Chapter 1 - Garret
High School - Junior Year
I’m freezing my ass off on the beach, my hands tucked in my hooded sweatshirt with two cheerleaders in tiny skirts and glitter in their ponytails on either side. Talia Thomson and Alyssa Greenfield haven’t left my side since I arrived at the post-game bonfire. Their fingers wrap around my arms like the tentacles of an octopus. One of them smells like bubble gum or something equally sweet and not exactly pleasant.
I usually avoid these things when I can, but it’s homecoming weekend. Not exactly the same as homecoming weekends in Texas, especially since this bonfire is on a beach, but it’s still such a big deal that it wouldn’t be right to miss it. The other guys give me winks, smiling and nodding like I’ve got it made.
But I want nothing more than to escape and go to bed.
I love playing football, but being a quarterback comes with a lot of attention and expectations I’d rather avoid. Girls who think it’s their right to hang onto my arms, squeeze my biceps, and pout when I pull away. Guys who think it’s my given right to skip class and sleep with whomever I want and brag about it.
It hadn’t been this bad in Texas. Granted, I was younger there. Sheltered. Football players and quarterbacks were a dime a dozen. I didn’t stand out there like I do here on Long Island. When I came here midway through freshman year, I slipped in quietly. Football season was over. But when I tried out for the team the following summer, I was vaulted into the limelight. If the varsity quarterback hadn’t been a senior with a generous father, I’m pretty sure I would have been the starting quarterback for the varsity team my sophomore year.
This year, trying out was merely a formality. Coach had already told me I’d be starting. I still went through tryouts.
In Texas, I had blended in.
Here, I stand out like a fox in a hen house.
Some days I really miss Texas.
Like right now.
Until she comes.
I’ve seen her a million times before. At pep rallies and games. It’s impossible not to. I’ve never seen anyone so genuinely vivacious. Friendly and bubbly. People gravitate towards her like the sun, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She can handle the attention - unlike me.
I see her on the other side of the bonfire. A few of the guys are talking to her and some of the other girls on the dance team. Occasionally, her eyes catch mine and she smiles before turning back to whomever she is talking to. She’s a junior like me. We’re in the same world history class. She sits right in the center of the room and smiles at everyone. Her name is Nicola. I can't help but wonder what she smells like. Hopefully not fruity bubble gum.
“It’s so cold out here!” Alyssa complains, pressing herself closer to my arm and peering up at me. Her lips are shiny enough to see my reflection in. “We should go warm up in a car or something. I can’t feel my toes!”
She’s also still dressed in her cheerleading uniform with its short skirt and no tights. No wonder she’s freezing. The gentleman my mother and grandmothers raised knows I should offer to take them to my car. That same gentleman is also terrified of what might happen once we get there.
As if to prove my point, Talia leans around me. “I’m sure we could think of some way to get toasty warm in no time.” She peers up at me through her lashes. “And I’m guessing Garret could provide all the body heat we could possibly need.”
Alright, that’s it, I need to get out of here. Now.
I abruptly stand. For a moment, their hands slip away. Unfortunately, they seem to take my sudden movement as an acceptance rather than a desperate need to be anywhere else but here. Before I can take one step, they are back on me, closer than before and giggling.
“L-ladies…” I start, grimacing when I hear that all too familiar stammer come back. I swallow. “I really…”
“Are you Garret Hill?” a bright, direct voice asks.
It’s her. Nicola.
She’s talking to me.
Talia gives her a look. “Of course he is. How do you not know that?”
The look of condescension Nicola gives Talia is only partially disguised by a smile. “I wasn’t asking you, Talia.”
Her vivid blue eyes turn back to me and she waits. For a moment, I can’t respond, seeming to have forgotten my own name. After an awkward pause, I finally nod.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
She gestures over her shoulder. “There’s someone looking for you. Your father, I think. Parking lot over there.”
I don’t react for a moment. Her words knocking the wind right out me like I’ve fallen from a horse. She couldn’t possibly know. If she had, she wouldn’t have said what she just said. But I can’t help the knee jerk reaction. Without bothering to respond or excuse myself, I pull my arms from Alyssa and Talia and walk away.
Maybe I hear their protests? Maybe I hear one of the guys calling my name? Hard to tell over the sound of blood pounding in my ears. I get decently far before she manages to catch up with me.
“Garret! Garret! Please stop!”
I come to a halt as she scurries around me and holds up her hands.
“Please...I lied! I’m sorry! You looked...well, miserable. I was just trying to give you a reason to escape if you wanted it. Your father isn’t actually here.”
She has never spoken to me directly before. I’m pretty certain that’s the only reason I’m able to formulate a response.
“Yeah, I know.”
She drops her hands. “Oh. Okay.” Her nose wrinkles sheepishly. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have lied.”
I put my hands in the pocket of my hoodie and shrug my shoulders. Even in the dark, her blue eyes seem exceptionally bright, although they look at me with uncertainty. Like she knows she has upset me. I try to push the anxious emotions away. Try to think of something to say. But my throat is thick and that fear of stammering has my lips clamped shut.
She reaches into her hoodie and pulls out a Twix. She holds it out.
“Peace offering?”
There’s such a hopeful look in her eyes that I can't possibly resist. Not that I want to. If there’s any girl who’s attention I want, it’s Nicola Vennucci’s. I take the Twix, rip open the glossy wrapper, and hand one back to her. She smiles, dimples appearing in both her cheeks.
“Thanks,” she smiles before her teeth sink into the chocolate and she does a little dance move. “Mmm...I’m always so hungry after a game! You must be too. Usually, we just go straight to the diner, but I didn’t want to miss the bonfire.” She pauses and looks at me. “You don’t usually come out after a game.”
I shrug. I don’t want to tell her money is tight at home. Or that I’m uncomfortable with crowds and attention. Or that I get up at the crack of dawn on the weekends to work at a lumber yard to help my mom pay bills. But she is waiting for some sort of answer.
Swallowing the gooey candy bar eases some of the pressure in my throat so I venture a response. “Football is exhausting.”
She laughs, a magical melody of noise that brightens her face even more. I’m not sure if my answer is actually that funny, but I don’t really care so long as she is laughing.
“You do seem to work awfully hard out there,” she concedes. “I guess you have earned the right to a good night’s sleep. I won’t keep you if you really want to escape, I was just going to walk over to the diner to meet up with my sister and the rest of the dance team. You're welcomed to join us. Rob Stillwell is there.”
Rob is our wide receiver. I know him, but not well enough to say he is a friend. Truthfully, I really don’t care if Rob is there or not. Nicola is asking me if I want to hang out with her, and that is more than enough of a reason to go.
