“What the hell is the matter with you?” I blurted out, and she slowly turned her head to look at me, facewash foam still on her face. “Who are you, Amy? You’re supposed to be my sister.”
“If only you knew.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind,” she said. “Why can’t you just be happy with someone else? Chris was supposed to be mine; I just needed more time. Why do you think I walk past the soccer fields every day? So that he could notice me. You don’t even care about boys, and suddenly you leave your stupid hoodie in a classroom, and Chris is all over you? You intentionally took him from me to hurt me, so who’s really the monster? You or me?” she said with a huff, then she splashed water on her face, dried off with a towel, and stormed out.
I couldn’t believe her logic. I had no idea she was trying to get his attention; I just thought she liked to gawk at all the guys running around. They were all pretty good-looking, and she never mentioned Chris in particular. I headed back to my room, got into bed, pulled the covers up, and turned the stereo up a few notches. Counting Crows Angels of the Silences played as I looked up at the stars on the ceiling and wondered, Was it supposed to be Amy? Did I take him from her? Maybe that’s why she was so adamant that I give the hoodie back and stay away from him. Now it was all starting to make sense.
13
On the way to school, I fed a Third Eye Blind tape into the deck and focused on the lyrics, letting the instruments course through my body and calm my nerves. I couldn’t stop wondering if there was some truth to what Amy had said. I hadn’t tried to steal Chris from her and had no idea that she had been trying to flirt with him every time she walked past his field. I had never even seen Amy talk to him.
Suddenly, I remembered that Amy had tried to talk to me on car rides home after school. Had Amy tried to tell me about Chris, but I had never listened? Had Amy been right about me all this time, that I was too obsessed with field hockey to notice anything about anyone else? Maybe I was being selfish. Maybe Amy had a reason to be so mad at me.
When I pulled into the empty parking lot, I immediately saw Chris. He was sitting on his tailgate with an open book in his lap, writing in a notebook. He looked up as I parked next to him, and when I got out of the car, I quickly walked around to the back of his truck, and he leaned down to kiss me with a smile.
“Good morning, Superstar.”
“What are you doing here so early?”
“Some last-minute English homework,” he said, as he looked back down at his notebook and quickly kept writing. “Sorry, I really have to get this done, but you can sit with me if you want,” as he patted the tailgate beside him.
“Sure, but you’ll have to help me up,” I said, glancing at the height of the tailgate.
Looking up from his work again, he realized the height, laughed, and hopped off. He grabbed my waist and lifted me effortlessly onto the tailgate, then he rested his hands on my thighs and looked around the parking lot to find it still empty, so he slid his hands higher along my jeans, squeezing gently as he went.
“Mmm, I wish this was a skirt, but I’m glad it’s not because I really have to get this work done,” he said, as he spread my legs apart to step in closer.
Just then, a horn blew as it came swerving into the parking lot, causing Chris to pull away and turn to see who it was. It was three guys from the soccer team who carpooled to school, and they were all laughing at the interruption. Chris threw a middle finger in the air and climbed back up onto the truck next to me to finish his homework.
Cars began to fill the parking lot, and it was time to head to class, but when I looked across the lot, I saw my sister standing with Brooke near the soccer fields, glaring at me, and I got an uneasy feeling.
“They’re up to something,” I said to Chris.
“Just ignore them.”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that Amy was plotting something with Brooke, but I told him I’d try to take his advice. When Amy wanted something, she could be relentless.
“Ready for your soccer game this afternoon against St. Mark’s?” I changed the subject as we walked hand in hand.
“Oh yeah! We’re going to crush them, you’re coming, right?” he looked down at me hopefully.
“Of course I’ll be there.”
Just then, Brooke brushed past my shoulder abruptly with Amy by her side.
“Whatever,” I said, trying to ignore their rudeness.
“Exactly,” he said.
Once we arrived at the Upper School, Chris opened the door to the locker hall, and we headed for his locker this time. When he opened his mostly empty locker, I was surprised to see my hoodie fall out onto the floor, and he picked it up quickly and shoved it back inside.
“That’s mine, you can’t have it, I’m keeping it. I just wanted to have it at school so I could smell it when I stopped by between classes,” he said playfully. This time, I didn’t protest. It made me feel good that he was so into me.
“I’ll see you in French class,” I said, shaking my head with a smile. As I walked away, he grabbed my arm and spun me back to him, pulling me in for a kiss.
“Okay, we have to stop or I’ll be late,” I said.
