When Trust is Gone - The Quarterback's Regret

Uninvited Again

Chapter 2

Addison’s POV

Three Days Earlier

I sat on my dresser to watch everyone at the pool party next door. It was Sunday, and I had not been invited to the party as usual. It was already hot here in Frisco, Texas, as it was the middle of May. I wasn’t too upset about not being invited. As far as I could see, it was the usual jerks invited. Half the football team, and several members of the cheer squad were all there. All of them vying for the football players' attention. They had been out there since two p.m. and showed no signs of the party being over any time soon.

I had been studying at my desk when the noise started outside. My finals are tomorrow, and I wanted to end the school year right. I have spent most of my time doing what was needed for college. Volunteering was a big part of that, as well as having a high GPA, to get into The University of Texas in Dallas. I spent my morning helping out at the local senior citizen's home. I enjoyed interacting with them, and Mom always came with me. I had everything I needed to get in and had already been accepted. I didn’t need to volunteer anymore, but I kept on. I enjoyed spending time with them, as we had made several friends there. I've learned a lot from them.

I have lived here, next door to the Pearson family, my whole life. I had been friends with Garrett since we could crawl. He was three months older than me, so he had turned eighteen a few months back in February. He was standing with his friends and laughing about something as they waited for Mr. Pearson to finish with the burgers and hot dogs. Tammy came out of the house in the tiniest bikini that I have ever seen in my life. The way Garret’s eyes followed her around made me want to throw up.

I am turning eighteen tomorrow and would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it. I was ready to go to college and leave this town far behind. When I leave, I will only miss my mother, my two friends, and the people at the nursing home. We have already promised to keep in touch after I leave. I climbed down off my dresser and headed to grab a shower. I wanted to study after dinner to make sure I was ready for the finals.

I was already locked in as the Valedictorian. It didn’t matter if Allison Henry got full marks for everything. She was too far behind to be able to take it from me. I know it pissed her off, but it was nothing personal. I had goals that I wanted to achieve and to do that, I needed to earn as many scholarships as possible. I didn't want my mother to have to stress about it. All she asked of me was to do my best. So, that is what I did. I always tried to make her proud of me.

I was not as excited about my birthday as I could have been. I was completely prepared for the tests. That was not the issue; my birthday came with both joy and sadness. I was going to finally be eighteen, and an adult. But I was also going to have the reminder that Mom and I were all alone in the world. My father passed away from cancer when I was about to turn three years old. My mother still wears her wedding ring to this day. The love she still has for him is strong.

She still loves and misses him. I have always hoped to have the same kind of love that they shared. I thought I had found it in my best friend, but I was wrong. I have always played with the children of our next-door neighbors. The Pearsons were good friends to my parents. They helped Mom through the mourning process after losing my father.

I have had a crush on Garrett since I was thirteen. Before that, he was my best friend. We did everything together. I was a bit of a tomboy. I climbed trees, learned to shoot guns at the range with him and his father, and had paintball wars with him and his younger brother until I turned fifteen at the end of my freshman year of high school.

Up until I was suddenly shown that I wasn’t good enough to be around Garrett anymore. Things had become tense between us. Garrett turned his back on me and let his friends start bullying me. I can remember when it happened very clearly. It was the last month of our freshman year when Tammy Daniels showed up. Her father was the new assistant principal, as the old vice-principal had a health emergency and retired. They had moved here from Tennessee. She took one look at my best friend, and that was all it took.

I felt sick about being replaced. She was everything that I wasn’t: slim and gorgeous. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. She looked lovely and sweet, but she was anything but. She always managed to look perfect. Her makeup was always flawless, and I felt like the hunchback of Notre Dame next to her. It was evident from the start that he wanted her, and it didn’t take long for that to happen. We found out the hard way. Mom watched their house for them as they went to a family reunion in Galveston.

Garrett had football camp and was supposed to spend the weekend with his best friend, Alden. I saw the light in his room come on. His room is directly across from mine. I saw the light come on in his room. I was shocked to see him and Tammy sleeping together that night. After they were done, they both left. It broke my heart to see him with her. I saw Tammy at school the next day, and her smile let me know that she knew I had seen them together. I just rolled my eyes at her and headed for class.

