Who's the One?

Chapter 13

"I'm sorry Lil, but I can't stay long. Debate has these meetings, they're not mandatory, but as captain I need to be there", says Dani.

"Same here bestie. My cousins are coming in from Chicago soon", adds Anne.

"Aw guys", I pout. "The boys are ditching me today, I need you."

"We have plenty of time", Anne laughs. "Okay girls, I've got something to tell you."

"It's big, look at how she's picking at her nail polish", I observe.

"It is", Anne squeals. "I have a date in two days!"

"Woah, what?! Who?! How?! When?!", Dani questions.

"A date. With Bryan Mendoza. Our moms are friends so he was at our Christmas party, we were on the porch bench when he asked."

"Anne! I'm so happy for you", I nudge her leg with my foot. "Finally, my crazy love life isn't the biggest thing anymore."

We laugh.

"It's still the most exciting. Tell us the latest", Anne demands.

"No, no. I'm tired of hearing myself say the same things over and over. Steve or Dylan? Dylan or Steve?", I wave her off.

"Tell us about Bryan", Danielle wiggles her brow.

Anne dives into her night with Bryan. I notice how big her smile is, it must hurt her cheeks. It makes me happy seeing her all giddy.

For the rest of our time together we talk about new music we're obsessing over, social media posts, and other mindless nonsense.

It's good to get my mind off things, but as I close the door after the girls leave, I'm alone with my thoughts once again.

It's still pretty early. Dad's in the office til 7 or 8 tonight and Mom said she might be in late. I don't want to be by myself in my room, and I definitely don't want to spend more time with "Team Steve" in Doug's room.

So, I limp back to my room. I'm trying to rid myself of the crutches. I need to get back on this foot, swim season is right around the corner.

I get to my room and plop down on my bed. "Hmph." I grab my phone. "I need more friends." I scroll through social media for a while. Then I come to a halt when I see a picture of Dylan.

Okay, look; when I take a picture, I swear it's not me. My face changes so much through a camera lens, but Dylan? Well, he's possibly the most photogenic person I have ever met. He always looks amazing.

I go to my camera roll and scroll to the few pictures I allowed myself to keep and look at when missing Dylan became too much. I would look at them every night the first few weeks he was gone, and tears would fall down my cheeks. Now, for the first time in a while, I look at them. One I caught of his profile, the sun in the background, a natural smile on his face. Another of the two of us that Anne took when we were at a beach party.

The last one always makes my breath hitch. It was the moment I knew for sure he fell for me. I had been trying to look decent for one of his parents parties and finally succeeded. When I tried to take a picture, I just couldn't get it right. What I saw was way different than what the camera saw. A movement in the camera caught my eye. When I looked at my phone screen I saw Dylan behind me. A smile of pure happiness over took my face, and I snapped the picture. This one picture creates a dull ache in my chest. While I was fussing over looking terrible in the camera, he simply looked at me as if I was the single most beautiful thing in the world.

I lock my phone, making the image go away, my emotions are getting to me. I miss Dylan, I miss us.

On impulse, I unlock my phone look at the picture for a few seconds, then dial Dylan's number.