Chapter One
“Yo, Jase!” My head turns at the voice, then back at the treadmill, pressing the button to slow it down and my run turns into a jog, down to a walk and then stops. I grab my hand towel, wipe my forehead of the sweat and step down. Scott smiles as I meet him halfway and hands me a bottled water. My heart is pounding from the adrenaline flow and quick pace, but man, I feel awesome.
“Thanks, man.” I twist off the lid and down about half and then put the cap back on. I raise my chin at him. “What’s up?” He turns, and we start to walk towards the men’s locker room.
“Just wondered if you’re going to the reunion next weekend.” I look at him, dread filling me, and remove the cap again, downing the rest. “I heard Alena is gonna be there.” I ignore him and toss the empty bottle into the recycle bin as we walk by and hide my facial expression in the towel, pretending to wipe my face again. Scott is the one person who knows my true feelings for Alena. The only one. Not even my mom knows, and I used to tell her everything. Oh, I’m sure she suspects. She’s my mom after all. I round the corner and head straight for my locker, but stop when he jumps in front of me, putting a hand flat against my chest. “Hey, come on. You’re gonna go, aren’t you? I know it’s been awhile but that shouldn’t stop you. Maybe you guys can finally talk, put things out in the open. You’ve been a lovesick pup ever since she left. Don’t you think five years is long enough?”
I push him aside and walk down the aisle, twist the combination lock so hard I feel like I could snap it off. “Stop. Just stop.” The lock opens and I pull it off, opening the door so hard it hits the one next to it.
“All this anger,” he sighs as he leans against the row of lockers beside me. I shift my eyes to him and then back as I reach behind my back and tug my tank top off my head. “You can’t tell me you’re not curious about her. What she looks like now, how’s she been? You guys were inseparable for most of your lives. I know things got awkward when….”
I grab my towel and slam the door, relocking it and turn to him with a scowl on my face. “Don’t. I haven’t talked to her in a couple of years. She’s moved on. I don’t want to talk about it.”
I take off down the aisle and towards the showers. I feel him behind me, hot on my heels. Then he’s right beside me, all cheery and making me want to hit the wall with my fist. “Aw, c’mon. That’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it. You can’t tell me….” I turn quickly, fisting the material of his shirt in my hand and shove him against the wall, getting right in his face.
“I said don’t. I don’t want to talk about her. Now or ever. She made her choice. Leave it, Scott.” My breathing escalates as I look him dead in the eyes. His hands are up on either side in surrender but there’s no fear in his eyes, only sympathy. I release him quickly. His shirt still bunched up where my grip left it, and I storm off to get a much needed shower. I turn the shower knobs and close my eyes when I hear him yell out, echoing in the vastness.
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk later. Danny’s, after you get cleaned up. Be there.”
I step under the hot spray, my hand hitting the tile in front of me and lean my forehead against it, feeling the water cascade down my back. Fuck! I know he means well. He’s been through my hell, been my rock and my sounding board all my life, but I just can’t get him to understand. She left me. She stopped talking to me when I thought nothing would ever keep us apart. For my own sanity, he needs to let her go. Even though I’ll never be able to.
“Soooooo. Track scholarship to Northwest. I’m so proud of you, Jase.” I turn over onto my side. The blanket is not cushioning the hard ground much, but I don’t care as I look into her eyes. She mimics me, and I couldn’t be more comfortable lying next to her. Her long blonde hair blows in the breeze and I instinctively reach over and push some over her shoulder.
