Once I finish telling him everything, Chris nods. “Okay then. I have one question.”
“What’s that?”
He smiles. “What are you going to do to get him back?”
Chapter Thirty-One
Jake
Friday, I’m too excited to focus. Coach stands on one side of me, Ms. Nichols on the other. Some of the kids at the rehab center are lining up on the football field, each one dressed in a football jersey or some kind of outfit. Gracie Ann is in a jersey and a tiara, self-proclaimed Queen of the Football Field. Coach rests a hand on my shoulder. “I’m real proud of you, son. This was a great idea.”
“Yes, the kids are so excited, Jake. You’ve been a blessing to this place. I know if Seth was with us, he’d be at the front of the line,” Ms. Nichols says. I give her a side hug. I wish Seth was here, too, and though he’s not, he’s here in spirit.
Coach turns to the starting lineup, who stand behind us. “Each of you are responsible for the kid assigned to you. Anything happens to him or her, I will skin your hide and tan you alive. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” everyone on the team calls back. Coach points to the kids, and the team moves to join them.
“Y’all ready?” I ask the kids, and they all cheer and yell in excitement. I pretend like I can’t hear them. “I said, are you ready?!” And they all yell and cheer even louder. Even Coach laughs. “Then let’s go!”
Everyone moves outside toward the float, and I stand at the door watching them. The kids are so excited. I really wish Seth was here, but his spirit is all around us. Plus, we added this picture of him to the float, and his brothers are part of this—they even get to sit on the sidelines with their mom at the game tonight. I think he’d be happy.
Howell appears beside me. Things have been weird between us since everything. “This was a cool idea to feature the rehab center.”
“Thanks. There’s more to Culler than football.”
Howell shakes his head. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“I know,” I say with a chuckle.
“You said you were in love with my sister. Did you mean that?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“I know I didn’t think so at first, but you’re good for each other,” Howell starts. “Since she’s been with you, I’ve seen her take charge of her life.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. “There’s no one I’d trust her with more than my best friend.”
“I’m still your best friend?”
“Yup, I’d say so,” he says. “Unless you break her heart, then I will kill you.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” I say.
Howell hugs me real quick, and we both laugh. “Let’s do this.”
“There’s one more thing,” I say, and I look past him toward Jamie. He’s rolling up toward Coach with Raymond behind him. Howell and I move toward my brother as Coach shakes Jamie’s hand.
“He finally left the house?” Howell asked.
I nod. It’s a relief to see him leave the house, and to know I was part of that. “Yeah, he did.”
“Hey bro,” Jamie says. “Where do you want me?”
I point up to the float. “I’ll get you there,” I say. We already have a ramp for a couple of the other kids, so I take over and move my brother up to sit near the large picture of Seth. The kids are paired up with football players, everyone is talking and laughing and the energy in the parade line is high.
“This is cool,” my brother says. “Maybe something good came from all this after all.”
I nod. I think so, too. Maybe more than one good thing.
The parade was more fun than it has ever been before. The town loved the kids, the kids loved the parade, and the football team united everything.
When we’re done, the parade ends at the center of town and everyone piles into the restaurants and the carnival that’s set up in the town square to eat. I’m standing with Jamie when I see Haley. Even after all these weeks, seeing her still makes my heart race. She looks my way, and our eyes lock across the street. The next thing I know, she’s walking toward me. Jamie notices because he says, “You breathing?”
“What?”
“Smile or something,” he says, and he pushes me forward. I look over my shoulder at him, and he waves me off. Subtle.
Haley stands in front of me and does that nervous thing she does when she pushes some hair behind her ear. I grin a little because I missed looking at her and all her little things she does.
“I had no idea you were planning that,” she says to me.
“Yeah, you haven’t been around much at the center.”
“I know, I miss it. It’s been busy with all this.”
“I get it,” I say.
“You’re amazing. That was a great idea. Seth would’ve loved it,” she says.
“Thanks,” I say. It’s quiet for a second, and all I want to do is touch her, but I hold back. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah,” she says. “Chris told me that you came by and what you told him about being worthy of me,” she starts. “You never had anything to prove.”
“Not to you, maybe, but to myself.”
“How’s that going?”
