Secondary Characters

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges mention of the following trademarked products that are the sole property of their respective owners, and used fictitiously in the text: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and the Gap.

Copyright © 2013 by Rachel Schieffelbein.

Secondary Characters by Rachel Schieffelbein

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by Swoon Romance.

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Edited by Mandy Schoen

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Cover art copyright©: Swoon Romance 2013

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To the best mom a person could ask for.

Mine.

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

Rachel Schieffelbein

Chapter One

I’m sick of waving and my cheeks hurt from all this smiling. But it is kind of fun having all the little girls in town get excited, smiling, waving, and jumping up and down as our float rolls by. I turn around to look up at Amber. She looks amazing in her sleek black gown, of course, and Nick looks super-hot in his tux. They are the perfect Homecoming King and Queen. They look great together, like movie stars, and I’m a little jealous. But I know Amber is in seventh heaven. She’s been crushing on him hard since school started.

She sees me looking and winks, smiling her scheming smile. She’s been talking to Nick, probably making big plans. I’m sure she’s dying to tell me, and I’m dying to hear, but I’m in the front row of the court, with another set of couples behind me, much too far away to gossip. She’ll catch me up at her house when we get ready for the game.

I turn back around and survey the crowd. My mom is here somewhere with my little sister. Of course, they’ll be nearly impossible to spot in this sea of black and orange. People around here have a lot of Tiger pride.
Go team!
and all that.

I’m still looking for them when I feel a warm breath on my neck. Then I’m falling. Screaming, I grip the sides of my chair, which is being pulled backward. It stops, tipped halfway, and all I can see is blue sky and white clouds. Still holding tight to my seat, I spin around to see Lance, his hand gripping the back of my chair. His fake gold crown is slightly askew on his big head.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I yell. He laughs and rights my chair.

“Sorry, geez,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

I glare at him before I start to turn around. He reaches out and puts his hand on my shoulder. I quickly shrug it off.

“Wait, um, are you and Amber coming to the game tonight?” he asks. He’s wearing his jersey under his tux, which I’m sure he thinks looks cool, but in fact just looks like a big mess.

“Yeah,” I say, crinkling my forehead. “Of course.” He knows we’ll be at the game. What is he getting at?

“Cool. Maybe you guys could be our mascots. You’d look cute in a tiger costume,” he says, a stupid smirk on his face.

I inwardly groan. He thinks he’s sooooo funny.

I roll my eyes. I’m sure he’d love to see Amber in a skimpy tiger-slash-Catwoman type of costume. Guys are so pathetic.

“Yeah, we’ll get right on that.” I spin back around. Lance is Nick’s best friend. I’ve known him since kindergarten and I swear his sense of humor has not changed since then. He annoys the crap out of me.

I finally spot my mom and Sophie. Soph’s grinning and waving like a crazy person. I laugh and wave back. Sophie was so excited about seeing me in the parade today. Like any six-year-old girl, she loves princesses. One advantage of being friends with Amber: I’m cool by association. I’d never have made homecoming court otherwise.

When the parade finally ends I try to get off the float as gracefully as possible in my long teal gown. My sister runs up and wraps her arms around my waist. She’s got on a little Tiger jersey and jeans, but her dark, curly hair is up on top of her head and she’s wearing a plastic crown with big pink jewels on it. I laugh and hug her tight.

“Mabel, you were the most beautiful princess in the whole world!” She grins up at me with wide, admiring eyes and I know she actually means it. She may be the
only
person who thinks that, and it’s
only
because she’s my little sister, but it still means a lot to me. I hug her tighter. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you tonight, okay? I’ll even let you wear my crown.” I wink at her and she squeals and jumps up and down some more.

I head back to find Amber. She’s still on the float chatting up Nick, so I wait for her to join me. He pulls out his cell, undoubtedly to punch in her number. I shake my head and smile.

She always gets her man
.

He helps her off the float and she walks calmly over to me. Or at least that’s how it would look to Nick, who’s staring at her back.

I, on the other hand, can see that her eyes are all lit up and her mouth is open in a silent, “Ahh!!” When she reaches me she grabs my hand and squeezes it so tight I think my fingers might fall off.

“Ow,” I say, laughing and ripping my hand out of her lumberjack grip. “I take it things went well with Nick.”

“Yes,” she says slyly, raising her eyebrows. “We have a date next Saturday night … and so do you!” She turns away from me and starts walking fast. Then she spins back around and grins, waiting for my reaction.

I glare at her. “What? With who?” I ask, even though I have a feeling I know who. Nick’s best friend. Lance. Does she really think I’ll agree to that? Is she out of her freaking mind?

She tips her head back and laughs.

***

It’s a beautiful fall day, the sun is shining, and I’m stuck sitting here on a float wearing a suit and a football jersey with a plastic crown on my head like a freaking idiot.

I’m supposed to be waving at the crowd, but Mabel is sitting in front of me in a sexy teal dress that totally shows off her smooth, tan skin, and all I can think about is asking her out. I’ll ask her if she’s going to the game tonight, which I know she is, and then I’ll ask her if she wants to hang out afterward.

