Wicked, Young Thing - T. Seguin

Chapter Twelve

"One last hurrah. Come on, Andi. Just one last fun thing before we go back to school," Tay begged.

"Besides shopping for school supplies?" I asked.

"Ugh, Andi! We have to spend a little money on something we'll actually enjoy!"

"Fine, fine, fine. But I get to pick," I agreed. Tay gave me a skeptical look, not sure if she'd like my idea of fun. "Take it or leave it, Tay," I shrugged.

"What are we doing?" She asked, clearly taking me up on my offer.

"How about a baseball game?" I suggested, "The Astros should be playing at home this week and it's too early to watch football."

"The Astros game it is!" Tay cheered and pulled up TicketMaster on her phone to find us some seats. "Oh! These seats are a steal! They're right down the third base line!"

"How much?"

"Who cares!"

"You just said they were a steal!" I exclaimed.

"They're cheap, for third base line Astros tickets, and we're playing Chicago; I'm buying them." And that was the end of the conversation.

The day of the game I woke up early to get ready. I slipped on a tank top and shorts and pulled Pops' Astros jersey on. I grabbed my ball cap and Nikes and walked downstairs to eat breakfast.  The drive would take about three hours and we planned to leave at ten o'clock so we could arrive early, grab lunch and then head over to the field in time for warmups before the three o'clock game. "Look, a wild baseball fan!"

"Shut up, Tay," I rolled my eyes and poured myself a bowl of Fruit Loops.

"No, but seriously, I thought you were a hockey fan."

I shot her a death glare and continued munching on my cereal. We didn't speak of that sport since him.

"Sorry, sorry. I just figured that you'd be past that. You can't just forsake a sport because of one person, that's like letting him hold power over you," Tay said.

"He still does," I muttered, frustrated, "I can't think of anyone on the team, or any other players in the league without thinking of him, and then I start feeling soft things; it's disgusting."

"You're in love," Tay said, awe clear in her voice.

"I am not," I growled.

"You are. You have been since you first met each other; I told you that you had that look about you."

"What look?"

"That look people have when they're in love. He had it, too."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. He probably hates my guts. I told him I never wanted to see him again, remember?"

"I remember, but I don't think he hates you," Tay remarked.

"Oh, yeah? If he's so in love, why didn't he call?" I snapped.

"Like you said, you told him you never wanted to see him again."

"Aren't you going to spew some 'true love doesn't let anything get in its way' crap?" I asked harshly.

"You said it, not me. Just wait, he'll turn up."

"I hope not," I muttered.

"Liar," Tay accused. I didn't deny it. As much as I was still hurting from what he'd said, I felt something that was soft and I couldn't push it down, even with all the strength I'd prayed for. I hated that he had an effect on me like this and I wished it would go away.