Picturing Different

by Nikki Kwiatkowski

  “Anyway,” Ronan began. Tripp couldn’t help but notice that his father’s face held a much happier expression since when he first walked up. “Mr. Granger has agreed to go out to a late dinner with us. Isn’t that nice?”

  Tripp’s eyes widened as he looked from his dad to Mr. Granger. He wasn’t sure what the look on his face was projecting, but suddenly his father didn’t appear too pleased.

  “Oh, it’s no big deal,” Mr. Granger said, and Tripp tried his best not to let the relief show too much. “I’m sure the boy has plans of his own after a win like that.”

  Tripp’s eyes met Mr. Granger’s and he saw the twinkle in them.

  “Nonsense. He has time so that we can talk more,” Ronan insisted.

  Mr. Granger glanced from father to son, picking up on something. He waved Ronan off. “It is late, and I have quite a bit of a drive.” Then, turning to Tripp, “We’ll be in touch.”

  Tripp felt a sinking and ominous feeling as Mr. Granger said goodbye and strode away. It wasn’t until he was well out of earshot that Tripp knew why that feeling was there.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing,” Ronan spat.

  Tripp had no intention of fighting with his dad. He was having the best ending to a day that hadn’t started out as such. So he did what he always did, and played it off, trying to deescalate with joking or playing dumb. It was a mechanism he had begun using early on when he disappointed his dad.

  “He said he’d be in touch,” Tripp shrugged, pretending not to follow.

  The red in Ronan’s eyes told Tripp that he wasn’t going to get off easy tonight.

  “That man holds your future. You should have taken the opportunity to–”

  What his father said hit him hard and he was quick to interrupt. “I thought I held my future.”

  Ronan scoffed and ignored the statement. “Is this because of that girl?”

  Tripp really hated that his father kept referring to Ashlyn like that. Knowing that he was about to hit a nerve, “Yeah, I have dinner plans with her.”

  Ronan’s jaw ticked. “No, you don’t.”

  Tripp honestly didn’t know at the moment, seeing as how Ashlyn had left. “Dad,” he began, rubbing a hand over his face. “She’s my girlfriend, and I really like her.”

  “She’s a distraction! You played horrible, no doubt because–”

  Raising his voice slightly, “You mean when I got a home run batting left-handed?”

  Ronan scoffed. “You should have had five home runs blindfolded.”

  Tripp shook his head. There was no point in arguing with his dad when he was like this. “I’m not a superhero. I wish you’d stop acting like I can be.”

  “You can do so much better. Both on the field and in your personal life,” Ronan stressed.

  At least his anger was calming down to extreme disappointment.

  Tripp knew why his father didn’t necessarily approve of Ashlyn. It was simple and ridiculous. Aside from her being what he considered a distraction, he thought her choice of hobbies was ridiculous. While Tripp’s mother told him that his father had been impressed with Ashlyn’s work, overall art was a waste of time, and her pursuing it said a lot about her character. Whatever that meant.

  “I like her, dad. She takes me down a notch,” Tripp said, a small smile forming on his lips. “She doesn’t make me feel like I’m something special just because I can play a sport.”

  “Tripp…”

  “Please, dad. Don’t give me an ultimatum.”

  Ronan grit his teeth and began storming out, headed toward a closer exit than the one Ashlyn had taken.

  “Curfew is eleven tonight,” he yelled. His voice was probably loud enough that anyone still in the field house heard him.

  Chapter 40

  Tripp was shocked when he rushed out of the exit Ashlyn had used and found her sitting quietly on a bench underneath one of the streetlights.

  “I thought you left,” he said. He immediately cringed with how panicked his voice sounded.

  Ashlyn stood and walked toward Tripp, only for him to nod to his right, for them to continue walking in that direction.

  “I thought about it. I’m kidding,” she immediately corrected when she heard Tripp take a deep breath. “Honestly, every time I looked up, it seemed like your dad wanted to rip off my head. I just thought it would be best to be out of sight.”

