Meet Me Halfway

JR

I couldn’t stop thinking about last night – how everything was perfect. Aubrey and I were sitting under the stars next to a warm fire, cuddled close to each other – the setting was just right. We were so close to kissing; my heart races every time I think about it, but as soon as my lips touch hers, Ashley’s face comes to mind. I start to feel guilty and if I feel that way maybe I do have feelings for her after all.

I laid in bed with my hands behind my head, just staring up at the ceiling. I didn’t have much motivation to get out of bed. For one it was a Monday and two I wasn’t sure how awkward it was going to be between Aubrey and me. Of course she’d just disregard it, pretending it never happened, but I’m not like that. I couldn’t just pretend, because it was all too real and a part of me wanted it to happen. I started to wonder if maybe we both had feelings for each other after all. That train of thought was interrupted by the loud ringing of my phone and from the ringtone I already knew who it was.

Without looking at the screen I answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Hey babe,” Ashley said from the other end.

“Hey Ash, what’s up?” I asked trying to sound cheerful.

“Nothing much. Just miss hearing your voice. I can’t wait to see you again.” I could tell she was smiling on the other end.

I pushed everything about Aubrey to the back of my head and smiled at Ashley’s statement. “Awe Ash, I miss you too. We’ll be back in Seattle soon though.”

“Yeah I know. Just sucks being away from you for a month. Oh did I tell you my family here is absolutely in love with you? They think you’re the best boyfriend I’ve had. And I couldn’t agree with them more.”

I smiled at the compliment, yet was taken aback by it. “Really? That’s…that’s nice. I’m glad they feel that way and you do too,” I said lying back down.

“You are?”

“I am. I love you Ashley.”

I realized what I had just said and surprised myself. Did I really say ‘I love you’? Did I really love Ashley? Either way it was too late to take it back. Maybe it was good we were apart for a month. I heard absence makes the heart grow fonder; I guess my heart finally told my brain that I really do love her.

“Wha…You what?” she asked in a shocking tone.

“I-I love you Ashley Flores.”

“Oh my gosh JR. You do? You really do?”

“Yeah I do. I know it’s taken me longer than you wanted for me to tell you, but I didn’t wanna say it when I didn’t mean it, but now I know I do.”

I heard her sniff, like she was crying. “Oh JR. You’re such a sweet guy. I’m so lucky to have you. I love you too,” she said in a low tone.

I heard someone in the background call her name. “You have to go?” I asked.

She sighed into the phone and I just knew she was frowning. “Yeah. I guess I’ll talk to you later. Have a good day.”

“You too,” I answered before we both hung up the phone.

I tossed my phone to the side, which landed on one of the pillows. I rubbed my eyes and let out a sigh. I honestly didn’t know what to think about everything: Ashley, what I was doing here, and Aubrey. After lying down and staring at the ceiling a bit longer, I decided to head downstairs and eat some breakfast. As I took the last step off the stairs, my head directed towards the dark room. I was curious. I knew Aubrey had just finished developing the pictures, so I figured there’d be no harm in taking a peak at them.

“What are you doing?” I heard from behind me.

My fingertips slid off the doorknob and I slowly turned around. I felt like I had been caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing.

“I uh…just wanted to see the pictures you took at the aquarium.” She looked out of breath with her chest rising and falling rapidly; completely drenched in sweat.

Aubrey placed her hands on her hips then wiped away a few beads on her forehead with the back of her hand. “Well, there not in there. I took them up to my room.”

“Oh,” I said almost in a whisper.

“Don’t look so sad. You can see them if you want. I won’t deprive you of the pictures,” she laughed.

I started to laugh when I saw her laugh. “So, where were you? Did you go work out or something?” I asked studying her appearance more.

She looked down at herself, checking to see what she was wearing. “Oh yeah, I went for a run on the beach.”

“You should’ve woken me up. I would’ve gone with you.”

She shrugged. “No. I mean it would’ve been nice, but it was one of those runs you just do on your own. You know? To have some time to think to yourself?”

I nodded understandably, but wondered as to what she would be thinking about. It couldn’t possibly be about our almost kiss. She did say to forget about it, that it never happened. Aubrey was definitely one hard girl to read sometimes. Just to know what she was thinking would make whatever we have so much easier to understand. But what did I care if she had feelings for me? I have a girlfriend and I realized that I love her.

“Well I’m gonna go shower,” she said as she headed for the stairs. She turned around. “Oh and I was wondering, do you think we can fix my shower sometime soon?” she asked.

“What? Don’t like sharing a bathroom with me?” I joked and gave her a playful smile.

She returned one back and laughed a little. “No, I just find it unnecessary for me to go back forth from your bathroom to my room.”

“Okay that’s fair. Um…we can look at it tomorrow if Lauren hasn’t planned an all-day thing. Sound good?” I asked.

She nodded her head in agreement. “Perfect,” she said continuing her walk up the stairs.

“Oh hey, I was gonna make an omelet. You want one?” I offered.

“Mmm…yeah. I haven’t had an omelet in forever.”

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“Wow. This,” Aubrey said pointing to her food, “is damn good. Who knew you could cook.”

