AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After the concert I raced to find Sawyer. Typically, I kept out of Sawyer’s way during the school day. He’d made it pretty clear since day one of freshman year that I wasn’t to interact with him at all. I didn’t take it personally; no one wanted a younger sibling cramping their style. Three years later, it was no different, and besides, seniors generally didn’t hang out with juniors. Football practice was the only time he did acknowledge me, and even then it was minimal level contact. Which was quite strange if you wanted to analyze it deeply, because at home we got along fine. Or as fine as a brother and sister did.
But, in my mind this was an emergency, and I had to make sure Sawyer and Cullen would be prepared for an interview after the game. So that Coach couldn’t make Cullen train extra.
Assuming Sawyer would be making his way to his locker, I headed that way. I came to a stop when I saw him walking with Amanda, one of the baton twirlers. The worst thing I could do would be to interrupt him when he was talking to a girl. Sawyer wasn’t dating Amanda—yet. He’d taken her to the Homecoming Dance, but as per Coach’s guidelines that serious dating was delayed until after the season ended, Sawyer was grudgingly adhering to the rules.
But this was an emergency, I reminded myself, boldly striding up to my brother. I smiled sweetly at Amanda and said pleasantly, “Hi. Your baton team was great! Sorry, can I steal Sawyer for a second? Something urgent.”
Sawyer was already locked in a scowl, but thankfully Amanda was gracious. She nodded, somewhat bewildered. I tugged Sawyer’s arm, pulling him aside.
“What do you want?” he hissed.
“Amanda’s watching,” I said through unmoving lips. “You don’t want her knowing how grumpy you can be.”
Sawyer’s face transformed into a fake cheesy smile—for half a second. “What do you want?” he repeated, his tone snappier than before.
“I need a favor,” I said. “Millie’s helping me with the water at training, so can you and Cullen stay around for an interview afterward? Please.”
Sawyer blinked in bafflement. “What? Yeah, I guess.”
“It’s important,” I said, my words clipped and enunciated. “You need to stay with Cully for the interview. Okay?”
Sawyer’s shoulders shrugged. “Yeah, but why’s that so urgent?”
“Please, can you just do it? Wait with Cully.”
Maybe it was because my whisper wavered, my voice on the verge of cracking that made my brother soften, his intuition picking up my unease.
“Sure, fine,” he said giving me an unexpected fist bump before he made his way back to Amanda.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I went in search of Emma. For now, I’d done what I could do, but I just hoped it would be enough.
Chapter 8
Cullen
The hype was constant, the school spirit at a rising crescendo with lunch time concerts and flags and posters everywhere. My heart dropped every time I thought about Saturday’s semifinal. The elation and joy I usually got from football was being replaced with a pressure that was building by the minute.
