He was also the biggest pain in my butt.
“Let me tell Cooper you’re ready.” My mom was picking up the phone and I hurried to stop her.
“No! I mean…” I took a deep breath. “No. Thanks, but I think I’d prefer to walk. I could use the fresh air.”
My mom set the phone down with a frown. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am.”
And that was the truth. I needed more one-on-one time with Cooper like I needed a hole in the head. Especially now when I was already nervous, being stuck alone in a truck with my older brother’s best friend was only going to make it worse.
I headed to the door, giving one last wave as my mom blew kisses.
The cold air slapped me across the face when I walked out the door. It sort of was refreshing. A wake up call like a splash of cold water.
Granted, I didn’t need a mile and a half of refreshing but it was definitely better than the alternative.
See, here was the thing about Cooper—I used to have a crush on him. I had for as long as I could remember. While Trenton had teased me, ignored me, terrorized me—normal big brother crap—Cooper had been my very own hero.
He’d always been the one to include me in whatever game they were playing, or stick up for me when Trenton’s teasing got too mean, or get me a Band-Aid when I fell down while trying to keep up with them when they played football in our backyard.
My brother loved me, but Cooper...he looked out for me.
He made sure my feelings weren’t hurt and that no one teased me at school. He was the one who’d covered my eyes during the scary parts when I’d stay up late to watch movies with them.
Basically, Cooper Jenkins had been my very own knight in shining armor. He just never knew it. He’d never seen me as anything more than Trenton’s little sister.
With Trenton overseas, and me alone with Cooper, I guess I’d thought maybe things between us would be different. Especially when Cooper and his teammates got stuck at the academy, being forced to dance with us. I’d thought maybe…
Oh, I didn’t know what I’d thought. It wasn’t like I’d had some crazy dream that he’d suddenly look at me and fall head over heels, but I’d thought maybe he’d stop treating me like a kid. Maybe we could actually be friends or something. I was only one year younger than him, it wasn’t like there was a big age difference.
But no. That wasn’t what happened. Our dance classes together had definitely not made us friends. He did stop treating me like Trenton’s kid sister, which was something, I supposed.
But it wasn’t normal. Nothing about our relationship felt normal.
He treated me like a stranger. And that was on a good day. Most of the time he ignored me completely, even when we were standing side by side at the barre. Other times, like when I had the nerve to try and strike up an actual conversation, I was treated to his wide receiver glare.
That was what I’d come to think of it as. I used to go to see his games with Trenton and the stare he gave me was nearly identical to the ones he gave the opposing team. With his big broad chest, chiseled jaw and cold glare, I had no doubt that look scared the crap out of the guys who went up against him.
Me? Not so much. I knew him well enough to know that he’d never hurt me. He couldn’t because I was Trenton’s little sister, which made me something he felt he had to protect. Not in a sweet way. Not anymore, at least. These days he didn’t treat me like I was a coddled princess or some precious treasure.
I was a burden, plain and simple. I saw it in his vivid blue eyes every time he looked at me.
I shuffled through the snow. I should have worn boots rather than these tennis shoes. But not even soggy feet could make me regret my decision to walk.
I’d rather suffer the elements than deal with Cooper’s icy, apathetic stare.
Before I knew it—way before I was ready for it—Oakwood High came into view. It was a sprawling behemoth of hallways and lockers. I knew this from visiting Trenton here over the years. From this vantage point, it was also my worst nightmare.
Strangers crowded the parking lot, streaming toward the front entrance like a school of sharks. I shivered, pausing at the top of the driveway before forcing my feet to continue.
I could do this, right? I mean, I’d been terrified my first day at the academy, too, but over the years I’d found my place there and I’d made good friends. Surely I could do the same here.
And besides, it wasn’t like I didn’t know anybody. I knew the guys from the football team, thanks to their coach who’d punished them for their lack of discipline by sending them to the academy for weekly classes.
I hitched my backpack on my shoulder and forged ahead, tucking my head down against the wind as I filed in behind a large group of laughing girls who were heading toward the main entrance.
I might not have been friends with the football team, but Collette was dating Ethan and Bianca was dating Ryan so at least two of the team members were sort of obligated to be nice to me as their girlfriends’ friend.
Right?
I sucked in a deep breath.
Right.
I was through the front doors and in the main foyer and—oh holy crap, it was overwhelming. The walls and ceiling only amplified the loud, rowdy voices that were shouting out to one another.
My parents would have fit in well here, but me?
I took a step to the side, out of the way of the sea of teenagers who were still streaming in behind me.
My stomach heaved as sadness washed over me. Not a minute into this new “adventure” and I missed the academy already. Not just the people, but the place itself. The halls of the academy were quiet. Reverent, even. The old building was more like an old church—a temple to the gods of ballet.
There were no stampedes of loud footsteps, no lockers slamming in the distance, no...boys.
The amount of maleness in this hallway was truly terrifying. I wasn’t like Olivia. I didn’t want to flirt with boys at school. I didn't know how. I had no idea how to talk to normal people who didn’t spend their every waking moment thinking about dance or practicing dance or talking about dance.
I didn’t belong here.
I swallowed hard as I pressed my back to the wall, watching in terror as the foyer grew so crowded I thought I might suffocate.
Then I spotted it. A football jersey. The forest green color was like a lifeline in this sea of strangers.
I craned my neck and saw a few jerseys, all huddled together near some lockers. I moved toward them, praying it was someone from the ballet class. Ethan or Ryan or…
“Well, look who it is.”
Or Alex. The handsome blond linebacker who at least three girls at the academy had a crush on was forging through the crowd like it didn’t even exist, forcing them to move out of his path as he made a beeline toward me.
I’d never really talked to Alex. At least, not one on one. But even so, his familiar face was a welcome relief. And his smile—the guy was always smiling—his smile helped to ease some of the tension that had been making me feel like I might faint.
Tilly, one of the more boy crazy girls in our class, mentioned more than once that Alex was a player and that he lived to party, but that was the most I knew about him.
Which made it even more surprising when he threw an arm around my shoulders, tugged me close to his side and steered me over to his friends. I didn’t recognize the two guys he’d been with but they were sporting jerseys and gave me matching nods when Alex told them I was the new girl he’d been telling them about.