Starting Over

Chapter 19: Getting to Know Each Other

           -Chase

Taylor is drunk. Along with all of my friends. Gabe and Taylor hung out on the beach for the longest time talking. Then they got in the water. We all hung out in the ocean before getting out and started drinking.

"Loosen up, Chase! Our next basketball game is at the end of the week, you'll have plenty of time to sober up!" A very drunk Hayden yells at me before taking another Jell-O Shot.

Im not a drinker. Never have been.

"Let's play a game?" Nicole who is on the verge of drunk suggest

"We're playing a game inside." I tell them. "It's dark out here. Someone is going to file a complaint."

"Fine we will play a game inside." She says before heading inside

Everyone starts walking inside leaving me to carry everything.

"Need any help?" I don't even have to turn around I know that voice.

"You're drunk. I don't think there's much you could do." I tell her

"I'm not drunk. If I was drunk I would already be skinny dipping in the ocean."

"Now that's something I'd like to see."

"Haha. Very fun. What do you need help with?"

"I don't need help." I assure her. She just nods and heads inside.

Truth be told I do need help. But I'm not going to ask her to help me. My mama raised me right. Never let a lady carry heavy things.

Once I finally get inside, I'm expecting to play a game. But they are nowhere to be seen.

"They got tired of waiting. You should've just accepted my help."

"Why are you still up?"

"Well you see, Gabe and Nicole are a little touchy tonight. For some reason they decided they'd rather have sex on twin size bed rather than a queen size. Doesn't make sense. But they are both heavily intoxicated and don't have a logically brain at the moment."

"I'll sit down here with you then. I'm not tired and have absolutely nothing better to do."

"I'm just glad me and Nicole aren't sharing a bed because that would just be awful to sleep by her after what they did."

"Sounds awful. Now let's get to know each other." I suggest

"What would you like to know about?"

"I'll start off simple favorite kind of pizza?"

"I love a pepperoni pizza with banana peppers and jalapeño peppers. What about you?"

"A pizza with everything on it except mushrooms. Mushrooms disgust me." I absolutely hate mushrooms. They shouldn't even be a thing to eat.

"I agree they suck."

"Favorite season?" I ask

"Football, basketball, and Volleyball season." She tells me

"I meant weather season. Like autumn, spring, winter, or summer."

"Right I knew that." She says as she brings yet another Miller Lite to her lips. "Fall is my favorite season."

"I like winter. I always beg for it to snow."

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" She ask

"The questions are getting tougher. I'll be twenty-five, so in the NBA. Anywhere but California. I hope to have a girlfriend and I would be proposing soon. I hope I have a successful career. What about you?"

"Honestly anywhere but Kentucky. I never want to see the welcome to Kentucky sign ever. I want to live in Colorado. It's been a dream since I've been a child. We'd always go skiing in Colorado I felt so alive there. I see myself as a successful physical therapist hopefully for athletes. I hope I'm already married and my wedding looked just like every image I saved on Pinterest. I hope no children yet. They can wait until I'm twenty-six." She tells me.

"That was very detailed."

"Well I have a plan for my future so I don't end up like my mother."

"And what is your mother?"

"Stuck." She states and I don't pry. If she wants to tell me she will.  "She gave it all up for love. What a stupid decision. She could be very successful with a career. I mean she was an athlete that got an education on scholarship. She has a degree. She's not completely stuck but she's not moving. She stuck in a loveless marriage. She's a housewife. She has no job. No money of her own. She's just stuck."

She pauses before continuing "I will not end up like her. I will be independent. I'll find someone who treats me good and likes me for me. Not who my brothers are or my parents. Someone who likes the broken mess that I am."

"Have you ever been in love?" I question

"I'll experience love one day. To answer your question I haven't ever been in love with someone but I do love. You can love many things."

"My mom isn't stuck. But she knows what it's like to be with someone who is committed to something else. My dad may take many business trips but he is still madly in love with my mom. He will always be. Loving someone is 50/50. You both have to give a lot. You will meet someone who gives you 50 one day and when you do don't run away from them."

"I'll try my best not too." She tells me as she puts her drink down and lays her head on my chest.

This is the most comfortable I've been with a girl , ever. I feel perfect with her. Like I've never felt. I don't want her to move because if she does I'm going to be cold and lonely. My heart never beats fast with a girl but it does with Taylor. Something about her just makes me nervous.

"Now what is your biggest secret?" I ask as I grab a cover with my free hand and cover us.

"I have many. What's yours?"

"That I'd be perfectly fine not being in the NBA."

"Would you really though? I mean what would you do?" She ask

"I don't know. I just wish sometimes the team didn't need me because I would walk away from it all." I would. If I could. But I can't. I can't walk away from the one thing that has kept me occupied for years.

"I walked away from the thing that I loved. I was selfish. I didn't care that the team needed me. All I cared about was myself. I regret it everyday. I wish I was still playing volleyball. But I'm not. It was a decision I made out of grief and anger. So if you want to walk away from basketball ever, think about the pros and cons." She tells me like she's never told anyone this before.

"I'm just thinking about the possibilities. I would never actually quit. It would disappoint everyone I know. I worked so hard for the spot I'm at and the opportunity I was given."

We sit in silence for awhile before I realize she never answered my question.

"You didn't answer me. What's your biggest secret?"

"I might as well tell you since we all will be in Kentucky soon. I'm a Lawson."

"What?" I question confused. Did she really just tell me that. I didn't expect her to tell me that. I didn't expect her to tell me her biggest secret but she did. She's trusting me and opening up. I like that.

I replay our whole conversation from the beginning in my mind thinking I may have heard something wrong and when I down at her laying on me to ask her more questions she's asleep.

Looks like we are sleeping on a couch tonight.

______

6/30/21
8:46am