Chapter 14
At the end of their victory against St. Mark’s, the team came running back to the bench, cheering, and made a mad dash to the water cooler.
In Country Town Prep tradition, they unscrewed the lid, tackled Griffin, and doused him with ice water for blocking the final shot that won the game, and then poured the rest on their Coach.
When Griffin got up, the team carried him around the field on their shoulders, declaring victory, then set him down, and they made their way back over to their bench.
Isabelle and I clapped and cheered from our blanket, celebrating the win from a distance, which allowed Amy and Brooke to maintain their unimpeded flirtatious position at the fence.
They chatted with every player who gave them any attention, but I could see Amy continue to try to talk to Chris, and he ignored her, casting frequent smiles in my direction as he packed his bag.
Even though Chris had assured me that I was all he wanted, my sister made it clear during halftime that she wasn’t going to give up so easily, and if I wasn’t willing to back down, she would just try harder.
I let her know that I would continue to let him make up his own mind, but that I wasn’t going to simply go away.
She seemed to accept my answer, but I didn’t trust her reply.
Once the guys were done gathering their gear and meeting with their Coach, they dispersed from the bench and headed through the gate towards their friends and family to celebrate the win.
As soon as Chris passed through the gate, he headed up the hill to say hello to his parents, then came to say hi to Isabelle and me.
“Hey!” he said, as he ran the last few steps, scooped me up in his arms, and spun me around.
“Hey, Isabelle. How about that win? Did you see Watson out there?” he asked, trying to get her goat.
“What? Why would I care bout him?” she asked, her cheeks suddenly turning pink.
“Come on, Is, it’s pretty obvious,” I said.
“Whatever. He doesn’t like me anyway.”
“You never know unless you ask,” Chris said.
“You’re a sweaty mess,” I said, as I ran my fingertips lightly down his bare arm. His eyes quickly widened at my touch, then he shook his head violently to fling cold sweat all over my face.
“You two are gross,” Isabelle said, rolling her eyes.
“Too bad,” he said, as he looked down at me and kissed me, his waves of wet hair dripping upon my face, then he leaned in close. “Don’t let go of us,” he said softly enough that Isabelle couldn’t hear.
“If you’re sure,” I replied.
“It’s only you,” he said. “Come on, we’re going to Friendly’s, it’s tradition. I’ll meet you there, but I’m going to ride with some of the guys.”
“Okay, we’ll see you there.”
Isabelle and I grabbed the corners of her blanket, folded it, and put it in her backpack, then started to head up to the car when Brooke approached us.
“Great game, huh?” she said. “That was nice of you to have a change of heart, Allie. I knew you were a good sister, after all,” then she made her way back to Amy.
I watched as they headed up the hill ahead of us, and Brooke leaned in to Amy and whispered to her again, then I turned to Isabelle.
“I don’t trust her. They’re up to something, don’t you think?”
“I think you’re paranoid. You saw the way Chris reacted to them. Just ignore them,” Isabelle replied. “Come on, let’s get to Friendly’s and celebrate.”
Just then, Watson blew past us in the parking lot with Chris and a few other teammates, blaring Charlie Daniels’ Band Devil Went Down To Georgia. Chris leaned out the window and yelled, “See you there,” but right after they passed us, Brooke came across the parking lot towards me.
“Hey Allie,” she said with a chipper bounce to her voice. “Just wanted to let you know that everyone decided to go to Sonic instead since it’s such a nice day. See you there!” Then she spun around and headed back to her car, where Amy was waiting.
I got in my Jeep and shared the change of plans with Isabelle. “I guess they decided to go to Sonic.”
“Okay, whatever, let’s get going,” she said as she pulled the visor down to put on some sparkly watermelon lip gloss. “I love this color and the way this tastes. I hope Watson notices,” she said, as she slid the mirror closed and flipped the visor back up.
As we pulled into Sonic, we chose a parking spot, and the waitress approached on roller skates.
“Hi girls, what can I get ya?”
“Hey, we are waiting on our friends, but they should have beaten us here,” I replied, as I looked around the parking lot. That’s weird, they left school ahead of us,” I said, as I turned to Isabelle. She looked back at me, tilted her head, and suddenly wondered if we had been tricked by Brooke.
