Chance let out a bark of laughter. “That figures,” he said, swiping the hat from her head. “Take a drink,” he told her. “New rule: Take a drink every time you share.”
She did so.
“Hmmm.” Chance stroked his chin, pretending to look thoughtful. “My favorite color is blue-green.” He took a sip.
“Boooo,” Jenny cried, taking the pirate hat back. “That was a lame reveal.”
“We never said they had to be deep soul-baring secrets. We’re just supposed to share something.”
“I still think that’s cheating,” Jenny huffed. The flickering light from the nearest candle danced over Chance’s face, highlighting the sharp planes of his features. Jenny wanted to reach out and trace those angles. She wanted to drag her fingertips along that jawline. The intensity of her want caught her off guard.
“It’s your turn,” he prompted.
“Um … I hate sports. Like, all sports. And any form of exercise. I wish I was the type who could go for morning runs or do Zumba or something, but I have no drive and cardio makes me sneeze.”
“It makes you sneeze?”
She nodded, taking another drink. She offered him the hat. “Your turn.”
He put it on, looking thoughtful. “I had my first girlfriend at thirteen. She was a redhead named Loralai and she wore skirts over her jeans. It didn’t last long.”
“She wore skirts over her jeans?”
He nodded solemnly. “I’m talking schoolgirl skirts pulled over ripped jeans. It was not a pretty sight, but the heart wants what the heart wants.”
She took the hat back as he took his drink. “I’ve never had a boyfriend,” she said.
Chance shook his head. “No, we already shared that. You can’t re-share.”
“Can too.”
“Cannot. New rule: No re-sharing.”
“How come you’re the only one who can make up new rules?”
“Because I’m the one who came up with the game, remember? Now, go again.”
She looked down at her half-empty bottle, sloshing the liquid around. “I’ve never been kissed.”
He was so silent that she feared he had nodded off in the dim lighting. She looked up, blushing slightly when her eyes met his. He was staring at her, quiet as a mouse. She couldn’t read his expression in the candlelight.
She took another drink. “You can laugh now,” she told him.
“I’m not going to laugh,” he said softly.
“Why not? It’s pathetic, right? I’m seventeen and I’ve never drank and I’ve never had a boyfriend or been kissed.” The funny thing was, she had never felt pathetic until she had seen Samantha ask him out. Ever since then, the feeling had been eating away at the back of her mind.
“It’s not pathetic,” Chance said. “Everyone moves at their own pace.”
“I never felt like I was missing out on anything before,” she went on, taking another swig. “Then all of a sudden it’s like I finally woke up and realized that people around me are living. They’re not sitting at home like I always am, doing homework. They’re out there with friends and going on dates. Everything still felt like elementary school to me, where you say good-bye to your friends after the final bell and don’t see them again until the next morning. Where the boy who sits by you in class is your ‘boyfriend’ because he passed you a note and sometimes holds your hand, but you don’t actually have dates or kiss. It never actually struck me as real.”
He watched her, not saying a word. She didn’t even feel self-conscious as she tipped up the bottle and gulped down the rest of her beer. “Can I have another?”
He gulped the rest of his down, too, getting them both another one. It was his turn with the hat.
“Uh, well, I…” He trailed off, looking at her curiously. “My parents fight constantly,” he finally blurted out. “I’m talking twenty-four/seven yelling and screaming. My home is hell, Jenny. I can barely even stand to be there.”
She hadn’t seen this coming. She stared at him in shock as he downed a good portion of his beer. Had she spurred this honesty on with her own outburst? She felt like she owed him her own chunk of personal information in exchange for what he had just given her.
“My father left my mother for a twenty-something-year-old pharmacist,” she told him. She, too, took a long drink.
“Jenny, you’re not even wearing the hat right now.”
She took it from him, placing it haphazardly on her head. “My mother was pregnant when it happened. He left her while she was pregnant.”
