Page 50 of You Belong With Me

“Yes ma’am,” Sebastian said, bobbing his head in a nod. He kissed me one more time then whispered in my ear, “By the way, that swimsuit looks great on you.”

If I blushed any more, I would probably catch on fire.

He turned to Ainsley next, pulling her in for a tight hug and whispering, “Good luck, sis,” to her. He even pulled Clementine in for a quick hug and good luck wish, even though I was pretty sure they barely knew each other.

He turned to head the way Coach had come from, but she put out a hand to stop him. She glanced over her shoulder at the empty hallway, then said, “Don’t forget there’s an emergency exit from the boy’s locker room.”

We all stared at her blankly, but Sebastian seemed to clue in first as he cheerfully said, “Yes, ma’am!” and took off running down the hall.

We all watched him leave then turned to Coach, who said, “If he’s on the bus before they get back, they can’t prove just how late he was.”

“And the emergency exit backs right onto the parking lot,” Ainsley said. She looked at Coach appraisingly. “Not like you to be so sneaky.”

Coach shrugged. “I’m happy to help anyone who cares about my girls. Now come on.”

She ushered us back into the locker room, right on time for us to start heading out onto the pool deck. And with the taste of Sebastian’s kiss lingering on my lips, my friendssurrounding me, and my parents watching from the sidelines—did my mom just cheer my name?—I felt more energized than ever and set a new personal best.

I thought Sebastian’s driving was insane, but he had nothing on Clementine when she had somewhere she wanted to be. She’d driven me home a few times last year and had obeyed the speed limit perfectly every time, but now I was starting to become a little worried she wouldn’t even notice if she started driving on the sidewalk by accident.

“Clementine, we’re really not in that big of a rush!” I yelled over the sound of her blaring music, which she claimed helped her focus.

“We have to get there in time for the end of the game!” she yelled back.

After the swim meet ended, my parents had been waiting for me in the foyer of the school, just like usual. I braced myself for the criticism, sure that the new balance that we had was going to be disrupted, because even when I swam my best, they couldn’t help but find something to critique. Instead, Mom just brushed my wet hair behind my ear and said, “Good job.” I watched her silently, waiting for the follow-up—but your dive wasn’t perfectoryou should have had a better lead on the girl in lane five—but there was nothing.

I couldn’t tell if she had nothing to say or if she was trying to hold back because of what I’d said about her being my mother, not my coach. Either way, I was grateful.And maybe that was the only reason I had the confidence to say my next words: “We wanted to drive to Crofton to watch the end of the soccer game.”

Mom’s face tightened, clearly unhappy with the request. I could see all the reasons she wanted to say no crossing her face—it was a weeknight, I always came home with them after swim meets, she’d never known me to like soccer games, I would be home late if we were driving all the way across town…

Normally, this was the time I would look to Dad for back-up, since he was more likely to argue on behalf of me getting to go out. But this wasn’t just about getting to go—this was about my mom and me. I needed to see just how much she was willing to let me go.

“Are you going to see Sebastian?” she asked, and though there wasn’t any hostility or anger in her voice, I shrunk in on myself all the same. The reflexes of the perfect daughter came out and I immediately wanted to sayof course not, I don’t talk to boys. But she already knew about Sebastian. And trust was a two-way street—I couldn’t lie to her now and expect her to let me go out again.

Still, my hands were shaking and my voice was meek as I murmured, “Yes.”

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. For her to say yes? To go back on everything we’d built the last couple of weeks and say no? But instead, she surprised me more than I thought was possible as she smiled gently, ran a hand over my cheek, and whispered, “I think that’s a great idea.”

So now I was in the passenger seat of Clementine’s carand wondering if all my friends were this crazy when they drove. I was debating whether I thought Ainsley would drive like this once she had her license—seemed unlikely but she probably would if Sebastian had anything to do with her learning to drive—when she whipped into a parking spot at Crofton Academy and practically shoved me out the door.

We got to the field just as the game was ending. I barely held myself up from collapsing onto the stone steps of the bleachers, huffing and puffing as the final whistle blew and I watched the Parkhurst Prep team begin to celebrate. Ainsley was yelling about the team winning in my ear and I thought I should probably be checking the scoreboard or jumping from excitement with her, but instead, I was busy searching for the one face on the field that I would recognize.

It was like the world shifted on its axis when he turned to face the bleachers and spotted me. I honestly wasn’t sure if I was falling down or running toward him as my body began to move forward. I ran toward him and he ran toward me, and the next thing I knew, his arms were around my waist and I was spinning through the air and Sebastian’s lips were on mine.

“We won,” he whispered against my lips, barely bothering to pull away. I stared into his shining eyes, so happy and full of life.

“We won,” I repeated back to him. And I thought we both knew I wasn’t just talking about the game.

“Pictures!” Clementine called from behind me. I glanced back to see she’d appeared on the bleachers as well and she was waving a phone around in her hand. Once shesaw she had our attention, she held the phone up and said, “Say cheese!”

My face flushed but I smiled for the camera anyway, still relishing in the feeling of Sebastian’s arms around me. He barely gave her enough time to snap a photo before he put a hand on my cheek, turning my face back to his so he could capture my lips in another kiss. I knew from the flash that went off a moment later that Clementine was still taking photos, but I didn’t pull away or try to stop her. And unlike a month ago, I didn’t even have to hide my face from the camera.

Sebastian Novak was mine and the whole world could know it.

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