Loose Change~ Montgomery De La Cruz / Zach Dempsey/Scott Reed

Part 3 Chapter 3b

Montgomery leaned closer to her.

She would let him. If he tried to kiss her she would let him. Because he started smiling at her again, so how could she not?

But he just leaned in to whisper something in her ear. His breath hit her ear. It was hot, but it sent shivers down her body.

"I'll see you tomorrow, O," he whispered to her.

O? Was that her nickname now? She liked it. He pulled away, and showed her that dazzling smile one more time.

"Bye, Montgomery."

"Monty," he corrected her. "Call me Monty."

She inhaled, excited. "Okay. Bye, Monty."

*****

Ophelia remembered how angry her mother was that day. Because when Zach walked home alone, he told his mother who Ophelia went with. And Zach's mom called her mom, and Ophelia was grounded and had her phone taken away.

Her mother looked through her phone, and found her Instagram messages with Montgomery. It was nothing inappropriate, just them talking about all different kinds of things.

But Montgomery had told her how cute she was in her photos, but how she also looked cuter in person. And he often asked when he could take her out on a date. She always told him she couldn't wait to have an actual date with him.

That was the first time Ophelia got so upset at Zach that she wouldn't speak to him the whole time she was grounded. She never knew that his tattle tailing was fueled by jealousy.

So that was the first time Montgomery walked her home.

It was different the last time he walked her home.

*****

"Did you know Jessica was going to pull that shit at the game?" Montgomery asked her.

They walked down the neighborhood, nearing her house. Ophelia had his varsity jacket on still, crossing her arms to warm the center of her body.

Montgomery just had on a gray long sleeve shirt with an orange and brown flannel over it.

The color was so familiar to her. She remembered sophomore year when he got it. She went through a whole store looking for an orange women's shirt that matched the color exactly, so that they would match for fall. She loved taking photos with him. He never looked bad in them.

Ophelia admitted, "She told me about it just before the game started. Asked if I could get the Hillcrest girls to join."

She could tell Montgomery was still upset by what happened. "It was a fucking dumbass plan. We would've won too."

Ophelia couldn't help but smirk. "Maybe you should be glad it happened. So you never have to admit you would've lost."

Montgomery chuckled. He had a butterfly bandage over a cut on his cheek. It was white, and stood out against his skin. He was tan, for fall. He normally got paler than that in the cold months.

"You're team's shit," Montgomery told her.

Ophelia said, "You're team's shit. That's why you were barely ahead of us."