  Tripp raked his hand through his hair. He had no intention of telling her anything about the conversation he just had with his dad. His dad was being an idiot when it came to Ashlyn; however, Tripp knew it wouldn’t just be Ashlyn. If anyone took even the slightest bit of time away from his studies or baseball, they were seen as a problem in his father’s eyes.

  Ashlyn knew Tripp was struggling to say something when it came to his father, so she quickly changed the subject. “So, a scout from Cartwright. That’s pretty impressive.”

  “I guess so.”

  Tripp had grown increasingly quiet compared to the confident boy that told her to wait for him. They were just about at his vehicle and they hadn’t really spoken about anything of any real substance.

  “Look, Ash,” Tripp sighed.

  Ashlyn swallowed heavily, wondering if this was going to be the ultimate break between them, wondering if his father really had gotten into his head enough.

  “I don’t want to talk about any of that right now.”

  When Ashlyn looked up in surprise and met his eyes, even in the darkness with just the parking lot lights shining above them, she could she the glittery playfulness that was Tripp Scott. Then he hit her with a ton of bricks.

  “I can’t say that I’m not disappointed.” When Ashlyn’s jaw dropped and she said nothing, Tripp continued. “Deacon told me everything. I mean, it’s not so unbelievable. I just wish you would have told me the reason you didn’t want to get involved with me. It would have saved us from a lot of back and forth and misconceptions.”

  “If I would have told you that there was a chance that my crazy ex-boyfriend might beat you up, would you have still pursued me?”

  “Yes,” Tripp quickly answered.

  “Then, we’re back to the same place had I not said anything,” Ashlyn pointed out.

  “But I wouldn’t have thought that you were still into him, possibly going back and forth with your emotions. It would have made a difference.”

  They both leaned against the Mercedes-Benz, their shoulders almost touching.

  “We could have just dated in secret.” Then, after thinking about if for a second, “I guess that’s what we kind of did anyway.”

  Though Ashlyn could hear the humor in his voice, she didn’t see it that way. “You deserve so much better.”

  Tripp tilted his head so that his eyes were on her. “So do you.”

  Ashlyn shook her head. “You know what I mean. I’ve been unfair to you. I’m so sorry for all this,” she motioned her hands around, her words not coming to her. “Mess,” she concluded.

  “It was worth it.”

  “How so?”

  Before Ashlyn could think another thought, Tripp pushed off and turned toward her. He placed both his hands on the side of the roof of the vehicle and pressed himself into her. Ashlyn’s sense of smell was taken over by Tripp’s cologne, and she thought she might fall into a drunken stupor by how intoxicating it was.

  “Hearing you say what you did.”

  Ashlyn’s eyes fell, and she could feel her cheeks burning. She had wondered how long it would be before he jumped to that little confession.

  “Did you mean it,” he asked. His voice was more strained and gravely than she had ever heard.

  Ashlyn brought her eyes up to his and the intensity behind them was overwhelming. “Yes,” she managed.

  Before another word came from either of them, Tripp’s lips crashed onto Ashlyn’s and he pushed her farther into the vehicle, the cool exterior doing little to extinguish the fires building between them.

  Tripp let out the slightest moan b
ut pulled back before things escalated too far. He still fully intended to take Ashlyn to dinner, and if he didn’t show some restraint, that wasn’t going to happen.

  Once their lips parted, Tripp pressed his forehead to Ashlyn’s, their noses almost touching. “After all, I did get a home run,” he pointed out, attempting to justify the kiss, yet knowing it needed no justification.

  Ashlyn playfully swatted at him. “It would kill you to be serious.”

  Tripp’s smile quickly faded, and with one hand still pressed behind Ashlyn, he took the other and intertwined their fingers together, knowing that the sharp breath of air Ashlyn sucked in meant that she felt it too.

  “Can I take you out to dinner?”

