Firsts & Lasts

Last Apologies.

"Fine," I say. She frowns. "Here you go,  Ava." My dad hands my mom a glass of wine. She accepts it with a smile, "Thank you." He smiles back, sitting across from us. "How was your flight?" He asks her. I sip on my glass of wine. "Oh fine. I took a small nap on the way here," She says. My dad smiles and then begins talking about work. Boring.

My mind drifts off into another place. I'm not going to be disrespectful to my father because for moms sake, I don't want this night to be terrible from start to finish. Maybe if they chat it up, they'll ignore my presence completely. But the thought of them conversing amongst themselves pisses me off. When they finally go quiet, I say, "I passed all my classes with A's." I fake smile. My mom gasps. "That's amazing, honey. You're so smart," She compliments me.

My dad raises his glass towards me. "He got it from you certainly," He tells my mom. Well, yeah. The only reason dad went to college was to play in the NFL. He dropped out right after he got drafted. I'm shocked he kept a good enough GPA in order to play. My mom smiles at the compliment from dad. "So, how are you feeling about the bowl game coming up?" He asks me. I shrug, "I think we got it. USC defense doesn't have anything on our offense," I admit.

"What about defense? Can your defense stop their offense?" He doesn't fail to add an emphasis on the your. It is my defense, even he knows it. "We'll be alright," I say. I'm not 100% on it because USC does have a good offense, but we're gonna give it our all just like we do any other game. "You don't sound so sure about that," He tells me, sipping on his wine. I roll my eyes, "They have a good offense, but I'm not worried." I clarify.

He pours himself some more wine. "Well you better. That National Championship is the last big win for you before the NFL," He says. Here we go. I knew this conversation would come up sooner rather than later.

"I don't know if I'm going yet, I told you."

He scoffs, "Still? I would've thought you were smart enough to have made up your mind by now."

"I'm sitting on it. I don't want to do anything I'll regret."

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, "You'll never regret going to the league, Christian."

"I know that, but my teammates-"

"Fuck those teammates. Do something for yourself for once, son."

I clench my jaw, trying so hard not to start cursing him out. He lights a fire under my ass every time he opens his mouth to speak. He thinks the world revolves around him, but I don't. I'm not like him. Just as I'm about to say something, the doorbell rings again. I furrow my brows at him, "You said you weren't bringing anyone home this time," I say sternly.

I look at mom who already looks defeated. Either from the fight my father and I were about to have or at the fact that dad brought a date when he said he wouldn't. He stands up, "I'm not." He walks out and I follow him with my eyes until he's out of sight. I look back at mom. "He's testing me," I say lowly. She shakes her head. "Change the subject. You two always fight about football." I scoff and roll my eyes. I don't think I can do this.

Novalee

The door swings open and my eyes meet a man I haven't seen in person in years. His eyebrows furrow at the sight of me. "May I help you?" His voice is hard like stone, I figured it would be. "Uhm, hi. I'm Novalee," I say. I pull my coat tighter around my waist. It's about 50 degrees out and I'm wearing a dress. "I'm Christian's girlfriend. He invited me. Is he not here yet?" I say. I had no idea at what time to come over. I just remembered Chris telling me how his family always celebrates late on the 24th instead of the 25th.

I hope I'm not the first guest to arrive. I also hope I'm not so late that they left already. That would be weird.

"You're my sons girlfriend?" He asks, ignoring my other question. I nod, moving the loose strand of hair that hangs on my face from my low bun. "Yes. He invited me. Sorry, I thought he told you," I say shyly. He shakes his head and I think he's about to slam the door in my face. "He didn't, but come on in. The more the merrier, right?" He chuckles. I return a fake one, "Right." I admire the huge house as I follow him to wherever he's taking me. God, I hope Christian is here already.