Lie Until You Laugh

30- Someday Love

“How much do I know about your dad?” Penn asks me.

I’m sitting on his bed with my back to him so he can’t see me give him a weird expression, kind of surprised by the question. “A lot, why?”

“I just feel like I don’t know everything,” He explains.

“You don’t,” I assure him. “But you know more than I’ve ever told anybody. I’ve actually never told anybody about anything about my dad ever so what you already know is a miracle.”

“Okay,” He replies, digging his thumbs into my shoulder blades. It’s Tuesday night and after I whined about my soreness after an all-day practice, he offered to give me a massage which I was hesitant about, but I eventually gave in and it actually feels amazing.

“Are you upset that I haven’t told you everything?” I ask.

“No,” Penn says quickly. “Not at all. I know you don’t know everything about my family either, I was just curious.”

“Like, I don’t know who Peter is,” I say, remembering that name from when I went to dinner at his parents’ house. I assumed it was his brother but I still have no idea who that Peter guy was.

“Oh, well that’s easy,” He tells me. “Peter’s my brother. He’s like, 27, I think, and he’s kind of an asshole but I guess he’s tolerable. My mom hates him though, because he’s into some drugs and he drinks a lot and he didn’t go to college. She drove him to it though, so I don’t know why she’s so upset about him turning out the way he did.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but I really don’t like your mom,” I inform my wonderful boyfriend as he continues to move his fingers over my shoulders.

He laughs and peppers my neck with soft kisses for a moment before resting his chin on my shoulder. “I’m not her biggest fan either, but after college, I’ll only have to deal with her during holidays and such.”

“You want to leave Oxnard?”

“Oxnard, definitely. Preferably all of California though.”

“I’ve kind of always wanted to go to Seattle,” I tell him with a small sigh. I don’t know why I feel like telling him this, it’s just a thought that randomly came to my head when he started talking about moving away, I guess. “It seems like a really amazing place.”

“Seattle,” Penn repeats. “It rains a lot there.”

I shrug. “I can deal with rain. It’s always sweater weather though and that’s so great. I have so many super cute sweaters at home that I can never wear because it is always hot in Georgia. I mean, it’s a different hot than here though. It’s not as humid there in Georgia.”

“I definitely wouldn’t mind getting away from this heat.”

“Seattle,” I mumble.

“Seattle,” He mumbles back. I do the math in my head and realize that’s at least two or three years away, Penn graduating, which means that if we’re talking about going to Seattle together that means that we’d be together for three years. Of course, it’s just a hypothetical plan, like wanting to be a princess when you grow up, but it’s just kind of nice that he briefly wants to be a prince with me.

“Can I… Um, can I ask you a question without you like, laughing at all?” I wonder timidly.

“Of course,” He assures me, wrapping his arms around my waist so that we are sitting with my back pressed against his front. We’re both fully clothed and it needs to stay that way because we both have to be up early tomorrow for practice, so nothing too exciting can happen before I have to go back to my dorm or I’ll be exhausted during morning practice tomorrow.