Who We Were

by Christy Sloat

  “Hey guys,” he shouted over the noise. They all quieted down and faced Nash. “This is Sadie.”

  “Hey Sadie,” a girl with blonde hair said. I waved. Then they all greeted me with hellos and names that I could never remember. Not yet anyway. I hoped that I’d get the chance to.

  “You hungry?” Nash asked sweetly.

  “Yes. Starving.” I started to pull out my sack lunch and saw Nash slide his uneaten cheeseburger in front of me. “You like cheeseburgers?” It was such a silly question. Who didn’t?

  “Um, yeah! Thanks.” I slid my lunch back into my bag. I’d throw it out before I got home. I knew my mom would flip if she found out I didn’t eat it. Wasting food was a huge pet peeve for her. I understood, but who in their right minds would turn down a cheeseburger from Nash?

  I took a bite and listened to everyone talk about their classes. I couldn’t believe this many kids were doing the summer school thing. It made me wonder if they all failed a class or if they were like me.

  The boy at the end of the table stood up and scooted closer to Nash. “Hey, we still on for today?” he asked him. I got a good look at him. He was gorgeous as well, but there was something about him I couldn’t quite place my finger on.

  “Nah, man. Today I’m gonna pass. I’m taking Sadie for ice cream,” Nash answered simply. It was like we were already a couple. It sounds lame, but it was how I felt. He used my name so easily in the few short minutes of our time together, and I couldn’t help but love the way he said it.

  “Sadie, huh? You must be her then. I’m Oliver,” he said as he slid closer to me now. “Oliver Kasen.” I knew the name. He was the big shot football player for Alcott. The quarterback if I wasn’t mistaken.

  “Hi,” I said as plain as ever.

  Oliver had lips that were bigger than the usual male, but not in a bad way. They looked kissable actually. Almost like he had just gotten done sucking face with a girl. They were red and swollen. His face was peppered with freckles, and his hair hung in his eyes. He was perfection just like Nash.

  Not as perfect as Nash though. Nash was all that Oliver wasn’t. He was polite and gentle while Oliver was pushy and rough around the edges.

  “Got any friends, Sadie?” Oliver asked. Yep, definitely pushy.

  “My best friend, Lily. She works at Scoop’s.”

  He nodded, and his smile grew larger. “Total hotties work at Scoop’s. Tell me about her,” he urged.

  Then before I could contain myself, I told him all about Lily.

  “She’s Latina. She has long hair that comes down to her waistline, although she may have cut it since I saw her last week. She said she was going to,” I mumbled. “Her eyes are like dark chocolate, and she’s anti-product.”

  Oliver looked confused. “What’s that mean?”

  “She doesn’t wear make-up,” Nash answered for me then looked at me. “I must have heard the term somewhere.” He blushed.

  “What else? Is she single?” Oliver asked excitedly.

  I nodded and took a bite of the burger.

  “Cool. Hook me up,” he suggested.

  I swallowed and said, “Sure. Let me just talk to her first. She is kind of anti-football players.”

  Nash laughed, but Oliver didn’t.

  “Who isn’t into football players? I mean, look at us.” He stood and showed off his very strong physique while patting Nash on the back. I had my answer, Nash played football. The difference between the two boys was apparent. Nash wasn’t into flaunting his terrific body, but Oliver was.

  “Okay, Oli, I think she gets the idea,” Nash said with a roll of his eyes.

  The bell rang ending lunch just in time. I didn’t think I could listen to Oliver’s cockiness any longer. I stood and tried to grab the lunch tray, but Nash took it first. He smiled at me and said, “I got this.” I pulled back and ran my fingers through my hair. He was so polite. The typical gentlemen.

  “So, you think I may have a chance with your friend?” Oliver was standing so close that I could actually smell the onions he had in his burger. I pulled out a stick of gum and gave it to him.

  “Thanks, kid.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Sure. About my friend, Lily, she’s … picky. So don’t get your hopes up.”

