Growing Pains

Chapter Sixteen

Courtney

It had been a week and two days since voting and I was antsy with anticipation. As far as I knew, most people had voted for me, but I didn't want to let the thought of me winning slip into my mind because once I did, Heather would win. That's just how the universe worked.

After my third or so date with Justin, he asked to make things official, which still sent a trill of excitement through me every time I thought about how he was my boyfriend. We had talked about all sorts of things on our dates. I learned about his mom and his modeling career. Apparently, he planned on staying on track with it professionally. He mentioned something about having other projects in the works but didn't say much more. I left it alone because I didn't want to seem like some busybody.

He kissed me after our second date. He didn't necessarily ask, but it was okay. It was a very sweet kiss, the kind you think about when you fall asleep at night. The third date was lovely—another dinner date at Springs Avenue—and I held his hand as we walked around the streets; we also got into a pretty intense make out session that left me giggling like a fool. The entire time I thought about Duncan and his stupid little comment on passion. I mean, making out? That's pretty passionate.

Justin asked me to hang out again next week, which made my heart thrum just thinking about it. I even think he was starting to warm up to my friends too, well besides Trent—they were already good friends. He even invited the gang and me to a party next Saturday as sort of a winter break celebration.

The Drama Brother's had stopped performing out, which was why he was even able to attend this party. Trent said that they were taking the time to create some new materials, which was probably smart. I was getting tired of their old songs anyways.

We started sitting together at lunch too, which made me happy. We would alternate between his table and my own. He sat with Heather, Lindsay, Alejandro, and couple of sophomores I forgot the names of. They weren't the ideal company, but he made me happy.

But Justin made another comment that was picking at the back of my mind. I turned to Bridgette and asked, "Do you think I talk about Duncan a lot?" Justin had to redirect me from another tangent I had about him and his grades. I was going on and on about how he had so much potential but failed to act on it. It was quite frustrating, really.

She furrowed her brows as she looked out towards the football field, "I don't know. I haven't really noticed." She turned to me, "Why?"

I frowned, "Justin has made a couple comments about it, and I was just wondering if you noticed."

She raised a brow, "Trouble in paradise?"

I shook my head dismissively, "No, no. I just worry."

She patted my head, "You need to stop over thinking things. Go with the flow."

I smiled and rolled my eyes, "We all can't be you, Miss Zen."

She smiled at me but something was off about it. It seemed forced or too tight, "Yep, that's me. Miss Zen."

Something seemed wrong, and I wanted to ask her about it, but I was cut off by a big roar of the crowd. I groaned, "Remind me why we're here again."

She shot me a look, "Because I'm supporting Lightning. And anyways, you can never support your friends too much."

"Yeah, yeah. I know," I said with a sigh as I crossed my arms and watched the game.

Bridgette had moved on to her next boyfriend. He was a sophomore named Lightning, and he was pretty hot. It would be a definite improvement from Tyler, if the guy could stop talking about himself for five seconds. But hey, if it's what made her happy.