Sweet Sixteen by Brenda Rothert

Author:Brenda Rothert [Rothert, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silver Sky Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2018-07-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Gin

When I walk into play practice after school Monday, I give Chase’s green “grass” a scowl. I saw him at lunch earlier and should have scowled then, but he acted like he didn’t even know me.

I know there’s nothing between us, but I’d gotten used to his nightly texts. When we passed in the hallway, he’d started give me a look that felt loaded with secret meaning.

But then he ignored me all weekend. Not one text. It’s stupid for me to be acting like a scorned girlfriend—I knew when I saw him give Sophie a rose Friday morning that Chase was never really into me.

Would I have really wanted him to text me in the middle of the night Friday, drunk, after having sex with Sophie?

No. I’m constantly fighting the knowledge that the fantasy Chase I’ve had a crush on since hitting puberty doesn’t really exist. He’s slept with so many girls that he for sure qualifies as a man whore.

I’m uptight; he’s outgoing. I have two friends, and he has two hundred. I’m an artist, and he’s an athlete. I hate Roper High School and everything it stands for, and he’s pretty much the poster boy for it.

I tell my painting crew to come up with a plan for a streetlamp and get started on it, then I put in my earbuds and get lost in the wall of lockers I’m painting on a sheet of plywood.

It’s nice that this project requires no creativity. Once I’ve gotten the style down for one locker, I just repeat it and work my way down the line. It lets me stay lost in the thoughts in my head.

I’ll never be like Chase. I may not be an experienced sex goddess, but when I do have sex, it’ll mean something. People treat sex like entertainment, and I don’t get it. It’s the most intimate thing you can do with another person.

Given all the girls Chase has slept with, sex can’t be much more than a transaction for him. Not that I ever wanted to sleep with him, I just wanted him to notice me. Talk to me. And he did, so I got what I wanted. It’s time to move on.

I’m on the second to last locker when a tap on my shoulder makes me turn around, taking out an earbud as I do.

“Hi, boss,” Chase says from behind me. “Need to me paint you some more grass?”

My mouth falls open with surprise as I look up at him.

Words, Gin. Say some words.

“Uh…yeah. I mean…what are you doing here?”

A corner of his mouth turns up slightly in a grin. “I’m your volunteer, remember?”

“Yeah, but today too?”

He nods. “Every day. You said you’re behind, so what can I do?”

“Um…” I shake my head, trying to think. “I need to assemble some sets, if you want to help with that.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, just let me finish this, and then we’ll do it.”

I look away from him, trying to appear indifferent. My heart is racing, but he doesn’t know that.

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