I gave him a pointed look.
"I guess the saying is true," he continued, unphased by the look I was giving him. "Save the best for last."
I wanted to smack the cocky smile off his face, but I refrained. Instead, I focused on pulling out my laptop from my bag and opening it up to the page of interview questions I had for him. First were the get to know you questions, and then I'd finish it off with what he did on a typical day.
"Okay, first question for you," I said. "What do you like to watch on TV?"
His answer came easily. "ESPN."
I quickly typed that in and went on to the next question. "What music do you like to listen to?"
"Hold on a minute," he said. "I get to ask you a question now, remember?"
Ugh. I did remember. I just hadn't thought it was going to be a one for one kind of thing.
"Fine. Go ahead."
He took a few seconds before finally asking his question. "What made you choose to come to Waterford University? Why didn't you choose to go to a college in Georgia, closer to home?"
"Technically, that's two questions," I said with a saccharine grin. "So answer my music question and then I'll answer both of yours."
"I like country and R&B," he said simply. "Now will you answer my questions?"
He liked country music? That made my Southern heart real happy. I could picture us driving down the road with the windows down, my curls flying in the wind as we belted out one country song after another. His awful singing voice making me laugh. Rush was good at a lot of things, but if you'd ever been to a karaoke night at the Wolf's Den, you knew that he couldn't sing worth a hill of beans.
But what was I doing thinking about singing country songs with Rush? I subtly shook my head. This man had a way of making me lose my mind.
"I decided to come to Waterford to be closer to my mom," I said, answering his earlier questions. "After my parents divorced, she met Coach Matthews online, they got married, and she moved in with him here, so I tagged along. The divorce had a way of tainting my life back in Georgia, and I wanted a fresh start." I'd tried to keep my answer short, hoping to show no emotion in my voice.
I'd planned on going to the University of Georgia with all my friends, but things changed. My friends had changed, I'd changed, our perfect influential Southern family had been torn apart, and our story had been gossiped about all over town. I was sure they still talked about it today.
"How long ago did your parents divorce?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested in my story.
"Three-and-a-half years ago."
"I'm so sorry."
I shrugged my shoulders. "It's a good thing. Their whole marriage was a sham."
"When did you figure that out?" he asked.
"Oh, you know, the proper way," I said, my voice sarcastic. "Right about the same time the whole town found out."
He grimaced at my words. "That's awful."
I shook off the feeling of betrayal that always came with this topic. We needed to focus back on the interview questions and less on my past.
"Anyway," I said, looking back at my screen. "What was your first job?"
He stayed silent long enough that I looked away from my screen to see why he wasn't responding.
"How old were you?" he asked, still wanting to talk about me.
I opened my mouth to remind him he needed to answer my question, but he beat me to it. "The local hardware store."
I typed that in before responding, "A few days before I turned sixteen."
"So for sixteen years you thought your parents had a great marriage?"