  Ashlyn wasn’t sure why it seemed like a big deal to him. He had said as much when he met her on the bleachers. “Yeah, sure.”

  Tripp shook his head. “I mean really. Not eating inside a car, not a town over, not some secluded lake, not–”

  Ashlyn felt the need to interrupt. “The lake was really nice.” It was probably the nicest date she had ever been on.

  Tripp’s boyish grin graced his face immediately. “What I’m saying is, right now, out in public, where a hundred different people might see us, even if I end up with a black eye.”

  Ashlyn groaned. He almost had it until that last bit.

  “Sorry, I had to.”

  Not wanting to change the subject, especially with Tripp being so intense and romantic, Ashlyn felt like she had no choice but to say something. She had intended to talk to him about it on his lawn that day, but he kind of told her to leave. “My dad will help, I talked to–”

  With a smile still on his face, “I know. We’ve been in contact.”

  Ashlyn’s eyes widened in shock, surprised that her dad hadn’t told her that in the last couple days.

  “I am pressing charges,” he pointed out.

  Ashlyn’s next words caught him off guard. “Thank goodness.”

  They both laughed. Though the tingling pain above Tripp’s eye made him realize how fresh the situation was, it was still something he could laugh about now.

  “Now, can I take my girlfriend out? For real.”

  Ashlyn nodded with enthusiasm.

  With a playful look on his face and his fingers dancing in hers, “Just one more thing. I think I missed what you said back there.” He nodded toward the baseball field.

  Ashlyn wrapped her free arm around his neck. She could have toyed with him, teased him, pretended she didn’t know what he was talking about, but it had felt so good saying it the first time that she couldn’t wait to say it again. “I love you, Tripp.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and picked her up so that she fell into him. “I will never get tired of hearing that.” After giving her the softest and sweetest of pecks, “And I love you, too.”

  Something felt different between them in the best of ways. From the moment of their first meeting, neither could have ever pictured that their relationship would take the course that it had, but it did, and it changed both of their lives for the better.

  THE END

  Epilogue

  “You’d never leave me for another girl, would you?”

  Deacon closed his eyes and took in a sharp breath. Melody asked him the same question nearly every other day. Her insecurities or jealousy, whatever it was, was starting to irritate him. This was why he never did relationships.

  “Why do you keep asking that?”

  Melody twirled her dark hair and sipped on her soda. “Well,” she began, and paused.

  Deacon couldn’t imagine how many thoughts were running through her head, and she was going to let him know every single one. He wasn’t a big talker; however, Melody was. He didn’t know that when he started dating her. She was probably the only girl he could think of that preferred to talk incessantly on the phone as opposed to text. He only knew this now because she called him every single night, and the calls weren’t the five-minute ones he was used to with his grandmother. That said a lot.

  “My friends and I were talking.”

  Deacon rolled his eyes and tried not to groan. That was a dumb statement.

  “I know you’ve been out with girls here and there, but I’m like your first real girlfriend.”

  Deacon felt sick to his stomach. This isn’t how it was supposed to be.

  “And you’re a great catch, not to mention baseball star. Then in the fall, once football starts, I know you’ll be one of the best wide receivers our school has ever had. People cannot wait until our senior year.”

  He let her ramble on about baseball and football, deep down wondering if she really liked him or liked his status around the school.

  “Seriously, you could have any girl at this school, and every girl at this school would love a chance with you.”

  Deacon stopped breathing when she said that and looked up, out into the distance across the cafeteria.

  Those words killed him, mostly because they were so far from true. It’s not like he wanted them to be true. He wasn’t some egotistical player; he didn’t want any and every girl. Just one.

  “I know it hasn’t been but a few weeks, but I feel like you’re distant, and I’m worried that it’s a me problem.”

  Deacon hadn’t realized how insecure Melody was. He also hadn’t realized that he wasn’t helping it. He hated that his friends ever convinced him to go to that party, to be open to dating, to actually getting in a relationship.

