The Waiting Game

Friday was completely wasted. I don’t know why I bothered going to school at all. The only time I was mentally present the entire day was at lunch. Spending time with Liam, Sam, and Ally temporarily freed me of the looming situation that hovered on the horizon. Countless times I thought about pulling back and telling Kaylee that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Each time I forced myself forward. No more running.

Tonight I would get answers, one way or another.

My friends, bless them, saw that something was off about me today and politely wondered if I was okay. It was great having people who gave a damn about me. They were respectful when I told them I was nervous about something new Kaylee and I had planned. No details and they never pressed. Instead, I took an initiative of my own. Next week’s game would determine if Kaylee’s team was going to the state championship. Since it was on a Friday, Saturday was a rare free day. I invited the three to come over to watch Oslo and the Glyph Masters with Kaylee and me.

It was then that I remembered I’d forgotten to tell Liam about the gift Kaylee had gotten me. I think he was more excited than I was. We spent the rest of lunch talking up the show to Sam and Ally who had never heard of it.

Lunch ended on a positive note, giving me the mental boost I needed to make it through the rest of the school day.

“Hey.”

I finished shoving in the last of my books, slamming my locker door closed fast enough so things didn’t spill out. “Hey,” I said, making sure my locker was properly closed before locking it and giving Kaylee my full attention.

She shifted nervously. “So… about tonight.” My heart raced as I waited for her to continue. “His name is Derrek. He’s Caleb’s friend, so I’ve known him in passing for a while. This will be the first time we’ve been… together.” I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything. “He’s coming over at four. I figure you can show up at five or five-thirty. That will give me some time to shower and clean up after.” There was a small smile as she tried to cover her nervousness by brushing a few locks of hair behind her ear. “Dad knows you’ll be over for dinner. We can relax, enjoy some good food, then talk for as long as we need to.” Her hands found mine, giving them a squeeze. “Sound good?”

“Yeah,” I said, finding my voice. “Sounds good.”

She kissed me, eyes lingering on mine as we separated. “I love you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Love you too.”

“Come on, I'll take you home.”

Grabbing my bag, I followed her out to her car. During the drive home, I told her about my plans for next weekend. I was a bit concerned she had wanted to watch the show alone with me but was happy when she told me the more the merrier. She liked Sam and Ally, and I guess she felt she didn’t hang out with Liam as much as we used to.

We spent the rest of the time talking about her nerves for the next two games. Tomorrow wasn’t that big a worry, but next week they would be facing their biggest competition yet. If they managed to win these two games, they would be on their way to the state championship. That alone was some serious pressure, but to add to that, they were still undefeated. The pressure must have been insane.

Pulling into my driveway, she put the car into park and we both sat there in silence. After a minute, she finally spoke. “I should get going.”

Nodding, I opened the door and got out. The window rolled down as I closed the door.

“See you at five-ish?”

“Yeah.”

Giving me one last smile, she was rolling the window up as she backed out. I watched as her car disappeared into the distance.

Heading inside, I walked past the den to find Paige inside. I was surprised she was alone. Normally she had a guy over, kicking them out before Mom and Dad got home. From the looks of it, she had just got home, her stuff resting on the floor next to her.

“Hey,” I said as I took a step inside.

“Hey,” she said, lifting the remote and pausing the show she was watching.

“Need to borrow the car in a bit. Going over to Kaylee’s.”

She gave me a confused look. “Didn’t she drop you off? I thought I saw her car in the driveway.”

“Yeah. I’m going over to her house for dinner, but she had something she needed to do first.”

“Okay.” Not saying anything, I stared at her. “What?”

“That’s it? Just okay?”

She frowned. “What, you want me to say no?”

I shook my head. “Thanks.” I was about to leave when another thought hit me. Before I could debate if I should ask or not, it was already out there. “Do you regret breaking up with William?”

“Huh? No way. The only thing I’m pissed about is that it took so long for me to do it. I never realized how unhappy I was until I stepped away.” She paused. “I do kinda miss the group. Not in the bedroom of course. They were okay, but I had quantity. The sex now is so much better and with hotter guys too.” I wrinkled my nose. “But I do miss hanging out a tiny bit. Poor Faith has been stuck in the middle. So glad I invited her to the Steel Guns concert and not William. Thanks for that by the way.”

