Page 31 of Overdue Feelings
I blinked, surprised as he dropped a delicate silver locket into my palm. My thumb brushed over the tiny engraving on the back of our initials. Mine, his, and Ares, carved into the back.
“I wanted you to have something that doesn’t require choosing. Just a reminder that we’ve always been your heart.”
I looked up at him, leaned in, and kissed him slow and deep, like there was nowhere to be but here. He kissed me back, hand pressing into the small of my back.
“You still my girl, Creek?” he whispered against my lips.
“Forever,” I sang just as we heard footsteps walking through the grass. We both turned to see Ares standing at the edge of the pathway. He paused, like he’d walked into something he wasn’t meant to see.
“I was just coming to check on the lifeguard tower,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Didn’t realize it was gone.” Disappointment passed across his face quick, but I caught it.
“It’s still here,” I said, patting the blanket. “Just... different now.”
He hesitated, like he wasn’t sure if he was invited into the moment, until Zae nodded and said, “Come on, bruh. Sit.”
“Alright.” He dropped beside us. “How long’s it been gone?”
“What, like five years?” I asked, glancing at Zae.
“Yeah, about so.” He nodded. Ares didn’t speak for a minute. He just looked out at the lake.
“This was the last place I felt close to you,” he said quietly. “Even after I left. I kept coming back to that night in my mind. It never stopped meaning something to me.”
His words settled in my chest, and I reached over and grabbed his hand.
“But that was then. And this?” I looked around at the blanket, the lake, the three of us.“This is now. I’m not stuck there anymore.”
“Champagne?” Zae held up the bottle and Ares nodded. We sat like that all night... passing the bottle around like it was water. We laughed and just enjoyed each other’s company, and in that moment, I could feel the bad memories being placed behind us.
I canceledMonday’s practice and told the team Coach Zee would run drills if they still wanted to stay. My mind wasn’t in it. Creek had been called into a meeting in the principal’s office, so that’s where I was headed. I knew some shit was up because nobody had said much to me all day. I could feel the shift and hear the whispers.
I stood by the door of the front office waiting for her to emerge. Waiting to know what the hell was going on. The door opened and she walked out with her head down, but I saw her face. I saw her tight eyes like she was trying her best not to fall apart.
“You good?” I asked as we made our way down to the library. She nodded, grabbing her things and locking her classroom door, moving slower than usual on autopilot.
“I canceled practice,” I said, and we walked out of the building without another word. Kids were still around running to buses, parents yelling out car windows. Nobody paid us any mind, but I knew something major was going on. It was written all over her face.
I spotted him before she did. Ares was leaning against her car, arms crossed, like he’d been there a while waiting just as I had by the principal’s office. He must have felt the bad vibes today too. He looked up as we approached.
“Everything good?” he asked.
Creek didn’t respond as she moved toward her car door. It was clear that she wanted to get off school property as soon as possible. Moving quickly, I opened her door, and she climbed inside. Ares and I joined her. He sat in the front seat, and I sat in the back.
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked once we were all settled.
“Principal Voss said they got a few emails… complaints from parents. Something about ‘inappropriate personal relationships on campus.’”
“They said that to your face?” he blurted. I could hear the same anger I was feeling in his voice.
“She called it a concern.Professional boundaries. Said it wasn’t judgment, just perception. But it’s judgment point blank period.
“You’re not doing anything wrong.” I looked between Ares and Creek.
“Tell them that.” She spat.
“They mentioned me?” he asked.
“No names, but it’s clear they know,” she said. “Someone must have seen me with both of you at the carnival. I don’t know.”
