The Coach's Daughter

Chapter 10

"I'm just saying! Chicken nuggets taste way better when they're dinosaurs." 

My best friend, Ella, is looking at me with earnest eyes as she makes her argument. Her Harry Potter style glasses make her already-huge, round eyes even bigger. I contemplate this as I organize my books in my locker before coming to a consensus.

"I don't know. I don't really like frozen chicken nuggets anyway." Not that I ever really eat frozen chicken nuggets.

The mom of the group, Taty, looks up from her textbook to give me an incredulous stare. "You did not just say that," she inputs before immediately refocusing on her book.

Break means an extra ten minutes to crash study before fourth-period tests.

"With ranch, I like them," I concede. Anything is good with ranch.

"I love ranch," Amira says dreamily as she holds out a bag of chips. I scoop out a couple. "Ella, did you take the FRQ 2nd period?" she asks.

"Yep. Just know the FTC and your derivatives. Pretty easy," Ella answers.

"Good." Shreya sighs. "I was so busy crashing for Physics, I didn't even study calc." 

Her thick, unruly black hair is piled up in a messy ponytail and she's practically wearing pajamas. That's how you know it's an exam day.

"You got this!" Ella says encouragingly and I give her a thumbs up. All of my friends are naturally intelligent and they study hard on top of that.

"Amelia, did you finish the Lang analysis?" Ella turns to me. "Can I borrow your sonnet book?"

"Yeah, let me grab it." I stand up to open my locker and I've just pulled the book out when my phone starts to ring. Ella hops up to take the book and thanks me as I pull out my phone. Expecting a spam call, I almost faint when I see the caller ID.

Don't Reply.

"Who's that?" Ella asks curiously.

"No one," I reply way too quickly but she backs off nonetheless.

"One sec." I walk a few steps over for privacy before answering. "Hello?" No response. Is this a prank? I start to hear something but the background noise is so loud, I can't make out any words.

"What? I can't..." My voice fades as Zack comes into view, easily towering over everyone else in the halls. He catches sight of me and makes a beeline for my group. My friends stare for a second in confusion as he walks straight up to me but they quickly look away. I know the second he leaves, there's going to be questions.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, genuinely curious, as he approaches me.

He ignores my question, squinting at my phone. "You have me saved as 'don't reply?' I'm hurt."

Shocked, I quickly hang up and put my phone in my backpack. "What did you expect?" I ask. 

His only response is a sly smirk that makes my chest tighten. I clear my throat and cross my arms. "What do you want?" I ask.

"I have something to say."

I start to become aware of other groups glancing at us. The football players don't hang out upstairs.

"And you couldn't just text me?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugs in reply.

"Ok, what is it?" I ask.

He crosses his arms and leans against my locker.

"Thanks for the ice cream; it was good."

I blink, waiting for more but that's all he says. At least he's not picking a fight. "Uh... you're welcome?" I reply.

He stares at me through a dark fringe of lashes, the glint of his small hoop earring matches his eyes. Both of which are new to me.

Young Johnny Depp, I swear.

"Look," he drawls. "I heard a rumor." 

He starts leaning towards me so his scent envelopes me. My heartbeat turns erratic and I don't know why. His lip curls up and I wonder if he can hear my heart thumping because it sounds pretty damn loud to me.

"About me?" I ask so quietly it could pass for a whisper.

His grin lifts. That's a yes.

"What kind of rumor?" I continue.

"I heard DeMarco was your first kiss."

Like that, the trance is broken. Fan-fucking-tastic. No one in this school knows anything about me but somehow word gets around about that slimy excuse of a kiss being my first?

"It doesn't count," I say flatly.

"So it's true."

I look to the side and shrug, backing away from him. It's not like I was waiting for marriage to kiss someone but I did want it to be special with someone I actually like.

"You've never kissed someone?" The smugness on his face has been replaced with a mixture of genuine confusion and wonder. This rubs me the wrong way. Most of my friends haven't kissed anyone either; I'm 16, not 160.

"Like I said, it doesn't count," I emphasize. "I just wanna forget it even happened."

"It was just a kiss. That's nothing."

"It's not nothing to me!" I nearly exclaim. Any last traces of knowledge fade from his face and his cheekbones deepen as he sucks in a breath and frowns.

"Hey," he says, moving so that his face meets mine that I turned away.

"What?" I ask. "You're gonna make fun of me and call me a stuck up princess for never kissing anyone?"

"No." He shakes his head. "No, I..."

I take a deep breath to collect myself and suppress whatever stupid things I'm feeling. I have a presentation next period and I need at least a 93 to keep my project grade up.

"He shouldn't have done that," Zack says gravely. I search his eyes for an inkling of insincerity or mockery that I know has to be there but all I find is a dark glint. "Want me to kick his ass for you?" he asks, dead serious.

I can't help it; I laugh. Shaking my head at him, I meet his eyes. "You should go. The bell's gonna ring."

I take a step around him but he grasps my wrist, moving me back in front of him.

"What?" I say. He studies me intently, taking in every inch of my appearance. My face starts to warm and I bite down on my bottom lip. "What?" I repeat, softer this time.

"You're right. That doesn't count," he says. I blink. "That kiss," he clarifies. 

In one move, he moves closer to me and speaks near my skin, sending delicious chills up my neck. My breath catches as he says, "I can show you what a real one is like."

Speechless. I'm left speechless until the bell rings. Even after it rings, it's like every cell in my body is on fire.

"You're gonna be late," he says and like that, he disappears into the crowd.