by Tay Marley
He’d made good on my request, and neither of us had spoken a word to each other since. Nothing drastic had changed in my life. I went to school, I cheered, I came home, I danced. I went to work, I hung out with Gabby, I played football with Nathan. These were all the things that had made up my day-to-day life before Drayton came along. However, now I felt a little emptier. It felt as if something was missing.
Not something, someone. I missed him. I missed the motorcycle rides and the quippy banter. I missed the smiles and the flirting. I missed the easygoing friendship that we’d somehow developed despite our lives being so incredibly different and having very little in common. Some days I considered giving in and asking him to forget what I’d said in hopes that we could at least be friends. But I didn’t give in, because I knew that it was better this way and with time, it’d get easier.
Gabby stood beside my locker. “Texting lover boy?”
“He’s not lover boy.”
Cooper and I had stayed in touch since I’d left California. We texted regularly. It was platonic. There was nothing romantic about it, but the occasional “beautiful” comments on my Instagram photos or the replies to a Snapchat selfie led me to believe that if either one of us initiated it, it could develop into more.
“Oh please. How long have you been talking? Like, a month? It’s okay to admit that you like him.”
I rolled my eyes at Gabby and adjusted my toga.
“I thought you were Team Drayton?”
“I’m team whoever makes you happy,” she defended herself. “Drayton makes you something . . . something that I’m not sure is healthy. And yes, I’d sell an organ to see you both together. But honestly, I just want you to smile more.”
Gabby could be such a sweetheart sometimes. I gave her a grateful smile and chuckled at her willingness to support me despite her admiration for the school’s QB.
It was Halloween. There was a big pep rally that night, then the homecoming game, and the dance was tomorrow. Most of the students had managed to survive having the dance pushed out another month, and it came faster than expected.
Much to Gabby’s disappointment, I wasn’t going to go. She had Josh, and I wanted her to enjoy herself without worrying about me being alone all night. Staying home, eating, and binge watching So You Think You Can Dance sounded a lot more enticing than going to homecoming without a date.
All week we’d had themed dress-up days leading up to tomorrow’s events. Monday was wacky. Tuesday was book characters. Wednesday was sports stars. Thursday was circus, and today was the theme for homecoming this year: classic movies.
The entire student body, apart from seniors, was dressed up as classic movie characters. I’d seen about a dozen Reginas, an equal amount of Cady Herons, and a lot of Chers and Dionnes. Apparently, the only classics these kids knew of were Mean Girls and Clueless. The seniors, however, were dressed as Greek gods and goddesses. It was tradition.
I’d curled my hair in long, soft waves, and used a substantial amount of gold glitter on my eyelids, in my hair, and on my cheeks. A crown of golden leaves sat on top of my head and a snug, short toga clung to my body. All of this was paired with boots because it was too cold for sandals.
We wandered down the hall, but my steps came to a halt when I spotted Drayton about twenty feet away, surrounded by his entourage and adoring legions. It was as if he sensed that he was being watched by someone other than the fangirls in front of him, because he looked up and met my steady gaze. I didn’t look away in shame or embarrassment because I was far too busy admiring him.
He was wearing a pair of white harem pants that sat low on his hips. They were secured by a gold belt, and there was a sheen on his torso from body oil. Every dip, crevice, and muscle was illuminated, glistening under the fluorescent lights. I wanted to run my fingers across the slippery surface of his abdomen and chest. This was the only day that we could get away with breaking dress code and thank God for that.
Neither of us broke eye contact, and my mind was instantly back in the rain, reliving the kiss that we’d shared in California. The memory surfaced of its own accord and left me breathless each and every time.
His somber expression didn’t give much away, but the heat in his eyes was evident as they slowly traveled the length of my body. I could almost feel the tension coursing from one end of the corridor to the other, and not a single person around us could break it. However, I was contradicted when it was no longer Drayton in my line of vision but Gabby. “You guys want to get a room or something? You’re, like, undressing each other with your eyes and there’s not a lot of clothing on either of you to undress . . . so—”
Emily wandered past in a white silk gown that I had to admit looked as perfect and expensive as it was meant to.
“Oh, Dallas,” she chimed with the fake friendliness that she had down to a fine art, “that gold crown is as tacky as your attempt to have Drayton notice you.”
“Thanks! Your personality was my inspiration.”
She scowled and kept walking, her minions trailing along behind her.
When I looked back down the hallway, Drayton was gone. Disappointment didn’t evade me, but this was what I’d asked for. I didn’t have the right to be surprised. I was, though. I’d half expected, or half hoped, that he’d ignore my wishes and pester me relentlessly, like he had before.
“Why don’t you just talk to him, Dallas?” The bell rang and Gabby and I wove through the student body toward homeroom. “You obviously miss him?”
“There’s no point. I’m leaving next year—why start something that’s just going to end?”
“Okay, so should we stop hanging out because you’re leaving next year?”
I shoved her arm with a small smile. Her point wasn’t totally irrelevant, but it was different with Drayton. It hadn’t taken very long for the feelings I had for him to develop, and I could see myself falling for him so hard that leaving would be impossible, and that wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to be stuck in Castle Rock for the rest of my life, reduced to basic diner work or a teaching job, like Nathan.
