Marisol's POV- April 2018

I sluggishly sat up and reached for my ringing phone.

"Hello," I mumbled.

"Oh, shit. I woke you up, I'm sorry"

I squinted my eyes as I looked at the screen. It was past midnight and Cody was the person who had called me.

"It's alright, what's up?" I asked.

"I can't sleep"

He sighed.

"I don't know why I called you, you probably have class"

"I do have class, but it's fine" I assured him as I got out of bed.

I turned on my desk lamp and opened my laptop.

"What was that?"

He was referring to the whine/howling noise Bugsy made when the light woke him up.

"My dog" I replied.

"Bugs"

"Bugsy" I corrected.

His legal name was Bugsy, but I referred to him as Bugs. Yes, he was named after Bugs Bunny.

"I'm going to Facetime you" I said.

"Okay"

I smiled as his face appeared on the screen of my laptop.

"I can't see you"

I moved the sticky note off the lens.

"Hello" I greeted.

He smiled.

"Hey"

It was very clear he was tired. There was a clear indentation where the dark circles under his eyes were forming.

"Why don't you lie down?" I suggested.

"Do I look that bad?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"Marisol, you keep me humble"

I rolled my eyes as I shut off the desk lamp.

"So are you alone right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, Chris went to visit Desi"

Well, it had been a week since they had last seen each other.

"Bugs, move" I instructed.

My stubborn pooch ignored me making me pick him up. While holding him with one arm, I climbed up on my bed. Once I was under my blankets, I looked at the screen of my laptop. Cody was now lying down and under his blankets as well.

"Did you watch the game?"

"I watched it with Lucy" I stated.

"Any constructive criticism?"

Oh, she had a lot to say.

"You need to learn how to breathe," I told him.

She claimed he was too winded after his 10th inning double.

"That you should have worked on your legs during the offseason not just your arms," I said.

He hummed.

"Does she still pitch? I was watching some youtube videos and she had a killer arm...arms"

Lucy preferred to pitch with her left hand, but she is ambidextrous. While playing collegiate, she played a full game using her right hand. The reason why she pitched with her right hand was simply that she had a blister in one of her fingers on her left hand. It happened her Freshmen year, and she earned her first collegiate shutout during that game.

"She only pitched one collegiate game with her right arm, the rest she pitched with her left" I stated.

"Is she left handed?"

"She's ambidextrous" I replied.

"Which hand did she first learn how to write though?"

It was a bit complicated.

"She preferred to hold her pencil with her left, but her first Pre-K teacher made her hold it with her right. Mom found out and told the teacher to fuck off" I said.

"The teacher had no right to do that"

"Lucy's mom was able to convince Lucy it was okay to use her left hand," I told him.

Imagine being 4 years old and being told you're holding your pencil the wrong way.

"You're a lefty" I remembered.

"Yeah"

"Can you write with your right hand?" I wondered.

He chuckled.

"No, but enough about your friend that hates me"

She didn't hate him, Lucy just didn't trust him.

"What time are you done tomorrow?"

"I'm done at 2 PM, so I should be back in LA by 4 PM" I answered.

"Chris is probably going to be with Desi, do you want to go get some sushi with me? Just as friends, of course"

"Sure" I replied.

He smiled.

"So how was your day?"

"Pretty boring," I said.

"There's nothing boring about you"

What...a kiss ass.

"I had dinner with dad," I told him.

"What did you eat?"

"Dad made his version of a Chipotle chicken bowl" I answered.

"Cool"

He yawned.

"Sorry"

"Don't apologize, my plan is to talk you to sleep" I stated.

He hummed.

"It's working"

I smiled to myself as he was snoring a couple of minutes later. His mouth was slightly open and I'm sure one of his eyes were partially open. How was it possible for someone to look attractive in that position. I muted the conversation and dimmed the light on the screen a bit. Just as I closed my eyes, Bugs growled. Oh god, it was too late in the night for this. The doorbell rang making me groan before actually sitting up because Bugs was now barking. I made my way out of the room and downstairs, following my pup to the front door. Once he was in my arms, I opened the door.

"James, it's almost 1 AM. Can you check up on me at an earlier time?" I questioned.

My dad's co-worker smiled as he lowered the volume on his walkie-talkie.

"I'm just doing what your dad sends me to do"

My dad was working a night shift tonight, so he would be getting home when I was waking up for school.

"I am fine like I always am," I said.

He chuckled and looked at Bugs who was wiggling to be put down.

"Bugsy here is fully capable of taking care of you"

Bugs calmed down as he received the attention he craved.

"You're a good boy aren't you?"

"Please don't energize him. I really need to sleep" I told him as Bugs tried to lick his face.

He chuckled.

"Alright, go back to sleep. I'll let your dad know that you were well and alive...as you always are"

"Night, night" I replied as I stepped back to close the door.

When I returned to my room, I noticed Cody had shifted in position. He was now laying on his back and slightly snoring. I closed my eyes and let myself be lulled to the sound of Cody's breathing. Looks like Bugs closed my laptop during the night because it was no longer opened when I woke up. I placed my laptop on my desk and quickly began getting ready for the day. As I made my way out of the house, I noticed Lucy making her way out as well. She had an 8 AM class whereas I needed to leave now in order to avoid traffic during my drive to Pomona.

"Morning" I greeted.

She scrunched up her nose.

"It's too early, need coffee"

Same.

"But I actually need to talk to you. Are you going to be home tonight?"

"Yeah" I replied.

She nodded.

"Okay, I'll drop by later"

"What's it about?" I asked.

"Anthony"

Before he dated Lucy, he was my dance partner and Leo's bestfriend. I had not spoken to him since I found out he broke up with Lucy. Leo chose to ignore him and end the friendship because he did not want to punch Anthony in the face. Anthony was a nice guy, but a completely shitty boyfriend.

"Eww," I said.

She hummed.

"My same exact thought"

"Okay, I'll be home by 8 PM," I told him.

Hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll text you"

"See you then" I replied.

During my drive to school, my phone chimed. The screen lit up and Cody's name appeared on the screen.

I chose to reply until I got to campus. As I waited for my coffee at the library, I replied to Cody.

to which he replied,

I replied,

I took a deep breath as I felt my stomach flutter. The butterflies were back, and that scared me.