Chapter Twelve

The next day after his summer school class, Tony rushed over to the gymnasium on the off-chance Allison would be there with Brittany. She didn’t answer his calls or return his texts and he was starting to panic. What did those bastards say to her last night?

Tony knew where Allison lived, but he didn’t know her room number or floor. He never needed to before now. Now, he was desperate to see her, to talk to her, so he went to see the one person who could give him the information—the head of the school’s spirit program.

He entered Janna’s office without knocking. “I need another favor.” He hoped he didn’t used up his good graces when Janna agreed to give Allison another chance at trying out for the cheer squad. Begging worked then. Maybe it will work now.

Janna looked up from her desktop computer. She took off her glasses and leaned back. “Nice to see you too, Ramos.”

“Sorry. Look. I need to know where Allison Martin lives.”

“Oh, I heard about what happened last night,” she said sympathetically.

His eyes went wide. “You heard?”

“Campus isn’t that big. News travels fast in the athletics department.”

Tony rolled his eyes. That meant his coaches heard about it too. “Then you know nothing happened. I didn’t do nothing to her.”

“Then why do you need her contact information?”

“Because I can’t reach her by phone and I want to make sure she’s okay after being grilled by campus security. Look, she’s my friend.” He pressed his hand to his chest. “I care about her and I just—I know her building. Can’t you just give me her room number?”

Janna cocked her head. “Tony, you know better than that. I’m a member of the faculty and it’s against our policy to give out personal information on students.” When Tony sighed, she relented. “Okay, look, I can see you’re worried about her. Did you check EFUbook, the school’s social media site?”

“I don’t do social media,” he answered, looking past Janna and out the window.

“Maybe you should. As a student here, you’d have access. If she has an active account, you might be able to reach her that way.”

Tony’s eyes widened and he refocused. “Yeah. Yeah. Can you, um…” He reached into his pocket for his phone. “Can you show me how to set up an account?”

Janna smiled and motioned for him to come behind her desk. “Sure, I’ll show you where you can find the link to the website.”

»»•««

After leaving Janna’s office, Tony was walking down the corridor with his phone in hand, looking at the display and working on setting up his EFUbook account so he could connect with Allison. If she wouldn’t take his calls, he figured it couldn’t hurt to try an alternative. His setup was interrupted by an incoming call. It was Allison! He immediately put the phone to his ear.

“Allie, hey, you okay?”

“That’s what I was gonna ask you,” her voice came through the speaker on his phone.

“I’m good. I was just worried about you. Allie, I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” He could hear her choking up a little. “I’m the one who’s sorry. They completely took my words out of context. I just hope they didn’t give you too hard a time.”

I’m used to it, he thought to himself. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. Um. I need to see you, Allie. Can we get together today?”

“I have class, then tryout practice, and then I have to go to work.”

“Oh.”

“Wait. I have a half hour break at twelve thirty. Want to meet in the campus cafe?”

Tony exhaled. “Yeah. I’ll see you then.”

»»•««

The bell rang, signaling the end of Tony’s sports science class, but Tony didn’t hear it. He was lost in thought about Allison. He just couldn’t stop thinking about her. Despite the fact she called him, there was something in her tone that wasn’t quite right. Maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed distant, uncomfortable. He wondered if it was because he almost kissed her on the football field, or because of what happened afterward. Or maybe it was all in his head and he was worrying for nothing. There was only one way to find out, and luckily he wouldn’t have to wait too long. He’d be meeting up with her in an hour.

He looked down when he felt something touch his foot. Matt was standing in front of Tony’s desk in the lecture hall. He kicked Tony’s foot to get his attention. “You okay, Ramos? Class is over.”

Tony looked around the room and saw that most everyone had filed out. He rose from his chair and began to gather his things. “Yup. It’s all good.”

“You don’t look like everything’s good. What’s up? Girl trouble?”

Tony looked into his teammate’s face. Warner had the look—that clean cut, blond-haired, blue-eyed look of an All-American quarterback. On looks alone, it was no wonder the coaches chose the fair-haired boy over him. Warner looked like “Ken” from his grandmother’s classic doll collection. Like Tony, the guy was going into his Junior year in the fall. He was newly transferred from a small Jesuit college because EFU had a more credible athletic program for anyone hoping to get into the big leagues.

This was the guy Tony was learning to hate, his main competition, which led Tony to assume Warner heard what happened last night and was about to gloat. Seemed like everybody heard what happened. Bad news spread fast, especially when the news was about Tony. He cringed when he thought about what his coaches must be thinking. He was a heartbeat away from getting kicked off the team entirely, and this just might be the final straw.

