“You’re a sweaty mess,” I said, as I ran my fingertips lightly down his bare arm. His eyes quickly widened at my touch, then he shook his head violently to fling cold sweat all over my face.
“You two are gross,” Isabelle said, rolling her eyes.
“Too bad,” he said, as he looked down at me and kissed me, his waves of wet hair dripping upon my face, then he leaned in close. “Don’t let go of us,” he said softly enough that Isabelle couldn’t hear.
“If you’re sure,” I replied.
“It’s only you,” he said. “Come on, we’re going to Friendly’s, it’s tradition. I’ll meet you there, but I’m going to ride with some of the guys.”
“Okay, we’ll see you there.”
Isabelle and I grabbed the corners of her blanket, folded it, and put it in her backpack, then started to head up to the car when Brooke approached us.
“Great game, huh?” she said. “That was nice of you to have a change of heart, Allie. I knew you were a good sister, after all,” then she made her way back to Amy.
I watched as they headed up the hill ahead of us, and Brooke leaned in to Amy and whispered to her again, then I turned to Isabelle.
“I don’t trust her. They’re up to something, don’t you think?”
“I think you’re paranoid. You saw the way Chris reacted to them. Just ignore them,” Isabelle replied. “Come on, let’s get to Friendly’s and celebrate.”
Just then, Watson blew past us in the parking lot with Chris and a few other teammates, blaring Charlie Daniels’ Band Devil Went Down To Georgia. Chris leaned out the window and yelled, “See you there,” but right after they passed us, Brooke came across the parking lot towards me.
“Hey Allie,” she said with a chipper bounce to her voice. “Just wanted to let you know that everyone decided to go to Sonic instead since it’s such a nice day. See you there!” Then she spun around and headed back to her car, where Amy was waiting.
I got in my Jeep and shared the change of plans with Isabelle. “I guess they decided to go to Sonic.”
“Okay, whatever, let’s get going,” she said as she pulled the visor down to put on some sparkly watermelon lip gloss. “I love this color and the way this tastes. I hope Watson notices,” she said, as she slid the mirror closed and flipped the visor back up.
As we pulled into Sonic, we chose a parking spot, and the waitress approached on roller skates.
“Hi girls, what can I get ya?”
“Hey, we are waiting on our friends, but they should have beaten us here,” I replied, as I looked around the parking lot. That’s weird, they left school ahead of us,” I said, as I turned to Isabelle. She looked back at me, tilted her head, and suddenly wondered if we had been tricked by Brooke.
“I think Brooke and Amy did this on purpose. I bet they’re at Friendly’s after all. Let’s go.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I think our friends told us to come here so that my sister could try to steal my boyfriend. We have to go!” I blurted out as rage began to simmer within me.
“Go get your man!” she said fiercely.
I hit play on the tape deck, and Third Eye Blind’s Semi-Charmed Kind of Life came through the speakers as I backed out of the parking spot, nearly missing a car that passed behind us. It honked to avoid a collision, then we peeled out of the parking lot towards Friendly’s.
When we arrived at Friendly’s, we could see the line of our classmates’ cars parked one beside the other. Anxiety washed over me, knowing they were all celebrating inside together without us, and Amy was probably in there making a move. I pulled into the parking lot and drove slowly past the large pane glass window at the front of the restaurant, where I could see the large booth with everyone piled in together. My sister and Brooke were sitting across from Chris, Griffin, and Watson, laughing and gazing at them. I was filled with so much anger as I pulled into a parking spot around the corner of the restaurant and turned to Isabelle.
“I am so mad at Brooke and Amy that I don’t know what I might say to them when I get inside, Is.”
“I have your back, Allie. At this point, they deserve whatever you decide to say.”
Just then, there was a knock on the window, and Isabelle nudged me to get my attention.
“Allie? You might want to turn around,” she said, tentatively.
It was Chris, and he seemed upset, so I rolled down the window.
“Where have you been?” He asked. “I’ve been waiting for you!”
“Why don’t you go inside and ask Brooke and Amy?” I replied with anger.
