Chapter 4
Sadie
S oftball practice had gone better than expected, and Sadie was eager to get the season started. Although her teammates might not like her, they at least played well together. With any luck, they had a shot at making it to the state final again—maybe more.
Sadie usually took her time in the locker room, not wanting her teammates to see her leave with Charlie. It didn’t matter, though. They all knew their coach was her stepmom; Sadie didn’t want to give them more ammunition to use against her. Thankfully, Charlie always patiently waited for Sadie to come out and join her at the truck.
As she walked out of the girls’ locker room, she ran into Trevor, who was also walking out of the boys’ locker room. He smiled at her, seemingly happy to see her. His wavy hair was damp from baseball practice, and even a few feet away, she could smell his very strong cologne.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
Déjà vu conversation here.
“I’m glad I ran into you.”
“You—you are?” Sadie nervously adjusted the bat bag on her shoulder. “Why?” she blurted out.
Trevor laughed. “Because I wanted to ask you something.”
“Oh?”
“Would you want to,” he ran his hand through his hair and smiled, “go to prom with me?”
What? Prom? With Trevor? This has to be a joke.
There was no way that Trevor Mariano had just asked her to prom. It had to be a joke. There was no way around it. He couldn’t possibly be interested in her. Trevor was the first baseman for the baseball team, goalie for the hockey team, and second-string quarterback on the football team. Any girl in school would say yes to his prom proposal. So why was he asking her?
“Hello?” Trevor waved a hand in front of her face as he laughed. “Did you hear me?”
“Um, yeah. Sorry.” Sadie shook her head to clear her mind. “You want to go to prom with me ?”
“Well, yeah.” He shrugged. “You’re pretty.”
Is that the only reason? Sadie wanted to ask.
But she didn’t. She only had one chance at going to her senior prom, and apparently, Trevor was how she was going to get there. Sadie would eventually have to figure out how she felt about that, but for now, she nodded her head.
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Cool,” Trevor smirked as he winked. “I’ll get us tickets tomorrow.”
He didn’t give her time to say anything else before he walked down the hallway and out the door to the parking lot. Sadie stood, completely in shock, as she tried to process what the hell had just happened. Thankfully, no one else had been around to see the exchange. She knew she had to be the epitome of awkwardness, which only confused her more about why Trevor asked her to the prom.
Pushing the door open, Sadie made her way to Charlie’s truck. It was the only one left in the parking lot, and Charlie was leaning on it while scrolling on her phone.
“Hey, you ready?”
“Yeah, sorry that it took so long.”
“It’s okay.” Charlie took her bat bag and put it into the truck bed for her. “You did great today.”
“Thanks.”
“You still up for going to Straight to Ale with us?”
Sadie nodded as she opened the passenger-side door. She climbed into the truck, and Charlie did the same on the other side.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just…” Sadie stopped herself from spilling the beans that her mind was distracted by the fact Trevor had just asked her to prom and the images of Ellie singing to her in the theater earlier.
Well, not to her, exactly. They had locked eyes, yes, but that didn’t mean anything. It was probably accidental on Ellie’s behalf. Sadie had interrupted her and Ellie was probably pissed at her for doing so. If the lights had been brighter, she might have seen the frustration in Ellie’s eyes across the room.
Yeah, right .
Sadie could try to explain away how she felt when Ellie looked at her, but it was useless.
“Nothing,” Sadie sighed.
“Have you made a decision on prom?”
Sadie laughed nervously. “Well, kinda.”
“What does that mean?” Charlie playfully laughed.
“Well,” Sadie said, taking a deep breath and pushing the images of Ellie out of her mind. “You know Trevor Mariano?”
“Trevor? The jock?” The surprise was evident in Charlie’s voice. “Yeah, I know him.”
“Well, he kinda just asked me to go to prom with him.”
“Just now?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that why you were late coming out?”
“Partially.”
“Wow,” Charlie exclaimed and Sadie wished she could disappear. Why had she told her? She knew what was coming. “I didn’t know you liked Trevor.”
“I didn’t say I did.”
“But you’re going to prom with him?”
“He asked,” Sadie shrugged. “And he’s cute, right?”
Charlie laughed, but it sounded forced. Like she didn’t know what to say. “I mean, I guess. He has that Zac Efron, High School Musical hair. I just didn’t think he was your type.”
