Blind Ambition | ✓

19 | Scary Hours

While Kaia had never explicitly told me that her and Jackson broke up - only through implications and Taylor Swift songs - seeing them dodge each other in the hallways like two polarizing ends of a magnet said enough. The only thing I'd been left wondering was who actually did the breaking up. I was also left wondering why I cared in the first place, but the way Kaia's words lingered when she told me it was her fault got the better of me, and it almost quelled something between us. We'd made it through October without battling it out too much, save for one admittedly predictable disagreement in our AP Lit class about Wuthering Heights.

The air continued to get colder, the sky continued to get darker earlier, and I continued to win football games. I'd gotten a pretty hefty packet in the mail from Middlebury College in Vermont practically begging me to come for a visit and that it would be worth my while. I threw it out. Any Clemson orange was still noticeably absent from any of my games, and the clock was ticking. Before I knew it, there was no green left in the trees, and the headache-inducing stench of every girl carrying around their pumpkin spiced lattes filled the hallways every morning. October was gone, save for one last night, and one last game.

I wasn't sure if whatever higher ups that made the football schedules purposely scheduled our divisional rivalry game with Calgary Prep on Mischief Night, but if their intention was savagery disguised as entertainment, they were gonna get it. I'd make sure of it.

I waited until the morning crowd dissipated in the hallways to make my way to Anthony's locker, where I knew he lingered after the first bell since he was never on time for his Computer Science class.

He slammed his locker shut as he saw me coming. "Dude, no."

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you kidding me?"

Anthony kept his head down as he rifled through his backpack. "Obviously not."

He sounded bored, and his nonchalantness tripped a panic switch in me. I yanked the book out of his hands and snapped it shut.

"I just need one," I said in a low voice. "It's for the game. You wanna win, right?"

Anthony sighed and readjusted his backpack strap on his shoulder. He brought his darkened gaze to mine, and without breaking eye contact lifted his book out of my hands. "I gave you a bottle of 10 three weeks ago."

"I'm in pain," I blurted out, which made Anthony recoil only the slightest bit. He chuckled and shook his head.

"In the existential meaning of the word, we're all in pain." He clapped his hand down on my shoulder, and it sent a shockwave of pain down my body. I worked my jaw, desperate to keep myself from buckling to the floor.

"Don't be an ass." I grit my teeth.

"Don't be this stupid," Anthony insisted, and for just a moment, an uncharacteristic level of concern flashed through his eyes. It was gone as quickly as it came, and he took a step back from me. "I'm keeping my hands clean of this. From here on out."

And back in true Anthony fashion, he had to have the last word, turning and walking away from me down a now empty hallway.

I finally made it to my Calculus class, but the longer I sat still in a sticky plastic chair, the more jittery I got. I picked at a hangnail on my thumb while Mrs. Horner droned on about derivatives, and I drew a thousand circles on my worksheet. I found myself hyperfocusing on the back of Kaia's head just so I had something to focus on. She smelled like vanilla and clean laundry, and I liked it.

After class, I lingered outside the door of the classroom for Kaia and fell into step with her the moment she walked out into the hallway.

"So did you decide?" I asked.