Second Chance (16 page)

I fibbed a little bit and told her I was from Switzerland
.
She was
so excited to help a foreigner—I
didn’t want to disappoint her
.
Margaret drives down the street and
I
wave goodbye
.
I cross the sidewalk and gaze up at his house
.
I try to guess Gray’s window
.
If
I lived her
e,
I’d want the top room because they always have the
low
,
slanting ceilings and
this
one has its own
fire escape
.
Butterflies fill my stomach as
I
trudge
up the porch steps and
knock on the front door.
I know sexy is the furthest word to describe my appearance and clean is far from my current state of hygiene, but I still hope Gray will
at least wrap his arms around me
.
I
knock
on the door
again
, louder this time,
but I’m answered by silence
.
I decide the porch will do
just fine for a temporary bed and
roll out my newly acquired
airplane
blanket, a souvenir I felt entitled to
.
Thanks
,
Delta
.

I stretch the blanket on the wood porch and use my duffel bag as a pillow
.
I throw my
blue
hooded
sweatshirt over my shoulders
and pull the hood over my face to block out the light
.
I’ll just relax for a few minutes
.
J
ust until I come up with a plan.
  

GRAY

The four of us
amble
up the steps to the front door
, getting home late from a three hour practice
.
It
’
s
pa
st dinner and we’re all starving
.
Todd
suddenly
stops
in front of me
at the top of the stairs
and I almost run into him
.
Miles and Bubba run into me until the four of us are huddled
in
a
human
traffic jam
.
I follow Todd’
s startled gaze
to the ground near his feet
.

“
Dude, we’ve got a homeless person
on our porch
,”
he
says quietly
and points to this girl, sprawled
out on the floor
like
our address was
recently
listed as a
shelter
.
She’s got a
blue
Hawaii
sweatshirt
wrapped around her chest and
a square, navy blue
blanket
spread out underneath her
.
She’s using a
tattered black duffel ba
g
as a giant pillow
.
The hood of her sweatshirt is covering her face
.
It’s only evident it’s a girl by the delicate arm
resting on her chest and the long
,
brown
hair spilling out underneath her
sweatshirt
in
a
messy braid
.

“That’s just sad
,” Miles says
and walk
s
closer to her
.
He
tentatively pokes
the side of her leg with
his toe
, but she
just snorts
.
“She must be strung out.”

“
Maybe she’s a runaway,” I say because
she looks young.

“I’m calling the police,” Todd
says.

“
Wait,
”
I say and grab
Todd
’s wrist
.
My eyes widen with shock when
I notice
familiar
silver rings on
her
fingers
.
I bend down to get a closer look at this
skinny rail of a girl
.

It couldn’t be
.
I
inch closer to her
and
lift the
sweatshirt
hood. When I see her face I freeze.
Long e
ye lashes,
golden
freckles
,
and perfect lips greet me, a face branded in my memory
.

“
Dylan,
”
I say
under my breath
.
The guys hear me
and start to crack up
.

“
That’s Dylan?
”
Bubba says
with disbelief
.
I
slowly
nod and
keep my eyes focused
on
her
.
“
That’s the chick
no one else can compare to
, the one you’
ve been pi
ning over
all
year?
”

I stand up and
frown
.
“I haven’t been pi
ning,” I
argue
.

      
“What’s wrong with her?” Todd asks
with concern
in his voice
,
like she
just broke
o
ut of a drug rehab clinic
.

“
Nothing’s wrong with her
.
She’s been backpacking through
Europe
,
”
I inform them
.
“She probably just
got home
.”
  

“
And
came to
Albuquerque
of all places
?
I’m not buying it
.
I bet s
he
hitchhiked here,” Bubba says
.
He
walks
inside, laughing
,
and Todd shakes his head and follows him
.
I cross my arms over my chest and stare down at her
.
Her mouth is
parted slightly
and her
stomach
is rising and sinking in a repetitive motion
.
I can hear deep breaths move in and out of her nose
.
She’s out cold
.
Miles stands next to me and
studies
her.

“
So
,
this is the love of your life?
” h
e
asks
.

“Was,” I
remind him
.
Miles
backs up
towards the door
, either to give me space
to pick her up,
or out
of
fe
ar of
what will happen when
I
rouse sleeping
beauty
.

I s
tudy
her long, lanky body and
frown
at those baggy jeans,
a
style
choice
she
obviously hasn’
t grown out of
.
Or
in
to
.
I
say her name a few times to wake her,
but
all she answers me with is
a grumpy moan
and I think I hear
something like
merci
.

I
take a deep breath and scoop her up in my arms
.
Her comatose body has all the grace of a wet noodle and her arms and legs flop lifelessly as I lift her off the ground
.
It isn’t sexy, but I consider that a good thing
.
I don’t want to see Dylan as sexy
.
I don’t want to see Dylan, period
.