Page 12 of Summer Message

“No pressure at all.” I try to reassure her that I’m not looking for anything more than what she’s willing to give me. But I’m really starting to like this girl.

“What do you do for work? We haven’t really talked about your jobs.”

“I got injured playing football my sophomore year of college and ended my dreams of the NFL. My coach was a good man and made me reevaluate. I found out that as I went through rehab, I really enjoyed getting to know my therapist. She was a tough woman to please and made me work hard. I wanted to do for others what she did for me. I rearranged my goals and then my class schedule, and now I'm a physical therapist. I have a job interview for a local high school looking for a football coach. I want to train the future football players like my coaches trained me.”

“That's very admirable. I couldn't imagine the pain of losing your dreams and giving up everything you'd wished for, but I love the fact that you're wanting to give back to kids.”

I perk up with her words. She gets it.

“I had a lot of people supporting me growing up and was always taught to give back. I plan on doing that for as long as I can.”

“That's how I feel about being a guidance counselor. I want to help shape futures and guide those who are having difficulty through life. I went through a lot of training and shadowed different counselors. It amazes me how much one child can go through and still keep it together. It broke my heart to hear some of the stories.”

“It’ll be nice to have an inside track with a guidance counselor as I coach these guys,” I tell her.

“Inside track, huh? I can do that. Well, I better say good night because it's almost three a.m. and I bet we’re both going to be up early.”

We say good night at the same time. I actually didn't mean to call her. I was coming down the stairs and bumped the call button instead and figured what the hell. It was nice hearing her laugh and her voice. I know that I'm going into this as nothing more than a friend, but I can tell from this one conversation that she's something special.

I fall asleep dreaming of a faceless woman who makes me smile.

* * *

Iwake up on the couch to someone shushing someone.

“Don’t worry, I'm awake. You two are horrible at being quiet.”

My mom laughs.“Sorry honey. I tried, but Al here walks around with elephant feet.”

“I'm off to the track to get some miles in. Do you want to join me?” Al asks me.

“Not today. I have an appointment with my physical therapist to see about my leg.” I got the confirmation from my boss that he could fit me in. “Mom do you want to go with me?”

“I'd love to.” She seems excited that I'm getting her involved with things.

I stand up and stretch before moving. I don't want to fall again. I hope it's nothing major. Just a pinched nerve, or maybe I need more stretching exercises.

“I'm going to go shower and get ready.” I kiss her temple and jog up the stairs.

I know I need to go easier with things while I'm healing from this accident. But as I'm in the shower, I'm trying to think over everything that I need to do today and tomorrow. The football coach was understanding about the bruises, so that’s one less worry

I sigh and plop down on my bed.I don't know if I can keep doing this.

A thought pops into my head and I smiled. I grab my phone from the nightstand. I bring up my recent call history and tap on Kristina's name.

“Hello, Matthew.” She sounds chipper for only getting about seven hours of sleep, especially since she's been losing sleep over the renovations.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” I ask.

“I did, thank you. My parents are still sleeping, so I decided to sit outside on my front step with my coffee. I'm having a couple of swings made for the porch. I need to get some furniture for it too. It's a wrap around, which I love so much.” She sounds excited, which makes me smile.

“I love swings on porches at night, watching the sunset. My dad has one on the family farm that we would go to during the summers and fall. It was so calming.” I rambled on about it but caught myself. “I was calling to ask if you want to go get pizza and maybe go bowling with me next week.”

“I haven't been bowling in so long. I'd love to do that. Can we pick a place in between? My town doesn't have a bowling alley.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. We'll work out the details once our parents leave, how does that sound?”

“I like this plan.” I can tell she's smiling on the other end.

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