37. Vivi An Election
vivi: an election
I WAS LESS SULKY THAN I should have been. I had told Lake two days ago, when he asked me to be his girlfriend, that I just wanted to be friends. He said, “Friends who make out?”
He was funny; I liked him. And even though I was hoping to get back together with Tyler, I said, “Sure.”
I mean, I didn’t want to close that door just in case things didn’t work out with Tyler as I hoped they would… I am a girl who loves a backup plan. And Lake was a pretty darn good one.
Tyler and I had been texting a lot, so it wasn’t weird at all when I texted him,
How’s your turkey?
It was a little weird that it took him like twenty minutes to respond.
Sooooo good. I saved you some brussels.
I knew brussels were the cool food to slather things on and fry and serve as an appetizer and whatnot. But I thought they were disgusting, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I had saved you a piece of Gransley’s twelve-layer caramel cake, but I’ll just feed that to Biscuit.
Noooo. You’re so cruel!
“Biscuit!” I called. The old girl on her teeny legs came running into the kitchen.
She was a big-time kitchen lurker, which was smart because people around here were always dropping food.
She knew what she wanted, and she went after it.
Good for Biscuit. I picked off a little fingerful of cake and took a selfie like I was feeding her, which I was not.
I would not feed a dog cake. Instead, I gave her a little turkey and some ear scratches for her service.
Then I sent the selfie to Tyler, scooped Biscuit up under my arm, and said, “Let’s go for a little walk.”
Her tail wagged so furiously, she almost slipped out of my arms. I kissed her head. I really wanted a dog. When Mom was with Chase, I had thought there was a small chance. He had deprogrammed her so much.
The text came back from Tyler: You are mean and hot. The worst combination.
“I am so worming my way back in there!” I told Biscuit. “He thinks I’m hot!”
She gave a little bark of approval. Biscuit loved Tyler, which made her either a traitor or a good judge of character.
I wanted to leave it at that. But, well, he had kind of opened a window there. So, I let down my cool-girl guard and wrote,
Hey, do you want to hang out later?
Can’t.
That was it. A one-word reply. Seriously? That was all I got? One stinking single word?
I was crushed. Gransley intercepted Biscuit and me in the entrance hall.
“Hey! Want to go to the parade?”
I laughed. A few years ago, I would have rolled my eyes at that. Peachtree Bluff had a parade for everything—even on Thanksgiving afternoon. The sheer volume of parade permits issued must have required its own city employee. It was hilarious. And sort of adorable.
“What parade?” I asked. I nodded down at Biscuit. “I promised this girl a walk.”
Her little tail was going again.
“Oh, Biscuit loves a parade,” Gransley said, rubbing under her chin.
Jack ran down the stairs, on cue, and said, “I got her a little Marlins dog outfit to wear!”
Gransley and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. “Remember when you didn’t like little dogs?” I asked him.
“That was before this beauty stole my heart,” he said, baby-talking to the dog and kissing her. Jack had put one of those absurd little doggy staircases on the side of their bed so Biscuit would have an easier time getting in and out for her snuggles.
I handed Biscuit to Jack and texted Mom,
Going to a parade. Apparently.
No one had answered any of my questions, so I decided this must be, like, a really small-town version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Whatever. I was in. We’ll alllllll meet you there, Mom texted back.
Gransley and I walked outside as Dad was walking out of Jack’s house.
I guessed he’d gotten the parade memo too.
Poor Dad. He was a good sport, and I liked having him at all our family stuff, but he had to feel like an outsider sometimes.
I linked my arm in his. “Hey, Dad. Do you remember when you would take me to watch the Macy’s parade balloons get blown up behind the Museum of Natural History? ”
“Of course I do,” he said. “And now you’re all grown up.”
I’d been watching him and Mom closely this trip.
But nothing had seemed particularly out of the ordinary.
I wouldn’t say they had been, like, lovey or sneaking glances or winks or anything.
But they’d been friendly. I didn’t know what to think.
But I was pretty clear on the fact that I didn’t think they’d make it if they tried to get back together.
I liked what we had going on now. Everyone got along.
We all lived in the same building. Everyone was happy.
Except poor, sulky Mom. But I was trying to help that.
“Do you think we’ll ever do that again?” he asked. “I mean, if you’re off at UGA, you’ll be so far away.”
I scrunched my nose. “It’s going to be kind of weird, right?”
He nodded. “Oh, but don’t worry. I’ll come visit you all the time. I can even sleep over if you want.”
“Thanks, Dad. Just what every girl dreams of.”
I could hear music starting somewhere far away, probably the other end of the street, which was the official parade route.
Dad and I spotted the rest of the family and joined up.
“Vivi!” Carter said, holding her hands up to me.
I lifted her in the air just in time to make out the Peachtree High band coming down the street, right behind the fire truck.
Someone in front was holding a banner. As they got closer it read: PEACHTREE HIGH FOOTBALL, STATE CHAMPIONS, 2023.
I gasped as Carter screamed, “Yay! Go, Marlins!”
She knew what we were parading about. The streets were absolutely packed.
Peachtree Bluff had a year-round population of around three thousand, and I assure you, every single one of them plus their family here for Thanksgiving was on this street.
It made my heart swell. There was something so homey about it all.
Not that hundreds of thousands of people weren’t crowded in Manhattan this morning for the parade…
I don’t know. Something was different about it.
The cheerleaders followed the band and then… My heart stopped. Tyler was sitting on the roof of a Jeep Wrangler. With freaking Katelyn Jacobs. And their sign read TYLER AND KATELYN: STAR QUARTERBACK AND HOMECOMING KING, HOMECOMING QUEEN.
They were throwing candy from the Jeep, laughing and waving, and I felt everything inside me go hot with anger.
Nothing between them? They were homecoming queen and king!
There had to be something between them. When he spotted me, his happy, jovial face became panicked. I smirked and threw him a tiny wave.
Part of me was flattered because maybe this was why he hadn’t elaborated on his plans. He didn’t want me to be upset. But, also, maybe they were together now. I mean, if they were, he was sending a lot of flirty texts my way, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
I wanted to storm off to my room, maybe cry a little.
But nope. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
I would not. I watched the rest of the football team and then a John Deere tractor advertising some business and some cute ladies dancing with lampshades on their heads and pirates in a pack.
There were more convertibles with kids sitting on the back, and horses—that was pretty cool, actually—and some skeletons riding tricycles that I assumed were remote controlled by someone I couldn’t see.
It went on and on and it was like my heart was beating Ty-ler and Kate-lyn, Ty-ler and Kate-lyn.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Tyler.
I didn’t tell you about the parade because I didn’t want you to read something into that. We were elected separately. We aren’t together.
I had to laugh at the elected separately. What an election it was! The prettiest girl and most handsome boy get elected king and queen! Wow. With one hand, I texted back,
You don’t owe me any explanations.
You’re free to do as you please.
I liked that. Cold. To the point.
Vivi… Come on…
I put my phone back in my pocket. He was free to be with Katelyn, and I was free to be mad.
So, there you had it. But then, I looked up at all the people on the street, laughing and cheering, at the water and the sailboats beyond, the clear blue sky of a dreamy fall day.
And I decided to let it go. Being mad at Tyler didn’t help me.
It didn’t help him. It only made me have a bad day. So I kissed Carter’s squishy cheek.
Maybe Tyler was telling the truth. Maybe he was lying. Either way, I wasn’t going to let him ruin my fun.