More knocking, but softer this time. I slowly opened my eyes, my long, thick eyelashes batting against my unruly eyebrows. Beth was standing in the doorway again, but she was now wearing spandex shorts that were a tad too short, the late afternoon sun pooling orange beneath her feet.
"How are you feeling, sunshine?" She sauntered over and hopped down next to me on my bed. I braced for impact, but surprisingly, felt no pain.
"I feel great actually." I admitted moving my head side to side cautiously and the room remained steady, not spinning as it had before. She patted my shoulder lovingly, her typical polished exterior cracking a little.
"I'm glad you're better. I covered for you today, but I don't know how many more times I can lie to teachers, teammates, and Coach Lawless before they catch on." I looked away. It wasn't the first time I had been unable to make it to practice. Last semester had been rough. When Ben had broken my heart, I hadn't been able to get out of bed for a week.
"Thank you for covering for me," I smiled, even though we had an unspoken agreement between us. Beth always had my back, and I always had hers. Ever since freshman orientation four years ago when we met in front of the statue by the Chapel. Two eighteen year olds with questionable fashion sense and even more questionable expectations of what college life would really be like. We would lie crammed in Beth's twin sized dorm bed after practice, dreaming of all the nice college boys we would meet and wild house parties we would attend. We had only been half right.
She stood abruptly, the moment between us over, and glanced toward the small circular window in the corner of my room. We lived in one of the oldest apartment complexes on campus, built in 1909, ten years after the university was founded. Of course, the apartment had been renovated several times, but the original windows, brass light fixtures, and bright, white crown molding remained the same. As did the doors that would always get stuck and the floorboards that creaked beneath our bare feet. She seamlessly swept her hair into a long blonde ponytail as she studied me.
"What exactly happened to you Saturday night?" She asked. I glanced down and picked at a black fuzz on my white comforter.
"I guess I had way too much to drink," I admitted, shaking my head a little, but Beth narrowed her eyes disbelieving.
"That's strange. You were perfectly fine when I left. You were even flirting with other boys." Boys other than Ben Thomas. My ex, she meant. I made a face and threw a pillow at her which she caught easily. Her eyes danced in the dim sunlight of my room. Beth always loved to tease me, in a good-hearted way, like a sibling would. She may have been cold to every other girl on campus these past four years, but never to me.
"I've already told you, after the catastrophic breakup with mister baseball douchebag whose name we don't speak, I'm done with men. I'm being my own happy ending." I emphasized the false words with a flourish of my hands, trying to pretend for the millionth time I was over our relationship.
"Look, I'm happy you're finding your own inner self, but I don't need to know the specifics of what you do in your bathtub." I made a face tossing another pillow off my bed at her.
"Gross, Beth! You can be such a pervert!" She shrugged undeterred. "I mean it though! My mom never needed a man to feel happy so why would I?! She's been single all this time and not once did she need anything she couldn't provide for herself." I held up a finger before Beth could supply yet another sexually inappropriate suggestion. "I guess I just got a little carried away Saturday night celebrating my independence." Beth nodded, tossing the pillow back onto my bed, now looking serious again.
"I thought you might have died. You didn't even wake up yesterday." I paled, ashamed, as I tried to think back to that night again. The woman who had bathed and dressed me paired with the man's heavenly voice. Maybe it had all been a strange alcohol-soaked dream, and the headache was a result of a miserable hangover. Or maybe I had been slipped something. College guys were known for occasionally slipping drugs in drinks. Was this what recovering from being drugged felt like? I suppressed a violent shiver at the thought, and forced the dark idea from my mind before it could manifest into a full blown possibility.
"I took a lot of tequila shots after you left," I surmised, and Beth shook her head, bemused by my bad behavior. Beth was one of the few girls who could go out and let loose and not care if anyone told on us or if we got into trouble. In fact, sometimes I felt like Beth thrived off of getting into trouble. Saturday night she had boldly left Bash's early to meet up with one of Ben's baseball teammates, despite hooking up with a young, hot Dallas Mavericks point guard last week, and a Dallas Cowboys quarterback the week before that. New week, new man I speculated.
