Page 24 of Strong Side
It doesn’t usually take me this long to complete the lesson plans, but I feel very distracted with thoughts of Casey. I think back to our friendship in high school specifically. I remember the gift he gave me for my seventeenth birthday. With my birthday falling around Christmas, I don’t always get separate gifts. This one I did though. He gave me a book of poems about friendship, calledWhen I Think About You, My Friend. I loved it because I could tell he’d put some thought into it.
But what really made it special was the handwritten card he’d placed in the book sleeve.
After I opened the box with the book inside, he placed his hand on top of mine and asked me to look through it when I was alone. I remember taking it upstairs after he left, and I found the card. In it, he told me how much my friendship meant to him and how he hoped we would always be in each other’s lives. For a teenage boy, it was pretty deep, now that I think back on it. And then at the bottom, above his signature, he told me he loved me. At the time, I didn’t think much of it because we would sayI love youto each other occasionally, joking and with an eye roll, as friends do.
My phone buzzes with a text, shaking me from my thoughts, but I can’t find it. Papers cover the small kitchen table we have in our apartment, so my phone is likely hiding somewhere under this pile. When I locate it under my spiral planner, I see Casey has texted a few times. These last two are telling me he’s on his way over to my apartment.
I jump up from my chair and run into the bathroom. I’m not sure when I started to care about what I looked like in front of Casey, but here we are. Could be because of all the pictures we’ve been taking together. Most of which he’s been taking and posting first. He says we need to make it look as real as we can. Hard launch. Instagram official.
The funny thing is, none of his close friends or even his sister seems to think our fake relationship is odd. It’s almost like it’s always been this way, which I guess we have been. Even when I was with Trey.
I’m in my room, pulling on a different shirt and swiping some deodorant on quickly when I hear a knock at the door. I glance in the mirror on my way out and see my hair looking like a complete disaster. Ponytail it is.
When I open the door, Casey is peering down at me from under the lid of his baseball hat. His hand is bracing the doorframe, accentuating his long torso and broad chest. Caseylooks good in anything he wears, and it’s something that I’ve been noticing more and more. Right now, he’s wearing gym shorts and a long-sleeved Walker football shirt. Jeans and a button-down, prom suit, football uniform—all hot looks. But when he’s casual like this, I feel like I have to catch myself from staring nonstop.
I’ve always felt good, just being around him, but now that he’s pretending to be mine, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like for us to really be together.
“Hey.” He pushes off the doorframe. “Thought I’d come rescue you from lesson plans for a Classic ’50s break. I’m craving a cherry limeade,” he says as he walks into my apartment.
A slushy does sound good, and Classic ’50s has the best. It’s an old-school drive-in that is a Walker staple. They not only have the best slushies, but the food is superior fast food, and the servers deliver your order on roller skates. One of my favorites, until Trey, was Frito chili pie. It’s so freaking good, but he basically called me fat for eating it, talking about how bad it was for me, so I haven’t had it since our freshman year.
“Yum, that does sound good. Let me go grab my shoes.” I go back to my room and put on my sneakers without laces so I can slide them on easily.
When I come out, Casey is looking over my lesson plans. He has a smile on his face, and he’s pointing to one of the notebooks. “Noelle … did you doodle my name on your homework?”
I laugh because he saiddoodle. “Nooo. I mean, yes, but not in the way you think. I wrote it there because I was thinking about you.” I duck my head and reach across the table so he can’t see the blush on my face, and I grab my keys from my bag.
“You were thinking about me?” I can hear the smile in his voice. It’s genuine and not teasing. Like he’s happy I was thinking about him.
“Yes, I was wishing you would come rescue me from lesson plans for a slushy, and, poof, here you are! Manifestation works, Casey. I’ve told you this for years.” I grab his hand and pull him toward the door.
“So, you manifested me taking you out on an official date to The Font? Because we’re gonna do that this week too. The full treatment, and you know there are eyes all over the place there. Someone is sure to see us.”
I stop at the door to look at his face to see if he’s serious or teasing me. He’s smiling, but he’s not kidding.
“Oh, I mean, yeah, that would be perfect. And you know I love The Font.”
“It’s a date then.” He winks, then passes by me in the doorway so I can lock the door.
Fifteen minutes later, we pull up into an empty spot at the drive-in.
Casey presses the button to place the order, and while we wait, he asks, “Your usual?”
“Yep, I want blue coconut, but I think I’ll switch things up a little and do gummy worms instead of bears.” I drop my mouth open in mock surprise, making him laugh.
“Living on the edge tonight. I like it!” the girl on the speaker interrupts, and he places our drink order.
As we wait for our order, he tells me about his practice today. I think he likes to tell me about the plays they run, more for his own benefit of memorizing them because I’ve never understood a single word.
I just nod and give the occasional, “Oh wow.”
While he talks tonight though, I can’t help but watch his mouth. His lips are perfect—full, lush, kissable. And I wonder what they would feel like on mine. I wonder what he would do if I leaned over and tangled my lips with his right now. I wonder if he would kiss me back. I wonder … if he would like it.
Before my brain catches up to my thoughts, I blurt out, “I think we should kiss.”
A slow smile spreads on his face, but before he can say anything, the girl rolls up with our slushies.
“A cherry limeade and a blue coconut with worms. Let me know if you need anything else.” She rolls away as fast as she arrived.
