Meet Me Halfway

JR

I kept hearing an alarm go off, but knew it couldn’t be possible, because it was summer and there was no such thing as setting your alarm during the summer. As the annoying sound would not cease, I scrunched up my face, groaned, and mumbled for Aubrey to turn it off. I heard her mumble something along the lines of “it’s your phone” and felt a shifting movement on my chest.

I opened my eyes quickly and peered down to see her cuddled next to me with her head resting between my chest and ribs. The heavy rise and fall of my chest didn’t seem to faze her – she didn’t open her eyes or even care about the position we were in.

“Your heart’s beating really fast. What’s wrong?” I could feel the hotness of her breath against my skin and goosebumps formed all over my body.

“What? It-it’s not beating fast,” I protested.

She just chuckled. “Yeah okay, sure. And could you answer your phone, it’s getting pretty annoying.”

I looked towards the nightstand and saw it wasn’t an alarm going off, but my phone from an incoming call. I sighed and reached for it with the arm that wasn’t around Aubrey. I looked to see who it was and of course, it would be Ashley.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey babe!” she cheerfully replied.

“Hey, what’s up?” I responded with a yawn.

“Mmm nothing much, we’re heading for the beach in a bit. Whata ‘bout you?” she asked.

I looked down again at Aubrey, who was still sleeping on my chest and made no indication that she was going to move. I just smiled. For some reason it just felt right having her so close to me, like this.

“Um...I don’t know yet. I’m actually in L.A. right now, so might do stuff around here and maybe go to a concert tonight.” I knew Aubrey was listening, so I was hoping that plan sounded good with her.

“L.A.? Are you alone?” she asked curiously.

“Yeah, well it was all Lauren’s idea and yeah I am,” I lied.

“Okay, well, be carefully and call me later. You should’ve asked one of your friends to meet you up there. I don’t like that you’re alone.”

I chuckled. “I will.”

“All right, well I’ll let you go. Love you.”

“Uh, love ya too. Bye,” I said quickly and hung up the phone.

“Why does she call so early?” I heard Aubrey ask.

I yawned again. “She doesn’t mean to. She forgets that she’s three hours ahead of our time. Plus it isn’t even that early. It’s almost eleven,” I pointed out.

“JR?” I lowered my face to look at her and saw her staring back at me. “She’s doesn’t even know I’m here with you does she? Or that I’m staying at the beach house with you,” she asked seriously.

I shook my head quietly. It was true. Ashley had no idea I was with Aubrey or that she was staying at the beach house too. But I knew how Ashley would feel if she did know. Despite all the positives about her, there was one negative that was hard to handle, which was her jealousy. It even took her awhile to become friends with Lauren. Plus, she wasn’t too happy with the way Aubrey had greeted her the day of Lauren’s service.

“Oh,” she whispered. “Is it because she doesn’t like me? I know I was pretty rude to her when we met, but I’m really sorry about that. Next time I see her, I’ll apologize.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s not you really; she’s got some jealousy issues. It’s probably best that she doesn’t know.”

Aubrey nodded her head understandably, then finally got up and sat in bed. Her hair cascaded down her back as she ran her fingers through it to trying to remove unwanted knots. She was having trouble getting one unknotted, so I decided to help her out.

“Here let me get it for you,” I said scooting closer to her and reaching my hands for her hair.

Her hair smelt of coconut and it was such an enticing smell that I lost track of what I was doing and could hear Aubrey hiss in pain. And after a few “sorrys” I finally got the tangle out.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at me. “Thanks,” she said.

I smiled back and said, “No problem.”

She got up from the bed and began to grab things from her suitcase. “I’m gonna take a shower. Why don’t you see why Lauren brought us here?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah okay,” I smiled.

As she made her way to the bathroom, my eyes lingered longer than they should’ve as I followed her movements until she closed the door behind her. I fell back down on the bed and rubbed my eyes with my hands. What was happening? Was I really starting to fall for Aubrey?

Pushing those thoughts aside, I bent over the edge of the bed and rummaged through my bag to find Lauren’s letter. I found, opened, and began to read it:

Heya JR!

Hope traffic wasn't too awful going into L.A. I remember it always being that whenever I went, but in the end I think it was worth it. I hope you and Aubrey were able to settle a compromise on the bed and that everything is going well so far. I would think by now, she’d lighten up and that you two are getting along, because I’ll have you know she really wasn’t all that mad at you the day we all met. Anyways, I should tell you what’s going on. Well it’s all up to you two. Be tourists or just hang around the city. Do whatever you want. The day is yours.

Missing you always, LV

I was kinda hoping Lauren would leave the day up to us. L.A. was a big city and there was plenty to do while we were here. I started to reread the letter, when something Lauren mentioned caught my attention. “She really wasn’t all that mad at you the day we all met.” Then I started to think back to that day. That day we all met.

June 1, 2005

“All right boys, five mile run along the beach. No fooling around. I’ll be keeping my eye on you,” our coach, Wilma Boomstra, yelled at us from the top of the hill.

“Hey, last one to finish has to buy the group lunch, first one to finish gets a yogurt with his,” one of the guys whispered as we all lined up on the beach.

“Pssh, we all know JR’s gonna finish first, what’s the point?” another one said.

