Chapter 5 #2
“Mel, we can skip the races and do something else if you want,” Paige offered, minutes later.
Melinda sighed and twisted in her seat, severing the physical connection between us again. “Nah. It’ll be fun. Gimme a minute to find my groove back.”
Paige nodded and swiveled to stare out of the windshield, satisfied with her friend’s answer.
For the umpteenth time, I checked the time on my phone. Only three minutes had passed. How could twenty minutes feel like forever?
I huffed a breath, ran my fingers through my hair—now a messy disaster for sure—and extended my left leg again, hoping for the slightest contact.
Anything to ground me and kill the angst swirling inside me.
In vain. In my imagination, Melinda would realize I was desperate for her attention and spin around, look at me, and indulge me by striking up a conversation like we were best friends or something.
Or lodge herself in the crook of my arm, admitting she’d been in love with me all this time and we should go on a date.
If only real life was as simple and love was as straightforward as the game, right?
All day, I’d been waiting for two o’clock to ring, and now that it was here, my new game-plan project was lacking. It was in dire need of some brainstorming and a real course of action. I shook my head, disappointed in myself.
From the shortest conversation known to humankind between the girls, I could tell I was right earlier, and something was bothering my seat neighbor.
A part of me was desperate to put a smile on her face.
To make her laugh because the sound was truly amazing.
Also, it would be fun to have a ceasefire for a few hours so we could test once and for all if we still shared some chemistry.
Shutting my eyes, I tried to come up with a joke that would ease the weirdness in the air—or at least decrease the tension tying my stomach.
Nothing. It was like my brain cells had been fried.
I couldn’t come up with anything funny. My mind was blank, and my brain refused to reboot.
The restlessness inside me multiplied. I wiped my palms over my shorts.
Slouching in the seat and widening my legs a little more, I attempted once again to rub my knee against Melinda’s. Since when had I no better move than this with girls?
Melinda leaned forward to grab a lip gloss from her purse she had set on the floor, and I moved my leg out of her way.
She offered me what resembled a tight-lipped smile, and my stupid heart galloped in my chest like she had just made a love declaration.
After coating her lips in glittery pink, she returned her gaze to the scenery passing by, and my hopes for some interaction died.
Why couldn’t I come up with something smart to say?
Anything. I wasn’t usually shy. And I always had a comeback ready on the tip of my tongue.
Now, though? Nothing. My thoughts were frozen inside my head.
I watched Elk River, our small Michigan town about fifty miles northeast of Traverse City, through her window.
Bordering the Grand Traverse Bay, it had the small-town charm while being close enough to the big city, so we had all the amenities within an hour’s drive.
Other than the chilly winters, I loved everything about my hometown.
Right now, all we could see were trees and more trees, a few businesses lining the road, and a strip mall.
Nothing exciting enough to suck in Melinda’s interest.
A notification on my phone jolted me out of my thoughts. I fished the device out of my pocket and unlocked it, thanking, in my head, whoever saved me from my own stupidity.
Jax
Throwing an end-of-summer bash tonight. You in?
Jackson Pettyfer was a left guard for the Elk River High Bears and one of the coolest people I knew.
Always in a good mood and ready to party, he had gotten the nickname The Organizer a few years back when he always found an excuse to throw a rager.
Even when we were in middle school, he would come up with all kinds of ideas to have a group of friends over.
Now that he was in high school, his parties had switched from video game and soda nights to booze and midnight swim themes.
My phone chimed three times with incoming text messages.
Jax
Ten.
My uncle’s cabin by the lake.
Spread the word, everybody will come if you’re there.
My lips curled into a smile, and I typed a reply.
Me
You’re only using me for my popularity with girls and my social skills. Is that it?
Jax
Yeah. Pretty much. Can’t stand your ugly mug otherwise.
Me
Chick magnet is my only asset?
Jax
That and throwing a ball.
Bring beer. And a crowd.
Me
Fine. Let me see what I can do.
“You guys have something planned for later?” I asked Craig and the girls, relieved to have something to talk about and break that awkward silence once and for all.
My brother watched me through the rearview mirror. “Told you we were having dinner with the guys later.”
“Yeah, but I mean after dinner.”
Paige turned around in her seat to look at me. “What do you have in mind?”
“Jax is throwing an end-of-summer bash at the cabin by the lake. You’re all invited. You coming?”
She shrugged. “Could be fun.” Her attention drifted to her friend who had been oddly silent so far. “Are you in?”
“I suppose.”
Paige’s eyes shone with glints. “Okay, people, we’re going. We need to let loose before school resumes in two days. Senior year means attending parties and opening ourselves to new experiences.”
I nodded my agreement. “Nothing like a night at the cabin to end our summer break on a high note. Let me text Jax. We gotta bring beer.”
“We can do a pitstop after dinner,” my brother said. “I know a place where they don’t check IDs as long as we pay cash.”
“You do? Never thought of sharing that piece of useful information with your baby brother before?”
He shook his head, a smirk forming on his lips. “Yeah, well, I’m surprised I’m the guy providing the information right now. Between us, you’re usually the one in the loop, man.”
“Life would be boring if I was perfect all the time. I love it when you’re the one teaching me stuff. After all, that’s the reason you were born first.”
My brother’s grin took over his face.
“I’m glad we’re doing this,” Paige said.
“Me too.” The tension straining Melinda’s shoulders seemed to vanish, and a tiny smile shaped her lips. “I need this. To let loose.”
I pumped my fist. “Good. We have a plan, people.”
The weird silence that had enveloped us until now dissipated. The energy in the car had transformed, the heaviness a thing of the past, and now we were back to being ourselves. I relaxed in my seat, the need to entertain the crowd gone.
Paige and Melinda were chatting about some movie I’d never heard of, and Craig kept stealing glances at his girlfriend every few minutes.
His hand stayed attached to hers as if he feared she could disappear any second.
Something was different, though, in their interactions, and for the first time, I noticed what Paige had hinted at this morning and wondered what was troubling my brother.