Tallulah The flu lasted three more days. I was weak and out of it. Nash texted a few times, checking on me, and I r eplied, but it hadn’t been anything too detailed. Today, however, I was better. I took a shower and ate some toast and fruit. I felt like living again. I dreaded the schoolwork I had missed. I would spend the rest of the week trying to catch up. I had almost texted Nash to tell him I was coming back to school this morning but then wasn’t sure if I should. Would he care? Our connection seemed so distant now. Not having seen or talked to him since Friday night, I felt weird. Unsure. Walking into school, I saw a buzz in the hallway, and girls were more silly than normal. When I caught a glimpse of the guy from the football game Friday night, it came back to me. I’d forgotten. He must have been the You Tube guy after all. Why was he here? In Lawton of all places. “You’re back,” Nash said, coming up beside me. I was suddenly nervous. “Yeah, I started feeling more like me last night.” “Good.” He grinned. He seemed happy. The moody guy from last week at school was gone. This was the Nash I remembered. “I missed you.” I was missed. I couldn’t remember one time that I had missed school over the years when someone had told me they missed me. “Really?” I asked, then felt my cheeks heat at the pathetic way that simple question sounded.
“Tallulah, glad you’re back. Wasn’t the same in class without you.” Mr. Dace was smiling as he stopped in front of us. His gaze was on me, though. He wasn’t focused on Nash at all. “Thanks. I had the flu,” I explained quickly. His eyes looked concerned. “That sucks. You take your time with the makeup work. Don’t overwork yourself.” I nodded, thinking there was no way I was going to take my time. He finally cut his eyes toward Nash, then nodded once—“Nash”—before he walked on down the hallway. “I really hate that guy,” Nash muttered. “Mr. Dace?” I asked, surprised. I didn’t think anyone could hate Mr. Dace. I knew he hadn’t wanted to be at that field party anyway the night Mr. Dace had broken it up. There was no reason for him to hate Mr. Dace. He lifted both his eyebrows as if that was an understood thing. I was going to ask him why when someone else joined us. “Looks like the girlfriend is back from the dead,” the guy from the football game said as he came up beside Nash and put his arm around his shoulders as if they were friends. Nash didn’t shrug him off or look surprised. “Tallulah, this is Haegan. Haegan, this is Tallulah. I know the two of you have spoken before, but here’s your official introduction.” I frowned and looked from Haegan to Nash. “You know him?” I asked, confused. “Missed a lot those days you were down sick,” Haegan said.
Nash looked apologetic. “Turns out Haegan was the You Tuber that Pam saw that night. She hadn’t been wrong.” Haegan Baylor the vlogger? Really? “Walk me to class, Haegan,” Blakely said, not even caring that Haegan was standing with Nash. Haegan rolled his eyes and appeared to ignore her. “He promised to walk me. Didn’t you, Haegan?” another cheerleader said, pushing closer. “No he didn’t. He hasn’t said he’d walk anyone,” Pam announced with authority, like she was his stage manager. Other girls began to crowd around us, and I started to feel claustrophobic. I needed out of this herd of crazy. My eyes met Nash’s, and he shrugged like this was normal. Had he been dealing with this all week? “I’ll walk all of you. If you’re going in that direction.” Haegan pointed the opposite way from my classroom. Relief was instant. When he started walking, the girls followed him like the insane clingy cre eps they were. Nash and I were soon left alone again. He glanced toward the d eparting crowd then back at me. “He’s not that bad. He deals with the fame well.” I hadn’t said anything negative. I didn’t know Haegan. It was the crowd he drew I hadn’t been thrilled about. “How did you meet him?” I asked, realizing I had missed a lot this week. “Saturday, when you got sick, I ended up at the park alone. Sitting off in the woods on a picnic table, staring at nothing. He showed up. Pushy as hell. Wouldn’t go away. But you know”—he paused, then gave me a slow smile—“he’s
not bad. He’s not football. He has a life that has nothing to do with all that. It’s a good change for me.” That made sense. Haegan was a friend who wouldn’t remind Nash of all he’d lost. “I’m glad you met him, then.” Nash gave me a small smirk. “I was on his latest vlog. It posts tonight. I didn’t want to do it, but he insisted. Wasn’t so bad. Was kind of fun. I’m still not convinced it was legal.” At the word legal I grew concerned, but Nash was smiling like it was the best thing ever, so I didn’t say anything. Maybe he had been kidding. “I’ll have to watch it,” I said, hoping it wasn’t going to get Nash in any trouble. “Come to Haegan’s with me tonight. He’s posting it, and he wants me to come over and see what all he does when a vlog goes live. I wasn’t sure you’d be back so I said yes. I’d rather spend time with you. If you don’t want to go, we can do something else.” I didn’t want to go to Haegan’s. I still wasn’t sold on this guy. He’d been so odd at the game. He’d tried to make me uncomfortable. I didn’t like that. But Nash liked him, and I liked Nash. I had to give Haegan another chance. “Okay. If Haegan doesn’t mind,” I r eplied, suddenly thinking Haegan might mind. He didn’t seem like he’d want me around. “He won’t mind. I swear, he’s the most laid-back person I have ever met.” The warning bell rang. Nash leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Glad you’re back,” he whispered, surprising me. My cheeks heated, and my heart fluttered. “Me too,” I said with a shaky voice.
Nash saw my reaction, and his grin was a pleased one. “See you after class,” he said, then turned and headed toward his next class. I watched him go only a second before hurrying across the hall and three doors down to my first period. It wasn’t until I was almost to my class that I realized... Nash’s limp had been better. He’d walked straighter. Taller. He was confident again. I didn’t know if it was me or Haegan who had inspired that. It didn’t matter. He was changing. Back to the Nash I knew. The guy who smiled easy. The guy who walked like he had the world in his hands.