The Trouble with Kissing Connor

Chapter 19 (Connor)

"God, stop smiling like that. It's making me nauseous," Brett said while biting into his cheeseburger.

"You're just jealous," I said.

"Not likely," Brett responded with a mouth full of meat and cheese.

I shook my head at him. "What happened to your health kick?" I said, pointing at his food.

He shrugged and took another bite of his burger.

"You should come jogging with me," I offered, I was always supportive of him when he decided to try and be healthier. Brett's diet is a bit of a running joke with us. He's always saying that getting a girlfriend is going to be tough, what with his paunch and all. He says it jokingly, but I don't think it's really a joke to him at all. He's always been the chubby kid, he used to get teased for it until he transformed himself into the funny, chubby kid that everyone likes. But still, whenever he says he wants to lose weight or start eating healthily, I'm always as supportive as possible. I even ate salad with him at lunchtime during his last attempt.  

"I'll come jogging with you when you stop being such an ass," he said, swallowing his mouthful.

"How am I an ass?" I asked.

"Mmmmm, let's see. You're pinning for some fantasy women when there are real ones right here. Close by."

I shook my head, "She's not a fantasy. I didn't imagine that kiss. Trust me it was very real. And she's close by. She goes to our school. Check it out," I slid my phone over to him and let him see the last few messages.

Brett scrunched up his face and slid the phone back. "Now I'm really nauseous... Roses are red???" He shuddered and pretended to gag for added effect.

"Whatever, man," I said smiling at the message again before putting the phone back in my pocket. I looked up to find Brett staring at me.

"You really have no idea who it is?" he asked.

"Nope. All I know is she goes to our school."

"And chews some minty, cinnamon gum," he added.

I studied him. I still got the sense that he was holding out on me. I wagged a finger at him. "I swear, if you know who she is and you're not telling me, this friendship is over. So, do you know who it is?"

Brett stared at me with a dead serious face and slowly started to nod. "No. But do you want my advice, Connor?"

"Sure," I said, as I reached out to steal some fries.

"Search your heart, Connor. Search your rosy red, violet blue heart."

"For what?" I asked.

"Heart you must search for true feelings." Brett's Yoda impression was terrible and I laughed. "Jokes aside though, seriously, you need to really think about some stuff Connor. Before it's too late."

With that, Brett picked up his stuff and walked away from the table.

"Hey," I shouted after him, "what kind of stuff? Too late for what? What does that even mean?"

***

Tennis practice went late again that day. With the tournament one week away, the atmosphere on the court was pure aggression and testosterone. Chase and Tyler were total dicks all afternoon. The scout was for sure coming and every single one of us wanted our shot so badly we could taste it.

The only reason I'd started playing tennis all those year ago, was because my dad had been a tennis player and I'd wanted to be just like him. He'd been my boyhood hero, a super hero dad who could do no wrong, and now he was just... gone.And I could feel and hear the emptiness of him each time the ball connected with the racket. The sound it made seemed to echo back at me, as if the sound was being made inside an empty cave. And suddenly the enjoyment that I usually felt when playing, was all gone.