Why was she being nice to me? And what was she talking about? I’ve known Sean for years and he most certainly did not have a thing for me. “Hmmm, I don’t know. I don’t think so. He’s so… bold.” That was the best I could do.
Tatum giggled, that sound flooding my ears and turning my stomach a bit. “Well, I know he likes you. He asked Reed for your phone number, but Reed said he had to ask you himself… you know, because he didn’t want to give away your personal information without telling you first.”
“Oh,” I was stunned.
“Well, now at least you have some time to think about it,” she grinned turning to leave the locker room for the bus.
I sat there for a few extra minutes trying to make sense of this new information. Sean was cute, for sure. He was popular and a lot of girls wanted to be his. He had dated a few girls this year. Why was I of any interest to him? I know I should have been excited, but deep in my mind, I knew this also meant that I was putting even more ‘friend’ definition between me and Reed.
Not able to stall any longer, I grabbed my bag and made my way out to the bus. I climbed the steps and took a seat up front near the coaches, ignoring Sean a few rows back and the wide open space next to him. I was pretty sure he had been saving that seat for me. Luckily, we were on the road quickly and he didn’t have time to get my attention. I pulled my headphones out and settled in with some music for the long bus trip ahead of us. I was suddenly wishing I had more amped music and less contemplative selections on my iPod. I listened to two Arcade Fire albums and The National and was about ready to roll my way out of the moving bus from the musical depression I’d forced upon myself when we pulled over at a rest stop about an hour away from Yuma.
I got out to stretch my legs and found my way to the women’s restroom and crossed paths with Tatum, who just grinned at me knowingly. I smiled back briefly and closed the stall door, letting my forehead rest on it for just a moment. I hurried with my business and didn’t even stay to dry my hands, opting instead to pat them on my sweatpants. I was one of the first in the bus and quickly put on my headphones to drown out everyone else, mostly Sean as he gave me a smile on his way back on the bus. He looked almost about to speak when I smiled and turned away to look out the window, revealing my headphones so he wouldn’t think I was being rude but just didn’t hear him. Tatum and Reed crawled on next, and I only watched them from the corner of my eye as they made their way to the back rows. I played a few of the peppy pop tunes on my iPod for the rest of the trip.
We set up camp under the bleachers and I walked over to the table in the center of the field to check in for my races. I was running the 400 and 800 meters and my race wouldn’t be until later in the afternoon. I had about 45 minutes to kill before I had to start warm-ups, so I unrolled the towel I brought and lay down, putting my head on my gym bag for support. I closed my eyes briefly letting the music from my headphones put me into a relaxed state.
Turning my head to the side, I saw Reed sitting with his back against a post, his knees bent up, his sweats baggy and long against his running shoes. His sweatshirt was scrunched up under his head and he was laughing, telling some story to Sean with his hands resting comfortably on his knees. His hat was on backwards and the curls of his brown hair were flipping out on the sides and back. I was letting myself take him in for a little too long when Tatum flopped down on the ground in front of him, snuggling against his chest and making her arms at ease wrapped under his thighs. Reed was her personal lounge chair and I was the awkward obsessive watching their intimate moment with my own depressing soundtrack pumping in my ears.
Sean walked in front of me and kicked my crossed feet apart to get my attention. I turned to him with a poor reaction but instantly felt guilty. It wasn’t his fault he had startled me, and my mood most certainly wasn’t thanks to him.
“Sorry, you scared me. What’s up?” I said.
“I know your race is soon, wanna warm up a little and check out the snack bar while we’re at it?” he asked, almost nervously.
“Uh, yeah. That sounds good. One second.” I wrapped my headphones around my iPod and tucked it inside my sweatshirt in my gym bag. Sean reached out his hand to help me up when I sat up and I took it, staring at it like some foreign object. We walked around the front of the bleachers and nearly halfway around the track without speaking. Sean had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was staring out to the middle of the field without much focus, nervously. I wanted to help fill the void in the air, but I really didn’t know what to say after Tatum had dropped the bombshell of information on my lap earlier. Unable to take it any longer, I blurted out some obvious strings of conversation.