Page 76 of My Return to the Walter Boys
“I have a proposition for you.” As I spoke, we filed down the row at the back of the auditorium. It had become Skylar’s and my spot after sitting there during the start of semester meeting. “It’s about the school paper.”
Chase glanced over his shoulder at me with a raised a brow. “Planning to oust me from my position so you can run it like you did Erin’s campaign?” he asked. “People are already talking about how you’re most likely to be elected president next year.”
Were they really? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered running.
“No,” I replied as my cheeks warmed, though it wouldn’t be a bad idea to shadow him. Chase was graduating in the spring, and if I learned the ropes directly from him, maybe I could take over as editor when I was a senior. It wouldn’t hurt to add another extracurricular to my college résumé. “Skylar mentioned that sometimes you need extra material?”
When he reached the main aisle, Chase let us step past him before perching on the armrest of the end seat and crossing his arms. I’d envisioned us finding an empty bench in the lobby, but I suppose wewere having the rest of our conversation here.
“That’s true,” he said, an almost smile playing on his lips.
Well, here goes nothing… “I have an idea,” I told him. “I think you should start running a monthly alumni column. It would feature notable former students, giving a window into their lives postgraduation. The article can highlight their accomplishments both from when they attended Valley View and after. Not only would it be beneficial for current students to—”
“Okay, I get it,” Chase said, raising a hand before I could finish my pitch. He rubbed his chin, considering. “Do you have a suggestion for who our first feature should be?”
Skylar pressed a fist to his mouth to cover a cough, but it sounded suspiciously like “Cole.”
I looked daggers at him, then turned back to Chase. “Yes, and I have a rough draft for you as well.” I handed over the pages I’d printed out this morning in preparation.
As he read over what I wrote, Chase’s eyebrows rose. “This…this is really good, Jackie. I’m impressed.” When he met my gaze again, I could tell he was on the verge of saying yes. “Do you have any images we can use?”
The question threw me off for a single heartbeat, but then I remembered the picture I took of Cole and Carter at the race track. “I have something that should work.”
“All right.”
“All right, meaning?”
“I’ll run the article,” he said with a nod.
“Yes!” I squealed, rising onto my tiptoes and clapping my hands together. “Thank you so much. I promise you won’t regret—”
Chase held up a finger. “On one condition,” he added, and I went still. “You have to join the school paper and continue writing this column.”
As if that was some great hardship? “Fair enough,” I said as I bit back a smile, “but I have a counter condition.”
Sixteen
Silence.
I stopped pacing across the worn-out rug and turned to face Nathan. “Well, what do you think?”
Not much, if the expression on his face was anything to go by. He was sitting in the same position I’d found him in when I showed up at the loft looking for reassurance that tomorrow would go smoothly—cross-legged on the single couch cushion that wasn’t sunken in, sudoku booklet clutched in his hands, and a walkie-talkie at his side. The only difference now was that he was staring at me with raised brows, not unlike Parker had when I told her I didn’t know how to throw a spiral or what that even was.
“It’s certainly well thought out,” he said, though his tone suggested otherwise.
My shoulders sagged as I released the breath I’d been holding.“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” he replied, but his gaze darted to the puzzle in his lap so he wouldn’t have to look me in the eyes.
Yeah, I wasn’t buying that. Nathan had never been a very good liar.
I circled around the coffee table, plopped down beside him, and gently nudged his side. “What is it? I promise I can handle the truth.”
He sighed, stuck his pencil between the pages to mark his place, and let the booklet fall closed. “Don’t you think that’s a little…I don’t know, much?”
My condition for becoming Chase’s new columnist was that he had to release this month’s edition of the school paper three days early. It meant a ton of extra work on his end, but once I explained my reason, he reluctantly agreed. Instead of this upcoming Monday, it would come out tomorrow, which just so happened to be the same day as the next dirt track race. Cole’s current client would be competing with the engine he rebuilt, and the entire Walter crew was attending to support him. Hopefully the driver did well, because my plan was to find Cole after the feature, present the debut alumni column to him, and apologize for making him feel less than. When I told Nathan my plan, I never expected him to be skeptical. Amused or disinterested, maybe, but still supportive.
“To be honest, I’m worried it won’t be enough.” I tried to shake off the negative voice inside my head that was whispering all the things that could go wrong, how I’d fail and that Cole would never forgive me, but the more I ignored it, the louder it grew. “I really screwed up,Nathan. This has to be perfect.”
