We had fun, christening his new truck last night and, this morning, it seems odd not waking up with him or having him wake me up. But he and Damon had to be at school for two-a-days much earlier than I had to be there for cheer camp.
I’m on the sidelines of the football field with my squad. We’ve just finished our workout, and we are now stretching and catching up. I should be directing the conversation or at least paying attention, but my eyes are on Chase. He’s wearing the red jersey that reminds the team not to hit him, and he has been working with my brother and the other receivers on one of his favorite routes. The fly route. It’s also sometimes called the go route, mostly because you tell your receiver to go as fast as he can and as deep as he can, straight down the middle of the field. My brother loves it because he’s fast. Chase loves it because what quarterback doesn’t love to throw the perfect long bomb, straight up the middle?
And I can tell by studying his passes that his time spent at quarterback camp was good for him. His range of motion looks better as he extends his throwing arm completely and fires the wrist. The idea is that when your shoulder, elbow, and wrist all work in synchrony, it maximizes the quarterback’s power, accuracy, as well as the spiraling of the football.
“How was your summer vacation, Dani?” my squadmate Brandy asks. “Family trips kind of suck. Especially with no phones. Seriously, I don’t know how you survived.”
“Actually, it was pretty amazing. We had a lot of fun, doing family activity things together.”
“Sounds kind of lame,” my friend Shaylie says.
She’s been kind of snarly today, and I wonder if it’s because her sister is best friends with Taylor and because I was sort of seeing Hunter before I left.
“It sounds better than my summer,” one of the sophomore girls pipes in. “We didn’t go anywhere. Had a staycation, which basically consisted of arguing over what pizza toppings and movie we wanted to watch on our family fun night.”
“If I have to hear about your family fun night again,” Brandy says in a voice that says she’s over it.
“Was there anyone cute there?” Megan inquires. “A hot surfer maybe?”
“We went to the Ozarks.” I laugh, shaking my head. “It’s a lake.”
She rolls her eyes but keeps her gaze on me.
And I’m thinking, This is my opportunity. Forget easing them into it. I’ll just tell them now. I mean, look at Chase out there. It’s all I can do to try to keep my eyes off of him. They’ll understand. They’ll be happy for me. For us.
“Actually, I have something to tell you guys. Chase and I got sort of close this summer.”
“Close?” Shaylie scrunches up her nose.
I swear, she can be kind of mean sometimes. You’d think she’d just be happy that I’m not with Hunter.
“Yeah.” I smile happily, refusing to let her get to me. “I’m not exactly sure how it happened. We’ve been friends for so long—” I start before I’m interrupted.
“Wait. It?” Megan stares at me blankly. “You’re not saying that you hooked up with Chase, are you?”
“I wouldn’t call it hooking up—” I insist.
“Oh my God, you did!” she gasps, covering her mouth. “Was it hot?”
“Well …” I smile at her, feeling my cheeks flush. Crap. That came out wrong. I don’t want them to think it was just a hook-up. I need to tell them that we’re dating. That we’re in love.
“Uh, it totally was,” Megan says, reading my face. She shakes her head. “Wow. Who knew getting stuck in the Ozarks would end up being so much fun? I thought you’d go there and die of boredom.”
“No, actually, my trip was, well, in one word, amazing.”
“Okay,” Megan says slowly, her eyes narrowed. “But wait. You don’t have, like, feelings for Chase, do you?” And she’s looking at me like the answer should be no.
“We got close this summer,” I reiterate.
“Yeah, we heard,” she remarks. “But, come on. I mean, a summer fling is one thing. And don’t get me wrong, Chase is cute. He’s a great quarterback. But he’s your little. Brother’s. Best. Friend.”
I don’t reply. I’m not sure what to say.
“Besides, I thought you were talking to Hunter. Although, how were we to know? No phones and all. Anyway, look!” Megan says, pointing to Hunter, who is walking toward us.
Brandy jumps up off the turf and smiles in his direction. Almost like she expected him.
“Diamond,” Hunter says, giving me a cocky smirk. “Come here.”
“Uh …” I say.
“Go,” Megan urges, pushing my shoulder.
“Why would I want to talk to him?”
“Because he’s the hottest senior,” she whispers to me.
“Who blew me off,” I mutter to myself because it still pisses me off.
