Chapter Five Rowan
Chapter Five
Rowan
“I didn’t know Amanda and Ronnie were back together,” Vaughn says, taking a drink of his soda and looking across Boone’s backyard.
I don’t need to look to know exactly what or who he’s seeing. Amanda and Ronnie have been all over each other all night.
“Me either,” I mutter and steal another quick glance. I can’t help but feel a little salty. Maybe I misread the conversation earlier. I thought her asking me to come meant she’d stopped talking to him.
“You gonna do something about that?” Eli asks me, quirking one brow.
“Nah.” I shake my head. “Why would I?”
The guys all look at me, some unnamed expression on their faces. Pity, maybe. Do they feel sorry for me? They shouldn’t. Amanda and I aren’t together. We haven’t been for months.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Eddie nudges me with an elbow to the ribs. “Look who showed up.”
“Hmm?” I ask only half paying attention.
My gaze is back on Amanda across the yard.
Why the hell did she ask me to come and pretend like she missed me?
It isn’t like her to play games. I thought things were going to be cool between us and, yes, hoped we might start talking again.
People like to give us shit about going back and forth, but it never felt that messy.
Not until now. She asked me to come but hasn’t so much as acknowledged my presence.
And when the hell did she and Ronnie start talking again?
“Holy shit. Is that Silas’s sister?” Eli asks, then mutters, “Daaaaamn.”
That finally gets my attention. I turn in time to watch Summer Lindsey step off the back patio steps.
She’s wearing a light-blue dress that hangs mid-thigh.
It has tiny little straps that cut into her shoulders.
It’s the first time I’ve seen her with her hair down, and the dark-red ringlets fall nearly to her waist. Her discomfort at being here is obvious, but she looks amazing. Damn is correct.
She pauses and glances around like she’s looking for someone. Everyone is watching her, but no one moves toward her or says hello. She stands there frozen, like she’s seconds away from turning around and bolting.
My gut tightens and the hair on my arms stands up. I don’t know why she’s here, but I can’t help but feel like I might have had something to do with it.
“I feel bad for her,” Vaughn says.
I pull my gaze from Summer long enough to shoot my buddy a questioning look.
“They changed up the school district lines her senior year. That has to suck.”
“That’s why she’s at Frost Lake,” I say, mostly to myself.
Without thinking, I start across the yard. She makes eye contact with me as I approach but still doesn’t move.
“Hey.” I stop in front of her, even more taken with her up close. Her lips are painted a shiny pink and her eyes have some sort of makeup that make them look twice as big. She is stunning. “Planning on moving from that spot?”
“Yes, but only to go back out to my car and leave,” she says only loud enough for me to hear.
“Nah, don’t do that. The worst part is over. You came, everyone stared, now they’ll go back to minding their own business.” I wave around, meeting a few curious stares as I do, but everyone else is falling back into conversations.
“This was a mistake.”
“Maybe, but you’ve already made it so…”
Despite my encouragement, she still doesn’t budge.
“Your girlfriend is shooting daggers at me.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Amanda.”
“We’re not together.”
“Not right now.”
The implication is there.
“Where do you get your gossip? Keeping tabs on me?”
“I hear things and I see things. Whatever dramatic situation you two have going on doesn’t interest me.”
“Should I just leave you to the wolves then?”
She looks like she can’t decide.
“Come on, Lindsey. Let’s get you a drink and see if we can’t find a person or two who is happy you’re here.”
She lets out a laugh but follows me across the yard. Eddie and Eli still look like they’re about to swallow their tongues. They don’t usually go for the same kind of girls, but it looks like Summer is both their type. Hard to imagine whose type she isn’t.
“Summer Lindsey, meet the Whitlock twins.” I motion with my head toward them. “Eddie. Eli.”
“Nice to meet you,” she says, far friendlier than she’s ever greeted me.
“Hey. I’m Eddie.” His voice sounds twice as deep as usual. Real smooth, bro. Then Eli steps in front of him. “And I’m Eli.”
They’re grinning at her like idiots, but she doesn’t seem to notice.
I step over to the next group, pointing as I introduce them. “This is Vaughn, Lacey, Claire, and Austin—though I call him ‘Disco’ because he showed up to practice once wearing so much glitter he glistened in the sun.”
“Glitter?” Summer asks, left brow rising.
“Long story.” Austin shoots me a playful glare, then tips his head to Summer. “Hey. Welcome to Frost Lake.”
The girls wave and say their hellos and Vaughn gives her a small smile.
She seems to be relaxing the tiniest bit as she realizes we’re not all bad—just me, I guess.
MJ, from the girls’ soccer team, comes up to Summer. “Hey! I’m glad you came.”
“You might be the only one on the team who feels that way,” she says, glancing over at where Amanda is glowering at her.