“I’m just getting started,” I say to her.
We’re both quiet for a minute; neither of us know what to say or do next. “I miss you,” I say to her, and it’s probably lame or whatever, but it’s true. It’s how I feel. “I miss everything about you. I think about you every day.”
“I miss you, too,” she says.
I take a step toward her because I’m so close that I want to be closer, but before I get to do anything, Mrs. Monroe calls her name and yells, “Emergency in the cotton candy tent!”
“I better go,” she says, and she runs off before I can even catch my breath.
“Tough break,” Jamie says, and I’d forgotten he was even there.
I exhale and move toward my brother. “We can do it later. I’ve got a game to win.”
The locker room is tense with excitement and focus before the game starts. Coach gave us this rousing speech about taking down our obstacles, and he looked at me a few times with pride. At least it felt like pride.
The crowd is roaring with life outside. This is the biggest game of the season, every Culler native back in town to celebrate. You can feel the energy in the air.
I look for her when we run through the banner. She’s not in the stands with her dad, but my dad is—and so is Jamie and a blond girl. They’re sitting in the front row with his chair, and he hasn’t been to a game all season, and it looks like he’s smiling. The Belles are off to the side of the field, Haley right there with them. They’ll announce Homecoming Court at halftime. She smiles at me, and that I do see. It’s bright as day in the cool autumn air. It’s all I need to keep focused.
We win the coin toss, so we’re starting with the ball. As soon as the clock starts, I tune everything else out and focus on the game.
Howell has the ball, and when I see that look on his face, I run.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Haley
My throat hurts from screaming. We’re up by one field goal going into halftime. This game has been one of the most intense games to date. Chris and Jake are killing it together, running plays without calls, and it’s like they’re on the same wavelength. The Belles are on the sidelines because it’s almost halftime and we will announce the Homecoming Court.
As the clock runs out, Abby grabs my arm. “You ready?”
“As I will ever be,” I say.
Mic in hand, Abby turns on her sugary sweet voice. “Hey y’all. We are here to announce this year’s Homecoming Court.” My heart is pounding, hands sweaty. “But before we do that, we have one thing to address. My girl, Haley, is going to take it away.”
I’m still watching the team make their slow walk to the locker room. They’re half paying attention to us, half exhausted.
“Yeah, hi. I’m Haley Howell. My brother is
the quarterback,” I say, and people cheer. I expected that. “And I’m stupid in love with his best friend. Y’all may know him as number 68, Jake Lexington.”
I see them both then. Jake and Chris stop to look at me. Chris shrugs when Jake looks at him, then back at me. He has no idea what’s coming. I’m hoping that what’s coming isn’t me throwing chunks up here.
“Jake taught me a really important lesson over these last few months. You can’t live your life afraid, or you’ll regret it. I did that, hid in the shadows, for most of my life, but Jake has pulled me out of them. He’s also shown me that sometimes second chances can make a person better, and once upon a time, back in middle school, I had a chance to do this and I blew it, but as I have learned, I need to try again. And for those reasons, this is for you,” I say.
The music starts, and Jake’s eyes are on me. Abby recruited the other cheerleaders for this task, and they all make a formation around us. After all these years, she even remembered most of the dance that we were supposed to do at the talent show. There is no better way to show him I’m in, that I am better for being with him, than taking a risk. This is one I didn’t follow through with in the middle school talent show because I didn’t want to do it alone, but this is easy now. One thing he’s taught me is taking risks isn’t about being unafraid, it’s about being fearless.
WWJD. He’d never let me go, not without telling me what he wanted. That’s exactly what I’m doing.
When the song from The Breakfast Club comes on, the cheerleaders back me up, and together we all dance and sing along. I can’t dance still, and I couldn’t then, but it’s actually fun. Especially when the crowd gets into it and starts singing along and stamping their feet in the stands. For a moment, I get how it must feel for Jake to play the game out here, all these people around him, sharing in one goal, like he said once.
We do our big finale, and the next thing I know, everyone is going crazy. When I turn, Jake is standing in front of me. I start to say something, but before I can get a word out, he kisses me.
