The sun was hanging low in the sky, sagging towards the horizon like a water balloon a child abandoned on the faucet. It cast the desert in a warm, orangey glow.
I picked up a jagged stone and chucked it at a cactus across the street. A lizard scampered out of the way. Kicking off the tile I rocked the creaky wooden chair and tilted my head back far enough to watch the clouds float lazily by.
My phone was buzzing in my pocket. My meditative state was broken and I sat up straight.
"Hey" I should have sounded more enthusiastic.
"Hey, baby" god he sounds so defeated too.
I twirled the strand of brown hair that falls in my eyes. In the sun it looked almost gold.
"How was class? Turn in that project?" I already knew he hadn't.
"Class was long, I got another extension" he waited for a response but I didn't feel like reciting the same conversation we'd had yesterday and last week. Eventually he asked, "how was practice?"
"Good. Coach was a bitch, like usual. I stepped out to kick a wall."
"Ouch!"
"Yeah..." I trailed off for awhile.
"Well it's getting late here so I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay, I love you."
My words sounded empty. "I love you too."
But his sounded worse. His were strained. It was just the trip, all this time away. We're disconnected from each other's lives, that's all.
The phone clicked softly. I took a long breath and my lunges filled with dust. My host mother stepped out from the screen door.
"Your coach just called. She found you a base. And guess what... you're going home!"
YOU ARE READING
The Danger Twins
RomanceA gripping coming of age story playing out at times like a fever dream. Following a young poet in the midst of his first heartbreak as he becomes entangled in a man with an addiction to self destruction. The unexpected twists and turns of the poets...
