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 Whitney.
Before I could ask him his, he was gone. Glancing down at my hand, I saw he d written his number and underneath it was the word  Colt.
A name to go with a face. A gorgeous face.
I turned back to the field and smiled. I hated to admit it; it made me feel like I was a fraud, like I wasn t doing this because I loved football. But after this, I knew that
no matter how badly we lost the game, meeting Colt more than made up for it.
 As it turned out, we didn t just lose. We got annihilated. Somehow, I managed to turn in an even worse second-half performance than my second quarter, something
I hadn t even thought possible. A total of three interceptions and two lost fumbles were charged to my name. The offense didn t score once, but at least the defense
managed a touchdown off of a Sutter turnover.
But I didn t care. I had officially checked into a room on cloud nine for the rest of the night.
 I have to ask, Whitney, my mom finally said as we sat down to a late dinner after the game.  Are you even upset that you lost?
I looked up at my mother, perfecting my look of shock and innocence.  Mom! How could you even say that? Of course I m beyond upset about it. I feel like I let the
whole school down. And Matt and Dirk and Sophie and you! All of you guys made a point to come see me and I was terrible. And what am I going to tell Greg when
he calls? I just wish I could re-do the whole game.
You bet I do. Then I could have made sure to apply some lip gloss and fix my ponytail before the second half. Oh, and maybe taking back some of my interceptions
and actually winning wouldn t be so bad, either.
 It s just that I thought you would be more upset than you seem to be now, that s all.
A horrible, devastating thought crossed my mind. My mom hadn t seen me with Colt, had she? That would ruin any chance I had with him. Mom was on board with
the football thing now; she wouldn t let me date anyone who risked putting my career in jeopardy.
 I m trying not to think about it, you know, like I tried not to think about getting cut from Ash Valley, I replied.  It s easier for me.
My mom eyed me critically, but gave in.  Well, I m glad you aren t dwelling on it. And, Whitney, you weren t terrible. It was your first game.
 I guess you re right.
I had already checked out of the conversation as a sudden wave of disgust washed over me for the first time since the game ended. Why was this not bothering me
more? I knew I should be crying, wracking my brain to figure out how to get better, pouring over every word, diagram, X and O of Coach s playbook. I should be
devastated.
And I knew that I would have been...if I hadn t met Colt.
I just couldn t bring myself to care.
It was seriously amazing what a ridiculously gorgeous guy and his phone number could do for a girl. And the fact that he d actually come to my sideline instead of finding
me on the field after the game was almost too much to handle. The only thing I wanted to do now was go upstairs and think about him, think about the exact
conversation we had, and then think about him some more.
I knew I d definitely be making a phone call tonight, but it would be to Sophie, not Colt. I knew I couldn t tell anybody else what had happened on the sideline.
Craig and Trenton--if they ever bothered talking to me again--would probably freak out about the unsportsmanlike nature of what he did. Scott Marino--well, I didn t
know how Scott would react, but I didn t plan on finding out. I wasn t sure where I stood with him, but right then, that seemed like the least important detail in my life.
Scott was meaningless to me now. He could stay with his girlfriend forever as far as I was concerned.
 Mom? I think I m going to go upstairs and just...think about things for awhile, I said, after finishing my baked potato and green beans. I picked up my plate and
pushed back from the table.
My mother nodded.  Alright. And, honey, please don t get yourself too worked up. You did your best and I couldn t be more proud of you.
I grimaced, not wanting to hear this right now, but I tried to smile reassuringly. I hadn t done my best. Far from it. I d let Colt get in the way of my best. And still I
didn t care.
Maybe Scott had been right after all. Maybe I did have a future in acting.
After all, I thought my performance tonight was definitely worthy of an Academy Award.
XIV.
As soon as I got up to my room, I grabbed my cell phone and called Sophie. I needed to tell someone about Colt and I needed to do it fast. She was the only person
I could talk to.
 Whitney Leanne Berringer! Sophie almost deafened my right ear with her screech.  I am so glad you called! I was just going to call you! I have the biggest news
ever. You still have that crush on Scott Marino, right?
I hesitated, blindsided by Sophie s enthusiasm. I didn t really feel much of anything towards Scott right now and he wasn t what I wanted to talk about.
 I, uh, I don t know. And could you stop shrieking, please?
 Sorry. I m just so excited for you. But what do you mean, you don t know? You were all upset when you found out he was dating somebody else. You have to like
him. She paused, a soft sigh escaping her lips.  It s not like it s that difficult to fall for Scott.
 I...was, I said, still caught off guard by the conversation.  But that was a couple of days ago. Things, uh...sometimes things change.
 But he broke up with his girlfriend last night. He told Dirk today.
Scott had ended his relationship? This was news to me. But...why? I thought he didn t want anything to ruin his relationship with this girl, let alone me. At least, that
was the impression Brenden had given me.
 Dirk was all, like, oh, wow, I thought you really loved this girl, I thought you didn t want to let anything come between you guys, but Scott said something already
had. So, thank gosh, Dirk asked him what it was. I guess he was hesitant to say it at first, but Dirk dragged it out of him. It s you, Whit. Scott likes you too much to stay
with his girlfriend.
I froze for a split second, my mind darting back to the amazing week I d spent with him in practice and how much I thought I liked him. I d been expecting Sophie to
say that, but it was still surprising to hear out loud. I d hoped this would happen, but it was Jason Victorino all over again. My dream of being with him had changed; [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]