^^^Listen While Reading^^^
~~~
"Hi, Casey."
I turn around and see Hazel standing next to the fence in an orange knit sweater and jeans. She grins. "Congrats on your win."
"You came?" I say, shocked.
"I said I would," she says.
"I know, but I didn't think you'd actually come," I say.
"I don't know why you doubted me, Casey," she says. "You played well."
"Thank you," I say, smiling a little.
She studies me. "But you don't look very happy," she says.
"I'm just tired," I say. Leaning on the fence next to where she is, I run my hands through my hair. "And I almost started a fight with a girl on the other team."
"Oh yeah, I saw that. You were pretty . . . aggressive." I watch her lips form the words before meeting her eyes again.
"Yeah . . ." I say, looking away sheepishly.
"But maybe aggression is a good thing. It helped you win, didn't it?" Her lips spread into a questioning smile.
I tilt my head, looking away as I consider it. "You're right. I'm going to tell the team that so they can't hate me for it."
She laughs, the sweet sound ringing in my ears long after she stops.
"Do you need a ride home?" I ask.
Hazel squints, then. "I swear, Casey. Do you get something out of driving me places? Because you seem to want to do it a lot."
I shrug. "I'm just a nice person," I remark, pushing myself off the fence and standing directly in front of her. "So do you need one, or . . ."
"No, unfortunately. My friend drove me here. She's my ride."
"Oh, okay," I say. Chewing on my bottom lip, I look at her.
"You seem devastated." She says, arching a brow.
I smirk. "Oh, yes. I'm so sorrowfully grief-stricken that I don't get to have the honor of driving my tutor home after my game." I say sarcastically. She doesn't seem fazed. My smirk falls, as do my eyes.
Then I do something very, very stupid.
My fingers grasp the fence next to her, and I lean in and peck her on the lips.
And then I pull away, my chest warm and my heart beating harder than it ever did during the game.
God, why did I do that?
Hazel looks stunned, her lips parted in shock as her gaze flits from my mouth to my eyes.
"I'm so sorry." I finally say. "I--I don't know why I did that."
I've ruined everything.
She still doesn't say anything, so to prevent further embarrassment, I say, "Um, bye."
Then I turn around quickly and leave.
~~~
I have to stop letting my emotions control me like this.
Leah notices the shift in my mood during the drive home, but I'm sure she thinks it's because I'm mad about the game.
"You okay?" She asks, glancing at me.
I lean against the passenger window, watching the cars pass us on the road.
"Yeah."
The silence means the mind-reading Leah doesn't believe me.
"What happened, Case?"
"Nothing. I'm just thinking about how stupid I am," I say.
"Hm." She hums. "Is this about Hazel?"
I blink, lifting my head and sitting upright. "How'd you know?"
"Saw you two talking after the game." She says matter-of-factly. "Why do you think you're stupid?"
"I've been so weird and emotional the past few days. I almost cost us the game and made Hazel hate me." I say.
"Okay, first, you didn't cost us the game, and second, Hazel definitely does not hate you," Leah says.
"How can you say that? You don't even know what happened." I say, folding my arms.
Leah glances at me again. "You kissed her, didn't you?"
My cheeks grow hot. "How-- ?"
"It's obvious. And I would have done the same; she's hot." Leah shrugs.
I give her a dirty look.
She continues. "What I'm trying to say is, you shouldn't beat yourself up about it." She says. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure you didn't ruin anything, and--"
She pauses, pulling the gearshift back and illegally reversing on the main road because she missed the turn. ". . . and I'm ninety-eight percent sure she likes you back."
"I'm one hundred percent sure you've gone mad," I say, shaking my head. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Leah, but I'm not delusional."
"You're so stupid."
~~~
I'm dreading going to school today because of what happened yesterday.
When I enter my math class, I try my best to ignore Hazel and focus on my work. She doesn't look at me once, which is fine, because I'm not looking at her either.
"I graded your tests last night, and you'll know your score in a few seconds." Mr. Cromey announces.
Now I'm nervous.
"Before I hand them out, I would like to say that I'm proud of you all. You worked hard on this unit, and it shows in your results." Mr. Cromey continues.
Hopefully, that means I got at least a B.
