Chapter 11 #2
“Come on, Lyd. We’re history. Not interested in rekindling anything with you. I always knew you’d go back to him. Told you, you were using me. No hard feelings, though. It’s like I’d already predicted the future when it concerned you.”
If looks could kill, Lydia’s would have annihilated me right on the spot. I weaved through the desks to reach the last row and slouched in my seat, dropping my bag on the floor.
“Hey, Mase,” Tanya, the cheer captain, purred, leaning toward me and pushing her black hair over her shoulders in a gesture I bet she thought was seductive.
“If you have some free time later, I’d need your help in physics.
” She pouted as if it would help her case.
“Wanna come over tonight? We could also practice biology if you’re up to it.
I kinda need to refresh my memory on human anatomy. I have a quiz coming up soon.”
“Sorry, Tan. This ship has sailed. Find someone else.”
“But I gotta find a tutor or I’ll flunk, and you know if I don’t keep a high enough average, they’ll kick me off the squad. Help a girl out.”
I pinched my lips together to avoid saying something I might regret. “Sorry, I can’t. I’m working after practice. Tonight and every other night. My schedule is fully busy these days.”
“You working? I thought your daddy was all about you and Craig focusing on school and football until you graduate.”
“What can I say? I’m a nurse now, and it’s taking a lot of my free time.”
She snorted. “You, Mason Pierce, a nurse? Feed me better bullshit.”
I fixed the most shocked expression onto my face. “I take my job very seriously. Don’t mock me. Anyway, it’s none of your business.”
Mr. Stenberg, our teacher walked in, calling for silence. I faced forward, tapping a rhythm on my jean-clad thigh with a pencil, ignoring Tanya’s heavy gaze that I could still feel on me.
For the entire class, I watched every minute ticking on the clock hung over the board in front of me, waiting for the bell to ring, so I could return to my book bag delivery duty.
“Who are you taking to Homecoming next week?” Chase asked a few days later as we sat at our usual table at the back of the lunchroom, the Bears’ unofficial reserved section.
Other than the team, only girlfriends were welcome to sit with us.
Most times, I thought this rule was stupid, but hey, it was our chance to get together during and after football season.
Craig was my brother by birth. Along the way, my teammates had become my brothers on and off the field.
The idea of inviting any girl other than Melinda to our school fall dance knotted my stomach.
I had wanted to ask her to Homecoming last year, but she had picked up a shift at the movie theatre where she worked a few hours a week and made it pretty clear to everyone she wasn’t going, so I had missed my chance.
I ended up accepting Hilary Jones’s invitation and had run back home pretending I had the flu when she tried to kiss me. Not my finest moment—and a big contradiction to my usual ways.
Homecoming was the biggest weekend of the year, and the stakes were high. Not only was I expected to give a speech at the pep rally and lead our team to victory, but if the rumor mill were right, I’d be crowned Homecoming King again this year.
“I haven’t decided,” I lied, pushing my chicken salad away, not so hungry anymore at the thought Melinda would reject me if I asked her to accompany me.
I sighed. Our friendship might not have been solid enough to risk it.
We’d just reconnected. My life seemed to be an eternal catch-22 situation when it came to her.
“Gigi cornered me after chemistry this morning, and I accepted to be her date. Jude is going with Laura, and Landon asked Mel. I’m sure anyone in your fan club would jump at the chance to be your date.
” He laughed, draining his bottle of water in two gulps.
“Sometimes, I’d love to be you for a day, man. Sounds easy enough.”
I scratched my temple. “Yeah, well, it’s not that simple.”
He snorted. “Yeah, right. You’re Mr. Popular and Superstar all wrapped up in one. There are guys with way less going on for them. Just sayin’, man.”
“Like you can complain. You’ve been dating girls since before you even hit puberty.”
He pointed to himself. “I’m a good catch. What can I say?”
His previous words hit me. “Landon asked Mel?” I took a sip of water to flush the sour taste from my mouth, trying to act as if I didn’t care.
“What did she say?” My heart squeezed in my chest at the idea they would go together and perhaps end up dating.
