This One's For You

Kate unlocked her door, and slowly entered the apartment. While it wasn’t a dump, it wasn’t exactly like the guys’ apartment. The living room was small, with just a couch, chair, and bookshelf. There was a small dining table with four chairs, and the kitchen was big enough to walk in, and cooking was manageable. There was a short hallway, then the bathroom and bedroom. From that, there was another bathroom attached.

The telephone on the living room end table was blinking; there was a message. She walked slowly, still feeling like if she thought too hard, this would all become a dream and disappear. She pressed the play button, but the message surprised her. She leaned against the back of the couch, her lips pressed tight.

“Hey Katie,” Xavier’s smooth voice rang out. “I don’t know where you are, but I’ve been calling all day. Just call me when you get this, there’s stuff I wanna talk to you about.”

There was nothing but silence after the message, and she just looked at the phone. Yesterday, he was too busy to call. Now, he suddenly had all the time in the world? She picked up the phone and sat on her worn couch. She had his number memorized, but she hesitated. It was past midnight where he was. Finally, though, she managed to push send, and figured if it was so urgent he called her all day, he’d be up.

The phone rang once, twice, three times before a groggy Xavier picked it up.

“Hello?” he mumbled, sounding half-asleep. Kate bit her lip and took a deep breath.

“Hey. I just got your message,” she said, pulling her knees to her chest.

“Oh, yeah. Where were you? I called like ten times,” Xavier grumbled.

“I made some friends. We all watched a movie, got some pizza. They showed me around town,” Kate said, gnawing her bottom lip raw.

“That’s great, babe.” Something about his voice seemed off, and Kate was worried. It wasn’t like Xavier to do something like this.

“What did you want to talk with me about?” she asked, finally getting the nerve. Thoughts of ‘what-if’ swirled in her head, and she tried to shake them out.

“I think you should come home,” he finally said. Her heart paused for a second, and her mind had to replay his words a few times before it made any sense to her.

“Home?” she repeated.

“Yeah, babe. I miss you. Everyone misses you. What’s the point of this, anyway?” As his questions processed, Kate realized why everything was so off with him.

“Xavier, are you drunk?” Her voice was harsh, just like she intended. So many emotions ran through her.

“No, of course not,” he started to sound angry, but she knew him too well.

“Why are you lying? Xavier, just tell me the truth,” she pleaded, running her fingers through her hair.

“It was only a couple of beers,” he swore, and she rolled her eyes, becoming more enraged as the seconds passed.

“Xavier, your only 19. You could lose your scholarship,” she hissed, trying to knock sense into him. It was easier to do when she was beside him.

“I wasn’t thinking about that,” he moaned.

“Obviously,” she snapped, standing up to pace, any way to get rid of some emotion.

“Katie, I just miss you.”

“I miss you to, Xavier. But I’m not drinking my problems away. I’ve been a mess! Do you know it’s been almost a year since the accident back there? Do you know I’ve been here all alone for three weeks, while you’ve barely called?” She could feel her voice shaking, and all of the feelings she’d been holding in were flooding out suddenly.

“Xav, I miss you, more than you probably realized. But this is my dream. I’m not just going to throw it away. Not even for you,” her voice was hardly above a whisper, and she could feel the salty tears flowing down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry Katie. I really am. I’ll be better, I promise,” he vowed, and Kate smiled a bit, bringing her hand up to swipe away some of the moisture. She felt better, knowing he was on her side.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later Xavier. Get some rest,” she said softly, sitting down on the couch.

“Bye Katie. And thanks,” he whispered, and then there was nothing but the dial tone.

Kate hung up the phone, then pulled her knees to her chest. All of the emotions she’d been holding inside for so long had been awoken, and it wasn’t easy to push them back inside. She shut her eyes tightly, taking deep breaths. She wasn’t ready to face it, not yet.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she was forced to return to reality, away from her safe haven. She looked at it, figuring out there was a new text. When she looked to see who it was from, she laughed. Kendall’s name blinked, along with the options to read or ignore. She didn’t even have to think about it as she pressed read.

Just checking you made it home okay. All of the guys say goodnight, too.

Her fingers tapped over the keyboard quickly, her mind finally settling down from everything that had happened in the past ten minutes.

Yeah, I’m okay. No scary muggers got to me. Tell them I say goodnight. And thanks for checking up on me.

By the time she set her phone down, she was exhausted from the day. She felt as if she were going in slow motion as she got up. Walking into her small bedroom, she rummaged through her drawers and pulled out a pair of pajamas. She changed quickly, and even though she was pretty sure her shirt was on inside out, she didn’t care. She slid under the covers, and replayed the day in her head, shutting her eyes lightly. For the first time in awhile, there was a smile on her face when she drifted off to sleep.