Chapter 14 Bryson
Bryson
My sister doesn’t normally partake in the pizza eating.
I’m sure she picked this place for the vibe, in case we had a chance to get a few more photos or short videos while we’re here.
And she knows I love a pitcher of beer. But it’s been forty minutes without a response from Jaden other than her telling me she can’t, and Amelia has had four slices all on her own.
“Are you sure she doesn’t want to quit on me? I can’t sounds very much like I quit.” Amelia picks up the crust she just buried under a napkin after proclaiming she couldn’t eat another bite.
“Let me call her again.” I press Call on Jaden’s contact, and it goes right to voicemail for the fifth time. I follow up with my fifth text plea for her to call me.
“You know what? We can’t get any great shots now anyhow.
The sun is going to set in thirty minutes, and the lighting in here makes it look like we’re in a bathroom,” Amelia says.
She drops the half-eaten piece of crust back onto the plate and pushes it away from her body before brushing her hands free of crumbs.
She lifts her gaze to mine with a sigh.
“Let’s scrap today. Do you think you can get in touch with her for tomorrow, though? I don’t want to press if she’s quitting, but I kind of need to know.”
I rest my half-empty beer mug on the table and tap my thumbs against the sides as I stare at the amber liquid.
I figured I’d be here for a while, so I’ve been nursing my beer.
Guess that’s a good thing if I’m off to do Amelia’s bidding.
My sister doesn’t like conflict, which is partly my father’s fault.
Anytime she has expressed herself to him, it has been met with resistance, and I know that’s where a lot of her hesitation stems from.
But this is her business. She paid back the seed money Dad spotted her, sure, but that doesn’t mean she’s free of his strings.
If she really wants to break away, she needs to do the hard stuff.
And if I keep acting as the go-between for her and Jaden, it’s going to define my friendship with her.
I’m already confused about how to navigate whatever is going on between us, and I think maybe Jaden is too.
Sure, it’s all marketing and messaging for my sister’s app, but it’s also not.
“Amelia, maybe you should—”
“Please, Bry.” My sister slides her palms across the table and peers up at me with puppy eyes. She’s the older sibling, yet somehow, I always feel this need to swoop in and save the day.
I push my mug aside and rest my hands on hers, giving her a long, silent stare.
“I know I should call her myself. And I will, if she doesn’t quit. But she likes you, Bry. And if there’s a chance you can convince her to stick around, to see this through . . .”
I chuckle and pull my hands away as I lean back in my seat.
“I’m not sure she likes me,” I chuckle.
Amelia shakes her head as her lip curves up on one side.
“She likes you. Dare I say, she likes you a lot.”
The teasing wiggle of my sister’s brow makes my cheeks burn, and it also sends a strange rush of flames throughout my chest. Before the stupid grin I can feel pulling at my lips shows itself, I nod and drop my chin to my chest as I stand up from our table.
“I’ll talk to her.”
My sister leaps from her seat and rushes around the table in a blink, flinging her arms around me as she utters “Thank you, thank you, thank you” on repeat.
“All right, I’ll let you know what she says.
I really don’t think she wants to quit. Maybe she just needed a break.
” I snag my blue Cordon ballcap from the table and slip it on backward with a wink.
The move gives her the giggles, as she’s always telling me it’s one no girl can resist. If Jaden really is planning on quitting, I may need to take this hat off and put it on a few times.
I leave Amelia at the table to settle our tab and likely pick at more crust when no one is looking.
When I get to my truck, I swipe through old text messages between me and my sister.
I know Jaden’s address is in one of these.
I’m certain she’s not far from campus, since she mentioned not having a car.
It doesn’t take me long to find my father’s info dump about the check debacle.
He practically put Jaden through a background check because he was certain my sister experienced fraud.
It was annoying at the time, but now, I’m grateful for his texts.
The air is starting to grow crisp in the evenings, and there’s condensation forming on my windshield.
The air smells like rain, so I don’t waste time once I find an open spot near Jaden’s apartment complex.
I get lucky with the first building I try, and it only takes me a few minutes to find the right corridor to her apartment.
I pause at the door for a second, leaning my head forward until it rests just below the peephole.
I hold my breath as I listen, but there’s not a sound in the whole damn building.
It’s the middle of the week, and it’s dinnertime.
Most people are probably studying or eating right now.
