HOOPS AND HEARTS

Chapter 15

                                    Astrid

I sit at my vanity, makeup wipe in my right hand, and my phone in the other. My phone stays dark, and I abandon the wipe in my hand.
Seriously? Not even a 'I had fun tonight'?
I vow to myself that if in 2 minutes, my phone is still void of a text from Tom, I'll drift off to sleep and forget about him. I slam my phone down, and take on last look at Andreena's work on my face. Letting myself fall desperate to the affection of a man, is a new low I will never be bound to reach. Though my feelings fight against the armor of my mind, I've lived and learned that caution is to be taken. So when my hand lunges for my phone at the vibration involuntarily, I curse myself for the deep longing to be loved, that is still carving scars into my hearts with its presence. I tap hastily on the notification, to find not Tom's words, but another's.

If you keep leaving your shit around me, I swear I will devote the rest of my life to making yours suck

The last thing I needed tonight, was Leo's empty threats and attitude. I groan and my hands move on their own as I slip out of the dress, and into a pair of Jean shorts. Throwing on a t shirt, as my hands reach for my phone and dial the one person, causing this day to nosedive.
"Meet me at Miller park." I say, reaching over to the extra key dad gave me, and leaving the clean wipe on my vanity.
"Hell no. You understand it's 10 o'clock right now right? Has the jet lag been delayed until now?" I can picture him smirking through the phone, and it ignites a deep frustration in me. I flutter downstairs, and look around to find the house silently empty. I pull the phone back from the streaming insults crackling out of the other end. Is dad even here? Thats odd... Leo's voice pulls me back to the call. "Hello? Earth to the queen of England! Did you hear what I said? You don't-"
"Just get your lazy arse out there!" I yell into the phone, and end the call in haste. I contemplate my teetering feelings for the infuriating boy, and at this moment they all subside, when I rush out of the door to find Dad's car gone. I peer into the driveway, in the form of a double take, and still. Empty. My brows furrow in confusion, but it soon dissipates, when my mind locks into the task at hand. I make my way down a few blocks, till my feet approach a lean figure with his hands in his pockets, and leaning against the pole of a nearby swing. The playground is old and dark, the moon casting a small sparkle against the play equipment. The sun hiding, till it can bring joy to children again, and smile down upon them, as they merry go round and shriek in solicited games of tag. I vaguely remember jumping around the mulch borders as a child, but very little I was.
"You must be real fearless to come out here by yourself. Considering I scared you off with a serial killer story."
I walk up to Leo, as the light from a nearby lamp post, frames his face. The shadow of his nose, falling across his cheek and highlighting his faint freckles.
"Oh please, you got a lot of nerve to assume I would hide from one." I say, crossing my arms. He raises his brows in confusion.
"I would pay them to make you their next victim of course."
"I would thank them."
"And why is that?"
"Would never have to see your ass again, of course." He smirks, countering my remarks. A laugh bubbles in my throat and I push it down hastily. He thinks he's so funny huh. I stand in confidence once again, holding my head higher. I clear my throat.
"What else would be the reason? Air conditioning played a huge role in my decision of running as well." I say, unimpressed. He chuckles, a smile dancing on his lips.
"Hm. Spoken like a true princess." His cheek curls in, a dimple appearing ever so slightly. I take a moment too long to appreciate the sight, practically slapping myself to focus. We hate this guy Astrid, don't be distracted by his face and forget what an arse he is. I clear my throat once again and look up to his full height. Towering over me.
"Alright are you going to give me what I came for or not?" I say, my tone falling serious. A smile spreads across his face.
"Woah princess, no need to be so direct. If you wanted that you could have just said so." He chuckles darkly and my cheeks rise in temperature.
"W-what? You perv! Just give me the-" I stop and take a closer look at his eyes, and see they are glossy and lazy. The dark coated him, and covered the roll of his eyes, but it was clear as day why state he was in. "Are you.. are you tipsy right now??" As my words speak the words, his eyes respond yet again. They replicate how they looked into mine, when he walked out of dads office. His head hanging, and dark circles hanging under his eyes. There it is again.
Grief.
I squint my eyes in involuntary concern and take a step closer before I can think.
"H-hey are you alrigh-"
He shakes his shoulders, as if to wake himself up, and pulls out a small tube, holding it high. "You texted me over lip gloss????!!!!!" I exclaim loudly. He smirks yet again, and any remaining trace of discomfort on his eyes, is gone.
"You called me over here over lip gloss?!" He mocks me, and I grow more infuriated.
"Well then why did you come?"
"You could say I sensed you would hire a serial killer to end me if I didn't. I want to finish out the season first." He says sarcastically. My face rises with heat, every inch of me coated with anger.
"Too late. I'll just do it myself." I lunge at him, making a move for the lip gloss. His fast reflexes give him an advantage, as he moves to the side, holding the lip gloss higher. I make another move for it, hitting his chest with a weak fist, in an attempt to have him drop it, I bite my lip in concentration, as he starts laughing. "Screw you!" I try again, biting my lip once again. Everything shifts, as I feel my leg fall to far behind me, and I grasp at his T shirt, as the ground comes up to meet me. On the way down, I feel him wrap his arms around me, turning us till his back is on the ground, and mine is facing the night air. Chest to chest. Breath to breath. My face is inches from his, and the stinging in my lip is subdued, when we stay on the ground. My body resting on top of his, and his hands resting on the small of my back. Maybe it was the shock. Maybe it was the coolness of the night air. Maybe it was the fact that his nose curved a little too perfectly. That there was a pinkish hue to the color of his lips. And the fact that his grayish eyes peered into mine, in a mix of sadness and something else I couldn't place. I blink as his hand moves up, and he gingerly swipes his thumb against my lip. My eyes widen at the movement.
"You're bleeding." He says softly. I look down at his thumb to find a deep red swiped across it. I look back at him, shaking my head to break my trance. I take the moment, and take back my lipgloss, that was settled in his left hand. I scurry off of him and stomp on his right foot. "S-shit Astrid! I should have let you fall!" He exclaims, standing up.
"Y-Yea, you should have!" I call back.
I walk away from Leo. From that moment. From my confused thoughts. From my beating heart. I devote myself to my words, because I'm only capable of keeping promises to myself. So I swear tonight. In the spring air of San Francisco.

I will not fall for Leo Williams.