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“Sounds like they don’t deserve you.”
“They do,” I instantly object. “More than you can know.”
“Fair enough.” He takes my answer for what it is. “Keep going,” he encourages.
“You’re not bored yet?” I ask, tucking a hand under my cheek.
“Not even a little bit.” He smiles.
“Fine.” I let out a deep breath, trying to figure out where to go next. “Let’s see. I love indie music. I’m a sucker for old television shows. And if I could, I’d spend every second of every day losing myself in a book—preferably a thriller or something dark and demented.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” He laughs like he can’t believe it.
“What?” I question playfully.
“You look so sweet and innocent.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I just never expected you to be someone who liked—well, any of the things you just listed.”
“Guess it goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover,” I remind him.
“You realize that goes both ways.” He narrows his gaze at me.
“Okay then, prove me wrong,” I suggest. “Tell me something about you that will surprise me.”
“Truth?” he asks.
“Truth.”
“I hate parties,” he says, his admission not what I expected.
“Really?” I question, gesturing back up toward the house.
“I know. I know.” He chuckles. “That’s just more of a fuck you to my parents’. Figure if they’re going to pretend like I don’t exist, I might as well show them I damn well do.”
“Sebastian.” My voice wavers as I stare back at the boy I always thought to be so confident, wondering now if we aren’t more alike than I would have ever guessed.
“It’s fine,” he quickly interjects. “It’s been this way my entire life. I’m used to it.”
“But,” I start.
“It’s fine. Really,” he cuts me off, clearly not wanting to linger on the topic.
As much as I want to push, I let it go. I know how hard it can be to talk about things you’re not used to sharing with anybody.
I change the topic to safer ground, asking him more about football and if he has any idea where he wants to go to college since he’s getting ready to start senior year. The conversation flows from there and by well into the night, I’ve learned so much more about him than I ever expected to know.
How he loves football because it’s the only place he feels like he truly belongs.
How he misses California tremendously and how hard it was for him to leave. How he plans to move back there someday.
How he can’t wait for college and while LSU is his dream school, he doesn’t even really care where he attends as long as he gets to play football.
We talk for hours, both of us curled on our sides in opposite chairs, facing each other. We talk until time no longer seems relevant and everything else just kind of slips away.
I don’t know at what point we fall silent, existing in a comfortable space where neither of us feels the need for words.
All I remember is staring at Sebastian until I physically couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer, wondering if I would wake up tomorrow and find that all of this was just some crazy dream.
Sebastian said it only takes one night to change everything; he couldn’t have been more right. Because after just one night everything feels different.
