VAGABOND

Ana

FOUR

Things were finally starting to come together. She was making progress on a lot of her projects that she now had some time on her hands. All week she was trying to keep herself busy and forget about the tangled web she was slowly spinning.

With spring break only two weeks away she was anxious to have a break from everyone here at the school, including Beth. Everything about her was making it hard for her to stay away. But as she sat at the kitchen island toying with a now worn business card, half of her screaming to throw it away and the other half begging her to just call.

Ana pushes herself up to her feet and begins to pace around trying not to look in the direction of the damned card. She turns on the TV and starts to absentmindedly flip through channels before landing on the weather channel. Anything to drown out the images in her head.

It had been a week since she had her in her apartment and yet she could still feel traces of her lingering in the air.

Ana was struggling with this. It had been so long since she felt this kind of connection to anyone. The only other person who made her feel this way had left a void in her. Something she wasn't sure could ever be filled.

She tries to shake the images from her head and focus on what the weather man was saying about a local storm. But she had already lost interest and was now standing in front of the dreaded card.

She picks it up in with her left hand while her right hand begins to type out a text and hits send before she could even think about changing her mind.

She stares down at the screen biting her bottom lip hoping it won't go through.

A notification pops up making her almost drop her phone in anticipation. She begins to read it and her heart sinks. It was Donovan wondering if he could come by.

She wasn't in the mood to entertain but she also knew she couldn't hide away alone in her apartment, so she texts him the address to her favorite pool hall telling him she wanted to get out of the house and if he could pick her up.

She waits downstairs until she sees his car pull up and he reaches over and opens the passenger door for her.

"Always the gentleman. But I've told you, flattery will get you nowhere with me."

The color starts to rise in his cheeks as he mumbles something about just trying to be nice as he pulls back onto the road.

"Any plans for spring break?"

He asks, trying to get any hints on if she was going to stick around campus or not. Donovan never left for holidays. And she was never really sure where he went in the summer. He has always been reserved. But with Ana, he would allow sneak peeks into his life before shutting her out again.

She could sense his tension. She reaches over and rubs the back of his neck with the tips of her fingers.

"I think I'm going to stick around and see what kind of mess I can get into while everyone is gone."

He stares out at the road while nodding his head. She slumps back into her seat hoping they would get there soon so she didn't have to sit in this awkward silence any longer than she needed to.

They park on the side of the pool hall and Donovan is out the car before she could even open the door. She trails a few steps behind him as they make their way through the crowded tables until they find one that looked as if the guys were on their last game. Donovan pulls out a few quarters, placing them on the pool table.