Just What I Needed

July 4 (Day)

I turned to see Nate jogging toward the fence. His eyes met mine and then moved to Scotty.

"You good?" Nate asked, his eyes locked on Scotty.

"Good, man," Scotty replied.

"I wasn't asking you," Nate replied. "Jordan, you good?"

He still wouldn't look at me. His expression was serious and if looks could kill, Scotty would be dead. 

"I'm good. Scotty was just leaving," I answered, taking a step closer to Nate. I really wished we weren't separated by a fence.

Scotty put his hands up in surrender and turned to walk away.

"Thank you," I turned back to Nate. 

Without a word, Nate watched until Scotty was out of sight then cursed under his breath, picked up the ball, turned and walked back to his teammates to finish his warm up.

So much for being able to chat before my shift. 

I made my way through the town, watching around me in case Scotty reappeared.

Families were packed blanket to blanket on the beach this holiday afternoon. It was going to be slow in the bowling alley.

"Good afternoon," I said in the best cheerful voice I could muster.

"Fake," Barb called me on it. "But I appreciate the effort."

"Ugh," I collapsed over the counter. "I am trying! I know I'm supposed to have good news but I just really need to talk out loud, ok?"

Barb handed me a spray bottle as was the custom. "Want to talk about it while you get your butt behind this counter? You're temporarily re-hired."

"It's just the same old drama."

"You know, you should be wiping the whole counter, instead of one small spot, hun."

"Yeah yeah," I made an exaggerated effort to make wider swipes with the rag. "I think Nate is mad at me. I think I might have been rude to him one too many times. I think maybe he likes Kari in the same way she likes him. She invited him to the party tonight despite the fact that Holly and I asked her not to and I don't want him to go. I tried stopping at the ballfield on the way to work so I could apologize to him and he seemed distant and cold. I wanted to ask him not to go to the party with Kari but I didn't get a chance... and I saw him looking at Kari and I heard your voice in my head about how he might not be meant for me. And I would normally vent all of this to my brother but obviously he's not around!"

I could feel a hard lump forming in my throat and I was willing myself not to cry in the bowling alley... again. 

I grabbed a bowling ball from the rack and walked up to a lane. I swung the ball back and felt the full force of its weight as I stepped forward and swung the ball forward, letting go and watching the ball sail down the polished floor and into the gutter. The physical exertion felt good though. I grabbed another ball. And a third. All of them went into the gutters.

"Wow hun. You've been working here for over a month and you're terrible at bowling," Barb laughed. "You're going to re polish those balls now, right?"

I laughed too but then the tears followed closely thereafter. "God, it's like all I ever do when I come into this place is cry! What is in the air here?!"

"You want me to fire you again?" Barb asked.

"No. No, I want to finish a shift, for once," I replied.

"Good. Well then keep yourself busy," Barb replied.

For the following six hours, I cleaned the entire bowling alley, polished all the balls, sanitized all the shoes, buffed all the lanes. I was exhausted when I walked out of the alley, but it was still light out. The party on the beach was only just getting started. A few early birds were sitting on blankets, getting a head start on their drinking and playing beach volleyball. I didn't see Nate or Kari in the crowd.

I entered by the back door of my house into the kitchen.

"Hey," Nate sauntered into the kitchen from the hallway. He was freshly showered, his hair falling in damp waves. There are women who would kill to have hair like that.

"Hey," I replied. "Did you win today?"

"Yep," he leaned against the counter. He wore a fresh pair of black shorts and a crisp white polo that fit his thick frame just right. 

"You're one sweater-tied-around-the-neck from a Harvard frat house boy," I said when I realized he had caught me looking him up and down.

Nate smirked.

So he wasn't really talkative tonight. I stood there awkwardly, not sure of what to say next.

"I think I'll just go and do some training in the shed..." I offered up my plans for the evening. I didn't really want to ask what he was doing in his fresh smelling state. I didn't really want to know the answer.

"Not going to see some fireworks at least?"

"No, I don't think so. You?"

Nate shrugged.

The room was filled with awkward silence again.

"I guess I'll just go change then," I started to walk toward the hallway, but stopped in the kitchen archway. "What do you see in her?"

"See in who?" Nate asked.

"In Kari. What is it that is appealing? Is it her perfect hair? Her long eyelashes? Her fake nails?"

"Why are you so interested in what I think of Kari?"

"It's just... nevermind."

"I know your dad said you couldn't go to the party, but you could just come out and enjoy the fireworks. You could be back by curfew."

"Look, I don't want to go to the stupid party and watch you and Kari together, ok? Is that what you want to hear? Yes, I'm jealous! I'm jealous because Kari is selfish and gorgeous, and she gets whatever she wants all the time. And why would you have any interest in me? I'm sullen and rude and I'm... ugh, I'm tired," I walked down the hall into my room to change.

After putting on a fresh pair of leggings that didn't have bowling alley wax or food on them, I walked back through the house toward the kitchen.

Nate was nowhere to be found.

I glanced back at Nicky's window as I walked across the yard to the shed. The light was off. He must've gone out.

I channeled all of the hurt and anger I had into my training session. 

An hour and a half later, I walked out of the shed into the darkness. 

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Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to vote, comment and add the story to your library!

What do you think about the interaction between Jordan, Scotty and Nate? What about the presence of Kari at the baseball field?

Do you think Nate is into Jordan or just acting like a brother? Do you think Nate is into Kari?

I'm excited to connect with you and hear your thoughts and commentary as you read through.