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A huge part of me just wanted to make the deal and be done with it, but I enjoyed looking at the houses.
One extra day of looking wouldn’t do much harm.
Seeing these houses with Katie wasn’t horrible.
I compromised. “Only if we can look at them tomorrow. I don’t want to wait too long to make a decision, and I absolutely do not want someone to sweep in and buy that house.”
“Then we will meet again tomorrow. Same time work for your schedule?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I told her as I mentally went through my list of to-dos. Every spare moment of mine would be spent on the gala, with venue tours starting this afternoon and taking place every afternoon for the next couple of days.
Mid-day traffic slowed us down as we approached the town center.
“What are your next steps for the gala?” Katie asked, circling back to our earlier conversation.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, suddenly uncomfortable again. My body on high alert. Then I remembered that Katie hadn’t actually done anything wrong. So I tried loosening up a bit.
“I’m going to start looking at venues, so I can nail one down right away. It makes me uncomfortable enough that we don’t have one booked already. Venues are always the first thing to secure when planning an event of this size.” It physically pained me that the original organizers started promoting an event without a venue. But there was nothing to do about it now but fix it so that I could get to the rest of the planning process.
“Are you venue hunting alone?”
I made a noise of agreement. “That’s the plan.” We crept along, just a few blessed blocks from my car. The last thing I wanted Katie to do was start asking questions about Jack. I didn’t know for sure if that’s where her line of questioning was headed, but I had a sneaking suspicion.
I tolerated Katie, but I didn’t need to be friends with her. As far as I was concerned, she was here to get me a home and then we’d be done with each other.
Besides, her hyper-polished look made me feel less than. Despite my accomplishments, I didn’t want to put myself in a situation that made me feel like this—like I was one word away from feeling like the insecure high school student again.
“Don’t you want Jack there as your co-organizer?” Katie prodded further.
With a sharp shake of my head, I said, “I’ve done plenty of events without Jack. I think I can manage this one.”
“You don’t want to spend time with Jack, is what you are saying.”
We turned down the street in front of Coffee Creek. “Oh, there’s my car, you can just let me out here.” I unbuckled my seat belt and prayed Katie would stop the car. She did, and I got out of there as quickly as I could.
“See you tomorrow.” I waved before dashing to my vehicle, not wanting her to roll down the window to continue the conversation.
Chapter 13
Whitney – Grad Night
A seaof black caps filled the air for a few moments before fluttering back to Earth. I finally graduated from high school and only had two more months in Haver’s Creek before leaving for UCLA. I hated to think about not seeing Jack every day, since he accepted Ohio State’s scholarship offer to play football. But still, we worked out a solid plan to visit each other regularly, just like a real couple might do when they are trying to stay together long distance.
Of course, we weren’t a couple, just best friends, but I hoped all that would change. I planned to tell him at the grad party he was dragging me to that I loved him as more than just a friend. With all this change in the air, it felt like now or never. I just needed to not let my nerves get the best of me.
“Ready to get out of here?” Jack whispered in my ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down my spine. We spent the whole ceremony standing next to each other, even though we were supposed to be in alphabetical order. Jack just slipped into his correct spot right before the principal called his name to hand him his diploma.
“I’m ready,” I told him, holding onto the slippery black gown that covered his arm. He navigated us expertly through the throngs of students who attempted to find their own caps, many of which had been personalized. I hadn’t bothered.
The plan was to eat at Barb’s then head to Ian Masterson’s grad night party. As one of Haver’s Creek’s most popular jocks, second only to Jack, and the person with one of the largest homes in town, Ian’s house hosted many high school parties throughout the years. I’d successfully avoided most of them. But this one was unavoidable. Jack talked me into it, and I wouldn’t let him down. I knew he wanted to not only hang out with me, but some of his football friends as well. I couldn’t fault him for that. Even if I did want to roll my eyes at the whole bro culture.
Jack wasn’t like most other guys. That’s why I liked him so much.
I’d tried pin-pointing the exact moment when I realized I went from loving Jack as a friend to being in love with him. I think it sort of snuck up on me. But the first time I realized it consciously was when he dated Ashley from the cheer squad. They’d only gone out a handful of times, but she’d actively told him to stop seeing me. And when he refused, she cornered me one day in the women’s bathroom and told me herself.
I fought back with my words.
“You really think that Jack is going to keep you around much longer?” I asked her, completely incredulous. “You’d have to be certifiable not to know that he’s too good for you. He’s smart, kind, and genuine. Everything you are clearly not. Excuse me for not worrying about your empty threats. You aren’t going to be around long enough for me to even bother with you.” I pushed past her, bumping hard into her shoulder, then hightailed it the hell away from the bathroom.
