Pay attention to the game

Chapter 1

“What's up Josh?” Oakley answers the phone.

“You have a gift package out here. Want me to bring it in?”

“Uh, yeah. Thanks. The subs are here already."

“Awesome."

"I don't know what this is" Oakley places the gift on the coffee table.

"I don't always remember what I ordered either."

"Maybe it's some promo."

"So did you hear that Harmony left?”

“No" he turns his back to get out the plates. "I didn't."

Josh laughs slowly, "That girl, Oakley. We told you.”

“What do you mean you told me? We never dated.”

“Sure."

“Whatever, dude. She was interested in Oregon and its art scene out there."

"Cool. You liked watching her draw and stuff."

"That’s what it was." Oakley mutes the commercials while Josh moves over to the couch.

A white rectangle hidden beneath the bow catches Oakley's eye. He removes a loose photo of the car's rainy window.

“Who's it from?"

Oakley flips the photo to see if anything is written on it. "What is she thinking?"

"It's from Harmony?"

"Uh, no."

"Yes, it is. I recognize that look. Oak, we told you this would happen."

"No, you did not. She doesn't have a history of gifting."

"She does. She likes gifting season." Josh says with a full mouth while Oakley throws him a look of annoyance. "Does it say anything?"

"No. Just a picture she took one day." Oakley places the photo facedown in the same position he found it in.

"I bet it's love notes inside. To this day- still to this day-”

“I had to step away from the situation. I thought she’d have found someone else by now" he picks up the box and places it inside a cabinet in the dining area next to the living room.

“So why does she still have any question about where you stand?"

“You know, if she were here right now, she'd tell me to throw them all away.”

“Exactly! That's exactly what I would expect. Wait, why did you put it away?''

''Unmute the T.V.- the game is on!''

"Oh no!"

The background noise returns. "But you're not going to see what else is in there?'' Oakley shakes his head in exasperation. ''Her entire personality is uncalled for."

He taps the wrapping paper around the top of the box. "I don't want to be distracted right now." He rises from the couch and heads to the kitchen to refill his water.

Harmony was a hopeless romantic from the day they met 15 years ago. His wavelengths of love for her could not match the intentionality in which her love bordered on him.

Back in the living room, his eyes repeatedly wander towards the cupboard. After a few more commercials-worth of sitting in silence, Oak rises up from the couch again.

The brief flash of gold wrapping paper in Oakley's hands draws Josh's eye away from his phone for a millisecond.

He places it back in the kitchen and sits on the counter across from the gift's haunting mystery.

Harmony parks the small camper van at the plant nursery with her cousin Genevieve and friend Kat inside. The rainwater slides down the window at the halt of the car's music.

“I like driving through the straight quiet slower areas a lot better. You’re more used to the busy highways and faster speed limits” Kat sits at the table with her laptop.

“I haven’t traveled by mini-RV before, and I thought you were paranoid when you refused to get on a plane, but I can see why you wanted to experience this" Genevieve unbuckles her seatbelt, walks to her suitcase, and brushes her bright blond hair.

"We're officially in Seaside! 15 minutes away from the new house. I caught these amazing photos! We've gone through about half of what I saved from my visitor guides!" Harmony fixes her highlighted brunette hair with an attractive headband.

"I'm ready for a restaurant after this!" Kat fixes her bleached pixie cut and aviator glasses as she observes the gorgeous landscape in her neutral attire. "How far from town is this place?"

"I'm hungry too. What are we in the mood for?" Genevieve asks.

"We'll find something. I'll be like two seconds in here" Harmony smiles. "I think volunteering around the coast sounds like an actual blast."

"Whoa- she wants to volunteer!" Kat jokes.

"We have umbrellas in our bags" Harmony rests against the door for a moment. "This rain though. Seriously, I'm going to be so happy here! I loved seeing Lincoln City. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this state."

"You are going to freeze in the winter" Kat opens the door. "We still need to go shopping."

Harmony climbs out of the driver's side. “This thing is taller than it looks."

"Welcome!" a worker pleasantly greets them.

