Woohoo! Another Chapter out!

dedicated to emilyygoff who made the banner in the sidebar!

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Thanks goodness we didn’t have school the next day.

            Walking through the hallways while everyone and their mother knew that I had rejected Jace would’ve made me feel more horrible than I already felt. I know I did the right thing though. I can’t pretend to have a perfect relationship with the boy, that wouldn’t be fair to either of us.

            But we didn’t have school so I didn’t have to fret about the looks I’d get from people and you can’t forget about the questions. No, today I only have to worry about the boy’s final soccer game that I would finally be able to perform at with the rest of the dance team.

            I pulled on the gray sweats, tank top, and sweatshirt before climbing into my car to head to the field. Of course when I got there many people already were in the stands eager to watch this going-to-be exciting game. I went to the track where some members of the dance team were already stretching and threw my bag down on the ground.

            “Hey,” I said to them and they all nodded up at me. Sighing, I put my stuff down and started out onto the field where both teams were warming up before the big game. I watched as Jace took a shot on goal and missed by a few feet. That’s not like him at all. He turned around with a shrug to the others and his eyes met mine.

            They only connected for a second before I looked away in shame.

            I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have anything with Jace. I would be telling the truth if I said that I can't go out with him.

            As the clock went down and it was time to start the game, the captains—Dillon and Jace—went to the center of the field for the coin toss. After the National Anthem was sung, the game was off.

            Anyone could tell right off the bat that Jace was playing horribly. Passing to the other team, falling for the fake-outs, and shooting completely off. I glanced nervously up at the stand and saw his mother and Cara nervously talking to a man with a clipboard in hand and a scowl on his face.

            I can bet you anything that that is a college scout and he’s not liking what he sees.

            My parents were also up there but the scouts who were looking at all the players were down in front so no one was with them. My mother caught my eye and gave me a little wave which I acted like I hadn’t seen when I turned back around.

            Going back to the game, I noticed that the other team was getting many more shots on us than we were getting on them. None of them escaped our goalie.

            “What is Jace doing today?” Alyssa commented as she scooted up next to me. “He’s playing horribly.”

            “How would I know why he’s like this?” I muttered and it came out much more cold than I wanted it too.

            “Maybe because you’re the one who broke his heart yesterday?”

            It was a low blow but completely true. I’m the reason as to why Jace seemed so distracted while playing. I glared at my friend for only a slight second before turning back to the game, pulling my knees up to my chest.

            No one talked to me on the dance team, not even Chase. Obviously Jace had talked to him about helping him with the whole assembly stuff. Chase wanted me to be Jace’s girlfriend or he wouldn’t have helped.

            Great. Now I feel like I disappointed everyone.

            Standing, I walked to the bathroom so I could get ready for the dance coming up in ten minutes. My first dance since the night of the fire. What if I choke during it?

            I turned on the faucet and rubbed cold water on my face.

            Relax, Peyton. Forget about Jace. Forget about everyone. This is your big comeback. No one can ruin it—

            “You should really be fucking ashamed of yourself.”

            Wincing, I turned around and saw Lindsay with her arms crossed clad in her cheer uniform. Her face was in a large scowl as she stared at me.

            “What—“

            “Don’t play innocent. You’re the reason why Jace is playing horrible. It’s because you broke his heart. He might’ve done all the crap to you but now you’re acting worse than he ever did.”

            I glared at her and leaned against the sink for support. The cold felt good on my lower back. “Look, what goes between Jace and I isn’t your business so piss off.”

            “It is my business. I like Jace and soon enough he will like me back but that won’t happen if you’re still in the picture.”

            “Lindsay, I said no to him. Nothing is going to happen between us. Go do whatever the hell you want to him. I don’t really care.”

            What a complete and utter lie.

            “That’s the problem. It doesn’t matter if you don’t care of not because he does. Go prove to him that he’s better off with me!”

            I turned my dark glare on her and I saw her eyes widen in surprise because of my sudden hostility. “Better off with you? You’re a complete bitch, Lindsay. You’re the reason all the crap even went down! A perfect guy like Jace doesn’t deserve someone like me and sure as hell doesn’t deserve a girl like you. You need to let him live his life.”

            I turned to leave but her small, nibble fingers grasped onto my arm, flinging me around. “Look here, Peyton,” she sneered my name. “Anyone with eyes can see that you like him and at least you know that you’re too fucking weak to be with him. You’re nothing. He only wants to be with you because he’s guilty. That’s just the kind of guy he is. Do us all a favor and leave him alone.”

            I was about to reply but the buzzer signaling halftime went off and I knew I had to be on the field as soon as possible.

