Page 72 of The Accidental Text

“So whose was it?”

He takes in a breath. “Her name was Kelli.”

“And what was Kelli like?”

“Kelli … well, at the time, no one knew much about her. She’d just moved to Phoenix from Denver. She had alopecia. Completely bald, no eyebrows.”

“Ah, got it. So what happened?” I fist my hand, feeling my nails dig into my palm, worried what might come next. I asked him to share things with me, and he’s doing that now … but what if what he tells me makes me change my opinion of him? It shouldn’t, really; I know that. This was younger Chase. People change and grow.

“I took her to homecoming.”

“Kelli?”

“Yep,” he says. “And it was one of the better dances I went to. Kelli’s hilarious. I’m still good friends with her.”

I look over at him and smile.

“The only person who knew that Kelli wasn’t the girl I meant to ask was Z. And I guess, now you.”

“Well,” I say, putting my hands on my heart. “I’m honored. However …”

“What?”

“That was agoodstory about you. Not a juicy one.”

Chase chuckles. “I’m no saint. I thought of everything I could to get out of that dance. I even considered faking sick or something. I got made fun of by some of my so-called friends. Even Z told me I should ditch her. Up until the night of the dance, even when I was driving to her house to pick her up, I was still trying to get out of it. But then I just sucked it up and went.”

“And look what you would have missed out on had you not gone.”

“A really great person.” He dips his chin once.

“What happened to her?”

“She lives in Boston. Married and has a kid. A boy.”

We sit in silence, the low hum of the road beneath us the only sound.

“If you hadn’t texted me, I’d have missed out on this too,” Chase says after a bit.

This time I do reach over and give his arm a squeeze. “Strange how life works.”

Chapter 20

The next Saturday, I’m waiting for Chase under a big tent.

It’s Drives for Dreams day, and I look forward to it more than anything else we do at Cooper’s. Sure, it’s taxing, and when I finally roll into bed afterward, I feel like I’ve run a marathon. But it’s one of the most fun, most rewarding things we do.

It was my mom’s idea, but Chelsea made it happen. I have to give it to her—planning an anniversary party and Drives for Dreams in not only the same year but within weeks of each other might have given the average person heart palpitations. But not Chelsea. She somehow managed to make both happen and with only oneslightmeltdown.

“Wow,” Chase says as he walks toward me. He looks good in cargo shorts and a dark-blue T-shirt. He’s got those aviator sunglasses on again and a toothpick sticking out the corner of his mouth.

“Yep, pretty cool, huh?” I say. I’m wearing a white Cooper’s polo, shorts, and a red baseball cap, ready to tackle the day. I put an arm around Chase’s waist as soon as he’s standing next to me, giving him a side hug. He reciprocates.

“So cool.” He does that half-grin, but I can see the giddiness underneath.

There are tables set up underneath the tent, balloons and Drives for Dreams banners decorating the space. Near the frontis a full buffet. Right now they’re setting up for breakfast, and they’ll switch to lunch later, as this is nearly an all-day affair.

Beyond the tent, just over a large wire fence and under a beautiful blue cloudless sky, is a full racetrack one mile in length. We’re set up off to the side of the grandstand seating, which will soon be full of people.

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