The crowd cheers. I don’t even care about them, just him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Jake
Mrs. Monroe rushes us all off the field, and Coach tells me, “One minute, Lexington,” before taking the rest of the guys into the locker room. Haley and I stand under the entrance tunnel. She’s leaning against the wall, and I’m all sweaty, kissing her again quickly.
“That was incredible.”
“You seemed to remember how I didn’t do it, and I don’t want to not do things anymore. I want to be with you.”
“Haley,” I say her name to get her to focus. “Every day, I will keep being someone you deserve.” Someone in the crowd starts pulling at me, but I don’t care. “You’re the most important thing in my life—even more important to me than this game is.”
Her eyes widen. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. I didn’t think I had anything else, but you’ve shown me I’m wrong. I’m yours, I have been for longer than I knew.” I pause, and her eyes are tearing up. She’s so beautiful and incredible. “Did you mean it when you said you were in love with me?”
“Yes,” she says. “I am in love with you.”
It’s the most amazing thing I have ever heard, so I pull her into me and I kiss her. We stay that way for a few seconds, and when we pull away I smile.
“Good, because I’m very in love with you.”
Haley smiles and kisses me again.
“You better win after all this,” she says.
“I’m already winning,” I say.
“Go,” she says.
But I nod, steal another kiss, and rush back into the locker room.
Once I enter, the team cheers for me, and I tell them all to shut up.
“Focus,” Coach says. “This isn’t over yet.”
Howell slaps me on the back, and I take a long drink of water while Coach carries on with the plan to win the game. This is the best day I’ve had in a long time.
We’re headed back on the field when Coach stops Griggs and me.
“Griggs,” Coach says. “You’re out for the rest of the game, and then you and I are gonna have a talk.”
Griggs starts to argue. “Why? What did I do?”
I look between them, and Coach shakes his head. “An anonymous source told me you were responsible for spreading around some pictures. I think you and Lexington and I need to have a talk about that.”
“You sent those pictures of me and Haley?”
Griggs looks down. Normally, I’d argue with him, maybe even do something stupid like throw a punch, but this time, I don’t care. I’m not angry. I needed someone to push us to tell the truth. I pat Griggs on the back instead. He pushes me off. I nod toward Coach, who even seems surprised by my response.
“We’ve got this,” I say and rush back to the field and the roaring crowd.
On the field, the team gets back into formation, and the timer starts. I look toward Haley on the sidelines, and her eyes are on me. I guess they always have been. And luckily for me, I have somewhere to look now, too.
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful that I get to share more stories from characters that I love. Culler is especially sweet to me, and many thanks go to my editor, Stacy Abrams, for championing these books for me and wanting to go on more adventures in my fictional town. You always help make them better stories, and I love getting to work with you. Thank you to Liz Pelletier, and everyone at Entangled, for being so excited about the stories and working to make them seen and read. I love being part of the EP family!
Thank you to my agent, Nicole Resciniti, for always supporting my dreams, pushing me to be better, and being patient while I work to get there. I can’t imagine doing this without you.
To Traci Inzitari, for always being my first and last reader, my brainstorming partner and my cheerleader. You’ve loved this story since before it existed. Jake and Haley’s story wouldn’t be nearly as powerful without you.
There are so many friends, fellow writers, and general book people I have the pleasure of talking to about my books, publishing, writing, and life. Each of you help make this book (and every book I write) possible. I can’t begin to thank all of you here, but hopefully you know who you are. :)
Many thanks and hugs go out to the readers! I get to do this because of your kind words, questions, reviews, and enthusiasm. I hope to continue crafting books that you love and rally behind. You mean everything to me!
And lastly, thank you to Juice. There isn’t enough gratitude I can express to you for constantly pushing me to write, encouraging me not to give up, brainstorming with me at all hours of the night, and being the first person to pick me up when I’m down. Not just in this, but in everything. This one is for you.
About the Author
Danielle Ellison is a nomad, always on the lookout for an adventure and the next story. In addition to writing, she’s the founder and coordinator of the NoVa TEEN Book Festival. When she’s not busy with books, she’s probably watching her favorite shows, drinking coffee, or fighting her nomadic urges. She is settled in Oklahoma (for now) with her boyfriend, two cats, and three jobs, but you can always find her on Twitter @DanielleEWrites.
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