I stuffed the note in my pocket and the book in my backpack and then hurried to my next class before I was late. I made it to class before the bell and then pulled the folded note from my pocket. It was a note that we’d been writing back and forth on the same piece of binder paper.
“You.
Me.
Lunch.”
The smile that was plastered across my face wouldn’t have budged even if you’d punched me as hard as you could square in the jaw. I didn’t know what she meant, but whatever it was, I liked the “you and me” part. I didn’t even care if I didn’t eat. I’d scarf down my food in fifth period if I had to.
After class, I went back to my locker to find Vanessa leaning against it. She was talking to people as they passed and when she saw me approach, she grabbed my hand and tugged me behind her.
“Wait, sunshine. I need to put my book in my locker.”
She sighed. “Hurry and grab your econ book too.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “We won’t be coming back before fifth period?”
“Nope.” She smiled and shook her head.
I eyed her curiously. “You have me intrigued.”
She lifted up on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, “And you have me horny.”
I was tearing my backpack opened so fast I thought for sure the zipper would break, but it didn’t. I threw my history book in my locker, switched it out with my econ book, and slammed the metal door shut with enough force to cause every girl within a twenty foot radius to jump and the dudes to turn and look at us. From an outsider’s perspective, you might think we were fighting, I was only excited about getting a nooner and tempted to shout the news down the hall.
Vanessa giggled as I grabbed her hand and led her to my car so I could drive us to a nearby park for lunch.
Game day.
One of my favorite days.
I loved the rush I got from the energy of the crowd as I drove the football into the end zone. We all had our passions and football was mine. I practiced every day and I stayed focused because I had my future all mapped out—my future with Vanessa.
We sat on the grass under a tree with the rest of our group of friends during lunch. Today there would be no nooner and I couldn’t skip eating because I had to make sure I was fueled up and ready for tonight.
She sat between my legs, leaning against my chest and wearing my teal and black Letterman jacket to stay warm. “Tomorrow after practice do you want to see a movie?” she asked, looking up at me.
I tilted my head down a little and kissed her forehead. “Yeah, sunshine, whatever you want to do.”
“What if we go check out some of the apartments next to UCLA and see what they’re like?”
“Oh, so now you want to live with me?” I teased. After we graduated, I was going to go to the University of California Los Angeles and Vanessa would get into modeling. She’d already modeled for a few catalogs and had been featured in an orange juice commercial when she was younger, but she wanted to be the next Cindy Crawford and I knew she could be.
She sat up, then turned around on her knees and grabbed my cheeks with both her hands playfully. Our mouths were inches apart as she looked directly into my eyes. “Wouldn’t it be better if we lived together, rather than you being tired all the time in class?”
I cracked a smile. “And why would I be tired all the time?”
“Oh my God, if you two don’t go get a room—”
“Shh, Amber, Nessa is telling me something important. Go on,” I promoted.
“You know you can’t get enough of me,” she whispered. “So if we aren’t living together,” I let her continue, but I knew what she would say because we’d already had a similar conversation. We were in love and I wanted to live with her. I didn’t care about living on campus. I wanted to be with her. I could still go to parties, still hang with friends, hang with teammates. We could find an apartment close to campus. “You’ll be sleeping less because you’ll have to commute all the time.”
“I like where your head is at, and I like what you’re thinking right now.”
She smirked. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Please, sunshine. I know everything about you.” I kissed her lips briefly.
“Seriously, get a room,” Amber groaned.
“We can find a place close to campus. It won’t be bad. Trust me.”
She smiled before she agreed and then kissed me quickly and turned back around in my arms. We stayed like that the rest of our lunch break while the group chatted about the game and weekend plans. When the bell rang, Vanessa handed me a folded up piece of paper.
“Can’t wait to see you kick ass tonight! Maybe after, I’ll let you smack mine.”
A million thoughts ran through my head. Okay two: doggie or anal. I was down for either.
The Friday night lights shined down on the brown leather pigskin between my gloved fingers as I ran, dodging the blur of white and missing the body that tried to tackle me as I made my way toward the end zone. With each stride, I breathed in the cool sea breeze coming from the Pacific Ocean just a little over a block away.
I dodged another tackle before meeting the safety head on at the goal line. Our helmets clashed together, vibrating against my skull and causing me to lose focus for a slight second. I powered through, spinning and falling over the white line to make another touchdown. The crowd went wild, the cheers deafening, but there was just one I cared about. After I stood and tossed the football to the referee, I scanned the bleachers for my girl.
The moment my eyes locked with hers, it confirmed something was wrong. I’d noticed something was off every time I’d looked at her during the game. She wasn’t cheering, she wasn’t laughing with Amber, and she wasn’t bright like the sun—my sunshine. Vanessa was only clapping with the crowd and giving me a tight smile. Something was definitely wrong and I didn’t like it.
What the fuck?
I wanted to run up and ask, but I couldn’t. We were in the fourth quarter with only four minutes left. I would get answers soon enough, though. Every Friday night after our home games, we went across the street to the beach to celebrate all my touchdowns.
Tonight would be no different.
After all, I had three to celebrate—so far.
“PJ!” Marcus yelled, slapping me on the back. “Nice game.”
I gave him a nod as I scanned the crowd of bodies, searching for my girl. Most home games were the same: we won, and then the school came across the street to celebrate with a bonfire. We would have a few kegs in the back of trucks that were easy to drive off with if the cops showed up, and we’d all drink until we couldn’t feel the cold California breeze any longer. A few would light up or smoke weed, but I wasn’t into that shit. I was more or less a superstar for Malibu High; an athlete with a full ride to UCLA and graduating this year. I couldn’t chance anything happening.
My gaze continued to scan the crowd as best I could in the dark, the only light coming from the orange flame of the fire burning and the moon. I didn’t see Vanessa or Amber anywhere.
“Bro, that was sick at the end how you just plowed through that dude for your fourth TD of the night,” Clint, another classmate, beamed, reaching out his hand to bring me in for a bro hug.
“Thanks, man.” I smiled. “Have you seen Nessa?”
“Yeah, I think I saw her go down to the water.”
“Cool.” I clapped him on the back and started to jog around the people and through the sand until I got in the clear. I looked right and then left, but didn’t spot her. I was about to turn around and go back when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her and Amber sitting on a rock to my left, not near the water at all. I jogged over to them.
“Hey, sunshine, you okay?” I asked, kneeling down so I was eye to eye with her.