Chapter 7 #2
Rebecca looked completely stunned. Wren watched as Rebecca extended her hand slowly, holding it in between them, waiting for Wren to shake it. “I agree… And I’ll do the same.”
Wren smiled and shook her hand. “Friends?”
Rebecca nodded in agreement. “Friends.”
The last week of their training camp went by in a blur, two-a-days, conditioning, early nights and even earlier mornings.
Wren and Rebecca tiptoed through their first week as official friends.
They went out of their way to be considerate roommates and any time one of them went out to eat with some of their teammates, they made sure to invite the other.
Wren was hesitantly, but intentionally forcing her guard down.
On their last night before flying out, Wren was laying upside down in her bed watching cartoons.
Barbara was blowing her phone up, asking Wren if she was going to confront Andy when she got back.
Wren chuckled to herself, responding to about every third text Barbara sent.
She didn’t actually know what was going to happen between her and Andy when she got back.
They had never fought for this long before.
“Did you and Andy make up?” Rebecca asked, looking over the top of her Kindle Fire. She was already tucked in reading.
Wren frowned at the question, but she shook her head and turned her phone to vibrate. “No.” She sighed heavily. “We haven’t made up. It’s Barbara, my stepsister.”
Rebecca blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. Your phone just isn’t normally…” Rebecca stopped talking and pointedly turned her attention back to whatever she was reading.
Wren smiled and let out a laugh. “No, no. Finish that thought, Becky,” Wren teased. She still mainly called her Rebecca. She wasn’t sure why, but calling her Becky felt wrong.
Rebecca rested her Kindle on her lap and rolled her eyes. “I just meant, you’re not someone who spends a lot of time on their phone. I guess I just figured if it was blowing up and since we’re going home tomorrow, you and Andy might have smoothed things over.”
Wren’s teasing face immediately sobered. “No, we haven’t made up. She still hasn’t taken that photo down or apologized. And every time we talk, she tries to make me feel bad for ‘ruining her big coming out moment.’”
“That’s kind of shit,” Rebecca said matter of factly.
Wren snorted out a laugh. “You and Barbara are of the same opinion.”
“Was Barbara in your life…” Rebecca blushed an even deeper shade of red and fidgeted with her sheets, refusing to meet Wren’s gaze. She seemingly forced herself to continue, “…all those years ago? I just remember you talking about your dad.”
Wren rolled onto her side so that she was actually facing Rebecca and not lying on her stomach, looking back over her shoulder. Her long dark hair flipped back over her shoulder as she turned. “Nah. My dad started dating her mom, Linda, that year after camp. So, no, Barbara wasn’t in my life yet.”
Rebecca nodded, clearly absorbing this information. “Do you like your stepmom?”
Wren shrugged, but reminded herself that she and Rebecca were going to be friends.
Her stepmom had never really been that dramatic.
It was pretty safe sharing territory. Wren muted the TV and sat up, getting comfy and cross-legged before really answering.
“Linda has been really good to my dad. And she never once tried to, I don't know, get territorial or weird or anything. She’s never tried to, like, be my mom, but she made it clear that she was on my side, too. Like when I go visit, she makes Barbs give me my room back.” Wren huffed out a laugh, but she continued, “she waited until I was moving out to move in, which I appreciated. She also makes really good food.” Wren grinned, thinking about it.
“It’s pretty sweet that when I go home for the holidays, my dad and I are eating something more exciting than grilled cheese sandwiches. ”
Rebecca laughed at that. “And Barbara?”
Wren grinned. “That kid is the coolest. She’s got her driver’s license now and is convinced that this summer Linda and my dad are going to let her drive the four hours to LA to come see me.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened. “Will they?”
Wren thought about it for a minute. “I mean maybe. The fastest you can go in Los Angeles is about ten miles an hour.” She laughed. “It’s just stressful when people start honking at you and there’s nowhere to go.”
“Yeah, driving in it for the invitational was nuts. I can’t believe you live there.” Rebecca’s hazel eyes were so sincere at that statement that Wren had to laugh again.
“You get used to it,” Wren said. Their conversation simmered. Anything else would push them into the territory of something deep, something real. Emotions were more serious than simple life facts.
Wren turned to lay back down and go back to watching cartoons, but Rebecca spoke again. “Your sister…” there was an awkward pause, “can I see her?”
If Rebecca hadn’t blocked Wren from all social media years ago, she could have seen her this whole time.
