Linger

T W E N T Y - N I N E

"They made you wait how long??" 

"Forever!" 

"Okay, it wasn't that long." I shook my head with a laugh as I reached for my books in my locker.

It was now the following morning and Sasha and I were telling Alice and Chelsea all about our mishap at the hockey tryouts last night.

"It was long enough for us to freeze to death!" Sasha exclaimed, widening her eyes at me. 

Alice gasped. "What if you got hyperthermia?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "We survived. We're here. It's fine."

"No, it's not!" Sasha argued. "How are you not mad about all of this, Maddie? You were just dying to hook up with Tom yesterday."

"What?" Chelsea shifted her gaze from Sasha to me. 

It grew quiet as I eyed Sasha for a moment, half of me wanted to snap back at her with a snarky comment before deciding against it. "Obviously. He's hot." I rolled my eyes, turning back to my locker. 

"Yeah, and he just left you," Sasha pointed out. 

"He left the rink, not me." I sighed, closing my locker and turning to her. "Sasha, they just invited us to watch their try-outs and that's what we did. They tried out. We watched." 

"Yeah, but like--" She let out an exasperated huff. "It's not fair. We did so much for them and they just . . . left." 

"Their loss." Chelsea shrugged. 

Alice and I nodded in agreement. 

My gaze stayed on Sasha. "Sasha, you looked like a total beauty queen yesterday. If Ben couldn't appreciate that, he's blind." 

"No, he's not." Sasha groaned. "He was just tired from the try-outs. Maybe I should've worn his hoodie . . . do you think he would've left if I wore his hoodie?" She looked up at us, her eyes searching ours with concern. 

"Yeah, then wear his hoodie to the formal too," Chelsea added casually. "Why not?"

Sasha gave her a flat look while Alice and I giggled.

"Sasha, you could've worn a shirt with his name and face on it but he still would've left . . . because he was tired!" Chelsea exclaimed.

I nodded in agreement. "I was wearing Tom's jacket and that didn't stop him from leaving." 

"But if you would've hooked up with him . . ." Sasha sang, giving me a knowing look. 

My thoughts began to whirl as I looked at her. "What are you--What are you saying?" I glanced at the others before turning back to Sasha. "That it's my fault they left?"

"Really?" Chelsea arched an eyebrow at her. 

"Sasha." Alice shot her a stern look. 

"I didn't mean it like that." Sasha waved her hand dismissively with a sigh before flicking her gaze over to me. "But, like, you do want to, don't you?"

"No. Not at all," I said dryly, securing my lock on my locker. 

"What?!" She gawked at me. "Maddie!!"

"Who would ever want to hook up with someone as tall and gorgeous as him?" I continued, swinging my bag over my shoulder and turning away. 

Alice let out a laugh next to me and I caught her eye, giving her a smile as she reached for my hand and we started down the hall just as the shrill ring of the bell sounded through the air.