Second Chance

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The next day Mallorie woke up in a emotional mood and she was skeptical about the impending conversation she was suppose to have with Austin. Finally, when the time came, Mallorie and Austin met up in the school cafe and sat in medium sized booth at the back of the cafe.

Austin sat across from Mallorie with his hands on the table giving Mallorie his full attention before she began talking, " So you know that I used to live in Japan and I lived there for three years. Well when you asked me how my was experience when we first met, I purposely left out some details and just told you that everything was great. For the most part, my time there was amazing but when I was seventeen years old, I met this guy at my church and ever since then, what started out as a crush developed into something much more. Unfortunately, I've been trying to forget about him, but I just can't. It's been years since I've last seen him, yet try as I might, I just can't remove my feelings from him." she finished.

And after a minute of silence between them, Austin finally broke the silence.

"Look at me Mallorie."

Mallorie met his gaze and Austin smiled, "look, we have a lot more in common than you think, i've had relationships in the past that I didn't completely move on from either so I understand what your're saying and look, I'm not an expert but, it seems to me that you may be in love with this guy."

Mallorie blushed, good thing Austin couldn't see it. Was she really in love with James after all these years? She hasn't seen James or even heard for him in two years, but her feelings were still strong as ever.

"Well, it's a complicated situation and I can't move into a new situation until I've moved on completely from that situation with him."

"Right and I didn't mean to rush you in any way. You know that I like you, but since you can't return my feelings, I won't pressure you or make our friendship any more awkward." Mallorie winced.

"Austin, you know your're a wonderful guy and when you finally find your special lady, she'll be soo lucky to have you."

Austin smiled, "Aww thanks Mal." Mallorie chuckled, "Look, whoever that man is, he better treat you right or else, I'm gonna wring his neck."

Mallorie laughed, "Don't worry Austin, I won't put myself in a situation to be used, but thank you for being my bodyguard."

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to mend my broken heart, but don't mind me if I'm moping around like a sad puppy." Austin said teasingly and Mallorie smiled.

"I'm sorry Austin."

"It's okay, you're still cute though." which made Mallorie blush again.

"Were still friends though right?"

"Off course, today and the next." Austin replied

After their lunch meet up, they parted and went to their separate classes. As the day progressed, Mallorie didn't feel so guilty or heavyhearted about the way she felt for Austin anymore; she had closure on that relationship and could move on. Throughout the year, Austin and Mallorie continued to become really close friends and eventually Austin became involved in a relationship. Then, Mallorie barely saw him as he hung out with his girlfriend. Mallorie got a chance to meet her and she was really nice girl, and they got along really well. Since then Mallorie still hung out but not as frequently as their workload became larger. During the second semester of Mallorie's sophmore year, things got really intense and not to mention Mallorie was taking mostly core classes and 18 credits. There were times where she became so overwhelmed and wanted to quit, but then she would always think of her family back home and how they were routing for her and that pushed her to never give up. By the end of her second semester, Mallorie ended up getting all A's and B's with one C. But, she wasn't disappointed at all, she did her best and she did pretty good compared to most other students.

The following summer, Mallorie got a great paid internship at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Mallorie couldn't be more elated, although she was sad that she wasn't going home to Brooklyn for the summer, she was still excited for this opportunity nonetheless. By the time summer rolled around, Mallorie got on flight and flew to Dallas with Vivien and Annette. They stayed with Mallorie for week and then flew back to Brooklyn and Mallorie was all on her own. It felt good to be independent but it was also nerve wracking at the same time.

As her housing arrangements Mallorie's mom rented a decent apartment for Mallorie with all her expenses paid for. Annette even offered to buy Mallorie a car, but Mallorie politely declined because her family was already doing so much for her. So Mallorie opted to walk to work and take the bus anywhere else she had to go to.

One day in early June, Mallorie decided to go out on her day off and grab some lunch from a local sand which shop. Mallorie left her house around 1:30 pm and while she walking on the sidewalk, she was on her iphone not paying any attention when she suddenly bumped into someone and dropped her bag and phone on the ground.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry Miss... Mallorie? " the person said and when she looked into the eyes of the person she bumped into, she froze.

"James?"