Chapter 30: Chapter 30
Mom taps on my bedroom door before peeking in, “Did Scott take your dad’s car home?”
“Ya, I’m sorry. Can we go pick it up after I shower?”
“Sure, sounds like a plan,” mom says warmly. “We’re meeting with Scott and his mother at Memphis barbecue for 6:00. We need to discuss your options,” she says before closing the door. This is going to be awkward. I take a hot shower and dress in my warmest clothes. Mom drives me to Scott’s, but doesn’t pull into his driveway, “You’re not visiting with his mom?” I ask.
“No Honey, I have errands to run. You can reach me on my cell if you need anything, don’t forget about dinner tonight.”
“I won’t.” I get out of the car and watch her drive off. Scott’s black Mercedes is parked next to dad’s shit box in his two-car driveway. I stare wistfully at his house from where I’m standing and try to figure out which window is Scott’s. Memories from yesterday come flooding back to me. I wish we went straight home from the airport. If I had to do it all over again then I would have just asked Scott to take me home and sent Anna a text explaining I was just too tired to party with them. If I didn’t have the nerve to cancel, I definitely wouldn’t have kissed Michael in front of Scott.
I stop daydreaming and start hurrying so I don’t risk the chance of bumping into Scott now, outside his house. I unlock dad’s car door and get into the driver’s seat. I put the key in the ignition and it growls, row, row, row, nothing. Shit!
Please, God! Don’t do this to me now! I turn the key again, row, row, row, nothing. I pump the gas in panic mode and try again, row, row, row, nothing. Now I can smell gas. I flooded it. Great, now I have to sit here and just wait. Scott comes out of his house with a sweater and jacket on and his workout pants, “Pop the hood,” he says through the window. I reach down by my feet and pulled the latch. With the hood being up, I can’t watch what he is doing. He calls out, “Try again.” I turned the key and this time it starts. I rolled down the window and call out, “Thanks.”
He nods in my direction and then turns on his heel to walk away, going back into his house. I secure my seatbelt and shift into reverse heading towards the cemetery to spend time with dad. I park close to the gravesite turning off the motor praying it will start back up for me when I’m ready to leave. It is one thing to get stuck in Scott’s driveway but another to get stuck in a graveyard.
There is fresh snow on the ground and the cold outside is tolerable. Dad doesn’t have a headstone yet, but I find his spot without any difficulty. I kneel and speak to him, telling him all about the Olympic Games. I tell him how Scott and I dedicated our program to him and described every little detail. When I finish, I tell him what happened when we got back and how much I miss him. I’m freezing by now so I get up and head back to dad’s car.
In the distance, I see what I think is Scott’s black Mercedes. I start walking towards it to get a better look. Someone is sitting on the driver’s side. It has to be him. When I get closer, I know for sure it is. He must have followed me here. He rolls his window down so I can talk to him, “How long have you been here?” I ask.
He has a serious expression on his face and he is still wearing what he had on when he helped me with my car, “Just a few minutes.”
It amazes me how good he is at figuring me out, “How did you know I was here?”
“I knew you would come here to be with your father. I was worried your car would strand you after turning it off.”
“You could have come over or told me you were here,” I say kindly.
“I didn’t want to interrupt you. Go see if it starts. I’ll leave you alone when your car moves.”
It’s big of him to do all this for me after last night. His thoughtfulness is endearing. I walk back to my car and turn the key in the ignition. It purrs to life on my first attempt. I put my car in drive and let it slowly roll out of the cemetery parking lot while I text him a thank-you message.
We take mom’s Avalon to the restaurant and park in the last spot in the back. The Mercedes is already there. Judging by the parking lot, the restaurant looks busy, so we are hoping Scott and Deborah already have been seated. We open the door and find ten to fifteen people waiting to be seated. Scott and his mother aren’t in those groups so we start looking at the tables. We hang up our jackets and join them.
Deborah smiles and gets up when she sees us, she gives mom a big hug, they must have bonded when we were away. I smile and nod in Scott’s direction before taking my seat. I make sure I’m dressed to the nines in my casual clothing. I tie my hair back and wear a beige angora sweater with a very low neckline. My newest jeans look the oldest with rips and holes in all the right places and cowboy boots that are more like weapons with sharp metallic blades on the toes that Anna and I call ball busters. We picked them up last summer at a store just off Yonge Street.
Scott sits opposite me, my mother across from Deborah. Melanie a waitress who works there since I can remember comes to take our orders and then everyone focuses on me and Scott.
