Try Me (Extracurricular Activities #2)

by Neve Wilder

“Different times.” He sighed like it was a shame. “The world is changing so much.” I’d gotten a version of this speech in so many iterations over the years that the amusement now lay in trying to figure out which artifact of a bygone era he was about to lament. “People are softer now. Triggered easily.” Dad hung air quotes on the word triggered, then shook his head with a grimace. “Makes me think of apples left out on the counter too long. Biting into that taut red skin only to find the interior is mealy and spoiled.” He sniffed derisively. “There’s a lot of mealiness lately.” “Maybe you should stop eating apples.” His gaze flinched toward me, sharing a flash of shock that quickly transitioned into a sharp, watchful glint. I rarely talked back. The desire to look away from him was overwhelming. I knew these kinds of power plays. I knew what it meant when I looked away. In the past when I’d done it, I’d told myself it was the easier route, that I was saving myself unnecessary hassle and grief. But I had Chet’s grin on my mind, how his eyes had danced on the court earlier. How he held my jaw, my side, my hand. Fierce and tender and possessive at once. So whether I held my father’s gaze out of carelessness or bravery, I wasn’t sure. They were easy to mistake for each other. When he looked away, the sense of triumph I felt was probably a tenth of what he experienced on a daily basis, but I tasted it, absorbed it. And I understood the allure completely.