In Her Eyes (19 page)

“Okay Ben said he’d meet you over there.” He pointed to his right towards the athletic center.

“And why are
you
telling me this?” Casey said.

“He told me to find you.”

Casey looked over and Nikki and she just shrugged. “Okay, thanks.”

The kid jogged off and Casey and Nikki headed towards the large brick building at the south end of the bleachers. Though as they approached they didn’t see Ben.

“You ladies wouldn’t happen to be looking for me, would you?”

Casey turned around to find Ben leaning against the wall that run along the side of the concrete grandstand.

Ben pushed off the wall and took several steps towards Casey. He bent down and pressed his lips to hers, lifting the bottom of her chin gently with his right hand.

“No problem,” Nikki said. “You two make out. I’ll just stand over here and watch. It’s not awkward or anything.”

Casey pulled away from Ben and looked over at Nikki. “Sorry,” she said with a smile.

“I think Parker was looking for you,” Ben said.

Nikki pointed to herself. “Me?”

“Yo Ben!” Parker yelled running up to them. “Ben,” he said again looking around. “Casey. Nikki.” He stopped talking when he looked at Nikki.

Ben snapped his fingers. “Hello?”

“What?” Parker said.

“You just came running over here yelling my name.”

“Oh, ya. They want you to come hold up the trophy for some pictures.”

Ben sighed.

“It’s such a rough life you have,” Casey joked.

“I hate this stuff. I’ll be back in like five minutes.”

“Okay,” Casey said. “I’ll probably just hang out over here.”

“Get a drink,” Parker blurted out.

“He means, do you want to get a drink,” Ben said. “They got a table of Gatorade and pizza and stuff over there.”

Casey smiled as she watched the interaction between Parker and Nikki.

“Are you going to run away from me this time?” Nikki said.

Parker blushed. “That was totally out of my control.”

Nikki looked back at Casey. “I’m fine right here.”

“I’ll bring you back something,” Nikki said.

Casey watched as Parker and Nikki followed Ben between the crowds of people near the bus. Even in the daylight the cameras flashed brightly. Several reporters held their smartphones out like tape recorders and began asking Ben questions again.

She walked up several steps to the first row in the bleachers and sat down. She saw Coach Melvick excuse himself from several people and head away from the crowds. He must not like this stuff either, Casey thought. She was surprised when he turned to walk up the steps towards her instead of heading straight towards the double doors of the athletic center that led to his office.

Coach Melvick sat down a few feet away from her and leaned back so his shoulders were resting on the seat behind him. He let out a sigh as he looked up towards the clouds. Did he know who she was, Casey thought. Was he going to warn her that Ben didn’t need any distractions before the NCAA Championships in a few weeks?
Do I introduce myself?

“You know much about flowers?” Coach Melvick said randomly.

“Flowers?” Casey said confused.

“Me either,” he said. “But, my wife loves ‘em. She must have a hundred different types at home. I couldn’t even tell you the name of one, but she’s got them all memorized. Latin names and all.”

“That’s impressive,” Casey said, not really sure why he was telling her this.

Coach Melvick ran his hand over the gray stubble on his face. “One time she was telling me about this flower that grows somewhere in the mountains. Starts with an ‘A’ I think.”

“Andes?” Casey said.

Coach Melvick snapped his fingers. “That’s the one. Apparently there is a plant that will grow for a hundred years or more and only bloom once in a life time.”

Casey really had no clue why he was telling her this. Was he talking about Ben? Was he trying to tell her something without actually saying it? When he didn’t say anything else she said, “I’m not sure I understand.”

For the first time since he sat down he looked over at her. “I think you do Miss Taylor.”

Okay, so he does know who I am.
“Are you talking about Ben?” she asked.

Coach Melvick stood up and started walking down the same steps he came up a few minutes ago. He looked back at her one more time. “Some things only happen once in a lifetime,” he said.

Ben came jogging towards her a few minutes later. “Was that Coach?” he asked.

Casey nodded yes.

“What did he want?”

She smiled. “Just something about flowers.”

