Two Seconds

Eleven & Twelve

I managed to drag my mind away from my father’s harsh words and get ready for bed. Once settled I put my phone on the side and grabbed the remote to the TV in my room, flipping channels and trying to find something that I could understand. Failing I landed on a flashy Japanese game show, trying to improve my spirits by the ridiculousness unfolding before me.

*Ring Ring*

“Noooo,” I sighed, snatching my phone up again. It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” I said, answering it cautiously.

“Hey Jess,” said the voice on the other end.

“Who’s this?”

“Aston,” he said.

“How did you get this number?” I questioned.

“How did you do today?” he asked back, ignoring my question.

“Tell me how you got my number,” I enunciated slowly, trying to get him to listen to me.

“Dirk gave it to me. Now how did the race go?”

“Why would Dirk give you my number?” I asked, muting the TV. This boy was too bold for his own good.

“I asked him for it,” Aston said simply, “How did the race go?”

“You’re just going to keep asking aren’t you?”

“Yup!” he said brightly, “Now tell me.”

“Sixth,” I said.

“Aww that’s great Jess!” Aston said happily, “How did it feel to be back out there?”

“Honestly, a bit scary,” I said.

“Scary? How so?” he asked.

“I forgot how much pressure it is,” I replied, “There were thousands of people in the stadium watching me, and all of the girls I was racing had their eye on me for sure.”

“As they should,” Aston replied with a laugh. 

We spoke for a few more minutes about the race. I gave him a quick play-by-play of how it had gone down, and then I realized what I was doing. “Why did you call me?” I asked him suddenly.

“Honestly?”

“Please.”

“Because I wanted to talk to you,” he said nonchalantly, “We did Loose Women this morning and it was weird not having you there. Thought I’d call and check in on how things were going out there in Japan.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to,” he replied.

“Ugh I don’t understand you…” I sighed. Why did this boy insist on doing things like this?

“Haha you love the attention,” he flirted.

“No!” I said quickly. “You’re annoying and you drive me actually crazy.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he said cheekily, “Now if only I could get you to go out with me.”

“Oh there he goes!” I said incredulously. “Why am I even talking to you?” 

“Good question,” he said, “Anyways you’ve got to admit that you’ve enjoyed this chat.”

“I haven’t,” I said.

“Then why didn’t you hang up ten minutes ago?” he asked triumphantly.

I looked down at my phone to see that almost eleven minutes had elapsed since he’d called me. How had this conversation sustained itself for that long? How had I not even realized what I was doing?