Tennis Instructor (A.K.)

Chapter 11: Gore and Romance

The rain tapping against her window was something Owen hated for the first time in her life. Normally she adored a rainy day inside, glad to be left in her room with her own thoughts and some books. Grey skies normally comforted her and gave her a moment to collect herself. This time, though, it meant tennis practice was canceled.

Their pool day was now a couple days past, with Owen desperately craving her Awsten fix. She had never felt the need to be around someone so intensely, but there was something addicting about him. He seemed so interesting to her, yet impossible for figure out. Normally, she got everything she needed at first glance from an outgoing and charismatic man. It was easy to make assumptions for her, using logical thinking and useless facts she knew to break down a person. Awsten just seemed harder to crack, like there was a lot more than what she was getting.

     It took opening and closing Awsten's contact five times for her to finally press the call button. She felt silly, but she decided to do something out of character. Owen rarely invited anyone over, much less her jaw dropping tennis instructor with a girlfriend. The idea of spending her day all alone in bed was something that she couldn't stand, which shocked her. This burst of ambition for anything wasn't something Owen was going to pass up.

When she pressed the call button, she was shocked that he answered almost immediately. Her hands were shaking and she wondered if her voice could even be trusted to communicate what she wanted. If it wasn't the more embarrassing option, Owen would have hung up then and there.

"Hey, Owen," he said brightly into the phone. He couldn't help but be happy to hear from her. Awsten thought he was the only one bummed over their canceled practice. "What's up?"

"Hey, I uhm," she swallowed back the lump in her throat and pushed through the stress of her situation. "Do you want to come over? I just don't feel like being home alone and you know." She sort of trailed off at the end, feeling dumb and a bit pathetic. Calling him just to ask him to come over randomly seemed ridiculous to Owen.

"Yeah, I'd love to," he responded as if it were obvious. Owen's eyebrows shot up, surprised to hear that he wanted to be around her. "I'll leave my house in a few minutes."

They agreed on the time and hung up, Owen giggling to herself excitedly over her accomplishment. She knew hanging out didn't mean anything, but it was enough for her. The giddiness she felt over him made her feel high. It was the most sickeningly sweet crush she had ever had.

The next twenty minutes was spent rushing around her room, grabbing the clothes off her floor and tossing all the trash that had accumulated in her room. Owen was shocked she could clean her room that fast, considering it had taken her months to find the motivation to clean it. Her room was doused in a strong air freshener and her sheets were changed, even though she knew Awsten wasn't going to be anywhere near them. He would probably just want to sit in the kitchen, just to keep their boundaries clear.

The sound of him knocking had her sprinting down the stairs to get the door. She had never been so antsy for company in her life. Someone had to tell her to leave her room when her bother's visited from college.

"Hey," Awsten smiled down at her when she opened the door for him. She mumbled a timid hi and let him in, closing the door behind him. "Is your mom home?"

"No, both my parents work constantly," she explained. Awsten nodded, but couldn't help but feel bad. He knew Owen wasn't very social, so he hated the idea of her sitting home alone all the time. It made him uncomfortable for her safety, even if she lived in a gated community. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thank you," he grinned. Her hospitality was endearing to him, though he couldn't ignore the slight tremor in her voice or her flushed cheeks. The idea of her being nervous over him of all people felt like a joke to Awsten. He brushed it off as her being nervous over company, especially considering everyone they knew from the country club was overly judgmental.