46

Sugar

May 18, 2015

Ben was tired, but he was excited when he woke up on Monday morning. It was Casey’s day off and Coach had given the team the week off, minus a team meeting this afternoon, since they had another month until the NCAA Championships.

Emma’s school started at seven forty-five which meant if he got to Casey’s around eight, they could spend the whole day just relaxing.

When he arrived the garage was shut, so he walked up to the front door. Before he could knock, though, the door swung open and Casey jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

“My hero,” she said in a terrible southern accent. Then she started giving him little pecks all over his head and face.

He walked inside with her still wrapped around him and kicked the door shut. Laughing, he said, “Who is this strange girl, and what did you do with Casey?”

She continued on in the southern accent. “You won the race for your beloved and claimed victory.”

Ben sat her on the backside of the couch and looked down at her. “What on earth has gotten into you?”

“You, Sir Runner. Now, take me, take me now.” Casey puckered up her lips playfully and Ben laughed.

Ben leaned in to give her a quick kiss, thinking she might taste or smell like alcohol, because right now that was the only explanation he could come up with. She tasted like…cookies.

He looked around the room and to his right, sitting on the kitchen counter, he found his answer. He let go of Casey and she fell backwards onto the couch.

“Hey!” she said as she hit the couch cushion.

Ben walked over to the kitchen and picked up a small tub of Cookies ’n Cream ice cream and a bag of Fudge Filled Chewy Chips Ahoy. He held up both and looked over at Casey who was half-hiding, half-peering over the top of the couch. “Please tell me you are not eating cookies and ice cream at eight o’clock in the morning.”

Casey jumped over the couch and came running at Ben, a ball of sugar filled energy. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her legs around the back of his calves, and inched her way up his body. When she reached the top she bombarded his neck with kisses. “My hero,” she said. She stopped for a moment and looked at him with the most devious, sensual grin. She leaned in closer until there was almost no space between her lips and his. Then like a cheetah springing on a gazelle, she grabbed the ice cream with her left hand and the cookies with her right, hit the ground and took cover on the couch.

“You have serious problems,” Ben said.

Casey pulled out a cookie and dipped it in the ice cream and held it up for him to see. Then she started humming and dancing the cookie around like she was taunting him.

Ben took two steps, dove across the couch, snatched the cookie from her hand and shoved it in his mouth before she could move. She looked at him wide eyed and in complete silence and then jumped on him. They wrestled and tickled each other like five-year-olds, stopping every now and then for a quick cookie break.

This went on for about thirty more minutes and then she crashed on the floor next to him. Her head lay across his chest as he played with her hair until eventually he crashed too.

47

Wingman

May 26, 2015

“I can’t believe Coach actually gave us a week off practice, only three weeks before the championship,” Ben said.

“I can’t believe you’re taking summer classes,” Parker said as he jogged next to Ben.

Ben shrugged with his hands as they continued up Fraternity Row. “It’s just two classes. Keeps me busy while Casey is working.”

“Dude, I could keep you busy!”

“I’m not judging, but I’m just not into that,” Ben joked.

“You ditch me over break, and now you ditch me for the summer.”

They were only a few minutes into their run, but the summer heat was already beating down on them. It was still a few days before June and it was already ninety-something degrees out.

Ben and Parker were jogging through their usual route, but campus was crowded again now that summer classes had

been in full swing for a couple weeks. They stayed on the road as they passed the stadium, most of the students sticking to the sidewalk.

“I didn’t ditch you. I told you, if you need a wing man, I’m here. Besides I thought you were dating some new girl, Becca or something.”

“Yeeaahhh, she turned out to be a tad on the crazy side.”

“Have you ever noticed how all the girls you date are crazy?”

Parker completely ignored him. “Dude, ten o’clock, orange shorts.”

Ben looked slightly to his left and didn’t see anything. Then he looked to the right. “Do you not know how a clock works?”

“My ten o’clock,” Parker corrected.

