Muster Every Ounce of Confidence

"You need to get out of the house! It's the summer before you go off to college."

"I don't even know him!"

"You just spent two months with him." He chuckles.

"But dad...."

"No buts. I'll be out there in a few weeks to check on you."

"Fine."

"Get packing. You leave tomorrow."

Benji
"She never said a word.... I know!....No.....No....well that's gross."

"Benji?"

"Gotta go." I hang up and turn to Tony.

"Eliza's going back with you."

"Why?"

"She needs to leave the house, meet new people."

"Oh."

"Take care of her. She's very fragile." Tony's voice takes on concern. "Her parents put her up for adoption at age 17, she never had friends in school, and the girl never met any of our family till she moved down here."

"Seriously?"

He nods. "The first time she ate out was when she moved here. Please be careful." His eyes are pleading with every ounce of his soul.

"I will. She really is like a daughter to you huh?"

"Yea."

"Damn it Jere! Get the fuck out!"

"Dad! Liza's cussing at me!"

"Tattle-tale!"

"Stop it you two!"

"Jere calls you dad?"

"Yea. Him and Eliza act like siblings and he's taken to calling my dad. It's funny but creepy."

"Dad! Jere won't let me pack!"

"Jeremiah! Get down here!" Jere comes running down the steps. "Leave her alone. Her flight leaves tomorrow."

"But dad...." Tony holds up his hand, stopping Jere mid whine. "Fine."

"JORDACHE!" Tony groans.

Matt model walks into the room, pausing like he would on a runway. "Jordache." Then he leaves.

"I hate when they do that."

"What?"

"She'll yell Jordache and he does what he just did."

"Why?"

"I don't dare ask."

Tony
"You have your license?"

"Check."

"Cell phone?"

"Check."

"Laptop?"

"Check."

"Plane ticket?"

"Oh crap." Eliza's eyes widen.

"Eliza! I told you to make sure you had it before we left the house."

"What? Oh. I do."

"Then why the 'oh crap'?"

"I'm hungry."

"So you say oh crap?"

"Yes."

"Odd kid." I pull her into a tight hug. "Call me when you land, and when you go somewhere, and...."

"Chill dad. I am 17."

"I know.... But my little girl is going away for a WHOLE summer."

"Dad....."

"Oh fine. Benji! She better be whole when I get there."

"She will be. Chill Tone." Eliza and Benji board the plane.

Eliza
"So are you going to talk this time?" I shrug. "Can I tell you something? And you not tell anyone else?" I nod. "I don't love my girlfriend. She's an awesome person, but we're not meant to be. Everyone thinks we're going to get married, but I know we won't. I'm just waiting for her to leave me." He pauses to look at me. "And I don't like my brother's girlfriend. They've been together for awhile, but I can't tell him that. He says he loves her."

"My favorite color is ice blue."

"What?"

"You told me stuff no one knows. I told you something no one knows."

"Not even Tony?"

"Not even Tony." He continues to tell me about himself. He tells me what he can tell no one else. And I listen. I absorb everything he says, enjoying the closeness our conversation produces. By the time the plane lands, I know almost everything about him. All he knows about me is my favorite color.