Lena grabbed my arm and pulled me in the opposite direction of the school buses. “Oh! Is that what you were talking about? I almost forgot! My mind was too focused on the throbbing from my arm that you just so rudely punched.” I smiled sheepishly as Lena rubbed her arm. Who knew I could punch so hard? I'm kind of like Superman in a way; I don't even know my own strength.
Lena frowned as I grinned broadly. “You can apologize anytime now,” she grumbled.
“Don't be such a baby, Lenny! Anyway, where are we going?”
My eyebrows furrowed as I took in our surroundings. We were behind the school following a thin pebble path toward the wooded area that stretched out behind the school grounds. To our left was the immaculate football field that I would be avoiding every Friday night until basketball season began. I hate almost every sport there is. You name it, and I hate it. I've taken countless footballs, basketballs, baseballs, tennis balls, and soccer balls to the head in my sixteen years of existence. Come to think of it…maybe I could set my own world record or something. The caption under my picture world read, “Most Balls to the Face”. Although, I'm sure Brianna has taken more “balls” to the face than I have.
Lena nudged my side with her elbow. “Forrester, are you even listening to me?” She narrowed her eyes at me causing my cheeks to grow hot with embarrassment.
“Of course I was.” I shoved my hand into my pocket, crossing my fingers as I spoke.
To my relief, Lena didn't ask me what she had said. Instead she said, “That goofy grin on your face is scaring me. Cut it out. Now, as I was saying before, I'm not answering any of your questions until you apologize.” She pouted her lips, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.
“I'm sorry, Lena,” I sighed. If I were her, I’d prefer to have no apology rather than a forced one.
Lena looked taken aback and a little shocked as she glanced at me. “Well that was easier than I had expected.”
“Lena!” I gasped, feigning shock. “Are you trying to imply that I'm difficult?” I smirked at her for a second before my smirk was replaced with a scowl as I tripped over my foot and landed face down on the ground.
Groaning, I slowly pushed myself to my feet and frowned when I saw Lena was doubled over in laughter. She was clutching her sides with one hand and slapping her knee with the other while her red hair whipped around her face.
Maybe I could use my Superman punch to my advantage…I smirked as I wiped the front of my shirt off. Taking a step toward Lena with my fist raised, I punched her on the arm again, but not nearly as hard as I had last time. I didn't want to give her any hints about my superhuman strength. After all, Superman didn't go around flaunting his powers to everyone.
Lena stood up straight and held up her hands in a surrendering motion. “Okay, I'm sorry about that but you should have seen yourself! I mean, clumsy much? You have to be extremely skilled to trip over your own foot.”
If only you knew about my Superman strength. Then you'd really know how skilled I am.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I happily changed the subject away from my clumsiness. “So where are we going?”
“You'll see.”
We started walking again, leaving the pebbled path as we entered the woods and began following a dirt bike path. The trees towered over us and the crisp smell of leaves hung in the air. This was a good sign that my favorite season was approaching.
When autumn finally came, I would be able to watch the leaves change colors, feel the cool autumn air blowing through my hair, and best of all I would have my two favorite holidays to look forward to. I loved Halloween and Thanksgiving. By the time December rolls around I'll be loaded with free candy, and I'd have visited all of my favorite family members.
Lena skipped ahead of me; the sound of her feet pounding against the dirt path brought me out of my thoughts. I hurried to catch up to her, stumbling over my feet again for the second time today.
“Forrester, hurry up! I told him we'd be here by the time the school buses leave! I'm sure they left a few minutes ago.” She glanced down at her wrist before realizing that she wasn't wearing her watch, and slid her phone out of her pocket instead. “The buses left five minutes ago! Run Forrester, run!” Lena stuffed her phone back into her pocket and began sprinting ahead of me, leaving me to catch up. First Ms. Botch makes me run, and now Lena? What has the world come to these days?
