“That was fun,” she says, her face inches from mine, water streaming down as she wipes the hair out of her eyes. I have a tiny urge to kiss her right then, but I remain the perfect gentleman.

We swim a few feet to get to a spot where we can touch the bottom.

“I knew you could do it,” I tell her.

“It was that pep talk you gave me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It worked. You guys will be champions for sure.”

“You gonna come to the games?” I ask as we walk ashore.

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Football isn’t really my thing.”

Why is a girl who plays hard to get so damn attractive?

“Do you play offense or defense?” she asks.

“Sometimes both. But primarily offense, catching passes.”

“Okay, how about this?” she says. “Promise to score a touchdown for me, and I’ll come.”

I turn to her and hold my hand out. “Deal.”

She shakes it. “To one game. And to keep you guessing, you won’t know which one I’m coming to. And I expect to see my touchdown in person. Because what fun is it otherwise?”

“Wait. So that means I have to score at every game?”

She smiles. “You said it, not me.”

35

Lauren

When one of Colby’s teammates pulls him into the water, leaving Stasia and me alone, she says, “I think he likes you.” “I think he’s just a nice guy.” “That too. There should be more like him.” She then goes on to tell me about her last boyfriend, who didn’t know how to keep his eyes from wandering. I tell her about this guy I went out with who didn’t know how to talk about anyone but himself. “You know it’s bad,” I tell her, “when he asks where you want to eat before the movie, and you suggest TacoTime’s drive-thru.” “To avoid face-to-face conversation?” “Exactly.” We both laugh. A friendship is born.

36

Colby

We’re almost to her house.

I’m trying to figure out how I let her know I’d love to see her again. Like, go out for real or whatever. Because this was basically just a ride.

Wasn’t it?

When I pull into the driveway, she turns to me and says, “Thanks. That was a lot of fun. Stasia said to give her a call and we’d get together, so I’m definitely going to do that. I’m so glad I got to meet some people before school starts.”

I nod. “Good. I’m glad.”

She waits, like she’s expecting me to say something else. God, I hate this. My palms are sweaty. My legs are shaking. And my heart is beating like a freaking galloping horse. Asking a girl out for the first time is worse than being down six points with only fifteen seconds on the clock.

Because here’s the thing every guy hates about this moment.

What if she says no?

37

Lauren

The feeling in my stomach as I jumped from that rope is nothing like the feeling in my stomach as I sit in his truck and wait to see if he’s going to ask me out. After a few awkward seconds, I can’t stand it anymore and say, “Guess I’ll see you around,” as I open my door. “You bet. Maybe I’ll see you at the Jiffy Mart.” As I walk toward the front door, it feels like someone has tied a rock to my heart and dropped it into that creek. Disappointment bubbles up to the surface and I realize I should have asked him to call me. I turn around, hoping to correct my mistake. But he’s already gone.

38

Colby

Did i really just say that? “Maybe I’ll see you at the Jiffy Mart”?

What the hell, Pynes? She was right there. Right there, waiting for you to say something, anything, about the fun afternoon or how you loved hanging out with her or maybe you could get together again sometime. And you failed. Miserably.

Third down with two yards to go, and you blew it.

Couldn’t get it over the line and had to punt it away.

I’m a disgrace. A disgrace to senior guys all across the country.

I think it was Benny’s fault. All of his talk about how I have to forget about girls and stay focused on football right now messed with me. I bet I internalized that, and even though I wanted to ask her out, I couldn’t because deep down somewhere, I feared he was right.

As I think about Benny, I realize I never saw him at the creek party. He said he’d be there. I went home last night after a couple of hours at Murphy’s Hill, as lots of people were arriving. I was dead tired and just wanted to go home to sleep, but Benny didn’t want to leave yet. He was wide-awake and having fun.

I pull out my phone as I walk in the front door.

“Hi, Colby,” Gram calls out. “Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”

“Okay. I’m gonna take a quick shower.” Maybe I can wash the embarrassment away.

First I dial Benny’s number. But it goes straight to voice mail.

If he’s out with some cute girl, I will be so pissed.

39

Lauren

I have three choices: 1. Wait to see if he cal s me. 2. Call him. 3. Move into the Jiffy Mart.

40

Colby

Gram knocks on the bathroom door just as I’m getting out of the shower. “Colby? You need to come out here. Hurry.”

My first thought is Grandpa. Something’s happened to Grandpa. I don’t even dry off; I just grab a towel, wrap it around my waist, and pull the door open.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

She motions me to the family room, where Grandpa is sitting, watching the news. I rush over to him. “Are you all right?”

He points to the television, and I turn to see a picture of Benny on the screen. His football picture from last year. My heart stops.