Page 37 of Saving the Halfback

“Ahh, that’s what happened,” Lachlan said, as if it all made sense now. “That’s why Chase flipped her off for you.”

“Wait, what? That’s not what happened.”

Lachlan shrugged. “That’s what my sources say.”

I rolled my eyes. “Great, more ammunition for her. Chase wants nothing to do with me.”

“Why’d she want your hat?” Nolan asked.

“Because it’s awesome.”

“Looks like you need a new one,” he said, reaching over and picking it up. He turned the floppy hat around a couple of times. There were some spots where the thread was coming out, and yeah, the color was faded, but no way would I ever replace it.

I leaned forward and took it back from Nolan, dropping it into my lap. I liked Nolan, but the hat was special to me. “I can’t replace it.”

“Why?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Because it has sentimental value,” Lachlan said. “Chase gave it to her.” And then he chuckled. “Well, he won it for her.”

Nolan looked back to me, waiting for the story. I sighed, sitting up straighter. “Chase has money, like a lot. His family is loaded. Anyway, one summer, he broke his ankle and couldn’t do anything, so we hung out with him all summer. When hefinally got his cast off, we went to the fall fair together, and he wanted to buy us something to say thank you. The guys got their thing.” I waved toward Lachlan.

“Hey, my funnel cake was more than worth it.”

I laughed. “Well, I didn’t want him to spend money on me…”

“I didn’t take you for the materialistic type.” Nolan lifted his head with a smile.

“Oh, just wait.” Lachlan grinned.

I smiled sweetly. “I wanted him to pay for all those times he rang his stupid bell and made me run up and down the stairs for popsicles and drinks. Anyway, they have this mechanical bull ride, where you have to stay on for eight seconds, and you win a prize. I told him I wanted the hat, and he had to ride the bull and get it for me.”

Nolan’s smile turned into a grin. “You’re evil.”

“Oh, oh, not just that.” Lachlan sat up. “She got the operator to turn up the difficulty of the bull. We watched Chase get thrown around at least six or seven times before he won that stupid hat. I thought he was going to break his ankle again. He probably could have bought her one cheaper than what he spent on the ride. But she insisted she wanted that one.”

My jaw dropped in mock pain. “How dare you call my hat stupid?”

“So, you’ve worn that ever since? Since you were how old?”

“Twelve,” I said.

“Well, she stopped wearing it last year,” Lachlan pointed out.

My smile faded. He was right…I had. Ed hadn’t liked it when I wore things that weren’t feminine. I’d been afraid he would throw it out, so I’d kept it in my room. Sometimes, when I thought about the things Ed had and hadn’t allowed me to do, I could look back and recognize I’d obeyed him out of fear…when, back then, I would swear up and down I wasn’t afraid of him. I obeyed him because we loved one another.

Lachlan and Nolan kept me fairly distracted as they went back and forth over whose abstract drawing was more abstract. I knew they were doing it to cheer me up. Lachlan made some sort of joke to Nolan that they didn’t want an angry Bailey; it wasn’t good for anyone’s health.

We walkedto the cafeteria for lunch but were stopped by a petite girl with blondish brown hair, pulled back into a bun. She had striking brown eyes. “Bailey,” she said.

“Hey,” I answered out of politeness, but I didn’t know who she was.

“I’m Beth. Listen, you might want to let whatever is going on in there cool off a moment. Come with me.” She pulled me away from Lachlan and Nolan, both of whom didn’t look too happy.

“Hey!” Lachlan shouted.

“We’ll be right back. Girl stuff,” she said over her shoulder. I shrugged to him and let Beth pull me into the girls’ restroom. “I’m Wes’s girlfriend, by the way. Sorry for swooping in and taking you.” Wes was on the football team, on the defense side.

“It’s okay.” I got good feelings from Beth; she seemed nice. “But what exactly are we doing?”

---