Anything Goes on a Friday Night (2 page)

SOMETHING WAS SHOVED INTO
my lap, and I felt its spillage on my feet. I grabbed the bag of overflowing buttery goodness and laughed at Katie. She plopped down on the bleachers next to me, and pulled a beanie over her brown curls.

“Thank god your name isn’t Grace,” I teased, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

She smiled with her straw between her teeth and started drinking her blue Icee. We both turned to the field when the people in the stands jumped to their feet. She stood and waved the blue and white pom-pom in her left hand to accentuate her cheers. I stood and smiled at the field. The guys were playing great this year.

The cries of victory calmed down, and everyone sat, intently staring and waiting for another touchdown. I looked over at Katie who had her eyes glued to number 27, her twin brother Ben.

“I swear, if he doesn’t pay attention, he’s going to get himself hurt! Again!” she shrieked. She set her Icee down to bite her nails but huffed when she saw she had already bitten them down. “He just recovered from his last injury! The coach allowed him back too soon.”

“Calm down. He’ll be fine.”

My phone vibrated in my back pocket.

Dad: I got your text earlier. Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. It’s been a bad night.

Me: How so?

Dad: It just has.

Me: Vague much?

Dad: Gotta go, Elena.

Me: See you Sunday?

No response.

I scrunched my nose as I stared down at my phone. Several seconds passed and there was still no reply from Dad.
Weird.
Dad never blew me off like that. I was just about to put my phone back into my pocket when it vibrated in my hand. I was hopeful it was Dad, but it was Channing.

Shit!

I completely forgot to meet him!

Channing: Where are you? I thought you were meeting me at the entrance.

Me: OMG, Channing! I forgot!

I looked at the time and saw it was 8:00. I was supposed to meet him fifteen minutes ago. I stood and looked at Katie.

“I gotta meet Channing, and then we’ll find our way back here.”

“Or you two will get lost,” she said, winking at me.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

I frowned when I saw Channing standing with his friends. He smiled when he saw me. He came over, his friends in tow. “You look pissed. What’s up?”

I shook my head and forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

Honestly, I thought it was going to be just us tonight after the game. But once his friends were around, that never happened. We’d end up at a party, and Channing would get way too drunk. I’d end up going home, and he’d crash God-knows-where. I might or might not hear from him the rest of the weekend depending on the severity of his hangover. But who was I to tell his friends to hit the road?

“I miss seeing you shake your ass out there on the field, Elena,” Jake said with a smug grin.

Sleazy comments—Jake’s specialty. Reason number 1,034,999 I hated being around his jerk-face friends. I didn’t answer. Channing took my hand as I led them to where Katie and I were sitting. Channing sat between Katie and me. Jake tried his hardest to flirt with Katie who wouldn’t give him the time of day. I laughed.

“Would you shut up? Seriously!” Katie squealed. “I’m trying to watch my brother out there! God, Jake! You’re disgusting.” She slapped his hand away from her thigh.

Channing smiled around the straw as he took a drink of my Icee. He handed it back to me and looked over his shoulder at Jake who was still messing with Katie. “You might want to cool it. Ben will kick your ass.”

Jake winked at Katie when she glared at him. “You’re sexy when you’re angry,” he teased her some more.

Katie stood in all her rage and kicked Jake in the shin. “I swear, you’re like a damn two-year-old! I’m going to watch the rest of the game in peace!” She stomped off down the stairs.

I turned to look at Jake. “Happy, asshole?”

He shrugged and grabbed the drink she left behind to finish it off.

WE LOST BY TWO
points. It wouldn’t have been bad if it weren’t for our rival town, Kerrville. The two towns were separated by 20 miles and a whole hell of a lot of hate. You didn’t dare wear red and black in my town, and you’d better not cross the border wearing any shade of blue.

The forecast for fights and vandalism was 100% tonight. Cops would be spreading as fast as rumors, guarding the border at the
Welcome to Kerrville
sign. Maybe that’d keep Channing from rushing off to party with his friends.
Ha! Yeah right.
Who was I kidding? That’d make him want to go more.

I leaned against my car, waiting for Channing to ask me to go to a party with him.

Here it comes.

That cocky grin.

The pleading kiss down my jawline…

“So, there’s—” I put my finger to Channing’s lips. He chuckled and tried to bite the tip of it, but I moved it before he could. “Come on, Ellie? It’ll be fun.”

“For who?”

He shrugged and looked over his shoulder at his buddies waiting in their truck.

“Come on, Channing! Leave her here if she doesn’t want to go!” Jake lit a cigarette proudly. He thought he was the shit because he was the first of all of us to turn eighteen, and he could buy them legally now.

