Page 39 of Take Care, Taylor

“Okay, good, good. Talk to you later, son.”

Much later.“Goodbye, Coach.”

I stuffed my phone into my pocket and eyed the thick bandage on my hand.

Take your time healing, please…

“Hey, Taylor?” A guy from my poetry class approached as I opened the door to the residence.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t hate me for asking you this while you’re here, but, um…” He pulled out his phone. “Can I get a selfie with you? My mom is a huge Bears fan and she lost her shit when I told her you were here.”

“No problem.” I smiled for the photo.

“Oh, and can you sign these things, too?” He pulled two jerseys and a hat from his bag.

I nodded and took out a Sharpie.

“Thanks so much, man! Appreciate it!”

“Anytime.”

Before I could turn away, someone else called my name.

“Wait!” Another guy approached me with a hat, and I noticed a few other people moving behind him. “Can you sign these and give me a selfie, too?”

I smiled and obliged, and before I knew it, I was signing and smiling for my fellow classmates for over an hour.

So much for not being football fans…

By the time I made it upstairs, I was ready to crash in silence for the rest of the night.

As I approached the door, red and silver heart-shaped balloons floated toward me from the handle.

There was a bouquet of white roses standing on the floor beneath them.

Audrey has a boyfriend?

I picked them up to move them out of the way, but a gold-embossed tag caught my eye.

My Sweet Audrey,

I miss you, and I swear I never meant to cheat on you.

I’ll own up to every time if you take me back and promise never to do it again.

Love, Craig.

Unsure if this was some type of inside joke, I carried everything inside and set it on the counter.

Audrey was at the table, typing, pretending not to notice me until I placed the flowers right in front of her.

She skimmed the card, rolled her eyes, and popped the balloons one by one. Then she tore the golden tag in half and tossed it into the trash.

“That’s not a good way to show appreciation for a gift,” I said.

She looked over at me but didn’t say anything. Instead, she grabbed an ice pack from the fridge and held it against her shoulder.