Loving Kinnick (Rewritten)

Getting "Tispy" Off Of Sparkling Cider

When Chrissy saw that my dad's bedroom had enough suitcases to start asking questions, she spent the next two hours sitting on his bed watching him pack. She wanted to know where he was going. She asked how long I would be alone, and if this trip was necessary. If it wasn't for her interrogation, I wouldn't have known he planned a trip to Chicago for a training seminar.

Chrissy also realized in her two-hour interrogation that most of the suitcases were not my dad's at all but Ashely's. The same Ashely who stayed over a few nights ago after getting "tipsy" off of sparkling cider. She even wore one of his t-shirts to bed and spent the whole night laughing loudly about how bad her breath will smell and the morning, and how insecure it made her.

After all of this, Chrissy thought of a million different ways to convince me to throw a party at my house. It would never happen. She could get me to say yes to a lot of things, but a party in my mom's house wasn't going to be one of them. When I heard someone knocking at the door, I already knew who it was.

"Hello, Christina," I grumbled. "What can I do for you?"

She stared at me with a large smile on her face. "We are going to get smoothies, and go shopping!"

"What are we shopping for?"

"Outfits for tonight, of course."

"What is tonight?"

"A party?" Her lips pulled into a hopeful grin.

"You of all people should know why I don't like going to parties."

Her face fell. "I thought because you had fun last time -"

"That doesn't change anything that happened."

"I am sorry - I just want you to have fun," she stammered. "I thought that if Kinnick would be there, you would want to go again -"

When her shoulders started to slump, I felt bad. Of course, Chrissy knew I hated going to parties and the reason why. She wanted me to have fun, and I couldn't get upset at her for that. So, I sucked in a deep breath and agreed to go. To also hear Kinnick would be there was a big relief. It made saying yes that much easier.

"You are going to have so much fun!" She squealed as she dragged me to her car. "We are also going to pick up my cousin Charlie on the way. You know Charlie, right?"

My head bobbed up and down. "Yes."

When we arrive at Charlie's place, I slipped into the backseat. I felt like the third wheel most of the time, but that was okay. Most of the time I was easily forgotten because I chose to tune out during certain conversations.

As I searched the racks at the mall, I wasn't finding anything worth getting excited about. Charlie found a satin tank top with a sweetheart neckline covered in lace, promising me that I would look so good in it. Chrissy said that if I paired it off with the right cover-up it would pull the whole look together. I wasn't sure what look we were going for, but I guess it involved a leather jacket.

"You are going to look so hot!" Charlie clapped.

Just as Chrissy called us to come to help her in the dressing room, I heard a burst of familiar laughter. I turned around from the girls in front of me, and just like that, for the first time in over a year, I saw Warren.

The overbearing weakness stole control of my legs, and my body stumbled sideways. I listened to a few of the hangers hit the floor as I tried clutching them to catch myself. Then his brown eyes lifted at the sound and he saw me. I watched his face change to realization as he noticed it was me who was causing a commotion.

"Miss, are you okay?"

I ripped my arm from a woman's grasp as she asked me if I was ready to check out. "Yes, I am ready."