I pull myself up off the ground and march over toward Hunter, wanting nothing more than to punch his smug face. I can’t imagine what in the world he has to say to me, but it had better be an apology.
“What?” I say, crossing my arms tightly in front of my chest.
He shakes the football in his hand toward the end zone and says, “Go long. I know you can catch.”
Which is not at all what I expected.
“No,” I reply, turning away. Aside from hating him, I also hate being told what to do.
“Dani,” Brandy says, rushing toward me with a horrified expression. She urges me toward Hunter.
“What?” I ask her, not understanding why she even cares.
“Just do it,” she says under her breath. “It’s Hunter. He likes you. He told me.”
“More like he’s still in love with Taylor, and they are back together,” I whisper back, frustrated.
“You’re so out of the loop,” she says. “They are not. At all. And trust me, you’re going to love this. Just go out for the damn pass.”
I don’t know what she means by all that, but I really don’t have time to think because the whole cheer squad—minus Shaylie, who looks less happy about this situation than she was about Chase—has now formed a semicircle behind me and is almost pushing me toward him.
“Come on, Diamond,” Hunter heckles. “I thought you said you could play just as well as your brother?”
I hear a few snickers coming from his football teammates and realize we’re now attracting the attention of the others on the field, who want to see what the fuss is about.
I narrow my eyes at Hunter. I’m not sure based on his taunting if it was a threat to miss or an invitation to catch the ball. But I certainly do know how to catch a football.
I take off, jogging from the twenty-yard line, where we were stretching, to the end zone.
Hunter tosses me the ball. And it’s not a very good throw.
His spiral is wobbly, and the pass is too high, but I leap up and grab it anyway.
I hear gasps and cheers coming from all around me and wonder what the heck is going on.
So, the cheerleader caught a pass. Big deal.
But when I notice everyone looking up at the scoreboard, I see it—a message running across it.
YOU JUST SCORED A DATE TO HOMECOMING.
Hunter runs up to me. “Pretty creative way to ask, right?”
The cheer squad all starts clapping, yelling out our names, “Hunter and Dani. Hunter and Dani. Go!!! Hunter and Dani!”
I’m wide-eyed, unable to say anything. I’m in total shock.
I’m supposed to go with Chase, but now, not only are the football players watching, but the dance team and most of the band are as well. We’re surrounded by people.
I frantically search the crowd for Chase.
I want to let him know that I didn’t expect this to happen.
Brandy and Megan rush up and hug me. “Wasn’t that amazing!” Brandy says.
“We totally helped him plan it,” Megan adds.
“Can you believe it? You’re going to homecoming with Hunter! You’re so lucky,” Brandy says as she and Megan practically swoon in unison. “And we’ll get a big group of us in a limo and all go together. It will be the best time ever!”
Hunter is getting high fives and fist bumps from his buddies.
The girls are still congratulating me, but all I can think about is Chase. How this must look. How I have to get out of here.
I make a move toward an open space in the crowd, but Hunter reaches out, snags me by the waist, picks me up, swings me around, and kisses me.
It’s a big, fat, tongue-shoved-in-my-mouth kiss.
I wrench away from him, feeling like I’m going to cry. I hate that he kissed me.
“We’re going to have a great year, Dani,” he says, slinging his arm around me again.
But then I see Chase.
“Let go of me!” I say to him, struggling to get out of his grip.
Hunter goes, “Oh no, you don’t, Diamond. We’re going to celebrate.” Then, he whispers suggestively but loud enough for everyone to hear, “All night long.”
“Get your hands off her,” Chase, ever my protector, says, rushing up to us. And within an instant, he’s in Hunter’s face.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Hunter says, holding up his hands. “Relax. Dani and I are just having some fun.”
“It doesn’t look like Dani is having fun. She is trying to get away from you. She even told you point-blank to let go of her,” Chase replies, eyeing me.
The cheerleaders back up at the outburst, forming a circle around us.
“What are you, like, twelve? Obviously, you don’t know girls. Just ’cause she said it doesn’t mean she meant it. It’s called playing coy. Dani and I have had lots of fun together already. Right, Dani? And we’re going to have lots more. I always get my way,” Hunter says, shooting me a wink and then giving Chase a look that causes him to visibly flinch.