I picked up speed as I ran, swinging my arms wildly out behind me as I did so. To me it felt as if the action was helping to propel me forward, but to any onlookers I probably looked like I was having a seizure of some sort. Up ahead of me I could see Lena's hair fanned out behind her, but I could also make out a huge sign that I immediately recognized.
The sign read, “Bradbury Playground” in bold black letters and I smiled as I remembered all the times that Blake and I had taken Lilly to this park. I hadn’t ever come through this entrance though. Despite my aching stomach and leg muscles, I pushed myself to run faster, focusing on the big sign as I neared.
As soon as I ran into the playground I smacked into something hard, causing me to stumble backwards from the impact. I clenched my fists as I stared up at the boy in front of me. Taking in his natural tan and disheveled black hair. My features softened as I gazed into his pale blue eyes.
Blake ran a hand through his hair, smiling down at me. Earlier I would have been happy to see him, but now that he was standing in front of me acting as if nothing had ever happened, I could feel my cheeks begin to heat up in anger.
I spotted Lena over Blake's shoulder. She was perched on the top of the rock climbing wall, with her tan legs crossed while she smiled sheepishly at me. From the look on her face, I gathered that she hadn't actually been planning on telling me that we were coming to the park to meet Blake. Looking back, I should have been able to figure it out on my own.
When Blake coughed, my head snapped back to him causing me to wince as I cricked my neck. Blake chuckled as I rubbed my neck, but he abruptly turned the laugh into a cough when he noticed the scowl on my face.
“Vi, we need to talk.”
***
The hot summer breeze blew my hair out of my face causing it to billow out behind me like a cape.
I smiled to myself as I pumped my legs softly, making the swing I was sitting on move back and forth. A peek to my right affirmed that Blake was still swinging slowly next to me, as he had been for the past ten minutes. He fiddled with his fingers nervously, and seemed to be extremely interested in watching his shoes.
In the distance I could see that Lena had left the rock climbing wall and was now hanging upside down from the monkey bars. From here her hair closely resembled an auburn curtain that was billowing in the breeze around her. Catching my eye, she gave me a thumbs up, but quickly turned it into a thumbs down when she remembered that she was hanging upside down. I returned her smile before glancing away.
My curiosity was getting the best of me, but I didn't want to be the one to break the silence. After all, Blake was the one who said we needed to talk so why wasn't he talking? As if reading my mind, Blake spoke for the first time since we had sat down on the swings.
“This is like old times, huh?”
I shrugged, but then remembered that he wasn't looking at me and quickly replied. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Remember last year when Lilly had insisted that the best thing in the park were the swings?” He finally looked away from his oh-so-interesting shoes, and smiled at me.
I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face as I remembered how we had taken turns pushing Lilly on the swings. We would spend hours at the playground, but the only thing Lilly ever went on were the swing sets. “My arms would ache for days after I got home.”
“It was a great workout though.”
Being the impatient person that I am, I couldn't help but change the subject. “Did you really have Lena bring me here so that we could talk about Lilly's park preferences?”
Blake let out a sigh. Not just any sigh th
ough; a deep sigh. A sigh that could only mean one thing. Now it all made sense. I was never good at math—or any other school subject really—but this was obvious. The words, “we need to talk”, added to a deep sigh always equals, “I'm breaking up with you.”
Blake rubbed his head and focused his eyes on mine as he reached for my hand. “Violet, I shouldn't have lied to you yesterday.” He rubbed small circles on the back of my hand as he spoke, making it slightly harder for me to pay attention to what he was saying. “You have to understand that I had a good reason for doing so though. Okay?”
I shook my head. “If you can't tell me your honest reason for hanging out with Brianna then I won't be honest with you anymore. Which would basically signify the end of our relationship, since you can’t have a relationship without honesty.”
He shook his head slowly, leaning back on his swing. “Violet, please. Don't you trust me?”
“Well, I did, but that was until you lied to me. At first it was only Brianna that I didn't trust.” As cliché as it sounded, it was true.
