Split Page 9

  “No,” Alaina countered. “Their cones will probably melt while they’re making puppy dog eyes at each other.”

  “We were not!” I defended, but even I knew that wasn’t true.

  Alaina turned to me while I quickly tried to catch the ice cream that was already melting on my cone. “I was thinking about doing some of the homecoming dress up days this year. Do you want to go as twins on twin day?”

  “That sounds like fun. Any ideas on what kind of dress you want yet?”

  ***

  The rest of the week passed by normally. I’d meet Logan at our lockers, and we’d head to homeroom together. My following classes would pass quickly, and then I’d hang out with my friends at lunch, never letting go of Logan’s hand under the table. After school, Logan would try to teach me more about music until our choir instructor kicked us out so he could close up the music room. Afterwards, we’d hang out at the café or visit the music shop, milking every second of our time together as we could.

  By the next week, I still couldn’t get enough of him. I tagged along with him Tuesday afternoon to pick up his guitar, which he finally had enough money to buy. He pulled Lucy from the wall and strummed her a couple of times. She sounded like she was built using magic.

  “So, what are you going to do with her now?” I asked once we returned to his car.

  “Play her, of course. What else would I do?”

  “Well, you could make videos and post them online or something. I’m sure you would get a good following.”

  Logan wiggled his brows at me. “Wouldn’t you be jealous of all the fan girls?”

  I wrinkled my nose, pretending I had to think about it. “Nah. I’d feel lucky because I’m the one who ended up with you.”

  He glanced at me, and his expression suddenly turned serious. “I’m the lucky one.”

  My heart flipped.

  He dropped me off at home soon afterward, and I fell asleep dreaming of the last kiss we shared at my front door.

  ***

  On Wednesday morning, I pedaled my bike to school. My first few classes passed normally, but I was caught off guard on my way to lunch.

  “Maddie,” Aaron called down the hall.

  I turned to face him as he approached. The surface of my skin grew hot in anger. “If you’re going to tell me one more time about how stupid I was to choose Logan—”

  “I was going to,” he interrupted, “but now I’m afraid you might kill me if you finish that sentence. How about I start by apologizing?”

  My body immediately relaxed. Maybe there was hope that we could still be friends. “That would be a good place to start.” I crossed my arms over my chest to show him I was serious.

  Students rushed to the cafeteria, quickly leaving us in privacy.

  “Look, we’ve known each other since we were kids. We’ve been really good friends for months.” He averted his gaze from mine for several seconds before he finally looked up behind his dark lashes. “If I can’t have you the way I want, I still hope we can be friends.”

  That’s what I’d been trying to tell him all along! Only, I didn’t like the way he said, If I can’t have you the way I want. It implied he still had feelings for me. We couldn’t go back to being friends if he felt that way. Then again, if we were friends, he’d see that we could still enjoy each other’s company without the romance.

  “So, friends?” he asked.

  “Friends,” I agreed.

  Even though Aaron had apologized and we’d agreed to be friends, we didn’t have much of a chance to actually talk to each other. Since we only had one class together and sat on opposite sides of the room, we didn’t chat like we used to. We texted a little bit here and there, but it seemed like forced conversation. I had to wonder if we’d ever get our true friendship back. At least his texts about how I chose the wrong guy had stopped.

  For the most part, however, I didn’t really think about it. I noticed him in the halls and at lunch, and I thought about him every time I received a text from him, but otherwise, my thoughts were dedicated to Logan.

  I only realized how much I’d been consumed by Logan’s company on Friday in art class. Alaina flipped open her sketchbook beside me. My first thought was that her flower drawing was beautiful, but a moment later, a string of curse words went off like firecrackers in my mind.

  “Crap. That’s due today.” I quickly flipped open my sketchbook and tried to remember if I’d drawn anything in the past week. The last drawing in my book had already been graded. “Think I can draw something in the next ten minutes before he calls my name to check my book?”

  Alaina stared back at me, her brows raised and her mouth slightly open.

  “What?” I asked innocently.

  She finally found her voice. “How did you not finish this assignment?”

  “I guess I forgot.” I quickly pulled my pencil out and began drawing the first thing that came to mind: Logan’s eyes. By the time our teacher called my name, I at least had an outline drawn.

  Mr. Brown frowned at me. “This isn’t finished, Miss Rose.”

  I brushed a strand of brown hair from my eyes. “I’m really sorry. I …” I had no excuse.

  “You know, when you get into college, your professors won’t give you second chances.”

  I’d heard my teachers give this lecture to other students before. How could I be so stupid to miss such an easy assignment? “I know. I’m sorry.”

  He flipped my notebook shut and handed it back to me, still frowning. “Be sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  I shamefully returned to my seat, angry at myself.

  CHAPTER 10

  AARON

  Between classes and cheer practice, it never felt like I had enough time with Aaron. We hung out on the way to school, at lunch, and after practice, but the car rides were far too short since I only lived a couple of blocks from the school.

  On Thursday morning, I spotted Logan down a few lockers from mine. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he looked up and met my gaze. He didn’t look away immediately like normal but actually gave me a half smile. It made me believe, if only briefly, that maybe he’d forgiven me and we could slowly return to being friends.