I feel anger rising in me because did he really just say that? That he could do anything he wanted to me regardless of what I wanted?
Just when I’m thinking about punching the jerk in the face for ever thinking that, Chase takes one big step and throws his whole body into a right hook that lands square on Hunter’s jaw.
Everyone around us gasps, including me. It was a hell of a shot.
“If you touch her again,” Chase says, venom in his voice.
I wouldn’t mess with Chase right now if I were Hunter.
But of course, he opens his mouth. He doesn’t say anything, just makes an obscene gesture.
Which causes Chase to jump on top of him and pin him to the ground, sending another blow to his face.
“Dani! Do something!” Megan yells out.
“Chase, stop it!” I yell, rushing toward them.
But within a second, Damon pushes through the crowd, shoves me away from them, and pulls Chase off Hunter.
“What the fuck?” Hunter yells, spitting out a mouth full of blood.
“Don’t you ever talk about Dani like that again,” Chase growls. His entire frame is heaving, and his face is red.
“Chase!” I hiss through my teeth. My eyes feel like they’re about to pop out of my head.
It’s bad enough that everyone is staring at us. That my friends are looking at me like I’m crazy. But none of that matters because Chase could get kicked off the team for this.
And I can stand up for myself. This isn’t his battle.
“Dani, let’s go,” Chase orders, not even looking at me. His eyes are still all over Hunter.
“You need to put your little sophomore on a leash,” Hunter says to me, standing up and wiping the edge of his mouth on his shirt.
“Shut the fuck up, Lansford.” It’s Damon who speaks this time.
“Oh, am I going to have a problem with you, too, Diamond?” Hunter retorts.
“You’re not worth it,” Damon says, shaking his head, but I notice he’s got ahold of Chase’s jersey to keep him from lunging at Hunter again.
“Dani, we’re leaving. Now,” Chase says, looking directly at me this time.
When I don’t move, he marches over and possessively wraps his hand around my arm.
“Oh, so that’s what’s going on here?” Hunter calls out with a sharp laugh. “Dani, did you go slumming on the family vacay with your little brother’s best friend? And now, he’s being all possessive? Pathetic,” Hunter mutters as I pull away from Chase’s grip.
I don’t want Chase fighting anymore, and it’s clear that Hunter is going to keep running his mouth. “Just go home, Chase. You’ve done enough already,” I say to him.
Chase looks at me, fire and hurt in his eyes. He dramatically opens his hand, dropping my arm from his grip, and before I can say anything else, he storms off the field.
“Chase,” I call out, feeling frozen in place as tears fill my eyes.
“More like he hasn’t done enough,” Hunter taunts. “Don’t cry, Dani. I can guarantee you won’t be able to get enough of me.”
And this time, it isn’t Chase who hits him. It’s my brother.
A second later, Hunter is back on the ground, and Damon is forcefully dragging me off the field.
“I freaking told you,” he growls at me.
“Damon—”
“I could have just gotten kicked off the team. Chase, too.”
“I didn’t ask you to punch him!”
“I couldn’t not. He was talking shit about my sister. Trust me, if Dad had heard what was coming out of that asshole’s mouth, he would have done it himself.”
“Let go of me,” I say, stopping and digging in my heels. “I don’t need your or Chase’s help.”
“I told you not to mess with Chase,” Damon says seriously.
“Just leave me alone, okay?” I mutter, tears flowing from my face now.
Because I have to find Chase.
I work my way through the crowd.
A few of my friends notice me and start gabbing and gossiping about what just happened. I ignore them.
When I finally get back to the sideline, I grab my backpack, take my car keys out, run to my car, and tear out of the parking lot.
I find Chase walking down the sidewalk. He’s still in the red jersey and half pads, making his shoulders look so broad.
“Need a lift?” I ask hopefully. It’s nice out, and I had the top down this morning.
“No, thanks. I think I’ll walk.”
“It’s five miles home,” I argue.
“And I’d rather walk that far than sit next to you right now.”
He keeps walking, so I speed up, pull into a parking lot, get out of the car, and stand in the middle of the sidewalk, trying to block his way.
“You don’t understand, Chase.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly. You were supposed to hold my hand today. And instead, you got asked to homecoming by someone else and then made out with him! In front of me. You’d told me you wanted to go slow. Is that because you planned this? Because you had been talking to him the whole time we were together?”