Mr. Cromey begins calling out names to come to grab the test, and I wait anxiously while tapping my finger on the desk. Jacob, the guy in front of me, bites his fingernails in anticipation. Mr. Cromey calls his name, and he gets up quickly, returning with a frown as he looks at his test. The girl who sits next to him, Alyssa, asks him what he got.
"Ninety-one." He says in a disappointed tone. I roll my eyes.
"Casey." The teacher says, and I look up. Getting up from my seat, I approach Mr. Cromey, and he gives me a slight nod as he hands me the test.
I don't look at the test as I return to my desk and still don't as I set it face down on my desk.
Hazel gets hers, and Jacob asks her what she got. It's a ninety-nine, and I can't say I'm surprised.
"What'd you get, Casey?" Alyssa asks me.
"Yeah, what did you get?" Jacob echoes.
"Uh," I say as I flip the packet over. Then I gasp. "Oh my God."
"What?"
"Ninety-five!" I say in excitement. Gosh, I'm so happy I could cry.
I see Hazel glance at my paper and then look away, her cheeks pink and a slight smile tugging at her lips.
Jacob looks shocked. "You got a ninety-five?" He says. "You?"
I nod triumphantly. "Yep."
Class ends, and I pack up quickly, eager to tell Leah the news. As I stand by the door waiting for the crowd of people to let me through, Hazel appears in front of me.
"You got an 'A'." She says. "Congrats."
I smile a little, "Thanks." Then my smile falls. ". . . It was all you."
"I only helped you know what to study. You did the rest." She says. I hate how we're pretending nothing happened between us, even though I'm sure we can both feel the thick tension. I suppose that's the price you pay for making such a foolish decision; you ruin whatever you had before.
~~~
Sitting at one of the tables in the library, I tell Leah about my score, and she squeals in excitement. "Oh my God, Casey! I'm so proud of you." She says, grabbing the hand I have resting on the table with both of hers.
I smile a little, and she frowns. "Why am I more excited about this than you are?"
I shrug.
"Did you talk to Hazel?" She asks.
"Yeah, kind of," I say. "She congratulated me on the grade."
"That's it?" Leah says, frowning harder.
"What am I supposed to say? 'Hi Hazel, I just wanted to say sorry again for kissing you.'"
Leah shakes her head. "You know what? I have an idea. Since both of you are stubborn, I'll just have to talk her into meeting up with you."
"Leah, don't do that," I say.
Leah's gaze shifts somewhere away from me, and she raises her eyebrows. "Oh look, there she is."
Just kill me now.
I don't want to look. But I shift my eyes to her anyway, and something in my chest flips when I see her talking to the librarian. She nods at something the librarian says, then turns, looking around the library. We lock eyes, and she looks away quickly, then leaves.
"Someone kill me," I say, groaning.
"You guys are so dumb," Leah says, shaking her head.
I cover my face with my hands. "She's avoiding me."
"You're avoiding each other." Leah rolls her eyes. "Is she still tutoring you?"
"That's a good question. I don't know." I say.
"Then ask her. That way, you know whether she actually does not want to see you or is only avoiding you because she thinks you're avoiding her."
I tilt my head to study Leah. "In some twisted way, that makes sense."
"I know. Now shoo."
~~~
My mom texted to say her plane had arrived and that she was on her way. I'm excited to see her, even though I have nothing to say to her except for 'hi' and 'I missed you'.
When I come home, she's seated at the kitchen island on her laptop, a steaming mug of coffee to her left.
"Hi Mom," I say, coming to the counter so I can hug her.
She gives me a light hug back. "Hello, Casey."
"I missed you," I say. Just as rehearsed.
She doesn't seem to hear me as she begins typing rapidly on the keyboard, but I don't take it to heart. So I leave for my room because we have nothing more to talk about.
I take a quick shower and put on an old T-shirt and pajama pants, then I sit on my bed and pull out my phone. I decide to follow Leah's advice and text Hazel if we're still doing tutoring, and then I open YouTube. I'm not expecting a quick reply, but my phone vibrates a few seconds later, and I click on the notification.
Hazel: Of course. Unless you don't need my help anymore
I text back an 'Okay cool ð'. And Hazel tells me this Wednesday would be great.
Then I relay the news to Leah.
A/N:
I apologize, this chapter was a little short. (I have two tests tomorrow)
Don't forget to vote!
<3