Scouts Honor

Chapter 10

We both turned to look at Bolton at the same time. I was relieved to see him.

"What're you doing here? I told you that I could handle this on my own." Jesse sounded really annoyed with his best friend at the moment.

"And it looks like you're doing a fantastic job on your own." I loved Bolton's humor, especially when it was targeted toward Jesse. "Just go home, man. There's nothing left for you here."

Jesse looked like he was about to yell at Bolton, but he stormed off muttering to himself instead. He bumped into Bolton's shoulder on his way past him.

Bolton watched Jesse leave before turning to me. "I would've been here sooner, but I thought I had convinced him to leave it alone. I told him that he had no shot with you, but he was in no condition to listen to reason." Translation: he was drunk.

"It's fine. Thank you." That's all I said, but there was so much more I wanted to say. The way Bolton looked tonight, with the moonlight shining down on his blond hair and the night stars being reflected back in his deep blue eyes, was affecting me in a way I never thought could happen before.

There were so many unsaid thoughts passing between us. Instead of giving them a voive, we simply said goodnight before he turned away. I watched him walk all the way down the street, He turned back a few times to smile at me standing in my window.

He was long gone before I finally went back to my bed to go to sleep. As an afterthought, I decided to check my phone. There was only one message.

"Sweet dreams, precious angel. -B"

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It had been one week since the confrontation with Shelly. I don't know what Bolton said to Jesse, but whatever it was had finally sunk in. The messages and calls stopped, and I only found one note from him that day. He didn't try to talk to me in the halls, but settled for staring at me longingly instead.

While things with Jesse were slowing down, things with Bolton were slightly picking up. I noticed him looking at me more on our drives in my car, he walked with me to some of our shared classes, and he even made more of those passing comments like he had that night in the diner. Even if he hadn't texted me all day, he always sent a goodnight message. I didn't know how he felt about me. I certainly didn't know what I was feeling for him. I was simply becoming comfortable with venturing into this uncharted territory.

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I'm not sure exactly why I decided to take a walk that day. When I usually went on walks, I always chose a different direction. Today, however, I decided to take the path that went behind the neighborhood houses. Bolton's included.

I was about to emerge from behind the giant bush in his neighbor's yard when I heard the guitar chords floating on the breeze. I would know that music anywhere. When I heard the voice, I knew exactly where the music was coming from.

I peeked around the bush and, sure enough, Bolton was sitting on the roof of his back porch singing "Everybody's Got Somebody But Me" by Hunter Hayes. I listened intently as the song progressed. Each word struck me with the intensity that he was singing it with. I'd heard Bolton sing plenty of times, but never with this much feeling. That's when I knew that there was a girl behind the emotion, a girl inspiring his song choice. Bolton liked someone.

This thought both excited me and terrified me. I was excited, hoping that it could be me. I was terrified that it would be someone else. Stop right there, Baylee. You know that it's someone else. He could never like you. You're his best friend's ex.

Even as those thoughts passed through my mind, I found myself stepping from behind the bush and clapping at the end of his song. He looked up, startled at first, but smiling when he saw me. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were sparkling.

We silently watched each other for a moment, trying to decide how to safely travel uncharted waters.

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I finally had time to write a new chapter. I've been trying to make time for wattpad between school and other stuff, and I've definitely missed writing it. Hope you guys enjoy reading it. I will try to make the next upload soon, but I can't make any promises.

This chapter is dedicated to jeanettecv for giving me the idea of Baylee finding Bolton singing on his roof. The video at the side is the song he's singing, "Everybody's Got Somebody But Me."

Again, I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)