Days. We've hung out for days. Sydney says I am wrapped around her finger. Yoda says she's walking me like a dog. Mobius learned what a black cat golden retriever duo is and now he is saying that it is me and Scarlett.
But I don't know.
I think she just thinks that I'm nice. She likes to be around me.
"You're coming over after the game." She didn't say it in a questioning way. She let me know I was coming over. She leaned into me as we watched the band perform. "Charlotte is making extra mac n cheese because she knows you don't like lamb."
I am touched that their families personal chef knows me well enough to know that.
"I'm excited."
She looked up at me, "Are you and Mo running for homecoming court?"
I snorted, "No fucking way."
She smiled, "What if we ran. Me and You?" She looked back at the field, "People would vote for us because I'm me and they absolutely adore you."
I could feel the heat in my cheeks. It's not at all hot outside. It's September in Minnesota. It's cold as hell. "But isn't homecoming court for couples?"
She laughed, "You know nothing, Natalie Wilson."
I sighed, "Is this you asking me?"
She smiled and looked at me again, "Now you're getting it. If I did ask you to homecoming would you say yes?"
"Is that a vote? Of course I would."
She smiled wider, "Good to know." She stood up as soon as the band was done and handed me my jacket, "I'll come right here after the game."
"Alright." I nodded and put the jacket on the bleachers next to me, "I'll be here."
She nodded and glanced at my jacket. Then at the other cheerleaders. Then back to my jacket, "It's cold."
I smiled and handed it back to her, "That's why I brought that."
She slid it on and squeezed my shoulder, "You're a lifesaver." Then she ran down the steps and around to where her team was beginning to gather.
She's wearing my hockey jacket. With my name and number on it. In front of our school. And some parents. Her parents.
I glanced at the Santoro's again. They have little Henry on their lap in the very front row of the family section. They love their daughter. They love all of their kids.
"Walking you like a lost little puppy." Yoda pat me on the back, "I've been there too."
"You're there right now with Mobius. Don't lie." I rolled my eyes and shook his hand off my back.
He glared at me, "Mine is a small phase and completely reasonable. Mobius is hot."
Sydney rolled her eyes at us and gestured to the cheerleaders, "All the cheerleaders are hot and I'm not in love with them."
I raised my eyebrows and started laughing, "Right." I wiped my fake tears and looked at her, "How jealous were you when you heard Olivia talk to me?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, "Not funny. How jealous were you when Scarlett sat at my table instead of yours?"
I smiled, "The tables were assigned by first name for that project, Sydney."
She looked away from me, back towards the game, "Sure."
The end of the game finally came when our team took a knee and forfeited because of how badly they were losing. At least the cheerleaders are hot. I wish there was a good way for us to have cheerleaders at our games. We actually win and that would hype me up even more. Scarlett Santoro in her tight little uni-
"Hi." She yelled up to me from the track. The bleacher platform was just slightly too high for her to climb up.
I stood up and leaned down, "Are you gonna stay down there the whole time or come up?"
She smiled and pointed behind her. Two of her teammates walked up and lifted her up so she could reach the tiny gate on the fence.
Then she just stood next to me, "We can go now."
"That wasn't all that necessary." I smiled at her knowing that was actually really cool.
She shrugged, "I like to make an entrance." She smiled back.
"Hey Scar." Dylan Reed came up to us. He plays defense on the boys jv soccer team. Scarlett called him cute twice and he's still hung up on her. I'm not judging. "Going to Philip's party tonight?"
"No." She looked away from him and got in her backpack which she left next to me this time. She pulled out her sweats and pulled them on over her skirt, "Is that all you needed? Why are you still here?" She looked at him, standing closer to me.
Sydney raised her eyebrows at the interaction so far.
I was just watching, wishing I had popcorn.
He smiled as if he hadn't just failed to ask her out. This happens at every game. "Do you want to go?"
She looked at me then back at him, "No actually. I have to get home, we have to eat dinner." She shrugged and grabbed both her bag and mine, "Bye David."
"It's Dyla-"
"Don't care." She walked down the steps without bags.
I shrugged and followed her down the steps.
"I hate men." She walked right up to her car and set both of our bags in the back, "We have to hurry and get to my house so I can change."
I just climbed into her passenger seat without saying anything.
She looked at me when we stopped at a red light, "What's going on? You're too quiet."
I looked at her, "I don't want to ruin this."
She furrowed her eyebrows together, "What are you talking about?"
I shook my head, "It's just-" I turned to her, "You are a good friend Scarlett. But I don't understand why you're friends with me?"
She turned forward and started moving the car again, "Why wouldn't I be?" She finally said.
"But why are you?"
She shrugged, "You're just cool. I've wanted to be one of your close friends since, like, freshman year. But you and your tiny group seemed so out of reach. So I joined the cheer squad. I was good at it so I stuck to that. It got me popular and then we were on totally opposite sides of the scale and I let the 'rules of highschool' control me. But, I don't know." She turned onto her long driveway, "I changed this summer. I really, really changed." She looked at me for a moment, "I just knew that this was the year we'd get close."
My heart was melting. The moonlight on her face, her complete truth, and the fact she wanted to be my friend first. I can't do this.
I looked away, "My group was definitely in reach for you. It would have been cool going through high school together."
She pressed the button for the garage and waited for it to open, "Yeah but who knows what we'd be like now." She shrugged again and drove into her spot in the garage, "What if we were completely different?" She grabbed her backpack from behind us and opened her door, "I like you how you are now."
My heart was beating faster than physically possible. It felt like it was about to jump out of my chest.
"What about you?" Her fixing the door on her car snapped me back to reality.
I grabbed my backpack and climbed out of the Jeep, "What about me?"
She smiled at me as we walked out of the garage, "Why are you my friend?" She typed in the code on the garage and it began to close.