I laughed and started running backwards. “Oh come on guys, I’ll take it easy on you today,” I teased.

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt myself run into someone and hit the sand hard. I looked down and saw the most gorgeous girl lying underneath me. We kept on staring at each other and I noticed her eyes were red and puffy. It looked like she was having a bad day, so I smiled at her. However, her reaction was a little different.

She gave me a mean glare and pushed me off of her. “If this is your way of meeting girls, it’s not working for ya,” she said dusting off sand from arms and legs and then wiping underneath her eyes.

I let out a small chuckle. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. You okay?” I asked nicely.

She looked at me. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just sand.”

“Trigo! Trigo!” We both turned around and saw a dark haired girl come running towards us.

The girl I ran into rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. “Next time, watch where you’re going,” she said before pushing past me.

I looked back at her and watched her walk away and then turn back around to the girl who was calling her. She smiled as she approached me.

“Hi, I’m Lauren,” she introduced herself as she stuck out her hand for me to shake.

I shook it and introduced myself. “I’m JR.”

“I hope Aubrey wasn’t too mean to you. She’s kinda having a bad morning,” Lauren said looking past me towards her friend.

“Oh, no she wasn’t and it was my fault anyways.”

“You don’t look familiar. Did you just move here?” she asked.

I was kinda freaked out how she knew I had just moved here. “Uh, yeah, I did actually. I’m a short track speed skater training for the twenty-ten Olympics,” I said.

She looked at me surprised. “Really? That’s amazing. You do look like quite the athlete,” she complimented looking my body. “What school are you going to?”

“It’s called Lakewood I think.”

She gasped with delight. “That’s where we go! I think I found a new friend,” she said smiling.

“Yeah, I guess you did,” I responded.

“Well if you're ever out here again during the summer, you should drop by the beach house. It’s that blue one right there,” she said pointing to one of the many beach houses that aligned the hills of the beach. “You’re welcome whenever.”

I wasn’t really used to this – to some stranger inviting me to their home like I was someone they knew all their life – but for some reason the little voice inside my head said I should just go with it. And I did.

“Sounds great. I’m always out on the beach so I’ll probably take you up on that offer.” She smile and nodded. “Crap.” I had just remembered that I was in the middle of training and so far behind on the run. “I gotta go; I’m supposed to be running five miles right now.”

“I’m so sorry. Go, go,” she said shooing me towards the other runners.

I remember having to buy all the guys their lunches that day, but I most importantly remembered meeting the most best friend I’d ever have the pleasure of knowing. Oh, and Aubrey too.

“Hey JR.” I looked up to see Aubrey drying off her hair with a towel. “Shower’s all yours.”

I nodded and grabbed my stuff from my suitcase and headed for the bathroom.

========================================---| |---================================

“I cannot wait to get these develop!” Aubrey said excitedly looking through her camera.

We were out and about L.A., doing what tourists do when they come out here. We found a stars tour, where we got on one of those tour buses and rode around L.A., being pointed to some celebrity homes. We also walked down the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with all the hand and footprints in the concrete, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and saw the Hollywood sign. It was a fantastic day.

“I bet they look amazing,” I complimented.

She gave me a thankful smile. “So uh, are we going to that Minus the Bear concert or what?” she asked.

I had honestly forgotten about the concert. “Oh yeah the concert. Did you wanna go?” I asked.

She gave me one of those “are you for real” faces. “Uh yeah. No one should ever pass up the opportunity to go see them in concert.”

I laughed and had to agree. “Okay. Okay. Let me text my friend real quick and see if her tickets are still available for grabbing.”

========================================---| |---================================

Aubrey and I were waiting in the lobby for my friend Hannah to come get us for the concert. We were both beyond excited to watch one of our favorite bands perform. Everything about today was perfect and it could only get better from here on out.

“Did you, for some reason, remember the day we all met after you read Lauren’s letter today?” Aubrey asked.

I was stunned. It was like she had been in my mind the moment I finished rereading the letter. “Yeah, it’s funny, I did. I’m guessing you did too?”

She nodded slowly. “I remember getting mad at you, when it wasn’t entirely your fault. I wasn’t even looking forward when I was walking.”

“Lauren said you were having a bad morning and I could tell you were crying. Did you two have a fight or something?” I asked becoming curious about what had happened between them.

Her facial expression saddened and she licked her lips. “Lauren had just told me about her leukemia and I got so angry, because she had been diagnosed for a year and she was just telling me,” she confessed tearing up. “I think I was more upset over the fact that I didn’t know if I was going to have my best friend with me the next day or the next year. I got scared.”

I walked up to her and lifted her chin. “Hey, anyone would’ve reacted the way you did, but look at how many years she made it through. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think Lauren would’ve made it that long,” I said trying to cheer her up.

“And you too. We were both important people in her life.” I nodded in agreement.

My phone started to ring and I took it out to see Hannah was here already. “She’s here.” And we both got up and headed outside.

“Hey JR!” Hannah said as she lowered down her windows.

I waved back at her. “Are you two ready for a rockin’ night? I’m so glad you texted me about coming.”

“Well thanks for the invite yesterday,” I said getting into the front seat.

“Yeah thanks,” I heard Aubrey say from the back.

“Oh no problem. All right, everybody buckled up? Let’s go!”

And we were off.