“Well done,” Billy threw in quickly.
“And it just happened…” I got coy. “And then it happened again.”
Billy started to laugh. “I feel like I need to bro-out with him about it.”
“Yeah, that won’t be weird at all.” I pulled a piece of paper out of one of my notebooks and wrote Colin’s number on it and handed it to Billy. “This is his number.”
Billy was taken aback. “I was just kidding about bro-ing out.”
“I know. This is just in case. I’m going to break up with Val on Sunday. I’m going to meet him at a public place and just tell him honestly that my feelings aren’t there anymore. I’m going to try my best to let him down gently and hopefully everything will be okay, but just in case.” I put my hand on the paper. “If you don’t hear from me by noon, call Colin.”
23
Colin
I was truly happy. The sun was setting on the Marquettes’ beautifully decorated backyard, covered in balloons, streamers, and giant ‘18’ cutouts. A picnic table was overflowing with delicious food, all my mom’s recipes that Cristiano had recreated from scratch, and in the middle was a massive, orange and black colored, two-tier cake that Kya and Tatiana had baked together. A card table with an orange table cloth was piled high with presents wrapped in every variety of color and pattern imaginable and my aunt, Coach Nash, all the seniors from my football team, a few of my parents’ employees from the restaurant, Tatiana, and her parents were standing around me with smiles on their faces. I couldn’t help but feel like my parents were there too. If they’d planned something for my birthday, it probably would have been something pretty similar; homemade food and the people I loved most--perfect.
“Did you have fun?” Tatiana asked as we stood in the driveway waving goodbye to all my guests.
“I really did.” I put my arm around her shoulders and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Thank you.”
For the first time in a very long time, I was totally at peace. The relaxation that was settling over my body made it weary, desperate to put a completion stamp on this day. I yawned and Tatiana chuckled. “You look tired.”
“I’ve been sleeping better lately, but it just reminds me how shittily I was sleeping before. I’m still catching up.”
Tatiana patted my stomach a few times like an owner cuddling its cat. “Go lay down. I’m gonna help my parents clean up, then I’ll be headed to bed myself.”
“Can I come lay with you?” I squeezed her closer to me, not wanting to let her go.
An already present grin grew into a large smile. “I’d like that.” She glanced around and then stood up on the tips of her toes to kiss me before walking back across the front yard towards the gate in the back. “I’ll text you,” she called out before disappearing around the house.
I took the box of my presents that Kya had packed up and carried it upstairs to my room. My parents would have been thrilled with the spread. A new set of pads from my coach and players and the complete set of the latest edition of a graphic novel series I enjoyed from my aunt. Kya, Cristiano, and Tatiana had come up with a hairbrained idea to buy me 18 gifts, one for each year of my life. They got me a few new articles of clothing, a new pair of cleats for football, a TV and gaming system for my bedroom, a new backpack (though that was mostly for Tatiana who abhorred the falling apart one I was perfectly content to continue carrying around), a large supply of some of my favorite colognes and hair products, and topped it all off with tickets to the Bahamas; a family vacation we would take over the summer. I would have been happy just to spend the time with the people I cared about, but the gifts were all so thoughtful that I was overflowing with joy.
I pulled out the gaming system and TV and started to set them up in my room when my phone buzzed with a text.
I’m here, whenever you’re
ready.
I’m always ready for you.
I stopped what I was doing and walked across the hall to Tatiana’s room. I entered and she was leaning against her headboard flipping through her phone, already in a pair of shorts and one of my t-shirts. “I’ve been looking for that,” I grumbled playfully.
“I know. I didn’t tell you that I had it because I didn’t want to give it back.” Tatiana flashed a mischievous grin at me, and it shot south. I understood her desire not to want to sleep together again until after she’d ended things with Val, but god I hated it.
Still, as I crawled into her bed, laying my head in her lap and instantly earning myself her fingers gliding into my hair to rub my head gently, I was happy just to be near her. I pulled out my phone and started to scroll through mine as well. We stayed that way in silence for a while, just enjoying being in the same space. Things had always been that way between Tatiana and I, maybe even when we were pretending to hate each other. I always felt better walking into the lunch room and being flipped off by her before sitting down at a table to eat, and it always seemed like she was glowering when she walked into school, but once we’d crossed paths, she seemed in a lighter mood with Billy next time I saw her. For us, the nearer we were to each other, the better off we were.
Tatiana let out a sigh a bit later and I looked up at her. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just so comfortable. I want to fall asleep.”
I shrugged. “Well, I think that’s okay.”
She chuckled at me. “I know, but if we both fall asleep and my parents catch us, it wouldn’t be good.” Then she groaned. “Even though I’m pretty sure they already know.”
“They do keep giving us those satisfied smiles,” I added. “Do you think they’d really be mad if they caught us?”
“Oh don’t get me wrong. They’re going to be thrilled that we’re together. Over the moon, but unless you want my dad on you like bees on honey, at least kind of pretending we aren’t is probably in our best interest,” Tatiana replied. “He’ll be a happy bee though.”
“I can’t wait to tell them.”
Tatiana looked down at me. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I remember back when I first kissed you, I told my parents the second you got out of the car. My mom asked me what I wanted for dinner and I blurted out ‘I kissed Tatiana.’” I laughed remembering the way my dad swerved the car twisting his head around like an owl to look at me when I said it. “My mom just started clapping.”
“You told your parents? I didn’t know that.” Tatiana’s expression was a mix of curiosity and sadness. “Were they really that excited?”
“Yeah, I mean… They loved you Tati. It’s the same with your parents how you think they’re gonna be excited. My folks wanted you as a daughter almost more than they wanted me as a son.”
Tatiana went silent and I repositioned to take her into my arms. “What?”
She sniffled. “Because of me, they never got to see it.” She pulled her knees up to her head and I held her close. My own eyes were starting to blur in the wake of the sentence. “I’m sorry.”