Chapter Eleven #2
From a different text chain, my phone was vibrating basically nonstop.
I smiled at the outside!!!! text Vivian had sent.
Everyone had been texting for weeks on and off about coming, but I wasn’t sure it would actually be able to happen.
I was glad it did, even if I was sure my family was absolutely going to credit being at the game for the reason I played so well.
After changing into something more appropriate for a dinner out, I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed out to go find them.
I heard my family as soon as I opened the door to leave the arena. The cold air bit at my skin, the sun completely gone from the sky now. I knew they loved me to be willing to hang out in this and wait for me.
“Here she comes! Our star player!” Vivian called out as Bev did a pathetic but earnest attempt at our school’s fight song. Vivian roped Eli and Shantae into it, twirling them around. Ada, in true eldest daughter fashion, hung back and laughed along at how ridiculous they were being.
I walked over, and my family wrapped me in one hug after another. My nervous system immediately felt so much calmer in response. As much as I could handle my shit on my own, there was nothing like having them around.
“That was a solid game, GJ. Looked like you had a lot of fun,” Dad said.
He’d never been much of an athlete—he played ball here and there, but mostly because that was what people thought tall kids should do with their time.
From what he’d told me, he’d never been particularly coordinated or very good at actually playing, at least not to the level that he would’ve needed to play past JV.
Mom wrapped me in a warm hug, immediately making me feel like a kid again in the best way. “You did good, baby,”
“Thanks,” I said, even though what I really wanted to say was still wasn’t good enough.
Despite the game ending on a high note and joking with Theo, the presser had put me in a weird headspace that reminded me of how fragile it all was.
Things were fine right now, but I didn’t know how they’d be next game.
But my parents didn’t like it when I was too hard on myself, so I always tried to keep the negative talk to myself when I was around them. I knew they were just proud of me in general; the specifics didn’t have to matter.
Across the way, I saw a familiar figure that I knew could only be one person. I didn’t know at what point I’d memorized the curves of her body, the way she walked, well enough to spot her from a distance, but I wasn’t complaining.
“Leah!” I called out without thinking. The cheerleader she was walking with waved and headed off as Leah walked over toward me.
“Who is that?” Vivan whispered to my sisters from behind me and I brushed the question off.
I met Leah halfway—ideally a decent enough distance from my family that they couldn’t overhear me.
I didn’t necessarily mean to blow my family off, but I’d seen Mags and Gemma leave so I knew this was my chance to talk to Leah, even if just for a second.
I had the rest of the night to be with my family.
“Hey,” she said with a smile as she approached. I could see her breath in the cold, and the bright exterior stadium lights caught her makeup just right, making her practically glow.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I could feel it through my entire body just standing next to her. “Hey.”
Leah and I stood there smiling at each other for so long that it started to get weird. I realized a beat too late that she probably thought that I had something to say to her since I was the one who had called her over.
“Not a bad game, right?” I teased. I could tell there was a part of me—probably a big part of me, if I was being honest—that wanted to hear a compliment from her.
“It was really good, you looked confident out there,” Leah said. She looked behind me. “Is that your family staring at us and whispering?”
I laughed, embarrassed. “That would be them.”
“Cute,” she said, her face softening. There was an undertone of sadness to it that made my heart ache. She looked past me at my family. “Your niece and nephew are so cute.”
“Do you want to meet them?” I asked without thinking.
I hadn’t introduced a girl to my family since I was in high school and even then, I was so weird about labels that she was just the girl I was going to prom with or a friend. I didn’t know what the fuck had come over me, but it was too late to turn back down.
Leah looked equally as surprised, but when I didn’t take it back, she nodded. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
As we walked over together, I saw my sisters exchange a look.
“Thank god, I was worried you weren’t going to bring her over here,” Vivian said to me, always the first to speak and the biggest personality of the family. She turned to Leah. “It’s like she’s embarrassed of us or something.”
