Pieces of Paisley Read Free Page B

aren’t always correct.
    “What do you do?” I try and keep it simple.
    “I am on summer break from school.” Her quick answers are direct, and she isn’t going to give me anymore.
    “What do you go to school for?” I want to know what intrigues her, what she wants to do with her life.
    “Uh, a diploma.” Apparently she is not going to give me anything.
    “Okay, smart ass,” I chuckle “What are you getting that diploma in?”
    “High school.” I almost swerve off the road. Did she just say high school?
    “Paisley, how old are you?”
    “Sixteen.” What the hell? I about sideswipe the car next to me when I swerve in the opposite lane. “Have you been drinking?” she asks me.
    “No, but I think I need to.” I can’t believe she is sixteen. I would have thought eighteen, possibly nineteen. Shit, does Chad know we can get in trouble for this? Underage and military don’t exactly mix.
    “So you are naturally a shitty driver?” I know she is referring to my near wreck, but what she doesn’t understand is I can get in serious trouble just for her being in my truck.
    We pull up into the Mexican restaurant, and I immediately lay into Chad, audience be damned. “What the fuck? They are underage, do you know how much trouble we can get in?”
    Chad looks at me like I have just spoken a foreign language, “What?”
    “Underage.” I point to Paisley who is listening to every word exchanged, her head pinging back in forth between Chad and I like she is watching a tennis match, “Six-fucking-teen. High school.”
    Chad’s eyes dart to Krista and Paisley doing a double take, “Shit, no way.”
    Krista jumps in, “I turned eighteen in March, and we are both going to be seniors. Paisley started school early, but will be seventeen in September. Don’t worry, lover boy, you are safe,” she winks at Chad as she says this.
    His whole posture visibly relaxes, and he gravitates towards her, and I throw him a reminder, “Uh, she isn’t safe,” and I point to Paisley.
    “First, you don’t need to worry about my safety or age. I didn’t ask to ride with you, Romeo, that was all your doing. Second, not interested . . . I don’t think I can make myself any clearer. Besides, how old are you?”
    “Twenty, last month.” I can tell I have shocked her the way she grips Krista’s arm. “You have to be eighteen to join the military, Paisley. I have been in almost two years.”
    Isn’t this evening turning into a nightmare? If I am truthful, I don’t give a shit she is sixteen and that thought takes me by surprise. She is a kid, a gorgeous, naïve, and fearless kid.
    “Let’s just go eat, and chalk this up to a failed attempt at you trying to play Lothario with a high school student.” See, right there, when she throws attitude with a hint of sarcasm, I don’t give a shit she is underage, I just know I want to know more of her. A hell of a lot more.
    We all make our way in and order. I get some ribbing from her for ordering a beer and ‘stripping her innocence by drinking underage’ which I remind her she has been doing all night. I find out she is brilliant. Smart, she wants to be a lawyer, and you can tell by her interactions with Krista and the way they share stories about other friends, she is loved. When the conversation moves to family, I find out she is the youngest of six, only one brother and I feel sorry for him if her sisters are anything like her. She quickly laughs that off and explains her sisters are reserved and very dependent on her parents. I am an only child and my mom re-married when I was in high school and I love and respect my stepfather. We have that in common. I don’t mention that my dad has re-married many times over, and I can never get his approval or acceptance, and I don’t know why I still try.
    Time slips away and before I realize, midnight is here. I ask the girls what their curfew is. I almost choked on those words because I haven’t had a curfew in years. Paisley just