Every Girl Does It(14)

I smile sweetly while leaning in. His eyes take on a smoldering look of anticipation. Then, as I close the distance, I slam the door in his face.

****

It's official. I’m going to Hawaii. Yes, I know Preston will be there. But I won’t back down from a challenge. Please, afraid of him?

There’s no fear, but there’s attraction, and it’s like gravity. And if I’m being honest, that does scare me. Because I deserve to be hurt by him. The whole situation is the perfect revenge. If I have any fear it’s that his sarcastic and arrogant presence will tempt me to end his life before we land in Hawaii.

As my chest heaves thinking about his smug grin, I start to feel my heart beat faster, and I begin to panic. Is this what it feels like to have a mental break down? What’s happening to me? Without thinking, I run to my computer and WebMD comes up as my homepage. Kristin would kill me if she knew I still checked my favorite website. Searching my symptoms, I start to hyperventilate. And so I call Kristin, forgetting she’ll be upset that I’m doing this, again.

“Hello?”

“Kristin!” I’m seriously loud at this point.

“Yes?” Poor dear is afraid of me.

“I’m going crazy.” There, I said it.

“No, you're not.”

“Yes, I am!” I argue. “I have all the symptoms. I—”

“Amanda,” she scolds. “Did you go on WebMD again? I thought we discussed this, no more WebMD. Remember last time you did this?”

“No,” I lie.

“Amanda.” Now she’s using her mom voice.

“Okay, fine, I remember.”

“Now, be a good girl, hang up the phone, and go for a run or something to expend all your energy. No coffee. What’s gotten in to you lately? How did it go with the measurements? Sorry for that, by the way. And you’re leaving in less than three days for vacation with your best friend. You need to calm down.”

She’s right, so I take a deep breath and hang up the phone. She isn’t just right about me needing to calm down and run, she’s also right about the whole WebMD thing. Last time I went online, I convinced myself that not only was I going to die from a paper cut, but also that I had some sort of flesh eating disorder that was going to shut down all of my internal organs. I spent a night in the hospital over the paper cut and freaked out not only my friends but my family that ended up driving three hours just to make sure I was going to survive.

It was bad, but it was four years ago. How dare she hold that against me. And it wasn’t even my fault. Even if I was watching a special on Dateline about germs and how if you’re too clean your body can’t fight off the germs anymore leaving you exposed to flesh eating viruses. So it’s Datelines fault for keeping America too informed. And how was I to know that paper cuts are sometimes more painful than normal cuts because they slice the skins surface; stupid nighttime television.

Sighing as I look at the clock, I see that it’s around eight pm so I still have time to make it to the gym. These next few days are going to be jam packed with work before we leave for the airport. As I think about Hawaii, I choose to buy an extra ticket for Mrs. Butterworth. I couldn’t bare the thought of her having to have some strange person cat sit. It sounds creepy to have someone come in and feed you, pet you, and leave again. Well, that’s what I get to look forward to when I die alone in a retirement home. Sigh.

This time I shall be prepared. Not for Preston, but in general. So I pack my cute work out clothes, yoga pants as well as my new hot pink racer back top. Just in case there’s some new gym member that looks interesting. Heading to my car, I hop in and speed off to the REC center.



Chapter Five



I notice that the place looks just as dead as before, and oddly enough the front door is wide open. I close it behind me and run toward the stairs to get to my treadmill, then I’m attacked.

“Ahhhhh!” I let out the loudest shriek known to mankind.

“Get it off!” Screaming, I twist in a hundred different directions at once. There’s some large black object flying around my head toward me in a menacing fashion. The movie The Birds flashes before my eyes before I crumple into a heap on the floor.

Someone runs down the stairs in the direction of my body, which is now in the fetal position, and chases away the crazed animal before coming to my aid. My knight in shining armor! My hero! My— “Oh.” I say rather loudly.

“What do you mean ‘oh’?” Preston retorts as he leans down to pick me up off the floor.

“What was that?” I try to keep my voice from shaking but can’t because I’m so terrified.

“A bird.” He holds back a smile.

“A bird! No way, I don’t believe you. It couldn’t have been a bird, it tried to kill me.” My eyes are huge as I try to show him with my hands just how big the bird was.

He tells me to follow him with his little finger and leads me back outside near the trees that line the Rec center. “Do you see that?” He asks. Nodding, my throat goes dry as I look at a tree full of black birds.

“Somewhere in there is your bird. They sit around here a lot. The building is warm this time of year, so it makes sense they would invite themselves inside. You scared me back there, I thought you were getting mugged, not mauled by a sparrow.” He scowls at me then turns to walk back in the gym.