Second Down (Moving the Chains Book 2) (10 page)

***

Limping out of the locker room several hours later, I’m met with the sight of Evie leaning against the wall in the lobby.

She gives me a tired smile before pushing off and walking toward Mike and I. “Hey, you guys going to the diner?”

“Yep. Gotta go meet Chelsie, then I’ll see you two there.” Mike shoots me a look, letting me know he’s not asking.

As soon as he’s out of earshot, I answer. “I was actually just gonna head home. You need a ride or anything?”

“Yeah. To the diner.” She stands directly in front of me, arms crossed over her chest, head tilted to the side. She kind of reminds me of her YiaYia, and it’s funny, but also a little creepy.

“Evie, honestly? I don’t know if I can ever step foot in that diner again.” Running my hands through my still-damp hair, I know for a fact that the only thing I’m gonna see in there is his beady eyes. I just don’t think I can handle that now or maybe ever.

“Yeah, I know. But I’ll be a waitress there again as of Tuesday, and it’s one of your favorite places to hang out. Are you seriously not gonna spend hours in one of my booths and kill my tips for the whole shift ever again?”

I can’t imagine sitting in my favorite booth, drooling over Evie’s every move. Closing my eyes is safer than looking at her even now. A small hand rests on my chest. She doesn’t flinch at the contact, but I do. My eyes snap open to find her smirking at me as if to say, “How do you like it?”

“Come on, Rob. We’ll go in together. I don’t want him to win. I don’t want him to constantly be beating us down even after he’s long gone. Just...do what you did tonight, right? You turned that game around and nailed it. This is the same thing.”

This girl is easily a foot smaller than me, probably a hundred pounds lighter, but I swear to God. The strongest person I have ever met. She’s pushing so hard and so fast to get past it. I know it’s only because she doesn’t actually remember what happened. But they had to have told her the play by play, and she has to have seen what he did to her and know it was real.

Is what she’s doing even healthy or normal? Shit, now I sound like a head doctor. What is it Cathy’s always telling me anyway? “Everyone heals in their own time, and in their own way. There’s no wrong way to be a survivor.”

“Please, Rob?” she pleads. “I don’t want to go in there the first time alone.”

As if I can say no to that.

The car ride is completely silent, which is fine by me. I need to mentally prepare myself.

I don’t know if I can do this.

By the time we’re standing on the sidewalk in front of the diner, Evie doesn’t look a whole lot more confident than I do
.
“You ready?”

“Nope.”

“Let’s just do it fast. Like ripping off a bandage. We’re gonna go in there, eat a shit-ton of greasy food, not do any Calc, and we’re gonna forget all about that loser who’s never gonna come within a hundred yards of us ever again, okay?”

“You know we’re eventually gonna have to do Calc again though, right?” If her offer of meeting in the library to help each other catch up still stands.

After a beat of dead silence, she laughs. Laughs so hard and so long that I can’t help but join in. People watch us like we might snap at any moment. Which is fair. We might.

She grabs my hand, we lock eyes, take a deep breath, step inside, and...nothing happens. So far, so good, but we’re only in the lobby. Deciding it’s my turn to be the strong one, I lead her in to find wherever our friends are already seated.

Then the strangest thing happens.

Everyone in the diner goes silent. The sound is deafening and raises my anxiety further. The applause that follows nearly topples the last of my strength.

Evie freezes behind me. All this attention probably makes her feel worse than what any visions of Jackson will do to me. Honestly, I’m not sure why they’re doing it. Does anyone even know who Jackson was? That he was a regular customer of hers here?

My first instinct is to turn right around and walk the fuck out, but that’ll only draw more attention to us. I tuck Evie into my side to shield her from all the stares as we make our way over to the table where our friends have saved us seats.

“Okay, Rob. You were right. I can’t do this, either. Let’s just go.”

“No way. You said we were doing this, now we’re going all the way.”

She laughs her not quite real one, and buries her face into my chest as I guide us through the aisles. “That was probably the worst possible way you could have phrased that.”

Why, yes. Yes, it was. Good for me. Guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed. Me and my stupid fucking mouth. “Well, you know, since you have the best tits and ass in the whole school, and all...”  

The words taste like the sourest bile on my tongue. I’m not nearly as good of an actor as Evie.

My pathetic effort pays off because she pinches my side just like she would have...before. The feel of her small body against mine has me gasping for air. Anxious for a little breathing room, I pull out a chair for her. She takes a seat next to Jess, and I take the end chair to keep her boxed in and from feeling the extra eyes that are still mostly trained on us.

“I ordered your usual cheese fries already, Evie.” Jess wraps her arm around Evie’s shoulders.

I don’t miss the flinch that it causes, but Jess ignores it. Evie’s reaction makes me somewhat relieved that it’s not just me that causes that in her. Which makes me a total ass.

The waitress comes by to take my order, but I’m not really in the mood to eat. “I’ll just have a water, thanks.”

I don’t miss the looks of disappointment on several faces around the table, but they’re easy enough to ignore.

What isn’t ignorable is the way Evie pushes her large plate of cheese fries between us. Is she actually implying she wants to share her food with me? Evie hates how I eat.

“So, how’s everyone planning on doing this scavenger hunt thingy?” She jumps right in, and the show goes on.

It’s clear the girls are ready to huddle over this new play while the guys are pretty much along for the ride. Who knew a bunch of chicks would be more competitive than us over this whole thing?

“Why are we doing this in addition to the senior games this year?” Jess questions.

Rachel sits across from Evie, Alex’s arm draped over the back of her chair. “We were trying to think of ways to shake up Homecoming and get the entire student body more involved because it feels like it’s more important to seniors. Everyone else just watches from the sidelines, you know?”

