Secrets: The Hero Chronicles (Volume 1) (20 page)

The music stopped. “Excuse me, excuse me. Could all of the Homecoming Court make their way to the DJ’s table?” The voice over the microphone was easily identifiable as Joy Lemmins’.

“We can come back to eat after your Homecoming Court stuff,” Livi said. Eric agreed.

I looked behind us and the line was now the length of the lunchroom. “No, you guys go in. I’ll be done with the Court stuff soon, and I’ll come in and join you,” I said.

“Are you sure?” Erin said, linking her arm with mine.

“Seriously, it will be really quick. Go on in. Plus, look at that line.” Erin looked disappointed when I took back my arm. I walked off mouthing to the group, “It’s okay. I’ll be right back.”

I turned around and walked toward the DJ’s booth in the front of the room. There was a small opening in the crowd of dancers, and through it I saw the yellow in Elle’s dress. I squeezed through the crowd; Elle was right in front of me. I then became aware of the butterflies dancing around in my stomach. Her face was blank, expressionless, just staring into space.

“Elle.”

She looked at me and gave me a faint smile. She looked different. Her beauty was still there, but something else was wrong. I moved closer to talk to her. Then the music stopped abruptly and two large white spotlights appeared on us.

Joy Lemmins was standing behind the DJ’s booth. She was wearing a rhinestone-covered, dark green dress. With all of those rhinestones, she could have been used as the chandelier for the dance. All of the tiny stones sent a sea of green and white light around the room.

“Before we start the Homecoming Court thingy, I would like to thank everyone again who helped out with putting together another wonderful Homecoming.”

The audience’s sparse clapping was drowned out by Joy’s loud clapping, which was magnified over the microphone. I stood right next to Elle, hoping for her to grab my hand like last night, but nothing. I felt so distant from her.

Joy continued, “And now, for our Homecoming Court’s dance. Let’s have our couples go out onto the floor.”

The crowd backed up, making a large circle in the middle of the dance floor. An arm interlocked with mine on the opposite side of Elle. It was Amber. We walked out on the dance floor along with the other couples. My back was to Elle and Chad. The music began. At first I couldn’t hear the music. My mind was focused on Elle. I felt Amber start swaying back and forth, which forced me out of my trance, and I followed her lead. I recognized the song instantly. It was one of Cora’s favorite songs, “Faithfully” by Journey. I picked up the beat, and Amber was now following my lead. My back was still facing Elle. I tried my best to turn us, but Amber didn’t budge at all. The more that I listened to the music, the more I wanted Elle, not just to see her but to dance with her myself. I wanted to feel her warm arms around me, to feel her body against mine.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Chad. “May I cut in, Keller? I don’t like how close you are dancing with my girl,” he said with a smile. He leaned in and whispered, “Plus, I know
she
would rather dance with you.” He motioned back toward Elle, who was standing alone, looking at us and waiting.

I let go of Amber and walked up to Elle. “May I have this dance?”

She nodded.

I took her hand and put my other hand on her waist. She did the same. Her touch radiated through my body, once again filling me with warmth.

She spoke first. “Don’t worry, the song will be over soon and then you can get back to your date.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t have a date. I’m only here because you asked me to come. Remember?”

“I saw you getting pictures with Erin. She has told a bunch of people that you are her date.”

“She’s not my date, and plus, aren’t
you
here with a date? Why should you care who I’m here with?” I said, putting more distance between us.

She moved closer. “Because I made a mistake,” she whispered.

“What mistake?”

“I should have said no to Oliver. It just seemed like I was supposed to say yes at the time. Then you came into my life. We became close, and all I wanted to do was come with you, share this night with you, but I couldn’t do that to Oliver. So I decided to come to the dance with him and hopefully get to spend some time with you in the process. That’s why I asked you to come.” Her breathing quickened. A single tear rolled down her cheek. I wiped it away.

“The whole night, Oliver has been complaining about you, saying you’re the reason why he’s having a bad football season,” she continued. “He also blames you for him not winning Junior Duke. I didn’t say anything to him because I didn’t want to make him angrier than he is already. I didn’t want him to come after you to pick a fight. He’s so mad and is acting more irrational than normal. He also thinks that I’m in a bad mood because I’m not with you, which I guess is true,” she laughed.

The song ended and another song started. I let go. Elle pulled me close and said, “Please, one more. Chad would rather dance with his girlfriend.”

“Who, Amber?”

“Chad and Amber have been dating since the beginning of last year.”

“Well then, I would love to have another dance.”

We swayed to the music, while I tried to process what she had just said. “You know, Elle, you’re too good,” I said. She looked up at me puzzled. “What I mean is, you went to a dance with someone you didn’t like just because he asked first. You took into consideration his feelings and not yours when, clearly, he didn’t deserve it.” She laid her head on my shoulder.

A moment later someone put a hand on my shoulder and wrenched me around. I felt a stinging sensation under my right eye. It made my head whip to the side. The stinging sensation began to burn. Oliver was recoiling back from hitting me. He looked scared. The fire filled every part of my body. I was ready to take him on. But why did he look so scared? He was the one who had just hit me. Thoughts raced around in my head. Then, from the stunned looks on the surrounding faces, I realized why. He just hit me with everything he had, and it didn’t even phase me.

Elle stepped in front of me. She started to scream at him, “You coward! Get away from us.”

Chad stepped in front of both of us, blocking our view of him. “Oliver, what do you think you’re doing?”

Oliver yelled, “Chad, get out of my way. He needs to pay for taking the captain of the football team’s date.”

“Are you blind? Can’t you see that she only came with you because she’s nice? And she doesn’t care about you being captain of the football team. Come to think of it, Nicholas has acted more like the captain this year than you have. You’re no captain of mine.”

