Defending Parker

[Chapter 8]

Chapter 8

Although Parker had agreed to continue tutoring me, and I had agreed to cooperate, I was still worried that, even though we were both trying, we’d get absolutely nowhere and I would end up with a bad history grade.

My worries, however, seemed to vanish at the end of our first tutoring session.

Walking into history class that same day, I found myself listening to the teacher and actually understanding, for once, what she was talking about. I admit, the content was slightly confusing as I was still not completely caught up, but although there were pieces of the puzzle missing, I knew that with a little time, I would hopefully have no problem at all.

And with my history mark inching up slowly, it seemed that everything else in my life was going right too.

The next two weekends brought the last two track meets of the year with them, as regional training didn’t commence for qualifiers until February.

With my dad and Saige cheering for me during both competitions, I raced my way to every finish line victoriously, making me eligible for regionals, and allowing me to step off the track for the next couple months with a sense of satisfaction and triumph.

As the days of November seemed to pass by with lightning speed, I felt my life in Byrendale slowly coming together.

My dad seemed to be enjoying his new position at his law firm, and looked as though he was gaining the respect of his new co-workers. From the few things he was allowed to tell me about his job, he mentioned being brought onto an unresolved case from a few years ago. According to him, it would make a significant impact on many citizens in this town if everything was brought to rest.

I didn’t know what the issue was or who was directly involved, but I was proud of him for working in a field he was passionate about, and dealing with these top-secret cases that really did make a difference to people in this town.

Saige and I on the other hand were becoming closer as the days passed us by. I had only known her for about a month and a half and it already felt like we had been friends for years.

Sure, I hadn’t told her the specifics about my mother, about how she’d left us without a real warning when I was just a little girl, but she knew that she was no longer in the picture. I also knew that she was keeping some parts of her past to herself as well, specifically those to do with the mystery of Parker, but I could handle that, as I acknowledged the fact that a person’s past didn’t define the person they stood to be in the present.

But, that still left Parker’s past to be a mystery to me.

Every couple of study sessions I could almost feel my brain processing the material he was teaching me. It was as if he spoke in a way that made it both easier for me to understand, and simple to see his passion for the subject shine through.

I would always try to divert the studying in one way or another, asking him about his advanced history class, his art, or just something random, but I could tell that he knew what I was doing. Any time I would veer off track, I could see the side of his mouth lift up in a small smile, as though my questions amused him, but he always seemed to answer every single one.