I rap my knuckles on the door and take a big step back so I’m fully in view of the peephole.
My ears are tuned for clues, but I don’t hear any movement on the other side of her door.
After several seconds, I knock again, this time louder, and I clear my throat loud enough that I’m sure the neighbors can hear me.
“Jaden?” I call out after several more seconds pass. I’m about to knock again when I hear the fumbling of the dead bolt twisting and sliding from the other side. I step back a hair more to give her space and hold my breath. I hope it’s her and not her roommate.
Jaden cracks the door open a few inches, giving me a sliced view of what I think is a postnap face. Her eyes look puffy, and maybe a little red. I step toward her, but the door inches toward shutting, so I halt.
“Are you okay?” I tilt my head to the side, trying to peek beyond what she’s giving me. I think she’s still wearing her practice clothes.
Her eyes squeeze shut as her mouth contorts into a yawn as she finally pushes the door open enough for me to get a complete view of her.
“I’m not feeling well. How was dinner?” She rubs a fist in one eye socket.
I scan her face for more hints, but she simply looks exhausted. I don’t think she wants to quit on Amelia. I think she’s honestly ill, and her I can’t text was probably literal at the time she sent it.
“Boring. You weren’t there. Can I?” I motion toward the door, and Jaden’s eyes flicker wider for a second before she backs up a step and pulls the door open.
“Yeah, come on in. Let me just . . . I need to change.” She glances down at her body and twists her lips up as if she’s surprised to see what she’s wearing.
“Must have been a rough practice. You come home and go straight to bed?” I ask as I click the door closed behind me.
“Uh, sort of,” she says, her voice muffled through her bedroom door.
I make my way to a blue sofa covered in mismatched throw pillows that sits across from a small TV on a makeshift bookcase built from boards and cinder blocks.
I grab one of a dozen PEZ dispensers standing next to the TV before sinking into the corner seat of the couch.
It’s a Charlie Brown dispenser, and the way the round head splits in half to distribute candy amuses me.
“Oh, I wouldn’t eat that,” Jaden says, appearing from the hallway just as I’m about to place a pink candy on my tongue. “It’s a year old. Maybe more.”
I cross my eyes in my effort to peer at the treat, then shrug before popping it in my mouth.
“I don’t think PEZ has an expiration date,” I say. I crunch down on the hard candy, and while it doesn’t exactly dissolve or turn to dust, it still breaks under the pressure of my teeth. And it doesn’t taste bad.
Jaden reaches for Charlie Brown, and I hand him over. She opens his mouth and takes a candy for herself, then places Chuck back in his rightful spot.
“You’re right. Not bad,” she says, moving to the other end of the couch and flopping backward as if her bones aren’t fully solid.
She’s wearing an oversize, dark-green hoodie pulled over her head and gray sweatpants that are pushed up her calves enough to show off blue-and-gray-striped socks.
I think this might be the cutest she’s ever been, but I’m sure she’d disagree.
She’s completely comfortable. But she also looks like someone who’s been in a flu coma on the bathroom floor.
She levels me with a lazy gaze, blinking slowly the way Ashton does when he’s completely blitzed. I chuckle and pull one of the throw pillows into my chest, hugging it as I shift to my side and tilt my head.
“Should we maybe make a trip to urgent care?”
She shakes her head and blinks her gaze to her lap, where she kneads her hands together, picking at the sides of her fingernails.
“I lost my spot today. I wasn’t . . . on. No . . . that’s not it. I was bad. Really fucking bad. And I got bumped to number two.” She pops her gaze back to me, her lips twisted with a tired sort of defeat. She lifts her right shoulder, then lets it drop like a sack of potatoes.
Shit. She’s not sick. She’s devastated.
I don’t talk for a few quiet seconds, instead simply holding her stare as I rest my head on the back of the sofa and consider every pain she’s feeling right now.
“Wanna go hit something?” I quirk my lip up slightly, and she shakes with a quiet, breathy laugh.
“I couldn’t hit the ball today. I’m not sure I can be trusted to hit the broad side of a Mack truck right now.
” Her lip curves up a hint higher this time.
She’s finding her humor, which is her way of coping with feeling embarrassed.
I get it. She’s still the best athlete this school has ever seen, but she had an off day.
And she’s taking her hits now because of it.
“It fucking sucks,” I mutter, letting my inner thoughts spill out between us.
Jaden nods slowly.