Fallin' For Fitz

30

I shook my head, "I'm legally changing my name."

The spatula dropped to the ground, "Parker! Is this some joke? Do you know what kind of power your name carries? A hell of a lot, billons even."

I threw my hands down, "What's the big deal? You call me Parker anyway! Ellie calls me Parker, Asher calls me Parker, everyone calls me Parker. Why should I have to carry around a man's name who has hurt me so much?"

My Mom picked up the spatula and washed it off. She didn't look angry, she just stood there washing the spatula.

"Well, I guess that's understandable. What are you changing it to?" My Mom breathed

"Parker Reid Fitzgerald," I told her

My Mom put her hands over her heart, Reid was her maiden name. Thankfully, it flowed with my name.

"Awe, Parker, I love it." She teared up as she walked away from the stove. She put her arms around me.

"I love it way more than the name you originally had." My Mom finally admitted

My Mom and I had a good heart to heart while I ate. We were finally becoming closer after knocking heads for eighteen years. It was a nice feeling.

Once eight o'clock hit, I was in some dingy bar with my five best friends. It was fun to let loose, play some pool, and pay weird-ass people to buy you drinks.

"Jack Clayton has had his tongue down that girl's throat for twenty minutes." Asher pointed out

I let out a laugh, "Relax, he's having a good time."

"Ugh, I hate being the d-d." Asher complained, "How was New York?"

I waved my hand, "We'll talk about it later."

Asher frowned, "Why? What happened?"

I took a sip of my rum and coke, "A lot of shit."

"God Parker, you didn't cheat, did you?" Asher jumped to conclusions

I started choking on my drink and coughing.

"Why in the hell would I do that?" I said throughout my coughs

Asher let out a deep breath, "Good. I just had to make sure."

"I'll just tell everyone when we get to Jack's house." I decided

The gag was, we didn't to Jack's house until two in the morning. Everyone minus Asher was drunk as hell.

We were all in his room watching John Paul try to play video games even though he had no idea what he was doing or saying.

"Parker, what did you have to tell us about New York?" Asher bought up again

I sat up from the bean bag chair, "Uh, two things. I'm legally changing my name to Parker and I'm moving to New York instead of going to college."

Asher's jaw dropped and his body went droopy, "What? We were supposed to go to Vandy together."

"Dude, why?" Declan asked 

"I'm changing my name because I don't want to be William. I'm moving to New York because on August first, I'll officially be the CEO of Fitzgerald industries. The youngest CEO of a billion-dollar company to be exact, it's a big deal." I informed my friends

John Paul stopped playing the game, Asher was frozen, Declan as rubbing his head, Wyatt just stared at me, and Jordan just looked pissed off.

"It is what it is." I shrugged, "Asher, you'll have Jordan and the rest of you will have each other at UCLA."

"But who will you have Parker?" Jordan questioned me

That his me right in the heart.

Who would I have? Just the man in the mirror.

"I'll be fine." I assured my friends

But you know what they say, it's lonely at the top.

On Sunday night, Ellie and I went to a Meditteranean restaurant in Los Angeles. We got a table right by the window and it was nice to watch the sunset.

"Tired?" I joked as she yawned

She nodded her head, "It's been a long day but I'm happy to see you again. I couldn't stop thinking about you all last week."

I smiled, "Really?"

"Really." she confirmed, "Anything big happen while you were there? You know, did you pick a college or anything?"

She just looked so happy.

There was this glow about her face, her smile was reaching her eyes, and I didn't want to be the person who ruined all of that.

I just gave her a small smile and shook my head, "No just some boring stuff and I'm leaning towards UCLA and Vandy. Mostly UCLA."

"That's good, I'm happy for you." she beamed

Fuck.