“I can’t fall for someone like him, Gabs. He’s the kind of guy you want to climb mountains for. And he’s not the kind of guy who’d meet you halfway.”
“I think you might be underestimating him a little.” We sat down in homeroom and dropped our bags on the floor. “If it makes you feel any better, Josh said that he’s been in a shit mood since you guys got back from Cali.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I groaned and dropped my head on the desk. “That just makes me more confused. Do you know how awful it is when you want to tell someone that you care about them but there’s no point because you’re leaving? And he’s probably not interested in anything serious anyway. It all just seems like a waste of time. You consider having some physical fun, but that’ll probably just make the feelings ten times stronger, so you’re stuck with no options at all?”
“Wouldn’t it be better just to embrace how you feel and enjoy what time you do have? Graduation is months from now.”
“No.” I frowned. “That’d just make it harder to leave when I do go.”
“I think you’d be perfect together. But that’s just my opinion. I also know that you’re obsessed with his attention. That’s why your dress is so tight.”
“Ugh, shut up.”
When did I become this girl? The girl who pictured herself with the devastatingly gorgeous quarterback and became victim to an onslaught of butterflies? When?! When Drayton Lahey crashed into my damn car, that’s when.
That night’s pep rally and game were the biggest of the season. It was a huge event and it happened to be even bigger because it was Halloween. Gabby convinced me to go to Maxon’s Halloween slash celebration party after the game, and I knew Drayton would be there.
My last period of the day was an independent study. I decided to go ho
me before the pep rally and make sure that I was organized for tonight. I laid the costume that I’d chosen on my bed, along with a bag of things I’d need to take to the game.
My costume made me wince a little. I’d purchased a Dallas Cowboys jersey and had had Gabby’s mom alter it a little so that it was a snug fit on my waist and long enough to wear as a dress. I’d had an 18 put on the back of it, along with my last name. I knew that the Dallas Cowboys were Drayton’s favorite team.
I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for. I guessed part of me wanted to wave the white flag. I wanted to initiate the first move and step toward reconciliation. As much as I didn’t want to get too close to him, I knew that I couldn’t spend the time until graduation fixating on how much I missed him. It’d be torture. I was in the middle of arranging my hair into a tight ponytail on the top of my head when the door thudded.
“Gabby,” I mumbled. I figured the door must have been locked because I didn’t think that girl knocked. Ever.
When I opened the door, the last person I’d ever expected to see was on my doorstep, a bunch of peonies in one hand and a balloon that read “Be my homecoming queen?” in the other.
“Cooper?!” I felt like my jaw must have been on the floor. He looked incredible. “What are you doing here?”
“You said you weren’t going to homecoming this year.” He smiled and handed me the balloon. “I know it’s a little underwhelming, but it was the best that I could do at the last minute.”
I had to focus on the grip I had on the balloon’s string so that it didn’t float away as I stared at it in awe and disbelief. “Cooper, this is—this is amazing. You didn’t have to come all the way here to take me to homecoming.”
“I wanted to.” He shrugged his shoulders and handed over the peonies. They weren’t my favorite flower, lilies were, but the peonies were beautiful and I was seriously floored at the gesture. “You can’t miss your last homecoming dance.”
“I-I don’t even have a dress . . .”
“Do you have time to get one tomorrow?”
I mulled it over in the cesspool of thoughts crammed violently in my head. I glanced at the small bag of luggage behind him.
“Oh, uh—” He followed my gaze, twisting his body toward the bag on the doorstep. “Sorry, the cab just dropped me off. I don’t expect to stay here. I can find a hotel.”
“Don’t be silly.” The enthusiasm with which I declined his suggestion probably came off as forced as it felt, but his expression remained sweet and polite. “You can definitely stay here. Come in. How’d you find out where I live anyway?”
He quickly picked up the bag and followed me inside. I headed into the kitchen to find a vase, stopping to tie the balloon to a barstool on my way. I felt a little flustered that Cooper had shown up unannounced and was now following me around my house.
“Don’t think this is weird, but you told me where you work, so I phoned and told some guy, Stephen or something, that I had a gift to send, so could I have an address. He didn’t make it easy. I had to answer a few questions, but I passed.” He laughed. “I wanted to surprise you when I found out that you wouldn’t be going to homecoming. It didn’t seem right.”
Cooper stood beside me, one hand on the countertop, the other in his pocket. He was attractive. He was sweet and we had common interests, but I hoped that he wasn’t here with the intent of taking our friendship further.
“Your vase . . .” Cooper pointed at the sink, snapping me out of my own head and turning my attention to the overflowing water.
“Oh shoot.” I spun the tap around and emptied some of the water before I put the flowers into the vase and placed them on the windowsill.
“I’ve got a pep rally and a game tonight,” I explained, gesturing for Cooper to follow me to my bedroom. “Then there’s a Halloween party if you—”
“Hello, hello,” Nathan sang out as he opened the front door, his smile faltering when he realized that I wasn’t alone. He regained his composure quickly and adopted his polite I’m-the-big-brother-so-I-don’t-like-you-but-I’ll-be-respectful-of-my-little-sister smile. He stretched out his hand and stepped forward. Cooper did the same.
