"Did you know only six percent of high school senior-players go on to play football in college? That's one in sixteen. And then only 1.7 percent of those are drafted to the NFL. So basically, only 8 in 10 000 of those who played in high school end up being NFL players."
Ethan lifts his gaze from his books, running a hand through his hair as he glances at Avery from the other end of their FaceTime call â her phone propped up against the stack of books on her kitchen table.
"And that relates to your analysis on Candide how?"
"I'm taking a break," Avery shifts in her seat on the chair, pulling her knees to her chest and rests her chin upon them as she reads from the tab open on her laptop again. "No wait. These numbers are six years old, let me findâ"
"Waters."
She shoots him a sideways glance, lips instantly mirroring the smile on his. "What?"
"Why the statistics?"
"I was curious," She shrugs as she takes her eyes off the laptop entirely. Leaning back on her chair, she drapes her arms over her knees. "You're like crazy good."
Even through the screen she notices the slight tint to his cheeks, only causing her lips to twitch up further.
He shakes his head with a small smile. "That's only halfway through though. Got to make it to those 1.7 too."
"You will. I'm serious. I wish you could see yourself on the field because it'sâ"
"Waters."
Her smiles softens as he repeats her name, biting her teeth into her lip as she reaches for her phone. A stray curl has fallen out of the disheveled mess of his hair â a result of constantly having raked his fingers through it while they've been sat on this call. Her fingers itch to reach out and sprawl through it, to push it back. Itch to twirl that curl, letting her fingertips drop to gently sweep over his cheek.
Only she can't. Because he's not here, he's on the screen.
It's the fourth day in a row their contact has been reduced to that of a FaceTime call and she's getting tired of it. Tired of having to make due with a screen. Tired of not having him in front of her.
She misses him. A lot. Life â school, practice (him), a father's unexpected return (her) â has kept them busy these past days. These past weeks really, but the past four days definitely take the cake. At least they have this long weekend to look forward to. Both Ace East and Acebridge West are playing in the North Carolina Football State Championships on the Thursday. Different games, same bracket and most importantly; the same location.
The festiveness doesn't stop with the Championships though, considering the following Saturday is the night of the annual Ace East-Acebridge West winter formal. The joint dance is another contradictory tradition the town persists in upholding, yet again finding reason to put the Montagues and the Capulets in the same room â expecting them to get along.
After that his schedule will calm down, and as soon as they push through finals so will hers and then they'll be back to normal. She holds back a sigh at the thought of everything yet before them, smile reaching her eyes as she lets out a silent chortled breath at his interruption instead.
"Would you just let me gush over you for once?"
"I mean I would," He runs his fingers through his hair again. "But if you don't get going you'll be late to your dad's."
At his words she flickers a glance over her shoulder at the stove's digital clock, gaze turning out the window to realize the outside bathes in darkness. They've been on this call three hours already. And all she's gotten done in those three hours is highlighting one paragraph of the book she's supposed to analyze, other than stare at Ethan through the screen while he's been studying of course. Great. So much for staying on separate ends as not to distract one another.
"Hold on," She says, folding her laptop and notes close. She stacks them upon one another as she gets to her feet. "I'm bringing you with me. Gives me plenty of time to shower you in praise the whole drive over."
A cross of a soft laugh and a chortled breath leaves his lips. There's a shuffle of sound as he pushes his books away, rubbing his left eye with the heel of his palm. "Sounds good."
Five minutes later, after running a brush through her hair and having called out a goodbye to her mother, Avery's out the door and sat in the driver's seat of the Mini Cooper. The wheel's cold beneath her fingertips, the cranked up heat slowly filling the vehicle as she whirls through the streets. Her phone's propped up on the dashboard, Ethan in the corner of her eye as they continue on with their conversation.
Pausing at a red light, she lets a few beats of silence pass between them before raising the question that's been lingering on her mind ever since he first called this afternoon.
"How'd practice go?"
"Good."
Her eyes narrow ever so slightly at his airy tone, foot pressed to the gas-pedal a little too forcefully. "As in you're just saying that because I'm behind the wheel or as in actually good?"
"Actually good," There's a faint rustling sound on Ethan's end as he lies back on his bed. "Everyone's stepping up their game with the State's coming up."
Pursing her lips in thought, Avery wonders if she should delve deeper into the everyone of it all.
