Again, But Better

LeoBaseballPrimaveri
Why aren’t you posting anything on Facebook?
I don’t even know what Future Leo is up to. He got a job at
the local gas station for a while after he dropped out of school,
and then moved out to New York City. 2017 Mom never talks
about him in our bristled conversations, and Future Leo
doesn’t use Facebook.
I haven’t posted all the Rome photos, but I included a
bunch in this post. They’re not on Facebook because I’m not

---

in the market for a running life commentary from the fam. If
they want to see what I’m up to, they can read it on the blog.
Next to me, Babe’s plucking away at a paper, waiting
patiently for Pilot to return so she can pop the Paris question.
She jumps to attention when he finally walks through the door
with a frozen meal.
“Hey, Pilot!”
“Hey, Babe.” He turns to me with a smile. “Shane.”
“Happy Monday.” I grin.
“So, Babe, I was thinking we should go on a trip again this
weekend,” Pilot says casually.
Babe eyes me with a suspicious smile, and I raise my
eyebrows: 
I didn’t say anything
.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” she says slowly.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks.
“Where do you want to go?” she asks suspiciously.
“How about we both say where on three?” Pilot suggests
cheekily.
“Why?” Babe asks as I start counting.
“One, two, three!”
“Paris!” they exclaim simultaneously. Pilot laughs, and I
cackle behind my computer.
Babe is amused. She thinks I told him. “Okay, you two
talked already. Does this mean you’re down?”
“Why not,” Pilot agrees as he pops his frozen meal into the
microwave. I glance at Babe, and she waggles her eyebrows at
me. I roll my eyes, suppressing a grin.
Babe and I make ourselves pasta while Pilot eats his frozen
meal. When he’s finished, he takes out his laptop, pulls on his
headphones, and retreats to the chair in the corner to work. I
settle in at the table to eat and watch something on Sawyer.

---

“Hey,” Babe starts. I look up to where she’s dressing her
pasta in a bolognese sauce. “Do you play cards at all? I picked
some up earlier.”
A smile tears across my face.
We buy our train tickets to Paris. We’re leaving on the same
schedule as last time and staying at the same crappy hostel. I
let Babe plan it the same exact way because I’ve been itching
to redo this trip for years. It wouldn’t feel right changing the
setting.
The three of us spend the evening playing Rummy 500.
Sahra 
whooshes
in and out during our first few rounds before
finally settling in to join us. Atticus shows up at eight and
suggests a game of BS. We chat and cackle until my cheeks
hurt from smiling.
Atticus leaves the kitchen first because he has an early
morning. Babe, Sahra, Pilot, and I play one last round of BS.
It’s not till then that I remember: Pilot was supposed to break
up with Amy.
My stomach lurches. 
How the hell did I forget?
From that
point on, I have a hard time focusing on the game. When Babe
wins, she and Sahra pack up and walk back to the room. Pilot
shows no sign of leaving, so I linger, pretending to do
something on my computer.
“You going to sleep too?” he asks. I swallow, suddenly
feeling nervous.
“Um, yeah I guess so.” I close Sawyer, pick him up, and
hop out of my chair. A millisecond later, I sense it falling. I
whirl around with a gasp and snatch it awkwardly by the seat
with my one free hand. Carefully, I lower myself and the off-
kilter chair to the floor.
Pilot stands, watching me across the table with an amused
expression. “I’ve noticed that you’re trying super-hard to make
peace with the devil chairs.”

---

I shake my head. “I’m being so nice to them, and they just
continue
with the rudeness.” I gather my feet under me and
pop up off the ground. Pilot’s here now; he picks up the chair
and pushes it back into place at the table.
“Some chairs never change,” he says.
I snort and head slowly around the table toward the door.
He follows me out. We walk together down the hall, veering
off to our respective doors. I dig in my bag for my key.
“Hey,” Pilot says behind me. I turn around. He’s leaning
against his door, so I stop fumbling and lean against my own
door.
There’s a long pause where I look at him expectantly. 
Oh
god, he’s having second thoughts. He wants to leave. He didn’t
break it off. Is he waiting for me to speak?
“Hey,” I respond belatedly.
“I broke up with Amy,” he says.
My heart jumps two feet outside my chest. 
Shit. Get back
inside me.
“You—” I start.
He cuts me off. “Yeah.”
I swallow, pausing to look at the ceiling. 
He did it! What
do I say?
My head bobs around, not in a nod or a shake, just in
a weird bob.
I decide on, “Okay.”
He pulls a thoughtful Soprano frown, jutting out his
bottom lip, and nods. “Okay.”
I nod in return, still at a loss. “So, good night … uh, I’ll see
you tomorrow.”
A smirk flickers over his lips. “Good night.”
He doesn’t move to unlock his door, so I don’t either. I
wait a few seconds.
“Are you going in?” I ask, amused.

---

“Are you?” he challenges.
“Yeah, I’m going in.” I smile.
“Okay, so am I.”
“Okay, same.” And then the door supporting my weight
flies out from behind me, and I’m falling to my death. “
The
fuck
?” flies out of my mouth as I twist in the air to catch
myself before hitting the ground.
“Jiminy Cricket!” Babe’s voice comes from somewhere
near my crashing body. I manage to fall on my right forearm,
but that’s going to leave a bruise. Pilot’s in front of me,
grabbing my hand, helping me up. Babe’s apologizing
profusely.
“Oh my goodness, I kept hearing someone outside the
door. And I thought maybe you didn’t have a key, and oh
Mylanta, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, Babe,” I breathe.
“You okay?” Pilot asks when I’m upright again.
“I’m fine,” I insist with an embarrassed chuckle. And then
I keel over laughing. Babe and Pilot join me.
“Good night, Pies,” I repeat one last time. He nods and I
nod back. He retreats to his door again.
“Night,” Babe adds. He finally turns around to put his key
in the lock, so Babe and I close our door. Sahra’s on her laptop
with headphones in.
“What was that about?” Babe asks excitedly.
I snort as I head for the bathroom to take a shower.
“Nothing, we were just saying good night.”
“Did he break up with her?”
I pivot, make my eyes super-wide, squeeze my lips
together in a line, and nod.
“Oh my goodness!” She falls into her bed, giggling.

---

“What? What happened?” Sahra says, lowering her
headphones.
“Pilot broke up with his girlfriend!” Babe squeals
excitedly.
“What? Why?” Sahra asks.
“Because of Shane!” Babe laughs.
“No!” I say immediately.
“What?” Sahra says in surprise.
I lock myself in the bathroom and hop in the shower to
avoid an inquisition.

---