Page 140 of Infatuated as They Come
“Should we wear black?” asked Claudia from behind me. “I don’t own anything black except my gym clothes.”
“You can wear whatever you want,” I said, dapping some of the red glitter against Millie’s eyelids, the crimson color contrasting against her ebony skin. “There’s no dress code.”
“I’d love to come too. I don’t know how to fit in with artists, though,” said Millie.
“They’re not as intimidating as you think. It should be a really fun night.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll all be there,” Claudia said before standing up. “Girls, we’re leaving in exactly five minutes! I want your ponytailstight.”
Claudia made sure we left four minutes later so we could get to the stadium on time. Sophie was next to me, her arm hooked with mine as she whispered words of encouragement my way before we got settled onto the field. We dumped our bags on the ground, starting with our stretches and then warmups before we took a small water break. The stadium was filling up, the voices of the crowd going from soft murmurs to loud cheers and screams.
“You busy, Malibu Barbie?”
That name made me smile in an instant. I threw my water bottle into my bag and turned around, coming face to face with Sawyer. “Hi,” I said. “I have a million butterflies in my stomach right now.”
“Don’t be nervous,” he said. “You’ll do great.”
“Will you laugh if I make a huge, embarrassing mistake like last time?”
“No. Of course not. You’re allowed to make mistakes, you know?” He squeezed at my waist. “You got this. Just take some deep breaths and do what you always do.”
I nodded at his comforting words. “Right. Breathe. I have to breathe.”
“You know how to do that, right?”
“I think I forgot.”
“There’s nothing to worry about, okay? I know you can do it. Everything will be okay and I’ll be right there watching,” he said, pointing a thumb overhis shoulder towards the bleachers.
I nodded. “I got this. I can do it.”
“Yeah, you can,” he murmured, giving my lips a quick kiss. “You’ll do amazing.”
“Oh, guess what? I told all the girls about your exhibition and they said they’re all coming. So prepare yourself for about twenty cheerleaders to be there that night.”
“As long as my favorite one is there,” he said. “I told Brodie about it. He said he’s gonna fly down, so he’ll be there too.”
“Oh, amazing!” My hands clasped together. “It’ll be so nice to see him.”
“Yeah, I really miss him,” he said, brows knitting together. “Did you wanna invite anyone else? Someone… important.”
“Who are you…” I found myself sighing. “My parents?”
“Holly, you can’t avoid your dad forever.”
“That’syournight, Sawyer.”
“Why don’t you just ask them, baby?” he said, giving my hand a squeeze. “See what they say. I bet he misses you. I won’t ask you to do it if you really don’t wanna, but I know you miss him too.”
He was right about that. I missed my dad. I missed what we used to have, and I so badly wanted us to go back to that, but I still wasn’t ready to completely forgive him. Just the idea of him showing up for Sawyer’s special night only to turn it into another disaster felt like a stab to the chest.
“I don’t want him to ruin that night for you,” I said. “What if he does something just as awful as last time?”
“I don’t think he could top that,” he said. “I don’t want you to keep missing him, Holly. And the longer you two don’t talk, the worse it’ll get.”
I stared at him for a long moment before finally nodding. “I’ll talk to Mom about it.”
“Holly, time to—Oh, hello Holly’s boyfriend,” Claudia said, suddenly by my side. “Remember when you said you’d paint the team? Hm? What happened to that?”
