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Everyone was invited. Hundreds of people must’ve arrived. Probably the entire graduating class, plus a bunch of adults. Freddie is with his parents in the gazebo, talking to guests and showing people all the medals and awards he’s accumulated over the years in soccer. I’ve shown up under the guise of congratulating him on his scholarship and wishing him well. Secretly, I hope to catch one last glimpse of Babs before I take off for college in a couple of weeks.
I find her sitting on a giant tree that has thick branches jutting out in all directions, low enough that a person can sit on a branch, watching the park.
Babs has her hair pulled into a ponytail. She's wearing jeans the same color as her blue eyes, and short cropped shirt that flashes a sliver of her stomach every time she moves.
She looks down at mefrom her branch when I approach her.
“Hey,” I say. So freaking brilliant.
“Hey,” she says back.
“Mind if I sit with you?”
Babs straightens, her brows shooting up to her bangs. “Um, sure. I guess.”
I scale the tree and slide along the branch until we were sitting side by side, our shoulders practically touching.
We sit in silence for a few seconds and I stare out over the park at her brother’s party while my brain screams at me to say something to her.
“Did you come for Freddie’s party?” she asks.
“Yeah.” Wow. Chock full of brilliant words, aren’t you? Idiot.
“I hear you’re going to WSU for football.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah.” Oh. My. Word. Don’t you know any other words?!? This is your last chance to say something to her before you leave. Get her number. Ask her to write. Do something!!
I rub my sweaty palms down the front of my jeans and clear my throat. “So…uh…”
Her eyes meet mine.
She waits expectantly.
My brain completely fails me. Nothing. Nadda. Not a single word comes to my brain. I’m a deer caught in headlights. Can this get any more mortifying?
“Hey! What’re you guys doing up there?” Freddie calls from below us.
I jerk my head to look at him. He looks pissed, but not at me. At Babs.
Oh crap. Did I just get her in trouble somehow?
“Hey!” I wave down to Freddie. “I was just asking Carrie where you were.”
Freddie’s brows furrow. “You had to climb the tree to ask her?”
I jump from the branch and land next to him. “I’d never seen the park from up there. Wanted to see what it looks like. Do you have a drink? It’s hotter than I was expecting. I’m thirsty.”
I walk away with Freddie and don’t look back at Babs. I’m afraid of what I’ll see. Is she laughing at me? Rolling her eyes? Does she think I’m a total freak?
It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving for college, and I don’t have to stick around and relive my total humiliation the next time I see her.
There will be no next time.
Chapter 33
