Twelve Years Ago
SULLY
I hated high school a lot less than middle school.
It still sucked. Like, a lot. I hated the block schedule, making the classes unbelievably long. I hated any assignments that used more words than numbers. I hated the tiny desks that my long, restless legs couldn’t fit under.
But there were two things that made it better.
One, my mom took me to the doctor over the summer, and now I took a medication every morning that made me feel a little less like I was crawling out of my skin every time I had to sit through an entire class period.
And two, in between those class periods, I got to see my favorite person in the whole wide world.
Not that I’d met every person in the whole wide world, but if I had to guess, I could meet a million, a billion, a trillion people, and Eleanor Summers would still be my favorite one.
Unfortunately, however, her locker was on the opposite side of the building, in the sophomore bay. And mine, regardless of how many times I’d tried to bribe Barb in the front office, was still in the freshman wing.
I’d reckon that by the spring, I’ll have a real good chance of making the track team, considering all of the sprinting practice I’d been getting by running from one end of the school to the other.
“Hey!” I was breathless, but I caught Ellie just as she was closing her locker door.
She jumped a little at my sudden appearance, but then smiled and flicked her long, dark hair over her shoulder.
It was bare, her slouchy little shirt slipping down one arm and exposing the summer tan lingering on her skin.
I leaned my shoulder into the row of lockers to keep myself from inching closer.
“Hi!” she replied before glancing behind her. The movement was anxious, making me frown. “Hurry, let’s walk toward Mattson’s class before Kurtis comes.”
“Kurtis?”
“Yeah, he won’t leave me alone. His locker’s just three down from mine.” She pointed to it, making a face. “He keeps asking me if I’ll go to Homecoming with him, and I keep telling him I’ll think about it.”
My frown deepened.
Last year, Ellie went to Homecoming with Natalie and her friends, since she hadn’t really known anyone yet. She was way younger than the rest of them, but they’d adopted her as one of their own.
I hadn’t thought about the fact that other people would probably ask her out to school dances this year.
“Do you want to go to Homecoming with him?”
She looked at me like she couldn’t believe I’d asked that. “No.”
“Then just tell him that.”
Her pretty brown eyes flicked in annoyance. “It’s not that easy.”
“No?”
“Not really—”
“Hey, freshman!”
I looked up to find Kurtis himself walking over, weaving his way between groups of people to get to where Ellie and I huddled near the lockers.
Perfect timing, honestly.
“You talkin’ to me?” I called, even though, from the way he was shooting daggers with his gaze, it was pretty damn clear he was talking to me. He was a big dude with broad shoulders, but I was sure I had a few inches on him height-wise.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you.” Yep, figured. “What are you doing over here?”
God, what an ass. He was crowding Ellie now, towering over her in a weird show of…I don’t know, dominance?
Whatever it was, I didn’t like it.
I shrugged and, without really thinking about it, looped my arm around Ellie’s waist, pulling her back against me. “Talking to Eleanor.”
“Eleanor?” He snorted. “She doesn’t want to fucking talk to you.”
“Actually,” Ellie cut in. Ah, that’s my girl. “Sully and I are…”
She hesitated, like she couldn’t decide what to say. We were friends—best friends. We were neighbors. She was my sister’s friend, family friends, the list went on. There were what felt like a million options.
I decided to help her out.
“Dating,” I said.
“Dating?” Kurtis repeated, in somewhat disbelief.
And then, to my utter shock, Ellie confirmed it. “Yeah, dating.”
And fuck, did she sound happy about it. Maybe because the ruse would get Kurt here off her back, but I was going to pretend that it was more than that. Because hell, I fucking could.
“Yeah, so if you don’t mind…you know, leaving us the fuck alone?” I flashed Kurtis a smug smile that turned his face a funny shade of pink. “That would be great. We’re trying to figure out our Homecoming plans.”
Kurty boy started grinding his teeth at that.
“Who the fuck are you anyway, freshman?”
I laughed. I hadn’t realized he didn’t know.
“Sully London.” I put my hand out, trying a bit of cordiality. Didn’t want to be rude now, did we? “Kurtis Davis, right? I recognize you from the football field.”
“Yeah…” He was slow to take my hand and slow to drop it, his expression doing a real quick switch up. He wasn’t so cocky now, and we both fucking knew why.
And that fact was cemented further when I felt someone at my back, and Kurt’s eyes flicked up.
“Everything good here, Davis?”
Theo’s low voice sounded a touch more menacing than normal, and I tried not to smile.
“Yeah.” Kurtis cleared his throat. “We’re good, Captain.”
“Cool. Glad you met my brother and his girl.” He clapped a hand on Kurt’s shoulder, digging his fingers in a little harder than was likely necessary. “But you should probably head to class before you get another detention and piss off Coach some more.”
“Right.”
Kurtis took off after that, and I watched him slink away, satisfaction sinking into my bones as he did.
Ellie turned in my arms and mouthed, “Thank you,” before looking at the clock on the wall.
“I should go, too,” she said, but then she smiled at me. “Talk at lunch?”
“Sounds good, Homecoming date,” I said, and her eyes made a playful roll, like maybe she thought I was kidding.
I’d let her know I wasn’t kidding later.
Turning to my brother, I grinned.
“Thanks, dude,” I said to Theo, who was still glaring after his teammate, lips pressed in a tight line.
“Yeah.” He glanced at me. “I’ll talk to him at practice, too. Make sure he knows Ellie Summers is as good as my little sister and off-fucking-limits. Even though I think she could probably take him if she had to.”
I nodded. “I think she’d make a good sister,” I said. And then clarified, “To you. Not to me.”
Theo laughed—a rare sound. “Maybe you should get on that, then.”
“Planning on it,” I told him, but what I didn’t tell him was that I wasn’t worried.
Fate had a funny way of taking its time.
I just had to be patient.