𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 ✰ 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 ✔

e i g h t ✺ love is patient

e i g h t ✺ love is patient

Chris dropped me off about 30 minutes after our "bonding" moment.
I unbuckle my seatbelt, and looked at him.

"Thanks for the ride, I should really-"

"Wait." Chris said. "I took your car. Mine's at Danny's still."

"Oh shit." I mutter. "I-"

"If you could drop me off at my place-"

"No." I stood firmly. "You can stay here for one night."

"Really?" Chris' eyes lit up. "You mean it?"

"Yes." I nod at him. "On one exception."

"Anything." Chris raised up his hands.

"You can't sleep with me in my bed. If so, Richie will kill you. I mean, he'll probably make you sleep on the couch."

"Fine with me." Chris closes the door. "I've slept on so many couches that it doesn't really affect me."

<><><>

"Tell me about yourself, Rease." Chris asked as soon as we get in.

"Well..." I thought about it, "let's see. My name is Rease Bailey Shaffer, I'm twenty, almost twenty-one years old, my favorite color is orange, and..." As much as I wanted to tell Chris about my story writing, I felt odd telling him.
"and I transferred from a community college in Durham, North Carolina to South Florida in Tampa."

"From what it sounds like," Chris looked at me, "you decided to start small for two years, and then go big. What's your major?"

"Creative writing with journalism as a minor. However, I got a scholarship for volleyball."

"How..." Chris was trying to process all of my accomplishments. "Whoa. That blows my mind."

"You don't wanna play beach volleyball with me." I pull my hair into a sloppy bun. "Just saying."

"I'd bet you 99.9% that you couldn't hit one of my fastballs." Chris smirked. "They can go up to 95 miles per hour."

"It astonishes me how you can pitch a ball faster than the speed limit." I lick my lips. "I could only probably pitch at one mile per hour."

"I'm also part of the mile-high club." Chris said.

"As in, airplane mile-high club, or is there some special name for pitchers who exceed this many miles per hour?"

"Airplane." Chris was now helping himself to a glass of water. "Have you ever seen my Snapchat stories?"

"Dude." I look at him. "Do you expect me to know your Snapchat? I've only known you for two weeks, you know."
"Okay, well, give me your phone."

I pull it out and look at it. "You're ridiculous."

"And you're out of your mind. Now bring it over."

"Just put mine in, Chris." I sigh.

Chris takes out his iPhone.

"My username is modernreasie."

"Just like-" Chris immediately stopped himself.

"Just like what?" Now I was really starting to worry.

"Oh. Well, you're very modern. Reasie must be a nickname. Yeah, that's what I meant."

"Okay then." I nodded.

"Richie has posted a photo or two of you on Twitter though." Chris took a sip of water. "I mean, when you moved here. I thought you were his girlfriend."

"Very funny." I laugh, and check my phone.

Snapchat: chrisarch22 has added you!

The door then opens, revealing Richie.

"Hey guys!" Richie waved. "Arch, what are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Chris looked at me. "Rease was at Danny's, and something happened."

"What was this something?" Richie cocked an eyebrow.

"He..." I take a breath, "he..."

"Okay, relax." Richie had probably noticed my hard breathing, and came to comfort me. "Chris, you tell me. If you did this something, I will snap your fucking neck in half. No regrets."

"First off, it was Danny. Second off, he attempted to have sex with your sister. I fought him off, she went in a rush, passed out, and I brought her home. That's the reason I'm here."

"And that's what you missed on Glee." I whisper.

"You passed out?" Richie looked at me. "Rease, this is serious."

"Richie, it's my anxiety, and you know it!"

"All right. It's happened twice in the last year though. If it happens again, your ass is getting thrown in the ER."

"Shaff, don't you think you're taking this too far?" Chris gave him a look. "I had a friend who went through the same thing. Passing out, it's caused by an accelerated heart rate. And with a threatening situation like today, her heart rate immediately sped up."

"But, isn't that dangerous?" Richie asked Chris.

"Yes, but you make it seem like she has a bigger medical problem...unless?"

"Rease doesn't have any existing medical problems." Richie said. "She's had generalized anxiety disorder since she was fourteen."

"Okay." Chris nodded.

"It's on and off." I look down, where I see a bag of Chinese food on the ground.

"Finally." Richie picked up the bag. "It's about damn time you noticed. I'm starving!"

<><><>

"So, how was golf?" I asked. "You did text me about the hole-in one, but that's about it."

"You played golf?" Chris took a bite of his sweet and sour chicken. "Without me?"

"Sorry." Richie sheepishly grinned. "Yeah. Anyways, I saw someone today."

"You what?" I took all the effort in me to swallow my food correctly.

"Do you remember Danielle?"

Danielle. I knew exactly who she was. She had been a friend of Richie's since they were fourteen, and she did not like me whatsoever.

"That bitch? Oh yes." I roll my eyes. "Of course I do. She taunted me for five years."

"God, Rease, get over yourself. That was ten or so years ago. She's changed a lot. She's kind, sweet, and thoughtful."

"That's what you said when you first invited her to our house so many years ago." I retort.

Richie sighed. "We...we talked about you. Danielle, she told me that she never meant to act in such manner to you. She was an only child, and she didn't know how to act around younger ones."

"It doesn't matter. She gave me death threats! Rude notes! She gave me one that said something along the lines of You're in the way of something special. That something special being you! And-"

"Shut up." Richie hissed. "Again. She wasn't in a good place. She was depressed. Her parents fought all the damn time. Another thing about being an only child? Being argued over. What if Mom and Dad did that with you?"

Chris, who seemed overly bored with the subject at hand, finally spoke.

"Hey, can we talk about something else?"

"Sure." Richie shook his head. "Actually, one more thing: we're going to lunch with Danielle tomorrow."

I choke on my eggroll. Great.