Last Heartbeat (10 page)

“Hi. Mom. How are you and Dad?” I ask first thing.

“Hi baby. We are both doing well, but we’re missing you really bad. I had to call so I can hear your sweet voice. Tell me how school is going. And how is your roommate? Are you and her getting along? I know it’s only been a few days. I need to know you’re doing well so I don’t worry about my precious girl.”

“
Oh.
Mom, I know you worry. I am doing really good. So far classes are going fine. Kristen and I are getting along, when we see each other. She stays with friends sometimes. We went out the first night I got here and I have already been to the beach every day. Now you have no need to worry about me.’

“You know I will always worry about my baby girl. That is what mothers do. Are you taking your medication and is it working like it is supposed to? Do you feel tired or anything?”

“No. Mom. Everything is going really well and I’m taking my medicine. I have been making a few friends already. I really shouldn’t though. What if something happens to me?”

“Baby, you know that you need friends no matter what happens to you and you can’t focus on that all the time. Even if it does, they would have felt honored to even get to know you, even for a short time. I know you are a true fighter. You will be around for a long time. You need to live your life and not be afraid. Just let people get to know how wonderful you are, my darling. Anyone could die at any time. You will live a long life because you got a miracle five years ago. This world isn’t ready to let you go. So quit being afraid to live life. Just live it the fullest every day.” She is such a wonderful mother and I am lucky to have her.

I ask her how she met Dad and how she knew he was the one.

“I knew he was the one the first time I talked to him, sweet girl. I know that seems fast to most people, but I knew and he did too. He even told me two weeks after we met that he loved me. I was scared and didn’t tell him until later, even though I knew, I did. We met through a friend who thought we would be good for each other. It turned out that my friend was right. Why all the interest in this subject, Alexia? Have you met someone and you’re afraid you might get sick on him? If you have, don’t let that get in your way of happiness.”

“Well. Mom, I think I have met a really good guy. He wants me to be his girlfriend already and I am scared. I hate the thought that I might break his heart, if my heart gave out on me and I died leaving him all alone. I don’t think I should do that to anyone. I know you and dad will have broken hearts. Why should I put anyone else in that pain? It kills me to think about you guys hurting.”

“Sweetheart, we love you and wouldn’t ever want to live without you. If that happens, I know that I will be honored to have what time we had with you. This guy would feel the same. If he already wants you in his life, he would be honored to have just a little while with you rather than no time at all. Live for the now, my sweet Alexia, and take care of yourself so you can live a long, full life. Don’t forget to be honest with him about your condition and what might happen up-front. That is only far to him.” She makes me happy, and now I might let things happen naturally with Phillip.

As I get to school, I thank Mom for her advice and let her know that I have to get ready for my class.

I get to my dorm and find Kristen there getting ready for her classes. She looks up at me and smiles. “Well look at you. You must have been out all night. Looks like you had to do the walk of shame in a guy’s t-shirt. Where is your shirt? Or did he rip it off you in the heat of the night?”

“I didn’t have a sex last night, but I did stay over at a guy’s condo on the beach. We were studying and it got late. He let me borrow a shirt to sleep in. He didn’t want me to drive late because he worried I’d be to tired to drive.” I smile.

Kristen gets up and looks me over. “Who is this guy? Seems like a good guy if he was worried. Or was he hoping you would want more?”

I smile. “Yes he is a good guy and didn’t ask for anything more. His name is Phillip Ryan.”

“
What?
Phillip Ryan? He is model gorgeous. You better watch out for him. I hear he plays girls. Uses-them-and-leaves-them type of guy, if you know what I mean. Sometimes I don’t believe it. Megan has been throwing herself at him forever and he seems like he doesn’t like her. She can be trouble for you if she sees you around him even if you and Phillip don’t get involved. She’s usually determined to have what she wants and will hurt and step on anyone who gets in her way,” Kristen says.

I frown at what she just said and think about the look Megan gave me last night. “I guess Megan has already has it out for me. She saw me with Phillip last night, when we went to pick up his friends at her party. She gave me this look, like if she had a knife she would stab me.”

