Chapter 7 Boy Texts Girl Back
Seven
Boy Texts Girl Back
Saying I was going to do something didn’t mean I’d done it. When I arrived at the dorm Friday night, I still had Dallas’s number in my cell. I promised myself I’d get rid of it by the end of the night, but my heart needed time—alone time—to catch up and accept what my brain had decided.
In my room, Emma, Priya, and Luke—Priya’s boyfriend—were finishing up soft-serve ice cream cones and wearing their Minnesota University hockey jerseys.
It was game night. The hockey team—what was left of my dad’s former team—was at home for a two game series, and the three of them had season tickets together.
Not me, of course.
“Ade, get your school colors on.” Priya was jumping up and down. “We snagged you a ticket to the game!”
I swallowed hard. This was the main reason I couldn’t tell them who I was. They were super fans. They’d never understand. And I was afraid they’d hate me forever.
“Wow,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“The team sucks this year,” Priya said. “All because of the despicable Coach Bianchini. But the seats are sold out. So much support out there for them this year.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, ignoring the comment about my dad, “but I really can’t go.”
Silence dropped over the room. You didn’t have to be the daughter of a hockey legend to know that, whether you were born here or were a transplant, this state lived and breathed hockey. Saying no to a chance to go to a game was unheard of.
“You have to go,” Emma pleaded. “Afterward we’re going to the Station, and I need you for encouragement.”
The muscles in my neck corded. The Station was a sports bar and nightclub where the hockey team went after their games.
Recently, Emma had become obsessed with one of them.
Thankfully, it wasn’t anyone I knew, but still.
I couldn’t chance it. Being near anyone who might know my dad was a very bad idea.
I cleared my throat. “I could use a quiet night to catch up on some studying, so I’ll pass.”
“It’s Friday.” Luke tipped his head. “No one studies on Fridays.”
Well, I needed to. Especially if I wanted to make the dean’s list.
“Luke.” I squared my shoulders. “Haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks. How are you?”
Every home-game hockey weekend, Luke made the four-hour drive from his college to ours.
His presence meant I’d be vacating my room and staying with Emma for the next two nights.
Priya had said I could sleep in my own bed while he was here.
But really, I didn’t need to listen to them humping on the other side of the room. No thanks.
“I’m good,” he grumbled. “I was just saying…”
I shrugged as if it were no big deal that he’d called me out. But the thing was, I always worried that someone was on to me.
Priya sat up straight and rested her hand on Luke’s arm. “Ade, I think you should go. You need to get out and do something.”
“I’m not in the mood.” I went to my closet and hung up my jacket.
“But tonight’s a big game. They’re playing Duluth.”
I looked at Priya. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’ll call you one of those campus security escorts to walk you back here so you don’t have to go out with us afterward.”
I frowned. She wasn’t listening to me.
She leaned in and opened her eyes wide. “You’ll still have time to get some studying in later tonight.”
It was hard for me to resist Priya. She had a way of making me feel like if I didn’t do what she asked, I would disappoint her. Disappoint my friends. Disappoint the world. I took a deep breath and sighed. I supposed I could wear my winter hat and jacket the whole time so I would be unrecognizable.
“And if you end up going to the Station with us, we won’t mind.” Emma’s smile was as shiny as the jumbotron that hung from the ceiling of the arena.
“Fine, I’ll go to the game,” I said to Priya, but then glared at Emma. “But not to the Station.”
So, we went—all of us.
Between periods, I realized that Priya had been right.
I was having fun. At first, I’d scanned the stands looking for Dallas, but eventually I stopped when our team scored a big goal and the entire student section rose to their feet, pointed to the goalie on the opposing team, and chanted, “Sieve, sieve, sieve!”
I’d really missed this. I’d grown up going to these games.
But after the second period buzzer sounded and I’d finished singing my favorite school song, I remembered Dallas again.
I came close to taking out my phone and staring at his number just to make sure I hadn’t deleted it.
Instead, I gathered my willpower and stayed my hand. I didn’t want Priya or Emma to see me.
Luke and Emma left to use the bathroom, and Priya and I watched the Zamboni driver wave to the crowd before he exited the ice. I loved the Zamboni. It was satisfying to watch it going back and forth in rows, covering the ice in strips of water until there was nothing but a glossy finish.
“So have you figured out what to do with Texas’s number yet?” Priya asked.
“Delete it,” I mumbled.
“That’s probably for the best, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“I mean, he sounds like the kind of guy who would play you, and—”
“Priya,” I interrupted her, “I really don’t want to talk about him.”
“Sorry.” A flush crept across her cheeks. “I promise I won’t say another word.”
I crossed my arms over my stomach, wishing I hadn’t stopped her so abruptly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound rude about it.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
“So, how are things with Luke?” I asked.