She admires Ethan's patience. She truly does. She â on the other hand â is this close to clock Trevor Pearson and his strangely targeted anti-Ethan agenda square in the jaw, and she doesn't necessarily consider herself a violent person. Hands tightening ever so slightly around the wheel she decides to shrug it off. Ethan's in a good mood, it's better to keep certain names out of their conversation â they linger unspoken in their words either way.
"So, you're feeling ready then?"
"Are you asking as my girlfriend or as my supposed mortal enemy?"
"Both."
Even though her eyes are focused on the red ahead â the yellow hue of the street lights casting stripes across the dark pavement â she notices his lips twist into a faint amused smile. "Definitely ready,"
A small sigh escapes her as she turns into the neighborhood her father's staying in. It's one of the newly built residential areas on the corner of town, the two story houses lining the streets near identical. Most of them privately owned vacation homes painted in soft tones promising of a coastal summer. Avery's never been a fan â to her they all look the same, adding to the touristy feel of Acebridge. They didn't fit in when they first popped up, and they don't fit in now.
Picking up on her sudden change of demeanor, Ethan's brows knit together ever so slightly. "What's up?"
Her lips roll in and out of a smile, voicing the first thought coming to mind. "I'm just thinking about our idiotic decision to spend a few days apart."
Not that it had been much of a choice â with how busy they've both been it had been more forced upon them than anything. Then again, considering how long they've been on this call they probably could've just spent the afternoon in the same room.
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"Do you want to say to hell with it and sleep at mine tonight?"
A flash of reluctant hesitance crosses Ethan's eyes. "I... have practice in the morning."
She sinks back against her seat. "Right."
"I could skip out on tomorrow night though."
"No." She's not about to pull him away from his team â and their unofficial team-meeting â this week of all weeks. This week it's more important than ever Ethan's team knows they're all on the same page. He seems to recognize the finality in her one-worded response and he breathes his next suggestion out through a sigh.
"Wednesday?"
She bites down on her lip, knowing that just as she can't pull him away from his teammates she can't let herself be pulled away from her friends.
"I have girls' night with Callie and Lea â before we're driving up Thursday morning, you know."
A beat of silence passes between them at the realization they won't meet until Thursday â which had been the original plan. Still, knowing she has to endure three more days of not having him right beneath her fingertips seems a cruel punishment for keeping her head in the game.
"At least once Thursday's over we won't have to spend any more time apart like this in a while," As she speaks the words her wry smile slips into a frown. "Or for a week at least, because then I'll be gone for all of winter break."
"That's a good thing though. Right?"
She sucks her cheeks in at his tone â she doesn't miss the flicker of wariness laced in the try for enthusiasm. Knowing it comes from a place of concern, of caring about her, she shrugs it off. He's not the only one; Luke's been wearing an expression matching that same tone these past two weeks. But those two weeks are over and they've been great.
Robert's work right outside of town has gotten dragged out, meaning he's still in town and even though they're supposed to be done in just a few days, he's staying another week. Until Avery's school semester is over and done with so that she can come with him to spend Christmas with his family â their family, she reminds herself. Christmas with her father, New Years at her grandparents with her mother. Though slowly, her relationship with her father is beginning to mold into what she's always wished it to be.
Granted, there are still slight bumps in the road. But just as she's learnt how to swiftly avoid them during their phone calls over the years she's beginning to navigate how to do so while in the same room too. And so, to answer Ethan's question, she nods.
"It is. Did I tell you I spoke to Amelia on the phone the other day?"
"No," There's another rustle of sheets as Ethan straightens up in a seat. "How was that?"
"Someone has to teach her speaking on the phone doesn't have to equal yelling," She breathes through a soft laugh. "But it was nice. She knew who I was and all that so I mean... that's a relief. She had a lot to say,"
A quality her younger sister obviously shares with their father.
Turning into the driveway, she parks behind Robert's Mercedes and kills the engine. Unbuckling her seatbelt she leans back in the seat, noticing a shadow in the window of the house before her.
"Anyways... I should probably head inside now."
"Call me later?"
Leaning forward to grab her phone she glances at their total call-time, corners of her lips twitching as she pushes the door open. An icy spike of chill December air instantly makes it way through the fabric of her knitted sweater, a trail of goose bumps erupting over her skin.
"We've been on this for four hours already. Are you sure you can endure even more of me today?"
"Call me later."
â¡â¡â¡
Robert clicks his tongue as Avery leaves her bag on the hanger right inside the door.
"We said seven, right?"
