Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding #1)(131)

She staggered backwards out of the man's way. He didn't even seem to realize anyone was in front of him. A peel of laughter broke free from the bedroom and Lexi peeked her head around the corner into the room hoping to find out what was going on. Chyna readjusted her bra strap which seemed to have been pushed out of place.

"You okay Chy?" Lexi asked concerned that perhaps the laughter hadn't been pleasant.

"Yeah just had to get rid of some ass**le," she commented yanking her skirt back to its appropriate length.

"Did you do that to that guy?" Lexi asked unable to keep the humor out of her voice. Chyna nodded a smug smile across her face. "He looked pretty messed up."

"I've been taking self-defense classes for as long as I can remember. He got too friendly too fast and I didn't want it. So I jabbed my palm into his nose. Then rammed my elbows into his kidneys until he squealed like girl and ran out of here," Chyna said grabbing her hair and pulling all to the right side of her body.

Lexi doubled over with laughter. "That's impressive. You'll have to teach me a thing or two."

Lexi leaned back against Chyna's bed. Chyna eyed her for the first time. "So, where is your man? Aren't you supposed to be sexing it up by now?"

Lexi cringed. "He got called away for a job interview."

"Uh huh…" Chyna said coughing into her hand. "A job interview. At this time of night."

"Don't tell me you don't believe him either," Lexi cried throwing her hands up into the air.

Chyna threw her own hands up in defense. "No I believe you if you say so, but it does seem just a little suspicious."

"Well you weren't there so you didn't hear the conversation," she said trying to dispel the feeling of foreboding coming over her. Jack wouldn't do that. They had just been about to have sex. There would be no need for him to run off for anything else unless it was important. That is what he had said the very first night she had seen him back in town. He wouldn't leave her side for anything else.

It's not like he had been acting sketchy anytime recently. It's not like he had a reason to do anything when he had her. They had been too happy. She had kept him too…satisfied for him to want anything else. She couldn't even think about that possibility. He said he would never lie to her again and she had to believe that was the truth. She couldn't let old fears win out.

"No you're right," Chyna said not convinced. "Let's just forget about it. You've had a long couple of weeks and we're here to party."

Lexi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right. You're always right. Let's party!"

And so they spent the remainder of the night doing just that. Neither thought about their worries, complications, or futures, they simply enjoyed the company of a crowded room of strangers. Lexi tried to keep the drinking to a minimum, but she danced until her heart's contentment. Her roommates were slumped all around the room making out with random guys. Lexi would have never believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. Without her own guy to be affectionate with, she decided to call it an early night.

She realized at that point that she hadn't even checked her phone since Jack had left. He could have called and she might have missed it. Anxious to find out what had happened, she quickly kissed Chyna on the cheek and told her good-bye.

Once she got in the cab, she pulled out her phone to check for any messages. Her heart fluttered when she saw that she had a missed call from Jack and a voicemail waiting for her to listen.

After the annoying woman informed her of her options about the voicemail, Jack's clear voice rang in her ears. "Hey Lex, interview's over. It was just bs…just f**king bullshit. I…I don't really want to talk about it. I'm just gonna go home and crash. I'll talk to you in the morning. Have fun."

The line went dead in her hands and she snapped the phone shut. She slid the phone back into her purse feeling dejected. Something had gone wrong at the interview, but he didn't want to talk to her about it. She knew that it was a completely rational reaction for him to not want to discuss his feelings. Guys were like that all the time. She just thought that they were beyond that point. They had known each other for a long time. But she didn't want to think about any other option for him not wanting to talk tonight. Chyna and Claire had planted a seed in her mind, but she just couldn't believe them.

The only thing that she could think about right now was that after all that work she had put in for the school year, she was the only one left all alone for the night.

Somehow she just wasn't sure how this night could get any worse.

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Thanks so much for your support with the last chapter! My awesome reviewers: Cupid's Psyche, CaliBound, total romance., jet. black. dbs., misatok123, Sure as the Dawn, cosmopolitan, sammi-2688, and channingcaughtfire.

K.A. Linde

Hallway

Ewan: Love lifts us up where we belong!

Where eagles fly,

On a mountain high!

Nicole: Love makes us act like we are fools.

Throw our lives away,

For one happy day.

-Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman "Elephant Love Medley"

* * *

Chapter 21: Present

The stadium lights were illuminated for the occasion stretching out across home plate, through the gritty dirt to the pitcher's mound, splayed out through the evenly cut emerald green grass, and further down the endless rows of bleachers. City traffic could be heard as hundreds of cars traveled across the series of roads and highways that mapped the terrain. Twinkling stars were faintly visible overhead despite the perpetual lighting that whitened the black night.