One of the Guys (21 page)

“
I…um… I left her to wait for me,
at the party after the game. I told her I’d be five minutes, and I
took longer. A lot longer. She left without telling me.”

I hadn’t told him the last time.
I’d just begged him to let me see Chase.

The look on Larry’s face was enough
to make me take a step back out of his reach. It was bad enough
that Chase was made to wait, but the fact that I’d allowed her to
leave, and walk home alone, was so much worse.

“
Logan, if you were a wise young
man, you’d turnaround, and get back in your car. Leaving my little
girl to walk home…alone…in the dark, well that’s something I’d
insist never happened.”

“
I’m sorry, Larry. I was actually
looking out for her…”

Larry folded his arms, and before I
knew it, I was telling him about the things the guy at the party
was saying to me about Chase.

His features softened, and I
stopped thinking he was about to turn me inside out.

“
So, if that’s true… Why did Chase
leave?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“
I was supposed
to be talking to Adam, and then bringing her back. A couple of
other guys stopped me too.” I wasn’t about to tell him I’d made her
wait on purpose. I wasn’t stupid. “Then,
that
guy asked me about Chase. I
wasn’t going to let him near her.”

“
Does Chase know about
this?”

“
No. She wouldn’t answer her phone
or see me, to let me explain.”

Larry nodded his head, and looked
in thought.

“
Ok. I think
that it’s best that you explain this to her,
if
she speaks to you
that is. I’m not going to allow you to see her if she doesn’t want
to. Regardless if this was in her interests, she still felt it
necessary to walk home. That’s not something I’m willing to forgive
right now.”

“
I understand.” I said, dropping my
head in shame for my treatment of Chase.

“
I won’t tell her you’ve been here.
It’ll only make her worse. Bye Logan.”

I walked back to my car with
Larry’s words stuck in my head.

“
It’ll only make her
worse.”

Worse? What was going on? What was
she like? What was she doing?

I had no idea, but all I knew is
that I wanted her back.

Chapter
10

Chase

It had been almost two weeks
without Logan, and I still hadn’t slept properly. I looked in the
mirror at my reflection, and hated the dark circles now visible
under my eyes that made me look like a ghost.

I hadn’t even left the house to
check on Bren, or visited the store for her. My Mom had taken over
for me.

I knew I had to suck it up and get
on with my life.

Yes, Logan and I had ‘broken up’
whatever that meant, and I was alone again. Just like I had been
before we’d met at the start of high school.

I was sick of feeling sorry for
myself and if I kept it up, I’d be the loser that I felt I
was.

“
Time to go out, Chase.” I said to
my reflection.

Ruffles, lying on my bed as usual,
meowed her agreement.

Tying my hair back, I got myself
dressed and headed over to Bren’s house. I saw Jo’s car outside,
and I almost turned back. I took a deep breath and continued on
over.

“
Hey, Bren. Hey Jo.” I said, as
happily as I could.

“
Chase! Oh it’s so good to see
you!” Bren smiled, and I saw her smile drop when she got a good
look at me. “Sweetheart, whatever’s the matter?” She asked,
concerned.

“
It’s nothing Bren. I’m just a
little tired, that’s all.” I smiled, but I knew she could see
through it. “I’ll just grab your testing kit.”

I walked into the kitchen and
retrieved the kit from the cupboard. I could hear Jo telling Bren
that she was all done for the day, and that she’d be back
tomorrow.

“
Bye, Chase. I’m sorry I have to go
so soon after you got here.” She said. “I have to pick up Cam from
school now.”

“
No worries, Jo. I can take over
from here.”

Jo left me and Bren alone, and I
could tell from Bren’s expression that I was about to be
grilled.

“
Ok, honey. Tell
me what’s
really
going on.” She said, shifting in her seat to make
herself comfortable. “I haven’t seen you for two weeks, and I’ve
been worried.”

“
It’s nothing, Bren.” I shook my
head as I prepared the kit to test her blood.

“
I may be old,
but I’m not blind Chase. Logan
still
isn’t here, you don’t look too
happy, and those circles under your eyes aren’t just from lack of
sleep.”

God
the
woman was sharp.

“
I don’t want to talk about it,
Bren.” I tried not to sound harsh, but in all honesty, I’d gotten
sick of my parents’ continuous questioning, and I was just as
reluctant to tell Bren. It still hurt too much to even think about
it.

“
I’m sure it’s not as bad as it
seems.” She said, patting my hand as I readied her other hand for
the lancing device, to prick her finger.

Drawing blood, I pressed her finger
to the strip of testing paper and placed it in the
machine.

“
Chase. It’s not good to keep
things bottled up, honey.”

I let my head drop back in
exacerbation, blowing out a breath. I was tired and crabby. Maybe
talking about it
would
help.

“
You can’t tell my parents.” I
looked her right in the eye, letting her know I was serious. If
they found out that Logan had left me to walk home from Lex’s
house, alone, my Dad would hit the roof. Not just at Logan, but at
me for not calling them to come get me.

“
My lips are sealed.” She
said.

I sat next to Bren, and told her
about the couple of days leading up to my walking out of Lex’s
house. She nodded her understanding at the parts where I’d thought
Logan’s behavior was erratic. Also, Carl’s comments about Logan
using me for studying.

I blurted everything out, and it
actually felt good. I’d never been able to talk to anybody about my
feelings this way, and I was glad to get it out. I even felt
relieved to get it off my chest.

