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“Do you think your sister is going to blab on us?”
“Depends on how convincing you are. Did you do any housework with your shirt off?” I smile, coming to stand before him.
“Nope, I didn’t think to use my body for an advantage.” He laughs.
“Well, we can only hope that she believes us then.” I say patting his chest.
* * *
Maddie kept close eyes on Dean and I for the rest of the night as if she was studying us. Dean went to sleep early since he had to resume some normal schedule tomorrow while I sat up watching late night TV with her.
“So?” I start.
“We’re not talking about you and Dean and the lies that you’ve been telling mom and dad so you can go about living the life that you know they wouldn’t approve of.”
“Listen Mads, I didn’t go to seminary school like they wanted. That doesn’t mean that you have to because they want one of their kids to. You can make your own choices. You’re an individual and you have your own mind.”
“Living under their roof means that I have no choices of my own, I have zero control. The choices that I have are choices that are made already for me. You should remember how it is to live there.” she says with anger in her tone.
“I actually don’t remember it being so strict.” I admit.
“That’s because they use what you’ve done, against me. Kaley didn’t do as we wanted her to do, so you will. Kaley moved out of town, but you’ll stick close to home. Kaley has the love of a man, who has a potentially successful career in front of him, but you’ll die an old maid. The list, I’m sure will go on. Don’t you get it, you’ve paved the way for how my life will be by not doing what they wanted?” Tears glisten my sister's eyes and guilt surrounds me.
“So you think that Dean and I are lying to them, what would telling them do for either one of us?” I ask.
“I know that you and Dean are together, now. Before or as long as you want to lead everyone to believe, I just don’t believe it fully. Maybe all the attention on me and what I choose to do with my life will go back to you.”
“Maddie, go ahead and do whatever you want to do. I can’t stop you. But know that I’m with Dean, and I just started my last year of college. I’m happy and I wish that you would be too. I’m sorry that I went and lived my life. There’s nothing that I regret from my experiences, and I think that you should live your life however you want.”
I stand up, kiss her on top of her head and go to bed.
Chapter Seven
Dean
The alarm clock blares and startles me in the morning, so much so that I fall out of bed and land on my ass with a loud thud.
My day is jam packed from when I wake at 5:30am to when I fall face first on the mattress at midnight for the rest of the week. Somewhere in between, I’ll have to fit in spending time with Kaley and her family. She knows my hectic schedule during the week, so she isn’t expecting anything, but I should make a few tweaks in the schedule being in a new relationship and all.
I’m heading to the cafeteria on campus to pick up a few granola bars to snack on and a light breakfast, and from there I go to one of my three meetings for the day. After I grab myself a protein shake and a banana, I’m dressing in the locker room for the gym. I spend a solid forty-five minutes working a circuit; I give myself a French bath with baby wipes as I’m hurrying into a press meeting. Tossing the last of the wipes in the trash before I take my seat, I turn to the coach and smile.
“D, you smell like an armpit.” He smells the surrounding air.
“I didn’t have time to shower after my workout.” I shrug as I open the granola bar that I remembered was stuffed in the side pocket of my gym bag and shove half of it in my waiting mouth.
The reporter asks Coach a few questions and then turns to our QB for some questions about the game we had last Friday. Then they turn to me to ask me about my sneak attack on our opponent's QB. I answer the questions as someone trained me to by the team PR staff. We announce that we will have open, to the public team practices this week, since we have a bye and the press event is over.
I have twenty minutes to make it to my first class of the day, and I barely make it inside before the doors close and are locked. I sit off to the side of the 500 person classroom with a few of the guys from the team. It’s Social Change and Global Issues, one of my last classes for my degree. I have my internship starting at a non-profit for community development in downtown Seattle once the season is over, which I’m stoked about. I take rapid notes and bump fists with a few of the guys before I head out to my next class. I text Kaley on the way to class and don’t notice until it’s too late that I’m walking into a wall.
My face connects with the cement of the building as students around me point and laugh. Not one of my finest moments, but a funny story to tell later when I’m hanging out with Kaley.
I devote the rest of my day to football. I practically crawl home at nine at night. My body and mind is tired, but I know I can’t put it to rest just yet. I’m starving. The meal that I had with the team did nothing to quench my hunger.
I walk into the apartment, my backpack slung over my shoulder and my steps slow. Kaley and her parents are sitting at the dining table playing a card game, while Maddie looks to be reading on the couch. They greet me as I enter and I excuse myself to shower.
Afterwards, I walk into the kitchen in my school sweatpants and a hoodie. I kiss the top of Kaley’s head and go open the fridge, grab some leftovers from dinner tonight, then sit down at the table while it’s re-heating in the microwave.
“You look beat.” Mr. Valentine says to me.
