Saving Face (a young adult romance) (3 page)

            Brent ended up dropping Alyssa off at school the
rest of the week.  He was polite and sometimes even funny, but for the first
time in 17 years things were awkward between them.  She hadn’t spent so many
evenings alone since the tenth grade when she was banned from the Carter household
until Brent recovered from mono.  Even then he had called her every day. 
Suddenly Brent had too much homework to do any hanging out with her.

            “There’s a football game tonight, right?”  
Brent was pulling into a spot at her school on Friday morning.  “I thought I
would come and watch you cheer.”

            “Oh.  Okay, thanks.  The game’s at 5:00, but…
you don’t have too.”

            “Well I don’t have a date anymore—remember?” 
Brent tossed her a smile, but it didn’t make her laugh.  It wasn’t his real
smile.

            “Umm… there’s a party too.”

            “I figured as much.  Lyssa, are you sure this is
what you want?  Wouldn’t it be easier to stop all this pretending?”

            “Not really.”  Alyssa muttered and got out of
the car.  She didn’t want to give him a chance to change his mind.

            Alyssa plastered on her brightest smile during
the game.  She cheered and jumped for all she was worth—even when Pete made two
touch downs, and she would rather have booed.  Brent spent most of the game propped
against a railing, cheering when they scored, chatting occasionally with other
kids, and generally playing the good boyfriend.  For some reason it made Alyssa
feel even worse when he smiled and waved at her after their halftime routine.

            The party was a little better.  Alyssa and Brent
had been to tons of parties together.  And even though he hadn’t seen a lot of
these people in several years Brent had no problem fitting in and making
conversation.  Alyssa really envied that about him.  He was comfortable in just
about any situation.  Everywhere they went he seemed to make friends.  It was
no different in a house full of teenagers that, Alyssa knew, would turn on him
in a second if it benefitted them socially.

            “Bre-ent” Jennifer sidled up to where they were
standing.  “Twice in one week, are you following me?”  She put one slinky
manicured hand on his forearm.  Alyssa wasn’t jealous, but she did have an urge
to break each of those fingers.

            Brent took a discreet half-step backwards
slipping one arm around Alyssa until his hand settled possessively low on her
hip.  “Jenny.  Good game wasn’t it?”

            “It was a good game.  Pete really pulled us out
of the fire with that last play.”  Jenn paused clearly expecting some kind of
reaction—anything to feed her rumor habit.  She didn’t get one.  Brent stared
at her for a few long moments and then smiled slightly when she walked away.

            “How do you do that?”  Alyssa twisted around to
look at him.

            “What did I do?”

            “You always know exactly what to say or I guess
what not to say.  I would have been furious with her.  I would have mentioned
Pete’s fumble at the very least.”

            Brent sighed.  He seemed to be sighing at her a
lot lately.  “It isn’t what I’m doing Lyssa.  It is something I’m not doing. 
I’m not that guy.  I don’t need to take someone else down to feel better about
myself.  And it matters exactly zero to me what that sad pathetic girl thinks.”

            Alyssa’s jaw dropped open.  She was very sure
that she’d been insulted, and there was nothing she could do about it.

            “Oh that’s sweet, they are gonna kiss!”  A
girl’s voice sounded out from the sea of teenagers and half the heads in the
room focused on where Alyssa looked to be twisted in Brent’s embrace.

            She gave him a pleading look, and he rolled his
eyes at her. The eye rolling thing was getting pretty popular too. “Show’s over
guys—get your own girl.”  He called out with a good natured smile and led
Alyssa out a door into the back yard. 

            Someone Alyssa thought might be in her English
class was standing by a cooler and he handed her a beer.  Brent waved his off.

            “Since when do you drink beer?”  Brent muttered
as they walked on.

            “I drink.”  She was beginning to wish they’d
gone straight home after the game.

            “Sure wine at thanksgiving, champagne at new
years.  But you hate beer.”

