Chapter Five
2004 - Junior Year
Chase
I sat in the back of my science class, waiting for everyone to leave before I decided to get up. I’d been avoiding anyone of the female kind for weeks, and it was all because of this stupid school. The school my parents decided to put me in after moving us back to Savannah.
A school I thought I wasn’t going to be at for long, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. My father was going to be here even after I graduated and left for college, so that meant making the best of it and planting roots. Something I didn’t do. Something I hadn’t done in a long time.
I thought about Erica, like I did every day. It was the only way to keep the memory of her alive and in my head. I thought about the young fourteen-year-old and the even younger nine-year-old. They weren’t the same people, but they were the same Erica, even if she had changed.
When I had left her two years ago, I thought about all the ways I could keep in contact with her, especially once I hunted down her MySpace page last year. But I thought better of it. It wasn’t like we had become friends and with my moving across that state, I silently watched from afar.
Her profile was public, so it wasn’t like I was seeing things no one else could.
She took her school mathlete team to win state, then to nationals, when she caught the flu and they weren’t able to win without her. But she was determined to make it up this year by getting them that gold. I loved the determination she felt.
My mother had asked me multiple times in the last year why I hadn’t started dating. I couldn’t blame her, since I was sixteen now and still had never shown interest in any other girl, so I told her I was too focused on my writing, which was surprisingly taken well. Especially after I convinced my father that having a Literature degree would help me get into law and politics. It was a small lie, but one I had to afford in order to get to my dreams.
I had been writing ever since the day we got here, poems, prose. Anything that would come from my fingertips and every single word that spilled out was for her and her alone.
“Chase.” I was knocked out of my reverie by Caden, who stood at the front of the classroom, waiting for me. I had never given her so much as a hello, but she took that silence to mean something more and I hated it. I always tried to avoid her, just like I was doing with every other girl right now. Especially with this weekend coming up.
The private school my parents had put me into didn’t do homecoming dances. Nope, they did Sadie Hawkins dances and I hated this place a little more when I found out that it was mandatory. I managed to get “sick” last year, but this year my parents wanted me to go and socialize. I, of course, was trying to figure out any excuse I could.
Luckily no one had asked me yet, but I was thinking with Caden standing there, blocking my only way out of the room and to my next class, that my luck had run out.
“Caden.” I said her name with no emotion as I grabbed my bag and tried to exit the room. She stepped in front of me, blocking the way. I looked back at where our science teacher was in the back corner cleaning some supplies in the sink, not paying attention to us. “I need to get to my next class.”
I pointed toward the door, but all she did was take a step toward me, which caused me to take a step back. I didn’t like it when others touched me or were in my personal space. That was reserved for one person, once I was able to get back to her.
“I wanted to talk to you, Chase.” Caden tried to bring her voice down into this soft and silky talk she thought boys liked, but it made her seem younger. I hated it.
“If it’s about this dance, the answer is no,” I said my words firmly, but she waved me off.
“You didn’t even let me ask you, silly!” She playfully slapped her hand against my chest and my whole body became rigid and I took a giant step back. She didn’t understand that her actions weren’t wanted, so she kept on. “I want to take you out, show you off, and have a dance with you. Maybe even”—she batted her eyelashes at me in dramatic effect and I rolled my eyes—“a kiss.”
“Absolutely not.” My words were louder this time, as I tried to convince this girl in front of me that I wanted no part of her in my life.
“You’re not being fair, Chase,” she whined and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to push up her breasts, and stomped her foot all at the same time.
The actions made her seem childish, unlike when I thought about Erica in the courtyard in Atlanta, stomping her foot at me and how I thought it was adorable. How I thought that every single part of Erica was just perfect. But the girl standing in front of me was no comparison.
“And you’re being a child.” I took a step around Caden and made my way out the door, trying to leave her behind.
“You’re so rude! No wonder everyone thinks you’re a prude!”
I didn’t let her words affect me as I walked to my next class, just at the end of the hall. Somehow I always got cornered by these girls at school and they always came running the second they saw me. I had no idea why they thought chasing a guy around would make him want them more.
“Chase!” She screamed my name and a few heads turned from the classroom I had just passed.
I turned around and almost ran right into Caden, but she stopped short of me and stood there with her hands on her hips.
“Ready to change your mind?” she said with a smile on her face. I was ready to change my mind, change my mind about not being a dick to a girl I barely knew.
“Caden.” I said her name with irritation. I didn’t like saying other girls’ names and this one didn’t deserve it, but she needed to hear this. Anyone within earshot needed to hear this. “I will never want to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with you.”
I lifted my finger to her to keep her from interrupting me, like I knew she wanted to do.
