Under the Lights

Chapter 23: Phonecalls

Chapter 23

I fiddled with the ring in my hand, looking at the diamond reflecting the light from the desk lamp.

A smile crossed my face as I thought of how many times it would get caught in my hair when my mom put me to bed.

How many times she'd sit there, smiling at it when she was with my dad.

How many times I'd look at it and tell her that I'd give my wife a beautiful ring like that one day.

And now here it was, in my hand, at 2 in the morning on a Saturday, while I waited for my dad to call me from across the atlantic ocean.

I rested my head on my hand, still looking down at the diamond ring.

The phone started ringing, causing me to jump slightly.

"Hello?" I asked quickly, picking up the landline phone.

"Jason?" My dad grinned.

"Dad! Hey!" I said happily, setting the ring carefully down on the desk.

"Happy birthday. How's your day been?" My dad asked, sounding extremely tired.

"Great, great. We made it to playoffs." I said happily. "We've won all the games since our first tie."

"Congratulations! How are the gators doing?" My dad asked.

"Their season is over..." I sighed. "But hey, it's okay, every team has their ups and downs."

"True, true." My dad laughed. "How's Carly? You two still together?"

I felt a smile grow on my face as I looked down at the ring.

"Dad I'm in love." I said, leaning back against the chair.

"You're in love now are you?" Dad laughed, sounding amused.

"And I want to ask her to marry me." I added quietly.

My dad was silent.

"Excuse me?" My dad said softly.

"Dad I'm in love with her. One hundred percent completely. And I know she's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Jason Taylor Charleston. You are barely 18 years old. You are not in love. And you are not getting married." My dad said harshly. "Absolutely not. One hundred percent no."

"Dad." I said quietly. "I understand that you-"

"No. No Jason there is absolutely no way that you are getting married this young. Are you insane? Right before you're going to UT? Right before your entire life starts?" My dad said seriously. "Jason I can't let you throw away your future like this."

"I'm not! I'm not throwing away my future! I'm in love with her!" I exclaimed, looking at the ring in my hand. "And I know that I want my future to be with her."

"Right now your future should contain getting your team to state and passing your senior year." My dad said harshly.

"But after that I-"

"And after that you should be worried about college, and taking UT to the top of their division, understood?" My dad said seriously.

"Dad! No you don't understand! I am in love with her. One hundred percent, completely, absolutely, mind blowingly in love with her! And right now, all I want to do is bring her into my life in as many ways possible." I said, pushing my hand through my hair. "Why can't you understand that?"

"Because you are 18 years old, Jason. Because you have your entire life planned out ahead of you. And I will not let you throw away any opportunities because you were dumb and got married in high school!" My dad exclaimed.