Don't Go Through Life Without Field Goals

Home Alone

That week went by so very slow. I thought it would never end. My dad hasn't allowed me to see Ausitn and, when he found out I got his number and I started texting him, my dad took my phone away. When I started going to practice, again, dad came with me and Ausitn couldn't even look at me without my dad ordering him around. It was so unfair, considering the fact that he didn't even do anything.

I was home alone, for the first time in a week, and I wanted to sneak out and go to the field. That's the only place I could go to clear my head; which is something I really should do.

I had on my shoes and was ready to leave, when the doorbell rang. I opened the door, expecting it to be mom or dad, but Nicole was standing there. I havn't seen her or talked to her sense the day I left the hospital and she was looking a lot better. Her busted lip healed and she looked fully aware of what was happening. She had a bag swung over her shoulder.

"Nicole! See? I told you you would get better!" I pulled her into a huge bear hug and she rapped her short arms around me.

"I know. Is Matt home?" We pulled away and I looked at her. She looked so upset and her eyes were red, from crying.

"No. He's at the hospital. Mom went to see him today, but I didn't want to go."

"So, you're home alone?" She asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Good. Can I stay the night? I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to get away from my house. My parents don't want me to see Matt. They're mad at him because he crashed the car." She stammered.

"My parents don't want me to see Ausitn because dad thinks he hurt me. Long story." I told her.

"Okay. So, can I?" She asked.

"Of course." I told her. She came in my house and I shut and locked the front door. We went up to my bedroom and sat on my bed.

"Connie, how do you want your wedding?" She asked.

"Uh. . . Perfict?" I guessed.

"Duh." She giggled. "I'm saying, what kind of dress do you want? How do you want your vail? How do you want your hair?"

"Um. . . I never, really, thought about that." I admited. She pulled out a notebook from her bag and a pin. She looked up at me.

"Why don't you think about it?" I started thinking.

"I always loved strapless wedding dresses." I said. Nicole started doodling.

"White?" She asked, not looking up.

"Duh." I said. "Hmm. . . I want my hair up and I want a long vail."

"To the floor long or just above your bottom?" She stayed focased on her drawing that I couldn't see.

"Just above my bottom." I told her. We went through this for an hour until she stopped doodling and showed me the picture. Nicole was an amazing artist, but the picture stunned me. It was a girl that looked like me with the exact dress I explained. The dress flowed where it needed to and the hair was perfict. She even got the shoes exactly right. Everything was perfict.

"Is this right?" Nicole asked.

"Yes! That is exactly perfict!" I exclaimed.

"Good. This one is mine." She flipped a couple of pages and showed me a picture of her with a white, strapless dress that flowed from her hips down to the floor. Her hair was down and her vail went to the floor, covering her face.

"Nicole, that's beautiful." I gasped.

"I know." She smiled, stuffing her notebook back in her bag.

"Where do you want yours to be?" I asked her.

"Ah. . . You know that garden two miles away from here? If you turn right at the graveyard and go straight you'll be there." I remembered that place. Me and Nicole used to go there as kids. It has a huge oak tree with moss hanging from the branches and a little creek beside it with millions of flowers everywhere.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's where I want it."

"I think that would be really pretty."

"Me too. Where do you want yours?"

"On the beach." I siged at the thought of my wedding on the water.

"That's cool. Would you go barefoot?"

"I'd have to, wouldn't I?"

"Ha, I guess so."

"Yeah. I don't think it would be a huge problem."

"Neh." Just then, someone knocked on the door. Nicole's eyes widened.

"Your parents can't know I'm here. I'm not allowed out of the house." She whispered.

"Okay. Hide under my bed and take your bag." She did as I told her and I ran down the stairs and opened the door, but it wasn't my parents. In fact, I never guessed I would see the boy in front of me.

He was on crutches and he had bruses everywhere, but didn't look as bad as when I saw him the day I left the hospital.

"Matt?" I choaked, holding back tears.