“
So, Logan has been an idiot.” She
said, nodding her head. “I didn’t think that boy would do something
like that. It doesn’t make sense. I always thought he was so sweet
and looked after you.”

“
I know. Anyway, it’s done with
now, and I don’t want to talk about him anymore. I just want to
concentrate on moving on.”

“
Ok, sweetie.” She smiled, patting
my hand again.

I left Bren’s house, went quickly
home to change into my stretchy clothes, and had my dad drop me off
at the gym club. I needed to take my mind off of everything that
had happened and just work out my stress on the mats.

Ronnie had emailed me the
information on the USAG certs, and I’d signed up to take the exam.
It would be a couple of weeks before I took it, but I had enough
time to study.

More than enough.

After a half hour with the kids,
and an hour on my own, I showered and changed. My phone rang, and
my heart pounded.

I checked the caller ID and saw
that it was my Dad calling me. I felt relieved, even though I knew
it couldn’t be Logan. He’d had called me quite a few times since
we’d spoken last. I’d declined every call that he’d made, and
deleted the texts he sent. The last one was a couple of days ago.
He’d texted to ask me how I was, and that he missed me.

Yeah right. He missed me so much
that he forgot I was there time and time again.

I didn’t know whether he’d tried to
contact me since, because I blocked his number, but at least I was
safe from finding out.

“
Hi Dad.” I said, answering the
call.

“
Hey, honey. I’m outside now. Are
you ready?”

“
I am. Be out in a sec.”

I ended the call and grabbed my
stuff, leaving to meet my Dad out front.

He’d been a little quiet with me
the past couple of days. I knew it had something to do with Logan
and me, but what I didn’t understand was that he didn’t seem as mad
as he had after the initial fall out.

He’d asked me what had happened,
and even though I had said I didn’t want to talk about it, he was
angry with Logan for upsetting me.

During the car ride home, he asked
how gym practice had gone, which was fine, and then he shifted in
his seat, as if he were finding the words to ask, or tell, me
something.

“
Dad? What’s up?” I asked, with a
little roll of my eyes.

He blew out a breath.

“
I’m just trying to understand
what’s happened honey. I wish you’d talk to your Mom and me. We
love you and we want you to be happy.”

“
I will be, Dad. As soon as you buy
me a big ass strawberry sundae.” I smiled.

“
Anything, princess.” He said,
beaming at me.

Turning west onto
43
^rd
street, he took me
to my favorite ice-cream store. It was Logan’s too, and I’m pretty
sure my Dad knew that also.

“
You stay here. I’ll get you your
favorite.” My Dad said as he pulled up and opened his
door.

“
I’m not going anywhere.” I
smiled.

Not a chance was I stepping foot
into that place. It hurt too much remembering when Logan and I
would grab a takeout tub on the way home from school.

We’d go in and get our order, and
then swap halfway through. That’s what we did. Logan got chocolate,
and I strawberry. Just like in my room those weeks ago.

I snorted when I remembered his
threat that he would ‘take it’ from me, when I told him he wasn’t
getting a taste.

How stupid was I?

I’d actually gotten butterflies
thinking about him wrestling me for it.

A surge of emotion hit me and I
felt the tears prick my eyes. I swallowed them back. I’d cried
enough over the past couple of weeks. I wasn’t going to shed any
more tears over Logan Blackwood.

*****

After spending
some time with Bren, she’d not asked me about Logan anymore, and I
was grateful, I decided to at least attempt to get on with my
life.

Even if it meant I would be alone
for a while. When school started up again, in just over a week, I
was going to talk to other people and make other
friends.

After visiting with Bren, I got
changed and went out for a run. Pulling my baseball cap, not the
Tiger’s one, down to shield me from the sun, I also wore my
aviators. It was really hot out, but I still wore my baggy T-shirt
to run in.

I ran around the park, where it was
quiet, and then hit the river bank. There were only a few people
about, walking their dogs, and nobody paid any attention to me. It
wasn’t unusual to see people out running. Especially
girls.

Finishing off, I was in need of a
smoothie. To cool down from my workout, I slowed down, and then
walked to the coffee shop on the corner of 43
^rd
Street, where they sold mango and pineapple smoothies. They
were the best, and I hadn’t had one in a while.

I got served straight away, and
before I could leave I noticed Poppy sitting by herself. She didn’t
look happy at all.

“
Hi, Poppy.” I said, walking over
to her table.

“
Chase, hi!” She said, surprised to
see me there. “How are you?”

“
I’m good.” I lied. “How are
you?”

I could see the upset in her eyes,
and I had a sudden urge to help her. Maybe it was because she was
nice to me, or maybe because I was in need of a friend.

“
Oh, Chase. I don’t know what to
do. Carly has fractured her ankle. She was wearing heels, and she
fell down the steps at her front door when the heel snapped. She
can’t perform the cheer at homecoming. Sian is going crazy because
we have only three weeks left to practice for the game and now
we’re stuck.”

Ok
that
was a lot of information at
once.

I sat down next to her, placing my
cup on the table.

“
So, can’t the other girls just
alter the routine?” I asked.

I hadn’t done cheer before,
obviously, so I had no idea what they did when things like that
happened.

“
No. Carly’s our
tumbler
and
flyer. The other girls aren’t trained enough yet, and they
can only do so much. We
do
need to change the routine, but we’re worried
that we won’t make an impact because we relied on Carly to do the
stunts.”