But Wren didn’t say that. They were friends now, and pointing stuff like that out wouldn’t help.
“Yeah, of course.” Wren unlocked her phone and clicked on an album titled “lil’ shit” and held it out to Rebecca.
“It’s all her or me with her. You won’t have to avert your eyes or anything. ”
Rebecca laughed. “It’s all good, Wren. If I wanted to see what kind of sexy photos you send from our hotel bathroom, I could just go look at your girlfriend’s Instagram.”
That knocked the wind out of Wren’s chest. She flinched but forced a smile.
Rebecca’s eyes widened immediately. “Shit. Wren, I’m sorry. I was trying to be funny. That was too far.”
“It’s okay. I know you were just teasing.”
Rebecca pushed back her covers and got out of her bed.
Her light blue cotton sleep shorts barely covered her ass, but she didn’t seem to care as she sat hesitantly on the very edge of Wren’s bed.
“She really should take that photo down. It clearly isn’t a joke to you.
” Rebecca’s voice was much softer. She reached out and tentatively rested her hand on Wren’s sweatpants just at her knee.
Wren couldn’t help but stare at Rebecca's hand on top of her dark grey sweats. Rebecca’s tan, freckled arm contrasted against the paleness of her thighs.
Her light blue sleep shorts did absolutely nothing to cover the expanse of skin.
The tension in the room quadrupled. Rebecca pulled her hand back and held up Wren’s phone.
She cleared her throat nervously, clearly aware of the tension.
“So, what am I looking at here?” She said, pointing to a photo on Wren’s screen.
Wren couldn’t help but marvel at Rebecca for a second, for the way she still seemed to know how to read her so well after all these years.
She knew when it was okay to jab and when Wren needed comfort.
Andy obviously hadn’t figured that out. Wren’s mouth went dry.
She had no business comparing the two. Rebecca was a week-long fling six years ago.
Andy had been her girlfriend for over a year.
And yet, Andy had never even done this with her.
Flipped through Wren’s photos, taking the time to learn little things and ask questions about the silliest old pictures.
“Barbara’s thirteenth birthday.” Wren laughed. “That was her first birthday after my dad and her mom started dating. That’s our first photo together. She kind of hero-worshipped me back then.
“Just back then?” Rebecca teased, nudging Wren with her shoulder.
Wren smirked. She kind of loved that Barbara looked up to her so much.
Honestly, it always made her act better.
Knowing that someone was looking up to her and copying her actions and her words had always made her all the more conscious of her decisions.
“Alright. She still kind of thinks I’m the coolest person ever. ”
“She’s lucky to have you,” Rebecca said softly, flipping through the next few photos.
“Me? What do you mean?” Wren asked. “Don’t you have like thirty-seven older brothers? You never hero-worshipped any of them?” Wren couldn’t remember much about Rebecca’s brothers other than that she had a lot of them.
Rebecca threw her head back with a laugh. “God no. They all smelled.”
“Okay, valid.” Wren laughed with her. “How many brothers do you have though, seriously? I can just remember that it’s a lot.”
“Three,” Rebecca answered, looking up at Wren from her scrolling. Her hazel eyes were particularly golden from only the light of the lamp on the bedside table that separated their queen sized beds.
“I knew it was a lot,” Wren said, not daring to let her eyes leave Rebecca’s.
Rebecca looked down at Wren’s phone and handed it back over.
“Thank you for sharing. Barbara seems precious. It’s cool to see you with her.
And I’m glad you have her, even if she’s so much younger than you.
It’s neat that she’s been texting you all week and worried about you and Andy.
” Rebecca stood and crawled back into her own bed, getting all tucked back in under the covers.
Wren pointedly stared down at her phone and didn’t watch as Rebecca got snuggled back up. “Yeah,” Wren said finally. “You’re right. I’m super lucky. And don’t tell her this, but I kind of hero-worship her, too. She’s brilliant.”
Rebecca smiled a full smile at that. “Well, then, I hope one day I get the chance to meet her.”
Wren and Andy still hadn’t gotten over their fight by the time that Wren made it back to Los Angeles.
Wren wanted to forgive her. She really did.
Off the field, Wren really wasn’t one to get in a fight.
The past two weeks had been enough of an emotional roller coaster, the last thing she wanted to do was come home just to get into it with Andy.
She stared up at the small balcony of their shared apartment.