Page 25 of Quarterback Crush
Following the game review, Adam had invited a bunch of kids back to his house. After the overload of football, it was fun to chill out and play video games.Hanging out with the boys, eating potato chips and sticky barbecue ribs and blasting a few orcs and trolls was the perfect way to end what had essentially been the perfect weekend.
SAVANNAH’S RETURN TOschool on Monday caused a commotion, the queen back to reign over her kingdom. But I was determined to keep my focus singular, the buzz of the semifinal overriding everything. As I stopped by my locker after English class, Savannah appeared, seemingly out of thin air, deflating the high I’d just gotten from the A I’d gotten for my resubmitted English assignment, a shock to say the least.
“Hi Ollie,” she said, her hoarse voice the first thing I noticed.
“Hi, hear you had the flu. You good now?” I mumbled back out of politeness, head in my locker grabbing my pre-training drink and post-training protein balls.
“It was a throat infection,” she said woefully before adding a sarcastic, “and yeah, I am. Thanks for asking.”
“Glad to hear it,” I said, in a rush to get away. There could be nothing good gained from getting involved in a conversation.
“So I hear you went out with Maya Shelton.” Savannah tried, but failed, to hide her bitterness as I closed my locker door.
“Yeah, I did,” I answered coolly.
“And coincidentally you just got an A from Mrs. Shelton’s class. After your first date with Maya? Hmmm,” she mused, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, but there was a knot forming deep in my belly at her insinuation.
“Oh, nothing,” Savannah breezed, “just maybe Mrs. Shelton has a new favorite student?”
“I stayed up past midnight working on that paper,” I said, feeling the need to justify myself, “and you should know I handed it in last week, before our date.”
Savannah smiled sweetly. “Oooh, no need to get defensive, Ollie.”
I frowned at the absurdity of her connecting a date with Maya and getting an A from Mrs. Shelton. “So, has Monty asked you out yet?”
Now Savannah was the one to look offended. “I told you I’ve been sick,” she rasped as if to demonstrate a real illness. “Though we might have something planned for this weekend.”
“You really want to date a Lincoln Loser?” I jeered.
Savannah’s eyebrows bounced up in triumph as she smirked, “Are you jealous, Ollie?”
I scowled, annoyed at myself for even asking the question. I didn’t need to know about Savannah’s dating life. We were done. She could do whatever she wanted.
Coach Gregor elevated our training intensity another notch. And strangely, the buzz I usually got after a solid session wasn’t enough; something was missing, something was lacking...Maya. Yeah, I missed seeing her. Was that crazy?
Our date had been epic, and upskilling Maya in the kissing department was something I’d done with enthusiasm. But it wasn’t just that. I’d connected with Maya. She saw me as more than the star quarterback. She’d wanted to know the real me, what I liked, and no one had asked me that before. I drove home, my stomach twisting with a weird sensation, almost an ache. Yet, a day without seeing Maya, my fake girlfriend, shouldn’t affect me that much.
Convincing myself that I had nerves due to the semifinal looming, I made it a priority to text Maya as soon as I got home from training:Hey, missed you today. I can give you a ride home tomorrow.
With no instant reply, I showered and ate dinner while filling Dad in on our session. Mom interrupted our discussion, asking, “Does anyone want more lasagna?”
Dad shook his head. “I’m good,” he said, adding, “This is great, by the way.”
“Ollie?” Her brusque tone told me she was still upset over the Savannah affair.
Hoping a second helping might appease her somewhat, I scooped more onto my plate, suddenly remembering, “Hey, I got an A on my English assignment today.”
Both parents were simultaneously shocked.
“An A?”
“Really?”
“Yep,” I said, stuffing food into my mouth to avoid their questions.
“Congratulations,” Dad said. “Well done.”
