Rebound Boyfriend

by Daphne James Huff

  I took a step back, frowning. Was that what this was all about? She’d been so excited for me over the summer when the votes had been tallied.

  “You can’t seriously be mad about not being made captain?” I scoffed. I saw the pain in her eyes, however, and it was like a punch to the gut to know I still had the power to hurt her. But I pushed on, my own hurt overwhelming any lingering concern I had for her. “Cheerleading is over. No one cares in college if you were head cheerleader or not.”

  “Those of us going to college won’t care,” she said, smirking.

  I sucked in a breath and balled my hands into fists. “So, what, just for being captain, you’ll take everything away from me? Why?”

  Her high and harsh laugh pierced my heart. “To watch you fall, of course,” she said. “I sat in the shadows for way too long. This is going to be my year.”

  “You’re crazy,” I said, shaking my head. To have bottled all of that up, for months, for years even, without even trying to talk to me about it. I was jealous of people, sure, but not vengeful. “Jeremiah will see that one day, and it’ll be over.”

  A flicker in her eye—was it fear? Uncertainty?

  “He won’t come back to you,” she sneered. Christina snickered next to her. “Not after what you’ve done. No one will want you.”

  “What on earth do you think I did to you?” I said, racking my brain for something, anything that would deserve this kind of vengeful hate. It couldn’t be just the captain thing.

  “You mean besides rub it in my face every second of every day how you had everything I didn’t?”

  She brought a hand up to her ear and tugged at her earrings. The diamond studs sparkled between her fingers. I remembered her gasp of surprise when I’d given them to her. She had tried to give them back, telling me they were too expensive.

  “I can’t help it if my parents have money, Linzie,” I said, lowering my voice to an angry hiss.

  “They won’t for much longer.” Christina grinned a Cheshire Cat smile that showed all of her straight, even teeth. “Divorces are expensive.”

  I was about two seconds away from punching her. Had she always been this mean? Being Linzie’s new bestie was somehow making both of them extra spiteful.

  “I think it’s time for everyone to see who you really are,” she said, her eyes narrowing.

  I threw up my hands. “You’ve already told everyone about my parents. My perfect little world is shattered, and they all know it. What else could there be?”

  I stood there, broken into a million pieces, trying to figure out what she could possibly know. Her eyes glinted with malice, and cold rippled down my back. I’d seen that look on her before, but never aimed at me.

  “I know things that would be of interest to a lot of people.” She cocked an eyebrow.

  I huffed in frustration. “Linzie, either admit you know nothing and are just messing with me, or just tell me.”

  “No,” she said, a perky little smile on her face, her lips a perfect Valentine’s red. “I don’t think I’ll tell you anything, Samantha.”

  She turned on her heels and disappeared into the crowded hallway, Christina following behind with a flip of her hair. I followed their matching bobbing ponytails as they weaved through the crowd, a simmering anger rushing through me. But it was tinged with fear.

  She’d already taken everything away from me. What else was left?

  The warning bell rang, and I rushed to open my locker, now worried about being late to my next class.

  I pulled open the door to find the most gorgeous bouquet of red roses sitting inside. I gasped, breathing in their fruity scent, nearly faint with the overpowering odor. It wasn’t possible, was it? Could Jeremiah have—

  “You like them?” a deep male voice behind me interrupted my frenzied thoughts.

  I turned to see Anderson standing behind me, a smirk on his face. My heart sank, but I managed to give him a small smile.

  “They’re beautiful,” I croaked, not trusting myself to say anything else. Disappointment ran hot in my veins, but embarrassment at even thinking I deserved anything from anyone was quick to push it out.

  “You know, Sammi, if you’re in the market for another basketball player, I’ll be willing to make it worth your while.”

  He waggled his eyebrows, and I tried not to gag. But then I remembered how he was one of the few people who knew about my parents. Or at least, he had been one of the few before Linzie had blabbed to everyone. We belonged to the same country club, and there was no way juicy gossip like that hadn’t made the rounds among the more well-to-do families of Marlowe Junction.

  And Anderson had never said a word.

  Still, the way he was looking at me right now totally deserved a kick in the pants.

  “No, thanks, I think you’ve had enough cheerleaders for one year.”

  His face clouded, and I slammed my locker shut, turning on my perkiest smile.

  “See you around,” I said brightly.

  I turned on my heels to head to class, but he grabbed my arm.

  “We can both save face here, if you want,” he said, his voice low as he bent toward my ear. “I got you the most expensive bouquet they have for a reason. Linzie deserves to lose this one. And I’m sure you’d like to remind Jeremiah and Ryan how in demand you are.”

  As much as every part of me agreed with him, I knew I couldn’t do it.

  It would just be the icing on the cake of this horrible day to have to parade around with Anderson’s bouquet in my hands. I wanted to win—so badly I could taste it—but not like this. I didn’t want just anybody. I wanted someone who actually cared, who wanted to get me flowers because they liked me, not to make someone else jealous.

  I felt even worse now for using Ryan the way I had. To not even treat him like a person, but just an ornament to get what I wanted.