"Because you hit me with a locker door."
She shoved my arm as we walked towards her house, "Come on. Total truth." She stopped walking and grabbed my arm, "I just had the best idea! We could be like those people on tiktok with a word to make their friend tell the truth no matter what. That's like the key to a healthy relationship."
Relationship.
Relationship.
Relationship.
Snap out of it. "What would our word be?" I couldn't help but smile.
"A phrase instead. If I think you're telling me a lie or avoiding telling me the truth, I'll say 'Total truth.' Same with you." She let go of my arm and nodded, "Back to our original topic." She waved her hand in the air as if waving away the other subject completely.
"I've wanted to be your friend since 8th grade algebra."
She looked at me, her pace slowing. "You're lying."
I shrugged and ignored the way my cheeks heated up, "You just seemed cool. You were popular then too. I think that's the main reason I wanted to talk to you. You were cool."
"Total truth." She quirked her eyebrow.
Before I could say anything, Chip came stumbling out of the house. His face was red and his fists were clenched.
Scarlett moved to the other side of me as if to shield me from her brother, "Daddy probably said no to him or something. Give him a wide berth."
"Noted." I nodded and slipped into the foyer without bothering Chip.
"Natalie! We were wondering when you'd get here." Mrs Santoro smiled at me and took my hockey bag from me, "Cold wash?"
My eyebrows shot to my forehead, "You don't have to-"
"Please let me." She smiled a genuine smile.
I nodded, "Cold wash. The Jersey has to be inside out."
She nodded, "Table's set already."
I smiled and walked towards the kitchen with Scarlett.
"She's obsessed with her new laundry detergent and washes everything she can get her hands on." She sat in the seat second to last on the right side of her dad and I took that as my que to sit right next to him.
"I'm not complaining. I'm usually the one doing my laundry anyways." I shrugged and folded my hands in my lap. Must be nice to have a mom who loves you and cares for you and is alive.
"So when do we get to meet your parents, Nat?" Mrs Santoro sat at the other end of the table and started putting food on her plate, queuing everyone else to do the same.
Scarlett's fork clattered onto her plate, "Sorry." She gave an apologetic smile.
"Um-" I cleared my throat. "My mom passed away when I was 11. And my dad... Is a busy man." I nodded and shuffled a fork full of mac n cheese in my mouth.
"I had no idea." Mrs Santoro squeezed my hand and let go, "I am so sorry for bringing it up."
I smiled at her, "It's alright. It doesn't really hurt to talk about anymore." Yes it does. I cleared my throat, "Mr Santoro, your numbers went down again."
Gordon huffed, "I know. Avalanche killed us but Smitty has assured me we have the Blues in the bag."
"Good to hear." I nodded and shifted the mac n cheese on my plate. My appetite suddenly disappeared. I dropped my hands to my lap.
Now they're talking about school. Nope. They're talking about Angelina's new art teacher. Oh no! He went to a liberal art school! And became a middle school art teacher! Boohoo.
Suddenly, Scarlett put her hand on top of mine and squeezed, leaving it resting on mine.
She looked around the table, "Nat and I kinda filled up on popcorn at the game so we're gonna head upstairs, if that's alright."
Gordon nodded, "Of course."
Diane smiled at me, "I'll have the uniform ready for you tomorrow morning."
"Thanks, Mrs S." I grabbed my plate after Scarlett let go of my hand and we walked up the backstairs to get to her room faster.
She laid back on her bed, not worrying about taking the rest of her uniform off. "I'm so tired." She sat up leaning back on her hands, "I'm sorry that they brought up your parents."
I shrugged and laid next to her, sliding my shoes off once I was settled, "It doesn't bother me."
She looked at me, "Total truth."
I rolled my eyes, "You're having too much fun with that."
She raised her eyebrows.
I looked at her Lana Del Rey poster on the other side of her room, "I don't know how it makes me feel. My dad's an asshole. And my mom was an angel on earth. Not much else to say. I don't get, like, sad about it. It just kinda bothers me in the same way that itch on the bottom of your foot that you can't get through because of your shoe and sock bothers me."
"So a lot."
I looked at her, "In a way I can't explain, yeah." I sat up, "It's alright though. As long as someone's not insulting them, it really doesn't hurt that bad to talk about."
"Good." She nodded. Then she looked at me again, "Back to your story about 8th grade."
I laughed, "What about it? I was done."
"No you weren't. You were just about to tell me the total truth."
I snorted and stood up, moving over to my backpack that contained my pajamas from home, "There's not much else to tell."
She just sat on her bed, "I think there is."
I pulled out my shorts and old One Direction shirt, "Maybe there is more. But there's things you don't want to know." I looked at her.
She stared at me, as if waiting for something, "Please tell me."
I shrugged, "It's not a big deal."
"So tell me."
"I kinda," I laughed a bit to play it off as a funny joke, "had, like, the smallest crush on you ever." I shrugged and walked towards her bathroom, "Not a big deal."
She smiled a bit, "Crush is past tense?"
I looked at her. Her smile is saying she knows something more than she's telling me. "No."
"No?" She raised her eyebrows.
"I have crushes. Like, Mobius for example. I'm in love with him." I put my hand on the bathroom doorknob and pushed it open. I smiled, "And Olivia. I love Olivia the most."
She looked away and crossed her arms, "You're no fun."
"Total truth?" I eyed her.
She rolled her eyes, "Go change, you asshole."
I closed the bathroom door and fought the urge not to hyperventilate. She knows I had a crush on her in 8th grade. She knows I have a crush on her now! Why did I say that!?
Were we flirting though?
"Of course not." I mentally slapped myself for saying that out loud.
Thank GOD I only have to get through an entire sleepover with her.
Easy.