Walking Disaster

me?”
    “You always roll your eyes. Yes? No? You’re wasting precious date time.”
    “Yes!” she said in a loud whisper, a smile in her voice. “I’ll go.”
    “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
    The phone made a muffled thud when I tossed it to the end of the couch, and then my eyes traveled to America.
    “You got a date?”
    “I do,” I said, leaning back against the cushion.
    America tossed her legs off of Shepley, teasing him about their last race while he surfed through the channels. It didn’t take her long to get bored. “I’m going back to the
dorm.”
    Shepley frowned, never happy about her departure. “Text me.”
    “I will,” America said, smiling. “See ya, Trav.”
    I was envious that she was leaving, that she had something to do. I’d already finished days earlier the only two papers I had due.
    The clock above the television caught my eye. Minutes rolled by slowly, and the more I told myself to stop paying attention, the more my eyes drifted to the digital numbers in the box. After an
eternity, only half an hour had passed. My hands fidgeted. I felt more bored and restless until even seconds were torture. Pushing thoughts of Abby and Parker from my head became a constant
struggle. Finally I stood.
    “Leaving?” Shepley asked with a trace of a smile.
    “I can’t just sit here. You know how Parker’s been frothing at the mouth for her. It’s driving me crazy.”
    “You think they . . . ? Nah. Abby wouldn’t. America said she was . . . never mind. My mouth is going to get me in trouble.”
    “A virgin?”
    “You know?”
    I shrugged. “Abby told me. You think because we . . . that she’d . . . ?”
    “No.”
    I rubbed the back of my neck. “You’re right. I think you’re right. I mean, I hope. She’s capable of doing some crazy shit to push me away.”
    “Would it? Push you away, I mean?”
    I looked up into Shepley’s eyes. “I love her, Shep. I know what I’d do to Parker if he took advantage of her, though.”
    Shepley shook his head. “It’s her choice, Trav. If that’s what she decided, you’re going to have to let it go.”
    I took my bike keys and clenched my fingers around them, feeling the sharp edges of the metal as it dug into my palm.
    Before climbing on the Harley, I called Abby.
    “You home, yet?”
    “Yeah, he dropped me off about five minutes ago.”
    “I’ll be there in five more.”
    I hung up before she could protest. The frigid air that rushed against my face as I drove helped to numb the anger that thoughts of Parker sparked, but a sick feeling still descended on my gut
the closer I came to campus.
    The bike engine seemed loud as the noise bounced off the brick of Morgan Hall. Compared to the dark windows and the abandoned parking lot, me and my Harley made the night seem abnormally quiet,
and the wait exceptionally long. Finally Abby appeared in the doorway. Every muscle in my body tensed as I waited for her to smile or freak out.
    She did neither. “Aren’t you cold?” she asked, pulling her jacket tighter.
    “You look nice,” I said, noting she wasn’t in a dress. She obviously wasn’t trying to look all sexy for him, and that was a relief. “Did you have a good
time?”
    “Uh . . . yeah, thanks. What are you doing here?”
    I gunned the engine. “I was going to take a ride to clear my head. I want you to come with me.”
    “It’s cold, Trav.”
    “You want me to go get Shep’s car?”
    “We’re going bowling tomorrow. Can’t you wait until then?”
    “I went from being with you every second of the day to seeing you for ten minutes if I’m lucky.”
    She smiled and shook her head. “It’s only been two days, Trav.”
    “I miss you. Get your ass on the seat and let’s go.”
    She contemplated my offer, and then zipped up her jacket and climbed on the seat behind me.
    I pulled her arms around me without apology, tight enough that it was difficult to expand my chest enough to fully inhale, but for the first time all night, I felt like I could breathe.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lowball
    T HE HARLEY TOOK US NOWHERE IN PARTICULAR. WATCHING out for traffic and the sporadic police cruiser that crossed our path
was enough to keep my thoughts occupied at first, but after a while we were the only ones on the road. Knowing the night would eventually end, I decided the moment I dropped her off at Morgan would
be when I put in my last-ditch effort. Regardless of our platonic bowling dates, if she continued to see Parker,