Chapter 23.

All things considered, the day had gone pretty well. All of my homework was done and ready for my classes, I actually kind of understood science, Madison and I were finally getting along, and cheer practice was super light and easy. It was a good day.

At least, it was until Kelsey stormed up to me after practice, looking like she was going to kill me. "What the hell, Lilly?" she snapped.

I took a deep breath and replied calmly. "Oh, are you talking to me again?"

"You and Madison?" she spat. "Seriously? We're not talking, so you have to go get all chummy with my sworn enemy?"

I laughed. "Kelsey, I haven't ever seen her do anything to you that qualifies her as a sworn enemy. You're just as rude to her as she is to you. And I wouldn't say Madison and I are besties or anything, but we've kind of made peace and moved on." I smirked. "Maybe you should try it. You know, since you seem to hate everyone right now for no reason."

"Whatever," Kelsey muttered, rolling her eyes and walking away.

The exchange should have bothered me, but somehow, it didn't. Kelsey was jealous that I was spending time with Madison, which meant that she did still care about me, at least a little. At least, she cared that I was spending time with Madison. That shouldn't have bothered her if there was no hope of salvaging our friendship.

I swung my bag over my shoulder before heading out of the locker room towards the football field.

Practice had just let out, so I decided to go watch the football team while I waited for my dad to finish. Although, a small part of me was hoping he'd just ask Luke to give me a ride home so that I could talk to him.

"Hey Dad," I said, walking up to his side. He was standing off to the side chatting with one of the assistant coaches while his team was running drills.

"Do you think you'll be done soon?"

Dad turned to face me, a small, slightly irritated smile across his face. "It'll probably be another 40 minutes or so."

I sighed, looking out at all the players. Great. I had to wait 40 minutes before I could go home.

"Okay," I mumbled, turning on my heel and walking over to the bleachers, taking a seat in the front row.

I leaned backwards onto the seats behind me, awkwardly laying on the hard bleachers. Closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of the players running their drills.

"Long practice?"

I jolted up, opening my eyes to see Luke a few feet from me. The sound of his cleats walking across the track to the stands made my heart race with anticipation.

"Not as long as yours," I commented, gesturing to everyone on the field. Mentally, I took a deep breath, calming my nerves.

Luke chuckled. "And yet, you're the tired one," he teased, a sly smirk pulling at his lips.

Oh dear God.

Why did he still have that effect on me? Why was it that I could never stay mad at him, could never control my feelings when I was around him?

"Shut up," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

This was the first time in almost a month that Luke and I had been alone together, and he wasn't acting like anything was wrong. Maybe I was wrong to think Dylan kissing me had cost him the game. Maybe something else had distracted him.

"I think your dad is just being harder on us because we have playoffs this week, and he doesn't want us to lose again. With our track record with Clinton, we need to play flawlessly to make it to the championship game." Luke ran a hand through his sweaty hair, adding, "We have to do well. This is my last season on this team, and I want to go out on top."

I grinned. "Yeah, what's up with you and Clinton? It's hard to cheer for the losing team, so you have to stay winning. Don't make this a short season."

Luke laughed, raising his eyebrows challengingly. "The first time we played Clinton, you wanted me to lose."

I laughed. "Well, that was different. I wanted to win the bet. I didn't expect you to make a habit of it."

As Luke opened his mouth to respond, my dad interrupted.

"Carters. Practice is not over, and it's not social hour," Dad yelled from the field. His eyes narrowed into a glare as he gave Luke a look of disapproval. "Especially when it's my daughter."

Luke lowered his head, giving me an 'oh great' look. Tapping his hands against the fence, he mouthed the words, "I'll see you around" with a wink before turning and heading back to the field.

____

Football practice didn't get out until almost seven that night. For two hours, I sat on those cold bleachers doing science homework that I really didn't want to be doing. There were a few times when I looked out at the field and caught my dad staring over in my direction, as if he expected that I was just going to disappear into thin air.

Nope, I'm still here Dad.

A small part of me wanted it to be Luke looking over at the bleachers, but he never did. Not that I noticed, anyways. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he didn't like me after all.

