Nash I was waiting on her. Tallulah. I was outside waiting on her. I just needed to admit that to myself and deal with it. The past two days, she’d been hard to catch in the halls. I’d barely seen her. She hadn’t been on Asa’s arm like he wanted, and during lunch she was nowhere to be found. I tried not to make it obvious I was looking for her. Asa was less obvious. He’d asked around and would openly watch for her everywhere. The only glimpse I’d seen of her today was when she’d walked out of the library and gone in the opposite direction of me. Her avoiding me I didn’t like. I could deal with her smart mouth and anger as long as I got to see her and talk to her. It was Friday, and tonight was the first game. I didn’t want to be there. But the guys all expected me to be. Standing on the sidelines while I watched them all live my senior dream wasn’t exactly going to be easy. I had battled with it all damn day. Ryker fully believed I would be there on the field with him. He didn’t question it. My dad assumed I’d be there “supporting the team” and all that shit. I’d played ball with these guys since I was in elementary school. We had started this thing together, and I was expected to end it together. But I wouldn’t be playing. None of them seemed to care about that, though. They didn’t get how hard that was going to be. Tallulah appeared in the front doors of the building. The breeze caught her long blond hair, and it reminded me of a commercial. One of those shampoo commercials where the
girls are hot and their hair is perfect. Her head turned, and her eyes didn’t seem to dwell on anything or anyone in particular. It was as if she were out here all alone, not noticing her surroundings. The attention she was getting from guys, and girls for that matter. She was hard not to look at. One would assume that she was enjoying the attention. Soaking it in and letting everyone bask in her beauty. Ignoring them all while walking through the parking lot knowing all eyes were on her. But that wasn’t the case. This was Tallulah. I saw it for what it really was. She still carried herself and acted like she had for the past eleven years. She didn’t want to draw attention. She was afraid of being made fun of. This was how she had gone around unnoticed. Ignored. Problem was, no one was ignoring her now. They were unable to look away. I had always noticed her. Sure, she had always had a pretty face. But that hadn’t been why. I liked her smile, the way she didn’t try to get attention, how smart she was. I liked hearing her laugh. She was genuine. It was rare. I was standing near her car and waited until she got closer before walking over to stand beside it. Her gaze found me. She paused a second, then continued toward me. I didn’t get a smile, which was a shame. I really liked her smile. A whole damn lot. Instead, I got an irritated scowl. She stopped as she reached me. “Why are you at my car?” “You’ve been hard to find,” I told her. She did a small shrug of her shoulders. “Trying to ke ep up with the advanced classes. The library is my friend. You aren’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go.”
I wondered if she’d been spending any extra time with Coach D, but I didn’t ask. I knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t get it. She was too naïve to see what the man was doing. I wasn’t, though. And I was watching. Someone had to look out for her. “Maybe I should try out the library more often. Could only help my grades,” I r eplied. Her eyes widened as if the idea made her nervous, but she recovered quickly. “I’m sure it would. I need to go.” This verbal battle was fun, but I wanted her to smile at me, dammit. She liked this too. She didn’t act like it, but there was something there. An energy between us. And it wasn’t just the anger she was still clinging to. When the words go out with me tonight came pouring from my mouth, I was as surprised as she was. Her eyes went wide, and her perfect pink mouth made a small O shape. As if that had been the last thing she expected me to ask. I had wanted it, but the words just coming out like that hadn’t been the smoothest way of asking. I was losing my edge. “The game is tonight,” she said after blinking away her surprise. No smart-ass comment this time. I’d thrown a curveball at her, and she hadn’t been ready. I nodded. “It is. I am expected to stand on the sidelines. It’s the last thing I want to do, yet I can’t imagine not being there. If you came... if you were in the stands waiting on me... it would make it a hell of a lot easier.” And that was the truth. “Why me? I don’t like you. I can’t imagine I’d make your night better.” Her words were meant to sound harsh, but it
seemed she was losing her edge too. Her voice had quavered nervously. I bit back a grin. “Because you’re the only person in this town that doesn’t feel sorry for me.” As I said it, I realized that was part of it. My attraction to her. She took a de ep breath and stared off toward the field. Her lips pursed in a distasteful pucker. Like she didn’t want to respond to this. If it wasn’t so damn cute, I’d be insulted. I’d never had a girl this pissed off that I’d asked her out before. When she finally swung her gaze back to me, she sighed. “Okay.” She said that one word as if it was the hardest thing she’d ever said. There was no pleasure in her tone or her expression. She didn’t like saying yes. But I didn’t care, because that one word made tonight and all the other shit in my life seem easier. Less painful. My chest felt light, and I was excited. It had been so long since I had been excited about anything. “Really?” I asked, grinning like an idiot. I watched as she fought back a smile to ke ep her annoyed glare in place. She was struggling, and I only grinned harder. “I don’t have to be here for warmups. I’ll pick you up at six thirty. We can grab a burger before the game. Then after we can go wherever you want. The field, to get more food, a movie.” “Fine,” she said. No excitement there, but I had enough for the both of us. She wanted to hate me still, but she
didn’t. I could break through that wall. Or I’d go down trying at least. “Tallulah,” a male voice called out, and my skin crawled. She jerked her head toward Coach D as he walked toward us. He was acting like the teacher he was supposed to be, but I could see from the way he was glaring in my direction that his head was elsewhere. “Yes, Mr. Dace?” she asked, her voice suddenly nervous. Unsure. “The office was supposed to call you up earlier to tell you that your application for teacher’s aid was acc epted. They’ve assigned you to me during your last period, and you receive extra credit if you arrive an hour early in the morning.” I stood there wanting to put my fist between that horny bastard’s eyes. I was unable to if I wanted to stay in school. And what was the office thinking? She was a beautiful teenage girl, and he was a young male teacher. They should have put her with a woman teacher. “Oh, okay. Did you need me today? I didn’t know.” He acted as if I wasn’t even standing there. Didn’t acknowledge my existence. “I’ve got to get ready for the game. Just be there at seven on Monday morning. I’ll go over all I need you to do this semester. Enjoy your weekend.” He then glanced at me. “I’ll see you on the field tonight.” That was his way of telling me I had to be there. Who the fuck did he think he was? He was never my coach. He didn’t tell me what I was going to do. If I was on that field tonight, it would be because I wanted to be. Not because he told me to be.
I didn’t respond to him. I wanted him to know I saw it. I knew what he was doing. That this thing with Tallulah wasn’t going to be overlooked. If he st epped out of line, I’d make sure it never happened again. She was trusting and innocent. He saw that. “Good luck tonight,” Tallulah said, her smile more nervous than when she looked at me. He grinned. It wasn’t the kind a teacher gives a student. “Thanks. You better be there.” She turned her head to look at me, and her smile wavered. “I will be.” I wanted her to say we had a date. Something. Just to piss him off and remind him she was seventeen years old. She held my gaze. There was something unsaid in that moment. She didn’t want his attention. After a moment of awkward silence, Coach D walked off, and she didn’t watch him go. Score one for me.