Sadie sat up straighter in her seat. “What does that mean?”
“You know what I mean.” Charlie put the car in park at a spot in front of Straight to Ale. “You’ve always shown interest in girls, and for a while, we thought you and Penny were going to be a thing. You just haven’t ever shown interest in boys. It’s an adjustment.”
“Sexuality is fluid,” she stated flatly.
“I know that.” Sighing, Charlie turned off the engine and put a hand on Sadie’s knee. “I’m sorry for assuming. If you’re happy, I’m happy for you. And your mom will be too. In fact, we can go dress shopping this weekend if you want.”
“Maybe.”
Getting out of the car, Sadie pulled her jacket tighter around her waist as they walked inside. Delaney waved at them from a table, and they made their way over to her.
And right by the Mackenzies having dinner.
More specifically, right by Ellie.
Their eyes locked as they both smiled. Sadie wasn’t sure if she was imagining things, but she could have sworn her eyes lit up when she saw her.
You’re delusional.
“Hey!” Charlie waved at the Mackenzies as they stopped at the table to say hello. Charlie chatted with Isla and Vera for a moment while Sadie nervously waited by her side. She tried hard not to look at Ellie.
And failed.
Ellie smiled up at her. “How was practice?”
“It was good. Thanks.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.” Sadie racked her brain for something—anything—to say that would carry on their abysmal conversation.
But she had nothing.
Well, nothing that wouldn’t embarrass her. She wanted to congratulate Ellie again on getting the role, but that could open up the conversation to everyone finding out she’d eavesdropped on Ellie earlier. And there was no way Sadie was going to ask Ellie if she was going to prom. Sadie was sure she was. The theater kids always went together, it seemed.
And if she wanted to ask me to go, she would have.
Sadie’s thoughts startled her, and she tried to figure out where that thought came from. She had never thought about Ellie asking her to prom, nor would she ever have expected that. Heck, they hadn’t said more than a handful of words to each other in weeks. So why was she thinking about it?
She needed to get away from Ellie so she could think straight.
Poking Charlie’s arm, she said, “We should let them eat.”
“Oh, yes. Sorry. Have a good dinner, you all.”
“You, too.”
Leaving the Mackenzies, Charlie and Sadie joined Delaney at their table. Sadie sat beside Delaney in the booth, knowing she’d have to tell her about Trevor before Charlie made her tell her.
“Guess what?” Sadie tried to fake as much enthusiasm as she could. She was determined to make the best of the situation.
“What?”
“Trevor Mariano asked me to prom.”
“Oh, really,” Delaney gasped, looking across the table at Charlie as she raised her eyebrows. “That’s great. Who’s Trevor?”
“He’s on the baseball team.”
“And the hockey team,” Charlie added. “And the football team.”
“Oh. Wow.”
Her mother didn’t have to say it for Sadie to know she was also surprised it was a guy Sadie was going to prom with. But sexuality was fluid, and Sadie never wanted to put herself into a box. She had traditionally liked girls, sure, but she did find some boys attractive. And Trevor was one of them. Why shouldn’t she go to prom with him?
It wasn’t like he’d asked her to marry him. Hell, he hasn’t even asked her on a date or to be his girlfriend. For all Sadie knew, he just needed someone to go to prom with so he didn’t have to go alone. Sadie understood that even if she doubted it was true. That was just the only reason that didn’t make her overthink him asking her to prom.
“I’m going to go wash my hands.”
Sadie abruptly stood and hurried to the restroom. She planted her hands on the counter and took in a deep breath. Her mind was so jumbled with thoughts of Ellie and Trevor that she couldn’t think straight.
Part of her wanted to message Trevor and tell him never mind. She’d been caught off guard and didn’t have time to fully register what he’d asked when she had said yes. It wasn’t like he could make her last few months at the Moonflower Cove High School any worse than they already would be. Sadie could deal with whatever aftermath came from turning Trevor Mariano down.
“No,” she stated firmly to herself in the mirror. “Don’t do this. Trevor asked you because he likes you. You’re a catch. If Ellie wanted to ask you to prom, she would have. And she didn’t, so,” Sadie shrugged, “that’s that.”
Nodding firmly, Sadie felt confident in her decision to go to prom with Trevor. If anything, maybe it would help put the thoughts of Ellie out of her mind.