She shoots a glance at the screen of her phone. 7.12. While she could have easily lovingly rolled her eyes at such a comment made by her mother, she's learnt these past two weeks such playful antics aren't as appreciated by her father. So, she settles with a tightlipped smile instead.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," She says to her father's retreating back as he's already briskly making his way through the house. She follows him through the living room, which the front door opens up into, to the adjoint kitchen. Leaning against the frame of the door she lets her fingers tap against the white paneled wood. "I've been studying ever since I got home â lost track of time."
He nods once, bringing out a vegetable lasagna from the oven. It's the fifth time they're having it while she's been over at dinner and she's beginning to think it's one of the only three recipes he knows. Or maybe he considers it his special. As long as he wants to spend time with her she's not complaining. He places it in the center of the circular table stood by the wall separating this room from the living room and cocks his head towards the fridge.
"Grab yourself something to drink."
They're five minutes into dinner as Robert clears his throat, taking a sip of his coke.
"How's that analysis on Candide coming along?"
It's not coming along at all, but Avery's not about to tell him that. She enjoys the way her father lights up whenever they discuss school. She likes how he seems to think of her as bright and hardworking. She's not about to tear his idealized version of her to shreds by showing her true colors â being an above average student with a polite smile her teachers tend to take a liking to isn't bad, but it's far from being a genius.
"Pretty good," She lies. "I just want to make sure it's perfect."
"Did I tell you I took a few courses in literature back in my university years?"
Yes. A few times these past weeks.
Avery lets her lips slip into a smile. "I think you may have mentioned it."
"Next semester we better make use of that â you can call and we'll discuss together."
Her smile crosses into more or a genuine one at his words, a few she hasn't actually heard before.
"Yeah okay, I'd like that," She pauses as she thinks back to the trouble she has with forming her thesis for the analysis on Candide, figuring if her father's sincere in his proposition to discuss literature she may as well pick his brain about it. "You said you've read Voltaire, right? See, I wasâ"
"You know who else you could talk to if you're really interested in digging deeper?" Her father continues, not seeming to have noticed he cut her off mid-sentence. "My old friend Des has always had an extra penchant for this stuff. Very intelligent. I'm sure he could offer some interesting views."
"Oh, okay that's... great. Well, I'm a bit uncertain about my thesâ"
She's interrupted once more by the far too loud ringtone of her fathers phone. Pressing her lips together as not to wince at the sound bouncing off the walls, she watches as his eyes cast to the screen. His face brightens up with a wide smile â the name 'Eva' staring back at him.
"It's just the kids calling to say good night," He's already put the phone to his ear as he gets to his feet. "I'll be a few."
Avery nods to no one in particular, considering Robert's already slipped out of the room. Picking her fork up from where it rests against the edge of the plate she jabs it into the lawyers of pasta and cheese on her plate. "Sure."
â¡â¡â¡
She's in the process of spearing a leaf of spinach onto her fork as her father returns to the table. He's practically beaming and she knows she's in for a re-cap of her siblings' day.
She likes this part of things â it makes her feel like she knows them better. Folding her hands together in her lap, she listens to her father speak of them. Amelia scored a total on her spelling quiz last week, Leo has lost yet another tooth and Zander continues to add toys to his never-ending wishlist for his upcoming birthday. His fifth birthday. Avery's never met him â there's a strangeness to knowing that and she still, just as she told Ethan this summer, wonders if Robert realizes as much.
She hopes this Christmas will lead to her actually knowing them. To have them be her siblings â not just the kids living with her father a few states over.
Eventually, they trail off the subject of the three children and the life yet so so unfamiliar to Avery. They sit in silence for a few beats as she continues to spear pieces of food onto her fork, the quiet disrupted by her father cracking another can of coke open before pouring it into his glass.
"You know," He begins. "Publishing is a very difficult business to break into."
She's not sure how he can sound so certain of his words when his world of work couldn't be further from publishing, but he's not wrong. The words also aren't new. They've been through this conversation a few times already these past weeks, but maybe he's forgotten.
Folding her arms over the tabletop, she nods. "Yeah it can be."
"A lot of competition. A lot of knowing the business. A lot of being open to start in any field and work your way to where you want to be," That's how making a career usually works, Avery thinks to herself but she keeps quiet. Robert pauses with his fork and knife against the plate as he glances up at her. "A lot of knowing the right people. And that's if you even get a foot in the door in the first place."
