Apricity [a-PRIS-i-tee]: The warmth of the sun in winter
Briar Elizabeth Maddox
Became a social outcast over the summer and now her used-to-be friends treat her no better than the dirt under their shoes. But no matter what she's been through, she'...
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Our team's next game is away. We're driving the bus to a town I've been to before. A town I had hoped to leave behind me forever.
Sawyer and his family live in the town where our team is playing next. I threw up the second I found out.
But I told myself that it was going to be fine. I was just overreacting and getting into my own head. Sawyer didn't even live in the same town anymore. He had gone away for college out of state by the time I moved on from that town.
He wasn't going to be there and I was worried about nothing. The anxiety settled in my stomach all the same. I had nightmares about moments like this. Seeing him again in person was the darkest scenario my mind tortured me with.
It wasn't going to happen at this game. It just wasn't a possibility. He's thousands of miles away and it was the middle of his semester.
"What are you thinking about?" A voice snaps me out of my thoughts as a bump in the road knocks me against his shoulder.
I shake my head. "Just getting closer to the end of the season. Sports jitters, I guess."
Roman watches me even when I face forward again. I don't even realize I'm fiddling with the rings on my fingers until he brings his hand on top of mine.
I turn to him again as he finishes studying me. "Try again," he says. "I can tell when you're trying to brush something off."
Damn it. I swallow some more anxiety before stretching my neck and looking around us. "It's Sawyer," I whisper. I notice his jaw tense before I go on. "I'm worried."
"Worried about what?" he asks patiently. "Why now?"
"Pearce High, the team we're playing tonight... It was the school I went to when I lived with Sawyer and his family. We're going back to his town."
Roman lets out a rough breath from his nose. He seems to sit on my words for a moment. "You said he was older, right? He wouldn't be at the high school now."
I shake my head. "No, no. He's away at college, I know I'm probably worrying over nothing. I just can't help thinking..." I hesitate. "I just don't know what I would do if I saw him again."
"I know what I would do. If you see him tonight, I don't care what I'm doing. You point him out and you let me worry about it."
"Roman, you-"
"Briar," he says firmly. "I mean it. I don't care if I'm about to take the winning shot. If you see him, you get my attention and you let me deal with it."
He left me with no words. I stare at him and soak in the feeling of relief. People who truly cared were tough to come by these days and it still took me by surprise when someone actually showed it.
"Okay?" he pushes, dipping his head a little closer.
I nod slowly. "Okay," I barely manage to let out with my swirling emotions. "Okay, I will."
