warning me off from the two cheerleaders. “I'm also smarter than you guys think. I had already figured out that Staci and Traci were bad news. I’ve seen them treat other students like shit, and I know better than to judge a girl by her looks. The packaging on those two doesn’t match the personality on the inside.”
“But there’s no denying the packaging is damn fine.” Dean wagged his brows, and Scott slugged him in the shoulder.
“That’s the other reason to stay away from those two”—Chuck jerked his thumb toward Dean—“unless you want to be eskibros with him.”
“Whoa, we’re getting off track here.” Dean pointed his finger at me, trying to turn the conversation in another direction. “Who were you guys talking about in the first place?”
“None of your damn business.” I didn’t want Emmeline to turn into the focus of locker room gossip. Grabbing my empty tray, I narrowed my eyes in Chuck’s direction and waited until he jerked his chin up before I stood.
He followed suit, walking silently at my side until we dropped our trays off. Then he muttered, “They’re not gonna hear anything about Emmeline from me, but they’ll figure it out eventually when you make a move on her. ’Cause that’s what you’re doing to do, right?”
I shrugged, still undecided. Something Chuck had said stuck in my head—Emmeline was the kind of girl I needed to be serious about if I decided to go there. With everything I had on the line when it came to how I played during this hockey season, it was rotten timing for me to get into a relationship. But I had a feeling the decision was going to be out of my hands by how I had reacted to the possibility of her going out with someone else. “One thing I’ve learned the hard way is that whatever’s going to happen will happen. You’ll just have to wait and see, along with everyone else.”
5
Emmeline
I’d made it through the first month of school without making a total fool of myself in front of Corby. So what if he’d caught me staring at him every once in a while. I could have sworn he’d spent some time looking my way, too. Which had only made me watch him even more because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things.
With another weekend looming ahead, I was disappointed I wouldn’t see him again until Monday, unless I happened to catch him running past my house on Saturday or Sunday. I’d spent plenty of time peering out of my bedroom window over the past several weekends, and I wasn’t looking forward to doing the same again.
“What’s wrong?” Emily asked, bumping my shoulder to get my attention.
“Yeah, you’ve been quieter than usual lately,” Sarah chimed in. “Is something going on? Have Staci and Traci been giving you a harder time than usual?”
I still hadn’t talked to either of them about my crush yet. It wasn't that I thought my friends would give me a hard time about my feelings for Corby or anything. It was a case of the whole thing seeming more real if I said it out loud. But they were the only two people who would really understand where I was coming from since their experience at BMA was similar to mine. I supposed it was time for me to pull up my big girl panties and tell them who I had been obsessing about lately.
I tugged on the strap of Emily’s backpack and guided her down the hallway to the girl’s bathroom with Sarah trailing behind us. After the door shut behind us, I checked all the stalls to make sure they were empty.
“You’re starting to freak me out a little,” Emily said, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
“I just don't want anyone else to hear about this,” I explained, pushing on the door of the last stall and confirming nobody was in there.
“Seriously, I’m with Emily on this.” Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. “What the heck is wrong? You were already acting weird the last two months of summer break, and it's only gotten worse since school started. Is it something with your mom?”
“If she’s being a major bitch, you can come stay with me this weekend,” Emily offered. “My parents won’t be around, so we don’t even need to ask them for permission.”
“It isn’t my mom or the queen bees.” I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted, “I have a crush on Corby