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As I reach the top of the staircase, I see a girl standing outside the door across the hall from mine, frantically twisting the doorknob. She hits the door with an open palm and lets out another curse, resting her forehead against the door in defeat. She must be my new neighbor, who has been noisy as she moves in her stuff.
“Everything okay?” I reluctantly voice as I head to my door.
Her brown hair is cut short, hanging an inch or two above her shoulders. Before she turns to face me, she snaps, “No, everything is not okay!” Her angry brown eyes land on me, but her shoulders slump in defeat. My eyes scan over her. She’s in green pajama shorts and a hoodie. She’s beautiful. Must be freezing, though. Why she’s wearing shorts and not pants, I don’t know. I would think if it’s cold enough for a hoodie, then it’s too cold for shorts. “I locked myself out,” she says, much calmer now. The girl takes a deep breath. “Sorry for yelling at you. It’s been a bad day. Is there any way I could borrow your phone?”
“I…um…mine is broken, sorry,” I say, remembering throwing it against the wall earlier.
Tears suddenly well up in her eyes, her lower lip trembling. My first instinct is to unlock my door and leave her, but I would be pissed if someone didn’t offer help to Luce when she needed it.
As I unlock my door, I tell her, “C’mon. You must be freezing.” I push it open and turn, but she makes no movement towards me.
“I don’t know you,” she states simply.
“I don’t know you either. You can come in or stay outside until you figure out what you want to do, but you have exactly three seconds to make a decision. I don’t care either way.” With that, I head for my kitchen, leaving the door open in case she does come in. I’ve just opened the fridge when I hear the door close. “Want something to drink? It’s Mountain Dew or beer.” I’ll keep my Bourbon to myself for later.
“Mountain Dew is fine. Thank you,” she adds when I hand her one, keeping one for myself. She follows me into the living room, taking a seat in the chair. I toss her the blanket laying over the back of the couch. “Thanks.”
“What’s your name?”
“Olivia.”
“I’m Corey,” I offer, sitting down on the couch. She glances around the room for a moment while I watch her. I’m not sure where to go from here. It’s not every day that I’m a social butterfly, interacting with others and being nice and helpful. Olivia’s eyes land on mine, as an awkward air of silence and discomfort engulfs us. Clearing my throat, I ask, “How did you lock yourself out?”
A laugh escapes her lips as she brings her legs up into the chair. “I ran out to my car because I forgot my cell phone, but halfway to my car, I realized I forgot my car keys and wouldn’t be able to open the doors. When I came back, the doorknob was locked, so I couldn’t get back inside.” There’s s
omething about her voice and the way she rattled on that’s a bit soothing.
With my phone being broken and she not having hers, we’re in a bind. My body has already begun to shut down with exhaustion, so I decide on a plan. “Well, you can stay here tonight and go down to the office in the morning. I’ll get some blankets and a pillow for the couch.”
“Thanks.” She gives me a small smile of gratitude. I’m not sure why. I could have offered her my bed, but the hell with that. I don’t sleep much, but when I do, I prefer for it to happen in my own bed.
After searching my hall closet, I find what I need. The least I can do is make the makeshift bed for her. As I start laying a sheet over the couch, the muscles in my back twitch and it feels like she’s watching me. Sure enough, when I glance over, her eyes are on me.
“I can do that,” she offers.
“About done now.” I toss the pillow at one end and throw the blanket on the couch. No need to fix that when she’s about to crawl under it. “There you go.”
Olivia nods. “Thanks, Corey.”
I nod, wishing she would stop saying that. As if a Mountain Dew and a couch to sleep on is me going above and beyond for her. Nope. I’m doing minimal work here and it’s nothing to be so thankful about. Without another word, I go back down the hallway to my bedroom.
MY EYES BURN from being open for so long. I blink rapidly a few times to ease the annoyance. No sleep. At all. I’ve been staring at my ceiling since I laid down. My body feels weak and I’m tired. So, so tired, but sleep isn’t coming. Sunlight has already started to stream in through my open blinds.
The door to my room creaks open. I turn my head to see Olivia stick her head inside.
“Hey, you’re up already.” She gives me a small smile.
“That would require me falling asleep first, but yeah.” Reluctantly, I push myself up on my elbows, noting her smile has transformed into a frown. I don’t need sympathy. “Do you need something?”
“Oh, I wanted to let you know I’m leaving and to thank you again for letting me stay.” I don’t say anything back. What’s there to say? See you around? Hope not. Have a good day? Not a chance in hell. “Well, I’ll see you around, Corey.” Olivia pauses for a moment, probably waiting for a response. When she doesn’t get one, she leaves.
The moment she closes my door, I lie back down and and resume staring at the ceiling. I need sleep. No, what I need is football. This is fucking ridiculous. I shouldn’t be in bed, fighting for a good night’s rest. I shouldn’t be struggling to see the goodness of the light of day. I should be on a football field, playing my game. I should still be an athlete.
But now?
I don’t even know who I am anymore.
Corey Kennedy is nothing without “the football player” tagged onto the end. Anger pumps my veins and I reach for the Bourbon on my nightstand. Only the shit’s empty because I drank it last night while I fought for some peace from a good night’s slumber. In one quick motion, I throw the son-of-a-bitch across the room. It hits my dresser and shatters on impact. Breaking stuff doesn’t make me feel any better, even though that’s what I keep doing. I should stop because I have to clean the crap up, but there’s a tiny part of me that feels relieved because something else is broken too.
