Page 11 of Tell Me Softly
“I…I needed the time to think.”
“About breaking up with me?! Tell me you’re kidding.”
I shook my head. I hadn’t intended to do it now, but after feeling his hands on me, I couldn’t wait. I didn’t want this relationship to bring me even more headaches when I was trying to have fun that night. If this was what love was supposed to be, then to hell with it. I didn’t want to be in love.
“Do you have any idea how many chicks I’ve turned down for you?” he screamed.
I stared at him, seeing a part of him he had never shown me…or almost never.
“You’re right,” he continued. “We should have broken up a long time ago.” He slammed his fist into the steering wheel and kept talking. “You know what? You’re a sanctimonious little bitch.” I blinked, unable to believe his words.
“You’re a fucking tease; you’ve been playing with me since I met you, with your stupid skimpy dresses and your seductive looks and your touchy-feely bullshit that never leads anywhere. I waited and waited, and now you’re telling me you were never really that into me?”
“You can say what you want,” I said. “It won’t make me change my mind.” I tried to get out, but the door was locked. We were far from the school building, with just a sea of empty cars around us. If Danny wanted to keep me in there, there wasn’t much I could do. I tried the lock button, but he had the power locks engaged.
“Let me out, Danny.”
He laughed bitterly, and I was gripped by an irrational fear that I tried to ignore.
“Open the goddamn door.”
I looked into his eyes just then, and I saw that people have many different sides. They show us the one that’s most convenient for them at that moment, and they hide the bad ones until the right moment comes—and then it comes out and leaves you frozen.
“Or what?” he asked. He’d never looked more frightening than in that moment.
I tried to think how the hell to answer him, but someone knocked at the window. Standing outside Danny’s Range Rover was Taylor Di Bianco.
Danny forced a smile and rolled his window down.
“You ready to kick their asses?” Taylor asked, but his eyes were on me.
Could he see how tense I was? Could he see the fear behind the forced smile I put on?
“Yeah, be there in a few minutes,” Danny said calmly. “We’ve just got some couple stuff to deal with, right, Kami?”
I weighed my possible responses.
“Honestly, I should go warm up,” I said, trying the door again and finding it still locked. “Could you open the door for me?”
He ground his teeth, but he did as I asked.
So it was over. No more fights. No more boring, bitter nights. I had loved him—I really had, but I hadn’t loved myself. And he should have known that.
I got out and walked to the gym while Taylor stayed behind talking to Danny. I made sure none of the fear or sadness I felt was detectable on my face. I walked over to my friends by the front door, so angry I wished I were stepping into a boxing ring instead of onto a court with stupid pompoms.
“Are you OK?” Ellie asked with a chuckle.
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to remain calm. The sun was setting, and it was starting to get dark in the shadow of the building by the parking lot, where students were gathering along with some parents and the kids from the rival school. My cheerleader friends were excited and chirping like birds, and I tried to join them until I felt someone’s eyes boring into my neck. I turned to find Thiago getting off his motorcycle. He walked straight to the gym entrance.
He passed me, but if he saw me, he didn’t show it.
I tried to act as if it didn’t matter as I focused on my warm-up. When it was time to go out on the court, I tried as hard as possible not to think of anything else, but the Di Bianco brothers had overtaken my mind.
Still, it was nice to shake the pompoms and move to the music. I missed a step, and Ellie shot me a nasty glance that forced me to focus. It was right when I was being lifted in the air and had tofall into my teammates’ arms. I needed to be careful. Any mistake could leave me bruised…or with a broken neck.
Luckily, years of practice helped me through it. We put on a show, and all the applause and cheering from the stands left us in a good mood. We still had it.
We walked over to the sidelines to watch the game, and I had to pass right by Thiago and Coach Klebb. I couldn’t keep myself from staring. Thiago was so handsome, and it was impossible not to notice. I’d seen him grow up. I remembered what he looked like when his two front teeth fell out; I remembered him in some of the lamest outfits imaginable. He’d always had something special, though. He and his brother. They had both turned out handsome. Much more than I expected.