“Wow! This is bad.” She paces back and forward in our little dorm room before looking at me again. “What exactly did you and Phillip do in front of her? Did you kiss or something? If you were just next to him, you’d probably be okay, but if something else happened, you might need to worry.” She frowns.

This can’t be too good. Sounds to me that Megan maybe obsessed with Phillip. “He held my hand while we were at her house. We were on the beach. His condo is close to her house, so we walked over to pick up Jacob and Tyler. She tried to get him to stay with her and even offered to sleep with him, but he wouldn’t have it. He even told her he wasn’t interested in her. He left with me, holding my hand.”

“
Darn
! I must have missed the best party ever. So much drama at that party and I had to stay here to do homework. I hope she doesn’t try to cause you trouble over Phillip. Megan can be a drama queen and she likes trouble. Well, I have to go to class.” She gives me a smile before leaving.

I decide not to think about it. It is too much to stress over right now. Right now, I really need to get a shower, so I hurry to the bathroom. I take a quick one. If I don’t hurry, I will be late for biology. I think about biology and smile. Who knew biology could make me smile? Maybe it is who is in my class.

That makes me think about putting his shirt back on. Now that I’m clean, I don’t want to put it back on until I wash it, but after all, I did just sleep in it last night. I finish getting ready and see Phillip’s shirt lying on my bed. I say.
What the heck
, I’m going to wear it.

Putting on the shirt, I notice I only have about twenty minutes to get to class, so I gather my backpack and books. I head out the door to my future and hope that I am doing right by him with my answer. I am smiling all the way to class. I have a bounce in my step too.

I get to class a few minutes early and head to my seat. Since we have assigned seating, I know who will be seating next to me soon and I can’t wait. I get my books and paper out of my backpack to be ready for class.

I look up and see Phillip walk in. I smile at him, but he doesn’t smile back at me like I thought he would. I wonder if he has changed his mind about me already. I wish now that I hadn’t worn his stupid shirt. He sits down beside me and looks ahead like he doesn’t know me.
Well,
I guess that answers my question. Its over before it has even begun.

I frown and turn my attention to the teacher, attempting to pay attention. It is hard to do with this new Phillip sitting beside me. This Phillip is cold and stiff. He doesn’t even seem like the same guy I just left a little while ago. I wonder what happened since I left. I have to pay attention today. I focus on the professor to keep my mind off Phillip.

Chapter Fourteen

Phillip

Alexia is the cutest thing when she is waking up. Her hair is messy, but it still looks sexy while she is lying in my bed. I could keep her in my bed all day, and her in my t-shirt isn’t helping matters much. I better get us out of this room or my hands are going to start touching her all over. I tell her that I made her breakfast and coffee. We needed to hurry, so it doesn’t get cold. I believe she is amused that I did that for her since she is smiling at me.

She throws back the covers and notices that the shirt has risen up to her belly button. Seeing how red her face is lets me know she is embarrassed by it. I tell her that she is beautiful and doesn’t have to be embarrassed. Seeing more of her body has really gotten me turned on, so I have to get out of this room before she notices. I believe she needs to go to the bathroom. I remind her that I will go get breakfast set up for us. I head out fast. I don’t want her to see how much I wanted more of her.

I go to the kitchen to gather our food and drinks to put on the table. I look out at the balcony, where I usually eat, and decide that we should eat out there. While I set the table, I finally calm myself down. Being around Alexia gets me so worked up and I don’t know why I can’t behave around her like I can around every other girl in the world.

I just sit down at the table and take a sip of orange juice with my medicine as Alexia comes out. She still has on my t-shirt, and even out here, she takes my breath away. I ask her to sit and join me, and she does. I can’t believe that this amazing girl is here with me. How did I get so lucky? We talk and eat together like we have done it all of our lives and this feels like home.

