Focused, p.23
Focused, page 23
part #2 of True Images Series
All I knew next was that I forgot everything but the feel and taste and beauty of her. I knew that I’d have to stop soon—that I was approaching the hard line I’d drawn in the sand, but I was frustrated at all the boundaries I’d set for myself. I distantly knew they were important, but it annoyed me at the same time.
“Lee,” Sienna said. Her voice was rough but I heard the desperate question in it.
It was enough to bring me back to sanity. I stood up and walked across the room to get my breathing under control. I stood with my back to her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, so softly I barely caught her words.
I turned, appalled at what she’d said.
“I guess I’m so used to you being in control,” she continued. “I shouldn’t leave it all on your shoulders, though.”
I laughed, though the sound of it was harsh. I went over and offered my hand to help her up. “Don’t apologize. It’ll make me feel like I need to say I’m sorry, and I’m not. Well, maybe sorry that we had to stop. But we did have to.”
“Yeah. No more trying to prove how irresistible you are.”
“The problem is that I can’t resist you.”
“That could mean trouble,” she said.
“It also means we have something amazing.”
“Definitely,” she said.
“Remember that when I tell you the bad news.”
“What?”
“I tried to come up with some awesome way to ask you to prom, but everything I came up with was stupid.”
Thankfully, she laughed. “Does that mean you aren’t going to ask me? Because I’m warning you, I have an awesome dress, and I’m going to wear it.”
“It means I’m going to be lame.” I grabbed both of her hands. “Sienna, I heard you have an awesome dress. Will you honor me by being my date to prom?”
Her laughter eased my shame. The fierce way she jumped into my arms helped too.
“Of course I will.” She stepped back, “I’m so glad you asked me. I was afraid I was going to have to take Michael up on his offer.”
“What? No he didn’t.”
She looked sly. “Sure he did. He came over today and was so great about helping me move my stuff that I almost said yes. I mean, how sweet was that?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, unable to do anything else. My brain felt like it filled with sand.
She picked up the box of photos and turned towards the door. She said over her shoulder, “Of course, it was pretty sweet of you, too. Sending him over here to protect me and everything.”
She turned off the light and left me in the dark.
As I followed her out, I tried to figure out if I needed to apologize or say “you’re welcome.”
Chapter 24
Sienna
My mom and I had never watched the news. Growing up, we’d had so little money that we hadn’t even had a television with the local channels. In my mom’s frugal artist’s mind, newspapers were the way to go if you had to make a choice. We’d never had a shortage of scraps for paper mache or drop cloths. Alex was a news man though. He watched it every night. So now my Mom watched it too.
It didn’t bother me much that my occasional movie nights with her were even more occasional than before. I was gone most evenings anyway. I was working as much as Mr. Foster could afford to have me there. As the last days of high school ebbed away, I realized more and more what it was going to mean to be independent. My chances of winning the photo contest I’d entered were low, and even with it, I’d need to come up with a lot of money to pay tuition and living expenses. And graduation was in five short weeks.
It was an awful, rainy Tuesday night for the beginning of April though, so I was glad I wasn’t working tonight. I missed my old room sometimes, but I couldn’t deny that Alex’s house was better insulated than ours. The wind whipping through the trees outside didn’t have a chance of getting in here. Tornado season was getting into full swing now, so we’d already spent a few evenings under a tornado warning. I much preferred a stormy evening in my new home than at Foster’s, where the whole place was a giant window.
Beside me on my bed was an acceptance letter to the University of Arkansas’s art program. I was editing pictures from a recent photo shoot with one of the girls at school. I’d put up new posts every few days the last couple of weeks. Every time, the girl had become a sensation at school. It was crazy, but my blog had become some sort of popularity machine. Everyone waited to see who was going to be the next big thing around school.
I tweaked the contrast a bit, bringing out more shadows, and cloned out a few blemishes, but the letter kept distracting me. I didn’t read it, but I couldn’t help staring at it because of what it represented.
Moving out and being on my own.
Studying photography in a top program.
Being separated from Lee.
There was a knock on my door. My mom had never knocked in our old house. I wondered what made her feel like she needed to now. Of course, I used to hang out on her bed all the time, but I hadn’t even been in her room yet. Because it wasn’t just hers.
“Come in,” I called.
My mom leaned around the door, not bothering to open it all the way. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that there are cookies coming out of the oven in a minute. Why don’t you come have some with us?”
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll be there in a second.”
She nodded and closed the door behind her. Weird.
I turned back to the photo I’d been working on. I cropped it closer to her face and uploaded it to my blog, but I still had some work to do on the post before I published it. It would have to wait though. When my mom had opened the door, she’d let in a hint of warm chocolate chip cookies. I was not such a workaholic that I would chance having them cool off before I got something.
In the living room, Alex was settled into his favorite spot on the sofa, still watching the news, and my mom was carrying a tray over to the coffee table with a plate of cookies and three glasses of milk. When she sat it down, I grabbed a cookie and glass of milk, and perched in a chair to enjoy them. The weather report was mildly interesting, but we just had a thunderstorm watch tonight.
