The Story of You and Me

Chapter 3

I slam my locker closed after throwing my books in there before lunch. I turn and start down the hall when I'm suddenly slammed into from behind. I start to fall forward but a strong hand grabs my elbow and stabilizes me.

    "Thank y..." I trail off as I turn and see who caught me. Cole stands there, both of us staring at each other for a moment before I angrily yank my arm out of his grip.

    "Watch where you're going next time." I mutter before turning quickly on my heel and shoving my way through the crowd and into the lunchroom. I think I hear him call my name but I don't turn around.
~*~
    After school I meet Lena in the locker room where we slip into sports bras and nike shorts. I shove my feet into my Nike's and then yank my hair into a ponytail.

"I mean he didn't even apologize, he just stared at me. Ugh, I can't believe I was ever friends with him."

    Lena shoots me a look, "You don't mean that." She says, I glare at her but don't say anything, she's right after all. "That's what I thought." She says quietly, throwing her bag in her locker. "You know, maybe you should just talk to him, clear the air between you two."

I cut her off, "You already said that today." She shrugs and then holds the door open gesturing for me to go first. I head into the hallway and then walk backwards so I can still talk to her. "I know I've already said it but it was worth repeating. I mean you've run into him twice just today. Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something."

I shake my head but inside I'm wondering if she might have a point. I sigh, "Let's forget about this for a little while, we're going to be late for workouts." She nods and we push our way into the gym, neither of us looking forward to the grueling softball workout ahead of us.

~*~

    "I hate the offseason." I groan, collapsing on the floor, welcoming the feel of the cold wood against my sweaty skin. "Agreed." Lena says, laying down beside me and trying to catch her breath.

    "Yeah, this is torture, can you just kill me now?" Carly complains from where she stands, hunched over and hands on her knees. I hoist myself to my feet and then offer my hand to Lena, she takes it and pulls herself up. "Let's go get changed, I can't leave the great and mighty Kyle waiting for too long."

    Carly and Lena laugh, they don't realize that I'm not joking. I've always been in Kyle's shadow, just a little bit. He's like the baseball god of our school, never mind that I'm really good at softball, I'll never be as good as Kyle is... ever. I will never get the same respect that he does.

    We change quickly before parting ways and heading to our cars. Kyle's already waiting for me. He shoots me a smile, barely looking up from his phone to do so. I unlock the car and we get in. "Dad's going to be late and Mom's stuck at the University so dinner's on us tonight." He informs me as I pull out of the parking lot.

    "Nothing new there." I mutter, our dad is a well renowned Cardiothoracic surgeon at the large hospital downtown. He's hardly ever around, not that our mom is either, she's a brilliant, hot shot Engineering professor at the nearby University and that keeps her pretty busy. Let's just say that my brother is not the only person whose shadow I'm in.

    When we get home I throw a frozen pizza in the oven and then take a shower, washing off the grime from workouts. When I get downstairs Kyle, Cole, and their other friend Jackson are sitting at the kitchen counter chowing down on pizza.

    I roll my eyes before grabbing the last two pieces on the counter. This move receives lots of protest from all three boys but I ignore them. "Oh, come on Dyl, don't do this to me." Kyle calls out as I leave the kitchen. I flick him off and keep walking, the sound of the ensuing laughter following me up the stairs.

~*~

    After I finish eating I collapse onto my bed, working on homework for a while. After about an hour I stand up and stretch, walking over to the window and throwing it open to alleviate some of the stuffy air.

    I lean out the open window a little bit, looking up at the stars and drinking in the cool night air. I sigh and sink down onto the window seat. I lean my head against the frame and find myself staring at the window directly across from me, Cole's window.

Our houses are so close that I can almost touch his window and I can remember many nights when we were younger spent talking to each other for hours on end from our windows. I see the curtains flutter in the slight breeze and realize that the window's open.

I stare at the fluttering curtain for a while. I seriously consider taking Lena's advice and calling out his name, the lights are on so I know he's in there, but something stops me every time I open my mouth. Suddenly I see a hand appear, gripping the curtain and yanking it open.

I don't have time to move out of the way as I ordinarily would have so instead, I go completely still as Cole's face appears. He stares at me for a long, silent moment and then reaches up and grips the sill of his window. "Good night Dylan." He says softly before sliding the window shut.