by Jetta
�Thanks for dinner,� I told Julie as we walked down the hall to my dorm room, our hands casually joined between our bodies.
She smiled. �Thank you for trusting me.�
�Thanks for listening.�
�Thanks for letting me.�
I laughed. �Are we just going to stand here thanking each other all night?�
She shrugged, a smile on her face. �I don�t know�I haven�t got anywhere to be��
�Ha ha,� I said sarcastically as we reached my door.
�Can I ask you something?� Julie asked suddenly, playing with my silver ring I wore on my left hand.
�Sure,� I told her.
�You�re not attracted to girls at all?�
I laughed. �Why do you wanna know?�
She shrugged. �I just do.�
I pulled her into a one armed hug. �Sorry to say Jules, you just don�t do it for me. Nor does any other girl, mind you.�
She smiled and kissed my collarbone through my shirt. �Sleep well, Adam. I�ll be thinking of you.�
I kissed her temple. �You sleep well too, Miss Gaffney. I hope you know how much tonight meant to me.�
She squeezed my side. �I think I know��
She smiled again and walked away, waving over her shoulder.
I let myself into my room, glad to see that Guy wasn�t there. I wasn�t even sure he still lived here, I didn�t see him all that often. I was thankful for that.
I put my favourite U2 CD into my player and turned the volume low and collected my stuff for a shower.
I stripped my sling off and eased out of my black t-shirt. I wrapped a plastic bag around my arm and sticky-taped it closed.
As I stood under the hot spray, the strains of my favourite U2 song, �With Or Without You� floating in from the room, I thought about Julie. About her depression. About how much she really does care about me. I�m lucky to have a friend like her.
I got out of the shower and got dressed slowly in actual clean clothes. Denim jeans and a white t-shirt.
I popped just one regular strength Tylenol for my wrist and completely disregarded the bottle of Xanax in my drawer.
I smiled as I combed my hair left-handed, smiling at the mess I was making. I shrugged slowly into my Eden Hall letter jacket and left my room, making my way down the hall till I came to a stop in front of room 41. The corkboard on the door held a computerized plaque, revealing the occupants of the room.
Fulton Reed and Charlie Conway.
I knocked.
**
I fidgeted nervously until the door opened, revealing Fulton.
�Banks, hey!� he said. �How�s it going?�
I smiled. �Good, actually. I wanted to apologize for earlier. I was really short with you, and I�m sorry.�
Fulton smiled. �You�re forgiven.�
I smiled. �Is Charlie in?�
He nodded, stepping out of my way and letting me into the dorm room. Charlie lay across his bed, TV remote in hand, flipping between what sounded like Jay Leno and a hockey game.
�Banks � hey.�
He sat up and flicked the TV onto mute.
�I�m going to see Portman, see if he wants to snag a Coke�� Fulton said.
But I wasn�t paying attention, I was looking at Charlie. Amazing, good-looking, funny, talented Charlie. He sat there cross-legged on his bed, wearing just boxer shorts and a Spice Girls t-shirt the Ducks had gotten him as a joke Christmas give a few years ago. Who would�ve thought it would end up being his favourite?
�Uh�hi,� I said softly, sitting down across from Charlie on Fulton�s bed.
�Hey,� Charlie said softly, looking away.
�I just wanted to come over��
He nodded. �How are you?�
I shrugged. �Managing. You?�
�Yeah�ok.�
God, it�s like rubbing two stones together and trying to get blood. Is that the analogy?
�I�ve been meaning to come see you,� Charlie admitted. �I wanted to see how you were going with your wrist and stuff.�
I nodded. �It�s going ok.�
�What injuries is it exactly?�
�Hairline fracture,� I said. �The worst kind.�
Charlie shook his head. �Man, that sucks.�
I nodded. �Yeah, it does.�
�Will you be able to play again?�
I shrugged. �I have to keep it completely idle for 12 weeks, and then I guess I could start minor physical therapy to get it strong again.�
Charlie nodded and looked around nervously. �Well, hopefully you�ll be able to play again. The team is suffering without you.�
My eyebrows shut up in surprise. �Really?� I asked, before I could stop myself.
