Chapter Two Hattie #2
Together, we carry coolers and bags of food up to a hillside pavilion with tables and an outdoor grill. The coaches start cooking, and the rest of us spread out. There’s a basketball court and a large grassy area, where a couple of guys head with a football.
I find Annabelle, and I tell her about Colin as we walk down to the lake.
“Wow. Really? That seems pretty harsh. He’s always been so nice to me and everyone else. Well, everyone but you. Are you sure you didn’t do something to him last year?” she asks, one brow raised.
“I’m sure,” I say, but as soon as I do, I second-guess myself. Did I? Is it possible I insulted him last year without realizing it?
She chuckles and opens her mouth like she’s going to say something else, but then Mikey walks by and her words are lost as she grins at him.
“Hey, Belly,” he calls, all charming and flirty.
“Hi.” She lifts one hand in a wave and gives him a coy smile.
“Do you want to shoot some hoops?” He motions with his head toward the basketball court.
I happen to know that Annabelle hates basketball, but she nods enthusiastically. I follow them, but when we get to the outdoor court and Colin is there, I consider walking away.
Annabelle shoots me a knowing look.
“Hey, Jett,” she says to him. “Having a nice summer?”
His gaze darts to me before he answers her.
“Yeah. You?”
She nods. “I am. Thanks.”
Annabelle glances at me and smirks as if to say, See, he’s perfectly friendly with everyone else.
I must have done something. It’s the only explanation. But we’ve talked so few times I can’t imagine what I did.
I bounce around from group to group, saying hello to people I haven’t really talked to all summer and enjoying seeing my closest teammates in person again. I’ve missed this, and I’m excited about the upcoming season.
We eat, and the coaches give speeches. The mood is light and fun.
After dinner, I somehow find myself trapped in a conversation with a senior named Doug Ott, known by his teammates as Dot. I only tangentially know him through Denny. But he’s chatty and friendly, which has recently become more important thanks to a certain guy giving me the silent treatment.
Doug is telling me about his summer internship at a software company, and I’m nodding along as I do my best to follow. Annabelle and Mikey are with us, but they are doing this whole flirty, no-one-else-exists thing, and she is not picking up on my discomfort.
Doug seems nice, but I’m struggling to focus, in part because I’m a little bored and also because I think Colin is glaring at me.
We’re doing that thing where we keep staring at each other and I don’t know if I’m staring at him and he’s looking at me because he doesn’t know why or vice versa.
Either way, he looks annoyed, as usual. My cheeks heat with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. What the hell is his problem?
I’m about to stalk over there and demand an explanation for his rudeness when, surprisingly, he starts toward us. I almost expect him to brush past me, but instead he stops two feet away, directly in front of me.
It’s only then that I realize Doug is still talking and I have no idea what he said.
“Uh, sorry. What was that?” I ask, trying my best to pretend Colin isn’t here.
Doug laughs good-naturedly, then notices Colin.
“Jettson!” Doug says, grinning wide. He isn’t reading the room, because his captain doesn’t look happy.
“Dot.” Colin dips his chin, but his jaw is tight.
Tension zaps around us, but Doug either doesn’t notice or chooses to ignore it. I wish I could.
“You were looking sharp out there today,” Doug says to him. “Have you been working out every day of summer vacation?”
“Not every day, no,” Colin says.
Doug chuckles, then nudges me with an elbow as he mocks Colin. “Not every day.” He laughs again, then shakes his head. “This guy. You kill me, Jett.”
The corners of Colin’s mouth turn down.
Doug glances at my empty cup. “Do you want something to drink? Another Diet Coke?”
“Uh . . . sure.”
“All right. I’ll grab that, and then do you want to take a walk down by the lake? It’s gorgeous out, and I want to hear more about you, Hattie.”
“Dude. Back off. She’s dating Denny.” Colin speaks in a short, clipped tone before I can answer.
“You are?” Doug rears back and looks to me. He takes a step back like the words “Denny’s property” are suddenly tattooed across my forehead.
“I am?” I ask, equally as shocked by Colin’s outburst as the words he said. Then they infiltrate my muddled brain.
“You broke up, right?” Doug looks at me accusingly.
“We did,” I assure him, then stare at Colin for some semblance of understanding.
Instead of his usual glower, Colin’s brow is furrowed, and his mouth is slightly ajar.
Did he really not know that?
Oh my god. That’s why he asked about Denny on the bus. He wasn’t being a dick. He thought we were still together. I feel a wave of relief that’s quickly followed by confusion. It still doesn’t explain why he’s always so cold to me.
Annabelle interrupts the awkward conversation, completely unaware, before any of us know how to pick back up from this new bombshell that I had no idea wasn’t public knowledge.
“Let’s go down to the beach.” She takes my hand and pulls me away.
Mikey and Doug come with us. I glance over my shoulder at Colin. He’s still frozen in place and staring at me with a look of utter bewilderment.
Most everyone has congregated on the beach now that dinner is over. There’s a firepit going and a football game happening nearby.
I lose track of Colin as I’m pulled into conversations, but I keep replaying the shocked look on his face. I finally spot him again as the sun is setting. I’m with Diane and a freshman named Laura, roasting marshmallows over the fire.
This time when he walks over, I know he’s heading for me. He hands me a Diet Dr Pepper.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“You don’t like Diet Coke,” he says, like that explains it.
“How do you know that?”
He lifts one shoulder and lets it drop.
My muscles are screaming from my first day back playing, and I’m tired from the back-to-back early mornings. All this to say, I don’t feel up to deciphering his cryptic words and now gift.
“Thanks,” I say, taking the soda in my free hand. He falls in beside me and shoves his hands in his pockets. The fire sparks and lets off a cocoon of warmth. As does he. There’s a pleasant warmth radiating off him.
“When did you and Denny break up?” he asks.
“Now you’re interested in talking to me?” I quirk one brow at him.
His expression is still a mixture of seriousness and confusion.
“About a week after graduation,” I say. “I thought everyone knew.”
“Not me.”
“Maybe because you hate me and do everything in your power to avoid being near me or talking to me.”
The hard set of his jaw softens, and his lips part. The fire dances across his face in shadows and light. There’s a tiny scar on his chin that I find myself wanting to trace. Annabelle might be right in that I need to start dating again.
Coach Boyson yells down from the pavilion that it’s time to load up. Our teammates around us are already moving, but Colin and I stand there, staring at each other.
“I don’t hate you, Hattie.”
“You don’t?”
His head moves slowly, side to side. He stare doesn’t leave me. “Not even a little.”