Sian, I’m sure, was his little princess no doubt and I’m sure he’d appreciate the direct approach as opposed to sneaking around behind his back.
By coming to him like this I was showing good faith that my intentions were on the up and up, well for a teenager anyway; and hopefully giving him the peace of mind that his daughter was safe with me.
I’d given this shit a lot of thought after seeing her and wanting her. If the need was just a high school run I would’ve just cornered her in the halls at school and asked her out. But I wanted more, I don’t know how I knew that, I just did.
“Son go find your mother and send her in here.” He was talking to his son but his eyes stayed on me as if he was trying to figure me out.
A more mature replica of my girl came into the room not five minutes later. From the way she looked at me I was guessing Jared hadn’t shared any deets with her, which was fine by me.
Her husband pulled her down to sit next to him on the arm of his chair and I relaxed a little. I’d seen my dad make that move with mom more times than I can count.
It spoke of closeness and the kind of love that was just as comfortable as your own skin.
I knew how hard that shit was to come by. My parents didn’t just talk at me over the years to get me to tow the line. They shared things that most people might have thought too graphic, too much for one so young.
But my dad, because of his own life experience didn’t want his only son to learn the hard way. Being a kid in Hollywood is hard enough as it is. Without the proper mindset, you’re fucked.
So I might look at things a little differently from my peers, or I may put more stock in things that a guy my age would normally overlook, whatever the case, it’s served me well so far.
“Hello.”
“Honey this young man is Jace Saunders, he’s captain of the football team and the quarterback.”
“Oh so he’s Jared’s friend.” She smiled but there was still a question in her eyes.
“Uh, yes, but that’s not why he’s here. We’re both here now Jace as you requested, care to tell us what’s on your mind?”
Shit, I had this all worked out in my head but now that I was in the clutch shit didn’t seem so simple.
What if I fucked this up? what if they hate my guts and tell me to get the fuck out and stay away from their daughter?
I have never in my life faced such a dilemma. Usually it was the other way around believe it or not. You’d be amazed at the lengths some people will go to to get a leg up in Hollywood. Like throwing their daughters at me.
But I knew from what little I’d wormed out of Jared, that they weren’t the type. They seemed to be on the up and up and really gave a shit. I was happy for my girl that she had that, but it might pose a problem.
Man the fuck up Saunders. I’ve never backed down from something I wanted before, that’s another thing dad taught me, and I haven’t wanted anything this much in a long time.
I looked at them both as I gathered my thoughts and tried to put the words in the right order.
“I saw Sian for the first time yesterday. I was making my way to the field for practice and I saw two girls, cheerleaders, standing apart from the rest.
I walked over, not sure why. One of the reasons was because I knew she had to be the new girl everyone was talking about since she didn’t look familiar.
The other was that I could see something was off. It was the try-outs obviously and the other girl looked a little distressed so I was going over quite frankly to make sure that Sian wasn’t giving her a hard time.
I snuck up on them I guess you can say, and was pleasantly surprised when I heard what they were saying.
I hadn’t seen her face yet, had only heard the kindness she was showing to someone else. And I knew right then and there that she was someone I wanted to get to know.
I spoke to Jared and I understand that she’s never been allowed to date before. We all know I could’ve gone about this a whole different way. But I don’t want that for her, I want more for her, for us.”
I think I shocked them for a minute from the expressions on their faces. “Oh my.” Her mom shook herself as if she’d got a chill and her dad was still studying me as if he didn’t quite know what to make of me.
“How old did you say you were again son?”
“I’m seventeen.”
“Wow, well, I don’t know quite what to say. I mean, damn, what do you think babe?”
He looked to his wife who was looking at me like I was a new species. I’m sure she’s well versed in teenage boy since she has one of her own, but I’m also aware of how I can come off to people sometimes. I like keeping adults on their toes.
“Well, I think Jace is a very nice young man and he’s made an excellent case for himself. Kinda reminds me of another great young man hmm.” She bumped his shoulder with her hip and he took her hand.
“Yeah but remember…” he mumbled something under his breath and I could only surmise that it had something to do with sex, because his wife reddened and ducked her head after admonishing him.
“Well son, since you’re so smart and all I guess you’ve already figured out that my answer’s no hell no,” I didn’t even flinch just kept my eyes on his, ‘never show your hand too soon’, that’s another one of dad’s life lessons.