12. Vivi Fireworks
vivi: fireworks
PEACHTREE WAS USUALLY MY HAPPY place. So far, this visit had held nothing but heartache for me. But I was determined to make the best of the day. To that end, I was almost ready, in my bathing suit and cover-up, swiping on some lip gloss, when I heard a tap at my door. “Come in!”
The door opened, and I said, “Dad! You’re here!”
“Hi, sweetie.” He hugged me. It was a good hug. I needed a dad hug right about now. “Just landed. How you holding up?”
I shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” I sulked a little extra. Sometimes a girl needs some major sympathy.
He squeezed my shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” I paused. “But, I mean, Katelyn? Come on. Katelyn? If it had been anyone else…”
Dad nodded slowly.
“What are you thinking?”
“Nothing. I am thinking absolutely nothing.”
I crossed my arms. “Dad…”
He shrugged. “Look, honey, I don’t think anyone in the world is good enough for my little girl.
So, I’m just fine without Tyler. Then you’re all mine.
” He grinned and I rolled my eyes, but I had to smile a little.
“But if this is less about the kiss and more about some insecurity about Katelyn, maybe you should talk it out with Tyler. That’s all I’m saying.
” He put his hands up in defense before I could get mad at him.
“Is that all?” I asked.
He nodded. “That is all the sage wisdom I have today. You do with it what you will.”
I had to laugh. He pulled me into a hug again and kissed my head. “I just don’t like to see my girl upset.” Then, strangely, he added, in a whisper, “Neither of my girls.”
That was odd. But I didn’t have time to delve into whatever fantasy Dad was holding on to about Mom today. Mom was beautiful and brilliant, but she was brutal. She wasn’t much of the forgive and forget kind of person. Dad should know that better than anyone.
I pulled away, and Dad gestured for me to go first down the steps. I heard all the kids laughing in the kitchen, but I just couldn’t bring myself to go in there and pretend to be happy.
So I decided I would head out on the paddleboard, savor a little Peachtree Bluff magic, clear my head, and maybe be able to think about anything except how much I hated Tyler.
Mom, Gransley, Aunt Sloane, and Aunt Emerson were all on the porch, laughing, when I walked outside in my bathing suit. Biscuit was sitting on Gransley’s lap, and even though he was getting pretty old, he stood up and shook all over in excitement when he saw me. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Gransley, can I take him paddleboarding with me?”
She handed him over wordlessly, and I snuggled into his soft fur as he licked my face excitedly. “I know!” I said. “We’re going to go on an adventure!”
They were all staring at me, and I sighed. “What?”
“Well, it’s just that we haven’t really hashed out the Tyler stuff,” Gransley said.
“I don’t know if you know,” Sloane said, “but that’s kind of our thing. We talk stuff out. A lot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m sure you have all decided plenty about my Tyler situation, so maybe you should just tell me what you think.”
I sat down beside Mom.
“It’s just that, being in a long-distance relationship—especially when you’re in high school—has to be hard,” Mom said.
“It’s hard for you, right? Like when you went to homecoming with Max because Tyler couldn’t come?
I’m sure you didn’t kiss him, but Tyler probably wouldn’t have been thrilled that you were dancing and laughing with another boy all night. ”
Well, she did have a point. I hadn’t kissed Max, but there was a lot of flirting happening. Even still, I was indignant. “Mom! Whose side are you on?”
“We’re all on your side,” Emerson said. “We are. It’s just that he’s so forlorn…”
“I’m forlorn!” I protested. “I’m the one who was cheated on!”
I crossed my arms.
“No, totally,” Sloane said. “I agree with you. He shouldn’t have kissed that girl, no matter the circumstances, end of story.”
“But it was a game,” Emerson chimed in. “There is no way that in the past two years Vivi hasn’t been in a situation where she was uncomfortable, and she knew was kind of wrong because she had a boyfriend. No way.”
I glared at her. “This isn’t about me. This is about him. Do you know how humiliating it was to find all this out at a football game, of all places?”
“Ah,” Gransley said. “So, are you mad at Tyler about the kiss or are you embarrassed about how you found out? Because that’s an important distinction.”
I could still see the smug looks on those girls’ faces as they told me. They were supposed to be my friends. How could they revel in my heartache like that? “Both!” I spat. “I’m upset about both!”
“Look,” Mom said. “Two years is a long time for a high school romance, especially a long-distance one. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. Maybe this is the right time to take a breather. Maybe the kiss was a blessing in disguise.”
“Are you serious?” I asked. “I love him. I didn’t want to break up with him. I don’t want this to run its course. But I also don’t know if I can get over it.”
Sloane nodded in agreement. “Maybe you just need some time. Maybe the answer will become clearer once you go home, think it over. Then maybe you’ll know.”
I felt worse now, if that was possible. I stood up, Biscuit still in my arms, and said, “Well, now I’m more confused than ever. Biscuit and I are going to go out on the water.”
“Jack and Adam are hosting a Labor Day cookout at Peachtree Provisions tonight. There’s a little band on the patio, so that should be fun,” Gransley said.
