Talking and competing.

Scott felt the wind against his face, the hum of the engine, the smooth glide of the highway, Suzie holding onto him, hugging him tight, her face resting on his back. It was the situation he’d dreamed of when he first bought Audrey, but it was hard to enjoy the ride with what was coming.

They needed to talk, they needed to sort through things, Doug had been an asshole, but that didn’t mean he was wrong. Scott couldn’t provide Suzie with the life she was accustomed too. She could afford that life if she followed her dad and became a lawyer, but that meant years apart, and what would he be to her then? Sure she was happy now, but would she still want him years from now, when she realized just how far apart they were financially?

Driving mindlessly, Scott ended up at his old High School. He pulled in, headed to the back, the practice field. When they stopped Suzie got off, grabbed his hand, leading him to one of the old benches by the field.

“Suzie, Doug’s right, I can’t. . .”

She cut him off. “Doug’s a jerk Scott, I don’t care how much money you make, you work hard, you treat me great, I need you, not fancy clothes and a giant house.”

“Suzie, you’ve seen how my family lives. That’s what I know, I went to the military, got my mechanic training, and I’m content. I can do the work, I can live. I’m okay with cheap food, a simple house, time spent with family, cheap vacations.”

“I’m fine with that too, Scott, if it’s with you.”

“You don’t have to settle, Suzie.”

She grabbed a hold of him, squeezed him into her. “It’s not settling if it’s you. I don’t need all that stuff Scott, I need you.”

“You could go to school, get your degree, be a lawyer, that’s a good plan, and you’d make it Suzie. You don’t need to be tied down to Franklin, you don’t have to be stuck here.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” She asked, he felt her tears soaking through his shirt.

“Oh God, no Suzie,” He said, pulling her off him, looking her in the eye. “I’m not breaking up with you, but you have so much ahead of you, I don’t want you to give that up just so we can be together right now.”

She leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back. Scott picked her up, held her to him as they kissed.

“Tell you what,” Scott said, when they broke their kiss. “Let’s go do something, have some fun, leave all this stuff for later. Worrying about it now isn’t going to fix anything.”

“Okay.” Suzie wiped her eyes. “So what do you want to do?”

“We could go bowling.” There wasn’t exactly a lot to do in Franklin.

“You want to take me bowling?” Suzie asked sarcastically.

“Better than staying here stressing out.”

“Yeah, okay. But be warned, I can bowl.”

Scott laughed and they headed back to his bike.

Suzie had lied. She was terrible. Apparently, none of her friends were any good, because she thought 100 points was “really good.”

She also wasn’t the best sport about losing.

“Okay, so you owe me two hour-long backrubs. You ready to admit defeat or do you want to wager more?”

“I don’t think this is fair, how do you get 200 points when there’s only 100 pins you can knock down.”

“Suzie, we went over that.”

“Yeah, and it’s bullshit.”

“So we’re done then?”

“No.”

“Alright, what do you want to wager?”

“10 questions.”

“Excuse me?”

“Winner gets to ask the loser ten questions, and the loser has to answer every one, fully, and honestly.”

“Okay, I’m sure I can come up with ten questions to ask you.”

“Hold up, you have to bowl left-handed.”

“Seriously?”

“Or you back down and admit you’re scared to face me.”

Scott laughed, He could tell from Suzie’s face she was having fun, he was just a bit taken back by how relentless her competitive streak was.

“Oh, I’m scared alright, but I’m not backing down.”

Scott had to switch to a lighter ball, but he was able to keep it close. He had a chance heading into the final frame, but Suzie hit a strike and ended up with her high score of the night, 117.

“Yeah, suck on that Scott.” She said when he failed to pick up the strike he needed to stay in it.

He turned and glared at her, she was pushing it a bit too far. Suzie pouted, then walked over to him.

“I guess I could suck on it instead, if you want.” She said, putting her hand on his crotch.

“You are exhausting Suzie.”

“Well then, maybe we need to get you doing more cardio so you can keep up.” She winked at him. “I have some ideas that could get your heart rate up.”

“Seriously Suzie? A moment ago you’re taunting me and now this?”

“What? Winning makes me horny.”

Scott just laughed.

They got back to the house, and Suzie’s parents were waiting for them.

“Hey Scott, Suzie, I’m sorry about dinner, Doug was out of line.”

“Damn straight he was.” Suzie was not happy with her brother.

“But Suzie, we’re all a little worried, since you two became a thing, you’ve been acting like little Suzie homemaker and Doug said you were talking about not going to college this year.” Anne Carter had been building to this for a while.

“Mom, please.”

“Suzie you’re an adult, in what appears to be a serious relationship, you can’t run away from talking about it.”

Suzie looked at her mom, at her dad, then sighed. “Okay.” She said, looking at Scott. Scott just nodded supportively.

“Alright so maybe dropping college would be a bit ****, but I’m happy mom, really happy, I just don’t want to screw it up.”

“You think going to college would ruin things.”

Suzie turned red, she stared at the floor.

“Have you talked to Scott about this?”

Suzie turned even more red, clenched her fists.

Mr. Carter got up and put his hand on his wife’s shoulder, tapping her out of the conversation.

“Sweetie, I know you think you need to orchestrate everything, create a path where you can’t lose, but you can’t make big decisions based on how you think Scott might react, especially without actually talking about it first.”

“I understand.” Suzie was still red, but she reacted a lot better to her Dad than her Mom. Scott was just massively uncomfortable being there.

“Can I go now?” She asked, not looking up at all.

“Yes.” Was all her dad said in reply. Suzie grabbed Scott’s hand and they went to her room.