I finished chewing my food before answering. “Thanks. I had to learn when Chris and I moved down here.”

“Do you miss it?” she asked.

“Miss what? Speed skating?” She nodded her head. “Of course, it’s been a huge part of my life. But I’m getting back into it. Gonna start training again soon if I wanna win gold in Sochi.”

“I’m more than confident you will. You’re an amazing speed skater.”

I gave her a thankful smile and we continued to eat in silence. Every once and a while I’d steal a glance at her and at times I’d catch her looking at me. I don’t know what it was, but something about her hazel eyes staring at me got my heart racing. I didn’t understand what was happening. Why were these feelings suddenly surfacing? Was my heart trying to tell me that I was in love with the wrong girl? No. Couldn’t be I thought chuckling to myself.

“So ugh…Ashley called me this morning,” I brought up.

“Did she? You make it sound like something bad happened? Everything okay?” she asked with actual concern in her voice.

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, everything’s good. In fact, better than good. I uh…told her I love her.”

I looked up from my plate and saw her stoic face staring back at me. There was no hint of happiness, no hint of jealously, no hint of any emotion. What’s going through your mind Aubrey?

“You did?” she finally said with a bright smile and tremendous excitement in her voice. “That’s great. I told you it’d happen.”

I leaned back in my chair and scratched the back of my head. “Yeah…I didn’t even realize I had said it.”

I looked back at her and saw a faint smile on her face. “Well, thanks for breakfast. I guess we should go read our letters,” she said getting up from the table.

After placing our dirty dishes in the dishwasher, we both headed to our rooms. I sat on the edge of my bed and reached under it for the box of letters. I pulled out the one marked June 6, 2011 and read it:

Hey hey hey JR!

I hope your first Sunday BBQ was extra fun! Too bad I couldn’t be there, I’m gonna really miss those days. Anyways, I know you’re waiting awhile to train for Sochi, but I figured you’re probably missing being out on the ice. Am I right? Though, knowing you, you probably already made a few trips to the ice rink and skated a few laps huh? I know Mondays can be a drag, so to make it less of one, why not go and speed skate at your old stomping grounds? I’m sure you old coach would love seeing you again. And you know what would be even more fun? And funnier? Taking Aubrey! It would be most hilarious to see her attempt to speed skate. I could use some laughs while I’m looking down at you guys.

Have fun, Lauren!

By the time I finished reading the letter I was all smiles. It was almost as if Lauren was a mind read and just knew exactly what we felt like doing. And let me tell you, I really wanted to go speed skate; hopefully Aubrey wanted to too. I got up and walked over to Aubrey’s room. I was about to knock, but heard her let out a small cry and sniff back tears. What was wrong with her? I knocked a couple of times before entering her room and saw her quickly wipe away fallen tears from her eyes. She sat Indian style on her bed, holding her letter in one hand, and looked away from me.

“What?” she asked in a harsh tone.

“You okay?” I asked concerned with her crying.

She nodded her head slowly. “Just fine.”

“Well um…I just wanted to know if you’ll be going to the ice skating rink with me. I’m leaving in an hour or so. Just gotta call my old coach to see if it’s okay.”

“No, I’m not going,” she said shaking her head.

“Are you sure? It’ll be fun. I can show how to speed skate,” I said trying to cheer her up.

She gave me one of her ‘death glares’ and shook her head. “I said I’m not going okay?”

I didn’t know what was up with her. I figured it had something to do with the letter, so I just let it go. “All right. I’ll see you later I guess.”

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“Thanks for coming. You’re one of the reasons I started to speed skate. You’re a great inspiration,” a girl from the short track speed skating club said.

I smiled as we took a seat at one of the benches after the coach (my old coach) Wilma Boomstra gave the team a break. “Thanks, that means a lot. You’re a great speed skater, tons of potential. Keep it up.”

After talking to other members of the club for a bit, Wilma came and sat next to me and placed her arm around my shoulders. “You haven’t lost your touch kid. Still the same short tracker I know and trained. When are you gonna start training again?” she asked.

“Thanks coach. I’m thinking about starting up again after my fall semester,” I said.

“That’s good to hear. Well, you’re welcome to stay for the rest of practice and you know you’re always welcomed to the rink,” she said patting my thigh as she got up.

I nodded my head. “Yeah, but I think I should be going.”

She smiled and made her way back to the ice. I grabbed my skate guards and began the process of taking off my skates.

“You’re leaving already?” I heard someone ask and looked to my side and saw Aubrey standing there holding a pair of skates.

I looked at her with a confused expression. “I was…”

“I’m sorry for snapping at you back at the house, I didn’t mean to,” she said apologetically.

I lowered my leg back to the floor and gripped the front of the bench. “It’s okay. I’m sure whatever Lauren wrote you was heartfelt and I know thinking about her gets emotional. Her letters can make you cry.”

“Right. The letter. She just has a way with words,” she said.

I nodded in agreement. “So did you wanna try skating?” I asked getting excited by the idea.

Her perfect smile spread across her lips. “If you’ll teach me.”

Aubrey, you drive me crazy.