Before speaking, he exhaled sharply, possibly irritated that I’d found out about this. “Her name was Tory and she was just a girl I met at one of my basketball games. Leila found out about her; I think she was maybe at a game or something like that and saw me talking to her. So, she started following me and stuff and that’s pretty much it.”
His answer didn’t clear up anything for me. I fidgeted with my nails as I considered the possibility. AJ didn’t seem to be bothered by this issue whatsoever, maybe because he was already used to Leila’s drama. Her obsession with him had led her to make a complete fool of herself on more than one occasion, all because she couldn’t allow herself to let him go. I couldn’t blame her for that though. As out of touch with reality as she is, she at least had the sense to recognize that AJ is one of a kind.
Now that I’d given myself to him, I was admittedly a little paranoid about what the future held for us. With the end of the year lurking in the shadows of my brain, I found myself frequently trying not to think about the two of us separating when it was time to leave for school. How would that change things between us? Even when Antonio got his scholarship to Blanchard, we mapped out a plan to see each other twice a week. But Westwood, the college AJ was accepted to, was too far away to plan to see one another more than once a month. Could we survive that? Did he care if we didn’t?
“What’re you thinking about?” He asked, stroking my hair as we sat there silently.
“You. Me. Us. Everything,” I replied.
“What about us?”
“College mainly, but other stuff too. I’m just trying to figure out how this is gonna work. If I can’t hardly handle being away from you in between seeing you in school, how am I gonna deal with not seeing you for weeks or even months at a time?” I forced myself to stop speaking because I was beginning to whine.
“Sam,” AJ said, trying to stifle a laugh. “You know I love you, right?”
“Yeah, but….”
“Stop there,” he said and paused. “I was gonna give you a little time before I brought this up, but since you’re already thinking about it; I don’t want to be away from you like that either.” I sat up to look at him. His eyes were focused on the ceiling above. “I was gonna switch my plans and go with you to Charleston. I mean…..if that’s what you wanted,” he stated.
I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Of course I want you to!” I stopped myself, sounding too eager. “I mean…..but I don’t want you to change your plans for me,” I amended. “After all, I haven’t even heard from Charleston yet.” My voice came across as too excited to make my rationale sound the least bit believable. There was no hiding that I was ecstatic.
“Who cares about my plans? You are my plan,” AJ replied. “And of course you’re going to get into Charleston. Stop worrying about it. To prove to you that I have total faith in you, I’ll print out an app online and send it off Monday.”
I smiled as I stared at his beautiful face. He looked back at me, but his expression was serious. “Sam, I’ll do everything in my power to hold on to you. This isn’t just a temporary, fly-by-night thing for me. I’m in love with you and I’m not taking any chances on messing this up.” My smile faded as I let his words sink in. He’d soothed all of my worries and I quickly let them go. Soon, we’d be gone from here; no Leila, no Antonio, just AJ and me.
I awoke in the morning under the covers of the huge bed upstairs. The silky sheets caressed my skin as I stretched. I looked beside me hoping to find AJ there, but instead there was only a note.
Morning, beautiful!
Went to get your car fixed. Be back around noon.
Miss you…..AJ
I got up and sat at the table while I waited for him to return. Luckily, I slept in late and the clock already read 11:45, which meant that I didn’t have long to wait now. Just then, I heard his keys in the lock and I bolted to the door to hug him. He laughed as he hugged me back. “Your car’s ready, so we can leave whenever you feel like it.” I frowned at the thought of leaving him and going back home.