"Wait a minute. How was your night after you left?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow, sat up a little taller, and took a sip from the glass of water that had somehow appeared on my bedside table. No doubt Beth's work. Her mantra had always been 'women supporting women,' and she always managed to take care of me. She gave me remedies for all of my ailments, swearing by each potion. She 'had a Cajun nanny while growing up who swore by the all-natural medicinal antidotes that would heal any malady'. She danced a little as she picked up various articles of clothing from my floor, holding them up for size.
"The guy was fine, I guess, but lacking in a few vital areas." She shrugged holding up her hands a few inches apart. I snickered, Beth had never been one to beat around the bush, and was honest to a fault. She had been with many different suitors over the past four years, so I considered her a savant in loving men and leaving them just as easily. A trait my monogamous, epic romance longing heart envied. "Speaking of size... Perry whose is this?" She screeched and waved a sleek black t-shirt that was at least three sizes too big for me around above her head.
I spewed some of the water out of my mouth onto my bedspread down below, and Beth frowned at my own lack of self restraint. "Ew." She wrinkled her perfect nose, but tossed the t-shirt in my direction, and I rolled the buttery material between my fingertips. This was the shirt they had given me. The shirt he was reluctant to give me because I "will know everything." Know what exactly? I could barely remember Beth waking me up this morning. Beth eyed my expression, a wicked smile playing on her pouty red lips. "Was I not the only one who met up with someone, Miss Independent? Did you bring a guy home?!" I opened my mouth but then quickly closed it at her anxiously excited face. Her eyebrows were practically in her hairline and her fingers were clutched against her chest. I didn't have the heart to tell her no. Despite trying to put on a brave face, I had been so gloomy these past few months, mourning the loss of my relationship with Ben. Beth had helped mop up my river of tears when he initially broke my heart, and I couldn't hold it against her to hope I was moving on with someone better.
"It's still very new. I don't want to read too much into things, especially when I'm not even sure if he's worth giving up my fantastic single life for," I lied, as I rolled the silky shirt between my fingertips again. "But I'll fill you in if he becomes important enough to discuss." The shirt felt like it was made of the softest silk. Beth grabbed it from me, spinning it over her head before pulling the t-shirt back to her face.
"Mmm, well 'Mr. So New' smells delicious. I hope he's deemed worthy and something substantial happens," she teased humping the air. I finished the water and rolled my eyes.
"Down girl," I said, feeling oddly possessive as I ripped the shirt back from her grasp, and fought the overwhelming urge to smell it.
"It's all yours!" Beth laughed holding up her hands. " I am beyond starving from that hell of a practice. Let's go get dinner. I hear they opened a new Tex-Mex inspired sushi place in Oak Lawn, and I've been dying to try it." I made a sour face.
"I really shouldn't. I have missed too much class lately, and I can't have OHSU's medical school seeing I have any B's, especially during my application period." Beth rolled her eyes again. "I'm serious Beth. Medical school is all I have left after graduation. Not all of us can go be political liaisons for world leaders straight out of college." I jabbed pointedly.
"You're right, but medical school can wait. We only have nine more months left together and we need to take full advantage of all of that time too. Studies show a little Saki before you study leads to higher test scores," she insisted, her blue eyes twinkling. "We're leaving in ten minutes." She winked and bounded out. I sighed and knew there was no reasoning with her when she was this determined. It was one of her many charms.
I stood and looked around my messy room for something clean to wear, but all I wanted to put on my body was that black t-shirt. I resisted the urge, grabbing a white cotton volleyball t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts from the floor instead. Eight minutes later I stalked out of my room, but paused briefly, glancing back at the black t-shirt on my bed, feeling oddly sad to leave it behind. Something deep inside me stirred, craving to hold it against me, and remember the man who had once worn it.
YOU ARE READING
The Protection
Science Fiction***COMPLETE*** The book I wrote in grad school... America was safe again. Free from murders, and rapes, and the darkness that lived within us all. The Protection made sure of it when they became public last year, lurking in the darkest shadows of th...