Mom starts, “Have the two of you talked?” “You might call it that,” Scott says sarcastically.
Deborah looks at him, “Did you guys make any decisions?”
“No, we didn’t get around to it,” he admits honestly. His gorgeous dark brown ears glare at me, “We had a disagreement at Anna’s last night and didn’t get a chance to discuss anything yet.” I study his face to see if I can notice any swelling on the side where Michael hit him.
“Well, as long as the two of you didn’t fight,” mom comments referring to the time I slapped Scott at the rink, causing coach Tammy to get mad.
Mom and Deborah don’t seem to notice the subtle swelling of his one cheek. If I hadn’t seen them fight, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either. Mom looks at me curiously, “What was the disagreement about?” “Nothing really, just about Scott trying to control me on and off the ice.” “I hardly think being alone in a room with your ex-boyfriend at a party is appropriate, especially when he’s shit-faced,” Scott twists the truth to make me look bad.
“Your ex-boyfriend?” mom asks. She turns to Deborah, “I never liked that boy. I always feel Scott is a much better fit.”
“Mom, we are sitting right here for heaven’s sake. Plus, I’m free to do whatever I want now that I’m not competing anymore.”
“Not while you are living under my roof you’re not,” mom says.
Deborah glanced at me, “Let’s talk productively, Isabella, what would you like to do?”
Melanie comes back with our drinks and places my Elvis Presley in front of me. I take a sip of my shake and I pitch daggers in Scott’s with my eyes. I don’t have any answers for them and I’m pissed over his interpretation at Anna’s party. Maybe I should let his mom know how he screwed my friend and got her pregnant. I’d like to see Scott’s reaction when he’s forced to come clean with her. Everything put aside, in my heart of hearts, I know I’m not ready to give up skating with Scott, at least not yet, “Shows,” I blurt.
“What about school?” mom asks.
Scott answers, “If we go to the same University, we can do both. We just have to make sure that the University we choose has rink time.”
“So we’ll skate together, go to school together, why don’t we just live together?” I say sarcastically.
“Great idea,” Scott says spitefully.
Deborah looks startled by my idea and mom jumps at it, “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I wouldn’t worry about Isabella half as much knowing Scott’s living with her and we could be paying one rent instead of two. The kids are so beautiful to watch on the ice.”
“I think you’re on to something,” Deborah says enthusiastically after listening to mom’s reasoning. “How should we do this?” She asks.
“Scott and Isabella can pick the programs they want to take, and we’ll go and find them an apartment. We can go take a look at it together. We’ll make a day trip out of it!”
I’m tripping.
“Which University are you considering?” Deborah asks mom.
“I’ve done my research and I like Western. It has the best programs and the most ice time, the downfall is the two-hour drive for you to visit them.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Deborah says, “I’ve heard their medical program is phenomenal, Scott always wanted to become a doctor.”
“Great, so then it’s settled,” mom says triumphantly.
“Don’t we get a say?” I ask. “I haven’t even talked to Anna or Lara to see what they are doing.”
“That’s what holidays are for. You can catch up with your friends on your breaks,” she informs me. “Those girls will never amount to anything,” mom said judgmentally. Mom grins at me and starts digging through her purse, “Dad had a surprise for you kids. Sadly, he can’t be here to see you open it. He got it when you qualified for the Olympics and he was waiting for the right time to give it to you.” She starts pulling debris including a tampon from her purse looking for whatever it is she’s looking for, while Melanie comes by with the dishes that we ordered. I’m embarrassed.
“Found it,” she says pulling an envelope from her purse. She hands it to me.
I slice it open with my finger and pulled out the short hand-written note from my father first, reading it out loud.
Honey,
We couldn’t have been prouder of you and Scott for making your dreams come true. Dedication and hard work will always pay off in the end. We are very proud of you.
Love Mom and Dad.
Included in the envelope are two round-trip plane tickets to Paris. I look up at mom, “I thought you were out of vacation time for this year!” “I’m not going silly; your dad bought the tickets for you and Scott. It’s not like you two haven’t traveled alone before.”
I glance at Deborah, “You’re okay with this?”
Deborah smiles at me, “Sure I am. Your mother and I already discussed it.” Scott remains silent, “Did you know?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t,” he answers.
“Then I guess we are going to Paris,” I shrug happily.
“Great!” mom says. “You leave the day after tomorrow, so you kids pick the programs you want to take in University and leave the rest for us. When you get back from Paris we’ll go apartment hunting!”