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I giggled, like it was the sweetest thing he’d ever said to me. And kissing his fingers, he blew it to me. And once he’d rung off, I caught that imaginary kiss and clutched it to my heart, engulfed in a bubble of happiness.
But only for a second, because I hadn’t considered what Sawyer’s reaction might be when he found out about Cullen and me. Would my brother make a big deal about it, or not care one bit?
––––––––
Imade sure I got tothe cafeteria before the football team, having gotten a ride to school with Dad. I told him I had an early meeting for one of my classes and I didn’t even have to stipulate what class—he was taking early morning work calls already.
I had it in my mind that I’d have a healthy breakfast, something like granola and fresh fruit but as I perused the selections of cereals and breads, I weakened at the sight and smell of the cinnamon rolls and grabbed one. Not exactly nutritious, but it sure beat my usual breakfast of cereal and milk. As I poured myself a cup of hot chocolate, I perused the room. There was one full table over by the windows, probably a club meeting of some sort, but my eyes lit up when I saw Millie. Tennessee would probably sit with her, which meant Cullen might too.
“Hi Sierra,” she said, not hiding her surprise at seeing me. “You’re early.”
“Oh yeah, I have some stuff to do,” I said vaguely, not waiting for an invitation to sit down. “You know, it’s going to be a busy week.”
“Don’t I know it,” she said with a sigh, pulling out a notepad from the crossbody pouch she always wore.
“If you need any help, let me know,” I said in a rush, seeing an opportunity to spend some time with Cullen. “I could help with the interviews for Captain’s Chat.”
Millie flicked a few pages. “I was just planning my list for that. Today I’m interviewing Flynn, and tomorrow Skyler.”
“Well, if you need me to help, it’s no problem. I can stay and help.”
Millie’s expression wavered from bemused to amused by my excessive offering of help. “Thanks. Phoenix and I should be fine, but it’d be good to have an extra hand,” she said kindly.
With a satisfied smile, I bit into my cinnamon roll just as the stampede of football players burst into the room, most of them storming to the food counters, but my heart raced as Cullen headed toward our table.
“Hey Millie, who’s interviewing with me today?” he asked, though his gaze averted to me with a barely there wink. “Hey, hi Sierra.”
“Hi,” I replied as Millie said, “Flynn.”
“Cool, hey is it okay if we talk about a few things?” Cullen said to her. “Save me a seat. I’ll just get some food.”
And that was Day One of how I sat next to Cullen at breakfast, occurring naturally but with Millie unwittingly helping.
On the second day I got myself added to the Cleanup Crew, a group who volunteered to check that the school grounds were in pristine order. With so many visitors coming in this week, we were doing an early morning walk to check for trash. It wasn’t the most glamorous of jobs, but going for breakfast afterward had been my main motivation. And I’d managed to coerce Kenzie into joining me. I didn’t get to sit by Cullen, but we’d had a discussion about vitamins over the fruit bar.
On the day before the final most of the Cleanup Crew kids made an early departure from the breakfast table, leaving me sitting alone with a freshman who was scrolling on his phone. I stirred my yogurt and fresh fruit salad—banana, grapes and berries which, according to Cullen, would provide me with all my A, B and C vitamins for the day. About to eat a spoonful, my hand jolted as a hand tapped my back and the low voice of Red Phillips breathed into my ear, “Hey, Sierrrrra.”
Leaning my head away, I cringed as he deftly lay a tray on the table, asking, “Mind if I sit here?”
He’d already pulled out the chair and sat down.
“Wow!” Red said, digging into his cooked breakfast of hash browns, toast, bacon, sausage and eggs.
I allowed him a few moments to chew his food before saying, “What’s wow?”
“Wow. What a week! It’s all happening, isn’t it?” Red gushed, his enthusiasm brimming right to the strand of bacon that hung from his mouth.
I concentrated on my own plate, scooping berries onto my spoon. If I ate, I couldn’t talk. Though that wasn’t stopping Red.
“I benched two hundred,” Red said proudly, loud enough for the kids at the next table to hear.
I smiled and nodded. Two hundred pounds was a lot of weight. Red went on to tell me all about his gym session, going off on a tangent about Mr. Harmon, our English teacher, before diverting back to football and telling me that I absolutely had to travel on the bus to the game and that he’d save me a seat. I nodded with a tight smile, not seeing much sense in protesting. His adrenaline was pumping and I didn’t want to curb his excitement.
With my plate near empty, I saw Cullen, Sawyer, Tennessee and Skyler entering the cafeteria. They must have been delayed. I jumped up, excusing myself by telling Red I had to dash to the library.
“Okay, see you at training,” he said, holding up his closed hand for a fist bump.
I obliged, saying, “Yeah, and stay hydrated,” gesturing to both his smoothie and glass of juice. The boy was like a bottomless pit.
