Authors: Tabitha Freeman
“Thanks,” he said. “You’re pretty funny yourself, you know.”
I just smiled and looked back at the
TV
, trying to figure out what to say next, so as to keep the conversation going.
“Do you like it here in Virginia?” I asked him abruptly then.
“It’s all right, I guess,” he replied. “I like it better in the city, to be honest. But I want to see my mom and my sister before I graduate.”
“Did you not see them a lot before?” I asked.
“Only every other holiday,” he told me. “My mom and me…we don’t really get along, so I didn’t come down to visit as much as I could have. And Laura and my dad don’t get along that well, so it was the same way with her.”
“That sucks,” I said.
“Are your parents still together?” he asked me.
“My dad died when I was seven,” I told him. “So it’s just me and my mom.”
“Oh, that’s sad,” he said, frowning. “How did he die?”
“Cancer,” I replied quietly. “It was really tough for my mom. Sometimes I think she’s still trying to get past it.”
“It’s got to be the hardest thing in the world losing someone you love like that,” Tyson said.
“Yeah,” I sighed. Back to playing with the carpet. “My mom’s changed a lot since then. She’s really quiet now…she used to be lively, outgoing, always out and about and on the go. She refuses to date anyone or meet new people or…just be happy, I guess. But she’s o
ne of those people that believe
you only have one soulmate and that you only love deeply once.”
“Do you believe that, too?”
I looked up at him, surprised by his question, and our eyes locked.
“I don’t know what I believe,” I replied. “I-I guess I’m not really sure if there is one definite person put on this earth for us. Sometimes I find myself wishing there wasn’t so my mom could be happy again.”
“My mom remarried but my dad didn’t,” Tyson said. “So I wonder if they just messed up
—
if the guy my mom is with now is her soulmate and my dad just hasn’t found his.” I shrugged.
“Love is so
confusing, you know?” I said then. “It seems to me like sometimes it causes a lot more mess than actual good.”
“Have you been in love before?” he asked me.
“No,” I admitted. “Have you?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice low. “But it wasn’t that ‘it’ kind of love, I don’t think. The kind
of love where you go, ‘Holy cow
, that’s forever.’ I haven’t found my forever yet, I guess.”
“Me, either. I don’t want to fall in love with a lot of guys, though,” I said. “To me, that just seems like a waste of time if he’s not the One, you know?” Tyson shrugged.
“You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince,” he replied, smiling. I laughed
.
“That was so cliché!” I taunted.
“It’s true
, though,” he defended
.
“Well, I want to skip the frogs,” I said flatly. He laughed.
“Have you ever been to Luna Moon?” he asked me suddenly.
“Yeah, once or twice,” I replied, taken off guard by the sudden change in subject. “Why?”
“There’s a r
eally awesome band
playing there this Saturday night,” he said, and he paused. “You should come.”
“Maybe I will,” I said, smiling. The bats in my stomach were turning into eagles now.
“Awesome,” he replied, smiling as well, relief in his eyes. “Um, I can’t remember what time they’re playing…I could call you and let you know…” Was this a subtle way of asking for my number?
“That’d be great,” I said, not caring how subtle he was trying to be. He’d just asked for my number. He’d just asked for my number! So I gave it to him and he put it in his cell phone so he wouldn’t lose it. We talked then for another minute about cell pho
nes,
and then I told him I needed to get home.
“So soon?” Emily asked me, as I got up and said my goodbyes.
“Yeah,” I said. “I have some studying to do for a Calculus exam tomorrow.”
“All right, I’ll see you in the morning, then,” she said.
“I’ll walk you,” Tyson said and we walked upstairs and outside together.
It was a gorgeous night. Freezing, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sta
rs seemed brighter than ever. O
ur footsteps echoed loudly through the night as we walked across the street. I began to think it was so gorgeous to me because I was out there with Tyson.
“Winter in Virginia is so cold,” I mumbled, my teeth chattering.
“Yeah, it is cold,” Tyson agreed, sticking his hands in the pockets of his puffy green coat. “But at least you’re not getting freezing rain or slushy snow. That’s what I had to look forward to every winter in Seattle.”
“Ugh,” I wrinkled my nose
.
“Tell me about it,” he said. “And the cold weather was always really bad on my amps because I had to keep them in the garage because my room wasn’t big enough.”
“Amps?” I questioned. “You play guitar?”
“Yeah, I had a band,” he said. “I miss that. No one here seems to be musically inclined.” I laughed.
“Did you sing?” I asked him.
“Oh definitely,” he said, smiling. “Singing, writing, and playing
—
that’s my magic.”
“I’d like to hear that sometime,” I said quietly, my eyes meeting his. I couldn’t believe myself. Had I really just been that forward?
