Taking Flight (17 page)

“It’s actually not bad. It’s like having a friend over every night.”

“Yeah, except it’s a friend you don’t know and didn’t ask to have stay over,” Tiffany laughed. I clenched my fists at my sides and forced myself to stay silent.

We got to the high school after a painfully awkward few minutes, and Tiffany announced, “I’m gonna go get changed into my uniform. Be out on the field in fifteen, okay?” She directed the last sentence to Cammie, who nodded her response. And then she was gone, and Cammie and I were walking toward the field alone.

“Wow. Your friend’s a bitch,” I said immediately. “I mean, I knew she was somewhat of a bitch, but she’s even worse than I thought. Like, I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone that bitchy before in my life. And I’m from
Los Angeles
.”

“She’s just kind of abrasive sometimes,” Cammie told me. “You have to get to know her.”

“Yeah, right. She just trashed your mom.
I
wouldn’t even trash your mom.”

“Look, I need to go change,” Cammie sighed. “Are you okay to get in and everything on your own?”

“I guess.” I shrugged my shoulders neutrally. “Good luck with the Homecoming thing.”

“Thanks.”

She left me alone, and I, using money from David, paid my way into the stands surrounding the field and took in the students around me with trepidation. I didn’t recognize anyone, and I had no way of knowing whether or not Maddie was already here.

There were a couple of concession stands nearby – one selling hot food and one selling candy and chips and drinks – and on the field, there were a few students that seemed to be setting up big tanks of water and Gatorade and draping some neatly-folded spare towels over the benches. I smiled to myself, amused. The people here treated the football players like gods.

After spending a few minutes wandering around and failing to spot Maddie, I finally took a seat in the back row, near the entrance, and just hoped she’d find me there.

And that was where I stayed until the game started. And then throughout the duration of the first quarter.
And
the second quarter.

It was around the halftime show that I embraced the fact that I’d been stood up. Maddie wasn’t coming, and I had no way to contact her, or even to contact Fiona or Nate and get a ride to the party, which now didn’t seem worth going to anyway. But there was no way Tiffany would want to take me home, so now I was going to end up riding with her and Cammie to a party I no longer wanted to attend.

It was a strange feeling, being stood up. It’d never happened to me before, mostly because I’d never given anyone the chance to go on anything remotely similar to a date with me. For the most part, I just felt disappointed. Not sad, really, because I hadn’t known Maddie long and although I liked her, I wasn’t interested in dating her. But disappointed. And confused, because she’d seemed genuinely interested in hooking up with me.

The mood of the crowd at halftime was just as sour as mine. Collinsville High was losing the game by a field goal. The cheerleaders came out to do the halftime show, and as I watched them, I couldn’t help but focus on Cammie. It was clear now more than ever that she was probably the prettiest girl on the squad, and I wondered if that was only so obvious now because she had makeup on and was apparently about to be crowned Homecoming Queen.

Before I could ponder it any further, someone took a seat next to me and let out a relaxed sigh. I turned, hoping for Maddie, and my stomach twisted when I saw it was Trevor, of all people. He kept his eyes on the field rather than looking at me at first as he asked, “Close game, huh?”

“Don’t people typically stop going to high school events after they’ve graduated?” I retorted. He grinned at me, finally making eye contact, and offered his hand.

“I’m Trevor. I saw you at church last Sunday. But I don’t think you ever mentioned your name?”

I ignored his hand. “Gertrude.”

He laughed, unfazed, and took his hand back. “C’mon, I’m trying to be nice here. You looked lonely. Were you supposed to meet someone here?”

“None—” I started to say, with the intention of letting him know that my plans were none of his business, but I trailed off, chewing on my lip as I watched the cheerleaders on the field. I glanced to him to see him watching them now too, and held back a shudder. “Seems kind of like you have a thing for younger girls,” I told him, struggling to keep my voice from sounding too icy.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “And now why would that be of interest to you?”

I swallowed back a biting retort and turned away, falling silent for a moment. It took everything I had to fake kindness, knowing what he’d done to Cammie, but as a plan formulated in my head, I let out an inaudible sigh and told him, “I was actually kind of supposed to meet someone here tonight.”

“Yeah? Like a special someone?”

“Like a special someone,” I confirmed, keeping my eyes trained on the field. “But I got stood up.”

“Guy must be a massive idiot,” he said, chuckling. “Who’d ditch
you
?”

“I don’t know; I guess I can be kind of a bitch sometimes,” I said.

“Good,” he said. “I like bad girls.”

Inwardly, I cringed. He was so gross. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

He looked amused. “And what’ve you heard?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I looked at him. “You tell me.”

Trevor pondered that for a moment, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. Then, he declared, “Well, I think rumor has it I’m a pretty decent guy. I’d imagine you’ve heard about my impeccable dining skills; I can eat several hotdogs in under a minute.”

“You must get all the girls,” I said. He grinned, and for a moment I could see why Cammie’d liked him at age fifteen. Back then, he’d have seemed charming.

“Not all of them, evidently,” he said.

I let out a deep breath. “Well… it’s been nice to talking to you, but I’m kind of thirsty, so…”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got it covered,” he insisted, as I’d figured he would. He got to his feet, flashing me another smile, “Coke okay?”

“You read my mind,” I said, and then he was gone. I scowled at his back as he headed for one of the concession stands, then mentally cursed Maddie for leaving me alone in the first place.

But now that I
was
alone, I was gonna make this night worthwhile, goddammit.

Trevor came back about two minutes later with a bottle of Coke, and I put up with his stupid flirty chatter for another five minutes before I forced a sickeningly sweet smile and asked, “Wanna take a walk?”

