Page 42 of Catch
Grayson laughed. “My agent wants to do something with them, so maybe I’ll actually start paying attention.”
“Okay, enough of that.” Parker walked in with the pie.
“I never understood why it’s called pie when clearly it’s a cake,” Hayley said. The knee bump under the table let me know that she was aware that Parker made my favorite dessert, too.
“It looks delicious,” I said and gave her a soft smile. Even if it was horrible, I was going to eat every last bite. It tasted as yummy as it looked and as much as I wanted more, I refrained.
We spent the rest of the night laughing and having a good time. I tried to put the conversation with Parker to the back of my mind, but I kept catching her looking at me. She wasn’t looking at me like a friend. Thankfully, Hayley and Grayson were strong reminders of why Parker was off-limits. So I just focused on good company and good conversation. As much as I’d dreaded the evening, it turned out to be fun.
“Thank you again for letting me crash your party. It was good to see you again.” Hayley pulled Parker into a hug and accepted one from Grayson.
I hugged both, too. I knew Parker needed friends and if I could get through this night, then having a friendship with her was doable. Hayley and I were silent until I pulled out of the driveway.
“Holy fuckballs! She’s so into you still!” Hayley squeezed my leg. “I mean, I was waiting for the room to explode. So much chemistry.”
“Fuck. I can’t have that, sis. She’s married to my quarterback. I’m technically his boss. Please tell me you’re just reading into it.”
Hayley turned to me, this time squeezing my arm. “Are you kidding me? The tension was there when we walked in the house. At first I thought he was oblivious, but did you see that look they shared when I said you and Lexi broke up?”
I clenched the steering wheel, refusing to let my mind wander. “He knows we have a past. I’m sure that’s all it is. We even talked about it before he took the job. I told him there wasn’t a problem with us working together.” I paused, thinking back to Parker searching my face for answers in the soft moment we shared in the kitchen.Her guard was down for a minute. Mine was down for fifty-five seconds. I looked at Hayley. “She’s off limits.”
Hayley sighed and flopped back in the seat. “I know. And all this sucks for you. It can’t be easy.”
“It’s weird really. At first, I was avoiding her at all costs. I locked away the feelings I had for her. I never let go and seeing her again just brought everything to the surface. That’s why I’m suffering now.”
Hayley’s soft voice punctured the momentary fairy tale. “She’s suffering, too. Maybe if we stay up all night and talk things through, you’ll feel better about your situation. That always worked when we were young.”
I took her hand. “Thank you for being the best friend in the whole world.”
“Ride or die, sister.”
I nodded. “Ride or die.”
Chapter Seventeen—The Snap
Past
Even though I was the assistant principal’s daughter, I still had to fill out all the forms for the gay club I wanted to start at Oak Grove. I was stuck on the line for faculty advisor.
“What about Mr. Everett? He’s pretty cool and he knows you’re gay,” Haley asked.
“He’s old,” I said.
“So what? Old people can’t support gay and lesbian students? My grandmother loves you.”
“I’m pretty sure choir and band take up his schedule. He doesn’t have time to add another club to his schedule. Do you think your grandmother can get a job up here? Then we can just sign her up.” I was nervous to ask anyone.
“What about your dad?”
I shook my head. “Against school policy. I already asked.”
“Let’s just ask Mr. Everett. The worst he can say is ‘no’ and then we’ll ask someone else. Oh. We can also ask Ms. Hill, the librarian.” She nudged me down the hallway to the choir room.
“I don’t think the library is the best place for us. We won’t be able to be quiet.” I didn’t mention that the library was in the middle of campus. If we met there, anyone could see who was in the club and hassle us. I wasn’t as worried for myself because I had the football team behind me, but I didn’t want to put anyone else in a bad position.
“Then we should try to get the choir room. It’s carpeted and virtually soundproof,” Hayley said.
“Does getting the choir room have anything to do with Zay being in the choir? You’re not going to do some weirdo ‘oh, my God, he stood right here in this spot’ or ‘his fingers were all over this piano.’” I made my voice high to emphasize I was pretending to be her. Truthfully, her voice was deep and raspy for a girl. I smiled when the red splotches appeared on her cheeks. It was fun to tease her because I rarely got the chance.
