The Romeo Club полностью

“But I didn’t even get to the good stuff.”

“Nope. No details.” I held my hand up. “I’m glad everything worked out for you.”

“Aren’t you even curious to know that it was an opened mouth kiss?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

Kevin glanced at me and said, “You’ve created a monster. A pervy, sick, monster who is only gonna get worse.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to regret this whole helping him out thing,” I said.

C.C. grinned. “Fine, I’ll fill you in later. In case you need any pointers.”

He and Kevin walked down the corridor, leaving me to fetch my books. When I had everything for first hour, I glanced down the hall to find Trey and Portia holding hands, their heads bent together in quiet conversation. A pang shot through me. I hated seeing them together. They didn’t fit. Not the way he and I did. But would he ever notice me in that light?

I sighed. Right now, I knew they were the least of my worries. I still had to talk to Rex. And I wasn’t looking forward to it. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. He’d been good to me. Maybe it should be enough. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t.

***

Rex drove me home after practice. For once, I was quiet. His fingers wrapped around mine as we pulled into my driveway. When he parked and cut the engine, I wrenched my hand away and placed it in my lap. A lump formed in my throat. Take a deep breath. You can’t string him along. It isn’t fair to him or you. This is for the best.

I picked at my cuticle, then turned to face him. “Rex, I-I think we should break up.”

His head shot up, a startled look on his face. “What? Del, you’re not serious.”

“Yes, I am. It’s not you. Really. It’s-it’s me.”

“Where is this coming from? We’ve been going out for close to nine months. Things have been good between us.”

“I know—but you want to date this jock-like girl, who’s popular and sits with you at lunch and goes to your house to watch you play football. But I’m more than that. I mean, you don’t even know me.”

“Of course I know you.” He reached across the middle console and touched my cheek.

Tears blurred my vision then rolled down my face. “No, you don’t. Did you know that I’m like this super nerd who spends hours playing video games?”

“No,” he said.

“Did you know that I’m an honor student and also a member of the National Honor Society?”

“No.”

“Do you have any idea what my favorite color is or who my favorite band is? Or hell, even what I plan to do after high school?”

“No—but you haven’t given me the chance to know these things. Shit, I thought you liked talking about sports and doing things with the guys.”

I gave him a half-hearted smile. “That’s the thing, we’ve been together nine months and you don’t know me.”

He released my face and sat back against his door, stunned. “We don’t have to end this. We can start over. Get to know one another.”

“That sounds nice, but I think maybe you know as well as I do this isn’t gonna work. In a few months you’ll be headed off to Michigan State, not to mention, you deserve to find someone who’s perfect for you.” I grabbed a hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Rex, you’re a nice guy. But you’re not for me. And someday, I hope you’ll forgive me.”

With that, I let go of him, reached for my bag, and hopped out of his jeep. I ran to the porch and watched as he pulled away. My shoulders trembled as a new wave of tears trailed down my cheeks.

Breaking up with Rex was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. It tore me up to see the hurt in his eyes. To know I caused it. But I had to do the right thing. And I had feelings of my own that needed to be addressed or at least figured out.

I didn’t even bother to go inside. Instead I headed straight for the backyard. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. My junior year was supposed to be perfect. I dropped my bag on the ground and took out my soccer ball. Mud and grass stains covered my knees from practice earlier. And even though I was tired, I needed this.

With the back of my hand, I wiped the moisture from my eyes. I dropped my ball at my feet and dribbled the length of my yard, dodging Mom’s rose bushes and the clothesline posts. I angled my foot and shot the ball into my net. Once I retrieved the ball, I ran to our deck then back again. Shot after shot rolled off my foot into the goal. My body burned with fatigue, my legs tired. But I didn’t stop. I needed to forget everything. Rex’s sad face. The pain in my chest when I saw Trey and Portia together. But most of all, I had to forget the kiss.

“Geez, I’d hate to be the ball about now.” Trey sauntered into the yard. He watched as I sent the ball into the back of the net.

He smiled. My legs turned to Jell-O beneath me and I gripped hold of the back post. Trey’s hair was still wet from what I assumed was a recent shower. Excitement raced through my veins. Had he come over to talk about the other night?

“Yeah, I’m pretty bad ass.” I rolled my eyes.