Mile High

Chapter 2

I woke up later than usual which annoyed me when I reached over to my phone. This time I smiled when I read my first missed text message. I opened it before seeing any of the others. It had been two weeks since I met Dallas and we were playing a question game where we had to ask each other questions back and forth to get to know each other. I fell asleep at like 1 o'clock in the morning in the middle of the game. The last question he asked was: Have you ever gotten your heart broken, if so; who, what, where, why and when? I was somewhat relieved that I fell asleep before answering that one, I didn't feel like bringing Aston into a new blossoming relationship with so much potential, not yet at least., I even fell asleep before he responded to my question: What is your most proud accomplishment? I scrolled up on my phone to read his response. He talked about how proud he was of convincing his youngest brother to stay in school when he decided to drop out for one year his freshman year of high school, thinking he could make something better of himself in that time. He said that deep down his family was all he ever had in the world and he wasn't going to be the reason any of them did any less than they were meant to. I couldn't help but say "aww" out loud. Even though it was only two months, Dallas and I had been talking all day and night, even while we are both at work. Tonight was our first date and we planned on seeing a new movie and going to eat afterwards. I could already feel butterflies in my stomach and it was only 9 in the morning. Dallas would be working all day so I texted him back saying good morning and that I would answer his question tonight at dinner. I had never been more excited for a date in a while and I found myself completely avoiding Aston by now. He had been calling my phone up to 6 times a day, never missing a beat. I wasn't ready for that conversation, though. Being with Dallas made me feel like I had never felt before, especially with Aston.

I grabbed my yellow hoodie from my top drawer and zipped it up while my eyes searched my room for my black leggings. I hated having to find things early in the morning while I had other thoughts on my mind, but I quickly opened all of my drawers until I noticed them in the back corner. "Thank God!" I quickly sighed to myself while I pulled them up and threw my hair into a high ponytail. I texted Jenny to meet me at our old high school so we could run on the track like we did every morning since freshman year. "Ma! I'm meeting Jenny at the high school, I'll be gone for a couple hours but I'll be back before 4 probably." I finished typing my sneaker and ran into Bernard on the way out of my room.

"Whoa there!" I heard him laugh as I stopped myself. "You're always in such a hurry out of here, huh? Where you headed to?" I hadn't noticed I even dropped it but he bent down to pick up my phone and hand it to me. I felt so relieved we were still on the carpet upstairs because I knew it would have cracked if I dropped it on the wood or pavement outside.

I smiled up at him, "I'm heading to the track to run with Jenny. You know my morning routine, Bern." He laughed and handed me my phone, "How is Jenny doing, anyway?" He started to walk away but did a short pause before going into the bathroom to wait for my response. I assured him she was doing better than she had been in the past years. Bernie knew Jenny around the time when her dad just started dating Samantha and he knew she wasn't so happy about it. Jenny had a stage where she was acting out with everyone and everything so she spent 89% of her nights at our house. Just like my mom and father were like a second set of parents to her, Bernie became the same for her. He nodded his head in approval and waved at me. I liked to watch my mom and Bernie sometimes, I thought they were cute but I felt guilty for not being able to truly accept him into both of our lives. I loved that he made my mother happy and he was a great friend to me, but I never wanted to go to him about issues, I never wanted to talk to him about my problems or my life. I wasn't ready to completely replace my father and I wasn't sure if I would ever be at all.

After running 3 miles with Jenny we stopped on the cold, gray bleachers to catch our breath and talk for a while. I buried my face in my hands and started to take slow deep breaths of the cold harsh air. Jenny punched my arm as soon as I picked my head up, "Ow! For what, Jennifer!?" I looked over at her thinking she would be laughing by now, but she wasn't.