Matt stood waiting for an answer. He and Tony hadn’t talked much outside of team meetings. In fact, Tony didn’t even realize Warner was taking summer school classes too, but hell, what did Tony have to lose? He nodded and plopped back down in his chair. “Man, I really like this girl and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“That doesn’t sound like you, I mean from what I’ve heard.”

“No, it does sound like me.” Tony leaned forward. “It’s exactly who I am. I can get a girl in bed, no problem, but I don’t know how to tell a girl I like her.” When Matt laughed, Tony felt his anger rise. He obviously chose the wrong sounding board. “Don’t laugh at me, dude. This is serious.”

Matt sat down on the desk. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to laugh. I just don’t get it.”

“This girl? See, she’s different.”

“Like how?”

“Like she’s a regular person. She’s not fake. She don’t use people. She’s wholesome. Hey.” Tony tapped Matt’s arm with the back of his hand. He looked around the lecture hall to make sure no one was listening. “You have this purity promise thing, right?”

Matt smiled. “It’s not a secret and I’m not embarrassed about it. Yeah, I plan to wait for marriage.”

“So why the hell am I asking you for advice? What do you even know about girls or having a girlfriend if you’re—”

“Look man, I took a vow of chastity and I’m proud of that. And dude, just because I’m not having sex doesn’t mean I never had girlfriends.”

Tony’s brow knit. “So, what do you do on dates?”

“Talk. Get to know each other.”

“I don’t mean to get personal, but do you like fool around and stuff?”

“Absolutely.” Matt smiled, his perfect teeth on display. “You might be surprised what the ‘and stuff’ is.”

Squinting, Tony said, “Okay. Shoot.”

“Well, purity doesn’t preclude everything, you know? There’s a line you don’t cross, but fooling around happens.”

“Wow. I don’t know how you do it, man.”

“It’s easier than you think when you respect yourself and the girl.”

“Respect,” Tony repeated quietly.

“So this girl,” Matt said, changing the subject. “You talk about her like she’s a virgin.”

Tony nodded. “I think she is. I mean I don’t know for sure, but there’s this innocence about her.” He smiled and stared into space. “Damn, she makes me wanna protect her.”

“Do you think she likes you?”

“I think so. I mean, I’m pretty sure she does.” Until yesterday, Tony said to himself.

“Well if she likes you, what’s the big deal?”

He took a breath and admitted, “Look, I never had a girlfriend for more than one night. Know what I mean? I’m twenty years old and I never asked a girl out unless ‘hey, wanna hang out at my place’ is the same as asking someone on a date. Me and Allison, we’re kinda friends I guess, and I’m not sure how to tell her I wanna be more than friends.”

“Just tell her how you feel, dude.”

“Suppose I mess things up? This may sound lame, but I don’t want to lose her altogether.”

“I get that,” Matt said. “And no one wants to mess things up, Tony. You gotta start somewhere unless you just wanna have nothing but one night stands for the rest of your life.”

Tony never really thought about having a relationship before he met Allison, probably because long-term relationships don’t run in his family. A one night stand with Allison would never be enough.

“Just talk to her.” Matt patted Tony on the shoulder and got off the desk.

“Just talk to her,” Tony mumbled to himself. “Easier said than done.”

The two men looked toward the door when some students entered the classroom. “I gotta get to my next class,” Matt told Tony. “Good luck.”

He fist-bumped Tony and started to walk toward the door when Tony called to him. “Hey.” Matt stopped and turned around. “Thanks man. I appreciate the advice.”

With a wave, Matt said, “No problem. Let me know how it goes.”

»»•««

Allison found a couple of seats at a table in the campus cafe, otherwise known as the school cafeteria. Tony kept one eye on her as he paid for their food.

He joined her at the table holding a basket of fries and two bottled iced teas. Allison plucked the bottles out of his hands as he set the fries down. “See, if I tried carryin’ that without a tray, the fries would be all over the floor.”

“Even with a tray,” he added with a wink. Taking a seat beside her, he scanned the dining hall. “If the coaches catch me eating fries, they’ll kill me.”

“Then why are you?” Allison asked. “Livin’ on the edge?”

Reaching for a few fries, he shrugged. “Just tired of bananas.”

She picked up the ketchup bottle from the table and offered it to him. “No, I’m good, but you go ahead.”

Allison squirted some ketchup into the basket.

“Allie, I wanted to tell you again that I’m really sorry about last night.”

She set down the ketchup and gave him a look. “Quit apologizin’, it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, but if I wasn’t who I am, you wouldn’t of had to go through that crap.”