Everyone around the table nods their heads and mutters their agreements, so Rachel continues, “We thought this might be a way for the Homecoming Court to not just have all the glory, but to also pull the underclassmen in and make them feel like they’re participating.”

Further down the table, Jeremy sputters on a mouthful of his drink. “What do you mean, participating? How are the underclassmen participating in this scavenger hunt that was only handed out to members of the Court?”

“Some of the items are going to be voted on. So, like, the karaoke? Everyone gets to vote on their favorite submission. They can also make suggestions for new challenges, but those have to be approved by the sponsors. Instead of just voting on their favorite couple to get on court, it’s going to be kind of like a reality show to interest the students a bit more and get them to know the seniors instead of just watching us and wondering who we are, and what we’re about.”

I really wish that Rachel had not used the word couple in that explanation, because out of the corner of my eye I see Evie’s face turn a deep shade of red. She sucks in a deep breath, straightens her shoulders ever so slightly, and jumps back into the conversation as if nothing is wrong. “That’s a really nice idea, Rachel. I hope it does get the underclassmen more involved. How did you come up with all the items on the list?”

“Oh, the entire squad got to submit items; then they had to be approved by the Homecoming sponsors. It was fun trying to think up enough things to make a full list, and still keep it doable within a week’s time.”

“Explain to me how you got the overnight camping past the sponsors. My parents are never gonna let me camp overnight in a tent with Ash, even if it’s in my own backyard.” Jess is completely serious.

Evie quickly turns her head toward me, trying to choke back obvious laughter.

All I can do is stare down at her dumbfounded. Whatever her relationship with Jess is, I don’t quite understand the shoe bets and laughter over strict parents. Evie must sense my confusion because she just silently mouths that she’ll tell me later. Which feels weirdly familiar, comforting, and all too...normal.

“Oh,” Rach rolls her eyes. “Dara snuck that one in. I don’t know how the sponsors let that slide to be honest with you.”  

As if on cue, everyone at our table scans the large room until we spy Dara and Christian, practically mauling each other in the middle of the diner. Typical. There’s always one PDA couple in every class, and they’ve been ours since sophomore year.

It’s amazing how that sight never used to bother me. Now? I gag.

It doesn’t seem to faze Evie though. “Well, I’ve already narrowed down who I think won’t complete certain challenges, and this competition just isn’t going to be one.”  

Ooh. My girl getting down and dirty with the smack talk. So unfair.

“Oh, really, Evie-Stevie? You think you got what it takes to win this thing?” Mike snorts from the other end of the table.

Everyone erupts in laughter at his nickname for her, which I’ve definitely never heard before.

She fires right back at him. “Better bring your A-game, Mikey-Wikey, ‘cause we’re in it to win it.”

Jeremy catches his breath and aims a shaky finger at Mike. “Oh my God. I’m calling you that forever now.”

Mike doesn’t even bat an eye, always calm, cool, and collected. “No. Evie can. You cannot.”

The daggers that Chelsie sends in Evie’s direction are so obvious that I have to wonder how no one else at the table seems to notice it. They’re all still happily chatting away and eating like there’s no animosity between anyone sitting here. Before I can think about what I’m doing, I drape my arm over the back of Evie’s chair and glare right back at Chels. That changes her tune pretty quickly.

Alex smacks his hands together, the evil gleam in his eyes worrying me. He’s about to say something stupid. I can smell it. “I think this calls for a friendly wager.”

Jeremy and Mike jump in right away, and suddenly all the guys at the table are as invested in this thing as the girls. With the exception of me.

“Terms,” Jeremy says, all business.

“No,” Mike interjects, putting his hand up to halt Alex’s spiel. “First, participants. Are we grouping our table against the rest of them, or are we opening up this bet to the entire Court?"

“We vote on it.” I expected Evie to be getting uncomfortable with this situation, but she’s all in. “Those in favor of opening it up to all of Court, raise your hands.”  

As everyone makes their decision, Evie keeps the ball rolling. “Okay, majority rules. We open it to all of Court. Now, terms. Are we splitting up into larger teams or is it every couple for themselves? Raise your hands for teams.”

Again, the tally is counted up, and she keeps going. She’s got this scary glint in her eye that I’ve never seen before. “Okay, every couple on their own.”

I can already tell from some of the sideways glances around the table that this is about to get out of hand. There will be sabotaging, silent partnering, backstabbing, and yeah, this is going to get Survivor-like, real quick.

“Buy-in or not? Are we betting money or something else? And if a couple refuses the buy in or terms, are they out of the competition? Will there be a winner takes all end to this, or do we want places?”

Conversation erupts around the table, everyone arguing their points. Evie produces a small notebook from her purse, jotting down whatever is agreed upon until she’s left with the hard and fast rules of the bet, which she reads aloud for everyone to agree to. She offers to type it up, print out copies for each couple, and be in charge of collecting the buy-ins by Monday afternoon.

I’m starting to think our high school has a serious gambling problem.

The entire time I watch her. I haven’t seen her this animated or excited over something in nearly a year. Even then, I wasn’t a direct participant. I only watched her from afar. She’s never seemed more like the old Evie, but instead of exciting me, her behavior starts a deep ache in the pit of my stomach as if I can already see the collapse that will bring her lower than she was after what happened with Eddie.

“Girl, you have got to stop being badass Miss President over there because seriously? It is all kinds of hot and turning me on.” Alex snaps me out of my haze pretty fucking quickly, and I kick him right in the shin under the table.

He doesn’t even blink, just grins at me.

Alyssa chirps from Jeremy’s side, “I thought you were the student government president, Rob? You’ve totally just been replaced by a better looking model from honor society.”  

She winks to show me she’s joking, but hey, I completely agree with that assessment.