Waiting for Something (16 page)

“
Marlie, I think Carter has something to tell you,” I mumbled and looked at the floor.

             
“I’ll leave,” I weaved between them and got out while I could. This wasn’t going to end well.

Later that night while I was working on some homework I got a text from
Marlie.

We need to talk. Come to my house.
Now.

There goes my best friend.

“Mom, I’m heading over to Marlie’s. I’ll be back in like an hour,” I shouted, grabbed my purse and left.

Once I got to
Marlie’s I couldn’t help but tremble as I rang the doorbell.

“Let’s go,” she answered the door without even letting me in.

“Where are we going?” She dragged me to her car.

“Here. I need to talk to you.” We sat in her car, awkwardly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had feelings for Carter?” her tears fell down her cheeks.

“I was scared to admit it to myself,” I looked at my hands.

“Yeah, well it’s causing me a lot of heartbreak. We broke up. He told me he still had feelings for you,” she held her composure.

“Oh,” I had no idea what to say.

“I guess I just wanted you to come here so I could let you know that I’m going to need some space. My heart is absolutely crushed by the both of you. You should have been honest with me. I thought we were best friends. Keeping this from me was really shitty of you. I don’t want to end our friendship but I do just need a breather for a while.” I heard her voice shake.

“I understand. I’ll leave. Just know that I’m truly, deeply sorry. I love you like a sister and I never wanted any of this to happen,” I opened the door and got out.

“Thanks,” and she grabbed my door, shutting it. I walked back to my car and nearly lost all control.

How could I be such a terrible friend? She was my best friend. What I’m doing to her is wrong. But at least it’s all over now between them. What was I thinking? Carter and I could not get together
now. At least, not publicly. I did miss him a lot. We were candidates for homecoming so I guess if we ended up dancing together it wouldn’t look so bad. Homecoming was going to be a blast. Not.

That night I laid in bed thinking.
A lot. What about Jake? We have a past. And what about Eli? I still had feelings for him. But Carter is here and I have a lot of feelings for him too. What did I get myself into? I laid there until my phone started ringing. It was Jake. Ironic.

“Jake? Hi,” I tried to sound normal.

“Look out your window,” his voice sounded like home. I got up and looked out my French doors that lead to my tiny patio. He was standing there on the beach.

“What are you doing here?” I said into the phone.

“Dork, hang up and come down here,” he chuckled.

I went out to the beach and I don’t know what came over me, but I ran into his arms.

“What are you doing here?” I hugged him.

“Vacation,” he squeezed me tightly.

“I missed you,” I felt the feelings come rushing back.

“You have no idea,” his voice got low and husky.

“So how long are you here for?” I pulled back and smiled.

“Just a few weeks.
Thought I’d stop by and say hi,” he returned the smile.

“Well, come in. My parents will be thrilled to see you,” I reached for his hand right as he pulled back.

“Uh, well. Actually, my girlfriend Lana is at my house waiting for me to come back,” he put his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

“Oh, wow. You have a girlfriend? That’s great. Why didn’t you tell me?” Yeah, I was a little hurt.

“It must have slipped my mind,” he tried to act cool.

“How long have you guys been together?” I crossed my arms.

“Around three months now.” I did the math. He got over me quickly.

“Oh, well, congrats. Look, I better get going.
Bedtime. You know, I got school and all,” I turned and started back for the house.

“I still think about you every day,” he yelled after me and I ignored him, letting my tears fall silently. My heart was breaking all over again and the only person I knew to call was
Marlie but she didn’t want anything to do with me so I called Carter and he came over.

“My brother can be such an ass,” he held me close to his chest.

“Why are you so chill about this? Shouldn’t you be pissed that I still have feelings for him?” I cried.

“I should be, but I’m not. He’s your first love. I get it,” he hugged me tighter.

“You’re perfect,” I smiled with tears still dripping down my cheeks.

“I try,” he brushed back my bangs.

“I do want this to work out you know,” I sniffled.

“I know,” he sounded so calm.

“I hope we get king and queen so I have an excuse to dance with you,” I whispered.

“Me too, Al. Me too.”
He kissed the top of my head and we fell silent.

The football game was intense the entire first half. It was like first we’d be up,
then they would be. It was a lot of back and forth. But by the end of the first half, we were winning. I stood in my dance uniform waiting to go on the field.

“Alright, ladies, don’t forget strong arms and smile,” I announced and as we walked onto the field, the crowd cheered.

“Presenting the half-time entertainment. The dance team with Ali Burns, team captain. Ladies, whenever you’re ready.” That was our queue to get into position.

The music started. We were dancing to “Applause” by the famous Lady
GaGa. I made every turn, every jump. I was on point tonight and the girls seemed to be doing well too. By the end of the song I was out of breath and my adrenaline was high. The crowd erupted with cheers and whistling. I felt accomplished.

“Nice job, girls. I’m so proud of all of you,” I smiled as we walked off of the field. They were just as excited as I was.

I walked over to the concessions, my hunger finally kicking in. I was getting the usual ”good jobs” and such. As I stood in line Ben pulled me out and brought me to the back of the tiny building.

“What are you doing?” I yanked my arm away from him.