The timer went off in the kitchen. My mom got up from her spot next to Alex, but I said, “I’ve got it.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” she said, sinking back down into the couch.
“Sure.” Scoring brownie points was nice, but mostly I wanted some hot, gooey cookies.
I grabbed an oven mit and moved the pan from the oven to the stovetop. I put three of them on a plate, because I’d been working hard lately and deserved it. I tried to pick up a cookie, but it fell apart in my fingers. Before I got any in my mouth, Alex said, “Hey, Sienna. Come see this.”
There was a note of urgency in his voice, so I hurried over there. “What?” The news was paused so all I could see was the anchor’s face.
Instead of answering, he hit play.
“Tonight we bring you an update on a local basketball star—nationally ranked Lee Franklin.” The picture switched from the sports anchor to video of Lee playing basketball. “Franklin has been heavily recruited by some of the best programs in the country. He has been leaning heavily towards Arizona State, but since signing day is next Friday and he has yet to make an announcement of any kind, many people are speculating that he may be considering other options. Sources tell us that the Oklahoma University may be one of the top contenders, as well as the University of Arkansas.”
Then Coach Webb came on, saying, “No, I don’t have any idea if Lee has made up his mind. It’s a big decision, and I’m glad to see him taking his time over it. I do know that he’ll be an asset to whichever team he signs with. He’s an amazing talent.”
The sport’s anchor filled the screen again, grinning as he said, “He’s got 11 days to make up his mind. He seems determined to make his fans sweat it out – as well as the recruiters.”
A commercial break came on, so Alex rewound it and began watching it again.
Lee being on the news wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last. They hadn’t said anything I didn’t already know.
“It’s so weird, isn’t it?” my mom asked. “I mean, we know him so well, but he seems like such a celebrity when you see him on TV.”
“Yeah,” I said. It also made me feel lonely. And like the end was inevitable though I didn’t know when it was coming.
Lee had said he and his parents were sitting down to talk about it tonight. I wondered how it was going. Maybe they wouldn’t mind if I busted in so I could see which way the wind was blowing.
I pulled out my phone to text him and saw that I had a message from my dad. I must have forgotten to turn the volume up again after school.
Can you meet me at the diner tonight? For desert or something? I might be leaving tomorrow.
Not looking up from my phone, I said, “Hey Dad wants me to meet him at the diner because he might be leaving town tomorrow. Would you mind?”
She frowned. “It’s late and the weather is pretty bad out there.”
“I know, but I’ll be okay. I won’t stay too long.”
But when I got outside, the storm was more intimidating than it had been from within the safety of the house. The limbs of the trees were whipping around and thunder was rumbling distantly. Fat drops of rain pelted me as I ran to my car, which I kept parked on the street.
As I drove down my street, I realized that Lee’s house was only slightly out of the way, and I decided on impulse to swing by and see if he could go with me. I hoped that my dad’s leaving meant that he had nothing to do with the Murphy’s crime ring, but a sliver of doubt remained. I didn’t want to face him alone, even if Lee didn’t know the specifics of my worries.
I pulled into his driveway and left my car running as I got out and walked to the front door. It was a minute after I rang the doorbell before I heard footsteps approaching. Mrs. Franklin opened the door and as soon as she saw me, she said, “Oh gracious! You’re soaking wet. Come in, you poor thing.” Which probably meant I looked like a drowned rat.
“I was hoping to talk to Lee. I hope I’m not interrupting.”
She looked at the ceiling and expelled a big breath. “Oh, we aren’t making any progress anyway. Come in. Lee will be glad to see you.”
I followed her into the living room where I found Lee and his dad staring at the coffee table. It was covered in official looking papers and brochures.
Lee looked up when he heard us approaching, and got to his feet. “Sienna?”
“Hey,” I said, unsure about the situation. “Your mom didn’t think you’d mind if I came in.”
As I got closer to him, he held out his arms to me. “Of course not,” he said, wrapping me up and kissing me briefly on top of my head.
“I was hoping you might be done so you could come somewhere with me, but I’ll be fine if you can’t.”
His serious expression made me wonder if he was about to say he couldn’t, but he nodded and turned back to his dad. “We aren’t going to solve this tonight anyway. Would you mind if we wrapped it up for now?”
His Dad rubbed his head like it hurt and said, “Not at all. Go on. I’ll clean this up.” He started scooping up papers and sorting them into different stacks.
Lee put his cell phone in his pocket and put his hand in the small of my back, gently prompting me back towards the front door. He grabbed his keys off the entry table, and held the door open for me.
As we stepped outside and Lee saw how heavy the rain was, he said, “Wow. Where are you going in this kind of weather?”
“My dad is leaving and wanted me to meet him at the diner to say goodbye. I feel weird about it, so I thought some moral support would be nice. .”
“Well, I can handle that.” Lee leaned over and kissed me again, this time full on my mouth. As he did so, a gust of wind blew rain straight at us, spraying cold water on us.
Lee laughed. “I guess that takes care of my cold shower for the night. Want me to go get an umbrella?”
I shrugged. “It wouldn’t do me much good at this point, but you can get one if you want.”
“I’m good,” he said.
