Holding On (32 page)

When
my
phone
rang
Sunday
afternoon,
I
was
surprised
to
see
that Ethan was calling me instead of texting first. He never wanted
to interrupt me and pretty much insisted that he would text me and that
I could
call
him
when
I
had
time.
That
was
not
the
case
today
apparently. I
had
just
finished
Skyping
with
my
dad,
and
I
was
almost
finished
with my homework
anyway,
so I snatched my phone and picked up his
call.

“Hello,
handsome.”

“Well,
hello to you too, gorgeous. What are you doing on this
fine Sunday
afternoon?”

He
started
calling
me
gorgeous
a
few
weeks
after
we
started
dating, and I couldn’t really understand it. I was average height, only five
feet five
inches,
and
average
build.
My
hair
was
great,
one
of
my
favorite features, along with my bluish-hazel eyes and long eyelashes. I didn’t understand
what
he
thought
was
so
beautiful
about
me,
but
it
didn’t matter,
and
I
never
asked.
Instead,
I
would
go
silent,
just
like
right
now,
and blush uncontrollably. I think that was part of why he kept doing
it.

I
cleared
my
throat
and
whispered
out
my
answer,
“Nothing”. “I
see
that
you
are
blushing
again.
Do
you
have
any
idea
how adorable that is? I love that I can make you blush like
that.”

“Well,
I
don’t
mind
it
when
no
one
else
can
see
it,
but
it’s
a
little embarrassing when people turn to stare at me in the halls.”
Wait,
did
he just say that he could see my blush? “Where are
you?”

“So did you want to get together this afternoon?
We
can either
go volley
if
you
want,
or
maybe
go
to
lunch,
grab
a
coffee?
We
can
do whatever you want to
do.”

“Sure,” I said hesitantly. “Let me just get
changed.”

“You
look fine in what you’re wearing. Why are you so
nervous?
You
keep
playing
with
your
ring.”
he
asked.
Trying
to
keep
his
laughter to a
minimum.

Okay,
this is
creepy.
How in the hell can he see
me?

“You
left your webcam
on.”

Crap!
I
had
said
that
out
loud.
“Okay,
mister,”
I
said,
turning
to
my laptop and turning off my screensaver. There he was—shirtless and
all mine.
I
turned
up
the
volume
on
my
laptop,
ended
the
call
on
my
phone, and tossed it on my
bed.

I
was
completely
distracted
by
his
body.
I
could
barely
see
his piercing
at
the
bottom
of
the
screen,
but
I
did
get
a
pretty
good
shot
of
his
tattoo.
The
first
time
he
took
his
shirt
off
in
front
of
me
after we started dating, I jumped at the opportunity to touch it. The
intricate design
was
beautiful,
six
infinity
symbols
all
linked
together.
It
wrapped around
his
upper
arm
completely.
He
said
it
had
a
meaning
but
had never
told
me
what
it
was.
That
first
night,
I
traced
every
inch
of
it
with my fingertips for a long time before he stopped me. Looking up at
him, I could see the lust in his
eyes.

“This little stunt pretty much makes you a peeping tom. What if
I had been
changing?”

“Then I definitely wouldn’t have told you I was watching.” I
could hear
his
voice
had
just
a
little
bit
of
naughty
behind
it,
but
his
face remained deadly
serious.

“Perv!
I
need
to
change,
so
I
am
going
to
turn
my
webcam
off
now.
How long before you’re
here?”

“Give
me
fifteen
minutes,
and
then
I’ll
be
on
my
way.
I
need
to
grab a
shower
first.”
His
bathroom
was
in
his
room.
I
could
see
it
over
his
shoulder.
I wondered if he was going to keep his webcam on.
Naughty!

“Okay.
I’ll see you in a bit then.
Later.”

I signed off and let out a big sigh. Things were going so great
right now
that
I
didn’t
want
them
to
change,
and
in
just
a
few
short
weeks,
everything
was
going
to
be
different.
He
was
graduating,
and
I
was
leaving for three weeks to visit my dad. Then when I get back, we
will
only
have
two
months
before
he
had
to
leave
for
college.
Where
was
he going again? Had he told me? I should ask him
today.

I needed to stop worrying about the things I could not change
and get
a
grip
on
the
present.
I
got
up,
changing
into
a
cute
pair
of
Capri pants
and
a
tank.
I
found
my
favorite
wedge
sandals
and
pulled
my hair back in a messy ponytail. After a few swipes of mascara and
some
blush, I gazed at myself in the mirror and realized that I had
achieved the
perfect
look.
I
looked
relaxed.
It
didn’t
look
like
I
was
trying
too hard to impress him, even though I always wanted
to.

An
hour
later,
we
were
pulling
into
our
favorite
coffee
shop,
the Bean. I waited for him to open my door for me, always the
gentleman, and climbed out. As we headed inside hand in hand, I heard my
phone ringing
in
my
purse.
I
paused
to
answer
it
and
motioned
for
him
to
keep going.

Without looking at the screen, I picked up and said
hello.

“Hey, girly! Whatcha up to?”
Natalie’s
voice echoed through
the phone,
and
I
forgot
to
breathe.
I
had
managed
not
to
talk
about
Ethan with her up until this point, and now I had no choice. “I was gonna
see
if
you
wanted
to
get
together
with
me
and
Jill
tonight
for
dinner.
We
haven’t hung out in a while, and we miss
you.”

“Sure. Sounds great. What time did you want to meet up?” I
asked trying not to sound caught off guard. That was
easy.
I could grab
coffee with Ethan and then meet up with them, no need to discuss anything.

“Well,
how about seven? Morgan gets off work at six, and I know he will want to
come.”

Great.
I
thought
it
was
gonna
be
just
the
girls.
Morgan
and
I
get along just fine, but his friend Ben started to creep me out after he
sent me that picture of Ethan and I kissing in the hallway. After Ethan and
I started
dating,
being
around
Morgan
reminded
me
of
Ben
and
his
creepy tendencies.
Plus,
Ben
was
like
Morgan’s
shadow.
They
pretty
much went everywhere
together.