Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I took a shower, changed into what I think is nice clothes that make me look hot, brushed my hair, sprayed some cologne that I heard girls like. I should be good to go. But I’m hesitating.
Maybe it’s too much? It’s just a party. Who am I trying to impress?
I snort. I know exactly who I’m trying to impress.
And I don’t know why. She’s my best friend’s little sister, my friend and teammate.
Someone I shouldn’t be thinking about in that way.
How many times do I have to tell myself that we both want different things?
She’s looking for a boyfriend. I just want to have fun.
Felix bangs on the door. “I’m dying of boredom.”
“Read a dang book,” I call to him.
“Like heck I’m going to do that! Did you fall in the toilet?”
Sighing, I throw the door open. “Happy?”
He scans me from top to bottom and frowns. “Geez, man, you look like a god while I look like a peasant.”
Laughing, I clap him on the back. “Not everyone can pull this off.”
“Clearly,” he mutters as he follows me toward the door to our room. I pull my phone from my pocket and check my texts. Nothing from Carly. I sent her the address to the party a short while ago, but she hasn’t responded. I guess she has no intention of showing up. That’s too bad.
“Why are you staring at your phone?” Felix asks, trying to peek at it over my shoulder. “Did you get, like, fifty texts from girls or something?”
I do have quite a few texts from girls, but I haven’t looked at them. Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I say, “Let’s go, man.”
We head to the parking lot and get into his car. The usual kids are with us—jocks and a few cheerleaders. Most are talking about sports and the party. And of course girls.
It doesn’t take us long to arrive at Ivy’s house. Like the other kids here, her house is massive. It’s filled with students from our school as well as a few others.
I grab a Coke and chug half of it down as I lean on a wall of what looks like the living room that has been transformed into a dance room. Then I look around. Her hair should be easy to spot in the crowd. Hmm. Looks like she’s not here yet.
Or won’t come at all , a voice in my head reminds me.
As I continue to stand on the side, watching the other kids, girls come over and ask me to dance. I have fun with them, but my eyes keep darting around the room, searching for her.
Darn it. Why can’t I get it out of my head that she’s not coming? Just because I want her to does not mean it will happen.
The Parker twins join in the dancing and they distract me for a short while, but the only thing on my mind is Carly.
Avery rests her head on my arm while April lowers hers on my chest. “Who are you going to the school dance with?” Avery asks me.
Right. The winter dance that will take place in two weeks. I totally forgot about it.
April pulls at my arm. “So? Who are you going with?”
They give me identical expectant looks, as if waiting for me to ask one of them. Or both of them?
“I’m not sure yet.”
Avery pouts. “You didn’t ask anyone yet?”
“Nope. Still got some time.”
Carly’s face pops up before me. Right. As if she’d go to the school dance with me.
She might not hate me anymore, but she doesn’t like hanging out with me socially.
And of course I can’t forget how uneasy she gets when she sees me surrounded by girls.
It’s not like I want them to crowd around me.
It just happens. And besides, like I said, Carly and I are looking for different things.
Yet why can’t I seem to let go of her?
April’s eyes are as large as the exercise ball in the other room. “Are you even going to the dance?”
“Sure I am.”
The twins exchange a look. April presses herself tighter to my chest while her sister clutches my arm, nearly blocking my blood flow.
“Of course you’re going with us,” Avery says, squeezing my bicep. April sighs heavily and shuts her eyes, as if she’s using my chest as her pillow.
“Can’t make any promises, girls,” I tell them.
“But you have to go with us!” April insists. “We have, like, so many guys lined up, but we want to go with you.”
I tilt my head, letting my hair fall away from my forehead. “Hmm. We’ll see. I think Felix is calling me.” He’s not really. I just need to get away from them.
He’s at the other end of the room, talking to the girl he’s trying to get with. The poor guy doesn’t realize she’s bored out of her mind and keeps looking at her phone. My buddy deserves better than that.
I latch my hand around his arm, yanking him to his feet and dragging him out the back door. There are many kids here, but not as much as back there.
“What the heck, dude?” he demands. “I was telling her about the time I fell off my bike when I was like seven and got a scab on my arm. I was just getting to the good part.”
I raise my eyebrow at him.
“Darn it. I was being a nerd again, wasn’t I?”
The guy wasn’t popular before he attended this school and became a jock. When I became his roommate, he instructed me to tell him whenever he “defaults” to his nerdy side.
“You know that’s not a bad thing,” I tell him. “Some girls like nerdy guys.”
He scoffs.
“Anyway, you were boring her out, so I came to rescue you. And to run away from the Parker twins.”
He straightens up. “What? You ran away from the Parker twins? Are you out of your freakin’ mind?!”
I shrug. “Dude, I can have any girl I want in this school, and I don’t want them.”
He studies me. “What do you mean ‘want’? You’re not interested in a girlfriend.”
I don’t say anything.
His mouth nearly drops to the ground. “You want a girlfriend?”
I roll my eyes and turn toward the house. “Of course not.”
“That didn’t sound very confident.”
I run my fingers through my hair and release a breath. “No, I don’t want commitment. You know how I feel about girlfriends or long-term relationships. They’re fake and a waste of time.”