Ben didn’t even bother arguing with that statement. Instead he followed Parker’s field of vision to an unbelievably familiar and unbelievably attractive blonde with her left leg propped up on a brick planter, tying her shoe.

“So far out of your league it’s not even funny,” Ben said. It wasn’t just because the girl was drop dead gorgeous, because she was. It was because that was Sandy Mixon, one of the starting forwards for the girls’ soccer team.

“Let’s do ‘The Jerk’ then,” Parker said. It was a pick up routine where the wingman, Ben in this instance, acts like a jerk to a girl and the friend, Parker, swoops in to save the day.

“I told you I’m not doing that one ever again. It’s just not cool.”

“Okay, then how about ‘My Sister’s Birthday?’” Another pick up routine where they ask the girl for ideas of what to buy their little sister for her birthday. The wingman suggests something off the wall, and the friend suggests something sweet.

“How about you stop with the dumb ideas. Just go stand over there by that bike rack, and I’ll handle the rest.”

Parker looked at Ben and pointed. “Don’t mess this up. She could be the one.”

“Just go stand over there.”

“I’m just…”

“Go.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going.”

Parker walked over and leaned against the bike rack, while Ben walked up to Sandy.

“Those are some fancy running shoes for a girl who only plays soccer,” Ben said.

Sandy turned around and smiled when she saw Ben. “Hey, Ben,” she said. They’d met several times before at the training facility. She happened to sneak in late workouts like he did sometimes. “Congrats on the win, by the way.”

“Thanks,” he said.

Her eyes scanned over his shirtless body. “You got the NCAAs coming up soon, don’t you?”

“In a couple weeks, yeah.”

Another girl walked up behind Sandy who looked familiar, but Ben couldn’t place the name. “You ready?” she asked. “Oh, hey, Ben.”

Hey, girl who I totally do not know the name of.
“Hey,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m ready when you are,” Sandy said. She turned to Ben, “I’ll catch you around this summer?”

“Yes, but…can you do me a quick favor.” He looked over to where Parker was standing. “To your right there is a guy standing by the bike rack, wearing the same blue shorts I have on.”

They both looked over at Parker and back to Ben.

“What are the chances I could give him your number?”

Sandy looked at her friend and then back to Ben. “Sure,” she said. “He’s kinda cute.”

“Really?” Ben said, a little astonished.

“Well, he’s not some weirdo, is he?”

“No, no. He’s my roommate. He’s actually on the team as well.”

“Okay, then yeah.”

A couple minutes later Ben walked over to Parker and handed him a napkin with numbers on it.

Parker looked down at the napkin. “I can’t believe that actually worked. But seriously, check out this girl lying in the grass over there.”

Ben shook his head and took off jogging in the opposite direction. “Sometimes I don’t know why I even bother.”

* * *

Five miles later and Ben and Parker were passing by Lake Alice, just about a mile away from their dorms.

“Dude, why are we running like it’s regionals all over again,” Parker said out of breath.

“We took a week off, man, gotta get back at it.” Ben picked up the pace even more. “Now let’s go.” Ben cut across the road and onto an open grass field at the corner of Museum and Fraternity Row. His legs felt good, even in this summer heat, but something didn’t feel right.

His chest felt tight and it was suddenly hard to get a full breath. Sometimes runners breathed erratically when they lost focus, so he tried to calm down and concentrate on his diaphragm, but it didn’t help.

Parker passed him on the left. “Let’s go, old man,” he joked.

Ben didn’t even hear him, though. He pushed his right hand over the pain in his chest, but that didn’t stop his head from spinning. He tripped over his own feet and hit the ground.

48

Promises

June 7, 2015

Casey sat outside in the courtyard, eating lunch with Melissa. She was glad there was no lecture today as she took a bite of leftover alfredo pasta from Olive Garden that Ben had surprised her with last night. Everything had been great for the past couple weeks, since he won regionals. But with the national championships just a couple days away Ben had been more on edge than ever.

She looked up at Melissa, who was inspecting each little carrot stick before she dipped it in ranch dressing and took a bite. “Do you think anything will really change when we officially become second-years?”