by Kara Jones
She didn’t think far enough ahead with her plan, however, because she didn’t know where Evan’s room was.
She was about to turn back when one of Evan’s teammates spotted her.
“Hey! It’s the ghost! You here to see Evan?” he asked.
Chloe was mildly offended by that but chose to nod her head instead of picking a fight with the guy. She didn’t want to ruin Evan’s day, so she was determined to be on her best behavior for him.
The guy led her up the stairs, passing by other fraternity brothers and football players along the way. Chloe ignored the hoots and hollers she was getting because of her outfit and kept her head down. They turned left, and she frowned as she heard a voice she recognized as Evan’s, and another older, gruffer voice through the walls. They were screaming at each other.
Chloe didn’t like the sound of their argument and was about to tell Evan’s friend that she was leaving when he knocked on his door and called out.
“Evan! Your girlfriend’s here!” he called out. He then proceeded to open the door and push her inside, straight into the fire, and she looked at Evan’s stony face and his father looking absolutely livid as he glared at her.
“What did he say she is, boy?” his father asked. Evan’s face looked conflicted before turning cold and hard, staring straight at her as he answered his father’s question.
“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s nothing to me.”
Chloe’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand, staring at Evan in disbelief. When he didn’t budge from his spot or even make a move to retract his statement, her eyes stung as her tears flowed down her face.
She shook her head and did the only thing she could do: she turned around and ran away.
Evan’s heart broke as he watched her run away from him, the same way she always walked away from him every time. The only difference was, that this time, it really hurt to look.
His father probably felt the same thing as well, because all the anger that was about to burst inside of him moments ago faded as Chloe ran. He turned around and looked at his son strangely.
“It doesn’t look like nothing to me,” he said gruffly.
The others moved out of her way and let her run past them, looking at her strangely and wondering what happened. She didn’t care. She just kept running until she ran out of breath, and she collapsed on the ground.
She bit her lip and got up again, telling herself that it wasn’t safe for her to cry here. She caught sight of Vanessa and her cheer squad practicing just a few meters away, and they would just love the sight of her on the ground, bawling her eyes out.
She ran the rest of the way back to her dorm and, once she was inside her room, she let herself cry from all of the pain she was feeling. She yelled, wailed, and did everything she wanted to express her grief over her failed relationship with the first man she ever loved, mourning over the person she let Evan stomp all over.
She thought that maybe, just maybe, crying it all out today would make her feel whole again tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
“You’re an idiot,” his father told him, his tone completely deadpan as the both of them sat on Evan’s bed, and Evan finally admitted the truth about Chloe. Evan sighed.
“I know. I was scared of what you were going to say because you told me before that I shouldn’t take any girl seriously and just concentrate on playing football,” he argued. His father reached up and slapped him upside the head, making Evan yelp from the shock rather than the pain.
“That was because there were hardly any women here worth losing your concentration for,” his father cried, and Evan looked at him like he couldn’t understand what he was talking about.
His father sighed at the apparent stupidity of his son.
“Why don’t I give you ten minutes to tell me whatever you got going on, and tell me what you really feel about that girl? The truth, Evan,” his father told him. Evan bowed his head, taking a deep breath before he spoke up.
“I like playing football, dad. But, I… I don’t want it to be the center of my life anymore. Do you know I’m actually pretty smart? Chloe told me I could be anything I set my mind to, and I don’t want to be just another dumb jock that I’ve always been pretending to be. I want to do something different – something worthwhile for a change,” he said. He hesitated in telling his father the rest, but the encouraging look on his father’s face spurred him on.
“Chloe is majoring in biochemistry,” he started, making his father raise his eyebrows, impressed.
“That’s a mouthful. Smart?” his father asked.
“Very much. I’ve never thought about her, nor have I ever seen her before, but the moment I do, I can’t un-see her. She brings everything else out of focus whenever she’s close by, and she always leaves me watching her walk away, always three steps ahead of me, making me want to be better, be good enough to stop watching her walk away and start watching her walk beside me instead.”
Evan raised his head up and looked his father in the eye, showing him how serious he was. “She’s kind of like the end zone for me, dad. She’s the goal I keep running to, knowing that once I reach the end, everything will make sense. Everything will be worth it,” he admitted.
His father contemplated his answer for a while, and Evan waited for him to tell him no… which was why it shocked him when his father suddenly pulled him into an embrace and apologized. He hugged him back, patting his father awkwardly on the back before they pulled away from each other.
“Well, what are you still doing here, boy?” he asked Evan. “Rush the yard,” he said.
Evan blinked in disbelief before smiling at his dad and running out of the room. His father shook his head, smiling as he watched his son run toward the end zone.
Chapter Twelve
There was a loud banging on the door, and Chloe rolled her eyes. She didn’t have the energy for Vanessa’s drama right now and, if she was going to be pulling any attitude toward her, then she was ready to retaliate.
