The Ocean (11 page)

Alex played excel ently, Mason didn’t throw any interceptions, and Travis caught every bal that came his way, having a real y good game. I was proud of al of my friends. We barely pul ed off a win though; it was a close game. As soon as they disappeared into the locker room, I got a text.

I’ll pick you up at your house in thirty minutes.

It was already close to nine in the evening. I didn’t know of much that we could do after nine, but I sent him a message that said “OK,” and asked Abby for a ride home. She took me home, and I took a shower and cleaned up. As I was finishing up surveying myself in my mirror, Alex came to my door and knocked. I wore a short jean skirt and an off-the-shoulder dark purple puffy cotton blouse that gathered at my hips. I slipped on my bal et slippers as I told him to come in. He surveyed me and nodded his head in approval.

“Don’t stay out too late.” He used his fatherly tone.

“I could say the same to you. Is the art show even stil going on?” I winked at him

“Yes, it is. I’m going to change and then head over there. I mean it; don’t stay out too late.” He began to shut the door and then he added, “He’s downstairs waiting on you.” My heart sputtered, and I fol owed him out my bedroom door.

First Dates, Lasting Impressions

Travis

She descended the stairs and there might as wel have been a choir singing and lights making her wings glow. She looked angelic. I stood from the couch and met her at the bottom of the stairs.

“You played an amazing game,” she said politely.

“It’s al your fault,” I smirked, remembering her pep talk.

“I’l take the blame for that.” I opened the door, and we made our way to my car, which was sitting on the curb sparkling under the street light. I had run it through the car wash and cleaned it out. She raised her eyebrows as we approached it.

“Where are we going?” I opened the door for her and she climbed in.

“It’s a surprise.” She cringed as I laughed. I went around and climbed in myself. We drove only a few blocks to the pier. She sighed, a contented sigh. We got out, and I popped the trunk. I took out a picnic basket and met her on the sidewalk. She laced her fingers in mine, and I led her to the place she sat the first day I met her almost a week before. I took out a blanket from the basket, and she helped me spread it. She delicately sat down, tucking her legs under her. I sat facing her and took out two cupcakes on a plate that had clear wrap on it.

“Dessert.” I handed her one and set the plate aside.

“Thank you.” She delicately peeled away the paper and took a bite, moaning her approval. “Sour cream icing and chocolate chips in the cake mix?

How did you know?” She took another bite, closing her eyes as she savored it.

“You probably already know. I asked Alex what your favorite dessert is.” She nodded appreciatively.

“I adore them.” She smiled. Then it happened so fast I didn’t even realize what happened. She was on her knees, leaning into me. She softly pressed her lips to mine, and then it was over. “Thank you,” she whispered, her hand on my shoulder. I reached up and brushed her hair away from her neck, pausing for a moment to look at her beautiful eyes. I gently pul ed her to me and kissed her. I kissed her softly at first, and then her arms were around my neck, and my free hand was pressing her against me. Her soft lips fit in between mine perfectly. She smiled while our lips were stil pressed to each other. I let go of her, and she sat back on her heels. I took my cupcake off the plate and took a bite. I was surprised at how good they were. She raised her eyebrows as she watched me eat it.

“You adore them too, don’t you?” She grinned.

“I think I do,” I smiled. I pul ed her in between my legs as I popped the last of the cupcake into my mouth. I wrapped my arms around her, and she leaned back against my chest. Together we watched the waves come in and out.

“I used to come here when Oliver was angry with my mom,” she spoke softly. I tightened my arms around her. “Alex would find me after Oliver left. It seems like sometimes it was a daily event, like it was on the calendar. ‘Two P.M. take Gia to piano lessons. Three-thirty hit my wife.’ And now he wants to be our dad. Like he had a choice in the matter the whole time.” She leaned her head back against my shoulder.

“What was Atlanta like?”

