Page 45 of The Sky Between Us

“Such a happy day,” my mom chimed in as she walked in. “Aiden, right? Nice to meet you, call me Elena!”

“Hi Elena, nice to finally put a face to the name. Hazel has been telling me all about you,” he extended his hand, but my mom just laughed and pulled him into a hug. He really was a charmer.

“I’ve heard so much about you too. Most from Sky, to be fair. He is a huge fan,” she gossiped right away. My mom was a very social and outgoing person, she loved talking, while my dad was more reserved. “Hope you are hungry.”

“Starving,” Aiden nodded and taking a closer look at his cheeks, he seemed flushed. Mom was still beautiful, she had me when she was only nineteen and she never aged. Our hair was the same brown, but her eyes were grass green. Her physique remained slim even after years of not working out, just doing yoga twice a day. I secretly hoped I inherited her genes, but the number of milkshakes I enjoyed were definitely visible to me.

“Good,” she smiled at my boyfriend with her full-blown generous smile, and twirling on her heels, she walked back to the kitchen, her flower-printed dress following her. “Hazel, come help me set the table.”

‘Boyfriend’ still sounded alien in my mind and even more on my tongue, but at the same time, it made me feel all mushy and warm inside.

Dad walked in with Sky bouncing after him, eying us both. Throwing a concerned glance towards Aiden, I hurried after my mom, leaving him alone.

“He is cute,” mom mouthed through a grin, making me roll my eyes. She reached out, squeezing my shoulder. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Mom, don’t get carried away,” I whispered, pulling away and grabbing the salads from the countertop. “Are we eating outside?”

“Hazel,” she exhaled and catching me by the elbow made me face her. “Darling, it’s fine. Stop beating yourself up.”

“This is stupid,” I muttered, rolling my eyes and without allowing her to answer, I walked to the terrace. Placing the salads on the set table, I saw how carefully my mom set the table with a beautiful white tablecloth and our nicest ceramic plates. An exhale escaped me, before I could swallow it back and guilt started stirring up inside of me.

Sky squealed in the garden catching my attention. Aiden was running after him, trying to catch the ball from him, while my dad stood on the side watching in awe while finishing up the last burgers.

“You made me chicken?” I shuffled next to him, distracting him from the silent observation slash judgement that was going on.

He nodded and looked up at me, arms crossing in front of his chest. “Hazel…”

I knew the drill. Whenever my name sounded like a sigh wrapped in disbelief, it meant he wasn’t pleased with me. On the field, he was the loudest. Shouting at his players, telling them what exactly was on his mind. But at home, he went radio silent. The type of uncomfortable, suffocating silence swallowed him up and he never offered any explanation, support or guidance. I wasn’t his player; he couldn’t work with me the way he worked the guys on the field. He trained them to never fail him, as I continuously did.

“I’m… sorry.” I muttered, weight shifting from one leg to the other. “I shouldn’t have…”

“You seem happy,” he said finally, angling his body to face me. “You opened up and you smiled more since you… hung out with Aiden.”

My lips tugged upwards, but I couldn’t risk a full-blown smile. It was too soon; he couldn’t have possibly approved.

“And he is good with Sky.”

A punch to the gut was more like his style. I watched Aiden grab Sky from behind, lifting him off the ground as Sky squealed like a tortured little animal.

With a scoff I shook my head. “He doesn’t know.”

Dad contemplated my words, his eyes studying my face as if he had x-ray vision or if he could read my mind at least. But he lost that ability a long time ago.

“He should, you should tell him. A relationship is built on trust. You wouldn’t want to build a house on sand, right?”

“Father,” I sighed and almost laughed. “This is college. People hook up, date and move on. This might not even last forever, I’m not going to…”

“Jeopardize your future?” he lifted a challenging brow. “You have no idea what you want to do with your life. All you did was hide. But now you are finally starting to get out of your own head.”

“Still don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Stringing him along isn’t a good idea either,” he replied without missing a beat. It felt like my own father was putting Aiden’s needs first. “Your secrecy is making him less focused on practice. He has a shot at professional soccer, if he gets his head back in the game, instead of trying to make sense of you.”

“Thanks for your fatherly concern!”

Turning on my heels, I stomped back into the living room and dropped onto the first empty armchair allowing the cushions to swallow me up.

Everything dad said was true. And that was what bothered me. He didn’t say anything Earth shattering or new, but the truth cuts deeper than lies.

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