“I don't see why. If you actually get to know her, she's not that bad. I don't see why you guys hate each other.”
I yanked my hand from his grasp. “She's not that bad? She’s treated me terribly on multiple occasions. She given me lice, put gum in my hair, super-glued my backpack shut, and on our sixth grade camping trip she pushed me into poison ivy. When she got suspended for that, she told me that it had been worth it. She’s pure evil. Every year she finds a new way to torture me, and I've never done anything to deserve it!”
Blake rubbed the back of his neck. “I know she's done a lot to you in the past, but maybe she had a good reason for it? What if she wanted to try and reconcile with you?”
“Then I'd say that was complete bull shit, and I'd flick her off.”
“Would it kill you to forgive and forget? Can't you just be kind to her?” he countered.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine. Then I'd say that was complete bull shit, and I'd kindly flick her off.”
Blake frowned and pushed himself off of his swing. “Wow. Do you have to be so stubborn all the time?”
“Stubborn is my middle name.”
“Yeah. Along with rude, and impatient.”
“So you're taking up for Brianna?” I looked down at my hands as I spoke. Now I understand why Blake was so interested in his shoes before. Why wouldn't he be? His shoes are more interesting than talking to his rude, stubborn, and impatient girlfriend.
I felt Blake's finger on my chin as he tilted my head up to look at him. “I'm not taking sides, Vi. I just think you should be a little more understanding.”
“Understanding of all the things she's ever done to me? Why are you all of a sudden such good friends with her? Why were you at her house yesterday anyway?”
“I can't tell you. Just trust me when I say that I had a good reason, okay?” There was honesty in his eyes, but I couldn't help the immense feeling of doubt that surged through me.
“I just figured you were breaking up with me for her.” I wanted to slap myself for feeling so insecure. This wasn't like me at all.
“What?” Shock was clearly written across his face as he stared down at me. “Why would I do that? Violet, I really like you.”
“I really like you too, Blake.” Lame. I know. We have been dating for almost two years now and we still hadn't gotten to the “love” stage yet. Love is a really strong word and you have to make sure you mean it when you say it. Blake had said it before, but at the time I had been too nervous to say it back, but now that I wanted to say it I was too worried that he wouldn't feel the same way anymore. I'm such a loser.
Blake pressed his lips gently to my forehead before pulling me to my feet. He wrapped his arms around me, resting his head on my shoulder. “I'm sorry, Vi.” His warm breath blew across my neck, sending tingles down my spine.
“I'm sorry too.”
“For what? You didn't lie to me.” Blake leaned back and looked into my eyes.
“I'm sorry for being rude, stubborn and impatient.”
“Don't be. I love that about you. You're not afraid to speak your mind and you don't care what others think.”
My cheeks warmed and I looked down to hide my blush. Blake placed his finger under my chin and tilted my head up again. He placed a quick kiss on my lips before pulling back and smiling sheepishly. My lips heated from his kiss and I unconsciously leaned forward again, wrapping my arms around his neck and standing on my tip toes as our lips came into contact. Blake kissed me back gently for a moment, but when I tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled away with a teasing smile on his face.
“I’ve never been that into public displays of affection,” He trailed off and looked a bit embarrassed as his eyes focused on something over my shoulder. Glancing behind me, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Lena making kissy faces at us.
“Isn't she so mature?” My words dripped with sarcasm.
“Absolutely...”
“Not.”
He smiled, looking into my eyes again, and changing the subject back to our earlier conversation. “Violet, you have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Brianna. There is nothing going on between the two of us, and there never will be.”
“Really?” I questioned, biting my bottom lip.
“Really.”
Chapter 8
Anyone could tell from the way that I stumbled into school that morning that I hadn't gotten much beauty sleep last night. As if it wasn't enough that I had spent half the night texting Blake, I woke up to my mother's high pitched shrieks. Apparently she had come across my secret stash of hair appliances that I had kept hidden in the back of my bathroom cabinet. Thanks to her lecture about how flat irons and hair dryers were a potential danger to my physical health—she had the idea that I would burn my ears or set my hair on fire—I was late to gym for the second time that week.