He nods slowly. “Okay? So go hang out with the Parker twins.”
“They want to go to the school dance with me.”
“Awesome.”
I want to tell him that it’s not awesome, but he won’t understand. I don’t even understand it myself. I don’t want a girlfriend, but the thought of just having fun with girls doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
So where exactly does that leave me?
Felix watches me for a bit. “You’re the luckiest guy at school, man. You’ve got every single girl chasing after you.”
“Not all.”
“You know what I mean. The ones that matter. You can have a new girl every week if you want.”
I face him. “Yeah, that’s true.”
But I don’t want that.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I continue. “Maybe I’m tired after all the dance practice. I’m going back to campus.”
“Want me to drive you?”
I wave my hand. “It’s cool. I’ll catch a ride with someone.”
I reenter the house and freeze when I spot that beautiful red hair near the entrance to the dance room. Carly’s here with her friends and Addie’s boyfriend.
My entire body perks up like the sun rose inside me. With a wide smile, I make my way to them.
“Hey! You came.”
Carly turns to me, her face a bit haunted. “There are so many people here.”
I chuckle. “Yep. Big party and all that.” I greet the others as well. Then I face Carly again. “I wasn’t sure you’d show, but I’m glad you did. Was starting to get lonely here.”
She lifts a brow, then gazes around the room with an expression that tells me she’s wondering if we see the same thing. Yeah, we do. Kids are taking up pretty much every corner. “Lonely? There are tons of people you can talk to.”
I notice that her friends and Caleb have slipped away, leaving just the two of us. “Maybe, but I’m not interested in anything they have to say.”
She looks at something, then at me. “I think the Parker twins are waiting for you.”
I don’t glance at them. “Hmm.”
“It’s rude to keep them waiting.”
I bend close to her. “I’m talking to you.”
“It’s okay. You can go to them.”
I search her eyes. “Is that what you really want, Captain?”
“What does it matter what I want?”
I narrow my eyes. “I invited you here, didn’t I?”
“So?”
“So it means I want to talk to you and not them. They asked me to go to the school dance with them.”
She blinks at me. “Both of them?”
I shrug. “Why have fun with one twin when you can have fun with two, right?”
Her lips press together. “I’m sure you’ll have a good time.”
I catch her hand before she has a chance to leave. “Where are you going?”
“To find my friends.”
“Carly, I’m not going to the dance with them.”
She pulls her hand free from my grasp. “Dude, I really don’t care who you go or don’t go to the dance with. Where are they?” she mutters as she scans around.
“I was actually saving myself for someone special,” I inform her.
She’s barely listening to me. “There they are.” She heads over to her friends.
I sigh as I watch her. What am I doing? She’s my teammate, nothing more.
Carly, Addie, and the rest of the team stand in the center of the room and start the routine we’re practicing. The kids cheer and clap, some joining in.
Carly moves her body effortlessly, like a goddess. When her eyes pin on me, she smiles and motions with her hand for me to join them. I’m glad she’s not upset with me over the twins thing. But why would she be? It’s not like she wants to go to the school dance with me, does she?
“Ryder!” the team calls.
I dash to the center of the room, squish myself between Carly and Addie, and dance. The Parker twins, as well as many others, come as well, and we all have an awesome time goofing off and having fun. Just like a party should be.
A short while later, after I’m fetching drinks for myself and Carly and the others, Felix stands next to me. “I thought you left.”
I raise my head and watch Carly dancing with her friends and the rest of the team. The smile on her face is so bright, like diamonds glistening in the sunlight. “Yeah, well I changed my mind.”
“Because of her?” he asks.
“Who?”
“The redhead. Saw you talking to her before. You into her or something?”
I snicker. “Dude, she’s my best friend’s little sister. And she wants a boyfriend, so no, I’m not into her.” My heart feels heavy as I utter the words. Because they’re not true. But they’ve got to be. I can’t be into her.
Something tells me I have no control over that.
He shrugs. “She’s cute and all, but yeah. Looks like the girlfriend type.” He pats my arm and walks off. I continue to watch Carly dance, and that bright smile on her face.
She must feel my heavy eyes on her because she stops and looks at me. She freezes for a second before smiling and giving me a shy wave.
With my own smile, I wave back.
I’m not going to think about commitments or the whole girlfriend/boyfriend thing. She doesn’t see me as boyfriend material, anyway, so why am I getting so bent out of shape? We’re friends and dance partners.
Sure, maybe I like to get close to her and whisper things in her ear, but it’s not like she’s melting into a puddle at my feet. Which means she doesn’t like me as more than a friend.
Good. That makes things so much easier. We’ll just have fun hanging out together.
Carly signals for me to come dance. I carry a tray with drinks for everyone. My hand brushes Carly’s as I pass her a cup of Coke. This weird spark shoots up my arm.
After we’re done drinking, we dance most of the evening away. I’m tempted to show off what Carly and I have so far for our duet, but it’s best we keep the surprise for the competition.
Later, when I’m lying in bed in my room, I replay the events over and over in my head. But the only thing that stands out to me is Carly’s dazzling smile.