Pitch Perfect - 10. Chapter 10: Plans

Lucca couldn’t help it. Pacing back and forth seemed to be his only release recently. Walking the circle between his bedroom mirror and the hall, he felt sure that the movement was actually visible in the already worn carpeting. It wasn’t like him to be a nervous wreck. Well, maybe it was, but the past week had been beyond anything that he was used to.

Addie had cemented that realization during their AP Chemistry class on Wednesday. He’d jittered in his seat, tapping his foot until he caught her glaring from the corner of his eye. After class was over she questioned him about everything. What could he say? He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling yet, so explaining it properly to Addie was impossible.

Blushing like an idiot, Lucca told her about the time he spent with Sam at Grace Memorial. He even included the last part of the day, which he knew was a mistake before he even finished speaking. Eventually all Addie could do was pepper him with questions about the kiss. What type of kiss was it? Who initiated it? Did Lucca like it? Was he planning to kiss him again during their date? If only there had been a hole to sink into just then, Lucca would have jumped at any opportunity to get away from the line of fire. Instead, he was forced into admitting the truth.

Though still hopelessly hung up on Matt, when Sam kissed him those thoughts weren’t possible. Rational thought wasn’t an option. Lucca barely had time to appreciate the delicate feeling of softness against his lips, the warmth of a hand on his cheek, and then he was gone. That was it.

Lucca had liked the kiss. More importantly, he felt something for Sam.

It was enough to cause tingly anxious feelings whenever he thought about him, or their date. So Lucca did the only thing he could manage all week, wear holes in his carpet and drive his best friend mad with all the fidgeting.

Now, as he stood in front of his mirror Lucca wondered if his time could have been put to use more productively. Maybe by spending some of it thinking about what to wear on their date instead of following Addie’s suggestion to wear ‘the tightest clothing possible.’ Sure the skinny jeans she’d found in his closet could be forced on, but they were so much tighter than the clothing he normally wore.

‘There’s no time,’ he reminded himself, otherwise he would be changing rather than swearing at Addie mentally. Sam was supposed to be there in ten minutes, and his father had mentioned he wanted to have a chat before he left.

He quickly downed the flight of stairs and made his way cautiously to his father’s study. It was odd for his dad to formally ask to talk, so Lucca was skeptical about what the topic of conversation could be. He had an inkling that his father might want to bring up his date with Sam, or another awkward topic, so Lucca wanted to be prepared to leave the room as quickly in case he was right.

“Dad?” Lucca said softly as he entered the room. His father took off his glasses and set aside the magazine he’d been reading.

“Hey, why don’t you sit down over for a minute? I have something to discuss real quick.”

‘No! That’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen.’ Lucca now knew it was definitely something serious. His father was ruining any plans for escape. Uneasily Lucca walked across the room and sat in the chair opposite his father. “So?”

“I think you know where this conversation is going, don’t you?”

He hung his head. Of course his father was going to try to give him a talk on safe sex; that was so like him. He tried to cut him off at the pass, “Dad, c’mon. Can’t this talk wait? I mean it’s our first date, I really don’t think we’re going to be…”

Lucca looked up to see his dad smirking. Ugh, the old man was good, he had to give him that. If that wasn’t it, then what was it? This couldn’t all be a plan just to embarrass him, could it? Lucca frowned.

“Oh, lighten up.” His father chuckled. “You’re going on a date, aren’t you? You’re supposed to be in a good mood, if I remember correctly. Besides, I know you’re a smart kid and we’ve already had that conversation- so I won’t make you suffer twice.”

Lucca breathed out a sigh of relief. “Then what did you want to talk about?”

“Really?” His dad looked disappointed. “You’ve been avoidant all week…”

Then it hit him. They had been talking at dinner earlier that week when his father brought up the topic of Lucca’s Birthday. For years his family had been gracious enough in understanding that he just couldn’t celebrate his birthday. His dad was determined this year, though. In just over a month he would be eighteen, but doing anything for his birthday was absolutely out of the question.

“No, Dad. We already talked about this, I don’t want a party.”

The lines on his father’s face formed a frown. “I really think it’d be a good idea this year.”

Doing anything would feel too forced. As a kid his parents had always insisted on large birthdays for him and his brother. Especially when they were younger, and his mom was healthy. One year pretty much the whole school came; he distinctly remembered the whole house covered in decorations and food sitting on every spare surface.