She had shed the jersey she was wearing earlier, favoring a pair of sweatpants and a large t-shirt. A tub of ice cream sat on her lap as she watched horror movies with her laptop. She wasn’t going to the game anymore. She didn’t want to have anything to do with someone who thought of her as nothing.
The banging continued and Chloe stood up, fed up of the noise, and moved to unlock it. The sight of Evan, sweaty and heaving on the other side, made her heart twinge painfully, but she held her ground, her face passive and waiting for him to speak.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and Chloe raised an eyebrow.
“Is that it?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“You don’t mean nothing to me. I didn’t mean it,” he continued, and Chloe laughed humorlessly.
“No, it’s okay. You were right,” she said. Evan opened his mouth to speak, but Chloe continued. “We’re from two different ends of the food chain, Evan. I’m the ghost of the halls, and you’re the star quarterback. We never should’ve been together in the first place. But I loved you anyway, and I was very wrong to do so,” she said. She was about to close the door when Evan stopped it with one hand, looking at her pleadingly.
“Please,” he begged. “Please give me another chance,” he said. Chloe looked at him and shook her head.
“You’re gonna be late for your game,” she replied. She forced the door closed and locked it, leaning her head against it as she willed herself not to cry again. She waited for Evan’s shadow to disappear before going back to the couch, sighing.
It frustrated her a little that, despite what he did to her, her heart was ready to go back into his arms as soon as she saw him.
Her parents were right – love makes you stupid, after all.
A few moments later, her cell phone rang and she saw that it was a text from Evan. She opened it, wincing at how immediate her reaction was, and read his message.
Evan C: Please come to my game today.
Evan C: Plea
se.
Chapter Thirteen
Evan pushed his fingers through his hair, desperately searching for Chloe in the crowd. He had texted her an hour ago, asking her to come to his game, but he wasn’t sure if she was coming or not.
He was going to make it up to her today, even if it was the last thing he’d do.
He asked for his team’s help in putting his plan into motion and, although a few of them found it strange, they’d be willing to do this for Chloe. All of them agreed to help.
He was about to lose hope that Chloe was coming to watch when he finally saw her standing by the entrance to the bleachers. He raised his hand high and waved at her, but she didn’t wave back, making him lose his confidence slightly. He steeled himself, put his helmet on, and joined the huddle.
“Okay, guys. We’ve gotta play like there’s no tomorrow here, which I already know all of us are gonna do without me having to say it anyway. Seth, did you fix everything up with the cheer squad?” he asked one of the players who nodded.
“They’ve locked Vanessa up in the janitor’s closet, so they’re all yours,” Seth answered.
“Migs? The music?”
“All setup, captain. I don’t know about the steps, though.”
“It’s okay. All she’ll care about is the message after. Now, let’s go kill, gentlemen,” he said, clapping their hands once and going into position.
They played like madmen out on the field, obliterating the other team from the opening kickoff. Evan felt bad that he commanded the team to crush their opponent’s spirits early in the game, but they had more pressing matters to attend to.
Halftime arrived and, making sure that Chloe was still watching, he signaled for the music to play, and everyone immediately recognized the song.
“All the single ladies, all the single ladies…” Beyoncé’s voice blared from the speakers.
Chloe was completely gobsmacked as she watched Evan, the football team, and the cheer squad all dance to ‘Single Ladies’, complete with the iconic dance moves. The crowd started laughing and cheering for them, and she couldn’t believe that the popular kids were risking their reputations to be laughed at.
They started to form letters in the field and, once the song reached its end, Chloe gasped as she read the message:
I LOVE YOU CHLOE!
There were murmurs in the crowd, all of them wondering and asking who Chloe was, and they stopped speaking once Evan broke out of formation and started climbing up the steps toward the bleachers. Chloe went down, meeting him halfway until they were standing in front of each other.
Evan’s heart was beating fast and loud in his chest; he was scared it was going to burst out of his ribcage. He waited for Chloe to say something, his expression filled with hope, and Chloe moved closer to him, her violet orbs looking into his chocolate brown ones in amazement.
“You humiliated yourself for me,” she finally said.
Evan nodded.
“You told everyone what you feel about me,” she added.
He nodded again, not knowing where this was going.
“And, now you’re here.”
“And, now I’m here,” he repeated. He held her hand and pleaded once more. “Love me back. Please,” he begged.
Chloe pretended to think about it before wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a sweet kiss.
“I already do,” she murmured against his lips, and he smiled before he closed his eyes and deepened their kiss.
And, when the game was over and Evan’s team won, the two of them went back to Chloe’s room and expressed just how much they loved each other.
The End
We wanted to give you ladies a couple of pics of characters that could be in these books. Enjoy!