Page 13 of Learning Curve

He lets out an annoyed huff, but that’s squelched when Nadine pipes up, her voice a classic eager beaver. “I’ll go, Dane.”

“Hell yeah! Someone who wants to have some fucking fun!”

And off they go, my boyfriend and another girl, straight into the kitchen where there’s more booze than I’ve ever seen in my life. It covers every counter and available surface, and coolers line the whole back wall.

“You okay?” Kayla asks, placing a gentle hand to my shoulder, and I nod.

She leans closer to search my eyes, a twinkle in her deep brown eyes and perfectly white teeth. “You sure?”

“Promise.” I shrug it off with a smile that feels foreign on my lips. “He’s just drunk, and Nadine’s just Nadine.”

Kayla laughs so hard at that, her whole head of spiral curls shakes—everyone on the squad knows how Nadine can be.

“How long have you been together?”

“Two years.”

“And you both decided to go to Dickson?”

“Not exactly.” I shake my head. “I got a cheerleading scholarship, and Dane decided he wanted to go here too.”

“Interesting.”

There’s a small part of me that wishes Dane would’ve done his own thing. That there would’ve been a university that wanted to recruit him. But Ivy Prep’s football team never garnered the kind of attention that our cheerleading squad did.

We won Nationals all four years that I was in high school. The football team, on the other hand, was lucky to end the season with a handful of wins.

“I want to tell you something, but I don’t want to come across as rude,” Kayla says and steps closer to me, wrapping her arm around mine. “Promise you won’t get mad?”

I tilt my head to the side. “Well, that depends. I mean, if you’re going to tell me I look like a troll tonight, then consider my claws out because I spent an hour trying to get this smoky eye right.”

“Shut up. You’re gorgeous.”

“And so are you.” I nudge her playfully with my elbow.

“I don’t want to talk bad about your boyfriend, but…”

“But what?”

“He’s, like, really careless with you.”

I furrow my brow.

“I just think you deserve better. That’s all I’m going to say.” She raises both hands in the air before pretending to zip her mouth shut. “Consider my lips sealed from any more commentary for the rest of the night.”

I’m at a loss for what to say—mostly because I feel a burning embarrassment at the thought of being a girl who has to be told she deserves better—but an interruption by one of our fellow cheerleaders shuts down the conversation entirely before I have to say anything anyway.

“Ladies, it’s time to dance!” Tonya exclaims, grabbing us both by the wrists.

On a giggle, Kayla goes along willingly, but I find myself staying rooted to my spot. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to run to the bathroom. I’ll catch up with you soon.”

“Scottie, your cute ass better make its way on the dance floor soon, or else I will come find you!” Tonya calls toward me, and I just laugh, holding up both hands.

“Be there soon. Promise.”

Once the two of them get lost in the sea of writhing bodies, I lean my back against the wall and let out a deep exhale. Normally, I’d be one of the first people on the dance floor, but tonight, I don’t know… I’m just not feeling it.

Surely it’s just been a long week with lots of adjusting. Between practice and classes and Dane being a bit of a dick lately and simply trying to figure out this whole college thing, my anxiety is at an all-time high. It doesn’t help that the Delta Omega house is filled with more people than the whole of Ivy Prep—which was K-12—and my nervous system is telling me I need to go back to my dorm, put on some pajamas, and binge-watch One Tree Hill.

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