Page 24 of Walk the Line

Daniel laughs.

“Did I tell a joke?” she asks. Now I’m really forcing myself to stop laughing.

“Yeah, you two are both grumpy as fuck.”

“Bro, why would you even say that?” Nathan says, giving him a look of disapproval.

Where did they find these people?

“You gonna tell me they’re not grumpy as fuck?” Daniel asks with a raised brow.

“Yeah, not gonna lie you guys kind of are.”

I’ll take it.

“It makes me really happy you said that, actually.” I turn at the unusual sweetness in Kaylah’s voice.

A curious look grows on Nathan’s face. “Really?”

“Yeah. I like it when people understand that I’m grumpy because it makes them stop talking to me.”

That will do it.

I don’t even try to stop the laughter that comes out of my mouth. It’s a quick one, but long enough for Kaylah to narrow her eyes at me, as if she’s sussing me out.

I don’t know what she could possibly be thinking.

Nathan looks between the both of us, before saying, “Oh, shit, I can’t even tell if you’re joking or not.”

“I don’t think she’s joking, bro,” Daniel says.

“How can you tell?”

She turns around and heads for the door but I’m surprised she stops when Daniel says, “Hurry up and play the video, man. I want to see how I was doing today even though I already know I was good.”

“There’s a video of today’s game?” Kaylah asks. Her voice betrays the lack of interest her face displays.

“Yeah, it’s up on the university website.”

“Thanks.”

Nathan looks like he’s having the time of his life when he says, “You talk even less than Julius does.”

“I was just about to say that, you know,” Daniel adds.

She opens her mouth to say something, but then quickly shakes her head and continues heading for the door. I watch as she shakes her head again and turns to us. “Are you guys like twins or something?”

“Nah, why?” Daniel says.

“You’re just so…happy. The same level of happy. Both of you. All the time.”

“We just both recognise that you’ve really gotta keep the energy going in life, you know?”

This is starting to sound like the kind of Ted Talk my parents would try to give me.

“Okay,” is all Kaylah says before she’s out the door for real this time, my eyes catching on her tight shorts hugging against her skin that always look so smooth and radiant. I need to stop thinking, clearly.

“Oh, shit, let me play this video,” Nathan says.