“With good reason,” I offered and Vivian held her hand up to tell me to shut it.
“I’m Leah.”
“You are so cute. Well, I’m Vivian, this is Bev and the one who looks like she never smiles is Ada,” Vivian explained, pointing to each sister as she spoke. “And then, of course, you already know Georgia Jane.”
“Vivian,” I said, fighting off a groan. She was going to be getting an earful from me.
“Georgia Jane.” Leah turned to me with a smile. “Beautiful names.”
“Very southern,” Vivian widened her eyes to add emphasis. “Our cutie pie parents can’t resist a theme.”
I would’ve been more annoyed at this being Leah’s initial introduction if this wasn’t so quintessentially Vivian. She’d behaved the exact same way when she met Theo even after she’d confirmed Theo was still not my type. “Cutie pie is one way of describing them.”
“They are extremely successful professors and academics, by the way,” Ada called over. “Just to put Vivian’s words into context.”
Vivian nodded. “Daddy is an engineer, too, in addition to teaching,” she bragged proudly.
I glanced over at Leah to gauge how she was feeling.
I hadn’t been prepared for her to meet my family—hadn’t even been prepared for me to see them today—so I hadn’t had the chance to prep her for any of it.
It felt especially shitty right now, considering she was in the middle of a cold war with her entire family.
But instead of looking uneasy, she was all smiles.
“And then who are these two?” Leah asked, lowering to meet my niece and nephew at eye level.
“Eli and Shantae, my babies,” Vivian said. “I was going to leave them back home with my husband, but the kids have a way of going everywhere I go.”
Bev laughed. “You say that like it's his fault. Vivian can’t go anywhere without them.”
Shantae looked at Leah through her round glasses. Her hair was done up in two puffs, and she was dressed like a little librarian—more Shantae’s taste than Vivian’s. She hovered close to her mom’s side, always the shier of the two kids. “Are you a cheerleader?” she asked quietly, looking at Leah.
Leah fully squatted. “I am. I was a dancer first, though. Do you dance?”
“I have ballet every Wednesday.”
“Oh, ballet is so fun. I did ballet and contemporary dance growing up. I did a little bit of jazz, too,” Leah said. “I can go teach you some cheerleading moves if you want, so your mom and aunt can catch up?” She glanced up at Vivian and me to ask for confirmation that it was okay.
“Please, I’ll never say no to someone watching the kids.
Even an obsessed mom needs a breather sometimes,” Vivian said and gently guided Shantae away from her side so she’d go with Leah.
She gestured for Eli to go with her, too.
It never took him much convincing to do anything, though, so he followed easily behind.
Leah headed off with the kids nearby, talking to them. It was impossible to keep my eyes off of her. I wanted to watch her every move, see how my niece and nephew responded to her. I didn’t want to miss a single second of it.
“She’s very pretty,” Vivian said, pulling her attention away. Her face was lit up, practically glowing from the inside—this was the kind of thing she lived for.
I waved her off. “You’re always in my business.”
“Oh, so you like her,” she teased.
I groaned and threw my hands up. “Can you not?”
“I’m just calling it like I see it.”
I looked back over at Leah, where she was showing the kids her pom poms and how to hold them. It made me think about what she might’ve been like as a kid in dance, so young and so excited. It made me sad that it didn’t seem like her parents understood it.
“Can we get moving to dinner, please? I’m freezing, and I need to get off my feet,” Bev said, hand to her stomach.
The last time I saw her, she hadn’t had a baby bump at all, but now even her heavy winter coat was having a hard time concealing it.
“Ada? Need you to wrangle everyone. Use your bossiness.”
Ada threw her hands up. “I’m not bossy,” she said, immediately annoyed.
She had been deep in a conversation with my partners, probably talking about something grown-up I didn’t want to have to think about yet.
She and her boyfriend were always talking about plans for buying property and making investments and planning for retirement.
