I’m admiring the intricate paintings on the wall when I see his mom. She’s dressed in perfectly ironed slacks and a flowy blouse that looks like it cost more than my house. I don’t think she’s seen me yet. I stop moving, afraid any movement will attract her gaze. She smiles at Greta and Loretta, and for a moment I think that maybe I can do this. I can see her and maybe she won’t talk about the accident or my dad leaving.
Her eyes narrow in curiosity at the sight of me and her jaw locks tight. She stares like that at me for at least thirty seconds before I avert my gaze from her. I take a deep breath and have the desire to check my pulse to make sure my heart’s still beating.
Has Colter told her about me? Does she recognize me?
Colter moves into the middle of the room. He has a rolled piece of paper sticking out of his back pocket. He commands the room just with his stance. I envy that about him.
“Okay, so we only have a couple of weeks to plan this thing. I have Janie and Jackson on the logistics committee.” He pulls the rolled piece of paper from his pocket and spreads it open. “Phillip and I will take care of the band and music selections. Kirstyn? You and Ellery will be on decorations, if that’s okay?” He nods toward me.
I shrug.
Kirstyn isn’t looking at me, she’s staring up at Colter like he’s reciting the meaning of life. It doesn’t surprise me that out of everyone, she and I get paired together. Is he trying to punish me? I thought we were past that. Maybe he wants Kirstyn and I to be friends. Wow, he’s pretty delusional if he thinks that.
Kirstyn looks over at me and rolls her eyes, then gazes back up at Colter. “We’re getting credit for this, right? I still need a few hours to graduate.”
“Yes,” he says with an annoyed expression. He clears his throat. “Dee and Riley offered to take care of marketing. We need every student to come to it.”
The redhead girl that came with Kirstyn and Dee must be Riley.
“Just because you’re on a committee doesn’t mean you have to only do what that committee does. If you have any ideas about anything else, feel free to say something,” he says, edging back toward me. “That’s it. Enjoy the refreshments.”
The room is a clatter of voices and moving chairs scraping on the wood floor. I stand up to get the hell out, but Colter turns around and cocks his head at me like he wants to say something. Before I can get out of the room, he’s beside me with his dopey eyes and pouty mouth. His expression turns sympathetic when it reaches my eyes.
I roll back on my heels. “Kirstyn, really?” I whisper.
He gently touches my arm and it sparks with unrelenting warmth. “I’m sorry. Every other spot had enough people. I thought it may be good for you two to try and get to know each other. You don’t have to if you don’t want.”
He really is delusional.
I let out a sigh. “It’s fine. It’s not like you and I are going out. She shouldn’t care about me.”
He gives me a confused, sympathetic expression again. “Right. Right, okay.”
Does he want us to be going out? Why can’t I figure him out? Why am I thinking any of this when I should be darting out the front door?
We stand there in a nervous haze. The twins run past. Greta slams into Colter’s legs and he goes flying into me. I try to brace him, but we topple over the chair I was just sitting in. We tumble to the ground and his weight is heavy on me. I can’t move. Our faces are so close I can feel his small stubbly hairs on my cheek. If he turns his head our lips would be too close. I need to get out of this position. He starts to turn his head and I panic, squirming. I scoot out, trying to wiggle my body out from under him. He braces his arms on the carpet and pushes off me with a strange look on his face.
“I wasn’t going to do anything to you.”
“I know.” I look toward the door, wishing I could just run out.
He nods, but it’s obvious he doesn’t believe me. He shakes off whatever disappointment he has in me and smiles again. “We’re going to the game tomorrow to watch Jackson and Phillip. You should come.”
I haven’t been to a football game in three years. I think I went to one my freshman year, realized they were boring and I didn’t understand a thing, so I stopped going.
“Who’s we?” I ask.
“Just some friends.”
“You mean Kirstyn and Dee?”
“Yeah, they’ll be there.”
I don’t know why, but I’m hurt to hear he’s still friends with Kirstyn. I know he can be friends with whoever he wants, but I just wish it wasn’t her.
“I don’t know. I have a lot of homework and a calculus test on Monday.”
He eyes me. “I got the night off work. I think you can spare some time. Plus, you get the pleasure of my company for a whole night.”
I love those words on his lips, even though I shouldn’t. “I don’t even know anything about football.”
“I’ll teach you. I’m a good teacher.” He waggles his eyebrows.
I roll my eyes.
He grins and I smile back until I see his mother come up beside him. My breath starts stuttering. I should have run earlier. Why did I stay and talk to him?