He shakes his head.
“Are we back at non-words?” I ask, slowly lowering myself from the trunk. My feet hit the pavement and I’m so close to him that if either one of us took another step forward, this would look like a lot more than it actually is.
He smiles, a big bright smile, and I relax instantly. I don’t know why my interactions with him are like this. Usually, I get bored of guys easily. But he holds my attention. Maybe it’s the fact that whatever he gives me he gives in small doses. I feel like I have to earn everything with him. Words. Smiles. I wonder what else he’s willing to give if I work hard enough.
I’m not the type who’s attracted to someone right away, but I haven’t been able to get him out of my mind. It’s been a week now. A whole week and I’ve thought about him before going to sleep each night. “What’s your name, again?” I ask, looking up at him. His dark eyes look down at me. “You’ve got really great eyelashes,” I blurt out.
“Thanks. Again sounds like I’ve told you my name before, which I haven’t,” he replies.
“Can you tell me now?” I ask.
“I see that you’ve met Chase, our newest addition,” Nick comes up from out of nowhere and puts his arm around bleacher-guy, well, Chase, I guess, is his name. Funny enough, I feel like I’ve been chasing him this whole time.
Chase takes a step back quickly. Then looks at my twin’s arm around his shoulder. “This is your brother?” he asks.
Nick nods excitedly. “More than just a brother. We shared mom’s womb. I’m older though,” my brother brags.
“By like two seconds,” I reply, already annoyed.
“Get your arm off,” Colton says, joining the group. “I’m sorry for my brother, he thinks everyone is instantly his friend. He has no understanding of personal space.”
Nick rolls his eyes but drops his arm. “And my brother has no humor.”
Chase just stands there in between both of my brothers. “How was the game?” Nick asks me.
“We won,” I tell him.
“Good job, little sis,” he says, smiling widely. If I had something other than my phone and headphones in my hands I would throw it at him. He annoys me so freaking much.
“Can we go now?” I ask, hoping my embarrassment can end. Chase goes to school here now, so I can catch him on another day. Tomorrow even. Just when my brothers aren’t around.
Colton nods and walks past us to the driver side door.
Nick walks to the passenger side and like always, I’m left behind. “Well, Chase. At least now I know your name,” I tell him, opening the door and getting inside the car.
I put on my seatbelt and get ready to put my headphones back on when the door to the left of me opens. I look up to find Chase getting into the car. “What’s going on?” I ask, confused.
“We’re going over the playbook with him at home. He needs to be game ready since we have a game next week.”
Chase closes the door, finds his seatbelt, and slides it on.
Colton turns on the car, and Nick turns on the radio.
I look to my left and catch Chase looking at me. When I look at him though, he looks away.
I tap him on the leg. “So, you’re already coming over to my house. Didn’t your parents teach you not to go to stranger’s homes” I joke.
“Gotta learn the playbook and these are my teammates,” he replies, then looks straight ahead. Seconds later, the guys start talking and once again I fade into the background.
3
A Month Later…
Right, so now I’m angry. I’m angry at Chase, Chase Boulder, as I discovered his last name while watching him play football and seeing him wearing his jersey. Chase is at my house almost every other day now, but that’s not what pisses me off. “So wait, he’s here right now?” Jenna asks as she lies on my bed and I sit at my desk. We have a project to hand in to our history class and neither one of us has been doing a good job of focusing.
“I’m sure he is. He’s here all the time.”
“Why do you sound so mad?” Well, I’m mad because ever since he joined the football team and started hanging out with my brothers, it’s like I don’t exist. I get it, it was like that the first day he met me, but I swore I had melted the ice from his personality.