twenty-one

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An hour later I'm at my locker, getting ready to head home. I'm not paying much attention, though I notice Lacey and two of her cronies enter the hallway across from me, laughing amongst themselves. I don't start to become mindful of Lacey's presence until she's stopping only a few lockers down from mine, her blue-eyed gaze burning into my skin as she stares me down.

I don't give Lacey the satisfaction of knowing that she's starting to get to me. I don't look in her direction. I keep my gaze focused on my locker, telling myself to ignore her. Whatever she's here for, it's not important.

"It was so cute," I overhear Lacey talking to her friends, her stare still boring into my skin. "He sounded so excited to go to the dance with me."

It dawns on me that she must be talking about Jack asking her to homecoming. Not that I care, or anything.

"Aww," one of Lacey's friends coos, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she grins at Lacey. "How did he ask you again?"

"Jack drove all the way to my house at about ten last night, and he brought me chocolates. He played our favorite song on his car's radio as he asked me to be his homecoming date in front of everyone. He even bought me roses—my favorites."

I roll my eyes at Lacey's little story, wondering why she's making a point to stare at me as she speaks. I don't start to understand what she's getting at until I've already shut my locker, ready to walk off.

That's when it hits me.

Lacey is trying to make me jealous. She wants to see my reaction to her story. I mean, that's the only explanation for how close she's standing to me, how loudly she's talking, the way she's unabashedly staring at me with every word that leaves her lips.

For a moment I find myself wondering why Lacey is seemingly trying to get a rise out of me, because I've hardly had any direct encounters with her since I started school here. But then I find myself recalling the fact that I've had multiple encounters with her boyfriend, and this is a small town. I'm positive that Lacey doesn't know that I'm starting to develop feelings for her boyfriend, but it's clear as day that she's suspicious of me. This only leads me to believe that she must have noticed me and Jack together lately, and she wants to get to the bottom of what's going on between us. Not that there's anything going on between Jack and I, but Lacey doesn't know that.

Now that I know what Lacey's trying to do, I find myself wanting to mess with her a little. I could walk off, ignore her, pretend that I didn't hear a word she just said. Or I could rib her for my own amusement, which sounds like the better option here. I mean, why not have a little fun, right? I deserve it, after all.

I slowly walk up to Lacey and her friends, joining their small circle. Lacey has this little smirk on her lips as her eyes lock with mine, looking like she thinks I'm actually about to admit that I have feelings her boyfriend right here and now. Her smirk widens as she shares glances with her friends, like she thinks her bragging actually got to me and now I'm some pathetic girl who feels guilty for thinking about her boyfriend ready to admit to everything.

Instead, I clear my throat and force a smile as I ask, "Did Jack really do all of that just to ask you to homecoming? Wow, Lacey! He must really love you. Which is funny, if you think about it. I mean, didn't he just break up with you? He must feel pretty bad about that right about now, huh?"

I smirk to myself when I notice the shocked expression that crosses Lacey's features with my words, knowing that I've gotten to her. Lacey's friends look equally as upset, flabbergasted by the fact that I dared to mock Aster Pines's very own Queen Bee. With one last smirk in Lacey's direction, I whirl on my heel, flaunting down the hallway and out of the building without looking back once.

• • •

"You ready for homecoming?" Dad tosses the football in my direction as he asks the question, and I catch it easily. We're outside in the backyard, throwing a ball back and forth. It's become kind of a tradition for us now to just go outside at the end of the day, playing catch and blowing off steam.

"I guess so," I respond, passing the ball back to dad. In reality, I'm really not ready for homecoming. I'm going to have a lot of fun dress shopping with Lana, sure, but the actual dance? That's going to be a nightmare. I'm going with Lucas, who I still haven't managed to break up with yet. Plus, Jack and Lacey are going together, which is going to be a pain to have to witness.

"Are you?" I offer my father a grin as I wait for his answer, already sure of what he's going to say. I know he's excited. He's going to be coaching one of the biggest games of the season; he's going to see me go to my first high school dance; and he's going to reunite with his high school football team. Things are looking up for my dad, and I couldn't be happier.

"Absolutely!" Dad cries, sending the football spiraling toward me. "I have a good feeling that we're going to win the game, which will be great. Plus, seeing my old buddies is always nice. I haven't seen them since your mom and I first moved to Texas."

When Dad mentions Mom, the mood doesn't instantly darken and become too sad to bear. Instead, we both seem to be able to cope with hearing her name being spoken aloud. We're healing with time, and it's good for both of us. I think coaching football and being back home is really helping my dad. And me? I think it was talking to Jack that really started to help me come to terms with Mom's loss, as ironic as that sounds. It was just freeing to finally be able to talk about what happened with someone; to get the pain off of my chest and have someone there for me in one of my most vulnerable moments. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to talk to him right now; only, I can't. I'm supposed to stay away from Jack, to stop myself from falling for someone I can't have.

"You know, I'm proud of you, kiddo." Dad's blue eyes shine with pride as he says the words, his gaze looking directly into mine. "You've grown so much in such a short amount of time. You're doing so good. You're really making your old man happy, honey."

"Dad." I roll my eyes, not wanting him to know how much his words really mean to me. "You're being silly."

"I love you, kiddo." Dad holds the ball in his hands, just studying me for a moment. I can feel tears welling in my eyes at his words, unsure of why I'm so suddenly choked with emotion. Yet I feel a smile start to spread across my lips anyway, because part of me manages to be happy and sad at the same time.

Offering my dad a wilting smile, I whisper, "I love you too, Dad."


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