"That's what you think. It doesn't matter what school you go to. Besides, who said I wanted to go pro?" I said as I walked into my room. I went over to my parents and snatched the Northwestern application from my father's hand.
"You're going pro Michael. That was your dream and you should stick to it. Why change it now before you go off to college?" my dad said.
"Are you listening to yourself? I haven't even gone to college yet. It's my decision if I don't want to play professional football. There are other things in life other than throwing a ball around."
"We understand that, but we just want you to have a great life, that's all," my mom said.
I looked at my parents with an irritated scowl. Like they cared what was best for me. They only wanted me to play football so they could brag to their socialite friends that their son was in the NFL.
As they got up from my bed, my dad looked at me.
"We want you to apply for Florida State and Texas A&M. I will get the applications for you to fill out," he said as he walked out of the room. My mom gave me a kiss on the cheek and walked out as well.
I watched as my parents were leaving the room and I slammed my door. For people who are never home, the only time they are concerned about me is when I don't make the decision they want me to make. I fell down on my bed and sighed.
What a way to end a day that was already downhill.
When I went to my house, I went straight to my room and closed the door. I pulled out the Imagine Dragons tickets I bought after school and smiled. I found out from Brandy today that Michael's birthday is a week away, so after hearing him talk about them the night we kissed, I knew they would be the perfect gift. Even though I practically emptied my savings for them, it was well worth it. As I put the tickets into my dresser drawer, my phone started to ring. I quickly dived for it before it went to my voicemail.
"Hello," I said out of breath.
"Hey girl. Did I catch you at a bad time?" Ashley asked.
"No. What's up?"
"Just checking to see how you were doing after yesterday's fiasco. I still can't believe E acted like that towards you. I never saw her like that."
I flopped down on my bed. I really didn't want to talk about Eva and her attitude. As far as I was concerned, I was glad Eva was out of my life.
"Don't worry about it Ash. You know Eva has always been overdramatic. This time is no different."
"I can tell she is hurting though. She's upset about you two not being friends anymore."
"How you know Ashley? Did she tell you?"
"No. I can tell in her eyes though. You two are like sisters, so of course she would feel upset."
I looked around my room and a tear started to roll down my cheek. Eva and I have always been close. It's hard to imagine that we're not friends anymore, but if she can't accept Michael in my life, then I have to move on. So should everyone else.
"Let's not talk about Eva anymore. Are you ready for the big game Friday?"
"Oh please. I'm tired of hearing about that. That's all everyone been talking about today."
"Tell me about it. Everybody's talking about how we're going to kick Parker's butt. It's pretty exciting."
"Well I'll be glad when Friday comes so everyone can shut up about it. It going to be strange to see you cheering for Belmont though."
"I know. Freaky, huh."
"I don't know if Eva told you before the falling out, but Theresa is captain now."
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. How could they let Theresa be captain?
"I guess the Bank of Sherman is at it again. Whatever Theresa wants, she gets."
"Everyone wishes you were still at Parker. No one can deal with Theresa's dictating."
"Do what I did. Beat the crap out of her. That should help."
We started to laugh at that comment. It felt good to laugh for a change. Ever since last weekend, I'd been feeling down. Hopefully the rest of the week wouldn't be like the beginning.
After I told Ashley about Michael's birthday and the Imagine Dragon tickets, Ashley had to get off the phone. Before she did, she told me no matter what was going on between Eva and me, she and I will always be friends. That was comforting to hear. As I ended the call, I realized it was 7:00. Instead of eating dinner, I decided to start on my homework, which I didn't want to do.
Three hours later I was sitting on my bed watching
Pretty Little Liars
on DVR and eating pepperoni and sausage pizza my mom ordered earlier that night. As I was heading for my third slice, I heard something fall against my window. I put the pizza back on its plate and went to my window. I pulled back my curtains and raised the window. I looked down and realized it was Michael standing outside with a grim expression on his face.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I had to see you. I need to talk to you," he said.
I looked at him and smiled.
"Come on up," I said.
Michael gave me a small smile and grabbed the ladder that was nearby. He put it close to the window and started to come up a step at a time. I waited patiently while he made his way up. As he did, I pulled him inside and closed the window.
"Hey. What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Is it okay if I'm up here? I don't want you getting into trouble."
"It's fine. My parents are downstairs. They hardly come up. Besides, I think they're asleep, or doing other things," I said with a disgusted look.
"Hey, if they weren't doing 'other things,' you wouldn't be here," Michael said smiling.
I smiled as I sat down on my bed.
"You want some pizza? I can go downstairs and get you some."
"Sure. I am kind of hungry," Michael said as he sat down on my bed. He looked around the room as he took off his jacket.
"You have a nice room."
"Thanks. I'll be right back," I said as I quickly left the room. A few minutes later, I was back upstairs and Michael and I were eating pizza and watching TV. My parents had their door closed, which meant they were having sex. Even though I don't want to, I can't picture my parents having sex. So of course, they wouldn't notice if Michael was here.
After a few minutes of silence, I looked over at Michael, who looked at me. I could tell something was bothering him.
"What did you want to talk about? Did something happen today?"
"What didn't happen today? It seemed like everything that could go wrong; went wrong. I was already feeling frustrated over what happened this weekend with the dance and then the club, but finding out that we have to play Parker this weekend, and then Danielle bothering me, not to mention my parents nagging me about college applications, I feel like my head is going to explode."
"It's that bad, huh?"
"It's worse. I don't know what to do, Char. I feel like so much weight is on my shoulders and if one more pound is added on, I'll fall."
I looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Start from the beginning."
Michael looked at me and smiled.