“Wow,” he said. “What an asshole. I mean, I know he’s your father, but—”
“No, you’re right. He’s an asshole.” She passed the hat back to Chance.
“I’m afraid my parents are going to turn their anger on me. Levi’s been gone a long time and I know it’s coming,” Chance admitted once he had the hat on. “My brother and I weren’t close, but at least there were two of us. He hasn’t even visited since he left, and the calls stopped a while back.”
Back to her. “My mother is starting to date again, and I feel awful about it. Not because she’s dating, but because I’m not.”
Back to him. “I wish they’d just get divorced. Maybe then we would have a chance to be normal.”
Her. “My parents getting divorced was the worst thing I’ve ever gone through.”
Him. “My parents’ marriage is the worst thing I’ve ever gone through.”
They both tossed their now-empty bottles aside, opening their thirds. Jenny took the hat once more, her hand shaking slightly as she put it on. She could feel her edges getting fuzzy. Was this what getting drunk was like?
“If things get bad at your house, you can always hang out at mine. You can come over whenever you want. You can stay as long as you want. You don’t have to go through things alone, Chance.”
“Neither do you,” he told her.
She wanted to kiss him. The feeling came from somewhere deep inside her, bubbling to the surface as her eyes traced the shape of his lips in the lantern light. She wanted to kiss Chance Masters, and maybe one day she would, but she knew this wasn’t the time. Instead, she lurched forward, throwing her arm around his middle and burying her head in his shoulder.
“We don’t have to be alone,” she whispered into the fabric of his shirt.
They fell asleep that way, arms around each other, breathing shallow. The candles slowly burned out and the batteries in the lanterns eventually sputtered and died. The one time Jenny woke up during the night, the only light left was that of the glow-in-the-dark stars. She could barely make out the shape of Chance’s jaw above her head. She closed her eyes tight and burrowed deeper into his embrace.
She wasn’t exactly sure what had changed, but she knew that nothing would be the same after that night.
CHAPTER 8
Chance
Everything had changed. The next morning, Chance woke up completely disoriented for a few seconds, his limbs tangled up with Jenny’s.
What happened? Why are we cuddling? Did we—?
Then the memories of the night before came flooding back. He looked over to see her still lying there beside him, her own eyes open as well.
“Good morning,” she said in a voice so quiet it didn’t even disturb the birds in the rafters.
Dear lord, did he want to kiss her then. There she was lying next to him, her hair fanned out behind her, her perfect little nose almost touching his. He wanted to reach out, cup her face, and bring their lips together. If it was any other girl in any other circumstance, he probably would have. But it wasn’t—it was Jenny. Jenny, who had opened up and shared herself with him, too, and it didn’t feel right to make a move. So instead he sat up, wishing her good morning as well.
He took her back home and as he watched her sneak into her house, he decided to put the whole thing behind him. But for the entire next week, all he could think about was slamming her against the nearest locker and kissing her soundly, which was pretty distracting—e
specially during Oral Comm. How was he supposed to listen to Mrs. Tanner when Jenny kept chewing on the top of her pen like that?
He had told her so much about himself. The damn pirate hat must’ve really been magic or something. He couldn’t risk ruining such a good thing by making a move on her. If he did, then he’d be stuck with no one again.
They hadn’t been back to the barn since that night, but he was dying to go again. He started going to her house after school most days. There was this pocket of time where her mother was still at work and her siblings were still at the sitter’s, when it was just the two of them in her big empty house. God, that drove him crazy.
It was two weeks before Halloween, and midterms were quickly approaching. Chance was falling into the apathy that he typically lived in during the school year.
“Hey.” Jenny leaned over and whispered before Oral Comm class. She’d worn her hair down for once, and all he wanted to do was bury his hands in it and drag her lips to his. “Do you want to help me babysit after school tomorrow? My mom’s got a date.”
“I figured I was coming over anyway,” he whispered back.