“It’s okay.” Tony opened his mouth to say something else, and Allison placed her hand on top of his. “Can we not talk about this anymore? Ever?”

“Oh. Um. Sure. So we’re good?” She nodded and took a bite of a French fry. “There’s actually something else I wanted to talk to you about,” he hesitantly added.

“What?”

He blew some air out through his lips. “Gee, I’m not sure I even know how to ask.”

“Ask what?”

Tony was never tentative around girls, but Allison was different. If things didn’t go well, this could be the last time he ever saw her and that thought was unbearable. On the spur of the moment, he decided to try a different tactic so he could feel her out. “Um, can I ask your advice about something?”

“My advice? No one ever asks for my advice,” she said with a chuckle.

“Yeah well. Um. There’s this girl. I kind of like her and wanna ask her out.”

“Oh.” Allison was quiet for a minute. Avoiding eye contact, she asked, “So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is me. I never really had a girlfriend before.”

Allison scowled and leaned away. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

“No, no, you’re missing my point. I’ve had um … I’ve had girls before, sure, but not girlfriends. I don’t um really date.”

“But you’d like to?”

He tried to catch her eye, but she was busy babysitting the fries. “With this girl, yeah.”

Allison threw down the fry she was about to eat. “So what do you want me to do about it?” There was an anger in her tone.

“Well, suppose there was a guy you liked and you wanted him to ask you out. What would you want him to say? Or do?”

“Oh, hmm.” She looked toward the checkout line, continuing to avoid his gaze. “I don’t know. I guess I’d like him to be sweet and thoughtful.”

“Like how?”

“Like maybe he’d send flowers to my dorm room with a note that was kinda personal. Maybe a poem or somethin’.”

“Poems and flowers, huh?” It would have been easier to just ask her out. Instead, he may have just made his life way more complicated. “Like what kind of flower? A rose?”

“Well, sure, I guess. Some girls like roses.”

“What about you,” he asked expectantly.

“Roses are so commonplace, kinda trite, ya know?” When Tony shook his head no, she briefly glanced in his direction and explained, “I mean they’re overused. They’re unoriginal.”

“Oh, okay. I get what you mean. So what flower would be more original?”

“Tulips,” she mused with a small smile. “A tulip bud, one that hasn’t opened yet.”

He scratched his head. She’d given this a lot more thought than he would have. “Um. Why?”

“’Cause when you say its name, it sounds like you’re sayin’ ‘two lips.’” She ran her index finger over her upper and lower lips and Tony followed her movement with his eyes. “It’s romantic,” she explained.

“Yeah, I can… I can see that now.” He swallowed hard and his heartbeat quickened as he watched her. Ask her dammit! “Uh. Any special color?” Not that, you fool! His teammates would be laughing their asses off if they saw how awkward Tony was acting.

“Well, tulips come in lots of colors. It could be red or pink or yellow or orange or white.”

“Yeah, but which color would you want?”

Allison thought about it for a minute. “From a potential love interest, I’d want pink.”

“Why pink?” Quit stalling, Ramos!

“Because red usually stands for love. Yellow means friendship, and white … well, white is too innocent.” He raised his eyebrows, surprised by that explanation. “Pink is kind of a combination of the others. And a tulip bud is young and waiting to be discovered, so it’s filled with possibilities.”

“Wow, you’ve really thought a lot about this.”

Allison blushed. “I guess.”

“And where would the guy take you on your first date?”

“A picnic,” she answered without hesitation.

“Seriously?”

Allison finally looked him in the eye. “Sure, why not?”

“I don’t know. A picnic sounds so wholesome.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

Tony felt the heat rise in his core. His mind wandered and he imagined making love to Allison on a picnic blanket. “I’ve never been on a picnic,” he confessed.

“You’re jokin’.”

“I’m a street kid. The only picnics I’ve seen were in movies. But hey, for this girl, I’m willing to give it a try.” He smiled and was about to reach for her hand and tell her that she is the girl when Allison turned away from him. “Hey.” He briefly touched her chin and turned her to look at him. “I like your ideas. A lot. I want to take your advice. In fact—”

Allison looked down at her lap and clasped her hands together. Swallowing hard, she cut him off, “Stop it. Just stop. I really don’t understand any of this.”

“Any of what?”

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I thought… I guess… I guess I got the wrong idea.” Her voice faltered. “Because I thought somethin’ was happenin’ here.” She gestured between the two them with her index finger. “But I’m obviously wrong. I feel so dayum stupid.” She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up.

“Allison, wait.” He reached for her hand. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Look, the real reason I asked is—”

She pulled her hand away. “I need to go. Leave me alone.” She ran off, leaving Tony stunned.