He smiled widely and immediately got to his feet and offered me his hand. I took it, and together we walked out to the parking lot.

“Did you drive here?” he asked me as we walked. I looked around us before I answered the question, and noted that there were quite a few people within sight of us, but none close enough to hear our conversation. That was ideal.

“No, I got a ride from a friend,” I said. “A couple friends, actually. Tiffany and Cammie.”

“The cheerleaders?” he asked, and then seemed to recall something. “Oh, right! Cammie was with you at church. I remember now.” He paused, and during his brief silence, I watched him, appalled that he could barely remember seeing her at church while she clearly hated so much to have to be in his presence. “Has she said anything about me to you?”

I unscrewed my Coke for the first time, and then took a brief sip. Then I shrugged my shoulders. “Oh, not much. Just a few comments here and there.”

“Oh? Like what?”

I sipped my drink some more before I replied, thinking of the way Cammie’d acted at church. She was stiff and more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen her when she’d realized that I’d been looking at Trevor. And, to some extent, ashamed. I wanted him to feel that shame.

“Well. Frankly, from what I’ve heard you seem like a complete slimeball,” I said. His smile dropped instantly, and I took more pleasure in it than I thought I would.

“Why are you here, Trevor?” I continued. “Some of these girls are fourteen and fifteen. What are you, almost twenty now? Shouldn’t you be done manipulating high school girls at this point?”

His upper lip rose and he snarled, “Who the hell do you think you are? You don’t know me.”

“I’ve met a dozen guys like you.” I stepped toward him and he stiffened. “So since you publicly humiliated Cammie, I’m gonna publicly humiliate you now.”

I turned the Coke bottle upside down and dumped it out all over his head and shirt. He grabbed my arm and tried to push me away, but I was ready for that. I gripped his forearm with my free hand and stepped into him, bringing my knee up into his crotch. He crumpled to the ground with a groan, and I looked around hastily, then hurried away as a few bystanders watched the two of us with surprise. A couple girls nearby who’d seen most of our exchange were laughing and pointing at him.

I got back to the stands and showed my ticket to regain entry, but only made it halfway back to my seat before I felt a hand on my arm. I pulled away instinctively, thinking of Trevor, but it was Maddie who’d grabbed me. She was out of breath and looked a little disheveled as she declared, “Oh my God, there you are! I’ve been looking for you!”

“I was right here by the gate all game,” I told her with disbelief, but she shook her head.

“I am so sorry. I only just got here during the halftime show. My car door didn’t shut all the way when I got home earlier today and the battery died; I had to have a friend come over with jumper cables because both of my parents are out for the night. I couldn’t let you know because you don’t have a phone. I’m really,
really
sorry, Lauren.”

“That’s okay.” I felt a sense of relief wash over me. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”

“Thanks. I’ll totally come to the party with you tonight to make up for it,” she promised.

“Good.” I grinned at her, then took her wrist and yanked her toward the stands. “I had some fun without you, at least.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep. C’mon, I’ll tell you all about it while we finish watching this dumb game.”

We took a seat a short distance from where I’d been before, and I offered some of my drink to Maddie. She accepted it with a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I didn’t pay for it,” I explained. Then I proceeded to tell her what had just happened with Trevor. She was laughing hard by the time I was done.

“I remember him! He was such a douchebag. I’m glad he finally got some payback.”

“Yeah, well… what he did to Cammie was really awful,” I mumbled, taking my drink back from her. I turned to look at the field, and sensed Maddie’s gaze on my cheek.

“You’re protective of her,” she observed.

I shrugged. “I guess so. Yeah.”

*   *   *

After the game, the announcer called out the names of everyone who’d been nominated, and they went out in pairs to the center of the field, where they awaited the winner announcement. As had been the popular prediction, Cammie and Peter both took home the crowns, and even though I honestly didn’t give a shit about Homecoming, I knew it meant a lot to Cammie, so I cheered loudly along with everyone else when her name was called. Beside me, Maddie was even polite enough to cheer too.

It didn’t take long after that for the stands to begin to clear. We made it back to Maddie’s car amongst the pandemonium, and as we pulled out of the school parking lot, she told me, “So these parties can get kind of crazy. I hope you’re prepared.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me; this was my life back in Los Angeles,” I said. “This’ll feel like home.”

“Do you like it back there?” she asked, glancing over at me as she drove.

“Sometimes. More often than not, no. But it has its benefits. There’re more girls.”

She laughed. “I don’t know; I’ve been with a lot of girls here.”

I grinned. That was a good sign. “Yeah? Well, I’ve been with a lot in L.A.”

“So you think it’s better than here?” she guessed.

I shrugged, looking out of the window. Now that we’d left the school, we seemed to officially be back in no man’s land. I’d have been convinced we were in the middle of nowhere if I couldn’t see a red light and an intersection up ahead. “Well… here is better than expected.” I offered her a smile, and she bit her lip. “I like being here with you,” I told her honestly. “You’re one of the few people I can stand to be with, actually.”

She checked her rearview mirror as we slowed to a stop at the red light, and I watched as she shifted the car into park. I shot her an amused look. “What are you doing?”

“
This
, before I lose my nerve,” she declared, and before I could even begin to formulate a response, she was leaning over and kissing me.

I closed my eyes without thinking, and immediately kissed her back with an enthusiasm that surprised even me. It felt like it’d been so long since I’d done this with anyone who was genuinely interested in me, and Maddie
was
. She asked me questions about myself, and cared about how my day was going, and yet she had the experience to be what I wanted.