The family insisted that his mother would have wanted him to celebrate, which was true. It just wasn’t possible. His mother died a week before he turned sixteen and ever since it hadn’t felt right to do anything without her.

Lucca was close to shooting his dad down again, but the idea seemed especially important to him. Maybe he could do it if there wasn’t anything remotely birthday-like going on.

“I guess we could do…something.” The excitement in his father’s face when he said that caused Lucca’s heart to pang. He almost felt bad for refusing him in the first place. “I don’t want a real Birthday party though. No presents, no decorations. Just food- oh and no cake. And I don’t want anymore than six people, okay?”

“Those are pretty strict limitations, but I’ll take it. Everything except the no presents thing. I already got you something.”

“Fine,” Lucca said grudgingly.

“Great, I’ll tell Rob we’re on.”

“Robert’s coming?” Seeing his brother again could make the non-party worthwhile.

“Yeah, your birthday falls during his spring break. The party was his idea.”

“It’s not a party,” Lucca argued, smiling despite himself. He hadn’t seen his brother since the summer. Since his school was on the west coast he’d opted to stay there and take extra classes during the break rather than incur the expense of coming back home.

His father was on the verge of responding when the doorbell chimed. “I guess your date is here,” he said wiggling his eyebrows dramatically.

They both stood and Lucca started to head to the door, but his father was following close behind. Lucca stopped abruptly and turned. “What are you doing?”

His father wore a mask of innocence when he answered, “Well I get to meet him, don’t I?”

“No! This is only the first date, you’ll scare him off.”

“If he gives up that easily then he’s not really interested.”

“Dad!”

“Really, Lucca. I said I trust you but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you go out with some unknown entity.” His father continued on to the door without waiting for his response.

‘Damn it, why did I even tell him it was a date? I should have lied and said I made a new friend.’ He watched helplessly as his father opened the door and greeted Sam, who was obviously surprised to see someone other than Lucca.

Hanging back in the hall, Lucca watched Sam and his father chat for a few minutes. They seemed to be getting along well enough. Finally, he walked out hoping that since they had talked his father was reassured enough to let them leave.

Sam smiled when he noticed him approaching and Lucca felt his heartbeat quicken in response. Were all their dates going to be this embarrassing? His father gave him a nod of approval so he grabbed Sam by the arm and pulled him out the door.

They hadn’t said a word to each other after a few minutes alone in the car. Lucca’s stomach felt like a ball of nerves, though it was more of his own doing rather than anything Sam had done. Actually, as he looked over at Sam who was humming along with the radio and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, Lucca felt relieved. Their silence was companionable. He took a deep breath, finally summoning the courage to speak.

“Hey, thanks for talking with my Dad- I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

Sam stopped tapping and glanced over at Lucca for a second before grinning. “No problem. He seems like a pretty neat guy, your Dad.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” Lucca said proudly; he was unexpectedly relieved to know Sam got along with his dad. Thinking about it, he was glad Addie had given her blessing too. It meant more to him then he would have expected- having the two most important people in his life giving their okay. If Robert liked him too then things would be perfect.

‘Perfect how?’ Lucca wondered, only vaguely aware that in some regard he had already pictured Sam and himself having some sort of future.

“So I know we talked about going to a movie,” Sam interrupted Lucca’s thought process. “I was wondering if you were open to alternative ideas?”

“Hmmm… sure?”

“Okay then, I have something else in mind.” Sam turned the car around and a few minutes later they were at an Italian place called Rosa’s.

They sat at a comfortable booth in the dimly lit back of the restaurant, Lucca had to ask, “Why the change of plans? You like this place?”

“I’ve never actually eaten here,” Sam admitted. He must’ve understood the confused look on Lucca’s face so he continued, “I drive by all the time to get to work. I thought it looked like a nice place to try.”

“Yeah, makes sense.” The place was nice, Lucca had never eaten there either, but it seemed to be pretty popular.

“That’s not the real reason I changed my mind, though. I kind of felt that seeing a movie with you would be a waste.” Lucca frowned, making Sam laugh. “Not like that- I mean sitting quietly for two hours isn’t the best way to get to know someone. I wanted to be able to talk to you.”

Lucca felt his face heat as their perfectly timed waitress came to take their orders saving him from having to respond. They ended up deciding on a large cheese pizza and cokes.

During dinner things went easily. Lucca was surprised how simple it was to talk to someone he’d just met, but Sam seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say, which helped a lot. In return Lucca wanted to know all about Sam, he felt a million questions bubbling up.

