I woke up early and made my way toward Nicky's room. I knocked gently on the closed door.
"Nate?"
No answer.
I knocked a little louder and still heard nothing. I knew he had an afternoon game, but I didn't expect he would have left the house so early.
Carefully and quietly, I turned the knob and peeked inside. Nate was gone.
I pushed the door open fully and looked around. The bed had been made. Nicky never made his bed. Other than that Nate had left Nicky's room fairly untouched. Nicky's dirty pile of clothes had been placed in a hamper and set to the side, beside the clothes that still had to be put away. Nate had his own neat piles of folded clothes that he kept on the other side of the room. He hadn't bothered to use any of the closet space or dressers.
I heard my dad shuffle into the kitchen. I quickly left the room, careful to close the door behind me.
I took a quick shower to save some time. If I hurried, I could swing by the ballfield on my way to the bowling alley. I didn't know if I would even be allowed to talk to Nate if he was already preparing for today's game but I wanted to thank him for talking to my dad last night.
The warm summer air had evaporated all traces of yesterday's storm. The sky was blue and clear - not a cloud to be seen. I felt grateful for the warmth of the sun on my body as I walked along.
The home team was out in the outfield, stretching and warming up before the game. I approached the edge of the left field fence and scanned the players. Nate was in the middle of the group, stretching out his hips.
As he rose up to switch stretching positions, he did a double-take, realizing it was me standing at the edge of the field. He gave me a quick nod and wave before one of his teammates called his attention back to the field.
I heard a loud recognizable giggle from the bleachers. Kari was sitting there. Her brunette hair fell in cascading waves and I could see her extended eyelashes, even from the outfield. Her outfit was cute but effortless. She waved enthusiastically at Nate in the outfield. He gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement.
I looked down at my own outfit. I had thrown on a pair of leggings and a tank top, as per usual. My frizzy hair was pulled into a messy bun and I didn't even bother with makeup.
Barb's words echoed in my mind, "If that boy was meant to be, he wouldn't give that girl a second glance."
"Leaving so soon?" Scotty startled me, as I turned to leave. He was standing within five feet of me and I didn't have a backpack to defend me this time.
He wore that stupid sideways grin on his face and he took a step closer.
"I could recognize those legs from a mile away," he said.
"I told you to leave me alone."
"Oh, come on," Scotty replied. "I'm not doing anything."
A baseball slammed against the outfield fence, causing us both to jump.
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.