  Later that day, Aaron and I sat at my table for lunch. I found a seat next to Alaina. Logan sat on her opposite side.

  “What did you guys get on your physics quiz?” Emily asked. “Is it just me, or does the new science teacher seem like a really tough grader?”

  “How can he be tough?” Logan asked. “You just put in an answer, and it’s either right or wrong.”

  Emily shrugged from across the table. “There were some essay questions, and I didn’t do well on those.”

  “I agree,” I told her. “I didn’t do well on those questions, either.”

  I glanced at Logan, but he stared down at his fruit like he didn’t hear me. I continued trying to engage in the conversation, but every time I voiced my thoughts, Logan shut down and gazed at his tray instead of talking with the rest of us.

  By the end of lunch, my jaw was beginning to hurt from clenching it in anger at Logan. My frustrations only grew as the school day wore on. I continued to replay his reaction in my mind. How could he still be so mad at me that he wouldn’t even talk around me? And why did he have to trick me with that half smile earlier like things were getting better between us?

  I cornered him at his locker after school. “You need to stop this,” I told him sternly.

  “Stop what?” His tone remained even like he honestly didn’t know what I was talking about.

  I crossed my arms and spoke quickly. “You need to stop shutting me out. You don’t want to be friends anymore. I get that. But can we stop acting like we’re enemies? Yes, I’m going to sit at your lunch table every now and then because, like it or not, I’m still friends with everyone there. We’re going to have to learn to live with each other because I’m not going to stop being friends with everyone else just because you decided you didn’t want to talk t
o me anymore. We don’t have to be friends with each other, but stop acting like you can’t be part of the group when I’m around.” I sucked in a deep breath.

  Logan sheepishly gazed down at his feet. His voice came out as almost a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

  My heart nearly broke as I suddenly realized how hard this must be for him. I relaxed the tense muscles in my shoulders. “Look, I’m sorry, too. I just wish things didn’t have to be this way. Can’t we go back to being friends?”

  He finally looked at me. “I’ll try.” His features seemed to light up like he actually accepted that being friends was the best option for us.

  “I really hope you mean it,” was the last thing I said to him before I headed off down the hall on my way to cheerleading practice.

  ***

  “These car rides are too short,” I complained to Aaron when we pulled up to my house after practice.

  Dani sat in the back. She’d come over to help me with some new cheers we were performing at tomorrow’s away game.

  Aaron leaned over so I could feel his breath on the side of my face. “I know.” His lips grazed against my cheek.

  “Yuck! Get a room!” Dani teased.

  Aaron turned to her. “Like I haven’t seen you and Brandon make out enough times.”

  I witnessed Dani’s cheeks grow red in the mirror, and she quickly pressed her lips together. She opened her door. “I’ll be inside.”

  Aaron focused his attention back on me. “Too bad we can’t sit together on the way to the game tomorrow.”

  It was cool that we got to cheer at away games since most of the cheerleading squads in our conference only cheered at home games. Not even all the schools had cheerleaders because they were all so small. But sadly, our cheerleaders had to ride a separate bus than the football players. It didn’t feel like I was spending as much time with Aaron as I initially thought cheerleading would allow.

  My face fell, and Aaron noticed.

  He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We can spend Saturday together.”

  Immediately, my heart leapt. “I’d love that!”

  “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, my angel.”

  He left a kiss on my lips before I exited the car. I stood there in my driveway as I watched him leave, my pompons held tightly against my chest.

  “Maddie!” Dani called from the front door, pulling me from my dreamy state.

  I whirled toward her. “Coming!”

  She laughed at me. “Girl, you’ve got it bad.” She stretched out the word “bad.”

  I didn’t say anything while I pushed the coffee table out of the middle of the living room. Hopefully she couldn’t see the blush in my cheeks. When I was satisfied that embarrassment was no longer written all over my face, I turned back to her. “Ready?”

  Dani helped me run through a couple of new cheers I’d learned that week, and within the next half hour, my confidence grew.

  “I think I’m getting it,” I told her.

  “Well, you’re a fast learner, and you’re willing to go above and beyond. None of the other new girls even ask for extra help.” Dani plopped down onto my couch. “It’s kind of disappointing because it seems like no one else cares.”

  I sat beside her. “You seem to care a lot.”

  “And that’s why I’m captain,” she teased. “Hey, do you want to learn this cool cheer we’re teaching you guys next week? We want to do it for the homecoming game, but it’s kind of hard.”

  I hopped up from the couch. “Sure! I’ll take a head start on it.”

  Dani situated herself in the center of the floor and began stomping her feet and clapping. “Just join in. I’ll teach you the words after you get the beat down.”

  I stared at her feet hopelessly.

  “Come on,” she encouraged, never missing a beat. “It’s easiest to learn by just doing it.”

  “Okay,” I agreed uncertainly. I stood beside her and watched her feet move, listening intently to the beat. When I noticed the rhythm repeating, I attempted to join in. I probably looked like I was having a stroke.

  Dani burst out laughing. “Okay, okay. We’ll take it slow.”