“I don’t understand how you wound up in Pennsylvania, aren’t you from Florida?”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed, “My parents live in Florida- as you know now I’m staying with my aunt and uncle. My family doesn’t really understand why I like music so much, and I wanted to be able to figure that out for myself- without the pressure.”

“Makes sense.” Lucca felt like there might be another layer there, Sam seemed to be avoiding something about his parents. He didn’t want to push too far though so he decided to change topics. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice you and Jeremy are related. Now that I’ve spent more time with both of you, you really do look alike.”

“I’ve heard that before. I’m the grown-up sexy edition though,” Sam joked. Lucca agreed wholeheartedly with that, however. Although Jeremy was certainly good looking, Sam was on a different level. His face was more defined, worldly looking. His smile was charming, and his eyes did something to Lucca that Jeremy’s definitely did not. Still, there was a resemblance.

“I’m not sure it has anything to do with the looks,” Lucca said offhandedly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Sure, I think there’s something about the energy with you two. You’re both so positive.” Normally, Lucca would never notice such a thing, but the idea was out of his mouth before he’d thought it over. After he said it, he realized it was inherently sound. Both cousins were easy to get along with, to talk to. They were both kind people, he was sure of that.

“Well, that’s certainly a nice thing to hear.” Sam grinned and reached for a slice of pizza. When his arm moved Lucca noticed something else about Sam- he had a intricate tattoo peeking out of the bottom of his right shirt sleeve.

“You have tattoos?” Lucca gestured towards his arm with interest.

“Yeah, a few.” Sam started rolling up the sleeve of his t-shirt so Lucca could get a better look. The design started with a tribal design that morphed into a delicately rendered floral motif at his shoulder.

“That’s neat. What other ones do you have?”

“Well, they’re not exactly appropriate to show here. But maybe you’ll…” Sam stopped midsentence and shut his mouth with a snap. It was too late, though, Lucca’s was already blushing from envisioning the possibilities.

The pizza slowly disappeared and soon they were left with only their sodas. Sam suggested they move on to other activities, and Lucca found himself momentarily distracted again by the images that popping into his head.

‘Get your mind out of the gutter.’

In lieu of any exciting activities, their town had nothing. So instead of driving to a neighboring city to see a movie, or to go bowling, Lucca and Sam walked around the green at the town’s center. The freezing cold and the late time gave them a quiet venue with no one else around. Lucca suddenly felt being alone with Sam under the stars was extremely romantic.

The same silence that had first overtaken them in Sam’s car was back again, so they walked quietly next to each other down the green. At first Lucca had wondered if he should be asking questions or stirring up conversation, but when he looked over at Sam he seemed to be deep in thought.

He kept silent as long as he could until the air around him literally felt like it was buzzing with anticipation. That’s when Sam reached out and twined Lucca’s hand with his own. In that instant he could feel the electricity and tension pass between them. It was surprisingly nice.

Sam leaned towards Lucca with a serious expression. “I know our date isn’t over yet… but I wanted to say I like spending time with you. Actually, more than thought I would. Maybe we could go on another date?”

“I’d like that,” Lucca said sincerely. In the moment the answer was obvious. Yes, of course he wanted to keep seeing Sam.

***

Later on, as Lucca flopped into his bed he dreamt of Sam. All the flirting they’d done paid off, he couldn’t think of anything else. Until he woke up, that is, and reverted back to his old painful ways. When he opened his eyes he was looking out at Matt’s house.

The flip-flop of emotions overnight left him feeling queasy. Sam was a good guy. And if Lucca was honest, he had trouble even remembering why he liked Matt in the first place. Almost a month had past since they had seen one another.

If only there were some way to preserve how he felt when he was with Sam, he’d do it in a heartbeat. The whole night they were together he had honestly not thought of Matt for a second. Lucca knew it wasn’t right to keep going back and forth between them. If he was going to seriously date Sam, he had to totally move past his feelings for Matt.

As he worked his shift at the hospital that day Lucca tried to consciously focus on Sam. Even when constantly thinking about how cute he was, how well their date had went, and how nice it had been to have him helping out the last weekend, Lucca’s thoughts still drifted back to Matt. He’d be thinking about Sam, and then out of nowhere Matt would filter through and get stuck.

By the end of the day Lucca felt worse, he felt guilty that he couldn’t alter his feelings and tired from trying. Maybe attempting to change his feeling was an exercise in stupidity, but he really wanted it to work, more than anything.

