Playing The Hot Corner

How Long – Army Of Me

July.
Joe had left Rochester and moved up with the big guys. He wasn’t a starter – not yet – but they wanted him along for the ride. They had arrived in Chicago for a series against the White Sox and Joe was just settling down in the hotel room, thinking, I should give Jess a call.

A knock on the door brought Joe back into the room, pulling him out of his thoughts. He answered it and there was Justin, the starting 1st baseman.

“Hey, man. We’re going to go out to get something to eat. Want to come?”

“Sure. One sec,” Joe said, reaching back into the room to grab his key and cell phone, both of which he stuffed in his pocket, forgotten.

August.
“I leave for Oregon tomorrow,” I said, mostly to myself. Charlie just happened to hear since he was the one I was using as a pillow.

“I know,” he said, sounding like he forced it out. “I can’t say I’m a big fan.” Charlie was going to St. John’s, a Minnesota school.

Since Joe had left, Charlie had moved into my life pretty quickly. Joe had been right about him liking me; Charlie asked me out not long after school ended.

I started zoning out more often, staring at the wall. I hadn’t talked to Joe in weeks. Yeah, I knew he was busy, but couldn’t he take a few seconds to answer a text or an email? It annoyed me a little. Even though I had Charlie, no one could ever replace Joe.

Bottom line: I wanted my best friend back.