“What? No! I had no idea that was going to happen. We haven’t spoken since that day in the parking lot, and you saw everything I said to him.”
“Then, why did you go out for the pass?”
“Because everyone was watching us. My friends shoved me toward him and told me to just do it. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
“I watched it all, Dani. How he picked you up, swung you around, and kissed you.”
“I hadn’t expected the kiss. I tried to get him off me.”
Chase puts his palm across his forehead and slides it down his face. “Today was supposed to be about us.”
“I tried, Chase. When the girls asked about my vacation, I told them we got closer. I was even going to tell them that we were dating. I wasn’t going to wait or ease them into it. I was just going to tell them right then and there. But … they weren’t nice about it.”
“I thought you were past that. I thought you didn’t care what people thought anymore. That we were going to be happy together.”
“Well, it’s a little different, being back,” I argue, trying to explain.
“It’s supposed to be different, Dani. We’re supposed to be together.”
“This summer was amazing, Chase,” I say because it was. It so was.
“Except that it was all a lie.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I plead. “I meant everything I said. Everything I felt.”
“Not enough to say no. Not enough to choose me when push came to shove,” he says coldly. “I protected you from that jerk. Risked my place on the team. Hell, I’m probably not even on the team anymore. I probably just fucked up my entire career. You can forget about what was on the cupcake. It all went to hell today. The bitch of it all is that after what I did for you, you wouldn’t even walk away with me. You wouldn’t stand up for me. For us.”
“I told you to walk away because I didn’t want you to get in any more trouble. And I never asked you to punch him. I was going to handle it myself.”
“Well, you weren’t doing a very good job of it. He was all over you.”
“So, you jumped into the situation because you were jealous?”
“No, I didn’t. I jumped in because he looked like he was going to hurt you. Because he was saying suggestive things to you. He basically insinuated he might even do those things to you against your will. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Let me take care of it. I’m a big girl, Chase. Before you punched him, I was planning to do it myself.”
“Well, at least that’s something,” he says with a heavy sigh. Then, he turns and starts to walk away from me.
“Chase, wait. It will be okay. I’ll fix this. I promise. You’re my best friend.”
“Actually, we aren’t. Not anymore,” he says, stopping but not turning around to look at me.
“But you promised!” I shout.
“Yeah?” he says, spinning toward me. “Like you promised you loved me? Like you promised to tell your dad? Did you tell him last night?”
“We just got home. You got your car. I was unpacking. We went parking. I didn’t get the chance. I thought we were going to tell him together.”
“No need for that now.”
I’ve never seen Chase look so upset. It’s way worse than when Angel died. I could console him then. I can’t now.
And it’s all my fault. Because he’s right. I should have taken a stance. I should have walked away from Hunter and left with Chase.
But I didn’t.
And I realize that choice has ruined everything. Our dreams. Our relationship. And worst of all, our friendship.
I’m just standing here, staring at him. My eyes full of tears.
Chase shrugs. “I don’t know what else to say. You made your choice.”
“I never said yes. He just assumed. He put me on the spot. I didn’t want to embarrass him. I’m going to tell him. I’ll go tell him now.”
“It’s too late. You should have said right then and there that you already had a date.”
“This isn’t over, Chase. It can’t be over. We can’t be over.”
“You do know why Hunter even asked you to homecoming like that, right?”
“Because he likes me?”
“No. Because Taylor was watching. All he wants is to get back with her. In the locker room, he said, ‘Let’s see what Taylor thinks of this.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about then, but I sure do now.”
“I did love you, Chase,” I plead.
“Did?”
“Did as in when I said it, I meant it. I still mean it.”
“I thought—”
“You thought what?” I ask him.
“That this was the start of our forever,” he says, tears filling his eyes.
“That was summer, Chase. Everything was perfect there. This is real life.”
He slowly nods his head in understanding. “Then, have a good one,” he says and walks away from me.
I crumple to the ground and cry.
I did the exact thing I hadn’t wanted to do.
I ruined our friendship.
Actually, I obliterated it.
I look down at the dream ring through my tears, knowing it wasn’t just his dream I destroyed today, but mine as well.
