Change Your Ticket

Everyone was in a bitter mood Sunday morning, a contrast to the weekends previous emotions. Most of the boys had already left back to their respective schools. Parker had opted for a later flight, the time difference finally benefiting the two of us. While Miranda took Jayden to the airport, the two of us had the house to ourselves.

Having spent most of the morning tidying up from the camp out last night, while Parker entertained Lexis the peacefulness of the house was nice. The two of us sat on the couch, a random movie playing on the television. Somehow we had misplaced the remote rendering the television volume low. I had to concentrate to listen to the characters speaking. I didn’t mind it too much, it kept my mind preoccupied from thinking about Parker leaving me again.

Halfway through the film Parker and I had managed to contort our bodies so that we were lying on the couch. With my back towards him, I could feel the rise and fall of his chest contracting. His warm breath tickling my neck with every exhale. Soon, his breath became steady indicating he had fallen asleep. I took this time to adjust myself. Trying not to wake him, I rolled onto my other side so that my head was tucked into his chest, his warm torso engulfing me.

I wasn’t sure how long we were asleep for. I would have continued sleeping if the opening of the door hadn’t stirred my slumber. My face was still against Parker’s chest impairing my vision but from the steady sniffling sound I figured it was Miranda. I heard her feet carry her up the stairs before snuggling back up to Parker. Moments later, panic set in.

Earlier this morning Miranda had said that once she left Jayden she’d be heading to practice. Her cheerleading practices typically lasted a few hours. Meaning she either skipped practice or Parker and I had slept through Parker’s flight time. I quickly, jumped up off the couch searching for the clock that sat on the wall by the front door. It was half past five, an hour later than when we should have left to make it to the airport.

Frantic, I began shaking Parker to wake him up. “You’re going to miss your flight,” I said. Parker mumbled incoherent words causing me to grumble. He had already missed enough practice time, there was no way he couldn’t fly back to LA today. I shook him more violently. This time his eyes opened, his hand chasing the sleep from them. “Babe, we slept through our alarm.”

“S’okay,” he yawned.

“It’s not okay Parker,” I yelled. His eye scrunched up, my increase in volume clearly stunning his ears. I kneeled in front of the couch so that we were eye level. His blue eyes weren’t as bright as they usually were. Red lines found their way to the whites of his eyes. “You can’t miss more school.”

Parker sat up before tugging me down onto the couch with him. He sat with his legs crossed in front of me, staring at me. I mimicked his posture, much like we had done countless times before.

“I can miss as much school as I want. I’m paying for it aren’t I?”

“Parker,” I sighed. “You can’t. You have responsibilities. What about football?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Parker’s attitude towards his new team was staring to irritate me. I knew it couldn’t be easy going from the star player to an alternate but at least he had a team. There were countless of kids who weren’t good enough to even make a college football team. He couldn’t be so vein.

“That’s not true Parker. You love football, you know you do. So what that you’re not starting. That’s not permanent. How many times did Mass High start second string in games? It’s no different. You’re lucky to be on the team.”

“I love you more though.”

“It’s not a competition Parker. You can love me and football, just like you did last year.”

“You make it sound like you want me to leave,” Parker said.

“Are you kidding me? Of course I don’t want you to leave. I’d love for you to stay here but that’s not the cards we drew.”

“I miss you too much when I’m out there,” he mumbled.

“And I miss you, but you and I both know you’d be miserable being stuck here. You belong out there. And yeah it’s hard and it sucks but we’re making it work. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up out there with you next year. We’ll figure it out Parker.”

Before I had time to react, Parker had knocked me over, hovering over my face. His lips pecking mine, before moving for my neck. It took me a minute to regain thought as his hands roamed over my torso. As things escalated, it took all my strength to pull away from Parker.

“Sorry Jos,” he whispered, a blush emerging on his sun stained cheeks.

“It’s fine,” I reassured him, pressing my lips to his.

The room grew quiet for a moment. Parker had for sure missed his flight by this time. We sat in silence a few more minutes, refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Finally Parker pulled out his phone, pulling up the flight times for LA.

“There’s a flight that leaves at five tomorrow. I’ll call the airline and see if they can change my ticket,” he said, abandoning the couch and retreating to his room.

I knew Parker was coming back so I stayed on the couch. The television was still on but I couldn’t focus my attention on it. Instead, I found myself reliving the moment Parker and I had only moments before. How far would I have let Parker go before saying anything? My mind had become so jumbled that things escalated so fast, what would happen if that happened again? Parker and I had been dating for almost nine months now. I knew I loved him, I did, but something always made me stop him before things got to far. Deep down I knew it had something to do with that dreadful night with Matt, but I tried not to think about it too much. It would happen when it happened, I reminded myself.

Parker came back into the room shortly after. A smile etched on to his face, he had changed his flight. He snuggled back onto the couch, tossing his arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head on his shoulder, looking up at his profile, trying to take it all in. Parker really was handsome. I really was a lucky girl.

I knew I was going to have a conversation with Parker about my feelings eventually. I tried really hard to build the courage while he was changing his flight info but I couldn’t do it. Now that I was wrapped in his arms, I was to distracted to ruin the mood. Thankfully, Lexis came bowling through the door ecstatic to see Parker still here. The two of spent the night entertaining Lexis. At the end of the night I collapsed into Parker’s bed. The both of setting our alarms, so he wouldn’t miss the plane this time.