“And we’ll be at the sandbar party all day tomorrow,” Sloane said, her voice upbeat. I did love a sandbar party.
“And then fireworks tomorrow night!” Emerson said gleefully.
I tried to smile, but it didn’t quite take. What I heard was, cookout without Tyler. Sandbar party without Tyler. Fireworks without Tyler. It was all so depressing.
“Have fun paddleboarding, honey,” Mom said.
I gave her a thumbs-up. But how could I have fun?
Nothing was fun right now because my heart was broken in a million pieces.
Although… as I got out on the water, the breeze carrying me along, Biscuit panting on the front of my board, I had to admit that I did feel better.
I took a deep breath as my paddle sliced through the water and made a split-second decision to stop at Starlite Island.
I could sit in the sun for a little while; Biscuit could play. It would be perfect.
What I hadn’t counted on was, when I nosed my board up on the sandy beach, Biscuit taking off like a shot into the woods.
“Seriously?” I said under my breath as I chased after him.
“The old, arthritic dog becomes a puppy again on the beach.” I was trying to stick to the path through the woods, and even that was painful on my bare feet.
But it wasn’t like the dog would do that.
He was somewhere way deep in there, and I was panicking.
What if I lost Gransley’s dog? “Biscuit!” I called. “Biscuit!”
I turned the sharp corner of the path and ran straight into someone.
I didn’t even have to look up to know exactly who was holding my grandmother’s dog.
And it thrust me back in time to the day I had met Tyler, right before Hurricane Pearl changed everything.
He was trying to rescue a kitten, and my heart surged about ten times just remembering.
How could that sweet, sweet kitten-rescuing boy do this to me?
“Hi,” I said.
“Oh, so you can still talk,” he said. “I presumed since you haven’t responded to any of my calls or texts you had lost your ability.”
Hold up. Was he being snarky with me? “Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t feel much like talking to a cheater.”
I reached my hands out for Biscuit, but he didn’t hand him over. Instead, he walked up in front of me. “Get on my back,” he said.
“Um, what?”
“Get on my back. You’re going to tear your feet up out here.”
I was mad at him, but that was kind of true.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped as he held Biscuit with one arm and my leg with the other.
I didn’t want to be so close to him. I didn’t want to smell his intoxicating Tyler smell.
I didn’t want to have to fight the urge to lean down and kiss his neck.
We are mad at Tyler, I reminded myself. But then, maybe this was a sign, a reminder that I didn’t really want to break up with him, that maybe I was being stubborn and stupid.
“I will give Biscuit back after we talk about this,” he said, dropping me on the sand—less gently than he used to, I might add.
I crossed my arms, still trying to maintain my indignance through my heart racing. Biscuit looked so small in his hands I almost laughed. “There’s nothing to talk about. You cheated on me, and I won’t stand for that.”
“I did not cheat on you,” he said, his impatience growing. “She kissed me. I didn’t kiss her back.”
“Yeah, but see, what does that even mean, really? Her lips touched yours but yours didn’t touch hers back? Because that’s not really a kiss?”
“You know what that means, Vivi.” He shrugged. “And honestly, I don’t think you’re even mad about the kiss. I think all this is because you’re jealous of Katelyn.”
“Jealous? Jealous?” I mean, okay, yeah. If I really thought about it, deep down I was probably kind of jealous of Katelyn. She was gorgeous and blond and had big boobs and all the guys chased after her.
“If this had happened with Dana, you wouldn’t have even been mad.”
Nope. Not even a little. Because I was one hundred percent positive that Tyler wasn’t interested in Dana. “But it didn’t happen with Dana. It happened with Katelyn.”
“If you don’t trust me more than that after nearly two years then I don’t even know what we’re doing here.”
So, this wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting groveling and maybe a few tears, begging for forgiveness, and promises of eternal love. I wasn’t getting any of that. And it fired me up. “We aren’t doing anything,” I said. “Because,” I added, raising my voice, “we’re broken up.”
“Fine,” he said. “Fine. Have it your way.” He handed Biscuit back to me.
“But if you’re actually breaking up with me over this then I have to think you wanted to break up with me anyway and this was just your excuse.
And, honestly, Vivi, that hurts. That really hurts.
I love you, and I would never put you through this.
You obviously don’t feel the same about me. ”
Then he turned and walked away before I could say anything.
“What just happened?” I asked Biscuit.
He did this adorable head tilt thing, his signature move that makes it seem like he’s really listening.
How did Tyler manage to turn this around on me?
I felt tears on my cheeks as I realized that everything he had said was right.
Me being jealous of Katelyn, knowing deep down he wouldn’t hurt me, that he didn’t want to kiss her.
All of it. I knew I should chase after him.
Apologize. But as he got smaller and smaller as he made his way back to his boat, I felt stuck.
Maybe it was that my pride got in the way.
That I wanted him to be the one chasing me.
As I set Biscuit back on the paddleboard and headed toward home, I thought that maybe Tyler was right. Maybe there had been a tiny part of me that wanted to break up. But now all of me realized that part was wrong. And all I wanted was to be Tyler’s girlfriend again.