Page 1 of Chasing Chase London, Part 8: Valentines Day

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“All Star”–Smash Mouth

“Guess what?” I say, sliding into my seat on Thursday. I can’t wait to spill the good news, so I blurt it out before Daria can even guess. “I’m un-grounded!”

“Come over here and bounce like that on my cock,” Colin calls from across the room.

“Oh my god, did you hear that?” she hisses, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Everyone in the room heard that,” I say, cringing in sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” she whispers. “That means he was watching me!”

I think about pointing out that she just shrieked loud enough to wake up half the bleary-eyed people in the room, but I let it go. She was so happy for me it would be a dick move not to be happy for her when she gets what she wants, which is obviously Colin’s attention.

“Oh my god, this is going to be epic,” she says, seizing my hand. “This is, like, the best week of the whole year, and now you get to do all the things with us!”

“I thought Homecoming was the best week.”

“Well, I mean, duh,” she says. “Oh, and prom! But that goes without saying. This is the best week so far this calendar year. How’s that?”

“Dare I ask why?”

“Well, there’s the basketball game tomorrow night, obvi. And then on Saturday, Colin’s band is playing! And of course next weekend is Valentines. And now you finally can go out with Todd, like you’ve been dying to.”

“Yeah, totally,” I say, though I wouldn’t say I’ve been dying to do it. More like meaning to cross it off my to-do list.

I’m relieved for any little bit of freedom, though.

Even when, at the game, I realize all my friends are sitting on the bench courtside, waiting to jump up during long timeouts and cheer.

That leaves me sitting there like some weirdo loner, ala Nate Swift.

I might as well have made a sign that says “Imposter” to hold up for all the world to see.

I’m relieved when Isabel Finnegan comes up the bleachers and sits with me just before the toss-up.

“Chase isn’t in the starting lineup?” I ask, surprised. I’m used to him being a god in all things.

“Oh, he never starts,” Isabel says with the air of an expert. “He’s not really a baller, y’know. Not like my brothers.”

“He’s definitely the star of the football field,” I say.

“Yeah, but football players aren’t ballers, ” she says, looking at me like I’m missing more than a few brain cells.

Oliver has a good six inches on the guy from the other team, and I could swear he levitates to swat the ball easily to Faulkner. The thunder of ten players—and a couple referees—sprinting for the goal echoes around the gym, along with the cheers of the small crowd.

Oliver gets the ball with a pretty clear shot, but he whips it over into the corner to Greg, who immediately sinks a three.

I cheer, but Isabel doesn’t even seem to notice the game. “So, you’re pretty close with the team, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I say, watching the ball make its way down the floor in the other direction.

“You’re Lindsey’s bestie, though, right?”

A swell of pride rises in me, and I straighten on the bench. Even though I know Lindsey didn’t tell her that—she always reserves that title for Elaine—the thought that an outsider might see it that way makes me want to break into a happy dance in the middle of the stands.

On the floor, Greg gets a rebound and takes the ball the full length of the floor and lays it up while everyone else is still four steps behind. I cheer with everyone else, thankful for an excuse to smile and yell to get out all my happy energy.

Spontaneous happy dance averted.

“Maybe one of them,” I say carefully, not wanting it to get back to the group that I claimed to be something I’m not.

“How long has she been with Chase?” Isabel asks.

“Basically forever, as far as I can tell.”

“They must be really in love,” she says with a sigh. When I don’t answer, she just stares at me, like she’s waiting for me to confirm.

The other team runs over one of our players to score, and I hope Isabel will be distracted by the boos of the crowd when no foul is called.

“So, do they really love each other?” she presses.

“Yeah, obviously,” I grit out.

Suddenly sitting here alone doesn’t sound so bad.

“Does he only like blondes?” she asks, chewing at her fat lower lip as Chase and Colin trot onto the floor to relieve two senior guys.

“He only likes Lindsey,” I say flatly, but Isabel is busy jumping up and down and screaming like a fangirl when Chase hits a jump shot the first play off the bench. He glances in our direction before going back to the game, and Isabel collapses beside me in a fit of giggles.

“Did you see that?” she asks, grabbing my arm, her eyes huge and shining with joy. “He looked at me!”

“So did half the people here,” I mutter, ducking my head. “You screamed like someone shanked you.”

“You’re so funny,” she squeals, batting my leg. “Ollie didn’t tell us you were funny.”

My heart flips, and my gaze finds Oliver, who’s dribbling slowly along the three-point arc.

He pulls up, and his defender goes up, batting at empty air when Oliver doesn’t shoot.

Instead, he ducks by while his guard is off-balance and makes a high, arching shot that settles into the net with a quiet swish.

I want to ask Isabel why Oliver is saying anything at all about me, and what he’s said, but I hold myself back. It doesn’t matter. He’s in the enemy camp.

For the rest of the half, we watch Chase sprint all over the court, harassing the other team mercilessly. Isabel gets so excited every time he scores that I wouldn’t be surprised if she ran down onto the floor and tackled him.

At halftime I go down to get a drink, and Todd catches me in his beseeching gaze.

I get my soda and step outside. The February wind is a biting, bitter cold that instantly brings tears to my eyes.

A few hard flakes of snow pierce my skin like frozen needles.

I call my mom to check in as arranged, so she knows I haven’t made a run for the border on my first night of freedom.

Todd comes out while I’m on the phone and wraps his giant parka around my shoulders.

When I hang up, he puts his arm around me. “I miss you, Sky.”

“Are we really going to talk about this now?” I ask.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he says. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

I sigh. “Why are you doing this? If I can’t give you what you need, there are plenty of girls who can.”

“I don’t need anything you can’t give me.” He huddles down in his t-shirt, looking miserable.

“Then why did you sleep with Elaine?”

The wind bites into my face, achingly cold, and suddenly I want to cry. I don’t even know why. It’s not like I’m in love with Todd. But of all the girls, why her?

“It had nothing to do with you,” he says. “I don’t want any other girls. I swear.”

I slide his jacket off my shoulders and hand it back to him. “I’ll think about it.”

I don’t know why I’m stalling, since I already know I’m going to take him back. Now that he’s not with Elaine anymore, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. He’s sweet, and Lindsey pretty much told me I’d be left out if I’m not part of a couple. I could do a lot worse.

Todd follows me inside and up into the bleachers. As soon as we sit down, Isabel starts pumping him for information about Chase.

After her third of fourth question, he frowns and says, “If you want to know so much about Chase, why don’t you ask him?”

I almost take him back on the spot.