“I’d definitely like you to,” was his reply. Yes, I’d just been that forward and it’d paid off.
“Uh, well, this is my house,” I said, then, as we stood in my driveway.
“That was quick.”
“Yeah, only ten quick steps to my front yard.”
“Um…well, then, I guess I’ll give you a call about that show at Luna Moon?”
“That’d be terrific.”
“Okay, I’ll see ya
,” he said. “I’m freezing my butt
off, so I better go back inside.”
“See ya,” I said, laughing and running up to my front door. I stood there and watched him run back across the street to Emily’s house.
That was my first night of falling in love with Tyson Andrews.
2
.
“He asked for your number!” Cassie squealed the next day as we sat at the lunch table in the Marcher High School Cafeteria.
Once again, I was trying to play it cool.
“It’s no big deal,” I told her
,
in an overly nonchalant tone.
“No big deal?” Cassie laughed. “Ava, it’s a huge deal! Quit trying to act like you don’t care. You know you were eyeing him last night like a hawk.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I only sound like a psychotic stalker,” I replied, taking a bite out of my lunchroom processed chicken sandwich. “So, thanks for that, Cass.”
She got a fit of the giggles then and nearly spewed the gulp of water she’d just taken.
“Good afternoon, ladies!” Emily greeted, sitting down at our table next to me. She looked at Cassie, who’d just dribbled some water down her chin.
“Are we not domesticated and housebroken quite yet?” Emily murmured to me. I crac
ked up and Cassie threw a
fry at her.
“Shut up!” she exclaimed. “I’m totally housebroken! Ava just has her moments.”
“Don’t I know,” Emily rolled her eyes and began pouring ranch dressing all over the salad on the tray in front of her. “So, what are our plans for tonight?”
“You tell me,” I replied. “I figured you’d be spending the evening with your new be
au.” Emily glanced over at me
quickly.
“You mean, Jake?” she asked, a smile forming in the corners of her mouth.
“You know who she’s talking about,” Cassie said. “Good grief, you two were playing tonsil hockey like professionals until your brother got home last night.”
I looked at Emily, my mouth dropping open.
“Emily
!” I
gasped.
“Oh, you’re one to talk, Ava!” Emily rebounded. “You were all over Tyson Andrews last night.” I turned back to my chicken sandwich, blushing slightly.
“He asked for her number,” Cassie told Emily. Emily smirked at me.
“Nice,” she commented. “So, has he called yet?”
“Nope,” I replied, not looking at either of them. “He just got my number before I left last night, so I’m not expecting anything.”
“Three day rule,” Emily pointed out. “He can’t call you for the first three days of having your number without seeming desperate or psycho. Guys live by that rule.”
“How do you know?” I asked. “Oh, wait, you’ve dated every guy in Marcher, Constanti
ne, Locust Grove, and Hartville. O
f course you would know.”
“Don’t forget the entire male inhabitance of West Virginia,” Cassie added.
“All right, all right!” Emily laughed. “If you’re done label
ing me as Marcher’s biggest call-girl
, what I was trying to say was that he’ll call you, Ava. Just don’t expect it today.”
“I don’t know about that three day rule with Tyson, though,” Cassie argued. “The reason for getting Ava’s number was so he could call her when he found out what time this band is playing at Luna Moon tomorrow night.”
Emily smiled at me.
“Well then, the three day rule might just have to slide
this time,” she said. “He’s a looker
, Ava.
Hats off to you.”
At nine that night, Tyson called me. At first, he was ‘a man on a mission’, calling just to inform me of the time of the show
at Luna Moon on Saturday night
and to ask if I thought it would be
okay if he picked me up in his El C
amino so we could go together. After I accepted, he relaxed and we talked for the next two hours.
He picked me up at five-thirty Saturday evening. Jake and Emily were coming, too
, but they were meeting us at Luna Moon
at seven. When Tyson arrived at my house, I was still getting ready.
“Ava!” My mom yelled up the stairs to my room. “Your date’s here!”
Suddenly I felt sick. I was sure I was going to blow chunks.
No, no, no!
my mind screamed.
You aren’t going to do any such thing! Finish getting dressed and go downstairs. You can do this!
“Great,” I muttered aloud then. “I’m my own personal motivational speaker.”
“Let him in, Mom!” I yelled back down to her. “I’ll just be five more minutes!”
I heard my mother let him inside and he immediately started a conversation with her. I finished getting dressed, grabbed my jacket and went downstairs.
I walked into the living room where Tyson sat on the couch across the room from where my mother sat on
the recliner
. Things looked to be okay. He was being so polite and charming and I sa
w approval on my mother’s face—
something I didn’t see often when it came to my near-desolate dating world.