I was finally back at home, sitting on my bed watching a movie when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my bag, frowning in surprise. I didn't usually receive phone calls.

"Hello?"

"Hi sweetie." I smiled as I heard my mom's voice on the other end of the line. She almost never called me.

"It's been awhile since I heard from you," I observed. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much," she replied, although I didn't buy that for a minute. "I just wanted to call and see how you were doing. How have you been? Tell me everything."

I exhaled, hard, not quite sure where to start. "Everything's...complicated," I admitted. "You remember Kelsey, right? You met her when you visited last? Well, apparently, she's the reason Evan got so clingy. She deliberately drove us apart, because she wanted me to date her cousin, Luke."

"Well, you liked Luke, didn't you? It was a pretty terrible thing for her to do, but maybe she really thought she was helping you."

I fiddled with my charm bracelet, not quite sure what to say to that. Yes, she probably had thought she was doing me a favor and not letting me settle for anyone but Luke. But it hadn't been her decision to make. It didn't make what she had done okay. "We're not really on speaking terms anymore," I admitted. "I kept waiting for her to apologize, only she never did. And the longer we waited, the harder it got."

"So how's everything else? How's that cute guy you were seeing before? What was his name--Dylan?"

I laughed lightly. "Dylan's fine. We're good friends. Just friends, though. We watch Disney movies together and just laugh and hang out. Honestly, he's the closest thing I have to a best friend right now."

"And school?"

I paused, not sure whether I should tell her. Mom was more relaxed about school than my dad, but she still wouldn't be happy about my science grade. "I--I've been struggling with science," I admitted. "All of my other grades are fine though, and I'm working with a tutor on an extra credit project and a makeup test to bring that grade up."

In a rush, I explained about Madison, and how nervous I had been to work with her, but how she had been really helpful so far. And I told her about Kelsey and Madison hating each other, and Kelsey being even more mad at me now because I had been studying with Madison.

"Honey, I'm so proud of you," Mom said when I had finished. "You've really grown up so much this year, and you're doing the right thing to get your grades up, even though it's hard for you socially."

I smiled, secretly pleased with the compliment. I was so used to Dad still treating me like a kid that it was nice to hear that I was handling things well by myself.

"Enough about me," I said. "What's new with you?"

"Well," my mother said, "that's actually kind of why I was calling."

I smirked. I knew my mother wouldn't have called just because. She almost never did.

"See...Tony asked me to marry him. And I've said yes."

That hurt more than I had expected it to. I'd known my parents were divorced, but this just seemed so...final. "Congratulations?" I offered weakly.

"Thanks!" I could practically hear my mother beaming over the phone. She giggled like a young schoolgirl. "I'm so excited. So, I was hoping you'd be a bridesmaid at the wedding. We're planning it for the beginning of January, so you should be able to combine it with your break at school and not have to miss much time."

I felt really bad for my father. This was going to be incredibly hard for him. "Okay," I said cautiously. "Is the wedding in California?"

"Yup," my mother confirmed. "I figured you could bring a date so you wouldn't have to fly by yourself. Or maybe a friend, if you don't have a date. But a date would be better for pictures. Oh!" she squealed, sounding way too enthusiastic. "Maybe you could bring that boy. Dylan! He's a strapping young man who'd look good in wedding pictures, and he's a friend. See? Best of both worlds."

I laughed. "Mom, I don't think I know Dylan well enough to ask him to be my date to your wedding. And besides, Dad would never go for that."

My mom snorted offhandedly. "Well, your father doesn't get to dictate everything that happens in your life. I'm your parent too, and I say if you want to bring a guy, you can bring a guy. Heck, I encourage it. So, think it over, and let me know who you're going to bring. And think about what color dress you'd like to wear. I'll be emailing you some options, so let me know what you like."

I heard someone in the background talking to Mom, but I couldn't quite catch what they were saying. "Well, I've got to go," Mom chirped. "But I'm looking forward to talking over all of the details with you. I love you. Bye!"

There was click, and the line went dead before I had a chance to say anything. My mom was getting married? How was I supposed to tell Dad? And, who the heck was I supposed to bring for a date? 

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