He nodded again. �We lost our last game to the Wildcats, 4-3.�
I smiled slightly. �I seriously doubt I would�ve made a difference.�
Charlie shrugged. �I�m sure if you weren�t on everyone�s mind, it would�ve made a difference.�
Huh?
�What do you mean?�
He shrugged again. �You�re not stupid, or blind. You know what�s been happening the past few weeks. I can nearly bet that every single Duck was thinking about you the other night. Our heads weren�t in the game without you taking center.�
Wow.
�I�m sorry��
He looked up, and looked directly at me. �I�m not asking for an apology. All I�m saying is that�I�m sorry, Banks. I�m sorry for acting like such an asshole. For completely abandoning you when you needed a friend most. I�m just so�sorry.�
My heart began to beat faster and my palms began to sweat. �I understand.�
�You might understand, but that doesn�t excuse the way I treated you. You�re my best friend Adam, and what I did was not something a best friend should do.�
�Hey,� I called softly to him. He looked up. �You�re forgiven.�
Charlie smiled slowly. �That�s why you�re my best friend. You�re awesome.�
He leant forward and pulled me into his arms, for a manly, but emotional hug.
�Thanks,� I said softly into his neck.
�What for?� he asked me, letting me go, blush creeping into his cheeks.
�Just for being my friend.�
He smiled. �I should be saying the same thing to you.�
I clapped him on the shoulder with my good hand and smiled. �See you at breakfast?�
He smiled back at me. �I�ll call by your room, ok?�
**
~|~ Friday, 10:31
Something amazingly exciting has happened. I GOT MY BEST FRIEND BACK! Charlie Conway is officially taking the place of friend back. It was amazing. I�m actually sitting here, writing left-handed, and crying, I�m so happy!
I went to his room and we just talked, and he apologized. I don�t think I�ve been this happy in a long time.
Adam D. Banks ~|~
**
�Banks! You ready?�
I fumbled over to the door, my good arm in my t-shirt, my not good arm scrambling to shove itself into the right sleeve hole.
I wrenched open the door to reveal Charlie, who consequently busted out laughing at me.
�Ok, shut up,� I grumbled, managing to get my cast through the armhole, smiling satisfactorily.
It was amazing. We�d been best friends again for less than 12 hours, but already I felt like a better person in his presence.
�So�you gonna be ready before breakfast is finished�?�
I rolled my eyes and exited my room, pulling the door closed.
�I was thinking,� Charlie began as we trekked outside onto the quad. �That maybe we could go for a walk after breakfast and talk. I mean�if that�s ok?�
I nodded. �Of course��
We crossed the green grass between the dorms and the cafeteria, and I smiled. I was happy.
�Adam!� Julie called, hurrying over, raising an eyebrow at me as she noticed Charlie. �How are you?�
I grinned. �I�m great.�
She smiled at me and took my hand, squeezing it before starting a conversation with Charlie.
I watched him talk to Julie, his tone effortless, his smile genuine. This was the man I wanted to love for the rest of my life.
We entered the cafeteria and got a table, just me, Charlie and Julie. We were shortly joined by Portman and Fulton, who both seemed decidedly upbeat despite the recent events.
�How in hell do you expect to eat scrambled eggs with one hand?� Charlie demanded of me once we�d gotten our breakfasts.
I smiled and shrugged, not sure of the answer myself.
I clutched my fork in my left hand and gingerly dug it into my eggs. I raised it halfway to my mouth before the eggs tumbled off, hitting my plate with a splat.
Julie laughed and took my fork from me, gathering some eggs and putting it into my mouth.
Everyone laughed as Julie fed me the rest of my eggs. Tomorrow morning I was having toast.
