How to Be a Rock Star's Ex-Girlfriend (5 page)

“Cory’s doing well. I’m trying to talk him into coming home for a weekend soon. I haven’t seen him since Christmas!”

My mom was always trying to talk one of us into coming for a visit. You would think that she and my dad would want to take this opportunity to spend quality time together, but for now they’re suffering from empty nest syndrome. I don’t know how many times I suggested a romantic outing for the two of them, nothing caught their attention.

“Did you know that he’s already practicing for the spring season? Do they ever give those kids a break?”

“I’m sure they get a break now and then, Mom. Somehow I doubt all those baseball guys would stand for constant practicing. Let me know if he plans to come up. I’ll make a trip over to see him.” My mom was always worried that Cory was overworked by his coaches, his teachers, his girlfriends, anyone and everyone. If I knew anything, I knew that he could take care of himself. But, he was her baby after all!

“You could come over anyway. What are you doing tonight? I could make your favorite meal, we could rent a movie. How does that sound?”

“Well, that sounds good, but I think that the girls and I are going to catch the late show at the theater tonight. Maybe next weekend? You could make your homemade spaghetti and meatballs then, right?” My mom made the best homemade sauce, it had been my favorite thing to eat for as long as I could remember, and my mom used it as an incentive to get me home. It usually worked since I hate to cook for myself!

“I’ll call you if Cory decides to drive up. I’ll have to make his favorites if he’s around, you know. He has to make the longer trip. Have a good time at the movies tonight, honey. I’ll talk to you next week.”

“Bye, Mom! Hey, maybe you and Dad should rent a movie tonight. Make some popcorn, snuggle on the couch, it would be fun!”

“Maybe, I’m not sure what your dad has planned. I love you, bye!”

I laughed to myself as I heard the soft click of the phone hanging up. I knew that my parents wouldn’t be renting a movie tonight. One of these days I was sure that they would realize that they were their own best source of company, until then I would continue to gently push them in that direction.

I felt a little guilty for not telling my mom about Braden. She’s always dying to know the latest info on my love life. I never go into much detail, but occasionally I’ll go over the highlights with her. Today I used the excuse that there wasn’t much to tell at this point. If today was a complete waste of time, my mom’s hopes would never know the difference. It made me feel a bit better when I thought that way.

I mean I know that she meant well and she just wanted to be part of my life, but there were some things I couldn’t bring myself to share with her. I mean, who wants to tell their mother that they have the hots for some guy they just met? Can you say uncomfortable? You always hear people say that they tell their parents everything, they’re best friends, but where do you draw the line? There were things that I find it hard to talk to Cara about, and Cara isn’t shocked or embarrassed about anything! I guess it’s no wonder I couldn’t open all the way up to my mom.

There, I had just convinced myself that I had done the right thing. When Braden and I got together and it was actually a relationship, I would call her first thing. I would tell her all about him, we’d have a real mother-daughter talk. It would be great. But until then, I would just keep him my little secret.

CHAPTER 4
 

When the door bell rang, I was still in my pajamas, my unwashed hair piled on my head. I had no idea who it could be, I wasn’t expecting anyone, and I was the only one home at the moment. That was just what I needed, a visitor. Come on, I was trying to get the apartment back together, and I hadn’t even looked in the mirror. Couldn’t people respect a person’s Sunday afternoon off?

It’s probably one of those Jehovah witnesses or some kid selling magazines. One look at me and whoever it was would take off running! I would just smile politely and say that I wasn’t interested in ordering anything or changing my faith at this time. That should do it.

“Oh, hi.” As I opened the door, I realized that I had neglected to consider one other person it could be. Braden. Just my luck, I wasn’t wearing any makeup either! This was not the second impression that I wanted to make. I thought he’d call, make plans for a few hours from now, and give me time to turn myself into the beautiful, radiant girl he had met last night.

I had envisioned soaking in the tub for a while, giving my hair a hot oil treatment, painting my toenails a fun new color, and then putting on a sexy little outfit and a few touches of mascara. You know, the perfect, ‘I’m not trying to hard, but I still manage to look fantastic all the time’ look. That wasn’t happening now.