  Linzie had been right. I didn’t care about anyone’s feelings, did I? I just took what I wanted. Anderson’s skeevy bouquet was just what I deserved.

  I wrenched my arm out of Anderson’s grasp but gave him a sweet smile. No sense poking the viper, but I didn’t have to put up with his attitude either.

  “Thanks anyway, but I’ll pass,” I said as the final bell rang. I ran off to class, not bothering to look back to see what effect I’d had. Knowing Anderson, he was probably already taking the flowers out of my locker to go offer them to someone else.

  At least I wasn’t as heartless as him.

  Was I?

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  My afternoon did not improve very much. I sat through a very long English class, ignoring the stares and whispers from everyone while the teacher droned on about Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. I had read the book over winter break and had enjoyed imagining myself as the steadfast and loving Jane. I feared, however, I was turning into the crazy wife locked in the attic instead.

  When I got to my next class, I realized I had run off from Anderson so quickly, I had grabbed my history book instead of my math book. I asked for a hall pass to get it, the teacher giving me a sad smile as she did.

  Geez, did even the teachers know about all my drama? I thought about Coach and her talk from a few days earlier, but I knew she wouldn’t have said anything. Linzie must have engaged the services of Veronica to get the news into the teacher’s lounge.

  “Hey, Sammi.”

  I turned and Charlie Royce was standing behind me, waving a hall pass.

  “Forgot my books too,” she said with a wink.

  “I’m not in the mood,” I said, giving her the stink eye.

  “I’m sorry to hear about your parents,” she said.

  I took a deep, shuddering breath.

  “Jackson never mentioned it?” I doubted my cousin had such a big mouth, but you could never tell with guys. Jeremiah may not have told Linzie about my parents, but who knew what other secrets they spent their time laughing over.

  Charlie shook her head. I closed my eyes and leaned against my locker.

>   “I know it’s not a big deal, that lots of people have divorced parents,” I said, unsure why I was bearing my soul to Charlie of all people. I had no one left, apparently. “But I just didn’t want people to feel sorry for me, on top of Jeremiah dumping me, you know?”

  “Yeah, things haven’t been that easy for you this semester,” she said, her voice full of concern.

  I cringed but also felt a small bit of relief that someone seemed to actually care.

  “I still don’t totally get why he’d do that right when your parents split up, though. He seemed like one of the good ones.”

  “I thought he was too,” I whispered, my voice thick with tears that I refused to let fall.

  I thanked my lucky stars no one was in the halls to see this. I remembered in October when I’d been the one to follow Charlie out of class, in an attempt to get her and Jackson together.

  But I knew better than to hope she had some secret way to help me with Jeremiah.

  At least she was a pretty good listener.

  “I wanted you to have this,” Charlie said, holding out a single yellow rose. “I know it’s probably not what you wanted, but it seems weird that you’re walking around with nothing today. I mean, you’re Samantha Parsons.”

  “I don’t need your bouquet cast-offs,” I said but took it anyway. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling.

  Charlie laughed. “Puh-lease.” She rolled her eyes. “Like I’d be caught dead running around with a bunch of dead plants all day.”

  I raised an eyebrow. She flushed. “And yeah, I don’t want to keep rubbing it in Preston’s face that I’m going out with Jackson since Pinebrook made it to the championships and we didn’t.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad you found each other. You really are great together.” I tried to say it with as little jealousy as possible in my voice, but it seeped through anyway. I had been at my happiest when I’d given them the push, and it seemed like some sort of backwards karma that I was now so miserable.

  Ugh, karma. Now I sounded like Staci. Who I missed more than I wanted to admit to Charlie, my strange, new, almost friend.

  “We should get back to class,” she said, her cheeks pink at the mention of Jackson.

  I sighed, willing myself not to gag at how cute she and Jackson were. “I’ll go first. No sense setting the rumor mills running any more than they already are.”

  The last thing I needed was for Veronica to catch wind that I had a pity flower from Charlie Royce.

  Still, I tucked it into my bag so its yellow head peeked out.

  It was nice to remember that not everyone hated me.

  The rose peeking out of my bag seemed to have some sort of positive effect. In the hallways before my last class of the day—chemistry with Staci—there was a shift in the tone of the whispers that had followed me all day. I even caught Staci staring at it during class, biting her lip. I guessed she wanted to know about it just as much as I wanted to know about hers.

  When the final bell rang, our phones all buzzed simultaneously with the results of the bouquet competition. Veronica was nothing if not punctual in her delivery of bad news.

  With pictures, of course.

  I was viciously happy to see Linzie’s name second. A junior girl won thanks to a totally unique and colorful arrangement that I had to admit was pretty spectacular. Whoever picked it out knew what he was doing. In third, a well-endowed freshman was holding Anderson’s arrangement with a very naïve and excited look on her face. I made a mental note to send her a private message later warning her that his motives were most definitely not honorable.

  I took another look at the junior girl, however, and spotted a familiar arm slung around her shoulder. Surprise and something just to the left of jealousy rippled through me.

  This was the girl Ryan had picked over me. Her dark hair and eyes were the total opposite of me, and I couldn’t see enough of her outfit to gather any intel that way. Honestly, she seemed perfectly nice, and I knew I was just looking for ways to make myself feel better about being dumped. But I knew looks had very little to do with why Ryan had picked her over me.

