I didn't feel like going out today. I hadn't heard anything from Brad, but Tamara called me and insisted I go practice for my basketball tryouts.

"Natalie, it's not like his head was bit off, he'll be fine. The doctor told you himself, a week's rest and that's it," she said.

"He kissed me," I told her over the phone.

"Okay, where's the marihuana when you need one?" She asked. We laughed.

"Natalie, you didn't tell your mom that I smoked with you?" Tamara asked me concerned.

"What? No way. Would you relax?" I told her.

"It's just that if that goes out and with my vice president duties and all, I could easily be removed from the position and get expelled," she told me.

"I would never say a word to anybody. I swear. Besides, I was the one who told you to try it. If anyone's guilty of that crime, it's mua," I told her.

"You're too hard on yourself. I bet you're still thinking about the burrito thing," she said.

"Well, actually-"

"Shut the hell up. Don't even go there. I already told you, it's over. I'm going to tell mom that you won't be able to help me out with the carwash, but you do need to practice some basketball, that's an order from your vice president," she said. I laughed.

"Okay, Tamara. Thanks a lot for understanding," I said.

"You're welcome. You know, I might actually ask Preston out for the dance," she said.

"You should. He seems like a nice guy," I told her.

"You better come with Brad even if he's in a wheelchair. If you don't I'll never forgive you," she said. I nodded.

"Don't worry, you know I'll be there."

"See you tomorrow," she said and I replied in same and hung up. I called Brad's house and he finally replied. But he didn't sound too good.

"Hi. I'm... in a lot of pain," he said.

"But is that normal?"

"I don't know. It could be the rabies shot... who knows?" Brad said.

"Oh... you're right," I replied uncertain.

"I can't talk right now. I'm... too tired," he said.

"Okay Brad. I'll call you later," I said.

"Bye baby," he told me.

"Bye," I replied and he hung up. I spend my day doing the usual and then practiced some basketball.

The next day was lame and terrible and so were the days after that. On Wednesday Gina Colter gave me some shit and I ignored her because I was just too sad to care.

"If Brad would have gone out with me, that wouldn't have ever happened. This is what happens when you go out with weirdos. He's lucky he's not dead," Gina said to me over her shoulder as she was chatting with her girlfriends.

I wanted to punch her in the mouth, but why bother? She really wasn't worth my time and hating her took time away from me. Instead, I focused on class as weird as it sounded. History class still talked about a bunch of dead people I didn't care about, biology had to do with cells I was never going to see with the naked eye anyway and the English teacher put a werewolf movie that I detested because it reminded me of Brad's attack.

"Mrs. Krasinski, can I go now? I'm not feeling too well," I said.

"What's wrong?"

"Headache," I replied. She sent me to the nurse's office, but I went straight home. Nobody saw me, nobody cared. I called Brad every afternoon, but his mom usually picked it up and asked if I wanted to leave him a message. I usually said no and spent the rest of my afternoons doing homework and watching TV. Cameo kept me company and cheered me up.

"Thanks Cameo. You seem to be the only person that understands me," I told him even though I knew he was a dog and that he didn't know what the hell I was talking about, but there was a good quality about Cameo that I really liked. He never talked, so it seemed like he was listening to me.

On Friday was my big day and Mr. Carter, the gym teacher told us to sit on the bleachers. We were thirteen girls, so we weren't that many compared to the boys. There had been like thirty boys in the tryouts this year and only seven were chosen.

"Okay ladies. I'm going to be evaluating each and every one of you to see if you have what it takes to be a part of our Franklin's High School basketball team," he said. He instructed us a series of tasks which included dribbling, passing, running and shooting the ball in the basket. In one of our tryouts I freaked out as I saw our mascot on the basketball court. It was a wolf. Flashes of my date with Brad came to me and all I could see was him being eaten by the creature. Then I heard my teacher's whistle and it brought me back to Earth.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked me. I shook my head.

"Nothing," I replied and dribbled my ball again. Then, I threw the ball and it went straight into the basket. Soon Mr. Carter blew on his whistle again and we were all back on the bleachers heaving and sweating.

"Okay ladies. Before I call your names out, I just want to let you know that you did an excellent job, all of you and I thank you for coming," he said. We all nodded and waited for our results. He called a few girls and then he called my name.

"Congratulations ladies. We practice Mondays and Wednesdays after school. Welcome aboard," he said and left. We all walked to our locker rooms, showered and then changed into our regular clothes. I called Tamara.

"Ahh!" She screamed excited over the phone. I had to put it away because of her loud voice.

"Congratulations, you got in! You did it, you made it! I knew that you could do it," Tamara said.

"Yeah," I said.

"Did you call Brad?" She asked me. What for, I was going to ask her. He probably couldn't pick up the phone anyway.

"No," I said instead.

"You have to call him," she said.

"I will," I replied and hung up. I called his house and finally he got the phone.

"Really? That's so awesome," he said.

"Hey, you sound a lot better," I told him.

"Yeah. I think I just needed to rest really well. I can't feel the pain anymore. I unwrapped the gauze though..." he said trailing off.

"And?" I asked him curiously.

"I don't know. Maybe it's nothing," he said.

"What? Tell me?" I begged him. There was an odd silence on the phone.

"Brad?" I asked and heard strong breathing.

"Brad?" I asked again and it stopped.

"What? Oh, nothing... it's nothing, I'm just so tired," he said.

"Yeah, but you said you took off the gauze?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm telling you Natalie, I'm feeling alright. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there. God I wished I was there to see you earn your place," he said.

"Na, don't worry about it. It's fine."

"I love you," he said. The sweetest thing he's ever said to me.

"I love you too."