Addie ended up being the final solution. Lucca figured if anyone could get him out of this rut it would be her. The second he got home from his shift he called and explained how he was feeling. He started talking about how he wanted to change his out look about Matt when Addie interrupted.

“I think I should come over, okay?” Addie was kind enough to phrase it as a question, but Lucca knew no matter what he said she would be showing up on his doorstep.

“Alright,” he sighed into the phone.

Exactly twenty minutes later the doorbell rang. Lucca pulled the door open and was shocked to see Addie carrying bags of stuff with Jeremy behind her.

“Uhh….” Lucca stood dumbly at the door wondering what he had signed up for.

“I didn’t invite him, he was just outside when I showed up,” Addie said as she breezed past him and into the living room.

Jeremy nodded along confirming her story. “Sorry, but I stopped by to see if you wanted to hang out.”

“Um?” Lucca stood unsure, but Addie called from the couch inviting Jeremy in.

“I’m throwing Lucca a mini feel better party so you can stay and help,” Addie explained.

“What does he need to feel better about?” Jeremy asked stepping around Lucca who was still lost in the doorway.

“Well, there’s this major jerk who he’s trying to…” Addie started to explain, but Lucca finally snapped out of his trance and sent her a disapproving glare. He liked Jeremy, but wasn’t ready to share all of his secrets with him yet. They had only been friends for a few weeks after all.

“… ignore. Yeah some guy has been a real jerk at school lately, and it’s bumming me out,” Lucca tried to make the lie seem natural; he hoped Jeremy would buy it and let it drop.

Jeremy shrugged and turned his attention back to Addie. ‘Thank God,’ Lucca thought. Only being friends a couple weeks was actually a blessing, otherwise Jeremy would have picked up on how bad of a liar he was.

“So what’s in the bags?” Lucca wondered what she could possibly have brought over that would be helpful in forgetting a crush.

“Cheesy movies, sappy CDs, candy, ice cream, brownie mix, stuff to keep us busy,” Addie said, seeming proud of her choices.

“Wow, sounds like you need a lot of cheering up.” Jeremy laughed, but then eyed Lucca curiously.

“Yeah…” Lucca grabbed one of the movies from Addie’s bag and popped it in as a distraction. It was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one of his favorites.

Addie grabbed some spoons, and they sat on the sofa eating ice cream and watching the film. Watching movies did have a mind numbing effect, and Lucca found himself settling in enjoying the time with his friends. The movie finished, and they watched the first half of a second film before deciding to go make brownies.

Saying she’d brought a mix before had been an exaggeration. Addie pulled out a bunch of separate ingredients and a recipe card in her mother’s handwriting. Lucca sent her an accusing look, “You know I’m horrible at baking, right?”

“There’s a recipe! And I didn’t have time to go to the store, sue me,” Addie stuck her tongue out at him while searching for mixing bowls and pans.

“I’ll help,” Jeremy said rolling up his sleeves. Lucca was grateful he wouldn’t have a chance to ruin the recipe.

They were halfway through mixing the ingredients when a knock came at the door. All three looked at each other and shrugged. Since Lucca was the only one who had his hands clean he decided to go see who it was.

He could hear Addie and Jeremy bickering about the recipe as he approached the door. They seemed to get along in a weird way, Lucca was kind of surprised because Addie didn’t seem to like hanging out with other people besides him much. It was rare for her to warm to someone so fast. ‘First Sam, now Jeremy… there must be something about that family.’

Grabbing the door handle Lucca pulled open the door with a smile on his face, he was still thinking about how nice it was that everyone got along. Then, everything stopped. If Jeremy had been an unexpected guest, then this next one was unwanted. Lucca immediately recognized the distinction. Matt stood leaning against the handrail with his hands in his jean pockets looking nervous. Matt didn’t deserve to look so troubled, Lucca thought. He was the one who was shocked to see him there, not the other way around.

“Lucca…” he heard his name being called by Jeremy. “Addie said you’d want extra chocolate chips, but I told her this recipe already had enough, what do you think?” Jeremy walked into the living room with a large mixing bowl and spoon. Curious Lucca turned toward him to look at the bowl, but when he saw Jeremy’s he stopped cold. Jeremy was looking past him with the iciest expression he had ever seen.

“I guess I’ll just… come back some other time,” Matt said, before backing down the stairs and walking away.