The Shortstop

Chapter Two

Annie

"Hey, chickie." Daphne drops her stuff with a thump and takes the chair across from me. I was just getting into a studying groove, only to have all eyes turn my way once again.

Leaning closer, I whisper, "These people hate me. I had to kick Quint out. Don't make me kick you out, too."

"Chill, chica. I'll be quiet," she whispers, albeit loudly.

The noisy way she flips open her books and clicks her pen over and over should piss me off, but instead I can't help but laugh at her antics. Indifference is Daphne's middle name. Her motto is, "Oh well." Daphne elicits some of her own dirty looks, making me a touch happier they are now focusing their ire on her and not me. The whole library could be throwing daggers at her, and she wouldn't care in the least. In fact, as she sits here still clicking her pen, I doubt she's even aware of all the eyes glaring her way.

At first impression, Daphne's hard to like. Gorgeous to look at, arrogance emanates from every cell of her body. I wish I had an ounce of her self-confidence. When we met four years ago, I hated her...for all of five minutes. That's her turnaround time, five minutes before you go from hating her to adoring her. There in itself lies the problem.

I really wanted to hate her. She is a blond bombshell with a mega-attitude. Where I'm curvier, she's rail thin...supermodel thin. The more she eats, the thinner she gets. Her smile simply lights up a room. Her green eyes shine as if they're backlit. Her sense of humor is hilarious. Once you get to know her, you're sold.

Daphne's goal to be a sportscaster won't be hard to achieve with her looks and humor. Quint met her first in his Media and Communications elective. She later admitted to me that she thought Quint was hot and may have purposely sparked a conversation. Thankfully, she also admitted with an eye-roll that he gushed about his girlfriend two minutes into the conversation. Curiosity got the best of her, and she just had to meet me. That day, when I saw them walking toward me, the spark of jealousy that coursed through my body was foreign. I never felt jealousy over Quint, ever. Once he introduced us, and I got to know her, that jealousy spark extinguished itself very quickly.

Daphne and I became inseparable during our spring semester of freshman year. Quint was playing ball around the clock. He traveled to Sarasota almost every weekend while the Orioles were in spring training. When he played back home, I had many friends to distract me and keep me busy. Here at FSU, it was difficult being alone most of the time. I made friends, but none that I really connected with, until Daphne.

Our friendship was easy. She didn't have a steady boyfriend but never lacked a date on the weekends. When she ran out of "jerks" to date, Quint introduced her to some of his friends, Billy being one of them. They started off strictly as roommates. When we all moved in together, Billy had a girlfriend who was not thrilled with his new living arrangements. Daphne is gorgeous. I'm not sure there's a chick alive who would be okay with her boyfriend living with her platonically. Needless to say, Billy's relationship didn't last. Newly single, already attracted to Daphne, and living in the same apartment pushed Billy to make a move. They've been dating, breaking up, and dating ever since.

They bicker and fight more than anyone we know. For some reason, they also can't stay apart for more than a few days. Originally from Ohio, Daphne wants to relocate to the East Coast. She'll stay with family in Delaware until she finds a job in her field. Billy will remain in Florida. I wish these two would get their acts together already.

After an hour of shushing her, I finally decided to pack it in. "I'm done. Ready to go?"

Relief flashes over her features. "Yes!"