  She tried again but couldn’t help but giggle at me. In the next moment, we were both laughing hysterically, so much that Dani couldn’t keep herself steady and fell to couch clutching her stomach.

  The doorbell rang just then, and I headed to answer it, still laughing. When I opened the door, I found Alaina standing on the other side.

  She pulled her eyebrows together. “What’s so funny?”

  I drew the door open wider to let her in. “Dani and I are practicing cheers, and, well, I kind of suck.” I glanced back at Dani, who was still laughing at me.

  Alaina stepped into the house. Her eyes shifted between me in the doorway and Dani on the couch. “Uh, okay. I just came over to hang out … if that’s okay.” Her voice came out uneven.

  “Of course it is. We were almost done anyway.”

  Dani’s laughter died down, and she stood to gather her things. “Yeah, no. It’s perfectly fine. I was just about to get going.”

  “You don’t want dinner?” I asked.

  “No, it’s fine,” she answered, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I think I’ve eaten enough of your food in the past two weeks. I’ll see you tomorrow for the game.”

  “Okay. Bye,” I told her as she headed out the door.

  She turned back one last time at the bottom of the steps and shouted with a raised pom, “Go Eagles!”

  “Go Eagles!” I shouted back. I shut the door and turned to Alaina. Her expression had fallen, and my tone quickly shifted to one of concern. “What’s wrong?”

  She looked up from the nail she was biting and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just weird seeing you in cheerleader mode. You seem … different.”

  “What?” I asked, my voice a little higher than normal. “I haven’t changed at all.”

  I expected her to retort back, but instead, she just dropped her eyes. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

  I held my jaw open in disbelief. Was she mad at me? She was almost acting like it. But I didn’t know what else to say on the subject, so I just asked her, “So, are you hungry?”

  “I guess I could use something.” She followed behind me to the kitchen. “Hey, you didn’t still want to put anything into the show for the art night, did you? Because it’s next Friday, and I’m pretty sure you need to get your art in by tomorrow.”

  I sucked in a quick breath. “Crap.”

  Alaina leaned against my kitchen counter. “What?”

  “You just reminded me about our sketches due tomorrow for art class! I totally forgot to draw something.” I rushed back into the living room and pulled my sketchbook out of my bag, flipping to the next available page. I spoke as I headed back into the kitchen. “I need to draw something before tomorrow.”

  “Uh, okay. Are you going to have supper?”

  I shrugged. “I guess we could make something quick like grilled cheese.”

  Alaina headed around the counter but paused briefly. She turned back to me like she had something to say, but she didn’t speak. She simply tapped what was left of her gnawed off fingernails on the counter top.

  I gave her a questioning look.

  She sighed. “It’s just … you seem so preoccupied lately. Normally you’d have ten drawings done in a week, and this week, you don’t even have one.” She gestured to my open sketchbook on the counter.

  I stared down at the blank page. “I guess cheerleading is taking up some time. Aaron and I hung out a couple of times, too.”

  She shifted her weight between her feet. “Okay, well, I just don’t want to see you give up your art for anything.”

  “Give up my art? Don’t worry. I’d never do that.” Except the problem was that I was already drifting away from my artwork.

  CHAPTER 11

  LOGAN

  The Friday of Alain
a’s art night arrived the third week of school. I originally planned to bike over there, but at the last minute, I texted Alaina for a ride and tagged along with her.

  “Why’s it at the library?” I wondered aloud on our way there.

  Alaina shrugged. The dangly earrings she wore to match her blue dress—and headband, of course—moved with her motions. I hadn’t dressed up, but I figured I looked okay when I glanced at my jeans and cute pink top.

  “It’s probably because they didn’t have anywhere else to do it,” Alaina answered. “The library is, like, the only thing the town owns besides the town hall and the park. The guy said something about bringing the arts together—like literature and visual art or something.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be cool.”

  Alaina nodded. “Yeah.”

  She pulled into the parking lot of the library, and we walked inside together. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been there—probably when I was in elementary school—but it seemed different with all the artwork on the walls. The smell hadn’t changed, though. I inhaled the scent of old books, a complementary aroma of paper, ink, and glue. The lilies on the front counter interrupted my moment of nostalgia. There weren’t many people there when we entered, but Alaina bounced on her toes in excitement nonetheless.

  “Look,” she pointed, “that lady is looking at my painting!”

  I glanced across the room and noticed Alaina’s painting immediately. Even if I hadn’t seen it before, I would be able to tell it was hers by the brushstrokes. This particular painting was one of her favorites. It was of Jordan’s cocker spaniel, Lady.

  “Think she’ll buy it?” I asked.

  “Well, they’re supposed to be hanging for a couple of weeks. We’ll see what happens after they announce the top three pieces next week.”

  I slowly walked along the outside wall to inspect the artwork. When I saw what was there, I realized that I could have easily entered a drawing and have done well. Even little kids had entered their art. Disappointment washed over me, and I cursed myself for not taking the chance. Even Logan had more artistic talent with the bracelet he made me than some of the drawings here. I glanced down at the purple string around my wrist. I guess there’s only so much talent in a small town.