“No, I’d try to keep it light and fun. And before you beat me over the head, I see the parallel. Eve’s focus has always been on singing. If, I mean, when she gets her shot, she’s not looking back.”
“Now for the cold, calculating part of this. Eve told me that she was to write two songs: one song was to be about the longing for a guy, and the second about being in love. Angel made it clear that she needs both on her first album. I contend that Eve was given a third song to write, the breakup song.”
My stomach did a flip-flop. Could I have just been this stupid? I knew that Eve liked me. She might even love me. I knew she wasn’t trying to be mean.
“I’m obviously out of my depth here. What should I do?”
“David, if you think about this for five minutes you’ll figure it out.”
“Just go ahead and tell me!”
“Okay. Date her. Realize that in a few weeks, months, years or whatever it takes, she’ll get her shot and be gone. I know you’ll understand. Take the time you have and enjoy her. Have fun. I’ll tell you right now, you’re going to hurt her. Quit leading with your heart every time! You’re setting yourself up again. I thought you’d learned this the hard way with Tracy. It goes both ways: you suck her into your need for love, and you’ll devastate her when she has to choose between you and her dream.”
“Why is this so complicated?”
“It’s not, if you talk to me first.”
That got me to laugh. Of course she would say that! If I thought about it if Eve was looking for a deep commitment, why bring the other girls into it? That should have been a dead giveaway. At least she had gotten my head out of my ass. I really needed to get a handle on this tendency to fall in love at the drop of a hat.
KENDAL PICKED ME UP right from church and took me to Hill Advertising. We had a light week and only did two flyers. I was even home in time for dinner.
Chapter 23 – Oops
Monday March 17
TODAY WAS THE MONTHLY school board meeting. They had the upgrades to the athletic facilities on the docket. Alan had sent an email to everyone and a copy to their parents. The email gave a brief synopsis of what Tom and Dad hoped to accomplish and asked everyone to call the office to confirm attendance. The principal had asked him to do that because they needed a rough headcount so they could get a large-enough room.
AT LUNCH, I WAS HAPPY to see Eve, since I needed to talk to her. She left every Saturday afternoon and was back from Nashville on Sunday evening. I took Eve to a vacant table because I wanted to talk to her alone about what Tami had told me. In my mind, I’d already started to pull back from falling in love with her. I loved my best friend, but sometimes she told me stuff I didn’t want to know. In the long run, I was sure it was for the best. I was also sure that I needed to get a handle on falling in love so readily.
“How come we’re sitting over here?” Eve asked.
“We need to talk,” I said, suddenly seeing the irony of me saying those four words that I so dreaded.
“Are you breaking up with me?”
I could see those words had the same effect on her that they had on me when I heard them. I gave her a smile to let her see it wasn’t that.
“No, I’m not breaking up with you. I just want to tell you something about me that Tami pointed out Sunday. We also need to talk about what kind of relationship we’re having.”
“So the all-powerful Tami is messing with our relationship!” Eve groused.
That hit me all wrong.
“The three of us have been good friends. You know that Tami and I are closer than most married couples. I hate to say it, but if it comes down to a choice between you and Tami, there’s no contest. So, if that last statement is any indication of how you really feel, tell me now.”
I think I was as shocked as Eve was by what I’d just said.
“I know what kind of friendship you two have. It just pisses me off sometimes to see her running your life for you. If she’s is the one who’s going to be calling the shots in our relationship, I won’t have it. You need to be your own man.”
Did she just call my manhood into question? I saw red. If I didn’t get up and walk away right now, and have a chance to cool off, Eve and I would no longer even be friends. I left my tray, got up, and headed for the door.
“Don’t you walk away from me!”
I froze. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I spun around and marched back to the table.
“If we have this conversation right now, you and I will no longer be friends. Don’t believe me? Call the ‘all-powerful’ one and let her clue you in. Since I’m not man enough to handle my own affairs, you might want to talk to the source anyway!”
She went as red as I was. I turned around and walked out of the cafeteria. What the heck just happened? Did we just break up? No one had the right to talk about Tami that way. Tami could certainly manipulate me into doing just about anything. But she had earned that right over the last nine years.
Beth and Gina found me under my favorite thinking tree. They didn’t say a word. Beth handed me a peanut butter sandwich. They had those for kids that either couldn’t afford lunch or wanted something extra. They also had apples set out. Gina had one of those she handed me.
“What, no drink?” I teased them.
Gina pulled a bottle of water out of her purse/school bag. They waited me out. I finally started to talk. I told them the whole story, the one I wanted to tell Eve. I told them what she had said and how I had overreacted. By the time my story was done, I was drained.
Beth made me give her my phone so she could call Tami. I could only hear Beth’s side of the conversation.
“No, it’s not David. This is Beth.”
“Yes, he’s a little upset right now. From what I hear, for good reason.”
Beth listened for about five minutes. She didn’t give anything away.
“Okay, I’ll tell him.”
I looked at her, waiting for her to tell me what Tami said. Beth gathered herself.
“Eve called Tami and yelled at her for interfering in your relationship. Tami finally got her to calm down and explained what you were going to tell her, and Eve was embarrassed,” Beth said, and then her mood darkened. “I had no idea about the last song, or I wouldn’t have gone along with Eve’s plan. She admitted to Tami that she needs a breakup song.”
“What? What’s this about songs?” Gina asked as she joined the conversation.
I hadn’t told Gina that part. I was a little embarrassed that I fell so hard for Eve based on the song she wrote.
“The record label wants Eve to write three songs. The first is Hometown Hero. It’s about a girl longing for a guy who doesn’t know she exists. The second one is supposed to be about love. The last is a breakup song. Eve has never had any of those experiences. She’s getting them from me,” I shared, feeling like a fool.
“Tami told me to tell you that you are not breaking up with Eve over this. She said your first reaction is usually wrong. So take the rest of the day and think about it. You’ll realize that you care for Eve. You and Eve can then talk to each other after baseball practice,” Beth said, giving me my marching orders.
I glared at Beth.
“Don’t get mad at me. Talk to the boss if you have a problem,” she said with a big grin on her face.
I was being a jerk. Tami was right, I needed a few hours to calm down. The bell rang and I went to Art class.
AT PRACTICE, MOOSE gave us some more players. These were boys that wanted some playing time and didn’t see it coming their way on varsity. We got the guys that were on our seven-on-seven roster: Bill, Trevor, and Lou. Now we had enough players that Coach could make some moves.