Mrs. Tanner called the class to order then, and Jenny wouldn’t speak out of turn in class. They had some kind of “My Plan for the Future” speech coming up. Chance wasn’t looking forward to that at all. He didn’t know what his future plans were.
* * *
AFTER CLASS, CHANCE and Jenny fell into their routine, walking to lunch arm-in-arm.
“She was singing, Chance. Straight up singing happily. It was sickeningly adorable. I’ve never seen my mother this happy.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Of course, but it’s weird. She’s acting like a teenager in love.”
“What do you know about teenagers in love?”
“I’ve seen the movies. I know what to expect.”
Lunch was the same as always. Emelia talked about something new her niece had done, and Leslie listened. Kelsey sat beside Chance, not really acknowledging him. He got the feeling she didn’t like him but he still had no clue why. He’d asked Jenny once, but she had told him it was all in his head and that Kelsey merely seemed abrasive at times. It wasn’t that, though. He knew that glare was real.
Drake was late to lunch, rushing in nearly halfway through and throwing himself in the chair next to Jenny.
“Where’s the fire?” asked Emelia.
Drake ignored her, pulling out his phone and turning toward Jenny. “Nick just texted me the video of last night’s performance. Would you like to see some of it?”
“Sure,” Jenny said, scooting closer to him so she could see. “What’s this song called?” she asked after a few minutes.
“Untitled,” Drake told her. “At least for now. I’m sure I’ll find inspiration to name it sometime.”
That is so lame, Chance thought bitterly as Drake nonchalantly draped an arm behind Jenny’s chair, pulling her closer so she could see better. He could see both Emelia and Leslie craning their necks to watch the video, too. What kind of magic spell did singer/songwriters cast? He cut his eyes away, catching Kelsey wearing a matching look of disgust. At least they agreed on one thing.
After lunch, Chance was waiting for Jenny to pack up, like always, when someone tugged at his elbow.
“Hey, bro, can I talk to you for a sec?” Drake asked.
“I’m supposed to wait for Jenny,” Chance said, trying to pull away.
“I know, that’s why I want to talk to you.” Drake ran a hand through his long sandy-colored hair. He had finally succeeded in getting it to touch his shoulders. Chance knew he had been trying for years.
“About Jenny?” Chance had a sinking feeling in his gut. He could tell he wasn’t going to like the direction of this conversation one bit.
“Yeah,” Drake said. “She’s nice, you know? She always asks about my band and she’s actually interested when I show her things. I think she’s cute, and I’m planning to ask her to Leslie’s Halloween party. I was wondering if, as her best friend and all, you had any pointers?”
Chance was sure his gut had already sunk into the earth’s crust and descended into the pits of hell. His gut was probably chilling with Satan right now. “I—I don’t know,” he said honestly.
Would she? Would Jenny ever give someone like Drake the time of day? She had told him that she wasn’t interested in those things. But she’s trying to be, he remembered. It never occurred to him that all this time Jenny had been sitting next to him, she had been sitting next to Drake, too.
“I honestly don’t know,” he said again. He wanted to warn him off, to tell Drake to back the hell up, but he didn’t have a right to do that. Maybe Jenny did want to go out with him and wouldn’t appreciate Chance being a territorial asshole and ruining it. She at least had the right to choose whether or not she wanted Drake.
“I’m going to ask her,” Drake said confidently. “I just thought you would know best.”
Chance watched him walk off, head held high. He hated Drake then, and everything he represented. Drake could be the end of the brief friendship of Chance and Jenny. Would their promise that they would go through things together still hold up when she had other options?
“You ready?” Jenny asked, appearing at his elbow. He kept watching Drake.
No, he wasn’t ready.
* * *
“THIS IS BORING,” Chance complained the next day as he buried himself deeper into Jenny’s beige couch.
“I asked you. I gave you an option. All you had to say was ‘No, Little Miss Really-Likes-Having-As, I don’t want to help you babysit,’ and you would’ve been off the hook. But, no, you were all flippant. You don’t get to complain now.”
