Diving Into The Wreck

El Scorcho

On our way to Garden Grove High School, while Tanner and Devon sat at the back of the bus, quizzing each other on American history, Madeline told me more than I ever wanted to know about Blake. "He invited me over to his house, and it was the best day of my life," she said.

"What happened?" I asked. Two months had passed since we had returned to Hackberry Heights after our tour of Japan, and I had hardly seen Blake since then. We occasionally met up for band practice or a local show, but I spent far more time with Tanner, Devon, and Madeline. In fact, Madeline had become my best source of news on what Blake was up to.

"Well, he took me out to dinner first," Madeline said. "The food was okay, but it was so fun to talk to him. He's so cute, and I could just stare at his gorgeous face all day..."

"I get it, Madeline," I said. "What happened next?"

"We were going to see a movie, but there was nothing good playing, so Blake and I went back to his house. It was so much fun. We played some video games, we sat on the couch and chatted, and we danced together. I just wish that night could have lasted forever."

I stared out the window, unsure how to respond. I wanted to be happy for Blake and Madeline, but it was nearly impossible, so I watched the cars go by as we headed toward the Quiz Bowl tournament. The landscape rushed by as I drifted away, lost in thought again. "Dani, are you listening?" Madeline asked me.

"Yeah," I responded.

"I think I'm in love with Blake, but I don't know what to do about it," Madeline said suddenly.

"Maybe you should just tell him how you feel," I suggested.

"I don't know. What if he doesn't feel the same way as I do?"

"He talks about you all the time, and he practically took you on a date. Sometimes, he goes on and on about how you're the one for him, and he doesn't do that with anyone else. I don't know if he loves you, but I'm sure that he likes you."

I didn't tell her that she was spending more time with Blake than I was. If anyone knew how he felt, it would be her.

Madeline nodded, but the bus arrived at Garden Grove High School before she could respond. I didn't understand Madeline's obsession with Blake, but I promised myself that I would try to be supportive. We were friends, after all, and we needed to help each other.

The tournament went surprisingly well. The McKinley High School Quiz Bowl team had been winning more and more matches lately, even with only four people on our team. I usually only buzzed in for the life science questions, but with Devon getting all of the math and physical science questions, Tanner answering all of the social studies questions, and Madeline knowing everything there was to know about literature and classical music, it didn't matter if my specialization was a little bit narrow. We were a perfect team, and before long, Mrs. Welch started to talk about the possibility of us going to regionals.

We won every match of the tournament, but on the way home, I realized just how long it had been since I had seen Blake. I was still unsure about how I felt about him and Madeline, but I didn't want to let that stop us from being friends. I sat a few seats away from my teammates on the bus as they talked about how the match against Garden Grove wouldn't have been so close if we had spent more time studying South American geography, and I pulled out my phone and texted Blake. "Do you want to hang out sometime?" I asked him.

"Sure," Blake replied. "How about tomorrow after school?"

"That works," I texted him. "See you then!" I put my phone away and moved closer to Madeline, Tanner, and Devon, eager to join their discussion. They were my closest friends now, but I couldn't forget about Blake, who had been there for me since middle school. No matter how much I cared for them, I didn't have the same kind of history with Devon, Tanner, or even Madeline that I had with Blake.