            “I only have one when I come to these things. 
It is easier that way.”  They had come to a stop at the fence.  Even in the
dark she could see disappointment in his eyes.  He sighed deeply and then swept
her in front of him so her back was pressed to the fence post.  His face lowered
to an inch from hers and one hand slipped down her arm until he wrapped it around
her hand still holding the beer can.  Anyone in the yard would be able to see a
couple making out in the shadows.  He tipped their hands and the beer can sideways
spilling its contents into the grass.

            “There.”  He whispered as he straightened up.

            “Head’s up!”  A football came spiraling towards
them; Brent turned just in time to make the catch.  Some of the guys from the
team were playing a game of drunken catch.  Brent joined them while Alyssa
curled up in the grass, holding her empty can, with the other girlfriends.

            Beth sat down with her.  “So, Brent Carter huh? 
What’s up with that?” 

            “Oh you know—it umm just happened.”  Alyssa
hedged.

            “Okay.”  Beth nodded her head.  “I gotta say—I
never really got you and Pete.  Brent’s cool though.  I used to have kind of a
crush on him you know… in the eighth grade.   But hey, no worries.  Tommy asked
me to the homecoming dance.”

            Alyssa wasn’t super surprised.  Tommy and Beth were
kind of a no brainer.  At parties he was always bringing her drinks, and during
the games she cheered the loudest when he had the ball.  “That’s great Beth. 
You guys will have a lot of fun.”  Beth chattered on about Tommy for a few
minutes, but Alyssa was having trouble focusing on the conversation. 
Eventually Beth wandered off to find someone else to talk to.

At the end of the night Brent
walked her to her door.  “Thanks I appreciated this.”  She said.

Brent’s forehead wrinkled up, and
he shook his head.  “This is usually when the girl tells me
thanks I had fun
.”

“Fine.  I had fun.”  Alyssa flashed
her date-smile at him.

“No you didn’t Lyssa.  Is there a
cheer competition tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Should I be there?”

“You never come to my cheer meets.”

Brent rolled his eyes.  “Would Pete
have been there?”

“Nope.  You are off the hook.”

“Kay.  Let’s do something after
then.  Just the two of us?”

Alyssa nodded and walked through
the door.  That would be good, she thought.  Mixing Brent in with her school life
was throwing off her balance.  How could she have known it would be this way? 
People liked her!  Half the girls at the party tonight wanted to be her!  So
why when she let Brent see that girl did she feel as though she’d been found
lacking?  Where everyone else saw a happy popular pretty cheerleader he seemed
to see nothing.  She went to bed thinking that maybe she should have had that
beer.

Saturday afternoon Alyssa was in a
bit of a rush to get home.  All the other girls were going out for pizza to
celebrate their win.  Alyssa usually would have been happy to join them.  Beth
wanted to go shopping—she still needed a dress for the dance, and maybe they
could hang out at her house after.  None of that held any interest for her.

            As quickly as she could, Alyssa shed her cheer
uniform, scrubbed the glitter from her face, and pulled on more comfortable
clothes.  Just as she was tugging a green sweater over her head, her phone
buzzed.  It was Brent.

            “Hey, you wanna take a walk with me?  It’s warmer
today than it has been, could be the last good day.”

            “Okay, sure.  Meet you out front in ten?”

            “Kay.”

            “I thought you wanted to take a walk?”  Alyssa
was surprised to see Brent’s car pulled up to the curb in front of her house.

            “I wanted to go down to the pond.  Those trees
still have their leaves.”  Brent held up his camera bag as part of his
explanation.  The pond was almost big enough to qualify as a lake.  It was a
very popular gathering place in warm weather, but they would most likely have the
area to themselves in October.

            And they did.  Brent’s car was alone in the
parking lot when they started trekking around the edge of the pond to the strip
of trees growing at the far end.  They walked quietly, and it seemed that the
week’s stress hadn’t affected their relationship too badly.  Alyssa still felt
more comfortable with Brent than anywhere else in the world.  He began snapping
photos the closer they got to the trees.

            They were pretty enough.  Still half full of
colorful leaves and the pond was icy smooth providing a mirror effect.  Alyssa
lagged back watching her friend work.  She never would have thought twice about
the beauty in front of her if not for Brent.  She knew without a doubt there
would be another photo on her wall soon.  When they crossed into the tree line
Brent began aiming his camera up into the trees.  Above them the afternoon sun
was winking in and out from behind branches.  It was truly beautiful.  Alyssa
stood for awhile admiring a view she never would have noticed alone.