“It was hot. We left in the middle of summer. We stayed with my mom’s Aunt Francesca because our car broke down just outside of Atlanta. Aunt Francesca believed that garlic went in everything, including cereal,” she softly giggled. “My grandfather had passed by then, and we didn’t have anywhere to go. She wasn’t happy we were there, said we breathed too much, whatever that meant. So as soon as my mom saved up enough to get a newer car, we moved to New Orleans.” She stopped there. I sat there holding her, listening to her breathing sync with mine. It was just us and the waves somewhere in the distance. I’m not sure how long we sat there. It felt right though. It felt like the perfect ending to the most perfect week of my life. I kissed the side of her neck. She sighed and reached up and brushed my cheek with the back of her hand, turning it and softly tracing my jaw line. I leaned down and kissed her once more before we packed everything up and went back to the car. I drove the short drive to her house and walked her up to the front stoop.

“I had a real y wonderful time tonight.” She looked down at her hands as I put them in mine.

“I did, too. Do you have plans tomorrow? Can I cal you?” I shouldn’t have stil been unsure of her, but I was.

“I’d like that.” The porch light came on suddenly, and the door opened at almost exactly the same time. A man stood in the doorway. He wore tan Dickies pants and a dingy white t-shirt that said Moretti Pub and Eatery. His salt and pepper hair was disheveled.

“Gianna, it’s late. Who is this fel a here, and where is Lexie?” His accent was thick. Gia looked nervously at me.

“I know it’s late; I was just coming in. This is Travis, and Alex is at an art showing tonight.” She took a step closer to the door and away from me.

“Maybe we need to set some guidelines around here. Come inside now, it’s late.” He didn’t move from the door. She took a deep breath and stepped back to me and kissed my cheek, then let go of my hand.

“Good night, Travis.” She turned and went inside. The door shut and the light went off simultaneously. Then I heard the voices, low at first, then rising. I stepped closer.

“Oliver, what was that?” She was calm at first.

“I should know where you are.”

“You WOULD know where we are, if you cared. But I don’t think you do. You can’t just turn on the parenting whenever it’s convenient for you.” Her voice sounded shaky.

“You wil show me respect. You haven’t even been in this house a week, and you’re disrespecting me like this. I am the only family you have. You wil honor me. You wil not see that boy until he comes to me first and asks for permission to date you.” His voice was rising.

“So you can control me the way you control ed Mom? I don’t think so. This is how it wil be. We wil stay out of each other’s way, and as soon as I turn eighteen, I’l leave, and you can go back to your life.” She was stomping up the stairs.

“Gianna, come back here. We are not done with this conversation.” At that moment I made a decision that I hoped I wouldn’t regret. But it was too late; I was already knocking. I stepped back away from the door. He swung the door open, his face beet red. He stepped out onto the porch, and we were almost touching noses.

“What do you want now?” he demanded.

“I was hoping that you would grant me permission to date your daughter. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her.” I didn’t step back. I waited for him to. He didn’t.

“Are you the boy who’s been spending every afternoon here after school?” I didn’t know how he knew that since he wasn’t even around. She had said herself that she hadn’t seen him since the previous Sunday.

“Yes, I am. I have eaten dinner with Alex and Gia. She and I also work on homework together.” He final y stepped to the side and walked around me to lean on the post by the stairs, his back to me.

“You play on the footbal team, don’t you?” He was looking out on the street. I turned to face him.

“Yes, I do.” I put my hands in my pockets.

“You played wel tonight. As long as you respect Gia, you may date her. But if I hear of you hurting her or disrespecting her, you wil have me to deal with. She’s had enough of that to last her two lifetimes.” He didn’t look at me. He turned and went back inside. He shut the door and locked it. I stood there a few more minutes taking in what had just happened.

“You did what?” Gia spoke softly into the phone. I had just told her about my conversation with Oliver. I was lying in bed.

“I feel like we should fol ow Oliver’s rules,” I spoke a little softer.

“I don’t want him tel ing me who I can spend time with or what I do during that time,” she sighed.

“Wel , I did it, and now we can be together; I don’t regret it. I thought I might, but I don’t. This wil just make it easier for you.” I put my hand on my head, hoping she understood. “So when can I see you today?” I asked.

“I have a list of chores and laundry. Then we’l see.” She was stil upset. I hadn’t known her long, but I had seen her as easy-going and general y crowd-pleasing. This tone was neither of those. “Wel , try to be done by four. I’d like to spend the afternoon with you.”

“I have things to do then. I’l cal you when I’m done, OK?” I had a feeling that was the best I was going to get.

“I’l talk to you soon then.”

