Holding Back [COMPLETED]

Chapter 18 - "I see you, Haley Day."

The music cut out, leaving students looking around curiously. Rachel climbed onto a chair and clapped a couple of times. In the late afternoon sunlight, her black hair shone, giving her the look of an angel.

"Can I get everyone's attention?" she called out.

Hammering stopped and conversations were set aside as students focused on her. Haley twisted, shifting from her knees to a sitting position. When the noise had subsided, Rachel smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the hard work! We are done with our second week of this project and we are making great headway. I have no doubt we will be ready in a week for Senior Day!"

"Yeah, we will!" Jace shouted.

This got a splattering of laughter and the odd cheer from the group. Haley rolled her eyes and shook her head. Jace's ability to get excited about the simplest of things was still surprising to her. Weren't most players suppose to be silent and brooding? Clearly, Jace didn't care.

"Thank you, Jace," Rachel said, stifling a few fluttering words. "This Saturday, if you're available we will start painting the booths. I'll be here with Nick from twelve to four if anyone wants to join us. At the end, I will have pizza and ice cream for you."

"Sounds like a party to me!" Jace said.

"Three people hanging out with you is a party, Jace," Josie said.

He smirked at her. "Then, JoJo, this Saturday should be a rager."

The sentence was punctuated with a wink.

"Yes," Rachel said, louder than necessary, trying to rein in the distractions. "This Saturday will be fun if you show up." Her smile perked up. "Now in honor of finishing another week, we are going to head over to La Cocina for some food. So finish up and we'll see you there. If someone needs a ride I have a couple of open seats."

The crowd was infused with a new excited energy as they gathered up tools and put booths away. Haley assisted her current team members with adding their half-finished booth to the wall side collection. As the area began to empty, people called out for rides and laughed with each other. There was a sense of camaraderie about the place that hadn't been there a week before. By this time half of the original group had left, taken away by other pressing matters. Those that remained felt a sense of loyalty.

"You're coming, right?"

Haley spun around to see Isaac looking at her expectantly. There was a lift in his eyebrows that almost seemed like a challenge as well as a hopeful look.

"Umm...yeah." She nodded like she was trying to convince herself of this response. "I'm coming."

Isaac grinned and she felt her own lips echoing it. An arm dropped into her shoulders and she started in surprise.

"You ready to go, Haley Day?" Jace asked, beaming down at her as if daring her to refuse.

Haley elbowed his side but he didn't break away, instead laughed. Isaac glanced at Jace's arm draped so easily around Haley and unconsciously shifted back. The movement gained Jace's attention.

"You're coming too, right?" he asked.

Isaac nodded but to Haley's surprise, his smile was no longer there. Scratching the back of his neck, he looked away.

"Yeah," he said, backing away a few more steps. "I'll see you both there."

He left, leaving Haley puzzled over his sudden distance. Jace tugged Haley forward, directing her to the parking lot. Too caught up in her own thoughts about Isaac, she didn't notice that Jace still had his arm around her shoulders.