I glowered at Jake before looking at Channing. “Go. Have fun. I’ll be fine. I need to study anyway.” I really wanted to punch Jake in the face, but instead I focused on Channing’s full lips. I kissed him to distract my mouth from cursing Jake and giving him fuel to be an even bigger douche bag.

He gave me another quick kiss and whispered, “I love you, Elena,” in my ear. “I’ll text you tomorrow! Maybe we can even go see a movie or something.”

“Sounds good! Now, go have fun.” My laugh was fake, but he was too caught up in his pre-drunk excitement to notice.

“I love you, ya know that?”

I nodded. “Yeah. And if Katie shows up, please keep Jake away from her.”

“I will. I promise.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Love you, Channing.”

“Love you, too.” He kissed me and then headed to the truck.

I got in my car and watched the dust cloud fill the air as they sped out of the gravel. I put my head to the steering wheel and sighed loudly. I loved him so much it hurt—just like mom said. Normally, I’d go to the party with him. I’d drink. I’d even get drunk sometimes. But tonight, I just wasn’t feeling it, and I was proud of myself for saying no—something status quo Elena struggled with.

I called Dad on my way home to grill him for answers as to why he was being so weird tonight.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dad.”

“Are you driving? You better not be driving and talking on your cell phone! You know how I feel about that!”

I laughed. “Calm down, Daddy! I’m driving, but I’m almost home.”

“Most wrecks happen close to home. Call me back when you get there.”

“No. I’m literally turning into our neighborhood now.” I flipped the blinker and turned onto my road. “What’s your deal tonight? Is everything okay?”

He paused. “I don’t know. Just a bad week. I miss you.”

“Miss you too. But I’ll see you Sunday! Do we have any plans?”

“No plans.”

I pulled into the driveway and parked behind Mom’s red Mustang. “Okay, so are we just gonna have one of our lazy days where we watch Netflix and pig out on junk? If so, I’m totally down for that. We haven’t done that in a while, and if you ask me, those are my favorite kind of days.”

Dad didn’t say anything. All I could hear was his breathing.

“Dad?”

“Huh?” He sounded like he had forgotten he was on the phone.

“We were talking about Sunday.”

“Oh. Yeah. I don’t know. Hey, ummm, I gotta go.”

“Okay, I’ll—”

He hung up before I could finish.

He. Hung. Up.

On
me.

I got out of my car, trying not to be upset by my dad’s behavior. He was
never
like this. When we had conversations he always gave me every bit of his attention. We’d talk for hours some nights.

I went inside and set my phone on the nightstand next to my bed. I stared at it, contemplating whether I should call him back but decided against it. Instead, I got ready for bed and told myself I’d talk to him again tomorrow.

I
COULDN’T BREATHE I WAS
laughing so hard. Channing had me pinned to the couch and was tickling me. “S-ss-top!” I barely got the word out.

Our laughter filled his small living room. Finally, he stopped and leaned down to kiss my nose. I put my hand to my chest, trying to catch my breath, still laughing a little.

“My mom will be home from work soon. I promised her I would do the dishes.” He moved so he was sitting by my feet, pulled them into his lap, and started rubbing them.

“I can help you do them. And are you sure she’s not gonna be mad I’m here?”

“No, she loves you. You’re always welcome here, Ellie.”

I smiled. “Okay.”

We went into the kitchen, and I frowned at the sink and counter littered with dirty plates, cups, and baking dishes. I scratched the top of my head and looked at Channing. “Do you people ever do dishes?”

He laughed and rolled up his sleeves. “When we have no more left.”

“My parents would freak. As soon as we finish using one, we have to put it in the dishwasher.”

He turned on the faucet and kept his hand under the water until it got hot. “My mom doesn’t care.”

“Apparently.” I laughed, and so did he.

I bent over to put the detergent in the dishwasher, and when I stood, Channing’s arms wrapped around from behind me. The warmth of his lips against my neck made me melt against him, and goosebumps appeared in multitudes. I smiled and closed my eyes.

“We should watch a movie,” he whispered.

We quickly put a safe distance between us when we heard the front door open.

“Channing? You two better be behaving. I don’t want any grandkids just yet.”

I stifled a laugh and felt my cheeks get warm. Channing smiled and kissed my forehead. We walked into the living room, and his mom smiled at us.

“What were you two doing?”

“Dishes.” I smiled.

“Thank God. They were about to take over and kick us out of our own home. You two hungry? I was thinking about ordering a pizza tonight.”

We both nodded.

“We’re gonna go watch a movie in my room.” Channing laced his fingers with mine.

“And the door stays open. I’m serious, Channing.” She looked at me. “Ellie?”