We ducked our heads and ran to my car. I turned on the car, put the headlights on and put the wipers on full speed before I backed out of his driveway.
“At least it’s just raining tonight,” Lee said. As the words left his mouth, a clap of thunder shook the car and surprised a shout out of both of us. “Whoa. That was close,” he said when we’d both recovered.
“Right on top of us,” I agreed. As I headed to the diner, I said “I saw the story about you on the news tonight.”
Lee grimaced and nodded. “Yeah, we watched it to. I hate it. It’s not like I need any added pressure.”
“I bet.”
He smiled at me. “Hey, I want you to know I appreciate that you never pressure me.”
“Of course. It’s your decision.”
“Yeah, but you have a lot riding on it. I want you to know that I’m going to hold out as long as I can to see if Arkansas will offer me a scholarship.”
What are you going to do if it doesn’t work out by next Saturday?”
His frown was quick, but even glancing sideways, I saw it. “Well,” he said, “My grandpa will get the good news that I’ve signed with Arizona.”
“Well, at least it will make someone happy.”
He shrugged. “Whatever I do, I ‘m going to make some people happy and some people mad. I’d rather you were in the first group than the second.”
We’d arrived at the diner so I didn’t say anything as I pulled into a parking spot, but once I put the car in park, I turned towards him and said, “I won’t be mad, no matter what. I might be extremely disappointed, but I wouldn’t be mad. Why should I be? You need to do what’s right for you.”
His eyes looked pointedly at me. “Sienna, as far as I’m concerned, my decision is about both of us.”
My heart beat quickly as the sincerity of his words poured over me. “You’re incredible,” I told him.
“I hope so,” he said.
I didn’t wait for him to open my door. He usually did, but it was weird since I was driving and it was raining. He met me at the front of my car, holding out a hand to me. “Let’s hope the pie here is even half as awesome as I am.”
We hurried inside, but once through the door, I pinched his arm teasingly. “Well, I think the only pie you need is a big slice of humble pie.”
He moaned. “Oh, burn.”
My dad and I had almost staked out a booth we ate here so often. It certainly wasn’t a problem tonight. The place was almost empty. In fact, my dad wasn’t even here yet. I smiled at the only waitress that was working the floor and headed over to our booth. Lee and I sat across from each other, mostly I think because it felt awkward to sit next to each other when no one else was with us.
“I guess Olivia isn’t working tonight, huh?” Lee asked.
“I doubt it. Parker’s been complaining that he doesn’t see her much between work and rehearsal for prom.”
“I know how that feels.”
“What?”
“Not getting to see your girl much.”
“Yeah, and we live in the same town and go to the same school.”
He looked straight at me for a second, then leaned his head down and rubbed the bridge of his nose like he was getting a headache. “Yeah.”
I didn’t say anything else. I felt guilty enough for what I’d already said. Trying to cheer him up, I said, “Why couldn’t you have been a normal, gorgeous and all-around great guy? Did you have to be a basketball star too?”
His smile glinted at me. “Hey, in my defense, I didn’t know it was going to cause me so much trouble.
The waitress came over to get our order, and I’m sure we frustrated her when we both just ordered a soda. I think she even rolled her eyes.
“She’s worried about her tip,” Lee said quietly.
“Can’t say I blame her.” Thunder shook the glass window next to us and made a car alarm go off in the parking lot. “What a crummy night to be working.”
“Are you sure your dad’s coming?”
I shrugged like I didn’t care too much, but I stared through the window, trying to see into the blackness beyond it. “He asked me to meet him here. I hope I didn’t miss him. I took longer than I thought because I went to go pick you up.”
The waitress brought our sodas and dropped a couple of straws on the table. I picked one up and played with taking the paper off, but Lee picked up his glass and started chugging. When he sat his glass down again, he said, “You seem more nervous than a meeting with your dad should make you. I mean, maybe in the beginning, but not now.”
The front door opened and my dad came in. “Hush, he’s here.”
My dad took off his wet jacket and laid it on the empty seat of the booth behind us. “Hey, how you doing?” he asked Lee as he sat down next to me.
“Pretty good,” Lee said a little stiffly. “And you?”
My dad’s smile was up to par as usual. “Well, great, except for having to say goodbye to Sienna.”
“Yeah, so what’s up with that?” I asked. “It seems pretty sudden.”
“I told you a few weeks ago I had to go back east.”
“But you didn’t say anything about it when I saw you a few days ago.”
“It wasn’t certain yet.”
“Business?” Lee asked. A hint of skepticism in his voice put me on edge.
“It always is. Money makes the world go round.”
One of Lee’s eyebrows lifted ever so slightly.
I had different concerns. “Are you coming back, or is this for good?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I might have to make a trip back soon to tie up some loose ends of mine, but I hope not. I plan to be out east for quite some time.”
Relief flooded over me. If what Parker thought was true, the Murphy’s were working toward something big. If my dad was involved, there’s no way he’d be heading out for good now – not when the pay-off was still to come. But I realized that I needed to look disappointed. To give myself time to adjust my expression, I took a long drink of soda. It was so carbonated that it gave me the hiccups.