“We’ll see if he’s captain material,” Oliver said, staggering back into the crowd. Chad had fifty pounds on him and was double his size. There was no way Oliver would try anything else with Chad separating us. Oliver pointed his finger at me. “Nicholas, you will pay for . . .” but before he finished, he walked away.

Coach Hoff emerged, being pulled by Joy Lemmins. She must have gone to get him as soon as Oliver hit me. Both of them looked around. Joy said something to him and he spoke immediately.

“Keller, Reiger, what’s going on here?”

Before Chad could answer I spoke up. “Nothing, Coach. Everything is fine.” The answer was enough for him. He turned and walked away. Joy Lemmins stood there in shock.

Elle turned her attention to me. “Nicholas, are you okay?”

Amber and Elle were both looking at my cheek.

Chad patted me on the back. “Keller, you are one of the toughest guys I know. I don’t think many of us could have taken Oliver’s punch and still be standing. Plus, not telling Coach makes you captain material,” Chad said. He smiled and took Amber in his arms. “Come on, babe. He’s in good hands now.”

“Come on, Nicholas. Let’s go sit down,” Elle said, putting her arm around me, holding me up like a crutch. I took her arm and put it down at her side, holding onto her hand. We walked over to the entrance of the café. The line was still long. I led Elle past the hostess and down the cobblestone path. I searched for Eric.

I saw him up ahead in one of the large round booths a foot off the ground, sitting with Livi, Matt, Melissa, and Erin. The booth they were sitting in was filled to capacity. Eric and Livi were sharing a large ice cream sundae, and Matt, Melissa, and Erin were all eating their own desserts. We walked up to the booth. I had Elle’s hand still in mine. Scanning their faces, I got two reactions: Eric, Livi, Matt and Melissa looked happy to see me, but Erin didn’t look pleased to see me holding hands with Elle.

“So how was the Court stuff?” Eric asked.

“It was fine,” I responded.

Before I could say anything else, Elle said, “It wasn’t fine. Oliver hit Nicholas.”

Both Eric and Matt stood up in the booth.

“Sit down guys. I’m fine. It’s over.”

The girls in the booth looked as concerned as Elle did.

“What happened?” Erin asked. Elle explained what had happened detail by detail. When she was done, no one said anything except for Eric, of course.

“Nicholas, you are a machine. He blindsided you, and you didn’t get knocked down or out. Incredible! You. Are. The. Man.” He put his hand up for a high five.

Before I could respond, Elle said, “Your booth looks crowded. We are going to sit over there.” She dragged me over to an empty booth that was in the very back of the area. The booth was small—only big enough for two, maybe three people. It was the highest booth there, up five stairs. Sitting in this booth was like being in a romantic tree house. Elle leaned in really close to look at my eye.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She said, “I’m making sure you’re okay. I don’t see any bruising, and there’s no swelling.”

“Elle, I’m fine, and by the way, he hit me on the other side of my face.”

She laughed.

A waiter walked up and said, “Hello, my name is David. Welcome to Winsor Café. Have you had a chance to look at the menu?” We both looked at each other.

“We don’t have any menus,” I said.

He glanced down at the empty table then produced two from his apron. “I’ll give you some time to look. I will be back in a few minutes.”

Sitting there with Elle was like a peaceful dream. If I had to get hit one hundred more times just so I could be with her, it would be worth it.

“Nicholas, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, what is it?”

She paused and looked down. “Do you hate me?”

“Elle, why would you ask that? I don’t hate you.”

“Nicholas, sometimes I hurt the people I care about because I am trying to do the right things. Jennifer and Julie have no problem with hurting others because they only think about themselves.”

I put my arm around her. “Elle, listen. You are so thoughtful and caring. You have such a big heart and that can never change. You are nothing like Jennifer and Julie.”

She smiled.

DINNER

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“N
icholas, are you going to eat this?” Elle had my apple already in her mouth.

“I guess I’m not now.”

She laughed, spitting part of the apple out.

“Elle, you might as well eat it now.” Elle was lying on her stomach with my apple in her hand. Her legs were bent up and moving back and forth making small circles. She was so cute.

“Nicholas, ever since Homecoming, my parents have been wanting to meet you. What do you think?”

“Why do they want to meet me?” I asked.

“Well, I’m not sure. Oh, never mind,” she said pouting, sticking her bottom lip out like she was five. She was adorable.

“No, I would love to meet them. It sounds great!”

“It does? Well, okay then. How about dinner this Friday?”

“Okay, Friday it is.”

**

That Friday was the first one in a long time that I didn’t have football. It had been a long season. The varsity team marched right through the playoffs and won State easily. There was an incredible ticker-tape parade in downtown Winsor. During the parade I sat with Chad in the car right behind the coaches, second in line. The team voted on who should sit with Chad, the MVP of the playoffs and the championship game. They picked me, not Oliver. I felt guilty sitting in the lead car with Chad, but Cora reassured me that I had helped the team win State. I was an inspiration, she said, even if I had faked an injury. But I still thought Oliver should have been up there in the spotlight, not me. He was the golden boy, the chosen one—and I stole that from him.

The December temperature had quickly dropped into the low 20s, which was colder than usual for this time of year. We had already seen an inch of snow, but that was okay by me because I loved snow.

I got home from school on Friday excited to go to Elle’s house for the first time, but really nervous to meet her parents. I didn’t know what to expect.

“Nicholas, the phone is for you!”

I had fallen asleep waiting to get ready to leave, so I didn’t hear the phone ring. I sprang out of my bed and grabbed the phone, still half asleep. “Hello?”