“That was not the reaction I was hoping for.” Braden stood nervously outside the door. “I know I said that I would call, but I forgot my cell phone and since I was already half way here, I took a chance. Should I go?”

“What?” I was still imagining how I would have looked, had he come after my date make over. Now, not only did I look like a complete mess, but I was once again unable to talk to him. I gave myself a two second pep talk, “
Pull yourself together, Ava.”

“No, don’t go! I was just surprised. I was expecting door to door encyclopedia salesmen. And I can’t believe that you caught me like this!”

“Like what?” I stepped aside to let him into the apartment.

“Don’t try to be nice, I know I look gross. I haven’t even showered yet!”

“Well, why don’t you do that, while I set things up in here.”

“Set what up?” I was just a little suspicious of any thing that involved ‘setting up’.

“Have you not noticed that I’m carrying two grocery bags? In them, I have an indoor picnic lunch for the two of us. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I can eat around someone so hideous. You better go shower!”

Laughing along with him, I agreed. “You better not break anything or spill on the carpeting while I’m getting dressed. I’ll have you know that I spend this whole morning cleaning up. I don’t want to do it again!”

Moving to the bathroom, I thought of how sweet it was of him to pick up food. And an indoor picnic! How romantic! I could hardly wait to tell my girls all about it. I wondered if he was always this way or if he was trying to impress me, the same way I had hoped to impress him with my soft skin and glossy hair.

In an attempted to recreate my dream preparations, I rushed though each of the steps, eliminating the bath in favor of a shower and giving my hair a thorough washing with scented shampoo since I didn’t have time for hot oil today. The toenails would have to

stay light pink, but I did swipe a touch of glitter over each nail. Now if I could just remember not to smudge them on anything until they dried.

Next came body lotion in the same sun-kissed raspberry scent as the shampoo. I hope he wasn’t one of those people who were allergic to scents. Too late to worry about that now! If he started coughing, I’d just have to take another shower!

For the grand finale, I pulled on my oldest pair of jeans, buttonflies, worn around the edges, and so comfy. The best part about them was that they were so broken in that they fit perfectly. Topping them off with a lightweight pink sweater, to match my toenails, I took one last look in the mirror. Not bad for only having fifteen minutes and your date in the other room!

I walked quickly into the living room. Now that I was smelling nice and looked less like a bum, I couldn’t wait to see what Braden had concocted.

Braden had found an old blanket in the hall closet and spread it out over the floor. Candles were lit giving the room a soft glow. There were paper plates set out and deli containers lined up ready for us to dig in.

“I forgot drinks.” Braden came out of the kitchen holding two soda cans. “So I raided your fridge. I hope that’s okay. I wanted to have everything perfect, but of course I forgot something! By the way, what is up with this music? Are we revisiting the 1980s today?”

“It does look pretty wonderful in here. And hey, if I can forget to shower, you can forget the drinks! But watch what you say about my music! I happen to love this music! I was just having a little me time, enjoying some classic love songs. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing if you like sappy, overdone crap rock!” I leaned over and shoved his shoulder lightly at that comment. “Okay, I’ll be nice! I usually listen to music that’s a little heavier that’s all. I won’t say more about your taste in music!”

“Since you’ve decided to be nice about it, I’ll turn this off and put on the radio. Would that be better? But just for the record, I happen to love sappy, overdone crap rock. I won’t listen to anything else!”

Just like the night before, it was fun to banter back and forth with him. There wasn’t any awkwardness between us, and I didn’t feel the need to sensor my thoughts or opinions. I’ve seen too many smart women change the way they think, the way they talk, the things they like, all for a man. I try not to fall into that pattern myself, but I have been known to watch football games, which I hate, or eat seafood, which I find disgusting, just to catch my latest crush. Not apologizing for my choice of CDs was, I hoped, a good sign.

“So, what did you bring?” I knelled down onto the blanket and began to remove lids and unwrap bundles.