  She was most definitely not a cheerleader, so there was at least that to be thankful for. I knew literally nothing about her, only her name thanks to Veronica, and I turned instinctively toward Staci to get more details. But when I glanced up, the classroom was nearly empty.

  I sighed, my last chance of the day to make up with her now gone. I took my time getting everything from my locker, waiting until the parking lot was mostly empty before making my lonely way home.

  When I got home, I was surprised to see my mom sitting on the couch, and even more surprised by the smell of something baking in the oven.

  “I thought you might like something special tonight,” she said.

  I bit my lip. This was like something Dad would have done. I missed him now, more than ever, but didn’t want to let her know that.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking the single rose out of my bag and twirling it around in my hand.

  “That’s nice that someone gave you one,” she said, a smile brightening her face.

  I nodded and took a deep, shaking breath. The tears weren’t far away, but I didn’t want her to have to deal with them.

  “How are you feeling?”

  I shrugged and went to sit on the couch next to her. I wasn’t used to talking to her about these kinds of things, and wasn’t sure how to begin, but standing on the other side of the room didn’t seem like the easiest way. I dropped the rose onto the spotless coffee table. She’d apparently cleaned as well as cooked today. I guessed I hadn’t been the only one to have a rough Valentine’s Day.

  “It was not the easiest day at school,” I admitted.

  “Do you think you’ll feel better by this weekend?” she said.

  I tilted my head and frowned.

  “We’re going to California.”

  “What do you mean, we’re going to California?” I crossed my arms, trying not to show her how totally thrown I was by this news. We were still months before the end of school, and the big sticking point of her staying had been not wanting to pull me out of school. “When did you decide this?”

  “Just for a visit. I’ve been talking to your father and—”

  “You what?” I cried, not believing my ears. All this time, I’d been ignoring him, avoiding his messages, and generally being a terrible daughter, because I thought he deserved it. “I thought we were in this together?”

  “In what together?” she said, her brow furrowed. “Sammi, this isn’t a war.”

  I scoffed. “Of course it is,” I said. She clearly did not understand how breakups worked. “You think I’d just be nice to him after everything he said to you?”

  She flushed, her cheeks tinged pink. “That’s very sweet of you, but I didn’t want for you to cut him out of your life.”

  “Well, I did, and I don’t even know why now, after everything you’ve done.”

  “What I’ve done?” She narrowed her eyes. “What exactly have I done? I’m not the one who abandoned our family.”

  “What were you doing all those nights with Aunt Maeve? And when you went to Boulder? I’m not an idiot. Won’t this visit be a little awkward now that you’ve had all these flings? Or is that the real reason he left to begin with?”

  My mom stared at me, openmouthed. “I’ve never—how could you—” she sputtered, reaching a hand to her cheek and shaking her head. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly, to calm herself. “Samantha, those nights out were just with friends. How could you think that I was cheating on your father?”

  My heart sank. Because I had done the same thing to Ryan. Because I expected her to be an awful person, like me. The awful person Linzie had made sure everyone thought I was. I needed her to be, so I could ask her advice on how to make it all better.

  “But…you looked so happy,” I said lamely, dropping my hands to my sides. I knew I had been out of line, but the day’s stress was catching
up to me in very unexpected ways. “What else could it have been?”

  Here eyebrows shot up. “I was happy because I was spending time with family and friends, the way I haven’t been in a long time. It made me realize how important that part of my life is.”

  “Well, you haven’t been spending that much time with me,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest again and pouting. Not that I’d really sought her out, and between school and cheerleading and the never-ending boyfriend drama, I had a lot going on. But if she had time for Aunt Maeve, she should have time for me.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I want to make up for that. So I want to go to California over the long weekend.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t even ask if I had plans this weekend,” I grumbled.

  “Basketball season is over, right? And it may do you some good to get away from all this guy drama.”

  My pout returned, even deeper this time, but had to admit she was right. It would be good to get away from everyone. I just had to make it through one more day of school on my own. But I didn’t want to think about that right now.

  “Are you going to talk to Dad?” I asked, watching her reaction. Maybe this trip was a way for them to reconnect, to remember all the things they liked about each other.

  She sighed, gazing into the distance. “I want us to be a family, whatever that means,” she said, turning to look at me. She leaned forward and brushed the hair off my face.

  My lip trembled, and I sucked it under my teeth, hoping she wouldn’t notice. “So, you won’t be getting back together with Dad?” I couldn’t hide the tremble in my voice, however.

  “Oh, sweetie.” She pulled me into a hug. “I don’t know. We both have a lot of thinking to do.”

  That wasn’t a yes, but it also wasn’t a no.

  “So we’ll go together this weekend? Just us three?”

  “Your sister may join us,” she said but pulled out of the hug with a frown. “I think your brother is still upset. He hasn’t been talking to your father.”

  I flushed. “I’ve been ignoring him too,” I said, my voice quiet. She gave me one of her most disappointed looks, all scrunchy eyebrows and heaving sighs.