            “There’s my ring,” she said with a fake smile and started to leave the restroom. “Go have fun out there.”

            As soon as she was gone for a minute, I left the restroom and wiped away the stray tears that had slid down my face. Lindsay was right of course. Jace never deserved a girl like me. He should be with a girl without a horrible history, a great family, and one who is ten times prettier and funnier than I will ever be.

            I continued wiping my eyes and didn’t even notice that I ran into someone who responded by putting their hands on my shoulders to steady me. Looking up, I saw Sean.

            “Whoa, what’s going on, Peyton? Why are you crying?”

            I shrugged out of his hold and tried to walk away but he grabbed my arm. “It’s nothing,” I muttered.

            “It’s not nothing. Tell me why you’re crying.”

            “Look, I have to go,” I looked up and gave him a fake smile. “Go win the game. You’re not doing too well out there.”

            I finally escaped Sean despite his protests and went out to the track where all the others were. Alyssa looked relieved when she saw me.

            “Oh, thank goodness. You were gone for a while and we thought you bolted, leaving us all alone while you’re our lead. As soon as the cheerleaders are done, we’re up.”

            I nodded and stretched down to touch my toes. Despite the familiar and dull ache in my once broken leg, I was cured. I expected to have that pain for the rest of my life but what’s that compared to all the other pain I’ve experienced? Nothing.

            After stretching, everyone starting taking off their jackets to reveal our matching loose tank tops. Hesitating, I finally pulled mine off and I tried to ignore all the stares at my bare, scarred arms with little success.

            Finally the cheerleaders were done and we started stepping up there, walking past the soccer players. I felt a hand graze my arm and I looked down to find Jace staring back up at me, ignoring his coach’s talk. I was about to continue on until he whispered to me.

            “Peyton. You’ll be amazing out there.” He gave me a sad smile and turned away.

            Gulping, I continued walking to my spot right in the center of our v-formation. Everyone thought that since this was my great comeback, I deserved to pick the song and be the center of attention. I personally wanted to never have anyone staring only on me ever again especially when all my burns are out in the open.

            I stood out there and hesitated when I saw a few people whispering and looking at me. All I wanted to do was to put on a jacket and dance in that. I turned around and saw everyone else in position so with a deep breath, I faced the crowd again, and looked over at Jace who gave me a little half smile.

            Okay, you can do this. You aren’t going to mess up. Make people look at you instead of your burns.

            I nodded towards the men in the audio room and I saw them move around before the song ‘Should’ve Kissed You’ by Chris Brown came on. I snuck another peek at Jace who was looking at me intently.

            3, 2, 1.

            I began the choreography to the song and let my body do all the thinking. This dance is a type that I’m not all too familiar with but I knew we were doing well from all the cheers.

            When the beat picked up, I stepped forward, popping the bottom of my shirt off and did the same for the other side. With a twirl, I flipped my hair, which drove the crowd crazy. I looked over at Jace and I was surprised to see a proud smile on his face as he watched me.

            I continued on with the dance, letting my body take over every part of me. I found myself not being nervous anymore and loving how I could still dance. The fire didn’t do anything in terms of how well I dance.

            When I ended, everyone cheered and I turned around to see my team but I was alone. Confused, I looked around and saw the dance team on the side cheering along with everyone else. In the midst of the dance, I didn’t even notice them leave me alone to do it.

            I ran over to them and Alyssa gathered me into a hug. When she pulled back she began talking rapidly. “You did amazing! Not that I expected you to do anything otherwise but I’m glad you got your spotlight. Man, this was such a great idea! And now everyone will want to be you!”

            “Alyssa, calm down,” I gave her a little smile. “Now whose plan was this?”

            “Mine.” Turning around, I ran right smack into a hard chest. I rubbed my nose before taking a few steps back to look at Jace. He avoided my eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I, uh, did this for you.”

            “Why?”

            He looked around and leaned down so only I could hear him. “Look, we have five minutes until the game starts. Can I talk to you?”

            Uh-oh. One thing I didn’t want to do was be alone with Jace. Especially now considering that the awkward level went up fifteen levels. Before I could tell him no he grabbed my arm and started dragging me off behind the bleachers where no one was.

            “What do you want, Jace? Why did you make it so I was the only one dancing?”

            “You deserved it. After weeks of not being able to dance, you deserved this spotlight and you did amazing. Now answer something for me.”

            I crinkled my eyebrows together, “What?”

            “They told me you picked that song. I might be biased but that song sounded like it was directed towards someone…” His light eyes met mine with hope in them.

