Unraveling (Second Chances) - By Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,115

he motioned to himself and the others behind him. “Your mother won’t be there. It’ll be fun.”

I swallowed. He was right. This birthday would be different. My mother wouldn’t be barking orders, ruining my day.

“Okay,” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “A party will be fine.”

“Good,” Jared grinned, as we walked down the street to where we had parked.

“I want to go bowling,” I declared.

“Bowling?” Jared questioned.

“Yes, bowling. I’ve never been bowling before, so that’s what I want to do.”

“You’ve never been bowling?” Holden asked, looking scandalized.

“No,” I shook my head, “my mom wouldn’t let me. She said there were only low-life’s there and it was full of germs.”

“Your mom must be a fucking psycho,” Holden declared.

“You have no idea,” Jared muttered, stopping next to my car. Holden went on his way and Karlie went to Jared’s Toyota. Rollo stood a few feet away, giving us the illusion of privacy. “I’ll make sure you have the best birthday you’ve ever had,” Jared said brushing my hair back from my forehead.

“It won’t be that hard to make it the best,” I laughed.

“I’m still going to try,” he said, bending down to kiss me. “I’ll see you at the gym tomorrow?”

“Of course,” I smiled.

~***~

I dropped Rollo off at his dorm. He was on the phone again with his parents, and it sounded like they were being persuaded to rent the apartment. I really hoped they would. Rollo hated the dorms, and I didn’t blame him. I probably would have gone into cardiac arrest if I had to share a dorm with a stranger.

He turned and waved as he walked away, still chatting away.

I drove the short distance to my condo. I went about my nightly ritual, getting in my pajamas, brushing my teeth, and lastly, taking my sleeping pill.

So, far it had been working at keeping the nightmare away.

I slipped under the covers, Mable taking up my pillow. I reached up to pet her tail, the motion soothing me, and soon, my eyes closed.

~***~

“What kind of cake do you want?” Jared asked, as I swung a punch at the pads on his hands.

“Chocolate,” I answered, sounding out of breath.

“I called the bowling alley this morning and already booked your party,” he said.

I laughed. “That was quick.”

“Your birthday is in two days. They weren’t too happy with me,” he chuckled. “They thought I was a dad that forgot to schedule his kid’s party. I told them it was for my girlfriend and they thought I was lying.”

“Most people don’t have their twentieth birthday at a bowling alley,” I punched the pads harder this time.

“You’re right about that,” he said. “It’ll still be fun though. Do you mind if Dan and Patsy come?”

“Of course not. I’d love for them to be there,” I panted.

“Alright, stop,” Jared, said and I ceased my punching.

I was out of breath and I wanted some water.

I slipped the gloves off and slipped out of Jared’s training ring. I grabbed my water bottle, taking three long swallows.

When I screwed the top back on, Jared said, “Come on, sit-up time.”

I groaned, but lay down on the puffy blue mat. Jared held my feet tightly in his hands. “Fifty,” he said.

“Fifty?” I cried. “Are you trying to kill me? I thought you were the one that was supposed to be training, not me?”

Jared laughed, letting go of my foot with one hand, to push his hair out of his eyes.

“Just trust me.”

“Right now, I hate you,” I grumbled, starting my sit-ups.

“It’ll get easier the more you do it,” he said.

“That’s easy for you to say! Look at you!” I cried.

“If you keep talking, it’s going to make it harder,” he grinned.

“If you keep smiling at me, like that, it’s going to be hard for you to walk with my foot shoved up your ass,” I grumbled.

He threw his head back, laughing. “Oh my, how you’ve changed in the eight months I’ve known you.”

“I haven’t changed,” my breath hissed out as I completed a sit-up, “I just found my true self.”

“And you’re a feisty thing,” he chuckled as I took a swipe at his head.

“How many more?” I asked.

“Twenty,” he said.

I groaned.

We were quiet as I finished my sit-ups.

Jared stood and held out a hand to help me up. “I think I preferred it when you were doing the pushups and all I had to do was lay there,” I put my hands on my hips, chest rising and falling rapidly.

He threw his back in laughter. “Of course you did,”