“I think Brooke and Amy did this on purpose. I bet they’re at Friendly’s after all. Let’s go.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I think our friends told us to come here so that my sister could try to steal my boyfriend. We have to go!” I blurted out as rage began to simmer within me.
“Go get your man!” she said fiercely.
I hit play on the tape deck, and Third Eye Blind’s Semi-Charmed Kind of Life came through the speakers as I backed out of the parking spot, nearly missing a car that passed behind us. It honked to avoid a collision, then we peeled out of the parking lot towards Friendly’s.
When we arrived at Friendly’s, we could see the line of our classmates’ cars parked one beside the other.
Anxiety washed over me, knowing they were all celebrating inside together without us, and Amy was probably in there making a move.
I pulled into the parking lot and drove slowly past the large pane glass window at the front of the restaurant, where I could see the large booth with everyone piled in together.
My sister and Brooke were sitting across from Chris, Griffin, and Watson, laughing and gazing at them.
I was filled with so much anger as I pulled into a parking spot around the corner of the restaurant and turned to Isabelle.
“I am so mad at Brooke and Amy that I don’t know what I might say to them when I get inside, Is.”
“I have your back, Allie. At this point, they deserve whatever you decide to say.”
Just then, there was a knock on the window, and Isabelle nudged me to get my attention.
“Allie? You might want to turn around,” she said, tentatively.
It was Chris, and he seemed upset, so I rolled down the window.
“Where have you been?” He asked. “I’ve been waiting for you!”
“Why don’t you go inside and ask Brooke and Amy?” I replied with anger.
“What are you talking about?” he asked as he placed one hand on the edge of the open window, but I was too angry to reply, so Isabelle cut in.
“Chris, after you left school, Brooke found Allie in the parking lot and told her that all of you had gone to Sonic instead, so we went there looking for everyone. Of course, nobody was there. She did that intentionally to get rid of Allie so that Amy could spend time with you. Don’t you get it?
Brooke is trying to help Amy sabotage your relationship with Allie. ”
I grabbed the steering wheel, gripping it tightly as I rolled my hands forward on the grey leather wheel and stared holes through the windshield ahead of me. Chris reached a hand through the open window and gently squeezed my shoulder.
“This stops now. I’ll be right back,” he said with a serious tone, then he headed back into the restaurant. I kept looking forward in a silent rage until Isabelle spoke again.
“He’s going to fix this, Allie,” she said, trying to comfort me.
I snapped out of my trance and turned to her.
“He shouldn’t be the one to fix my problems,” I said, as I got out of my Jeep and made my way across the parking lot with Isabelle right behind me.
Just then, Brooke and Amy came storming through the restaurant door with Chris, Watson, and Griffin following closely behind. Amy saw me coming and stopped dead in her tracks on the sidewalk. Clearly, Chris had already spoken to her.
“Amy! I yelled as I continued to walk towards her. I’m done giving in to your demands!
I’m done being nice! I’m not going to give Chris up!
Got it?” Then, without giving her the chance to reply, I kept walking to Chris, grabbed him by the hand, looked at the rest of his friends, and spoke to all of them as a group.
“Y’all coming?” I asked, and they all followed me to my Jeep with impressed smiles.
“Holy shit, Allie!” Chris said, once we were out of Amy’s earshot. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.”
I looked back up at him, smiled, and reached a hand up to move a wave of hair behind his ear. He grabbed my wrist, and I smiled, but this time he just kissed my wrist and let go.
“That was bad ass, Allie,” Griffin said as we got to my Jeep. “Where are we headed?” Watson asked.
“Let’s go to the river,” I said. “You all down for that?” I asked
“Hell yeah,” said Griffin.
“Let’s roll,” said Watson, as they all piled into the back seat of my Jeep.
Chris climbed into the front seat next to me so Isabelle would have to sit in the back, smooshed next to Watson.
I turned to look back at her, and she smiled shyly back at me, nervously knowing that this was a chance to be close to him.
When we hit the gravel road to the river, everyone rolled down the windows, and I turned on the radio. Phish’s Bouncing Around the Room played through the speakers, I turned it up and we all threw our arms out the window to feel the breeze.