Free Catch by Michelle D. Argyle Page A

phone buzzed and she smiled because it
was probably Julia telling her something about Gavin again. The
girl was obsessed with him, and Miranda had to keep telling her
that while it was great to be passionate about him, she still had
to pay attention to school so she could go to college one day
too.
    Pulling out her phone, she slid it into her
lap and tried to peek at it so her geology professor didn’t chew
her out and tell her to leave. He hated cell phones in class.
    Red brick circle.
    She almost choked on her wintergreen gum. It
couldn’t be. It was from a number she didn’t recognize. Not
restricted. As fast as she could, she typed her response.
    Do you see palm trees?
    A guy who always sat next to her cleared his
throat. When she looked up at him, he nodded at her lap. “You
better put that away,” he whispered.
    She swallowed a lump in her throat and
shrugged, as if she had no choice. She really didn’t. She had to
follow this through. The phone vibrated in her lap.
    No palm trees right here. Kinda weird.
    Breathe in. Breathe out. It was him. He was
back. Maybe he was here . Red brick circle. What could he be
talking about?
    Are you here on campus? she typed,
getting more impatient by the second.
    “Miranda, I asked you a question,” Professor
King said in a tight-lipped, irritated voice. “Is that a cell phone
you’re using? Because you know the policy.”
    She snapped her attention to her professor.
He was tall and gangly and his glasses made him look like a
studious owl. A skinny owl. It was odd. “Yeah, I guess I’ll leave,”
she said quickly, gathering up her books and notepad. She shoved
them into her backpack and stood. “Sorry.”
    A few people giggled as she left the
classroom under Professor King’s glare. She knew if he kicked her
out more than twice, she would be asked to leave the class
permanently. If she left too late in the semester, she’d get a
failing grade. It wouldn’t happen again, she told herself as she
exited the building and stood under the warm sun. A breeze rustled
through the autumn leaves, and she breathed it in deeply as she
kept staring at her phone.
    You look good today, the next message
said.
    Her heart nearly pounded through her chest.
He was here. Where ? Then she looked across the road and
realized that a circular red brick plaza surrounded the fountain
she loved so much. Where was he?
    Hurrying across the crosswalk, she rushed
past a few students and followed a red brick path to the fountain.
There he was, on a bench beneath a shady tree. He was in jeans
instead of a suit, and she might not have recognized him if it
wasn’t for his Las Vegas 51s baseball cap. Her heart continued to
thud as she neared him. Finally, she stood in front of him, and he
looked up at her with a grin spreading across his face. He was
clean-shaven, and she realized she had never actually seen him in
natural lighting before. His eyes were a beautiful clear gray, but
even more intriguing in the sun. They were filled with something
Julia might have described as “moons and stars.” He looked like he
wanted to throw his arms around her, but he was restraining
himself.
    “It was really your turn,” he said as she
stared open-mouthed at him, “but I know you’ve probably given up on
me, so I took a chance.”
    She wanted to say something, anything, but
couldn’t manage it. She knew she had missed him, but now that he
was in front of her, something felt like it was trying to squeeze
her heart into a diamond. She hadn’t just missed him. She had
mourned the loss of him. She had resigned herself to the fact that
she would never see him again, that he had chosen a life he didn’t
really want, and that if he could make a mistake like that, she
might screw up in her life too. It was all so much bigger than
she’d wanted it to be.
    “You’re speechless,” he laughed. “I’m so
sorry. Can I explain?”
    She nodded, and he reached into a leather
briefcase beside him on the