  “Sadie, I have never, ever, struck out with a girl. I can promise you that once she sees Oliver Kasen, that girl will be in love,” he said with satisfaction dripping from his voice. I really seriously hated boys like Oliver, but there was something about him that I couldn’t shake. That something made me actually like him a little. I found him interesting and humorous. It would be funny to see Lily’s reaction to his arrogant attitude toward women. He didn’t know her like I did. She would never fall for a guy like him, not in a million years.

  Nash came back and grabbed his backpack. “Well, I’m off to Eco. Will you wait for me after school, Sadie?” I nodded and bit my lip. “Cool. See ya then.”

  I walked to class as Nash and Oliver went in the opposite direction. I couldn’t believe what had happened in the last few hours. I had secured a date with Nash Rylan, a hot football player for a school that I had no doubt booed and hissed at during games―a school that I had hated during pep rallies. Now that I was here attending classes, I fell in love with it. Who knew that the first day here I would want to enroll and stay for my senior year? It sure caught me by surprise. The whole day was like a dream I never anticipated ever coming true.

  Three

  The rest of the afternoon flew by in no time at all. Mrs. Bentley assigned minor homework, which I was relieved by. If I was going to be stuck at home with tons of things to do for this class, it would be a major bummer. Instead, all she asked was that we read the first chapter of Dorian Gray. We would be discussing it in class the next day. Easy peasy. I could read it while Lily and I sat at the lake and tanned. We usually read books to each other. Last summer she read me Jane Eyre while I let the sun soak into my skin and bronze me. I loved the book and spent the whole time hoping I would find a love like Jane and Edward had, minus the creepy wife hidden away. Things like that came easy to Lily and me.

  I walked out of the air conditioned class and felt the heat hit me full force when I got outside.

  “Yep, summer’s officially here baby,” Kyleigh shouted. “Hey, Sadie, here’s my number. Text me, okay? We’ll go shopping.” She handed me a small piece of scrap paper with her number scrawled on it. I took it and nodded then pulled a pen out and wrote mine on her hand.

  “I’ll text you tonight, okay?” She walked away and waved her tiny hand at me. I liked Kyleigh. She was cool and confident. Everything I wasn’t. Maybe she would teach me a few things. I smiled at the thought and headed toward the parking lot. I scanned the crowd looking for Nash. I was trying to be sly about it. I didn’t want him to think I was over eager about this date.

  I didn’t see him.

  I swallowed the disappointment and walked to my car. Oh well, it’s not like a guy hasn’t stood you up before. The sad fact about my thought was it was true. I had been stood up twice before by guys. The first time was because when Armando asked me out on the bus in ninth grade, he was only playing a cruel joke on me. The second was because George was scared of commitment, and I suspected he was not into me as much as I wanted him to be. I spent two years crushing on that boy for it to never be returned. I would never feel that way for him again, never waste my time. Even though the fact that Nash was standing me up hurt, I wouldn’t let it show. At least not here.

  “Hey, wait up,” Nash called. I turned around and saw him jogging across the parking lot toward me. I took deep breath and waved. He got to me and stopped right in front of me. “Were you standing me up, Sadie?” I knew he was teasing, but I still felt shocked. I laughed a little.

  “I would never do that, Nash. I was just putting my stuff in my car,” I lied. The truth was I was going to leave. Better to leave than stand here waiting for him. It would be embarrassing if he never came. I turned around and unlocked my car a
nd placed my things inside.

  “So, I’ll meet you there then,” Nash suggested. He ran his fingers through his dark hair. When he did so, it raised his hair higher giving him that sexy rocker look. His hair was perfect. Short on the sides and slightly longer on the top. I wondered what it would look like wet. Good lord, Sadie.

  “Yeah … sounds great. See you there,” I muttered.

  “Drive careful.” He patted my arm and duly jogged off toward a large black truck that was parked near the front of the school. Oliver was waiting for him, and they hopped in.

  As the windows rolled down, I could hear the loud country music blaring from the speakers. I smiled. I was happy it wasn’t some obnoxious rap music. That wouldn’t fit his personality. It’s funny how music can define a person. It can tell you almost all you need to know about them.

  I got into my car and the air blasted hot in my face. “Ugh.” I shut off the fan and put my own windows down. I took off and drove toward Scoop’s, hoping to get there before Nash and Oliver so I could warn Lily.