"Well, actuallyâ" Avery cuts herself off as she notices the hint of irritation in her tone of voice, clearing her throat as she attempts to relax her shoulders and tells herself to choose her battles. It doesn't matter Robert's evidently forgotten about her summer internship yet again. She's sure his dismissiveness isn't intentional. Her heart beats a little heavier as she continues, her lips rolling in and out of a smile. "I did intern at a publishing house this summer. T.H Publishing. Granted, they're small â and mostly in-state, but I think the experience will be great to bring with me for the next steâ"
"Oh would you look at that!" Her father exclaims, eyes back to the screen of his phone. Avery's tongue presses to the roof of her mouth, shoulders tensing from having been interrupted yet again. Robert slides the device across the surface of the table and her faint frown soon softens with a smile at the sight of the three blonde kids stood before the camera in winter clothing. "They did mention it had been snowing, but I didn't realize it was enough to actually stay on the ground. Snowman weather! Always a hoot."
As his eyes refocus on her, Avery's about to continue on about her hopes of a future in the publishing business but he beats her to it â or well, not entirely. Instead of continuing on with their previous conversation he gets to his feet, dusting his palms together.
"Well, what do you say? Isn't it time we break out some dessert?"
Shifting in her seat, she uncrosses her legs only to cross them the other way as she nods with a slightly faltered smile.
"Sounds great," She gets to her feet as well, quickly scooping up their plates before her father has the chance to. "Here, I've got it."
"Let's hope the snow stays," Robert says as he brings out the â to Avery â rather strange tasting chocolate ice cream he's dubbed dessert. "It's be nice to wake up to some snow on Christmas morning, don't you think?"
"It would," Avery says with a smile.
She's used to snowy Christmases â considering she's spent every Christmas the past decade in the mountains of Colorado with her mother and Luke's family. Part of her is sad to miss out this year but there's a more profound part of her eclipsing that sadness with the excitement of the relationship she's always wanted with her father coming true.
She makes a mental note to get her mother the greatest gift of Christmas gifts. There aren't many people out there who would treat this situation with such grace as Sarah has â not only being so open to Avery reconnecting with her father, but agreeing to her spending the holiday with him too.
Thinking of her mother, another thing comes to her mind and she quickly steps back from the counter before she can forget again.
"Oh, wait."
Slipping out of the kitchen, she crosses the living room and digs her hand into the pocket of her bag â re-emerging with both hers as well as her mother's key to their house. Returning to the kitchen she holds the latter out for Robert.
"Here," She says. "Mom figured you could hold onto this the next few days â gives you a chance to fetch those things in the attic."
Robert takes keys, weighing them in his palm. "Smart move of your mother to get that out of the way while she's out of town. That way she doesn't have to deal with me."
Avery rolls her lips together, smile slipping off it. She's fairly certain that's exactly what Sarah did but she doesn't like the tone of her father's voice as he implies it. If anything, Avery's amazed those boxes haven't been burned in some cheating-ex-husband-cleansing-ritual already. Not to speak of her mother trusting him with a key to the house, even if it's only for a few days.
Not in the mood to cause a dispute over the words, she simply attempts to let her smile back onto her lips as she sinks into her seat on the stool across from him. She folds her arms over the tabletop, reminding herself yet again to choose her battles. The last thing she wants is to complicate their flourishing relationship.
"Well, the door locks automatically," She says â as if he wouldn't already know considering he's lived in the very house she's speaking of. "So, you can just... leave the keys there once you're done."
Her father scoops some ice cream onto his plate. "What do you say we take care of those boxes together this weekend?"
"Okay. I'll be gone all Saturday though," He should know this already, considering she's mentioned the day a few times these past weeks. "It's the Winter Formal and Callie's coaxed me into helping out setting up."
"Well, sometime this week then."
"Mhm. I'll be gone Thursday too though," She reminds him. "Driving up to Chapel Hill."
"What on earth are you going to Chapel Hill on a school day for?"
"It's the State Championships."
"Oh. Right," He says and Avery doesn't like the uneasy flutter in her stomach caused by the slight purse of his lips. She's probably imagining things but there's something about his demeanor having her wary of her next move. She would like to point out he doesn't necessarily need her there to fetch those boxes â that's what the key is for â but the last thing she needs is for the slight sense of dissatisfaction to turn into a fully fledged frown of disapproval. He crosses his arms over his chest as he leans back on his chair. "We'll see then."
"Yeah, I'm sure we can figure it out."
. . .
hi hello, I appreciate you all THIS much!
note that this is a double update! so if you feel like it I suggest you press that little star and then continue on to the next one <3