“This is Cooper.” I cut the tension and gestured at the unexpected guest. “Cooper, this is my big brother, Nathan.”
“Of course.” Cooper smiled, dropping their handshake. “I’ve heard a lot of good things. Nice to meet you.”
This further confused Nathan. He looked at me and I could tell that he was curious as to whether I was actually seeing someone on a more regular basis.
“We met when I went to California—” I said.
“When you ran off without telling me after being suspended from school for running off,” Nathan added.
“Thank you for that explanation,” I drawled. “Yes, that’s when we met. Cooper came to surprise me for homecoming. Nice, right?”
Nathan flinched. It was quiet and the awkwardness returned. After an insufferable few moments, Nathan pointed at Cooper’s duffel bag beside the breakfast bar.
“That yours?”
“Yeah.” Cooper kept smiling no matter how uncomfortable the situation had become.
Nathan pointed at the corridor. “Why don’t you drop it in Dallas’s room and get comfortable?”
“It’s the first room on the right, just down there . . .” I added.
As soon as we heard the door shut, Nathan wrapped his hand around my arm and dragged me into the kitchen.
“Natha—”
“Dude, little weird?”
“What’s weird?”
“That Cooper dude, coming from California with no warning, to take you to a homecoming dance. Have you ever watched the crime channel?”
“No. We can’t afford cable.”
He sighed and pinched the front of his grey T-shirt. He fanned it in and out, clearly getting worked up over the situation. “It’s stalker behavior. It starts out with surprise dates, and then it turns into standing outside your bedroom window and the next thing you know, he’s stabbing you to death in a parking lot because you won’t accept his calls.”
“Look, we’re friends. I swear, if he even so much as calls me twice in a span of five minutes, I’ll let you know.” I gave his shoulder a pat and stepped around him.
“Be careful, Dallas. I swear, I don’t like him.”
“He’s a nice person, Nathan, I promise. I trust him. So please relax. And be nice.”
Cooper was sitting on my bed when I opened the door. He wasn’t looking through my things or taking photos of my underwear. Obviously. I trusted Cooper. We were friends and the boy didn’t have a bad bone in him. He looked up from his phone. “I guess Nathan had to give the big brother talk? Be careful and all of that?”
“You weren’t listening, right?”
“No,” he assured me. “I just figured as much. No stress. I understand.”
It was a strange sight to see him here, in my room. It almost didn’t feel quite right. But I shook it off and continued getting ready for the evening, as I had been doing when he arrived.
“So, there’s the game tonight and then a Halloween party afterward—”
“I remember you telling me about it,” he interrupted me. He unzipped the bag at his feet and pulled out a pirate hat. “I’m going as Jack Sparrow.”
“Captain Jack Sparrow.” I grinned, standing in front of the closet mirror so that I could do my mascara.
“Is this your costume?” He picked up the football jersey, his fingers caressing the fabric. “Football—jersey—dress thing.”
“Mhmm.” I nodded.
The thought seemed a bit morbid now. Dressing up to attract the attention of a different boy when Cooper had come here from California to be my date. “It’s a Dallas Cowboys jersey. You know, since my name’s Dallas.”
“Oh. You didn’t want to go as an angel
or Catwoman?”
“I love football.” Cooper didn’t need to know that I might be a little in love with the inspiration behind the outfit, not that I’d be declaring that I was in love. It was a simple white-flag gesture. I wanted Drayton back in my life.
“Are you a football fan?” I reached for the blue ribbon hanging from the hook inside of my closet. “If you’re not, this might be a long night for you.”
“I’ve never paid all that much attention, to be honest,” he said.
I knew that when it came to things that didn’t hold my interest, I could be a little bit of a snob, but I was fairly open minded. I loved dance but I also loved football. How could he have made it through high school and not paid attention to the most popular sport in the country? It was a minor thing, but it gave me an inkling that we just weren’t compatible as more than friends.
The last game of the season was a nail biter. My heart was in my throat as I watched, knees hugged to my chest. It was 26-28, and the Porter Valley Pumas would not go down without a fight. The last few seconds on the clock ticked down as Drayton caught a snap and threw the ball to Derek. Three more hand offs were made. Each time the Pumas closed in on the Wolves, my heart leaped into my throat. But each time, the ball landed in our hands and tension crackled through the crowd. Uttered gasps and cheers built as we progressed toward the end zone. And then, without expectation, an impressive lateral was performed by Austin as the Pumas closed in. The ball spiraled backward, landing in Drayton’s arms. He rushed the remaining yards, weaving, dodging interceptions, side stepping with speed and grace. I watched, enchanted, heart pounding. This determined the game. He scored a touchdown.
It brought the entire crowd to its feet.
Drayton and I might not be on speaking terms right now, but I could admit that he knew how to lead his team. His plays were cunning. His throws were prodigious. His sportsmanship was sublime.
“Good job tonight, everyone!” Emily waved her pom-poms as the field cleared. “Even you, Dallas.”