            “I can’t wait to see them.  You are a total
artist about this stuff.”

            “Thanks.”  Brent barely nodded slightly in her
direction as he continued on. 

Alyssa wasn’t insulted though.  He
was just like this when he got behind a camera.  Completely absorbed.  No, she
wasn’t insulted—maybe a little jealous though.  It must be nice to have
something that makes you happy that way.  Something that consumes all your
concentration—an escape from the every day.  Maybe she should get a hobby.  Not
that she had time for one.

As warm as it was, October hadn’t
completely surrendered and the air bit at Alyssa’s skin.  Looking around for
something to distract her from the weather, her eyes rested on something dirty
but glossy at the edge of the path.  Someone had abandoned a couple of water
bottles on the trail, and further down Alyssa picked up an empty trail mix
bag.  Alyssa followed along behind Brent picking up the stray bit of litter for
another 45 or so minutes.  By the time he was ready to head back Alyssa was
holding the hem of her sweater out creating a net to carry her findings.

Back in the parking lot Alyssa
emptied her arms into a trash can.  Behind her she heard she shutter of Brent’s
camera clicking.  “Thinking of branching off into garbage?”  She asked him when
she turned to find the camera trained on her.

“No.  Just practicing.”

Alyssa tilted her head, puzzled.

“I have a
living art
project
coming up in my photography class and I’m not too good at
people pictures
. 
I was thinking of cheating and using a series exploring the changing of the
seasons.”  He waved towards the trees.  “But that’s a cop out.  I know Mr.
Arnold will call me out on it.”

“So it has to be a picture of a
person?”

“Or an animal and it has to be a
series of photos.”  Brent packed his camera away and switched it for a football
in the trunk of his car.  Tossing the ball back and forth between them, they
headed back to the open field while the talked.  Brent wasn’t the athlete
Alyssa was, but he didn’t mind throwing the ball around.  “Actually I was
hoping you might do me a favor—would you be my subject?”

“Like pose for the camera?”  Alyssa
stuck her best cheerleader pose, and sparkled her cheeriest smile at him.

“Nah, that doesn’t seem very
organic.”  He quirked a smile at her.  “Just let me tote my camera around with
us for a couple of weeks.  “Should be pretty easy.  You always photograph
really well. 

“Because I’m so pretty?”

Brent shook his head; laughing, he
reached back and threw the ball deep.

Alyssa got too close the edge of
the water, and her feet flew out from under her, kicking up a shower of mud. 
She was scrambling out of the icy brown water when Brent reached her.

“I’m so sorry Lyssa—are you okay?” 
There was real concern on his face, but he couldn’t help snickering a little when
he saw her mud splattered face.

“Just peachy!  This water is
freezing!”  She wasn’t really as mad as she sounded.  “But I got the ball.” 
She held out the football (also sloppy with mud) as she crawled back to the
solid ground.

“Congratulations, you just won the
Carter/Maddow sports challenge.”  Brent quipped, helping her to her feet.

“You must mean Maddow/Carter.”  Her
words shook because her teeth were beginning to chatter.

“Come on champ.  Let’s get you
dried off.”  They both headed back to the car laughing.

Brent pulled clean sweatpants and a
tee shirt from the gym bag in his trunk.  And, like the gentleman he was, he
turned his back while Alyssa changed behind the car.  There wasn’t much they
could do about her wet hair, but Brent turned the heat on full blast the whole
drive home.

“I really am sorry Lyssa.  I hope
you don’t get sick.”  Brent was shouting so Alyssa would hear him through the
closed bathroom door and over the sound of water spraying.  Alyssa was taking a
hot shower and Brent had just finished putting her muddy clothes in the washer.

“Don’t worry about it.  That ‘getting
sick from cold weather’ bit is an old wives tale—mom’s a doctor remember?” 
Alyssa yelled back to him.

“Kay.  I’m gonna run home and grab
my laptop.  I’ll come back and we can watch the hockey game together.”