Set, Shift, Score by Jamie Bennett

Author:Jamie Bennett [Bennett, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

I felt inexplicably nervous going into Noah’s house on Peony Street when he opened the door for me. I’d been over here so many times over the past week that had started to feel like a second home—no, like my office, that was a better comparison, since it was where I was working. It certainly was looking a lot better inside. Not messy, like his former residence of Janna’s house, but homey and lived in. Like there were tennis giant shoes at the door, and a bowl of fruit in the kitchen, and when Noah was home, a lot of singing. But right now, I was nervous about entering this comfortable place, and I didn’t understand why.

He was quiet now, no singing, as we went into the living room and he threw himself down on the couch in a way that made me really glad that its frame was especially sturdy. “Have a seat,” he invited, and looked at the cushion next to his.

“Did you need me for something specific? Or was it more that you wanted to hang out?” I asked as I placed myself on it.

“I think I just wanted company. Is that all right?”

I nodded. “It’s fine. My dad was going to drive me home, but you can later, right?” I didn’t really want to back to my house, I realized. Not with the unopened box of my graduate school materials now shoved into the hall closet. “It was good for my dad to get out and go see some football,” I mentioned. “Thank you for the tickets.”

“You’re welcome to them for every home game, if you want them.”

“I want to see you play,” I said, and Noah made a kind of scoffing noise. “But thanks for that offer, because both of us would love to come. I’m pretty worried about him.”

“Your dad? What’s wrong?”

“I think there’s something going on, maybe at work, but I can’t get him to tell me what it is. He’s somewhat of an introvert…no, he’s totally an introvert. He certainly doesn’t enjoy talking about what’s bothering him. Actually, he doesn’t enjoy talking in general. That was why working as a professor never was going to pan out for him, even though that was his plan when he got his PhD.”

“Your plan too, right?”

I nodded, feeling a flicker of misery at the prospect. “But usually he enjoys his job at the college a lot, so maybe that’s not the problem. I’m hoping that he’ll feel better next week when the fall semester starts.” And I would start, too. I closed my eyes briefly.

“Why do you look so worried, now?”

“Do I?” I shrugged, and Noah shook his head.

“I guess your dad isn’t the only one who doesn’t like to talk about what’s bothering him. Every time you’ve said anything about going back to school, you make a face.”

“I do? The prissy face again?”

“The sad face,” he told me. “Why?”

“Any big change is hard, isn’t it?” I hedged. “It was hard for you to come to new team.

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