“I didn’t know he had a thing for her.” I spoke the words through clenched teeth, unable to relax my jaw as images I would prefer to never imagine invaded my mind.
“Don’t know. Why would you care?”
I shrugged and stretched my legs out on the chair across from me. Lunch hour was almost over, and most people had left to pick up books from their lockers before classes resumed. “I don’t. It’s just…unexpected. That’s all.”
“The girl is hot,” Chase said. “Why would he not?”
“Yeah…well… You might be right.”
“Like hell I am. I’m always right.” He jumped to his feet. “I’m out of here. I gotta make a pit stop at the admin office before the next period. I lost my student ID.”
“Again? We’re only one month into the first semester and you’ve lost it twice so far.”
“Told you already. The new girl working at the reception is a nice piece of ass. What can I say? My eyes can’t get enough. That rack she’s trying to hide under those blouses?” He brought his joined thumb and forefinger to his mouth in a chef’s kiss gesture. “Divine.”
“Fucker.”
He chuckled. “See you later.” We fist-bumped, and he sauntered away with a pep in his step that only his infatuation over a girl could explain.
I scanned the almost-empty cafeteria, my gaze snagged by one of the girls sitting at the far-end table gathering her stuff.
Melinda pushed her brown hair behind her shoulders and smiled at something Paige said.
When her gaze drifted in my direction, a new tightness grew in my chest. We eyed each other from a distance, neither of us breaking the contact.
Like an idiot, I waved at her. What else could I do when I was too late to ask her to Homecoming?
Unless Landon got abducted by aliens or changed schools, I had no chance of accompanying her.
How stupider could I get? Seriously, I had never shied away from asking a girl out before.
I was losing my touch around Melinda Shepard. Big time.
I studied her, wondering why she hadn’t told me she was going with him.
Sure, we’d been talking more since her appendectomy, but I was right in thinking our friendship needed a stronger foundation to blossom.
Still, the idea of watching her and Landon together all night strangled my insides.
I was pretty sure I would lose it if his lips ever connected with hers.
Melinda waved back, rescuing me from my drowning thoughts about her kissing some other guy, before walking away with Paige and their friends.
I watched her retreat, admiring her strong set of swimmer shoulders and that tight ass in those jeans.
I missed the time when I was her official book bag carrier for the week it had lasted.
Back then, I had an excuse to talk to her. Unlike now.
I wouldn’t attend the dance. I preferred missing it to being miserable all night if I had to invite anyone else. My stomach churned just thinking about Melinda dancing with Landon, knowing she would pamper herself for hours just for him.
Not a chance.
Fucking bastard.
The gears of my brain overheated as I chastised myself. Why had I waited so long to ask her to the dance? Why had I been so chickenshit, to begin with?
If I could kick my own ass, I would do it without any hesitation.
I emptied my tray into the nearest trash can, grabbed my stuff, and made my way out of the nearly deserted cafeteria.
Not in a hurry to meet my friends, I dragged my feet toward my locker. Three girls stopped me to inquire if I had a date for Homecoming—very subtle—and a guy from the school paper asked questions about our next game.
Realization hit me. I was Mason Pierce, captain of the football team and their beloved quarterback.
Everyone expected me to show up at the homecoming dance and be a role model for the rest of the student body.
For a moment, I wished I was all but famous in these hallways and was a regular Joe that nobody cared about.
Except one person. I passed a row of lockers and punched the first door, regretting it when pain shot down my arm.
I couldn’t injure myself. Not now. Not when we were playing Cowley High, our biggest rival, a little over a week from now.
I had to be at the top of my game. They were a bunch of sick bastards, always eager to fight and cheat to claim victory.
I had told my teammates that being the better guys would make the victory sweeter in our eyes.
Hurting myself was not how we would win that game.
And if the word had gotten out to Copperman that I had hooked up with his girl last summer, they’d be out for blood—my blood.
“Fuck my life,” I said as I grabbed books from my locker, pushed the thought of Melinda and Homecoming far away, and sauntered toward my next class, pumping myself up for tomorrow’s game instead of thinking about next week’s.