Suddenly, I hear something inside the condo.
Oh no
. I forgot that Jacob and Tyler are still here. How did I forget those two? I asked Alexia if they will scare her off, I hope they don’t. They will be hung-over and grumpy, but she says no. This girl has amazed me every minute I have known her.

We finish our food and take the dishes to the kitchen. I watch her while she puts the dishes in the dishwasher. She gets done and turns around. I pull her to me but act like I’ve accidently done it.

She doesn’t pull away and I get ready to kiss her when Jacob comes into the kitchen smiling. He makes a rude comment about us being together or just hooking up? I look at Alexia, and she stiffens, like she is getting mad. I let him know very quickly that we are not hooking up. I have asked her to be my girlfriend. Instead of this satisfying him with my answer, he starts badgering Alexia about why she hasn’t answered me. I get ready to tell him off, but Alexia surprises me and does it herself.

One thing about her - she takes nothing from anyone and isn’t afraid.

She does say something that surprises me though. She says that she really doesn’t know if I meant it when I asked her to be mine. How could she not see how I feel already?

She storms out of the kitchen and I give Jacob a dirty look. I hear the front door slam and I know that she has left. I can’t let her leave like this without knowing how I feel. I run out the door. As I get to the elevator, I see the door close.
Ugh
! I run over to the stairs and go down them two at a time so that I can beat the elevator. I get to the bottom floor just as the elevator does. I make sure I am standing right in front of it as it opens up so that she can see me.

She sees me as the door opens. I reach and pull her to me. I let her know how I feel about her, that I meant every word and would like to see where this is headed. I tell her that I have never felt this before. I can’t help myself. I kiss her. I meant to lightly kiss her, but when my lips touch hers, I feel something inside me explode. I kiss her like I am never going to kiss another girl again so that she would never want to kiss another guy again. The passion between us is like a fire growing every second that we kiss. I can’t stop kissing her. I kiss her for what seems like forever before I hear Jack behind me. I know who it is without needing a glimpse of him, especially after he says that it must have been a good night of studying. He winks and walks on. I look at Alexia and see her blush a little. I continue to ask her to be mine and even tease her about wearing my t-shirt.

She tells me that she might give me an answer by the time she gets to biology class and
maybe
she will wear my shirt all day. Then she turns and just walks off. I laugh at her. Maybe she is the real tease to walk off like that with no answer after that kiss that set me on fire. I think I have to go take a cold shower now. I turn around and see Jack coming back around the corner grinning at me.

“Well boy, looks like the studying took longer than a few hours. What did you do study all night?” He laughs.

I know he is joking with me, that he knows me better than that, so I say, “A man can’t tell all his secrets. I don’t kiss and tell. Really though, Alexia isn’t that kind of girl. It got too late for her to drive and she stayed over. Jacob and Tyler did too.”

“Well you must have been crazy to have those guys around that pretty little woman. I wouldn’t let any guy around her. She is just too pretty and little.” He smiles at me.

“Don’t you worry. If I have anything to do with it, I plan on making her mine only,” I say proudly.

He laughs at me. “Boy by the looks of that kiss, I would say she is already yours.” He walks off after that comment.

I want to ask what he meant by that, but now I will never know. I sure hope she says yes today. She is driving me crazy already.

I head to the elevator to go back up to my room. When I get there, I see that Jacob and Tyler both have made themselves right at home. They better not get used to it. If Alexia says yes, I plan on having her around more, and that means the guys will have to behave.

Tyler looks up from the food he has made for himself. “Hey. Thanks for letting us crash last night. I really didn’t think I could have made it back to the dorm. Jacob said Alexia stayed too. Are you getting serious about some girl you just met? You have never brought girls here before.”

“I know I haven’t brought girls here, because no one has made me feel anything about them. This is my private place. I really like Alexia, and she makes me feel things I haven’t before. I would say yes that I am serious about her. I even asked her to be my girlfriend,” I proudly tell them.

Tyler looks stunned for a minute. “Wow. You are serious about her, and I have never seen you actually have a girlfriend since you started school here. How did she do that so fast, man?”