It was a well-known fact that most of the cheer squad wanted to get with the guys who were slated to go pro. That was always their goal, but to me, that was no goal at all. Why didn’t they set their own goals? Why didn’t they have dreams to accomplish for themselves? Why did they all want to be dependent on someone else to make them happy? Things were hard for us when I was younger. They got easier, but I didn't want to depend on a man. I wanted to make my own way.

As I showered, I wondered again what made Garrett turn his back on me. He wasn’t just my best friend. I had always fantasized about him taking me to prom. I wanted him to tell everyone he loved me and I belonged to him. The dream seemed so real that it hurt to wake up and realize it hadn't been real.

I dried off, wrapping my long auburn hair up in a towel. I gave myself a hard look in the mirror. I liked my full lips despite them getting unwanted attention. I didn’t mind the scattering of freckles on my cheeks and a few on my nose. I could always cover them with makeup. I was attractive, but I wouldn’t say that I was beautiful. My emerald green eyes looked dull and sad, and I knew why. Each time I see Garrett with Tammy, it hurts my heart. I knew it was time for dinner as I could smell the delicious food as I headed downstairs. I was surprised that she had made my favorite dinner of enchiladas as I came to the table.

“I wanted to surprise you, Addison. You would have been expecting them tomorrow, so I made them today,” my mother said with a mischievous smile.

“Thanks, Mom,” I replied as I sank into the chair beside her. This helped. My mother always seemed to know when I was having a hard time. I have an issue with comfort eating, which is its own vicious cycle.

My mother prayed over our meal, and we dug in. My mother has been and always will be my biggest supporter. No matter what, she has always been there for me. It has been me and her against the world for the last fifteen years. Yesterday was the fifteenth anniversary of my father's passing. He died two days before my third birthday, and I knew that it made it even harder for her to celebrate my birthday each year.

My mother asked questions about my plans for the future. My mother was involved in my life. She only had one friend, our next-door neighbor, Tandy Pearson. This was part of the reason that Garrett and I were such good friends. We have been together since we were babies. Mom and Mrs. Tandy would get together to shop, meet for coffee, and just hang out in our backyard.

My mother had turned our backyard into an oasis. It had lush greenery and an abundance of colorful flowers. My mother had a large gazebo built towards the back of our property. There was a bridge you walked over to get to it, with a large Koi pond that ran about thirty feet long. It was three feet deep in most of the area, as my mother loved those fish. They provided her with comfort when she wanted to relax. Mom worked at home. She never had to leave the house, as far as I knew. She always seemed to have money these days. Things were more challenging when I was younger, but starting at about age ten, things became much easier for us. She said the extra income was from my father’s life insurance.

I always believed that as a child. We lived in a nice home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood. We live comfortable lives. I don’t know how she does it. We aren’t wealthy, but we aren’t scraping by either.

“Addison, after you graduate, I want to talk to you about us moving back to Dallas,” my mother said hesitantly.

“Back to Dallas? I've never lived there, so how could it be back to Dallas, Mom?” I replied. My analytical mind immediately corrected what she had just said.

“But I did,” my mother softly replied.

I am interested now, as she never talked about her past. She usually kept things about me when we spoke and always avoided talking about anything before meeting my father. I have to admit I was getting a little nervous at how she looked at me.

“You can tell me now, Mom,” I responded. I wanted to know what she was going to say. I was curious, and I just wanted to know what was going on.

“It can wait, honey. No rush. It is not like you are starting college tomorrow. You have your finals tomorrow, and I want you focused on those. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you, Addison. Your father would have been just as proud of you, too. You are my pride and joy, and I hope you never forget that. Let’s just get past your finals and celebrate your birthday, and we will discuss it after that, OK?” my mother asked. I nodded in agreement. It was her call, as she was the one who wanted to talk in the first place.

We spoke a little longer before I returned to my room to study. I noticed movement as I walked up to my desk in front of my window. I looked over into Garrett’s room, and I really wished I hadn’t.