Holding On (38 page)

“Yep.
Safe and sound. Miss me
already?”

“Not
really.”
You
could
hear
the
laughter
in
her
voice
as
she
tried
to hide it. “I was just bored and figured I would give you a
call.”

“Oh
yeah?
Who
did
you
call
before
I
came
along?”
She
knew
I
was
teasing
her,
but I forget this might still be a sore
subject.

“No one
important.”

Yep,
still a
sore
subject
.

“Anyway, when do you get back?” She asked sounding sad. I
had to
laugh.
“I
just
got
here,
and
you
want
me
to
come
back
already?
I
have three weeks with my dad, but he wants to stretch it to four or five
and drive
us
back
instead.
‘Family
road
trip’
is
what
he
was
thinking.
We
have
to
talk
to
my
mom,
but
I’m
pretty
sure
she’s
going
to
want
us
to just fly
home.”

“Wow.
Your
dad sounds like a lot of
fun.”

“He
can
be
when
he’s
not
working.
He
was
pretty
lacking
in
the ‘fun’ department when my parents were still married,  according
to my mom.” I stretched above my head and saw that my suitcases
were
stacked
by
the
door.
I
felt
like
I
needed
a
shower,
but
I
really
just
wanted to
change
and
go
to
bed.
My
alarm
clock,
still
in
the
same
place
I
left
it, showed
it
was
only
7:26.
I
had
only
been
asleep
for
about
thirty
minutes at
best.
That
was
probably
a
good
thing,
considering
the
time
difference.

I
smiled
a
little
that
some
things
hadn’t
changed
before
I
let
Natalie
go
and
told
her
that
I
would
give
her
a
call
in
a
few
days.
I
opened both my suitcases and quickly tried to shove clothes in my drawers
and closet so that I could grab a
shower. With
the clothes that I already
had here taking up so my space, I was having a hard time finding room
for everything when my phone rang again. It was under a pile
somewhere,
so I decided to ignore it until I could find it. It started to ring again as
I got
to
the
bottom
of
the
last
pile.
I
lifted
up
the
last
of
my
clothes
and grabbed my phone before it could send whoever to
voicemail.

“Hello,”
I
answered,
almost
unable
to
get
the
word
out.
I
was
pretty much
out
of
breath
at
this
point
from
all
the
shoving
and
tossing
of clothes over the last twenty minutes or so
minutes.

“Hey,
gorgeous. Everything all right?” Ethan asked
sounding excited to hear my voice.

I
could
feel
my
heart
swell
and
ache
at
the
same
time.
I
missed
him already, and we had at least another twenty days or so before we
could see
each
other.
I
closed
my
eyes,
and
I
could
see
his
face
clearly.
He
was
smiling at me, and those eyes were
saying…

“Becca? Are you
there?”

“Yeah,
sorry.
I was just excited to hear your voice and I kind of— well
anyway.
What are you doing right
now?”

“Just sitting here, wishing you were with me. The couch feels
so
empty
without
you
here.
Are
you
sure
that
you
can’t
come
home
any sooner?”

“Yep.
I
promised
my
dad
three
weeks.”
I
was
going
to
leave
out the part about my
dad’s
brilliant new plan of taking a road trip. At
least I
would
leave
it
out
for
now.
“It’s
not
like
you
are
going
to
be
home
anyway.
You
have three colleges to visit, and that will at least get
you out of the
city.”

“I guess. I leave tomorrow morning to visit the first camp.
I promised all three coaches that I would have an answer for them by
the end of
June.”

“So where is this first camp
again?”

He still had not told me anything about which colleges
he’s
going to visit, where he was leaning toward going, how far away they are,
or anything. It was getting a little tense between us every time I brought
it up.
We
had already committed to trying the long-distance
relationship, so
I
didn’t
understand
why
he
wouldn’t
at
least
tell
me
what
his
options were.

“You
know I can’t give you that information.
It’s
classified
.”
He
was teasing, but I really just wished he would tell
me.

“I
need
you
to
give
me
something.
I
feel
like
I’m
dying
here.
I
could help you make your
decision…”

“That’s
exactly
why
I
can’t
tell
you.
I
want
to
make
sure
I
make
this decision for the right
reasons.”

I could hear the strain in his voice.
Was
he going to give in and
tell me
something?

He let out a long breath before he continued, “Look, I have
always thought
that
I
wanted
to
plan
tennis
for
one
particular
college
team,
one particular coach. They are one of my three options. I want to make
sure
that I am not turning down a better opportunity for myself just
because of something that I always
thought
I
wanted.”

“Okay,
I
get
it,
but
how
do
you
think
that
I
will
hinder
this
decision? I
should
be
able
to
help
you
make
the
decision
because
I
am
a
nonbiased
party.”

“Yes,
but the three places are three completely different
distances
away,
so
you
will
be
biased.
I
can
drive
to
all
three
if
that
makes
you feel
better.”

“A
little,”
I
moaned.
That
was
a
lie.
I
would
feel
a
lot
better
knowing that he would only be driving distance away no matter where he
chose to
go.

“All right. So what are your plans for the rest of the
day?”

A
glance
at
the
clock
told
me
that
my
day
was
almost
over.
“It’s
getting
late
here,
so
a
shower
and
some
sleep
sound
like
the
best-laid plans to
me.”

“I have to pack still. I’m staying two nights at the first camp,
and I’m
going
to
work
out
with
a
few
of
the
players
so
they
can
test
my skills. I should probably start since I’m leaving
early.”

“All right.
Well,
I’m glad you called. I miss you
already.”

“I miss you too, gorgeous. These next few weeks will fly right
by,
I
promise.”

I
made
a
kissing
sound
and
hung
up.
I
grabbed
a
pair
of
running shorts
and
a
tank
before
heading
to
the
bathroom.
A
nice
hot
shower
was
what
I
really
needed
and
then
some
uninterrupted
sleep
for
the
next eight to ten hours. That sounded
perfect.