Even though she was only six years older than me, she felt like she was light-years ahead.
“Okay, well, then be useful and get everyone moving.” Bev smiled sweetly.
Ada looked at me. “Tell GJ the only person missing is her girlfriend.”
“Oh, okay, hold on now,” I said, hands up. “Roll that one back.”
“You’re going to tell me I’m wrong?”
“We are, by definition, not dating,” I said and looked back over at Leah.
Seeing the way that she was acting with my niece and nephew didn’t particularly help my case.
Even as I was insisting she wasn’t my girlfriend, she was taking the time to teach them basic cheerleading moves.
There was a smile on her face, and even Shantae seemed to be having a good time, her shy smile having turned into one that almost looked like enjoyment.
Vivian looked at me and then between my sisters. I knew the unspoken sisterly language between us well enough to know they didn’t believe me. “Okay.”
I waved them off. “Man, whatever.”
Bev and Vivian cackled in response. When they were done laughing—wiping tears from their eyes and everything, because they weren’t already annoying enough—Vivian called her kids back over.
“Let’s go, we’re hungry and cold. I don’t know how your aunt survives out here.
I’ve never missed Alabama so much in my life. ”
“Dramatic as hell.”
Vivian rolled her eyes and held up her hand in my direction. “Bye.”
Her kids hurried back over, Leah following closely behind.
“How were they as students?” Vivian asked proudly as Shantae wrapped her arms around her mom.
“The best. Stellar,” Leah said with a smile. Despite her heavy winter coat, her cheeks and the tip of her nose were bright pink from the cold. She looked ridiculously cute, the kind of cute that would’ve made me want to introduce her to my family if she wasn’t already standing next to them.
Vivian beamed with pride as if Leah was ever going to be dumb enough to do anything but praise the kids. “Exactly what I’d expect of them,” she responded and turned her attention to Shantae and Eli. “Okay, gloves still on, no coats or scarves missing—you look good. I think we’re ready to head out.”
“We’re good?” Ada called out, using her typical project manager voice.
“She always speaks to us like she’s wrangling a classroom of twenty rather than a group of adults,” Bev joked lightheartedly, knocking her shoulder into Leah’s.
Leah cracked an amused smile. When Leah realized I was looking at her, she turned her attention my way and her smile softened even more.
It was a smile just for me—the best kind there was.
“Are you coming with us?” Ada asked, looking at Leah. Leah’s eyes broke away from mine, and it felt like getting pulled out of a trance.
“That’s her way of inviting you,” Bev explained.
Leah’s face softened again. “Oh, no. I have some homework to catch up on and some things to get done, unfortunately. But it was amazing to meet you all.”
“It was wonderful to meet you. I’m sure we’ll see you around soon,” Vivian said, and I didn’t bother to argue with the interpretation. There was no use in trying to get through to my sisters—they were too stubborn to let something like that go.
They started heading out to their rental cars in the parking lot. Before following behind, I turned to Leah. “Do you need me to walk you back? Did you take your car here?”
She took a step closer to me. “I won’t take away from your time with your family. I can find my way home.” She watched as they walked out to their cars, talking and laughing. “They’re really nice.”
“Yeah, I’m very lucky.”
Leah and I stood there for another beat, neither of us moving or speaking.
I looked at her and debated whether I could kiss her—if I should kiss her.
It felt natural at this point in knowing each other, but I also knew how much I wanted her, and that made all the difference.
I didn’t know what she wanted yet, and it wouldn’t benefit either of us if I tried to push it.
“Have a good night, Leah,” I said.
“You too,” she responded, and we both slowly began walking in our respective directions, our paces slower than usual as if one of us just might change our minds and insist on going with the other one.
I was tempted. But I wasn’t going to blow off my family just because I had a crush on a girl, even if that girl was Leah.
But even so, I didn’t take my eyes off of her until she was too deep into the parking lot for me to see her.