“Hi!" Harmony answers. "I want to get my plant-game going in this garden state. We found some floats in the Treasure Hunt."

"Oh, in Lincoln City! Definitely have to incorporate that. Let me know if I can help you with anything."

"Thanks!" she responds.

"I've really liked your whole scrapbooking-system with your portable printer" Genevieve glances at the flowers as she researches restaurants nearby on her phone. "Options nearby are seafood, grill, or sushi."

"I guess it's the grill then" Kat stops to look at the purple flowers. "I think I want one of these."

“Get it!"

Genevieve's phone waits in her small crossbody purse. "They have dolphin and whale watching in San Diego too though! Lot of coastal events you’d love. The Oregon coast is really cold! You’re right to assume it might be less crowded."

“I’ve seen pictures of it more crowded in the summer months. That’s good though- tourism is good. Means I don't have to assume I'll be alone and singl forever. Even though it's not an emergency. I don't want to want anything."

“Exactly! You’ll meet so many people!” Genevieve looks through the aisles in the greenhouse.

Harmony fills her cart with plants she wrote down in a list and half-listens to the conversation.

“So if you’re in a serious relationship or getting married and he wants to take you to Paris, Hawaii, London, Birmingham, or Cambridge, you'll say no? I don't buy it” Genevieve declares.

“No, I'm serious- I won’t say yes” Harmony answers.

“I think you’re missing out on seeing the world.”

"She's not, Gen, it's just that some of us can’t be satisfied with experiencing places through art and photography and videos. Stay open-minded."

"I've said it and I'll say it again," Harmony answers, "I prefer to observe the sky from the ground. I have zero desire to board a plane or a cruise ship."

“I’ll go with you!" Genevieve looks up at the rain falling on the clear windows. "It's worth it."

“Sitting in cramped space a thousand miles high does not sound worth the hassle to me. I do not need to go to Paris or Hawaii. I'll stay where I can drive.”

"You wanted to go to London when we were little" Kat looks up from her soda.

“That was a phase.”

“The UK was a huge phase. You made a few computer-collages of your fabulous dream residence in London. I remember the entire presentation. She thoroughly researched it right down to the housing market."

"I was 12! Well I found the rainy U.S.A. I did think about it again, and I grew out of wanting to see London. In college I was interested in Birmingham and Cambridge. Those well-known cities are so overrated by now. I really don’t need to go through all of that to see whatever it is I can see in other people's photographs. Experiences are fleeting, just like how long we look into a picture. Why pay for what's gone in a second?”

“Hawaii is a five-and-a-half-hour plane trip, and it’s more like seven or eight with the waiting time. She's not good at waiting" Kat explains.

"We have beautiful coasts right inside our safe continent that I’ll drive to. I love the open road! Hawaii, London, Paris- overcrowded with tourists.”

“Our safe continent" Genevieve laughs. "I would not call this safe by a long shot. Kat, we have a non-adventurous photographer."

"I will not admit to being non-adventurous!"

“And what about New York?”

“I don’t have any dreams about New York.”

“Not NYC, I can tell, but the Hamptons was on your list too! You fell in love with that place after that chick-flick we saw in middle school" Kat checks her phone with one plant in a small basket.

“Why does everyone flock to these destinations? They’re partying with money- that’s why. They’d have just of a great time in Washington or Florida or even Mexico or Canada.”

“Way safe continent. You knew the exact flight time to London. Do you remember it?”

“No, because me going to London is like saying I’m going to be on a professional cheerleading team.”

“Which you also wanted to do! Who says you can’t?”

“Everyone, Kat. I failed those tryouts miserably."

"I really got all of the cheerleading experience I could take” Genevieve says, "But maybe you'll want to look into the pros someday anyway."

“What if you’re offered some kind of huge business deal in New York? You’re going to drive all the way across the country to New York? What if you have to be there within a day and they’re offering you $50,000?” Kat asks.

“Okay, okay. You're making this really hard for me. I’d close my eyes, hold my breath, and I guess I'm getting on board for that. Look at these gorgeous plants!"

"I can't wait to see them at the house."