Gravity (Free Falling) (22 page)

             
“Daddy, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked nervously.

He muted the TV and looked in m
y direction, but didn’t speak.  “I need to say something.”  This was my chance to be mature and prove to him that I was becoming a young adult.  “You’re concerned about me; I appreciate that, but cutting AJ off isn’t an option.”  I paused to catch my breath.  “So, I was thinking.  Would it make you feel better if I invited him over here so you can meet him?”

My question got M
om’s attention too.  She looked at me and then back at my father as we both awaited his answer.

             
“James, I think that’s a reasonable solution.  That way you can meet the young man and get to know him.  What do you say?”  She asked.

His eyebrows furrowed as he deliberated.
  “Fine.  But this doesn’t change the fact that I don’t think you’re ready for a relationship.”

             
“I understand.  I just want you to meet him and then we can go from there,” I replied excitedly.

My mother
seemed pleased that he’d agreed to meet AJ.  I couldn’t help but to smile too although there was the slightest hint of nervousness.  I considered disclosing AJ’s race to daddy, but decided that would probably make it into a bigger deal than it was.  So, Daddy wouldn’t know any of the details until they met face to face.

Excited,
I immediately ran up to my room to tell AJ the good news.  “Hello?”  He answered

             
“Hey.  What would you say if I asked you to come over to meet my father this Saturday?  We can talk with my parents for a while and then just hang out here after that.”

AJ
was silent for a while which made my enthusiasm fade.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”  He asked.

             
“Yeah, I think if he meets you he’ll like you and stop pressuring me to leave you alone.”

There was another moment of
silence.   “If you think that’ll help, I’ll be there.”  He said reluctantly.

             
“Good.  I’ll let you know the time and everything later.”  I was trying to be optimistic, but AJ’s skepticism had me second guessing myself. 
Was this a bad idea?

The next day at
lunch I avoided my friends…..or whatever they were to me now, and went straight for my newly claimed table.  They were talking and laughing amongst themselves, but I didn’t allow myself to look their way.  I was still uncomfortable, but I made up my mind not to let them see that I was bothered.  The bell sounded and I couldn’t get out of there quick enough.  Thankfully, it was Friday and I wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore until after the weekend, and by Monday, AJ would be back.

Mom came up to my room immediately after she returned home from work.  She seemed a little
anxious.  “So did you talk to AJ about coming by tomorrow?”

             
“Yeah.  He’ll be here.”

             
“Is he nervous?” She asked.

             
“No I wouldn’t say nervous, but maybe unsure.”

She paused for a minute
and bit her lip thoughtfully.  “Do you think it might be a good idea to wait a little longer?  You know, maybe until around your birthday when the mood is a little lighter around here.  That’s only a month away, and that would give you and AJ time to see if you’re really serious about one another.”

I thought about it and decided that maybe she was right. 
Not about needing time to see if it would last, but to let things die down around here.  “Yeah, that might be better.”

             
“And plus we’re going to have the rest of the family over here too, so your father won’t be able to focus as much attention on AJ and you’ll get to introduce him to all yours cousins and aunts and uncles,” she smiled.  “It’ll be nice.”

T
he thought of him meeting my
whole
family made me a little anxious, but mom was right.  With company around, Daddy was less likely to hassle AJ 

             
“I’ll call him and let him know that the plan has changed,” I assured her.

             
“Ok, and I’ll tell your father as soon as he gets home.”  She smiled again, and walked out of my room to give me privacy while I made the call. 

             
“Hey,” AJ answered.

             
“Hey.  Busy?”

             
“Just at the mall, but I’m never too busy for you.  What’s up?”

I took a deep breath before speaking.  “Well…..my mom and I were talking and what do you think about waiting to meet my father at a later d
ate – like around my birthday.  We usually just combine it with Thanksgiving because it’s always so close.  What do you think?”

He paused for a min
ute.  “Yeah, that sounds fine.”

             
“Ok, so leave your calendar open for November 23
rd
then.”

             
“It’s a date.  But hey, I have an idea.  Since we’re not hangin’ over at your house tomorrow, you should come meet my friends.  They’re getting together at Karl’s house.  It’ll be fun.  I think you’ll get along great with his girlfriend Deanna.  She and Karl are both going to Charleston too, so you’ve already got something in common.”

P
rotesting seemed like a good idea, but he was so open to meeting my father that I didn’t have a choice but to be equally as open to his suggestion.  So I replied, “Sure.”

             
“Great.  I’ll call Karl later and get all the details and I’ll give you a call later.”

I wasn’t sure
about this.  Maybe his friends would feel the same way about us that
my
friends did.  There was also the possibility of Leila being there with Trevor.  Chances are, she didn’t know about AJ and me yet and I wasn’t expecting her to take it well.  I took a deep breath and tried to be positive.

The next day I decided to go
shopping to find a new outfit before going over to Karl’s with AJ.  I wanted to make a good impression and I didn’t have much luck when I ravaged my closet the night before.  I started with my favorite store, and as always, found something after only searching for ten minutes.  There was a dark denim mini skirt that fit perfectly.  Of course, I’d have to come up with something creative to actually get out of the house with it on, but I’d be able to handle that.  There was a hot pink baby tee that matched my pink and white tennis shoes at home, so I grabbed it and hurried to the register to pay. 

