“Callan—”
“It’s done.” He tried to release my hand, but I held on.
“It’s done.” I leaned into him, forcing him to look at me. “And before you know it, you’ll be playing for Caledonia United and you’ll never have to deal with him again.”
Callan’s expression softened. “You really believe that?”
I smiled. “I may not know a lot about football, Callan Keen, but I know you’re special.”
He swallowed hard, his gaze darting between mine. “Beth, would?—”
“Oi, oi! Move out the way!” Ryan Preston shoulder-checked Callan, knocking him into me.
Callan steadied me, anger clouding his features. “Watch it!”
Ryan smirked. “Sorry, Beth.” Then he stuck his middle finger up at Callan and kept walking.
“Beth!” Lucy, a friend, suddenly appeared at my side. “You’re going to be late for class.” She tugged on my arm, pulling me away from Callan before he could finish his sentence.
I offered a small wave that he returned before Lucy pulled me around the corner and out of sight, leaving me to wonder if Ryan and Lucy had interrupted Callan finally asking me out.
I never got a chance to talk to Callan again that day. He had football practice and I had drama club before heading home for a quick change for parents’ evening.
Before we left for parents’ evening, however, I’d texted Amanda to ask if she’d be there. Twenty minutes after I’d sent the text, she replied. My stomach dropped as I read the text.
No. Bt we need 2 talk. I rlly feel like u put Callan b4 our friendship. I’m so hurt. U dnt seem 2 care.
Panic tightened my chest as my thumbs hovered over the screen. Amanda and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. She was hilarious and kind and loyal. In fact, we’d been friends for so long and I loved her so much, I considered her my family.
And I realized Amanda would never have dated a boy we both liked.
Hell.
I couldn’t lose my friend, but the thought of losing Callan hurt too.
I hurried to text back.
A, I love u & wld never intentionally hurt u. Can I call u when we all get back frm parents’ evening?
A few seconds later she replied:
Ok.
Damn. I hated that I hurt her. It hurt that I hurt her.
I was preoccupied as my parents drove us to the school. There was only a time or two when Dad had been out of town on a work meeting and couldn’t make parents’ evening. Otherwise, they both always tried to be there. Aunt Ellie and Uncle Adam had brought my cousins Will and Bray over to ours so they could keep an eye on Luke and Elle.
If I wasn’t so proud of my parents, I might not be able to handle the embarrassment of watching male and female teachers either act like awkward school children around my dad, or have the entire English department fawn over Mum. The fangirling hadn’t been so bad before. But one of Mum’s book series got adapted into a TV show on a major streaming service, and she’d been plastered all over national news these past six months. Her book sales had soared internationally, and my mum had gone from a successful novelist to a household name.
Usually I could handle it, but I was in a foul mood because of what was happening between me and Amanda.
“We’re hiring actors to play you at the next parents’ evening,” I snarked as they walked out of the English class to greet me. “If not for my sake, then for my teachers’ sakes so they can all stop acting like fools around you.”
“Insult your teachers at parents’ evening, Beth.” Mum nudged me playfully. “That’ll get you far.”
“So, what did Mrs. Carr say? Or did she even talk about me while in the midst of the great J. B. Carmichael?”
Mum rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Once she got over me, she couldn’t stop staring at your father. It’s obnoxious. We should definitely hire an actor to play your dad.”
