Breaking Tackles: A Taking Flight Novel (11 page)

On Sunday afternoon, I have the entire dorm to myself.

I pick up my phone to text Adam and the phone rings in my hand.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Adam says. “How’s your Sunday?”

“Quiet,” I say.

“Really?” he asks. “I figured everyone would be settling in and hanging out and catching up.”

“Sophie, Kate, and I did some of that last night. But right now Sophie is at the
Maneater
office working on tomorrow’s edition of the newspaper, Kate is studying for the pop quiz she thinks her organic chemistry professor is going to give on the first day of class, and, actually, I have no idea where Willa is.”

“She hasn’t moved in yet?”

“Not yet,” I say. “She texted us when her plane got in late last night, so she’s here. She’s probably just hanging out with her dad.”

“Most likely,” Adam says. “So what are you up to? Taking advantage of the quiet?”

“I went to mass this morning and have been hanging out here. Mostly watching
Sports Center
off and on.”

“That sounds like a perfect Sunday.”

“It’d be more perfect if it involved you. And beignets.”

He laughs softly and says, “I know. I miss you. But I get to see you in a couple weeks.”

“True,” I say, my heart quickening at the idea of going to an NFL game where my fiancé will be playing.

Well, he probably
won’t
see any playing time. But he’s on the team.

“You booked your flight, right?”

“Yeah,” I say. “It all looks good. I fly in late that Friday night and then out super early Monday.”

Luckily, I was able to schedule my classes so that I don’t have anything on Mondays until the afternoon.

“How early is super early?”

“Six a.m.”

“Okay,” he says with a sigh. “We’ll definitely take advantage of Saturday.
 

“Yeah,” I say. “Definitely.”

I hear a key being inserted into the lock on the door and say, “Oh, I think Willa is finally here.”

“Good,” he says. “Should I let you go?”

“I should probably help her move her stuff in. I’ll call you back later.”

“Okay,” he says. “Tell everyone I say hi. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I hang up just as Willa, her dad, and a woman I assume is her dad’s girlfriend walk in the door.

“Courtney!” Willa says, putting down the Target bags she’s holding and giving me a hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” I say, giving her a little squeeze.

“You, too,” she says, before taking a deep breath and saying, “Courtney, this is my dad’s girlfriend, Mel. Mel, this is Courtney.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say, extending my hand. She takes mine in hers and says, “The pleasure’s mine.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Courtney,” Professor Thompson says. “How was your summer?”

“It was good. But I’m very happy to be back here. Can I help you guys bring anything up?”

“If you don’t mind,” Willa says. “I’m pretty sure we bought all of Target.”

I laugh and follow them down to Professor Thompson’s car and begin helping them unload the bags.

“What is all of this?” I ask.

“I might have gotten carried away with the idea that we have a kitchen. I bought lots of stuff. And food. And decor.”

“I always have to resist impulse shopping there,” Mel says. “But today, we splurged.”

“We sure did,” Professor Thompson says. “But, hey, it’s not every day your only daughter moves into her sophomore year dorm room.”

We all laugh at that and spend the next couple hours finding homes for all of the new things. Once we’re finished, the living room looks cozy and lived-in instead of just the stark white walls and stock furniture that was here when Sophie and I moved in yesterday.

“Thanks so much for doing this,” I say to Willa. “Do Sophie and I need to chip in some money?”

“Absolutely not,” Professor Thompson says, before checking his watch. “I need to head out to the
Maneater
office. Don’t tell Sophie and Luke I’m on my way—I want to surprise them. Make sure they’re actually working and that Luke isn’t throwing a party.”

We laugh because we all know that Luke would never throw a party in the newspaper office. Especially since he’s editor-in-chief this year.

“We’ll keep your secret,” Willa says, before hugging her dad, who kisses her on the temple. “Thanks so much for all your help today.”

“Of course,” he says. “You two settle in and get some sleep tonight. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“And me!” Mel says. “For any non-father needs you may have.”

Willa smiles, but I notice her smile is a little tight at the corners, and I say, “It was so nice to meet you. Have a great night!”

Once they leave, Willa says, “Thanks for being cool about them staying this long.”

“It was no problem,” I say. “Is everything okay with you and Mel?”

“Oh, everything is fine. But when she says things like being there for my non-father needs, I want to remind her that I have a mom who is around for my non-father needs.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that,” I say.

“I know,” Willa says. “But I still get all weird about it when she makes statements like that. Anyway. How are things with you?”