By the time I got home
, it was nearly 3:00.  That gave me plenty of time to play around with different hairstyles.  A ponytail was out of the question.  Outshining this Leila chick wasn’t going to be an easy task.  I ended up leaving it down and curled loosely at the ends, letting it fall down my back.  AJ messaged me last night to tell me that he’d be here by 6pm, so I had a little time. I lay across my bed and watched TV until my phone rang at 5:22.  I answered it eagerly.  “Hey!”

He laughed a little to himself.  “Somebody’s in a good mood.”

              “Maybe a little.  You on your way?”  I asked.

             
“Yeah, I’ll be there in about 20 minutes or so.  You ready?”

             
“Yeah, I’m about to throw my clothes on now.”

             
“Well…..I forgot to tell you; clothing’s optional.  It’s cool if you just come naked.”

             
“Ha ha ha…shut up.  I’ll be ready when you get here.  Just call and let it ring once.  I’ll come out.”

I hung up
and put on the new outfit.  Just then, I remembered that I would never get out of the house in this skirt.  I slid it off and threw it into my small Nike backpack that neither of my parents would find suspicious.  There was a pair of jeans lying on the side of my bed from earlier, so I put them back on.  I collected my purse, keys, phone and the small bag and waited for AJ’s call.  A couple minutes later it rang once and I knew that was my cue.  I ran down the stairs and kissed my mom.             

             
“Have fun,” she called after me as I flew out the door.

I jumped into
the car and kissed AJ on the cheek.  Strangely, I didn’t really feel nervous about meeting his friends anymore, but I was sure that would change as we got closer to Karl’s house.  I was actually relieved that tonight, Leila would finally know that AJ wasn’t available anymore.  Maybe she’d give up chasing him then. 
Maybe.

AJ
looked especially good tonight.  He wore a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a pair of dark denim jeans that were nearly the same shade as my skirt.  His watch twinkled as we passed under the street lights and his jet black hair glistened in the dim light of the evening.

I need
ed to change into my skirt before we got to Karl’s house, so I decided to just make the switch while A.J drove.  When I reached into my bag and retrieved it, AJ looked at me curiously and then asked, “What’s that for?”

             
“I’m wearing it tonight, but I didn’t want my parents to trip when they saw it.”

             
“You need me to stop somewhere so you can change?” He asked politely.

             
“Nope,” I smiled.  “I think I have enough room to do it here.”  He was smiling as soon as the words left my mouth. 

I unbuttoned my pants and wrestled with the best way to do this.  I could slip the skirt on over the pants and then slide them off
easily.  But where would the fun be in
that
?  So, I gripped the waist band of my jeans and eased them down slowly.  AJ immediately stopped watching the road to focus on me.  Not in a rush to cover myself up, I casually folded the jeans and put them in my bag.  From my peripheral, it didn’t even look like he was breathing; that’s how still he was.  I put my feet through the skirt and slid it up my thighs and buttoned it before turning to smile at him.

             
“Don’t you think you should be watching where you’re going?”  I asked.

A few seconds later he turned his attention back to the road.  I
threw my bag into the backseat, reached for his hand, and leaned my head on his shoulder.  We drove for about 15 more minutes and then pulled into Karl’s driveway.  It was an average sized white house in the suburbs.  There were about six cars parked out front, so I assumed that everyone else was there already.  I took a deep breath and A.J squeezed my hand reassuringly.  “You’ll be fine.  It’s gonna be fun.”

             
“Is
she
going to be here?” I asked in a voice that was barely higher than a whisper.

             
“Probably.  I think Trevor said he was coming and she usually tags along with him wherever he goes,” AJ replied
.  I figured as much
. It seemed like that was the only reason she was allowed to come around.  Trevor was her rite of passage in a sense.   The guys are good friends with him so, by default, she’s automatically included in whatever plans they make.

             
“Does she know about me yet?” I held my breath while I waited for his answer.

             
“No, not unless someone else told her,” he replied. 

So, we were getting ready to blindside her. 
I could deal with that.  “Ok, let’s go.  I’m ready,” I sighed.

AJ
looked at me one last time and then got out of the car to come around and open my door.  He took my hand and held it as we walked to the door.  My nervousness returned as we approached the house.  He squeezed my hand and smiled at me reassuringly as he rang the doorbell.  Footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door as someone scrambled inside.  Two seconds later it flung open. 

             
“AJ!!”  The large man yelled.  “Good to see ya.  Everybody’s downstairs.  You know the way.”

The man eyed me curiously and glanced down at
AJ and me holding hands.  “Mr.  Holmes, this is Samantha……my girlfriend.”  His smile told me that he was pleased to finally be able to say those words. 

             
“Nice to meet you Samantha.  Any friend of AJ’s is a friend of ours.  Make yourself at home and don’t hesitate to help yourself to anything.”  Mr. Holmes was a good- natured man with a voice as large as his body.  I imagined that his outgoing personality was what made Karl’s place the hangout of choice.  AJ led the way to the basement door and I took another deep breath as he opened it.  Immediately, music floated up the stairs toward us.  His friends were laughing and joking around, seeming to already be having a good time.  We reached the bottom of the stairs, rounded the corner and I held my breath as each head turned in our direction. 

             
“Hey, A.J!  What’s up?”  Karl Exclaimed in a voice loud enough to rival his father’s.  The others followed and greeted him as well, never taking their eyes off of me.  “And you must be Samantha,” Karl added.  “It’s nice to meet you.”  He reached out and shook my hand.