STMH Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Tristan

            Someone says my name. I’m glad for the distraction from my thoughts. I sit up and look over at who said my name. An unfamiliar girl is standing behind me. I can see the nervous look in her eyes.

            I smile at her to put her a little bit more at ease. She calms down a little bit and walks closer to me. I say, “hello.”

            “Hello, Tristan,” she says shyly. She looks down at the ground for a few seconds. Then she look back up at me. She smiles shyly at me.

            “So, what’s your name?”

            “My name is Blake.”

            “Were you looking for me?” I’m a little surprised.

            She nods. “Well actually, I was helping Axel look for you. He said he tried to call you, but your phone was off. He’s worried about you. You should give him a call.”

            I go through my pockets. I realize that I didn’t even have my phone with me. “Oh, I don’t have my phone with me. Is it alright, if I borrow yours?”

            “Oh, um, sure,” she says. She unlocks her phone and hands it over to me. I dial Axel’s number.

            “Hey, what’s up, Blake,” he asks.

            “Hey, man, it’s Tristan actually.”

            “Hey, man, are you alright,” he asks me in a worried tone.

            “Yeah, I’m alright,” I say. I think Axel can tell that I’m lying to him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t call to tell you I was skipping practice today.”

            “Its okay, man. Coach was very worried about you. It’s not like you to ditch practice, but I do understand why you did. I’m sorry that Marie broke up with you.”  

            I sigh a little to myself. “It’s okay. I guess it’s for the best. She didn’t think I was the right guy for her. I hope she finds someone that can make her happy. I said some pretty harsh things to her before I walked away. I kind of feel bad about it.”

            “Don’t worry about that right now, man. You definitely said it out of anger. She caused you pain. It’s only natural.”

            “Yeah, you’re right, man,” I say.

            “Well, I’m going to let you go now. I know you’re borrowing Blake’s phone right now. I’ll hit you up later.”  

            “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.”

            I hang up with Axel. I hand back Blake her phone. I smile at her, and she smiles shyly back at me. I walk back over to the bench and sit down. I really don’t feel like going home yet. Dad’s words are still stuck in my head. I still need to clear my head a bit.

            Blake is still standing a short distance away from me. She’s looking over at the water. I call out to her. “Hey Blake, you can come sit with me if you want.”

            She walks over and sits down next to me. We sit there quietly; both of us are wrapped up in our own thoughts. I start thinking over what I said to Marie again. I saw the hurt look in her eyes when I said them. I saw the tears I caused. I still feel like a jerk. I hate making girls feel bad,

            “Hey, Tristan,” Blake speaks up.

            “Yes?”

            “Are you sure you’re alright?”

            “I’m trying to be. Today has been a pretty rough day for me emotionally,” I reply.

            “I’m sorry that you’re having a rough day. I know it’s hard to go through a breakup. I watched my best friend go through one last year. It was hard to watch her go through the hurt,” she says and looks up at me.

            “Thank you, Blake. Everything will get better at some point. I know it will take some time.”

            “Yes, it will. Also, I’m sorry about your mom.”

            “I miss her every single day. I wish she wasn’t taken away from us. My dad is having a tough time dealing with her death. It hasn’t really been all that easy for me either. I’m trying every day to deal with the grief. Some days it’s easier. Some days it’s hard for me to deal with,” I say.

            “Well, that’s completely understandable. I feel like grief doesn’t just go away. You just learn to live with it. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a parent. I can relate in some ways though. I lost my grandmother a few years ago. I still haven’t really recovered from that either. I still grieve every once in a while, too.”

            “I’m sorry for your loss as well, Blake. Thank you for sharing your experience with me.”

            “I just wanted to let you know that you’re not alone,” she says while blushing a little bit.

            “I actually have a question for you. How did Axel get you to help look for me?”

            “Well, he heard my friend and I talking. He told us you skipped practice. So, I offered to help look for you. Plus, I was also worried about you too.”

            “Wow, that was very sweet of you. Skipping volleyball practice isn’t something, I usually do. I just couldn’t bring myself to go to practice today.”

            “Well, having your heart broken is a good reason to skip. Plus, you probably needed some alone time to process your thoughts. Next time, don’t forget your phone,” she replies and sticks her tongue out at me. I chuckle a little. That makes her smile. I smile again too. Blake is really easy to talk to.

            “I promise, I won’t next time.”

            “Good!”

            “Hey, Blake, what time is it?”

            “It’s six-thirty. I should start heading home. My best friend is going to be sleeping over my house tonight! We’re probably going to watch a movie before bed as usual.”

            “Oh, what type of movie?”

            “I’m not sure. We usually never agree on the movie. I love superhero movies. She loves romance movies. The only thing we can usually agree on are Disney movies.”

            “Well, some Disney movies are pretty cool,” I admit.

            “What’s your favorite Disney movie?”

            “I’m going to have to say Toy Story. How about you?”

            “Beauty and the Beast ties with Mulan for me.”

            “I found those movies cool too. Shh, don’t tell anyone,” I say and wink at her.

            “Oh, that reminds me. Are you thirsty? I bought a water for you earlier. I just forgot to give it to you.”

            “Oh, thank you. That’s really thoughtful of you.”

            “You’re welcome, Tristan,” she says while handing me the bottle from her bag. “I’m actually going to start heading home now. It was nice talking to you today, Tristan. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

            “Hey, actually, let me walk you home. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation as well.”

            “Oh, if you want. I don’t live that far from here. I live on Center street.”

            “That’s not too far away. I really don’t mind. I’m also going to go home myself. I’m starting to get hungry.”

~

            “I had a really nice time talking with you, Blake. It was nice to meet you.”

            “Nice to officially meet you as well. I’m usually at all your games. I really love watching you play. The setter position looks like it’s the hardest.”

            “It can be hard sometimes. I have been training for many years. There are many things that can happen in the game. I’ve learned from my past mistakes.”

            “That’s true.”

            I hear my stomach start growling. Blake hears it too. She giggles a little. “I guess I should head home too. I really am hungry now. Thank you for today, Blake. I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”

            “See you tomorrow, Tristan.”

            I start walking towards my house which is two blocks away from Blake’s. I really still don’t want to go home yet. I need to go to the store to pick up something for dinner. I’m not going to cook anything tonight. I think I’m going to order a pizza and have it delivered.

            I sigh as I get closer to my house. I really don’t want to face my dad again. Hopefully, Dad will be asleep when I get home. Or I wonder if he’ll be too drunk to notice I’ve come home.

            When I walk into the house, Dad is sitting on the couch. He has the tv on again. He is watching the news. He has a blank look on his face. When he sees me, he stands up quickly. “Tristan...”

            “Yes,” I snap at him. Dad is a little taken aback.

            “I really want to apologize for what I said. I really didn’t mean it,” he says.

            I don’t say anything for a few minutes. Dad and I just look at each other. I open and close my mouth. Eventually find the answer I’m looking for. “I-I really don’t know if I believe you, Dad.”

            “Son…”

            Tears start welling up in my eyes. I need to get away from him. I run up the stairs and I cry again. I need to let the pain out. I end up not eating dinner that night. I don’t want to be around my dad.