“That’s probably true.” I nodded. “Hopefully she’s smart enough to realize that.”
“Were you? At her age?” Melanie shook her head and laughed.
“I didn’t have that problem when I was her age…” I looked back towards the field.
I’m not even smart enough to avoid it now. I know my relationship with Bryant can’t last forever—and I keep letting myself fall for him a little more every single day.
The Tigers put up a good fight, but even a running back that could blow the Stone Devils away couldn’t secure the game for them. The high school coach pulled his best players out after halftime when it was clear that they weren’t going to win and some of his younger players got some experience being run over by the much larger guys from Carson Cove University.
Melanie decided that she didn’t want to watch the massacre any longer after that, so we agreed to meet up at a restaurant downtown for dinner and drinks. I really needed to be working on stuff for school, but I hadn’t spent much time with Melanie since she switched majors, so I decided that dinner out wouldn’t set me back too much. It was a short drive from the university to the restaurant that she picked out.
I’d rather spend the time with Bryant, but we’ll have Saturday…
“What do you want to drink? I think I want a margarita…” Melanie skimmed the drink menu as soon as we were seated at our table.
“Hmm.” I picked up my menu. “I might just go with a glass of wine—oh wait, that’s the price for one glass? I’ll just have a margarita too…”
“I might need to talk to your sister.” Melanie looked up from the menu and grinned. “I should get that Bolt guy’s autograph before he ends up in the NFL.”
“We thought one of the guys I went to high school was on the fast track to the NFL too…” I shrugged. “He looked really good against the local schools but ended up getting cut from the team when he made it to college—Bolt might not be that impressive against better players.”
“Ah, I guess that makes sense.” She nodded. “Big fish in a little pond—or a very rich pond when it comes to Carson Cove.”
“The land of the privileged,” I chuckled under my breath.
“Yeah, if I don’t land this job at Alcott Inc., I might have to head b
ack into the real world when I graduate from college. Are you still planning to leave Carson Cove as soon as you get your degree?” She raised her eyebrows inquisitively.
“Honestly? I don’t know…” I sighed. “There are some jobs local—graphic design and stuff like that.”
“Are you still painting?” She tilted her head inquisitively.
I didn’t get a chance to answer her question immediately, because the waiter came to take our order. We both ordered margaritas, smiled when he asked to see our ID, and then picked out an appetizer. We knew what we wanted to eat as well, so we saved him another trip to the table, and ordered that too. I decided to go with grilled chicken and steamed broccoli. Melanie was feeling a little more adventurous, so she got the chicken tenders and fries.
“Yeah, so—painting…” I looked down at the table. “I honestly haven’t had much time to do paint lately. I enjoy it, but it’s not like I’ll ever make a living selling my work—I used to love showing them to my dad, but after he left—I don’t know. Mom lost her love for art after the divorce and my sister just thinks it’s dumb.”
“You don’t see your dad anymore?” She leaned back and winced. “I was always scared to ask because you talk about him in the past tense.”
“I’ve seen him a couple of times.” I shook my head and sighed. “He lives in the city now, and I think he has a new girlfriend that he’s scared to introduce…”
I was interrupted again by our drinks and a promise that the appetizer would be there soon. Melanie didn’t ask anything else about my dad, and I was thankful that she dropped the subject. It was still tough for me, but tougher on my mother, and toughest on my sister—I seemed to be the strong one, despite the connection I had with him when I was younger. I couldn’t control his midlife crisis, and I preferred him to be happy than miserable with us. I just hoped that I could be a part of his new life one day, and I knew Anna would love to see him more. If both of my parents had moved on and were dating other people, there was no reason that we couldn’t build a new family dynamic, even if it wasn’t perfect.
“Oh god—I think this place is about to get busier.” Melanie looked towards the door.
“Why?” I turned and saw several members of the Carson Cove High football team standing near the entrance. “They must be here to celebrate the fact that they didn’t die on the field today…”
“There’s your sister, holding hands with that Bolt guy.” Melanie motioned towards the group.
“Wow…” I shook my head back and forth. “ I’m beginning to think she isn’t just a shy girl with her nose buried in a book all the time, like I thought…”
“Do you want to go over and say hello?” Melanie raised her eyebrows inquisitively. “I could get that autograph…
“No,” I sighed. “I’m sure the last thing she wants is for her big sister to come crash her party—I think I’ll just get my food to go.”
“Okay.” Melanie nodded. “This place is going to get rowdy soon anyway.”
I had a few bites of the appetizer, drank half of my margarita, and asked the waiter for the check. I caught a few glances of Anna snuggled in a booth next to the guy she was apparently dating—and she definitely looked like she was in love with him. I wondered if all her new privileged friends had any idea that she spent her evenings reading books instead of trying to figure out how to spend her money—money she didn’t even have. Even if I didn’t like the privileged, I was happy for her. My high school years were hell because of people like them—and would have been a lot worse if Victoria hadn’t stuck up for me a few times. High school love was unlikely to last forever, but at least Anna was having fun. She smiled so much she practically glowed.