Chance fixed her with a stare. “Jenny, I’m booored.”
“Ugh!” she exclaimed, flopping down onto the couch beside him. “Well, Jack is old enough to watch himself and all he ever does is play video games anyway. Jessa just sleeps. I don’t know what you expect me to do here.”
He jutted out his bottom lip in a faux pout. “Entertain me.”
Her eyes flittered around, trying to spot something for them to do. “I, uh, dare you to balance those books on your head.”
He just stared at her. “What?”
“Come on!” she said, jumping to her feet. “Today is officially the Day of Dares, and I just dared you to do something. Are you going to back out? Are you chicken, Masters?”
He looked from her to the stack of textbooks in question. “I’m not Marty McFly; the chicken thing doesn’t work on me.”
Now it was her turn to fake a pout. “It’ll be fun, Chance. Get off your ass.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, standing up. He picked up the first book and attempted to balance it on his head. It wobbled precariously but stayed still. He attempted the next one to the same effect. It was the fourth one that ruined everything. It sent his mini book tower careening to the carpet with muffled thuds.
Jenny burst out laughing. “Dude, your head must be weirdly flat under all that hair. I can’t even balance two on my head.”
“My head is not flat,” Chance said defensively. “Besides, it’s your turn now. I dare you to…” He trailed off, looking around for something. He looked into the kitchen, catching sight of the overgrown backyard through the sliding glass door. “Climb that tree in your backyard.”
Jenny looked alarmed. “But I don’t go outside. I don’t do outside-y things. Besides, we don’t cut that grass, not since … well, since Dad left.”
“That’s why it’s a dare, Jenny. It gets you to do things you wouldn’t normally do.”
They went outside, making their way through the high grass to the tree just inside the fence. It wasn’t too tall, and it had a few thick, low-hanging branches. Jenny eyed it warily.
“How does one even climb a tree?” she asked.
“You’ve never done this before?”
“Hello, it’s me—I never played outside.”
Chance used to cli
mb trees all the time. There was one right in the middle of his front yard. He used to climb it so often when he was younger that his hands had grown calloused. He had liked to climb up and sit there, watching all the houses in the neighborhood. He could see all the normal families shuffling from their cars, their arms full of groceries, or the dads teaching their little girls to ride bikes. He had wished that he could be part of one of the little families he always observed, that one day they’d look up and see him in the tree and tell him to climb down and come to dinner.
“Just grab the lowest branch, brace your foot against the tree, and pull yourself up,” he told her.
She did as he said, struggling to pull herself onto the branch. Finally, she made it. “I’m getting you back for this,” she warned as she grabbed the next branch, pulling herself up once more.
She plopped herself down on the branch, legs swinging below her. “It’s my turn,” she told him.
“You’re barely even off the ground. That hardly counts.”
She picked a walnut off the tree and tossed it at him. “I will throw another one, Chance.”
“Fine, what’s my dare?”
She pointed to the trampoline on the right side of the yard, by the fence. It looked like an old thing. They had decided that they had spent many summer nights bouncing and laughing, sunbathing and sleeping, but they had never actually gotten on it. Dead leaves curled up on it and the springs squeaked from disuse.
“Get on that.”
Chance agreed, grabbing Jenny’s hand as he passed, helping her down. “You too,” he said, dragging her with him. He hopped up on the edge, releasing her hand to take off his shoes.
Jenny shook her head. “That’s a metal death trap. I’m not getting on that. Jackie isn’t even allowed on it after last summer.”
“And yet you want me on it? Rude.” He tossed one shoe to the ground. “How about neither of us jumps? We’ll lie out like we used to in our fake past.” The other shoe dropped, disappearing into the dying grass.
Finally, she jumped up, kicking off her flats to join him. He crawled toward the middle, then sprawled out on the dead leaves. They were already clinging to his hair like magnets. After a moment, she moved to lie with him.
Just Friends Page 7