“Fine. I guess. You know…I’ve forgotten what it was about him that attracted me to him in the first place.”
“If I took a guess, I’d say it’s his kindness and thoughtfulness.”
“Sure, but I don’t remember being so excited that I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Like you are with Texas.” She glanced at me. “Oops, I didn’t mean to bring him up again.”
“It’s okay.” I smiled. “No worries. It’ll come to you. You’ve been dating Luke so long that you just can’t remember right this moment.”
“Maybe.”
At the end of the third period, our team scored the winning goal during a power play. It was a thrilling victory. My throat felt scratchy from screaming the rouser. My cheeks hurt from smiling. Definitely worth coming for.
As we climbed the stairs out of the stands to get to the concourse, I noticed all the upbeat fans who’d stayed to the end. This meant crowds of people would be swarming the sidewalks to return to their parked cars.
I insisted I could walk safely home by myself.
My friends disagreed.
So here I stood, resting my hands on the iced-over metal ledge of an exterior window in the north entrance. As promised, Priya, Luke, and Emma were still with me, waiting for a campus security guard to come and escort me home.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Emma asked again.
She’d been working on me. The more she talked, the more I couldn’t wait to get back to the dorm. If I went with them, the risk of running into someone I might know related to my dad’s hockey scene was too high.
A small guy in a dark-blue security uniform entered the vestibule. His eyeglasses fogged up instantly. He removed them, wiped them on his jacket, and squinted. “Adriana?”
I raised my hand. “Right here.”
Priya gave me a hug. “See you later.”
“Have fun.” I flashed her a glad-I’m-not-you smile.
The three of them left in the opposite direction. I took a longer look at my knight in shining armor and had to suppress a laugh. Shiny and knightly didn’t describe him. Businesslike and speedy were better.
As we walked to the dorm, I had to double-time my pace to keep up with him and the bike he was pushing. One of those fat-tired bikes, the kind I couldn’t imagine having enough strength to pedal through the snow for more than a couple of blocks.
I should have been concentrating on keeping up, but I pulled out my phone, opened my contacts, and stared at Dallas’s phone number.
It was still there. Relieved, I turned off the screen and looked up. My escort had stopped and was waiting for me.
“Sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay.”
He started off again, but slower this time so we could walk side by side. I glanced at him and had a thought. He might be somewhat of an awkward type, but he was male. He might have perspective.
“Can I ask you a hypothetical question?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Let’s say you put your number in a girl’s phone. Why would you do that?”
“Is she my sister?” His tone had changed.
“No. Just a girl. Maybe she’s in class with you. You might have met her at a party. Why would you put your number in her phone?”
“It seems pretty obvious to me. I’d want her to text me.”
“So, you’re probably into her?”
“Probably.”
I rubbed my brow. “Do you think she should do it?”
“Do what?”
“Should she text you?”
He shrugged. “If she’s interested in me, why not?”
And there were the words I’d been in search of for days. The campus security guard had confirmed exactly what I’d been thinking. There was no harm. Nothing could possibly be wrong with having coffee with Dallas.
He dropped me off at the front door of my building.
“Thanks for the advice,” I said. “It’s greatly appreciated.”
“Sure.” A dopey grin spread across his face. “No problem.”
With renewed giddiness, I opened a new text message on my phone, inserted Dallas’s number, and began to type while I walked the darkened hall past the closed dining room.
Hey, how about that coffee?
I pressed send before I could think about it. Before I hesitated and deleted the message. My heart soared higher than all four stories of the building.
At the bottom of the stairwell, I stopped and glanced at my phone. It said my message had been read. No going back now. So I waited for his answer.
But nothing happened. One minute went by. My phone went dark. I woke it up. Two minutes. It did it again. I shut my eyes and groaned. What had I done?
I took the stairs two at a time. My heart was no longer flying, it was racing.
I fumbled with my key. I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have texted him. He might never respond. It was a moment of weakness. I’d stuck myself out there, and I couldn’t take it back.
Stupid security guard.
Inside, I swung my jacket around the back of my desk chair, changed into my pajamas, and crawled into my bed. I pulled the periodic table blanket over my head.
My heart was still pounding. I breathed in and out, trying to make it stop. I loathed myself. For being unable to stop thinking about Dallas. For wanting to have sex at all. I curled onto my side and burrowed deeper into my bedding.
A ding came from my jacket.
My heart stopped, and I almost choked.
I flung off the quilt, but it was wrapped around my legs. I moved like an inch-worm, trying to free myself. My legs went over the edge, and I landed on the ground, the quilt coming with me. I shook it off and ran. My fingers trembled as I grabbed my phone.
EMMA
No hockey players tonight
We’re on our way home
My stomach cramped, twisting into dozens of knots. I tossed my phone on my desk. I was a failure. A complete failure.