The Sophomore (College Years 2)

Pushing all thoughts of my shitty ways out of my mind, I change the subject.

“How’s Ava?”

“She’s good.” Eli rubs his chin, his gaze filling with longing. He misses his girl something fierce. “Meeting new people, having fun with her roommate. Checking out San Diego. Hanging out at the beach every weekend. Having the time of her life without me.”

“Bro. Get a grip. She loves you,” I tell him, hating how sad he sounds. A depressed Eli is no fun, let me tell you.

“I know. I just—it sucks that we’re living separate lives. Though you’d think I’d be used to it by now. We’ve pretty much always lived separate lives for the entirety of our relationship,” Eli says, exhaling loudly.

Ava went to a different high school than us. She’s a year younger than us too, and he was at Fresno State while she was a senior in high school. He’s right. Their lives have always been fairly separate.

“You’ll get through this.” I punch him in the arm, needing to lighten up the moment. I hate heavy shit. “Stop being such a pussy.”

He grins. “Dick.”

“Sweet talking each other as usual.”

We both turn to find Tony standing there, sweaty and with a tired smile on his face.

“You know it,” I tell him. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Feels like I’m standing on the edge of hell.” Tony takes a long drink from his water bottle. “This weather sucks ass.”

“Yeah, it does,” I say with a nod. “Can’t wait to play Saturday night’s game out here.”

“It’s at seven so it’ll be a little cooler,” Tony says, trying to be optimistic.

“Right. It’ll only be ninety instead of ninety-nine,” I say drolly, making Eli laugh.

“We should grab something to eat after this,” Tony suggests. “You guys down? I’m sure Caleb

would go too.”

“What about Diego?” I ask, glancing around. I spot him in intense conversation with one of the offensive coaches on the sidelines. “Think he’d want to come with us?”

“He mentioned having to head straight home after practice to take care of Gigi. Jocelyn has a night class,” Tony says.

“It’ll just be the four of us then,” Eli says with a nod. “Let’s do it. I want tacos.”

“You always want tacos.” I shove Eli’s shoulder and he staggers backward with a laugh.

“I want someone’s taco, but she’s not here right now,” Eli says with a leer.

Sick fucker. Though he doesn’t say that kind of shit about Ava usually. He keeps the details of their relationship pretty much to himself. Which to me is always a sign that he loves her and doesn’t want to disrespect her.

Tony is the same way. He’s quiet when it comes to his girl. Diego is as well. These guys and their steady relationships. I don’t get it. We’re young, we’re in college, we should be fucking as many women as we can before we have to grow up and be responsible.

The only one who agrees with this thought process is Caleb. That guy is insane for all women, and I love him for it. He will bang whoever he wants, whenever he wants to. I aspire to that. I did do that while on tour. It was a sing fest and a fuck fest. A bit of a drug fest too, if I’m being real.

And now, I’m doing nothing. Playing football. Going to class. Having a few beers on the weekend, smoking a little weed. We’re back to playing Call of Duty in the evening too.

Honestly? It’s kind of boring, compared to what I was doing over the summer. Singing and touring and meeting new people. Seeing new places, performing for new crowds, reveling in their adulation. That was some cool shit.

It was lonely though too. Being on the road. Traveling constantly, having no one to share it with beyond my bandmates. We grew closer. They’re cool, but they’re not my friends.

Not like these guys.

Once we’re done with practice and showered, we head over to a Mexican restaurant not too far from Tony and Caleb’s condo. We order our food at the counter and go find a table, which is a fight considering how many people are currently in this place.