"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
-Aristotle

A.J.'s POV:

By the time I got back to Eden, I had just enough time to change into sweatpants and a big t-shirt. I grabbed my duffle bag from off the front bed post. I was lucky; I didn't have a stupid roommate to deal with. When I had transferred here from my other high school, they didn't have any room for me on the girls' side of the school. So while they found a room for me to live in, I shared a room with Julie Gaffney and Connie Moreau. They soon found a room that I could have alone on the boys' side of the school, which caused an up-roar with the board of deans. After my incident with no room, the board passed a renovation for the girls' side of the school. I liked having no roommate, but I missed all the things roommates did together. It did get lonely after a while.

I looked down at my night stand where I had thrown my phone. I didn't know if I should bring it or not. My mother was going to kill me if my bill was over again, even though her husband could pay it off. What got my mom's panties in a bunch about going over my bill was that when he hit her, he would buy her a beautiful, expensive piece of jewelry, so if I went over the money for the jewelry went to the bill. No one would be looking for me, right? I figured if anyone would be looking for me it would be my mother, but would she call me at 6 in the morning? She didn't get up until 10 the earliest. To stop wasting time, I threw the phone in the bag and went to the track.

I ran the first few miles not really thinking about anything. I held my phone close in my hand and waited to see if Julie or Connie, my two best friends, would text message me. As I started to think about Connie and Julie, I thought about Portman, their teammate. I kept thinking about the last game I went to when he stripped in the penalty box for a record of 20 times. His body was so well shaped and muscular. I just loved looking at him. I shook my head to get him out of my thoughts. I had to stop thinking about him. But of course I couldn't. So I opened my phone and sent a text message to Julie.

A.J.: Julie! I need help! ASAP!

Julie: What's up?

A: I think I like someone.

J: Who? Do I know him?

A: Yes...

J: On the team?

A: Yes...

J: Tall, dark and handsome?

A: Yes...

J: Penalty box hottie?

A: Yes...

J: Portman?

A: Yes...

J: OMG! That's so cute! You should ask him out

A: I'm not going to ask him out. We're just friends

J: Okay, if you say so

A: Julie, I don't want to ruin our friendship. I like him, so what?

J: I think you're denying yourself something really, really special.

A: You know about my trust issues. I can't go through that bullshit again...

J: Okay, okay, I'll drop it. I just wish you would consider it.

A: I'll think about it. Don't say anything to him or Connie, okay?

J: Sure...I g2g...practice. TTYL

A: Peace.

I had to get it off my chest. I'm a blabber mouth, even when it comes to secrets about me. I can't resist telling someone. I had to tell someone. I was just hoping I told the right friend who wouldn't say anything to Portman. I started to run again, focusing on my relationship with Dean. I liked being his friend. I didn't want to think about us as boyfriend and girlfriend. I even hated the words; they were so fourth grade. We had a good relationship and I didn't want it to end over something stupid, like a break up.

I slowed down my pace and made my way back to my bag. I placed the phone on the bench and started looking for my workout towel to dry the sweat off my face and neck. It wasn't that cold out and I was wearing black sweatpants which attracted the little sun that was out. I searched for the water bottle I had filled up from last night before I left for the party.

Right then my cell phone started to play 'Bruises" by SugarCult, knowing who it was: Portman.

"Hello?" I answered breathlessly.

"Hey, did I interrupt something? I can always call back later." Portman's voice said in my ear.

I chugged the rest of my water. The way it sounded must have sounded like I was doing something else. I quickly replied, "No, I was just running before soccer practice. What's up?"

He took a deep breath. "I have something important to ask you."