He had a way with words that made her knees weak, her palms sweat, and her heart beat just a little bit faster. He seemed to know all the right things to say, maybe because he had done it all before. Although as cheesy as it sounds, he swept her off her feet. No one had ever given her that kind of attention or feeling of being wanted to this degree. It was intoxicating- real even, but only for a moment.
"Come on" he said "I'm not leaving you in the cold, your mom won't mind if I give you a ride this one time. I promise I'll drive carefully"
"Fine. Just this once." She uttered nervously, continuing to check her phone for a message or call from her mom. Nothing. Not a single text! Her heart raced and mind was consumed with a billion thoughts. "What will this cost me? Crap, focus Mary."
She suddenly gasped, catching him off guard, "What's wrong?" he said.
"Nothing, sorry! Thank you for offering to give me a ride. It was really sweet." Although she couldn't help but think of all girls who'd rode shotgun with him before today.
"Anything for you" he smirked.
She felt her cheeks begin to burn. She was sure her face was the color of his Patagonia shorts by now. She quickly changed the subject, trying everything to focus on something other than his flirty remarks. She struck up random conversation about his jeep, wondering what it was like to drive a stick.
"I'll teach you if you want?" he questioned.
"Uh that's okay" she said. She felt terrible she hadn't meant to sound so rude. "WAIT Stop!" she yelled "this is me". He stopped the car and let her out. "Thanks again" she said and ran into her house before he could get another word in.
She ran through the kitchen, trying to avoid her mother, knowing her flushed cheeks wouldn't be able to fool anyone. She had almost made it to safety until her brother Joseph rounded the corner.
"Heard you got a ride home with Baylor?" he smirked.
"I knew that was a bad idea", she thought. However she had to play it off as if it was nothing. She calmly replied, "Yeah, there was like no one left at the basketball game, so he gave me a ride since Mom was late".
"Oh okay... just making sure you weren't on a date" he chuckled.
Without thinking, she snapped, "well what would be so wrong with that?"
"What's not wrong with him? You hear all the talk about him playing like three girls from different towns. Trust me boys like that never change, even for someone like you."
That night going to sleep, her mind was still spinning and over analyzing every detail about that night. As she fell asleep, thoughts of Baylor mixed with her dreams and became a big jumble of emotions inside her head.
The next morning she awoke to his text message. The words on the screen lit up her dark room, she'd never been more anxious about a text message. Scrambling she opened the message, "hey! I'm headed to San Antonio. Wanna keep me company? J" The offer seemed so tempting. I mean he was a junior and really cute but she thought of what Joseph had said the night before, and closed her phone without replying. She went through her regular Saturday routine, trying to keep the idea of him off her mind. Avoiding every opportunity to check her phone. She knew he had to be trouble. Plus why would a boy like that be interested in someone like her!? She was nothing like any of the other girls. She was complicated, complex, a perfect mystery. She had never gone on a date, never had a boyfriend, and never claimed to love someone. She was no typical teenage girl. She was shy but confident. She was quiet yet could speak to an entire room. She was a mystery, wishing to be solved.
But from that night on, they were inseparable. They had a connection like no other. You could say they fell in love. They spent months in each other's company, finishing each other's sentences, growing, learning how to love. There wasn't a topic they did not cover, they could talk about anything. Whether it was current issue of abortion or even just the latest Yankees game it didn't matter to them. They had a strange connection, it wasn't perfect in any way. They always always fought but at the end of the day they were crazy about each other. They were both stubborn as hell and so emotional, whenever it looked like they were at the end of the rope something kept them holding on. Something bigger.
He would talk about forever like it was tomorrow. He constantly told her of his thoughts and dreams. He said he wanted to marry her, that she was THE ONE. He seemed to make all these plans, he would be drafted and she would follow him wherever he was and they would be together forever. He captured her mind, if she wasn't playing volleyball her mind was tortured with the thought of him. How to keep him near when he graduated. It felt like a forever in few short months. Not even a year before it was gone. It was the type of relationship you wanted to last but every time things were good they would come crashing down with a single blow. It was never stable but still felt strong.
But one final blow knocked them down for good. It was May 2, 2008, the day of the MLB draft. Baylor was predicted to go straight from high school into the first or second pick of any major league baseball team. But when the night ended that had not been the case, he had been selected in the fourth round and the signing bonus was not enough to skip college. His heart sunk but he had previously been committed to OSU so he still had a bright future. He would just have to enter the MLB later than he expected. Mary's heart hurt for him she knew he had really wanted it but now she could just join him in college in year. She had been accepted into Oxfords medical program but she knew she couldn't lose him. She decided she would just join him at OSU in a year.
"No" he said I can't let you come. Mary it's not what is best for you. I'm not what's best for you anymore. You have a future academically that I never could have dreamed of. You have the world at your fingertips, I am not taking that away from you."
"YOU DON"T GET TO DECIDE THAT" she choked, "it's not your job to decide what's best for me. How could you possibly know what I'm supposed to do?"
"I'm so sorry Mary. I will not let you, if this was the last time you saw me, what would you want to say?" he uttered. He could barely breathe but as he walked away he whispered, 'I love you', his last three words just hung in the air without any reply.
That was that. It was over, he moved to Oklahoma and she went to Oxford. What felt like forever was over in one decision, there was no changing his mind. He was set on his word and his desire to do what was best for someone else for the very first time. She had given him that, she had changed him in ways she could not see. She loved him unconditionally and he finally learned to love, the real kind of love. Not the love other 17 year olds claimed to feel. The love that captured your heart to a degree where his number one thought was no longer himself.
She tried his phone maybe a million times, called, texted, wrote. It had been a year and still nothing. That's what stung the most, knowing she felt something so real she never doubted her emotions. But realizing he never meant the things he said and if he did he would have replied in some way. So she gave up! She didn't call she stopped checking the mail for his name. She began to forget that perfect summer.
Six years later...
"I bet he wouldn't even recognize me" Mary thought. Six years since she had seen his dark mysterious face. Deep within she was still hurting, but her face didn't give anything away. She walked down the stairs from her seat in Bluebell Park, the roar of the crowd was overwhelming the SF Giants had just won the World Series, her heart was pounding and her mind filled with a thousand emotions. However all she could hear was the small child pulling on her shirt. He had that same dark complexion and a smile that could make your knees weak. "Momma" echoed his quiet voice; "number five looks just like that picture of that guy in your wallet" She turned to see Baylor smiling at her as if nothing had changed.
"Where you been...?" he smiled.