My hair was frizzy from being towel dried and I had seemingly permanent bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. My backpack dug into my shoulders as I trudged through the empty hallways, only stopping once to splash cold fountain water onto my face. Once inside the girls locker room, I was relieved to see that Ms. Botch was nowhere in sight. A few of my classmates were lingering as they took their time to change into their gym uniforms, and I was happy when I came across a glimpse of bright red hair near my locker.
In a few quick steps, I was beside Lena and already tugging my shirt over my head. Lena tossed my gym shirt and shorts at me with a smirk imprinted on her face. Returning her smirk with a scowl, I tugged on my gym shirt and stepped into the shorts in one fluid motion. As soon as I was dressed, Lena wrapped her arms around my shoulders and led me out to the football field where the rest of the class was standing. I couldn't see Ms. Botch over the rest of my classmates, but I could hear her raspy voice as she went over today's class schedule.
“You'll be working in pairs learning how to properly throw and catch a football.” Obviously noticing how everyone immediately pointed to their partner of choice, she added, “I will be assigning the partners so don't get your hopes up. If you and your partner can't work together then you can always run laps for the rest of the class period. It's your choice.” She gave the class a crooked smile as she placed her beefy hands on her hips. “This is part of your grade so no fooling around.” Ms. Botch leaned down to pick up her attendance sheet off the ground. As she marked the students that were absent and present, she assigned partners.
Brianna stood off to the side, closely examining her nails and only looking up when Ms. Botch called out her name. Since I didn't particularly like Brianna, I didn't feel bad when I began to silently pray that she wasn't my partner.
“Brianna Richardson and,” she paused as her finger slid down the attendance list, “Lena Snotty.”
I snorted when I heard Lena's last name, but winced almost immediately when a sharp elbow came into contact with my side. Lena smirked at me for a second before her smirk slippe
d into a frown as realization took over. Her hand shot into the air causing Ms. Botch to look at her curiously and ask her if everything was all right.
Lena shook her head furiously; her thick red hair whipping around her head reminded me of a dog shaking the water from its fur. “Ms. B, I cannot work with that girl,” her words came out in a snarl. “Two days ago she got into a fight with my little sister. I'll happily run laps the rest of class if you would like.” Lena's brown eyes were narrowed at Brianna as she spoke. Brianna merely looked amused at her words, and even rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.
Ms. Botch cleared her throat, gaining the classes attention again. “That won't be necessary, Lena. I can just pair Ms. Richardson with someone else. How about,” she glanced down at the attendance list in her hand, “Ms. Forrester?”
Before I could attempt to suppress it, a groan escaped from my throat. “Is that a problem Ms. Forrester?” Both of Ms. Botch's eyebrows rose to the top of her forehead, and she gave me a look that seemed as if she was challenging me.
Little does she know; I love challenges. “Honestly, I have a hard time getting along with Ms. Richardson, but I don't mind working with Ms. Snotty.” I stifled the laugh that threatened to break through as I said Lena's last name.
Ms. Botch gave me a disapproving look. “If Ms. Richardson has mutual feelings toward the situation then you two can feel free to run laps.” Lena feigned a sad expression while pretending to wipe tears from under eyes. Forget Lena. I should be the one crying right now. Ms. Botch let her out of having to work with her partner without so much as a slap on the wrist, but if I even suggested switching partners I got a stern look and the choice of running laps for an hour. I get tired from just walking up the four steps on my front porch!
From the corner of my eye, I watched as Brianna strutted toward me with an evil grin on her face. “I wanted to work with Violet anyway.” When she was standing next to me, Brianna slung her arm casually over my shoulders as if we were the best of friends.
Crush: A YA Romance Collection Page 29