            “Uh, yeah…” I had to look away.

            “Who?”

            “Jace, don’t play. You and I both know that it was about you.”

            He was quiet for a moment, his hands looking like they wanted to go into his pockets but since he was in his uniform, there weren’t any. He finally spoke, “Are you messing with me or something, Peyton?”

            I looked up in confusion. “Excuse me?”

            “You’re playing with my emotions. Yesterday you rejected me in front of the entire student body and today you have a dance to a song that talked about how you wished that you’d kissed me. What is that? Just tell me the truth.”

            “Jace—“

            “No. The truth. Now.”

            I had to avert my eyes again because his were staring into me, begging me to tell him everything. “Everything that I told you yesterday was true. I can’t go out with you. But… but I wish I could. If we could just erase everything that you lied to me about, I’d say yes in a heartbeat. You’re perfect, Jace. Then the song… It’s about that time in the pool. I shouldn’t have ran. But I’m glad I did. I don’t want to mess with your emotions… I’m sorry.”

            “So you would’ve kissed me if Dillon hadn’t interrupted?”

            “Yes.”

            He leaned closer so our foreheads touched. My breath hitched in my throat and a little smile spread across his mouth. “Would you kiss me now?”

            I squeezed my eyes shut. “Jace…”

            He pulled back with a little chuckle. “Okay, okay. Too much. But judging by what you said, I can infer one thing.”

            “What?”

            “You like me.”

            I was about to deny it but I realized that he was right. I liked Jace Harley. I wanted him to kiss me back there, I blushed every time someone mentioned that we’d be good together, and deep down inside of me, I knew that I didn’t want Jace to be with anyone else. Coming to terms with this didn’t mean that I could go out with him, the paranoia of him lying again would always be inside of me, but I do in fact like Jace.

             I felt the heat rush to my face and he clicked his tongue in approval. “I take that as a yes.”

            “Jace…”

            “No, it’s alright. I know we can’t go out,” he said the words with a sad tone.

            “I can’t right now.”

            His head shot up and he gave me a confused look, “But… later?”

            I bit my lip and replied, “Let’s see what happens by the end of the school year. We’ll decide then if it’s worth a relationship or not.”

            “Sounds like a plan,” He grinned.

            He turned to leave but I found my voice. “Jace?” He turned around. In his eyes now weren’t the sadness that was there an hour ago. Now it was replaced with hope. “Go score for me.”

            He smiled and pressed his lips to my forehead for a five-second long peck. When he pulled back he got down to my height and looked me straight in the eyes. “Will do, Pey. Now do me a favor and go up to your parents.”

            He gave me a knowing smile before turning and running back to the field as the buzzer went off.

            I like Jace Harley.

            And he knows it.

            But we can’t get together.

            I swear my life is more dramatic than a soap opera.

            Doing as Jace told me to, I walked to the bleachers and started heading to where my parents were sitting but a woman tapped my shoulder. Turning around, I gave her a friendly smile.

            “Are you Peyton Brandt?” She asked me.

            I nodded, “Yes.”

            “Hi, I’m Barbara Walker from Julliard. We received your CD that was sent in and luckily I was out here to see you in person—“

            “Excuse me but Julliard? Like the performing arts school in New York?”

            She smiled and nodded. “Because you’re a junior we can’t do anything this year but when you’re a senior we’ll definitely be looking more into you if that’s alright with you.”

            I nodded furiously. “Yes! Of course! That’d be amazing!”

            She looked at her watch and her eyes widened. “Oh, dear. I have a plane to catch. It was nice meeting you Miss Brandt,” she shook me hand. “I’m sure we’ll see each other much more in the future.”

            She started leaving but I called out her name, “Mrs. Walker?”

            “Yes?”

            “Uh, I never sent you a CD. Who did?”

            She looked surprise. “Oh? Well the shipping address came from a boy named Jace Harley. Do you know him?”

            Jace did this? “Y-yeah. Thank you again,” I said as she left.

            The game ended in a win and Jace scored the winning goal.

            As soon as the buzzer went off, I crowded the field with the rest of their fans and ran right into Jace’s waiting arms for a spinning hug. I didn’t even care that he was disgusting. I was proud. Everyone had to back away so the newspaper crew could take pictures of the winning soccer team with their trophy. It was the first state titles in years for boy’s soccer and they won all thanks to Jace.

            Jace Harley.

            The boy I like. The boy who gave me a chance at Julliard. The boy who believes in me.

            Only him.

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One more more chapter and the epilogue before this is all over!

Question: Who is your favorite character and why?

I, personally, have always liked Dillon :)