  ***

  Scoop’s was packed full of kids my age. The line went all the way out the door. The plan to warn Lily of Oliver’s arrival was not going as I hoped. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and searched for my phone. I sent a quick text with the hopes of Lily getting it.

  Me: I’m here but I’m bringing company.

  Lily: Who? Hottie?

  Me: Hottie’s name is Nash. And he brought a friend.

  A few minutes passed.

  Lily: Don’t you dare try to hook me up w/ anyone Sadie!!!!

  I bit my lip and decided to not respond. Maybe she would go easy on Oliver, and he would get turned down for the first time in his life. It would do him some good to hear the word no from a girl. A little dose of reality served up by Lily. I giggled just thinking about it. I heard the roar of an engine and turned to see Nash’s truck pull up next to my small car. He hopped out with Oliver, and they strode over to me. Oliver had a huge grin on his face. Oh, Oliver, if you only knew, I thought.

  “Hey!” Nash greeted me. He bent down a bit and gave me a quick hug. We were both tall, but it was nice to find a guy who was actually taller than I was.

  “How tall are you?” I blurted out.

  “Six foot, why? You tired of being the tallest girl in the room?” He nudged my shoulder. It was true; I was usually the tallest girl in the classroom. I towered over most boys my age. That made it awkward when I was talking to a guy I liked, and I had to look down on them.

  “Yeah, being tall can be a pain,” I answered.

  “I don’t see what’s wrong with it,” Oliver said as he looked me over like a piece of meat. “You’re one of the sexiest girls I’ve ever seen. You have legs that go on for days. I’d like them to wrap around …” Nash punched him in the shoulder before he got to explain where he’d like my legs to go. I laughed slightly even though it embarrassed the crap out of me. I’d never had a guy talk to me like that and wasn’t sure if I was offended or honored.

  “So, let’s get that ice cream, shall we?” Nash suggested pulling me away from horny Oliver. Of course, Oliver followed with a huge smile on his face. It was hard to believe boys acted like this. At least I had met Nash first, for he was more of a gentleman than Oliver, no doubt.

  The line was still never ending when we got in it. Nash stood in front of me while Oliver was behind me. He was too busy chatting up with the hot girls behind him to pay attention to Nash or me. In the meantime Nash explained why he failed Economics last year. “It’s not that I’m stupid. I’m actually a straight A student, or I was. Football can be so demanding. I never wanted to fail Eco; it just sort of happened.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t get kicked off the team.” As soon as I said it regret washed over me. Nash’s eyes dropped to the ground.

  “I did get kicked off. I have to pass this class with flying colors if I want to play next year, and we don’t have long before summer practice starts up.” He kicked a pebble with his shoe. “Oliver has to pass too, and he’s the quarterback.”

  “Oh, he failed too?”

  He nodded.

  “Sorry. I don’t mean to pry, but how did you fail just that class?” It didn’t make sense to me. How you pass all of the other classes but that one.

  “Well, it was our last period class. We liked to ditch last period, and when you don’t show up to class, they fail you. It didn’t matter that we completed the tests or the homework, Mr. Tagen failed us anyway. He said he’d see us in the summer. And I guess he was right.”

  The line moved up more, and the closer we got, the better I could see Lily scooping ice cream out of the tubs and ringing up customers. She was a natural. Never got stressed when there were tons of customers, she was good at keeping her cool. I would have walked out crying by now. Patience was not one of my attributes.

  “Which one is your friend?” Oliver asked me.

  “That one, with the black shirt on.” I pointed to Lily as she rang up another customer. She flipped her black hair out of her eyes, and she spotted me. A huge grin spread across her exhausted face. I waved excitedly before she returned to her swarm of customers. She had cut her hair, and it looked great.

  “Wow! She’s smokin’. She looks like that singer,” Oliver commented.

  “What singer?” I asked curiously.

  He snapped his fingers like it would come to him easier. “You know, she’s Latina and hot. She was on that Disney show.”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “Yeah, Oliver, that really sums it up.”

