I lean down to kiss her again. She feels like putty. Her loose neck making her head lull, the light sag in her shoulders, even the slackened sigh that squeezes through her lips. Everything about her screams pliant and willing.
Just as my lips brush against hers, we’re interrupted by a loud honk and a burst of cheers. I look behind me when a car pulls to a stop next to us, Kevin, another member of the team, at the wheel.
“Come on, Hayes!” he calls, pushing his hand against the horn one more time at the same time a round of loud whoops sound from the passengers squished inside his SUV. He catches the way my hand is still braced against Teeny’s car and Teeny’s hand hooked over my bicep.
“Yeah, we’re leaving now.”
“Hi, Teeny.” He waves at Teeny, and Teeny offers a meek smile and a shy wave.
“Hey.”
“See you guys at the bonfire!” The tires screech, and Kevin drives off, leaving myself and Teeny in the now almost empty parking lot. There are a few stragglers left, those caught behind the rush of parking lot traffic.
“Let’s go,” I say.
“Yeah,” she agrees.
After a quick twenty-minute drive to Mission Bay, we find that the parking lot nearest to the bonfire is packed. Cars are circling the parking lot and moving onto a lot further down after no luck finding a spot. Teeny gets lucky, pulling right up behind a car leaving just as we enter, and we take a moment to sit in the car before getting out.
“How does it feel to get your first win?” She turns to lean her cheek on the headrest and draws her knee up to her chest. “Your dad seemed really excited about the game.”
I mimic her, unbuckling first and resting my hand on the center console between us. “Can I be honest?”
She sits up straighter. “Of course.”
“It’s whatever.” My voice sounds morose, even a little surly.
Teeny gently places her hand on mine and starts stroking my knuckles with her thumb, encouraging me to continue.
“Basketball’s really my dad’s thing,” I explain. “I have fun. Especially with the team here. And I like it enough to have done it for the past four years, but I probably would’ve given it up a long time ago if I knew my dad wouldn’t be so disappointed.”
“So, no plans to go pro?”
I shake my head. “Absolutely not.”
“Does your dad know that?”
“Yeah,” I tell her with a solemn nod. “He knows, and he hasn’t fought me on it, but I can sense the disappointment in him. I think he comes to my games hoping it would guilt me enough to change my mind.
“A part of me feels like I do it to keep the peace at home,” I add. “My parents…they have their own set of issues. My dad cheated on my mom last year. They don’t know that I know, and I can see how it’s really messing my mom up. Now that my dad isn’t even in the same house, I hear her cry at night. Just today, they were arguing when I got home.”
“I’m sorry, Everett.” She curls her palm into mine and gives me a gentle comforting squeeze.
“You know, I’ve never told anyone that? About my parents.”
She smiles. “You told me.”
“I did.” I don’t really know why I did, but now, having told her, I feel lighter. Less wound up and queasy. I don’t know how to pinpoint the way my body always feels on edge, like my feet are never fully grounded but always bouncing on my tiptoes, ready to jump to action at a second’s notice. When I talk to Teeny, all of that falls silent. It becomes quiet and I feel…calm. “Is it weird that I feel comfortable telling you? I don’t know. I usually don’t have anyone to talk to, and this—” I pause to lightly tap my finger against her wrist. “Thank you…for letting me talk. And for listening.”
“It’s not weird, Everett,” she tells me, reaching to cup my face.
I turn my cheek and lightly kiss her palm.
How is it this easy? I can’t remember the last time I felt this at ease. With constantly moving, my dad’s work always shifting and my life in a forever tentative state, I don’t know what calm feels like. And in this new town in a new school surrounded by people I’m still getting to know, Teeny’s somehow made me feel as if I belong. The heels of my feet are slowly touching the ground with the intention of staying there.
“Ready?” I ask.
With a quick nod, we both exit the car. Teeny undoes her pigtails, loosening the ties at her crown. She shakes her head and groans when she runs her fingers through her hair.
