "Open that," I set a shoe box in her hands.

She looks up at me timidly.

"Nothings going to jump out," I assure her.

She steps around me and sits on the edge of my bed with the shoe box in her lap. I watch her slowly open it, pulling out the two pieces of paper on top. I watch her read them and analyze them. Her features soften when she realizes what they are.

"Why?" She asks looking up at me.

"Because I'm a hopeless romantic," I expected her to laugh at me or something but she just keeps staring at the pieces of paper.