“Bye.”

I stayed in bed a few more minutes, but I could smel the pancakes downstairs, and I was definitely hungry. My door opened, and Hailey came bouncing in. She jumped on my bed with me and crawled under the covers. She cuddled up to me and patted my cheek with her tiny hand.

“I think Gianna is pretty.”

“I do, too.”

“And she is nice. She real y talked to me. I liked that,” she said.

“Yes, Gia is very special.”

“Do you love her?” she searched my eyes questioningly.

“I only met her a week ago, but I real y like her. I think I could love her, but that wil take some time,” I answered her honestly.

“I think you wil if you don’t already. Mommy made pancakes; it’s time to eat.”

“I know. I could smel them. They smel good, huh?” I squeezed her to me.

“Hurry up! Let’s go.” She giggled.

“Let’s go.” I pul ed her up and threw her over my shoulder as I got up from bed. She continued giggling as I carried her down the stairs and put her in her seat.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Mom was pouring juice.

“Early to bed and early to rise makes it a school day and not the weekend,” I chuckled.

“Wel , eat up. I have a shift that starts at noon. You’ve got Hailey duty this afternoon.”

“I have plans,” I groaned and looked at Hailey adding, “No offense, baby girl.” She nodded.

“Wel , Mrs. Kensington has the flu and can’t keep her.”

“Her house smel s funny, and I usual y smel like it until Tuesday even with baths.” Hailey crinkled her nose.

“So now your plans include Hailey,” Mom sighed.

“That means tons of junk food and horror flicks.” I elbowed Hailey. She giggled again.

“Yes, that means there’s thirty dol ars in the drawer; order a pizza and go rent a couple movies.” She grinned.

Hailey helped me rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher. Then we did some laundry. My mom left with an approving smile on her face. I picked up my room, and dusted it, something that I never did. We ate lunch and played video games. The thing about my sister was she loved video games, and for an eight-year-old girl, she was very competitive. We spent most of the afternoon playing and talking trash to each other.

My phone rang around three. It was Gia, and she said she could do something. I asked her to come over and explained the Hailey factor. She had no problem with that. We went to the video store, and I got an animated movie, an action movie, and a romantic comedy. I hoped they were OK. We met Gia at my house close to five in the evening. I ordered a pizza, and we started playing board games. If I thought Hailey was ruthless with the video games, she had nothing on Gia; her competitive nature made me wonder why she’d never gone out for sports. She was a beast! I just sat back and watched them go at it. It was enough to entertain me for the night. We let Gia pick the movie she wanted to watch. She picked the animated movie, which won her even more brownie points with Hailey. We settled in and watched the movie, Hailey sitting between us. She fel asleep leaning on Gia toward the end, and I carried her upstairs.

I let Gia pick the next movie we watched. She picked the action adventure. I popped it in as she refreshed our drinks. I dimmed the lights and went to the kitchen, returning with two of her favorite cupcakes. She smiled. We sat back down, and there was suddenly a nervous tension in the air. She sat forward as we watched the previews. Final y, I grabbed her around the waist and pul ed her into me. She relaxed and leaned against me. Eating our cupcakes, we watched the movie.

“This is nice, right?” I asked, not real y paying attention to the movie. “Better than sneaking around.”

“Yes, Travis. After we hung up and I thought about it, this is nicer than hiding. I don’t want to have to hide anything that I feel about you.” I was glad she couldn’t see my face. I’m sure she felt my heart begin to race.

“What exactly might you be hiding if I hadn’t asked for permission to date you?” I asked anxiously. She didn’t answer right away.

“How strongly I enjoy your company, and I like talking to you. I enjoy reading your letters.” She turned to look at me. “And you’re not bad to look at either,” she smirked, but there was a nervousness I felt, behind her smile.

“Oh, not bad to look at?” I chuckled. She nodded yes.

“Wel , thank you.” I leaned my head back, watching her squirm.

“What about you? How do you feel about me?” She looked down. I put my hand on her chin and leaned in to kiss her. She let me. I final y pul ed away from her only so I could tel her how I real y felt; I leaned back and said, “I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you the day I saw you standing on the pier. I’d never met a person as good as you before I wrote you that first note.” She leaned her head against me, satisfied with the answer.