The Crash

Chapter 30

Sam walks over to me, putting her hackey sack in her pocket. "Long time, no see."

Don't let her fool you. We literally just saw each other. We've been hanging out a lot, and I've been trying not to avoid her like I had been. I don't want to hurt her anymore. I can't stand to see her cry again. I felt like the worst girlfriend in the world.

"Right. Like we didn't just hang out." I laugh.

"Hackey sack time?" She asks.

"Sure." I tell her as we walk over to the square of dirty packed snow with the rest of the hackey sack players.

Sam lobs the ball to me as I bounce it off my knee and then my ankle. I'm getting better at it. I can actually keep it up in the air for longer than a second.

I kick the ball to the girl on my right who does a fancy catch on the outside of her foot. It's pretty impressive. I can't wait to be able to do tricks like that.

Why is she looking at me like that?

Sam holds her gaze on me like I'm the only one playing. She claps her hands every time I bounce the ball off my foot and cheers whenever I successfully pass it. It's extremely encouraging. I love how supportive and passionate she is.

"If you take a picture, it might last longer, Sam." The girl next to me says with a chuckle.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was staring." Sam laughs. "Tell Alex to stop being so pretty, and maybe I'll be able to pay attention better.

I blush.

"You guys are so adorable." An older woman chimes in. "I wish I could find love like that."

Oh, God. She really just said that.

Sam looks so uncomfortable. It's a strange sight because she's always so confident. It makes me feel even more awkward seeing her like this. I know the woman didn't realize we hadn't said it to each other yet, but she definitely opened up that door. I wonder if Sam is going to expect it now.

Sam excuses herself to go back to the dorm to use the restroom. She definitely didn't know what to say back to that. She never leaves the yard unless it's closing.

Just when things start to get less weird, Bri walks up to me.

"Hey Alex." She says. "I'm Bri. I figured I would actually introduce myself so you'd know who I am."

I know who you are. I was just trying to avoid you because I have a girlfriend already.

"I know." I say. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

Bri fumbles with her hands, clearly not as confident as Sam usually is.

"Did you get my note?"

Ugh. Do we really have to talk about this?

"I did. I'm sorry, I have a girlfriend already." I tell her matter-of-factly.

Bri looks at her feet, clearly embarrassed. "Oh, okay. Sorry for bothering you. I wasn't sure if you guys were talking or actually dating."