Love Me

I get all my crying out of my system.

Then I look up at him and say, “You should be at football.”

“And you should be at soccer. Tell me what happened.”

I shake my head. “Nothing. She’s fine. It was just another scare. It shook me up, I guess. And I’m upset about something else.”

“What?”

“My little sister is turning three, and I’m going to miss her party.”

“Why?”

“Um, well, because her party is Monday. We have school.”

“Are they in France?”

“Not right now. My stepdad has business in Vancouver, so they’re celebrating there.”

He nods at me. “So, you should go. You can miss a couple of days of school. And the play will be over. It’s perfect timing. Heck, I’ll go with you if you want.”

“Oh, um, that’s really nice of you, Aiden, but it’s not necessary.”

“Does that mean you’ll go by yourself?”

I smile at him. “Yeah. You’re right. I should go.”

“I’m serious. If you change your mind and want company, I’ll go with you.”

“Thanks, Aiden.”

As we stand up, he hands me a crumpled piece of paper. “I think you dropped this.”

“Thanks,” I say, automatically. But then I see that it’s Vincent’s letter.

I can’t speak.

“Are you thinking about doing this? You do kinda resemble her. And you want to act. This could be your big break.”

“No!” I yell at him. “I don’t want a break! I don’t look anything like her. I changed my mind. I don’t like being in the play. In fact, I hate it! I’m never acting again.”

He watches my outburst.

“Um, okay. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Not really.”

He grabs my hands and puts his forehead against mine. “You can trust me, Boots. You can tell me anything.”

I stare into his emerald eyes and know deep within my soul that what he says is true. I know I can trust him. I want to trust him.

But I can’t.

I wipe my eyes and say, “I have to get to soccer. Cooper will have my ass. Probably make me run stairs or something.”

“Yeah, I should get going too. You sure you’re okay?”

I take a deep breath.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

I hope.

I’m rushing to get out on the soccer field when Whitney steps out in front of me.

“You and Mr. Steele seem awfully cozy. You’re always sneaking around talking to him.”

“He’s my soccer coach.”

“What did you need that was so urgent? And don’t tell me it’s your ankle again. You were just ru

“I almost passed out in soccer the other day.”

“You pregnant?”

“Uh, no.”

“Then why not just go see the nurse yourself . . .” She stops and stares at me with her mouth open. “Are you pregnant with his baby?”

“What? He’s been here for like a week. That’s not even possible.”

“Actually, he’s been here for two weeks now. It’s totally possible. Is that what was going on that day when he was yelling at you?” Her eyes get big again. “Did he rape you?”

“Oh, for god’s sake, Whitney. No. He’s nice. He would never do that.”

She grins at me. “Just how nice is he?”

“He’s my coach. There is nothing going on between us. I am not pregnant.”

She taps a finger on her chin. “Besides, how would you know if it’s his or Dawson’s?”

“That would be easy. If I was pregnant—which I am not—Dawson is the only possible father.”

She keeps standing in front of me, so I say, “Excuse me, I have to get to practice.”

I can’t let you do this.

3:25pm

“Cooper, I need to talk to you.”

“Sure, come in my office.”

He looks to make sure no one is around and then shuts the door.

“You were late for soccer.”

“I know. I was upset about the letter and needed a few minutes to pull myself together.” He nods in understanding as I pull the letter out of my bag. “Will you get rid of this?”

“Sure.” He flattens it out on his desk and stares at it as I talk.

“So a couple things. First thing, Whitney thinks I’m having your baby.”

“What the hell? Why?”

“Because she asked why you took me to the nurse’s office. I told her I felt like I was going to pass out in soccer the other day.”

“And out of that she decided you’re pregnant with my baby?”

“Apparently. I told her she was silly. But we need to be careful around her. She’s very manipulative and she wants you. She will keep going until she gets you.”

“She’s not going to get me. But you’re right. We’ll be more careful about what we talk about when she’s around. She did make a snide comment about you the other day.”

“Second thing, I’m going to Vancouver on Monday for my sister’s birthday party.”

“The hell you are.”

“No, I am.”

“With everything that’s going on, you want to go to the one place that he will expect you to turn up eventually?”

“Yeah, but here’s the thing. He’s going to be in Miami this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday doing auditions. He won’t be anywhere near Vancouver.”

Cooper closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I’m sure he’ll have someone at the airport. He can find out what airport you came from and pinpoint where you’ve been.”

“So we’ll take different flights. Different charters. Switch airports. That’s what we did when I came here.”

“No. No way.”

“Cooper, it's my life. My decision.”

“I can't let you do this.”

“You don't have a choice. I’m going. With or without you.” Then I soften my voice because I want him to know. “But I’d feel safer if it was with you.”

“God, you’re stubborn. Fine. I'll figure out a way. But it will be just you and me, no one else. You can't tell anyone.”

“I won’t.”

“I’ll work out the details. We’ll have to leave very early Monday morning.”

I smile at him as I walk out the door. “Whatever you say, Cooper.”

I’m barely out the door when I feel someone staring at me.

I turn my head to see Whitney. The crinkle between her eyes is deep.

I pray she didn't hear us talking about going to Vancouver.

She starts to open her mouth, but I can't deal with her right now. I hold my hand up and say, “Mind your own business, Whitney.”

The big gesture.

6:50pm

Logan slumps down next to me before rehearsal starts.

“Lunch used to be my favorite time of the day. Now I hate it. Jake’s been sitting with us and he flirts with Maggie. Why can’t he just take her to his own table?”

“Because he got mad at Whitney. I don’t think he’ll go back there. And that’s saying a lot because Dawson is his best friend and he and Bryce still sit there. But that’s not really what matters. What matters is what you’re going to do about it.”

“There’s a romance movie that she loves. Where they talk about the big gesture.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that. Isn’t she the President’s daughter? And she goes off on what she thinks is an adventure through Europe with a dreamy guy but it turns out he’s really an agent protecting her?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“That guy was hot.”

“That’s besides the point.”

“What is the point?”

“I want to make the big gesture. Win her back.”

“Logan, what really happened that night? I know she got drunk and slept with Parker, but why?”

“Why? Because she was drunk.”

“I know I didn’t know her then, but Maggie is a lot like me. She likes to party. She drinks. Gets tipsy. A little drunk. But never that out-of-control drunk where you don’t know what you’re doing. Something had to trigger it.”

Logan looks at the ground and sighs. Then he puts his face in his hands and shakes his head. “I was the trigger. We got in a fight that night.”

“What was the fight about?”

“A girl.”

“What girl?”

“Doesn’t matter. There was this girl that I was texting. Maggie saw the texts. It looked bad.”

“So you were cheating on her?”

“We never hung out. Only texted. But the texts were sexual. She went out that night, got drunk, and slept with Parker.”

“She rebounded.”