“Why didn’t you say yes?” he had me pinned to the wall.

“Because I’m not interested, okay?
I’m sorry,” I tried to move around him but he wouldn’t let me.

“You’re not going anywhere.” His smile made me shiver.

“Ben, people will see us,” I tried to stay stern.

“No they won’t. This is like sacred ground.
The place where couples make out.”  His face was close to mine.

“Don’t be stupid.” I was getting scared.

“Oh, I won’t be.” His face was against mine and his lips were brought to mine. I tried to push him away but he was built like a brick wall. His body pinned to mine and his hands exploring my body, I was scared of what might happen.

“Hey! Get off of her!” I heard my saving grace, Jake. But Ben didn’t listen.

“Hey, douchebag! I said get off of her,” he shoved Ben away from me.

“We were just having fun. Damn,” Ben held his hands up in innocence.

“Somehow I doubt that. Leave before I kick your ass,” he growled.

“Whatever, man,” and Ben walked off.

“Ali, are you ok?” I was stuck to the wall in shock.

“I’m fine. Yeah, fine.” My eyes wouldn’t allow me to blink.

“Ali? Look at me, sweetie,” he brushed my bangs away.

“I’m fine, Jake,” I snapped out of it.

“I was just trying to help,” he retorted.

“I don’t need your help.” I walked away.

“We won!” Marlie came running over to me after the game.

“Thank goodness! I
gotta get in line. Talk to you later?” I smiled.

“Of course.”
I knew things between us would get better.

“Nice game, sexy,” I whispered in Carter’s ear.

“Wow, you look stunning,” he turned to me and stared in awe.

“Well, I clean up nicely. What can I say?” I grinned.

“You sure do,” he winked.

“Think you’d like to take it off later?” I was being such a tease.

“You’re a tease,” he practically moaned.

“I know.” They called our names and we started onto the field. They announced the activities we were in, what we did in our free time and what we wanted to do when we graduated.

“Okay, folks, it’s time to announce this year’s homecoming king. Drum roll, please,” the announcer attempted to make a funny.

“Carter Matthews! Congratulations, Carter!
And now for our queen. Ladies and gentleman, Alice Burns.” The crowd erupted with cheers. It’s like the students wanted us to get together.

             
“That’s your homecoming king and queen, folks. Feel free to take pictures,” the announcer let himself go.

             
“Oh, honey, we’re so happy. You look beautiful.” My mom came up and hugged me.

             
“Thanks,” I smiled.

             
“Stunning, sweetie. Congratulations.” My dad hugged me.

             
“Nice game, Carter,” my dad held out his hand for Carter.

             
“Oh, thank you,” he shook his hand in return.

             
“You two get together so we can get pictures.” We stood together and a flood of people came for pictures. By the time we were finished with all of the pictures and congratulations, I was just ready to go dance.

             
I walked down to the locker room where it was quiet until I heard footsteps come up from behind.

             
“I’ve been wanting to do this all night,” Carter wrapped his arms around me and brought me in for a kiss.

             
“You’re going to get us into trouble. We have to go take pictures for the paper,” I pushed away.

             
“Oh no you don’t, you little tease,” he wrapped me back in his arms and I couldn’t help but giggle.

             
“You’re bad.” I brought my arms around his neck and went in for a kiss. Or two. Or three.

             
“Okay, now we should go,” he pulled away.

             
“Do I look okay?” I straightened my dress.

             
“Stunning,” he played with one of my curls.

             
“Ali, you down there?” I heard Marlie’s voice.

             
“Um, yeah. Just a second. Be right up,” I hollered back.

             
“You come up when you hear me whistle, got it?” I directed him.

             
“Got it,” he kissed me and I headed upstairs.

             
“Ali, why the heck are you whistling like that?” I whistled a couple of times loudly.

             
“No reason. Come on,” I looked behind me to see Carter wave and wink at me.

             
“Nice job, Ali,” Justin tapped my shoulder.

             
“Hey, thanks! Heard you were a close second,” I gave him a quick hug.

             
“So close,” he laughed.

             
“You look good, Marlie,” he gave her a sweet grin.

             
“Oh, thanks. So what happened to your date?” she was being so defensive and high strung.

             
“Yeah, didn’t work out, so she bailed,” he shrugged.

             
“Well, shit. Now I feel like an ass,” she mumbled.

             
“No, it’s cool. Hey, my mom wanted to get a picture of you and me. That okay?” he looked at her. I saw the hearts in his eyes. I knew for a long time he still had feelings for her. Them breaking up in the first place was dumb.

             
“I’d be delighted,” said Marlie. I smiled and they walked away from where I was standing.

             
“Guess who?” I felt someone’s hands over my eyes.

             
“Carter?” I giggled.

             
“Wrong,” the voice spoke.

             
“Um, I don’t know,” I laughed nervously.

             
“Wrong again.” I finally pinned the voice.

             
“Jake,” I sighed.

             
“Hey there, Ali Cat,” he spun me to face him.

             
“What do you want?” I crossed my arms.

             
“Jeez, cranky are we?” he laughed.

             
“I have to take pictures,” I noticed the photographer motioning us over.