Remember Me

36

Day two of try outs was a success, and today I did not run away afterwards.

Hess didn't show up. Again. She was dead silent at lunch.

We all approach Hunter, Jordan, Eli and Reece after try outs are over and I can't take my eyes off of sweaty Reece, some of his hair sticking to his forehead and his Adam's apple bobbing as he chugs his water bottle.

I can't help it. He's literally the most attractive person I have ever seen, and it doesn't help that his presence is badass.

"Hello, Earth to Ivy?" Dylan says, snapping in front of my eyes.

I blink and I notice that Reece is looking right at me, smirking wildly.

Oh, shit.

I look away and try to regain my consciousness. "Um, what?" I ask.

Dylan laughs at me in amusement. "Stacey and Jordan's tonight. To celebrate everyone making the team?"

I nod. "Yeah, right. I'm down."

Jordan says, "There's this cool new kid, have you guys met him? We should invite him."

Almost every single one of us but Hunter looks at Jordan with crazy eyes and we all start whisper-screaming at him not to do it.

He looks around and yells, "Aye, Jake!"

Jake begins running over, and Stacey slaps his arm, to which he looks at her like she's insane. "You're an idiot," Stacey hisses.

When Jake reaches us, Hunter says, "We're meeting at Jordan and Stacey's house tonight to celebrate. You wanna come?"

He looks around at all of us and says, "You sure?"

"Of course," Jordan says, wrapping his arm around him.

We all put on forced smiles.

"Okay, yeah, I'll be there."

"I'll send you the address," Jordan says, slapping his chest and letting him go. What a guy thing to do.

"See you there," Jake says, running a hand through his curly hair and walking away.

"Now what the fuck is your problem with him?" Jordan asks.

Everyone turns to me. "Uhh... it's a long story."

—

In the end, I did end up telling Hunter and Jordan the story. All of it.

Now they all knew. It was crazy to think I opened up and fully trusted all of these people.

I don't have anything to compare them to, but they're pretty amazing friends.

Oh, also...

Reece and I are currently driving Jake to Jordan and Stacey's. I sit in the front with Reece driving while Jake sits in the back. Parker was going to join us, but he was taking a nap.

Reece doesn't look too happy about it, and he stays silent. So, I try to lighten the awkward tension. "When's your first game?" I ask.

"Two weeks," Jake replies. Cool, so Reece will be there for that, then he goes to train.

"Are you and Ellie still friends?" I ask.

"Yeah. She would probably love to talk to you again," Jake says.

I nod. "That would be cool."

I bring Reece's water bottle up to my lips, looking at him for permission. He glances over and doesn't say anything, so I drink from it.

And suddenly Jake blurts something that I wasn't expecting him to blurt in a million years.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

I choke on the water.

It literally bursts from my throat and I erupt in a coughing fit, my eyes wide as I try to breathe.

Reece's hand grabs my thigh roughy and I choke for the second time, my eyes widening even further. "Christ, Ivy!" Reece says, trying to look at the road but trying to help me survive at the same time.

His hand is gripping my thigh right now.

"Ivy, do you need help?!" Jake asks frantically.

I slow my breathing and I grip onto Reece's hand which is still on my thigh, and I finally gulp and can breathe normally again.

Thank fuck we arrived at the twins house.

I immediately get out and practically run to the house.

—

The night was fun. Even though it is a school night and I have to work tomorrow, I'm glad we had the small party.

Everyone had fun, including Jake, and we played Scrabble and Just Dance. It was great to let loose and enjoy just being with people I have fun with.

"Who are you dropping off first?" Jake asks as we're on our way home after the hang out.

"You," Reece says.

"We're neighbors," I explain to Jake, who's behind me in the car.

He nods and stays silent.

Once directed to Jake's house, he unbuckles and gets ready to leave. "Ivy, what's your number?" he asks me. 

Reece, with extremely narrowed eyes, does a full turn around in the drivers seat to stare at Jake.

I say my number to him and he types it into his phone. "Cool." He puts his phone in his pocket and gets out of the car, closing the side door and leaning his elbows on mine, which is open. "Ellie and I called you Poison Ivy because of your personality. It hasn't changed, Vee. That's good."

He then turns around and walks up to his house.

"He's pretty chill," I say, leaning against the window, feeling tired.

Reece shrugs.

I study him intently, but I can't quite get what he's thinking. "Is he good at lacrosse?"

He shrugs again.

I raise my eyebrows and wonder why he's being so quiet. I mean, he's always quiet, but usually he at least responds.

"Do you like him?" Reece asks, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"He's cool, yeah," I say, shrugging.

"But do you like like him?"

"No," I blurt immediately. "Why? Why are you worried—"

"Because kissing people isn't platonic, Ivy."

He sounds calm.

I try to comprehend what he just said. Did he just admit to liking me? My heart flutters. 

"If it's not platonic, then you don't have to ask that question," I say, closing my eyes in tiredness and leaning against his shoulder.

Within two minutes, I'm dead asleep, and Reece taps me on my cheek to wake me up when we get home. I lazily unbuckle and get out.

"See you tomorrow," I yawn.

He informs me that tomorrow I will have to walk home, which I am not very happy about, but he has his first practice of the year, and there's no point in watching practice.

Actually, I would probably enjoy it, but I decide it's better not to.

I go inside and as soon as I'm in bed, I take a quick look at the picture of Reece beside my bed and I'm asleep.