Not You Again

Chapter 16.5

It was nearing the end of practice. Most of the girls in the club had to run laps because instead of focusing and practicing, they were too busy standing around and chatting about the dance next weekend.

The sun was setting as Claude wiped away the sweat on his forehead. He tugged on his collar to let air flow through for his chest to breath. He didn't miss the way some of the other girls stared at him, whispering to each other. It wasn't new to him. He's gotten a few of his own love confessions since school started. Felix wasn't the only one who had a way with the ladies.

He walked over to the side of the tennis court to grab his water bottle. As he took large gulps, one of the other female members started walking over to him. He already knew what she wanted to ask him.

"Hey Claude," the girl smiled. Don't ask. "I was wondering," she started to blush. Don't. Please don't. "Will you be my date to the dance?" And there it goes.

"I'm sorry, I was already planning on asking someone else," he smiled apologetically.

The girl's face fell, but she tried to not show her disappointment too much. "O-oh, okay. I'm sorry for bothering you," she finished before running back to her friends. He looked in the other direction to not embarrass her.

"Quite the heart breaker, aren't ya?" Nate, the captain of the tennis team walked up to him.

Claude didn't say anything but instead took another sip from his bottle.

"Listen, don't feel too bad. It's not like you have to accept every girl's feelings. So, who's the lucky lady that you're gonna ask?"

Claude felt his face heat up. "J-just this friend of mine."

"And does this friend have a name?" He smirked.

"I-I'm not saying," he stuttered.

Nate let out a light chuckle, "I'll find out next Saturday, won't I? Well, that's IF she says yes," he teased.

Claude face grew redder. His heart sank a little. It's not like he hasn't already thought about the possibility of being rejected. Sure, he shows he has a lot of confidence in public, but he has his own faults too like everyone else.

This was different. He was going to ask the girl he's been crushing on for the past year to the dance. One, things could go well for him. If she says yes, maybe it'll be an open door to the possibility of them dating. They could go on dates over the weekend when neither of them had practice. They could buy matching phone cases to show off to everyone. Maybe she'll even end up being his high school sweetheart.

Or, she could say no and their friendship will never be the same.

He let out a deep sigh as practice finished up and everyone headed back to the locker rooms. He grabbed his towel from his bag and wiped off more sweat from his face. He grabbed both his school and gym bag and was on his way home.

As he exited through the main front doors, he saw some of the other female teammates walking home in a group. One of them was crying. It was the girl he had just turned down. This was why he didn't want her asking in the first place. He hated making people upset.

Along the way back to his house, he picked up some wild flowers that were around. He started plucking away at the petals, "Ask her. Don't ask her. Ask her. Don't ask her." He plucked the last petal, "Ask her!" His heart started beating a little faster. He was too nervous so he started plucking at another flower in his hands. "She'll say yes. She'll say no." He plucked the last petal, "She'll say yes!" He felt his face heat up all over again.

"Should I text her?" He said out loud to himself. "No, that's not romantic. I'll ask her on Monday." He clenched his fist, feeling the determination to ask out his crush.

*****

It was Monday morning. Claude felt he barely slept. He was too nervous for Monday to come. He ended up waking up super early. He had a plan and it involved him getting to school before she did. He started getting for school. He threw on some jeans and his favorite lucky, blue-striped V-neck. He combed his hair into its usual shape, grabbed both his bags, and was on his way out.

His heart felt like it was going to explode. As he walked to the front entrance of the school, he made his way towards the boys' locker room first to drop off his gym bag. Then he went to just outside the gymnasium to wait for his girl.

Several minutes passed. Time felt like it was going to slow for him.

"Hey Claude, you looking for someone?"

Claude looked in the direction to where the voice came from. It was Nate's girlfriend. "Oh, hey Veronica. Yeah, I'm just waiting on someone." He felt his face heat up al little.

Veronica took a good look on him and already knew where his reaction was coming from. She let out a light giggle, "Good luck." She gave him a pat on his shoulder and headed towards the girls' locker room.

Claude tried fanning his face to try and calm down. It was barely helping. Then, he heard a few giggles coming from around the corner. He already knew who they were coming from. Here we go. Time to put this plan into motion.

"Claude!" Bridgette's face lit up as the girls spotted him.

"Good morning Bridge. Good morning Melodie." He greeted. Okay, stay cool.

*****

The girls greeted him back. They chatted for a minute or so until Bridgette asked, "So why are you here? Only the dance team has practice here."

"Uh, well," he reached his arm to the back of his neck, "before I go meet up with Felix, I needed to ask you something real quick Bridge."

"M-me?" Bridgette felt her face flush for a second. She looked at Melodie before looking back at him. "What is it?"

Claude took a quick glance at Melodie before looking back at her. "I was wondering if I could talk to you privately real quick?"

Bridgette's face fell a little. She didn't have to look at her best friend to know what she must be feeling. She needed to get her away quickly. "I'm sorry Melodie, I'll meet you inside, okay?" Please trust me.

"O-okay." She said a little too quietly before heading inside the gym a little too quickly.

"Uh, I-" he started before getting cut off by the dance teacher.

"Hurry inside Bridgette," Ms. Leroux started. "You'll be late. You can talk to your friend later." She disappeared into the gym.

"Sorry Bridgette, I'll talk to you later. Can you meet me by the library during lunch? Alone?"

"O-okay," she barely managed to stutter out before he started walking away towards the direction of the library. Bridgette froze. Oh my god.

This was a short special because my main chapter is still in progress :)