I shrugged. “It was a group effort.”

“Yeah, but Mom said you thought of the gift and did the legwork. So… thanks. With everything that’s happening in school, I need something to look forward to. I know you didn’t plan for it to be some big thing, but it really means a lot.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. I wasn’t really expecting such a heartfelt thanks. “Don’t mention it.” This was a good time to duck out, but I found myself rooted in place. There was something about what she said that bothered me. “Something wrong with school?”

“Huh?”

“You said something about stuff happening in school.”

“Oh. It’s not a big deal. The breakup with William also meant I broke up with the friend circle.” She tried to play it off, but I knew there was more there than she was letting on. That had been her friend group her entire high school life. To suddenly break up with them at the end…

“I would guess it would be awkward having an ex in the group.”

“Ah. It’s…Not that.” She didn’t meet my eye. “More like a, ‘forced expulsion’ rather than a breakup.” I found myself sitting on the opposite side of the couch from her. Seeing that I was in for the long haul, she sighed and shifted to a more comfortable position. “I thought things were fine. William was taking it… okay and everything seemed to be normal.”

“Until?”

Her lips pressed tightly together. “Until I refused to sleep with them. The only reason why I was doing it in the first place was because William got off on it. With us no longer dating, I stopped the ‘free use’ agreement we had.” Her features turned angry. “I wasn’t sleeping with them because I wanted to and they all absolutely lost their shit. Called me… Well, they called me some things I didn’t agree with. So I left.”

“Damn, I’m sorry.”

“They were my friends, and they threw that all away because I was no longer the easy pussy they could pass around. Bunch of fucking assholes.”

“Absolutely,” I said in agreement.

“As pissed off and hurt as I am, the real problem is Faith is all alone with those assholes. Now that I know their true feelings about me, I’m worried that they will pressure Faith into being my replacement.” She sighed. “I tried to get her to come with me, but I think she still believes things are going to calm down and go back to normal. That bridge is fucking cinders at this point.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

She seemed as surprised as I was that I offered the help.

“Actually… There might be. We don’t share a lunch period this year, but you do. Don’t you sit with Liam and Kaylee?”

I shook my head. “Liam and I moved tables. We sit with two of his friends, Ally and Sam.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know them, but Faith has mentioned them a few times.”

“They are fun.”

“Sleep with them yet?” she asked in a teasing way. She knew me better than to be serious about that.

“No way. Liam is pretty serious about them, and I think they might be interested in him too.”

“Good for him. Anyways, you should ask Faith to join you for lunch.”

I frowned. “Why would she do that?”

“Because, for some inexplicable reason, she has a massive crush on you. If you ask her, she will definitely move. And if she moves, it will limit her exposure to those assholes. I can handle things after school. Caleb has some pretty cool friends I think she will like if I introduce her to them.”

I shook my head. “I’m sure she will.”

“I don’t mean it like that. I mean, hopefully, but Faith is pretty conservative and a late bloomer. She reminds me a lot of you. I think she’s had like, six or seven partners and only lost her virginity last year. Don’t tell her I told you, but she was really hoping you would be the one who punched her V-card. I convinced her that wasn’t likely and nudged her to get out there.” She seemed surprisingly proud of that.

“I don’t know. Sounds like she might get the wrong idea…”

“Christ, Scott. I’m not asking you to fuck her. All I want is her away from those assholes as much as possible before they pressure her into doing stuff she isn’t comfortable with. This is your shining knight moment to rescue a damsel in distress.”

I felt like I was getting dragged into something I had no business being in. Didn’t I have enough problems on my plate as it was? At the same time, Paige was right. If what she was saying was true, it might be better if Faith avoided the guys she normally hung out with as much as possible. She certainly knew the details more than I did.

“I’ll… see what I can do.”

She seemed relieved. “Thanks.”

I got up to leave. After getting to my room, I realized that I’d had an entire conversation with Paige without her doing or saying something that pissed me off. As interesting as that was, I didn’t have much time to think about it. My mind instead went to the time. It was five past four. Derrek would probably be over at Kaylee’s by now.

I took a deep breath and pushed the thoughts from my mind. I had about thirty minutes before I had to leave. Getting my laptop out, I got to work on some homework. There was still a lot to catch up on and I needed the distraction.