Cooper had to go to football practice before our dance class at the academy so I walked him to the lockers after the last bell.
One of his buddies greeted him as he leaned against the lockers next to the boys’ room entrance, prolonging our goodbye, as if we were parting for years and not just a couple hours.
My phone dinged as Cooper was exchanging small talk with his football buddy and when I pulled it out, the text made me laugh out loud.
Olivia: Girl, you better find me after your practice tonight because I am dying to hear all the news!
I laughed, sliding a sidelong glance in Cooper’s direction. A hope that had died down was flickering back to life now. Cooper seemed to be feeling better about everything and that thought made my heart sing. Not wanting to lose this excitement, I hurried to type my response.
Me: Sounds like you already heard.
Olivia: Yes, but I need to hear all the details!
This was followed by about twenty kissy face emojis. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle.
Me: The dance was a success.
I could practically feel her eye roll all the way from the other side of town.
Olivia: That much I could see with my own eyes. I’ve never seen two people so clearly in love! The beast actually has a heart.
My heart threatened to burst out of my chest with happiness and then…
I blinked down at her text again.
Me: You saw?
Olivia: You guys were tagged in about a million pics today. You’re famous, babe.
My heart was still racing, but this time it was with fear. Dread. A sick sort of anticipation because if there were photos of me and Cooper and we were tagged in them then anyone could see.
My friends, my family….and Trenton.
The blood rushed from my head, not because I didn’t want Trenton to know but because he shouldn’t find out like this.
I stared at Cooper’s profile as he said goodbye to his friend, the blood rushing past my ears with a roar.
This wasn’t how Cooper would want him to find out.
“Um, Cooper…”
But my words trailed off just as both of our phones dinged in unison.
Cooper lifted his but I kept my gaze fixed on his profile. I saw his jaw clench. I watched the happiness and laughter fade from his eyes.
He didn’t say a word, but I knew that everything had changed.
“Cooper,” I started, hating the pleading note in my voice. Hating even more that it did nothing to stop the inevitable. His worst fear had come to fruition and I knew what was going to happen next. If he was pulling away before, I could only imagine the damage a text from Trenton was going to have on our relationship.
Cooper didn’t respond as he turned his back on me and opened the locker room door and slipped inside.
I watched in horror as our future disappeared right in front of my eyes.
Chapter 12
Cooper
The muffled sound of knocking at my bedroom door did little to drown out the ringing that was sounding in my room. I pulled myself up to sitting when my door opened and Mom came into my bedroom with a harried sigh. “Aren’t you going to get that?” she asked, tipping her head in the direction of my phone.
I shook my head from where I lay on my bed. “Nope.”
I knew who it would be and I wasn’t ready to face her. I should have picked her up for dance class ten minutes ago, but after forcing myself through football practice and ignoring the angry texts from Trenton, I knew I couldn’t see Eve tonight. I definitely couldn’t touch her. If I took her to that class and held her in my arms…
There was no way I could keep my distance.
So I sent her a short text that said I was busy and asked if she could get a ride. I knew she was worried, but I couldn’t face her tonight. I needed to come up with a game plan as to how I was going to explain to my best friend how there is photo proof of me touching his sister. In the exact way he’d asked me to keep her from being touched.
I was a jerk.
I threw an arm over my face to block the view of my ceiling and my mom’s curious stare.
It wasn’t like me to be this rude and ignore someone’s phone call. But Eve would want to talk. She’d want to find a way to make this right.
The problem was—I wanted the same thing.
I didn’t trust myself to do what needed to be done, to do what was right. And what was right was fulfilling my promise to Trenton and keeping Eve safe from guys who weren’t good enough for her.
Guys like me.
“Whatever’s going on between you two, you’re not going to solve anything by avoiding the problem,” my mom said. “You can’t just ignore her.”
Just as mom’s final words were out, the phone went silent. I shot her a satisfied look as I settled back on my bed.
Mom scoffed as she grabbed my laundry basket from my closet. “Avoiding just leaves room for things to fester. And we all know what festering does for this family.” She let her statement linger in the air as she left.
I slipped my arm down from my face and stared at the ceiling. Was she right? I groaned and shifted, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. I hated it that Mom knew how to get me to do what she wanted.
“Oh, you don’t care about getting an A? Well, we know what happens in this family when we stop caring, don’t we?”
Ugh. Skilled motivator that mother of mine.
I swiped on my phone and stared at the latest text. It was from Eve, along with about one hundred more. Plus a few from Trenton that I hadn’t even read. Instead, I swiped the notification from my screen as my stomach filled with acid.
Maybe if I met with Eve and told her things had gotten too complicated, she would believe that I wanted to pull away. Maybe, she would let me.
Eve: I’m coming over.
On second thought, that was probably not going to happen.
I wanted to text her back and tell her not to come, but perhaps this was for the best. See her, break up with her, and hopefully she’d find another guy who deserved to love her like I didn’t have the right to do.
Seeing Eve was step one to fixing the mess that I’d created.
The next fifteen minutes felt like an eternity as I stood in my living room, waiting for her to get here. I tried to look busy, dusting the shelf, but when Mom rounded the corner, she stopped to stare at me.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I parted my lips to speak, but before I could say anything, there were three solid knocks on the door. And at that sound, my limbs stopped moving and I just stood there.
“Who’s that?” Mom asked as she neared the door and peeked out. “Oh, it’s Eve.” She stopped and she glanced over at me. “Why is Eve here?” Mom must have sensed that something was wrong because she didn't move to open the door. Which I was thankful for. I needed a moment to gather my strength to see Eve.
The knocking started again, and I could feel the weight of my mom’s stare, filled with disappointment and judgement.
Join the club.
“Well, I’m not going to let that girl stand out there in the cold. If you don’t answer, then I will.” She started to move toward the door, and her threat finally got me out of my stupor.
“I’ll handle it,” I said as I brushed past my mom, overtaking her before she could do something nuts like invite Eve in for dinner. I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders as I reached for the door handle, steeling myself for the pain to come.