Should be easy enough.

So why is it so damn hard?

Okay, quit being a wuss and just do it.
I lean forward. She smells like lilacs and I can already feel my heart racing. Without thinking, I reach up and grab the back of her folding chair and pull her toward me.

Not a great idea.

She screams. Like a freaking banshee.

Note to self: in the future, do not flip Mabel over.

I manage to say something, but my pathetic attempt at humor causes her to roll her eyes and turn away before I can ask her.
Damn it.
Why do I always turn into an idiot around her? I spend the rest of the parade mentally kicking myself. And inhaling the lingering scent of lilac.

When the parade is over, I see Nick getting Amber’s phone number. Of course. Lucky bastard. It’s so damn easy for him.

He watches Amber walk away before jogging over to me. He’s got a shit-eating grin on his face. I am seriously tempted to punch him.

“How the hell do you do it, man?” I ask him.

“You owe me,” he says, jabbing his finger into my chest.

“What are you talking about?”

“Next Saturday night, I’m going out with Amber … and I talked her into making it a double date.”

“No way,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him. Something in my stomach is starting to buzz like a bunch of bumblebees, but I don’t want to get my hopes up in case he’s just being a jackass. Which is likely.

“We’re going to a movie and she said she’d get Maybie to come, too.” He nods toward the girls, who are laughing together across the street.

It takes me a minute to soak it in.

“Are you frickin’ serious?” I ask.

I’m going on a date with Mabel Johnson?
Hell yeah!

I turn back to Nick, but now I’m the one grinning like an idiot.

“Yeah, well, you owe me,” he says. “I mean it. “I’m thinking you can do my English homework for the rest of the semester.” He nods at me, his face serious. “Sound good?”

“Yeah, right.” I shake my head and roll my eyes. “I think Mrs. Sandberg would notice if you suddenly started using two-syllable words.”

“Fuck you, man.” He laughs and punches me in the shoulder. Hard. But I can barely feel it.

I have a date with Mabel.
I am on cloud frickin’ nine. If I wasn’t standing in the middle of a crowd full of Tiger fans, with Mabel and Amber just a few yards away, I would totally be jumping up and down right now.

Chapter Two

Amber and I stand under the lights at the bottom of the hill—as close to the field as we can get—to watch the game. Okay, that’s not entirely true. We’re not so much watching the game as the players. Amber’s eyes are glued on Nick and she cheers and claps every time he throws or runs the ball, no matter what the end result is. For the most part he seems to be doing well. I think. Our team is winning, anyway.

All she’s been able to talk about is their date next Saturday night. With me and Lance as couple number two. Apparently Nick thought it would be fun to have another couple go along to dinner, you know, to “take the edge off.” And since she’s all googly-eyed infatuated, Amber agreed. Despite the fact that she knows Lance drives me crazy. And not in a good way.

I know she’s excited, and I’m happy for her, but I told her there is no way I’m going along.

She’s doing a wonderful job of completely ignoring me.

She rips her eyes away from the field, swatting at the gnats that gather under the lights before turning to me. “When halftime hits there’s going to be a humongous line for the bathroom. Let’s go now and avoid it. Okay?” She rubs her hands together. “We can get some hot chocolate, too.” It’s not as cold as it will be later in the season, but now that the sun’s gone down it’s cold enough.

I nod. “Let’s go.”

I’m wearing a big, warm sweater, but no coat. I didn’t even bring gloves because I’m an idiot and was fooled by the warmth of the afternoon. Considering I’ve lived here my whole life, I should know better.

The whole town is at the game: students, teachers, and families with little kids running around throwing footballs in the grass. We weave our way through them all, trying to make it back up to the school. It takes forever because pretty much everyone we pass hollers hello to Amber. They try to stop her and start up a conversation about the game or biology class or whatever. I swear, everyone wants to be her friend. Or her boyfriend.

They barely acknowledge me. A quick smile, maybe a hello, but that’s it.

After all, they’re basically trying to get my position as Amber’s BFF, like it’s a job they’re trying to land.

Amber deals with it well. She’s good at being nice and polite and all, and she’s quick about it. I would suck at that. It would make me want to scream at them to just leave me alone if I was her. It irritates me as it is.

We’re almost there when I hear a male voice behind us.

“Hey Amber, how’s it going?”

I groan. Can we please just make it to the bathroom? We turn around, and it’s Mike Ballard. I haven’t seen him in months. He looks basically the same, except he’s trying to grow out a goatee. It looks ridiculous, like a caterpillar hanging off his chin. He practically leers at Amber. He’s still infatuated with her, and it still makes me feel nauseated. I know I shouldn’t care anymore, but … why does she have to be so damn irresistible?

I take a small step behind her and look at the grass.

“Ugh. Go away, Mike,” Amber says and turns toward the school.

“Wait—” he starts.

Amber spins around and stops him. “Take a hint,” she snaps. “No one wants to talk to you. Now slither back from wherever you came from. Okay?” She turns and struts away.