Pretences (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter Fifteen

     Monday morning arrived with a heavy down pour of rain. This didn't discourage Dallas any, however. His mood was as buoyant as it was the day before and a little rain certainly wasn't going to change that.

    As he made his way to school, he kept thinking about Olivia and how he finally grew the courage to kiss her. His smile was goofy and still plastered on his face when he entered his homeroom class. Cain and Slate, who were already there, knew something had happened.

    "Alright, dude, spill. What happened last night? You went over to Olivia's didn't you?" Slate asked, always the nosiest of the trio.

    Dallas's smile never faltered as he unashamedly told his friends, "I kissed her."

    This admission was met with congratulatory cheers and a lot of teasing. "How was it?" Slate pressed him for more information.

    "Dude, I don't wanna know that." Cain interjected.

    "Come on, who wouldn't want to know if a girl as hot as Olivia was a good kisser?"

    "Why does it matter? It's not like you're ever gonna get a kiss from her." Slate punched Cain playfully and they ensued a mock battle of sorts. Dallas didn't mind, though. He didn't want to answer Slate's question. He just wanted to kiss Olivia again.

    When lunch time rolled around, Dallas, Slate, and Cain grabbed a table inside by the cafeteria windows. They were in the middle of a heated discussion about football plays and strategies when Rylan joined them.

    "Hey man, what's up?" Dallas greeted Rylan.

    "I'm pretty sure I bombed that Physics paper." Rylan stated dejectedly.

    "I probably did too." Dallas returned.

    "Why do you brainiacs have to take such ridiculously hard classes? Just be like me and coast." Slate laughed; he was the only one at the table not in any advanced classes. Cain shook his head.

    "It's gonna make us look good for college, dude. You should be thinking about that too."

    "Pfft." Scoffed Slate. "That's where football comes in. It's gonna carry me through college."

    "Not if you fail your classes moron."

    "Hey hey! Chill, I'm not that hopeless in a classroom."

    "That's debatable."

    Dallas and Rylan just chuckled at the other two's arguing and ate their lunch in silence. They had just finished when Kimberly came up to the group.

    "Dallas! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you!" She plopped down and made herself cozy between Dallas and Rylan. The latter raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "So listen, I've been thinking of ideas to raise votes for Homecoming-" She had started to continue but was cut off by Slate.

    "Nominations haven't even been made yet. How do you know that you two will even be in the running?"

    "Please, Slate. Look at who you're talking to. I'm Captain of the Cheer Squad and Dallas is, like, the best football player ever. It's in the bag." She giggled. Turning back to Dallas, she picked up where she left off. "To raise votes I was thinking we could make, like, cookies or cupcakes or something and put things on them that says to vote for us and whatnot. It'll be perfect! We also must make posters and flyers and put them all over school, so that everyone knows to vote for us."

    Dallas couldn't help but stare at her blankly. With everything that had been going on with Olivia, he had completely forgotten about Homecoming and his promise to run with Kimberly. He realized she was waiting for a response as she stared at him expectantly.