“There’s chicken, you can’t have a picnic without fried chicken! And potato salad, chips, and some really good dinner rolls. I also picked up some cookies from the bakery for dessert. I hope you like it.”

He sounded so excited and hopeful; I felt a little tug at my heart. “Of course I like it. I’m starving! How often does a hot guy bring you a picnic?”

“I can honestly say that a hot guy has never brought me any kind of lunch! Here, try this.”

I took the piece of chicken out of his hand and bit into it. “Oh, this is great! This was such a good idea! I haven’t had deli food for awhile, what made you think of it?”

“Well every other girl I’ve done it for really got a kick out of it. I thought, why not try it again.”

He said it all with such a straight face that my mouth dropped open and I just stared at him. How could he use some tired old trick on me? It was even worse, because it worked! I was in la-la land over him, and all he was doing was dusting off his oldest moves. I was usually the one that pulled off stuff like that. I was not happy to be on the receiving end of such a lame trick.

“Ava?” I could barely see him through my humiliation, but I noticed that he seemed to be enjoying himself and the situation. That just made it worse.

“Yes?”

Hearing the frost in my voice caused Braden to lose control. He placed his hand over his mouth to keep the food from spraying out as he convulsed with laughter.

“I was kidding!” He started up again, making it impossible to continue talking. “It was a joke! I’ve never done this before. I was just at the grocery store because we have nothing to eat in our house, and I passed the deli and thought why not. Seriously! I’m sorry.”

“You should be! I thought you were serious!” I tried to sound harsh and unforgiving, but after the fact, it all seemed really funny. “Next time let me know when you’re trying to be humorous.”

With a sly smile, Braden leaned in and kissed me. I forgot all about the joke and how silly I had felt. I even forgot to worry about food breath. Our first kiss, it blew me away. He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person he had ever kissed this way. Like in the movie
The Princess Bride,
there were five perfect kisses and this one topped them all. It was as if our two sets of lips formed a perfect kissing match and I imagined that I would never look at kissing the same again. God, I was turning into a sappy, emotional wreck!

“Wow.” Braden’s tone matched my mood, as well as echoing the thought in my head.

“Yeah, wow.” Not a brilliant comeback, but at the moment I was surprised that any sound escaped.

“Will you forgive my little joke?”

“Okay. If you’ll do that again.”

“What?” He asked, already drawing me closer. “This?”

The rest of our afternoon was spend alternating between laughing, talking, and eating, with a little more kissing thrown in here and there! It was so easy to fall into conversation with Braden. We both marveled at our connection. I felt like a different person had taken over my body! Being connected to a guy? This was not typical Ava behavior. Whenever I heard anyone talking the way I was now, I laughed to myself. There was no such thing as an instant connection. But suddenly, here I was, thinking those same thoughts! All of a sudden I was giddy and stupid and silly. But the truth was that neither of us felt comfortable opening up to just anyone, not even our immediate families.

Although I had always been close to my folks and I love them a lot, there were times when I wanted to shout and pound my fists against the walls to get their attention. I was so very different from them, at least I felt different.

While my brother and father were out in the yard playing catch, I was laying on a lawn chair, reading one novel after another. My body does not contain one athletic bone, and that hindered me from forming a close relationship with my dad. I know deep down that he loves me, but I could feel his disappointment in my inability to join their games. He and Cory would spend all summer going to ball games, hitting the batting cages, and generally just hanging out like buddies. Now that I’m out of the house, I’ve tried to bypass the negative feelings carried over from my youth and embrace the things we can both enjoy. Too bad there aren’t many! Maybe if I enjoyed watching sports …

One would think that if I was unlike my dad, I would have inherited more traits from my mom, and in some ways, that’s true. We both enjoy quiet time spend alone and we like having our own space. We even trade books once in awhile, although we don’t always agree on what we liked or disliked about a story. But my mom had always wanted one thing, a family. She married my dad a year after graduating from college, and quit work soon after she found out that she was pregnant with me. She had gone to school to be an elementary teacher and every few years they talked about her maybe going back, but nothing ever came of it. She was too com-