The Hardest Fall

It was fun to watch her rambling. “Define mostly.”

She slumped in her seat. “Oh man. Well…I might’ve walked the other way whenever I saw you around campus after that…which wasn’t often, just a few times, but I still did it. Again, like I said, it was only because I was embarrassed. Now, you’re right here and I don’t have anywhere to run to, so I won’t be doing that this time.” She gulped down her milk and leaned forward to set it on the table between us, unknowingly giving me a brief view of the swell of her boobs. I looked away, because she was off limits. Any girl was off limits, but Zoe Clarke was even more off limits. I was sticking with my decision to be distraction-free for my last year.

It was the worst fucking timing to meet her.

“Let me save you and get back to easier questions,” I said softly. She exhaled and soundlessly mouthed her thanks. “Favorite movie?”

“I’m not gonna be vague like you, but…there really are a ton of movies I enjoy watching. Shia LaBeouf’s Eagle Eye—can’t even count how many times I’ve watched that movie. Speed—I love Keanu Reeves, both on screen and in real life. What else…Transformers, Lord of The Rings, Mean Girls, 2012, and The Holiday because Jude Law and Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet…just to name a few that come to mind.”

I parted my lips, ready to get to my next question, but she jerked her hand up, stopping me.

“Oh! Also, I basically love all animated movies.”

“A little bit of everything, huh? That’s good. I’m like that, too. Not really into romance movies all that much, but if you have an action movie on, I won’t say no.”

“Noted.”

Why did I get the feeling I wouldn’t be at the top of her movie-buddy list?

“My turn. What do your parents do?” she asked, cutting into my thoughts. “I’m thinking your dad was…a pro athlete? Maybe?”

“Hmmm,” I hummed, pinching my bottom lip between two fingers. “As far as I know, my dad never played football, at least not while he was in high school, so that rules out him being an athlete like you imagined. He is actually a plumber, and my mom is a kindergarten teacher.”

“Wow,” she said as she exhaled after a few seconds of awkward silence. “Wow, I really am an asshole, aren’t I?”

“I wouldn’t put it exactly like that.”

She laughed, and I had to grip the back of the couch tighter. “I would. So you’re not some rich kid, then? Not that being rich is bad or anything, I just assumed, you know, because…who the hell knows at this point—obviously not me.”

That soft pink started to spread over her cheeks again, and this time it was me who was laughing.

“I’m not rich, no. My family isn’t rich either, but we’re not doing that bad. Like you, I try to make extra money whenever I have time. Plus, I have an athletic scholarship, so that helps.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at her lap.

“What do your parents do?” I continued so we could get back to how we’d been a few minutes earlier before she started to hide herself from me.

“My dad is an investigative journalist. He used to write for The New York Times, but after he married my mom, they moved to Phoenix. He writes for a local newspaper now. My mom…” She cleared her throat and averted her eyes. “My mom passed away a few months before I came to college. On top of everything that came with her sickness, we had other issues as well. We weren’t the closest mother and daughter, but she was still my mom. So, crying at the drop of a hat when I was a freshman might have had something to do with that too. New city, new people, and when you add in everything else, it wasn’t a good combination for me.”

That wiped the smile off my face and I straightened up, shifting in my seat. “I’m sorry for your loss, Flash.”

After a brief glance in my direction, she gave me a small smile and nodded. “She had breast cancer. We were too late.”

“My last year in high school, we lost my grandpa,” I started after a short period of silence. “We have a pretty close-knit family, pretty loud sometimes, and in each others’ business pretty much always. He lived down the block from us so he was always in our lives, a built-in babysitter. I used to run to his house every evening so I could play catch with him while he told me stories from his old days…just random, unimportant stuff.” Looking away from Zoe, I smiled. “I swear to you I was there every day. As soon as the clock hit five, I was at my grandpa’s, and every time he opened that door his first words were, You again, kid? What’s a man gotta do to get some peace and quiet around here?” Just picturing his easy smile had me chuckling to myself. “And then he’d reach for the football before I could even open my mouth. Don’t tell anyone, but I think I was his favorite. He loved that I was around so much. The effect his presence had in my life…” I shook my head and lifted my eyes up to Zoe, who was listening, rapt, her eyes sad and understanding at the same time. “You lost your mom…I know that’s different, harder, and I know nothing I can say would make it any easier, but I understand how hard it is to cope with loss. It sounds so fucking stupid and selfish since they can’t even… I’d give anything to have him around so he could see where I’m heading, or just hang out and talk, you know.”