Wicked, Young Thing - T. Seguin

Chapter Fourteen

School had started again, so Tay and I were up to our ears in homework and  seriously in need of a break. We hadn't left campus or our house in about a week and the only people we'd seen were our classmates; they were as socially deprived as we were. The professors seemed to have an evil plot  where they all assigned huge projects at the same time, and that time was now.

The only good thing that came from having so much homework was that I had no time to spare to think about him.  Well, usually.

I sat at my desk twirling my pencil and staring at the article I had been assigned, but I wasn't reading it. My mind had jumped back two months to when I had seen him at the Astros game. I found that in the few brief hours that he had been sitting in front of me, I had memorized all I could about him. I could see him lounging in the chair with his Dallas cap on backwards, his dark hair curling out under the brim and his strong arms, ink winding its way across his skin, the feel of his arms around me, the hot and heavy feeling of his gaze on me, and the  way he said my name. But I was remembering more than just the game, I was remembering everything. I kept rewinding and replaying the memories, well, the happy ones. I didn't want to see the look on his face from when I'd yelled at him. I didn't want to see the flash of anger in his eyes and the hatred that I saw a month later. But I couldn't un-see those things. And I couldn't stop revisiting them. I needed to get out. I needed to find something to do, or someone new.

"Tay!" I yelled.

"What?" Came her muffled reply.

"What day is today?"

"Friday, why?"

"Thank God," I let out a breath of air, relieved. "Get ready, Tay, we're going out."

An hour later, Tay and I were dressed for a night on the town in skinny jeans, cowgirl boots, and cute v-neck tops. I was curling my hair and Tay was straightening hers. While we got ready, she had been drilling me about my decision to go out.

"So, what happened in that funny little brain of yours?"

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or-"

"It's not little, you're just a little goofy sometimes, Andi. What made you decide to ditch the books and go looking for a party?"

"I was bored out of my mind."

"Well, hon, so was I, but usually, you like to get your homework done before you have any fun. What's new?"

"I don't know, I guess I just needed a change of scenery. I couldn't even read my journalism article," I shrugged, careful not to let the curling iron touch my ear as I did so.

"Why was that?"

"I kept zoning out, I probably need to sleep or something," I replied.

"What were you thinking about, then? Because you had to be thinking about something, hon, you always are," Tay said.

I stayed quiet, not wanting to let on that two months later, I was still thinking about Tyler even though he'd made it clear that he had moved on to something new.

"It was him, wasn't it?" She was quiet, too, no longer just looking at me in the mirror, but actually coming to stand beside me. I nodded. Tay gave me a sad smile, "Honey, you can't let him stay in your head like that. He's just a boy, it isn't the end of the world."

"Then why does it feel like it is? I haven't been able to get him out of my head for more than a few hours at a time! It's driving me crazy."

Tay's mouth twisted into a grimace; she didn't know what to do. "Come with me," she left the bathroom and led me to her bedroom. She handed me an envelope, "This came for you yesterday and you know that name as well as I do. I'm sorry I hid it, I just thought you were doing better; I didn't want to see you hurting."