“Nah. They’re just afraid of Amanda,” MJ says, then looks at me with a small sheepish grin. “Sorry. I know you two are…whatever.”
Someone yells out for MJ and she stands tall, then scans the yard until she finds the source—a group of girls’ soccer players on the far side.
“I’m being summoned.” MJ turns back to Summer. “Do you want to come play blob tag?”
“I don’t know what that is,” Summer says.
“It’s like tag but once you’re tagged, you become part of the blob and you move together to tag the rest of the people. Sounds simple but it’s hard and a little silly, but it’s fun.” MJ’s eyes light up. I’ve seen the girls play it before and they are usually smiling and having a good time with it.
“Umm...” Summer hesitates as MJ takes a step back from us.
I lightly nudge Summer forward.
She side-eyes me like she knows damn well what I’m doing, but she relents anyway. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Cool.” MJ grabs Summer’s arm and pulls her with her.
Summer glances back at me—something a little like fear in her expression—as she’s hauled way.
I give her a thumbs-up and she flips me off in return. There she is.
I watch only long enough to see MJ take Summer into the group and the other girls offer small waves and timid smiles.
“What’s up with you two?” Austin asks me as I step into the circle with my friends.
“What do you mean?” I grab a cold beer from the cooler and crack it open.
“You seem chummy.”
“We had a little run-in at the country club last week.”
He nods slowly like he expects me to elaborate. Except I’m too busy watching Summer across the yard. More people have joined in, including Sophie, Eli and Eddie, and a couple guys from the football team.
I’m still watching when Amanda steps in front of me.
“Hey,” she says with a hint of apprehension in her tone.
“Hey,” I parrot back.
She looks good tonight. She always does, but I can tell she put some effort into it. Effort that wasn’t for my benefit.
“Having fun?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says in a way that isn’t all that convincing. “Not as much fun as you though.”
My brows lift as I try to decipher her meaning.
She looks past me for a moment, then returns my stare. “What’s up with you and Summer Lindsey?”
I glance over my shoulder, and sure enough Summer is in view.
“Nothing’s up. Everyone was staring at her and I felt bad.”
“I don’t like her.”
“Yeah.” I chuckle. “You’ve made that pretty obvious.”
She keeps that pinched, unwavering expression on her face. “Figure she’s talking shit.”
“She didn’t say anything. You did today at practice. And even if you hadn’t, it’s obvious from the way everyone else is treating her. Like they’re terrified to smile at her in case you’re watching.”
“What do you care? You hate her brother.”
“I don’t hate him.” I don’t like him, but that isn’t the point. “This isn’t like you. You’ve always been so welcoming to new girls on the team.”
“Underclassmen, sure, but she’s from Oakley.”
“So?”
“I don’t trust her. She’s probably not even going to Frost Lake this year. I bet she’s a spy, doing recon and feeding them all our plays.”
“No.” I shake my head, amazed at the level of subterfuge she thinks someone would go to for the playbook.
The girls’ team isn’t even that good. “Trust me. She isn’t doing any of that.
She doesn’t want to be at Frost Lake any more than you want her to be, but she got fucked by some school border law. ”
Amanda’s face softens slightly.
“You didn’t know?” I ask, but I can tell she didn’t. It makes me feel a little better about how awful she’s been treating Summer.
“She isn’t a spy. She’s just trying to make the best of a crappy situation.”
“For someone who says there isn’t anything going on between you, you seem to know a lot about her.” Amanda’s head tips side to side as she tosses the accusation at me. It’s so unlike her, I can’t even comprehend what’s happening.
“Just do your team a favor and stop treating her like the enemy. She’s here whether either of you like it or not. And she’s good. You don’t have to be besties, just do what’s best for the team.”
A little of her irritation fades.
“Back with Ronnie, I see.” I motion with my head to where he stands with some of the football guys.
Amanda doesn’t look back at him. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”
“Nah.” I shake my head. “Just surprised.”
“I’m not sure what will happen when school starts back next week.”
“Why would that change things?”
“His dad doesn’t like him to have a girlfriend during football season.”
I could say a lot of things—like I think it’s a bullshit excuse or that she could do better (namely with me)—but I’m not sure there’s a way to say anything without sounding like a jealous prick.
“I’m sure you two will figure it out,” I say instead.
She shrugs. No matter how much she tries to play it off like she doesn’t care, I know she does. That’s the thing about Amanda. She acts tougher than she is.
“And you?” she asks. “Are you talking to anyone?”
“No.” I find myself glancing back at Summer again. She’s in a big circle of soccer girls. She’s not quite as animated as before, but she hasn’t left, so it must not be going too badly.
“Doesn’t seem that way,” Amanda says, her gaze narrowing again.
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous,” I say, using her words.
“Just be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
With that, she turns and walks away. She doesn’t want to see me get hurt? Then maybe she should stop making out with Ronnie in front of me.