Page 51 of Buzzer Beater

I shook my head. “Just enjoying the experience.”

He laughed. “You seem like you are.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

Great. As if I wasn’t feeling bad enough. “I don’t know what to do.”

He slapped my shoulder. “I don’t want to have a discussion about your feelings. We can save that for the weight room.”

I laughed with him. It was borderline ridiculous how many touchy conversations happened there.

He continued, “But I know how much Lucy means to you. There hasn’t been another woman since her. This is a freak accident that you guys ended up at the same place at the same time, so you need to take full advantage of it. Stop messing around. You’re running out of time.”

“I know.” As if that hadn’t been going through my mind since the moment I first saw her. I knew time was limited. I knew this would be my only chance.

The group was up ahead so I hurried to catch up. Passing Lucy who slowed to the back. I needed to give her a chance to calm down before talking to her. She sounded upset, and I knew she liked time by herself before talking about things.

Back in college, I’d forgotten an event her college was putting on. It was a dressy dinner and she was getting an award presented to her. Practice ran late, and I made it just as the dinner started, but she had to walk in by herself and a creepy guy from her classes wouldn’t leave her alone. She was mad, obviously, and didn’t speak to me for the rest of the dinner, or awards, or dancing. It wasn’t until we were leaving that she acknowledged me.

She needed to decompress.

I knew that. I remembered, so I glanced back at her and gave her space.

I listened as Alma explained the grounds and the smaller temples as he led us through. I tried to take it all in, but I couldn’t help but check over my shoulder every minute or so. Lucy was hanging out by herself. I couldn’t get a read on her though. I wished I could read her mind. Well, maybe. Who knows what I would find if I did.

15

Lucy

By the time we got to Chichen Itza, I was grumpy. I stayed toward the back of the group as Alma led us through an impressive stadium area where the Mayans played Pok-a-tok, a ball game. The detailing of the arena was astounding, and I lost myself in walking along the walls, taking it all in.

When I turned, my group was gone.

I looked around but didn’t recognize anyone in the crowd. I hurried to the end of the field and spotted them walking toward the temple. Maybe it was better that I held back. My bad mood shouldn’t ruin the experience for anyone else. I turned to the temple and started taking a few pictures.

“Hey, Lucy!” I looked over my shoulder to see Colby jogging toward me. “We’re going to see the thousand columns. Come on.”

It surprised me that Colby and Noah noticed I was alone. I caught up to them and we walked toward another, smaller temple. They weren't lying; there were rows and rows of white columns as far as I could see.

“This is amazing.” I held up my camera and too a few shots.

“Yeah it is.” Colby started walking along the columns and Noah and I followed behind her.

“Everything okay?” Noah asked me.

I looked up to see Noah’s eyebrows furrowed.

We hadn’t said anything to each other this week, yet he was the one to ask. I almost laughed but stopped myself. This group was pretty special. They took people in without asking questions and made them feel included.

“I’m just a bit annoyed.”

He nodded. “With Brassard? I mean Colin.”

“Yeah.” I let out a sigh.

“Us guys can be pretty dumb.”