“Fine,” I say, shrugging. “The same, mostly. How was your summer in New York? With Dan?”

“So good,” she says, sinking into the couch. “I mean, I was in class during the day and he worked really weird hours since he was interning with a movie studio, so we didn’t see each other as much as we wanted. But it was still a summer together in the city.”

“I honestly thought you might stay there.”

“Really?” Willa asks. “Why?”

“Well, you wanted to go to John Jay initially, so I thought that maybe after the summer intensive you’d try to transfer so that you and Dan don’t have to do long distance anymore.”

“You know, that never even crossed my mind,” Willa says. “I really love it here. And I love you guys. Obviously I love Dan, too, but he and I know how to do long distance.”

“I’m going to need to take some serious lessons from you this year.”

Willa smiles knowingly and says, “You and Adam will figure it out. I saw the photos you posted from your visit to New Orleans. Was it as amazing as it looked?”

“It’s such a cool place. It just has this really unique vibe. And the food is incredible.”

“Voodoo vibes and yummy food. I am in,” Willa says. “Speaking of, the cake in the photo from that fancy schmancy restaurant looked divine. As did both of you.”

“Really? I hate that photo of me.”

Though the restaurant had a photographer who directed us in the photo, the pimple on my chin is completely visible—red and shiny and basically blinking—and because of the way my head is tilted, I look like I have a double chin.

“Why?”

“Because I look like a whale. I really need to lose some weight. And probably need to work out more.”

“Oh,” she says, shifting uncomfortably. “Well, you can always come to yoga with me and Sophie, if you’d like.”

My memory flashes back to the party at the Montgomerys, where all the women talked about how they do yoga every day. I’ve never even tried it.

“Yeah, I can do that,” I say, making the decision. “But I’ll need a beginner class.”

“Absolutely,” Willa says. “We normally go to an all-levels class anyway. And the instructor is super helpful and encouraging. But if you want a primer on yoga poses so you don’t feel completely out of the loop, I can do that here.”

“That’d be great,” I say, feeling a little relieved. I hate being the obvious newbie. And because I’m sure everyone who goes to yoga looks like Sophie and Willa, I don’t want to be the token clueless fat girl.

“Do you want to do it now?” Willa asks.

“Sure.”

An hour later, I know how to do Down Dog, Child’s Pose, Sun Salutation, and the different Warrior Poses. And just from Willa showing me how to get into the poses, I’m already feeling a burn in my muscles.

This is good.

“How are you feeling?” Willa asks.

“Good, I think,” I say. “I’m glad we did this. I would have felt like an idiot at my first class, looking around at everyone and trying to figure out what the hell the instructor wanted me to do.”

“Don’t worry about not knowing something. There are times that the instructor will say the name of a pose and I have no idea what it is, so I just look around or watch and see if the instructor demonstrates it. There’s no harm in looking.”

“Good to know,” I say, going over to the now-stocked mini-fridge and reaching for a Coke. But I catch myself and grab a bottle of water instead. “Want anything to drink?”

“Water would be great.”

I grab another bottle for her and join her on the couch.

“TV?” she asks.

“Sure.”

She flips it on and ESPN comes up from when I was watching it earlier.

“This just in from the St. Louis Rams. Draft pick Drew Godfrey has been officially added to the roster.”

“Oh my God, yay!” I say, getting up and doing a silly little dance around the living room.

“I recognize that name,” Willa says.

“He was our quarterback last year.”

“Oh! Right! Hooray!”

I pick up my phone to text Adam about Drew. They’re good friends, and I’m sure Adam will want to congratulate him. That is, if he hasn’t already.

“Oh my God, Becca,” I say out loud while trying to find her number in my contacts list. I haven’t talked to her since the end of the last semester. We’re friendly, but we’re not the kind of friends who keep up with each other over the summer. But she did text me when the news about Adam making the Saints was released, so I should do the same.

The phone rings and rings and I think it’s going to go to voice mail as she picks up.

“Hello?”

“Becca! I just heard the news!”

“Is that his girlfriend?” Willa asks, and I nod.

“We are so relieved,” she says.

“I’m so glad it worked out for him. For you both.”

“Me, too,” she says. “It just sucks that I’m not there with him to celebrate, you know?”

“Are you on campus?” I ask.

“Yeah. I decided to come back and finish my junior year here. Especially since we weren’t sure what the future was going to hold with the Rams.”

“I hear you on that. That was exactly my reasoning on coming here this year.”