"First, it's my parents. I found them in my room looking through my Northwestern application. They're upset because I'm applying there and not A&M or Florida State. After I told them that I might want to do something else in college, they went ballistic on me. They act like football is my only ticket to the good life. I know I can do more than just play football. I might want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or even start my own business. But all my parents see is their star athlete. Their celebrity. I'm tired of that. I'm tired of being labeled as that. There's so much more to me than that."
I looked at Michael with a sympathetic look on my face. That's one thing my parents had never done, making decisions for me and my future. They always supported me on whatever decision I made. Although they decided on me going to Belmont, I knew it was because they were looking out for me.
"I just wish my parents could see that. I want them to let me live my life; let me make my own decisions."
"Have you tried to talk to them about it? Let them see your side of things?"
"Don't you think I have? All my life I have tried to tell my parents how I felt, but it never worked. They only hear what they want to hear, and everything else is out the door."
I went closer to him and wrapped my arms around him.
"I don't know what to say about your parents, Mike, but what I can tell you is that life is too short worrying about what others think. If you feel that Northwestern is the best college for you, then apply to it. If football is not the profession for you, find something else that you will enjoy. Don't listen to what your parents say about what you should do for your future. Do things that make you happy, because that's all that matters."
Michael looked at me and kissed me on the cheek. I could tell the advice I gave him was encouraging.
"Was that the only thing bothering you? I know you said earlier that Danielle was bothering you too."
"Yeah, but I have that under control. She always has, and always will be a nuisance."
I smiled as I gave him a kiss on his cheek. Michael looked at me and put his hand on my cheek. Just having his touch on any part of me made me quiver. He licked his lips a little and leaned over to give me a kiss on the lips. As we were kissing, I realized that we were in my room making out like no one else was in the house. If my parents caught him in here, they would kill us both. I quickly pulled away from Michael and sat up on my bed.
"What's wrong?" Michael asked as he lay closer to me.
"You don't think it's weird that we're making out while my parents are downstairs?"
"Not really, but if you do, then we can stop."
I looked at him as I straddled him. Michael looked at me with a surprised look on his face.
"I do like to be wild though," I said softly as I kissed Michael on the lips.
I guess I didn't realize how long we made out, because before I knew it, I was in Michael's arms sleeping, I opened my eyes and looked at the window. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"Oh my God. Michael, wake up," I said as I started to push Michael furiously.
"What. What's wrong?" he asked quietly as he slowly rose up from my bed.
"It's morning! We must have fallen asleep. You have to go before someone wakes me up."
"I thought you said no one comes upstairs?"
"They do in the morning. Now get up," I said frantically.
Michael slowly got up from the bed and put on his jacket. Before I could do anything else, my mother's voice was at my door wondering if I was up.
"Char, you better get up. I know how you like to hit the snooze button a hundred times."
"My mom at my door. Hurry!"
"I'm moving as fast as I can," Michael said as he put his shoes on.
My mom started to knock on the door, wondering if I was still asleep.
"Open the door Charlie. I want to see if you getting ready for school."
"In a minute Mom. I just stepped out of the shower," I said.
"Don't use that excuse with me. Now open the door."
I looked at Michael as he was going toward the window.
"Give me a second."
While I was watching Michael climb down the ladder, my mom opened the door. I quickly closed the window, causing Michael to wobble on the ladder.
"I told you I was coming," I said angrily.
"What were you doing up here? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were hiding something."
I looked at my mom with a tired expression on my face. I wish she would leave so I could check on Michael.
Suddenly I heard a loud thump, which made my heart flop.
"What was that?" my mom asked as she tried to walk over to my window. I took her hand before she made her way over.
"It was probably the neighbors next door. You know how they are. Why don't you finish getting ready for work, and I can get ready for school."
My mom gave me a perplexed look as she looked at the window.
"Okay, but promise me baby that we will always tell each other everything?"
I looked at my mom and smiled.
"Sure mom."
My mom touched my shoulder as she walked out of my room. From the way my mom was talking, it seemed like she knew that Michael spent the night. As she closed the door, I quickly look down to see that the ladder was put back in its place and Michael was nowhere to be found. I leaned against the window and took a deep breath.
"That was close," I said as I took another deep breath before venturing to my closet.
Michael
As I was wobbling on the ladder outside of Charlie's room, I thought for a second I was going to fall and bust my head open. When I put my left foot on the last two steps, I lost my balance, causing me to fall on the grass. Even though my leg was hurting, I quickly got up, moved the ladder back toward the side of the house and headed to my car. Before I could get there, I saw Charlie's father going towards his Yukon.
"Damn," I said as I went behind the bushes. I didn't want Mr. Perry to see me. I waited a few minutes to give Mr. Perry enough time to pull out of the driveway. Hopefully he doesn't notice my car parked near his driveway. From the looks of it, it seemed like he wasn't noticing. As he pulled out of the driveway and went down the street, I ran over to my car and hopped in. I started up the ignition and sped down the street before anyone could see me.
I ran home and changed, and then headed to school. I was at my locker before second period getting my History book. When I closed my locker door, I saw Charlie standing by me.
"Hey."
"Hey." I said as I gave her a kiss.
Charlie smiled. "Are you okay? I know I heard you fall. Sorry about the window. I didn't think my mom was going to come in my room."
"It's cool. Besides, I really didn't fall. But I was almost caught by your dad."
"Wow. Believe me; I will never do that again."
"Ahh, so I can't spend the night with you anymore. I thought that was pretty fun, not to mention spontaneous," I said is a sexy tone.
I could tell Charlie was getting turned on by what I was saying. I was also getting turned on by her expression. I know I shouldn't let my hormones get in the way of my feelings, but just the thought of being near Charlie made my pulse race. As we were walking down the hall, we saw Danielle and her friends walking the opposite direction. She looked at me with a smug look on her face. I looked at her and turned my head. Charlie looked at me and groaned.