The Halo Effect

34 | william

Blue and white balloons framed the elegant center entrance of the brick colonial that belonged to the McKenna family. The oak tree at the center of the corner lot cast shade over most of the lawn, and the rope swing hanging from the thickest lower branch swayed gently in the breeze.

When was the last time Trip had sat there?

It was a silly, inconsequential question to ask myself, but that didn't stop it from crossing my mind while I trailed behind Kelsey and Gianna as we navigated the cars parked along the McKennas' long driveway. The breeze picked up, carrying music and jovial voices that indicated the so-called captains' cookout was well underway.

"God, I despise parallel parking," Gianna bemoaned, glancing back at her Mercedes station wagon, slotted between two cars parked along the upper edge of the lawn. "That was way too stressful."

"Girl, you totally nailed it," Kelsey said, slinging an arm over Gianna's shoulders as the three of us meandered up the driveway. "I haven't parallel parked since I got my license."

"Well, I haven't parallel parked ever," I chimed in with a forced smirk, desperate to distract myself in these final moments before I had to go into performance mode. Not only was I about to meet Trip's elusive parents, but I was also going to meet them in the presence of our teammeates and other parental figures who I figured would know my name.

Maybe the fact that there wasn't going to be a spotlight on me and me alone should've eased my nerves, but I seemed to be experiencing the opposite.

Were Trip's parents' busy schedules the only thing that had stood in the way of our meeting during the last three months? I assumed this would be slightly different if we were in college or attended a boarding school in a city where our parents didn't reside, but neither was the case.

We were all in Boston. We'd all been in Boston this whole damn time.

I'd met my ex-boyfriend Henry's parents after one of his home soccer games, and it was what I'd expected - nerve wracking at the start but ultimately perfectly civil and anticlimactic. They were nice, and I smiled as I shook their hands. Henry met Dad briefly and it was pretty much the same with Dad optimizing his cool academia persona.

But here I was, about to meet Trip's parents alongside everyone else in his life. Like I was just like everyone else in his life.

"You haven't started driver's ed?" Gianna's question snapped me out of my internal monologue and back into the real world, where I was discussing my inability to parallel park or drive, for that matter.

I shook my head. "I haven't had the time or willpower. But the plan is to enroll over the summer when I'll hopefully reacquaint myself with the concept of free time."

Free time was a generous description of my summer schedule. I would be working part-time and had at least three lacrosse showcases with my club lacrosse team Boston Elite, but I would make it work. I was even looking forward to practicing with Dad in his Jaguar. I knew he wouldn't be the kind of parent who would be outwardly nervous in the passenger seat - he was a Professor, and he knew how to teach.

"You and me both," Gianna replied as we adhered to a hand-made sign printed with don't be shy and a glittery blue arrow directing guests through the side gate. The delicate and curly script didn't belong to Trip.

Tony D was the first to notice our arrival in the spacious backyard donned with white-clothed tables and bounded over to us from a brood of lacrosse boys and their parents with a goofy grin spread across his tan features. Before I could question his enthusiasm or presence, his t-shirt conveyed the answer. He had a close-up photo of Grayson Kirby and Trip McKenna's faces printed on the white fabric.