  Most of all, he hated what a coward he was, because he really didn’t want to be in a relationship anymore, but he didn’t know how to get out without hurting her. Melody was nice, he guessed. To be honest, he wasn’t sure. They had gone to a couple dinners, to the movies, they sat together at lunch, but he didn’t really know much about her. He felt like such a jerk.

  He also knew what she meant with the distant comment. They had kissed approximately twice, and both times he felt nothing. Their kisses weren’t even the kinds of kisses that new couples have. They lacked passion and emotion. Melody wanted something more physical, but the thought of making out with her made his chest tighten and his stomach flip, because he knew his heart would never be in it.

  That was why he had started dating her to begin with, to move on, to escape inevitable heartbreak. That didn’t happen. A part of him couldn’t move on.

  “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Deacon finally said.

  It seemed to please Melody as she grabbed his shoulder and leaned into him.

  It might have felt like a little lie, maybe because it was. There was only one girl Deacon wanted, ever wanted, but she would always be completely off limits. He couldn’t ruin his friendship with her. He especially couldn’t ruin his friendship with his best friend, which would inevitably happen if Ellis knew that every night when Deacon closed his eyes, all he could see was her.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “Stop it,” Emory huffed as Ellis grabbed one of her fries.

  “I’m bigger than you. Plus, you have to keep your cheerleader physique,” he pointed out.

  Emory’s face fell flat.

  “Wow,” Ashlyn sighed. “You did not just say that.”

  “I guess that attitude is why you’re not eating lunch with Abby today,” Emory spat.

  Ellis only shrugged. There was no point in mentioning that he and Abby were having another little spat.

  Emory shoveled her food into her mouth before Ellis could go after much more. It wasn’t until she glanced up and saw a pair of eyes on her, one eyebrow cocked in confusion, that she felt her face heat in embarrassment. It wasn’t her most ladylike moment.

  She swallowed and nodded toward Ellis then shook her head. In doing so, a small smile spread across Deacon’s face, a rarity. Then his girlfriend must have said something, because it faded and he turned his attention back to her.

  Tripp took notice. “It’s weird not having Deacon here anymore.”

  Byron shrugged. “Dude never says much anyway.”

&
nbsp; “I don’t get how he can tolerate Melody. She talks way too much,” Kayla chimed in.

  “Opposites attract,” June laughed. “Take Ash and Tripp.”

  Everyone at the table chuckled, even the two lovebirds.

  Emory couldn’t help it. “He just doesn’t seem happy with her.”

  “Unlike you and Cole,” June teased, only for Kayla to finish with kissy noises.

  Emory could feel her face warming. As if on cue, Ellis scoffed, interrupting any pleasant thoughts.

  “I still can’t believe you’re dating Halshire’s quarterback,” Ellis groaned.

  “Well, thanks to your reputation here, and the fact that Uncle Jim is the head football coach,” she began, referring to Coach Turner. “I’m practically undateable.”

  “Whatever,” Ellis mumbled. “Just know, we’re destroying him this coming fall,” he concluded, hoping that the topic of relationships, his sister’s in particular, was over.

  Once Ellis saw his sister in her cheer outfit freshman year, he had made sure that not a single guy on that team would look at her. He may have even gotten their uncle involved, but what was he supposed to do? She was his little sister, by twelve minutes, and while he knew she could hold her own, he also knew how a lot of the guys on the team were. He heard how they talked in the locker room. If any of them had intentions of dating Emory, they weren’t getting within ten feet of her.

  Thankfully Emory was a bit of a tomboy, a beautiful tomboy that still wore makeup and had long blonde hair down to her waist, but enough that most guys were already a little intimidated by her. Then, there was her hotheaded attitude. What guy would want to date a girl that would threaten to gut a guy twice her size?

  Ellis couldn’t help but chuckle at his last comment. “Totally destroying them,” he repeated.

  Emory glared at him. “You know what? Shut up, Ellis!”