His Forever Girl

“You’re right. Sorry about that,” I hear the server say. I snap my head back around to look at Willow, pretending I didn’t hear a thing. I’ve always been allergic to peaches. It’s not that they would kill me, but I would break out in hives and end up scratching for hours. It’s miserable.

My throat grows tight at the thought of him remembering. “Bathroom.” I give Willow a tight smile. She gives me one back, knowing she can’t follow me. It would draw too much attention. But I need a moment to digest what the hell just happened. I don’t understand my emotions. Why can’t I get over this? Over him?

I take a deep breath when I get into the bathroom, willing myself to get my shit together. When I open the bathroom door, I’m met with Reid’s broad chest.

“Hey,” he says to me. Hey? Really. He hasn’t spoken to me in years. He barely even spared me a glance, and now he wants to act as if he can say hey and I’m just supposed to fall into line? I stand there confused and shocked.

“You can actually see me? Wow. All this time I thought I was invisible.” My words are laced with sarcasm. I really don’t understand what he’s doing. First he stopped the server from bringing me the wrong dessert, and now he’s talking to me. What the hell?

He runs his hand through his short hair, shifting from foot to foot. For the first time in my life, I think Reid is feeling unsure of something. Not my problem. I push past him. Obviously he lets me because he doesn’t have to move.

When I get back to our booth, Willow says she’s got the tip as she stands, and we head out the door. “Did he say something to you?” she asks the second we push out the door.

“I guess. If hey is really saying something to someone.” We slip into her car, taking off. I’m not sure where we’re going. I think she’s just driving around. “It’s weird. It’s like he followed me to the bathroom.”

“He did,” Willow confirms. “He was coming out right behind you so he never went to the bathroom.” I bite my lip, wondering why. This was going to play on repeat in my head for hours. I’m going to obsess over it. It’s how I am. Especially when it comes to Reid. When he stopped talking to me all those years ago, I had almost driven myself crazy trying to figure out why.

“We should go to Megan’s party,” I suggest when we pull up to a light. She turns her head and gives me a shocked expression. I’m shocked too, but lying in bed all night obsessing over Reid is not something I do anymore, and I’m not letting the habit reform.

“All right,” she agrees. Willow picks up my camera, snapping a picture of me and making me laugh. “Had to catch the moment. I’m still a little shocked.” I am too, but what’s the worst that can happen?

It doesn't take long for us to get there. I think others are as shocked as Willow was about us showing up. It looks as though all of the football team is here. They rule the school.

All of them act like I have the plague, so I won’t have to worry about any of them talking to me. They’ve never really given me an ounce of attention. They are decent to Willow. Not that it mattered much. There isn’t a lot of free time anyway when you’re trying to get into college with scholarships. It was easy to keep my head down. Doesn’t mean it didn’t burn.

Since football season is over, we’re pretty much all just seniors now. The cliques have started to disperse a bit with the year coming to an end soon. The one thing that remains the same is that everyone still seems to look to Reid for direction. As if they need his permission to do anything. Willow says hi to a few people as we work our way through the house. I notice that some of the people here aren't from our school.

When we reach the kitchen, someone hands me a wine cooler-looking thing. I give the boy I’ve never seen a smile as he pops the lid off for me. I pretend to take a drink. Alcohol really isn’t my thing.

“Thanks,” I say. I watch Willow slip away to allow me to spread my wings a bit. I want to reach out and grab her, but I don’t. The boy is cute with his shaggy blond hair. He’s tall but not taller than Reid. I chastise myself for making a comparison between them. I complain that no one is ever interested in me. Then when a boy actually does show interest, the first thing I do is compare him to Reid.