Page 6 of Between the Blue
My mouth hangs open as I look after him.
He opens the locker, shoving his things inside and putting headphones on his head, not even acknowledging my existence anymore.
I can’t help the scoff that escapes me as I shake my head, reaching for the door.
I push it open, stepping out, but my feet involuntarily stop in place in the doorframe. As if I’m not even in control of my body, my neck pulls back and my head swivels.
My gaze locks on James again, watching as he unzips his black jacket and shoves it into his locker.
And I don’t know why I do it, but I walk right back over to him, coming to a stop just behind his open locker door.
He doesn’t even glance at me.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” I say.
Silence.
“We got off on the wrong foot. I’m sorry I accused you of being in the wrong place when it was me all along. Like I said, I just moved here and I’m a little frazzled.” I run a hand down my face, feeling embarrassed, before I hold it out towards him. “I’m Addison. Or Addie. Most of my friends call me that.”
He completely ignores my words and my handshake, grabbing his water bottle from his gym bag instead and taking a drink from it.
“Hello?” I drop my hand and lean forward, trying to put myself into his line of sight.
It’s like I’m not even here.
He slams his locker door shut and turns to leave.
So I physically put my body in front of his.
He stops in place, and I notice the breath he blows out of his nose. It takes several seconds for his gaze to drag from the floor, trail uncomfortably slowly up my body, and to finally settle on my face.
“I’m sorry,” I repeat.
He has absolutely no reaction.
We’re standing close. Much closer than I planned.
I don’t know what possesses me to do what I do next. Honestly I’m not sure what has possessed me over the last several minutes.
He’s tall, but so am I. Being 5’10”, it makes it easy to reach up and pluck the right pad of his headphones away from his ear.
I expect to find loud music blaring from it, but am surprised when I hear nothing.
“Can I help you?” he practically grits, his voice low.
I swallow against the sudden dryness in my throat. “I said I’m sorry,” I breathe.
“And I heard you.” He covers my hand with his own, detaching my fingers from where they wrap around his headphones and making my arm drop awkwardly back to my side.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?” I question him.
His eyes flick down and up one more time, something like a wince briefly crossing his features. Before I can even question why, he cuts off my thought process.
“Because I don’t care.”
My lips press into a line. “Well, excuse me, James. I was raised to apologize when I make a mistake. But if you’d like, I’ll just leave you be.”
He shakes his head, his jaw flexing. “I would like that,” he says, the words coming out as nearly a growl. And then he’s moving around me, heading straight for the door. I already feel stuck to the spot where I stand, but the combination of his next words and the searing look he gives me along with them leave me frozen and speechless in the men’s locker room for anyone to find for minutes to come.