  Oliver stared at Lily, and I thought I could see the drool running out of his mouth. It was funny Lily never caught attention like this―heck, neither did I―guys never drooled over us, at least none that we ever noticed. If they did they didn’t tell us. It would be nice to know I was liked by someone. Nash came closer to me and pushed Oliver out of the way. His bare arm rubbed up against mine gently. If I wasn’t mistaken, I would say someone did like me. A smile found its way on my face. I turned so that he didn’t see me grinning like a goofball.

  We finally made it to the front of the line and Lily ran around the counter to give me a quick hug.

  “How was the first day of scummer school?” She teased.

  “Stop it! It was actually really nice. I met these two,” I said, gesturing toward Oliver and Nash. “Lily, this is Oliver; Oliver, this is Lily. And this is Nash.” Both boys said hi, but it was Oliver who ogled her and slid his eyes from her face down directly to her chest. She didn’t seem to notice the way he was violating her body with his eyes, either that or she didn’t mind. She would never let a guy get away with that, I thought, so she didn’t see him.

  She walked back around the counter and pulled out the ice cream scoop. She put two scoops of Chocolate Minty Bliss in a sugar cone for me without even asking what I wanted. Lily knew me better than anyone, which included my favorite ice cream flavor. I took my cone, and Nash ordered the same. I went to pull out my money to pay, but Nash stopped me. “No way! I asked you here, so I’m paying.”

  I licked my ice cream and asked, “So is this like an official date then?” I had no idea where this provocative girl came from, but I liked her.

  Nash bent down a bit and tipped my chin up toward his, then said, “Very official.” I gulped.

  Of course, the moment was ruined by Oliver’s flirty behavior. “So, hot stuff, you gonna get me a cone?”

  She stood with one hand on her hip and the other holding the scooper. She popped her bubblegum and nodded. Oliver was getting the cold shoulder, but from the way he bent over the counter and smiled at her, he didn’t care. If anything, it was provoking him.

  “I’ll take a banana split with hot Lily, I mean, hot fudge and peanuts,” he teased, “And your number.” I knew any minute now Lily was going to boil over. The look on her face told me she would have none of this guy’s shit. But she did the exact opposite of what I expected. Instead, she wrote her number on a ticket and handed it to Oliver with his
ice cream, but not before she dipped her finger in the hot fudge and licked it ever so gently. My mouth dropped open in shock.

  Lily Chavez was actually flirting with Oliver Kasen! They talked about something, and then I turned and went to find a table. I couldn’t watch anymore. It was sort of sickening. I was banking on Lily turning him down and Oliver finding the lesson humbling. Nope. Not today. Today Oliver got her just like he wanted her, all over him.

  Nash pulled out a chair for me and I sat with a thud. “You all right, Sadie?”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. I couldn’t tell Nash that Lily and I were considered socially inept at our school and that the way she was acting was out of character. Instead I said, “Thank you for the ice cream.”

  “No problem,” he mumbled, his mouth full of Chocolate Minty Bliss. I laughed at the sight of him. “So, what do you do for fun?”

  I thought for second. What did I do for fun? I read books; I swim at the lake; I binge watch Supernatural because I have an unhealthy obsession with the Winchester brothers. I winced, I couldn’t tell him that.

  “Lily and I like to go to the lake on summer days. Then we usually hang at either her house or mine. What do you do?”

  “We usually go to the lake too. Oliver’s dad owns a boat, and their house is right on the water. We fish or water ski and sometimes go to parties. In fact, there is one tomorrow night … if you want to go with me,” he asked slyly. Another date?

  I nodded. “Yeah. That would be fun. I’ll have to, um, ask my mom.” Oh God, he’ll think I’m so lame.

  “I understand. If I had a daughter, I’d want to make sure I knew where she was too.” Where did this awesome guy come from, and why hadn’t I met him sooner?

  “How come I’ve never seen you or Lily at the lake before?” Nash asked between bites.

  I paused. How would I answer this without proving that I was a complete dork and I never went to parties? The truth was that my mom never let me go to parties. I was seventeen and locked away in my mom’s house. The only time I got away was to go to school or Lily’s. My mom was severely strict with me. It was killing my social life, but before now I never really cared. My older sister Cara was in college partying every weekend making up for mom’s severity.