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The day had come to an end and Hollis stood by her locker, gathering her things. The remainder of the school day had been uneventful, save for Carter who kept his distance from her. She had tried to talk to him several times but he either ignored her or walked away when she started to talk. After a few tries, she had given up.
Closing the locker, she turned to find Carter behind her.
"You scared me," she laughed nervously. One look at his face caused her laughter to end. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I'm just... preoccupied."
A humorless laugh escaped his lips, his dark eyes trained on her. "That's nothing new, Hollis." His voice was bitter, just like the expression he wore.
"I know." Closing her eyes, she let out an audible sigh. "So, what did you want to talk about?" She changed the subject, praying that an argument wouldn't erupt. The day had gone well thus far and ruining it with a fight wasn't something she wanted to do. Especially one with Carter. She knew they weren't on the best terms right now but she hoped to avoid confrontation.
"This." He motioned to himself and Hollis. Without waiting for her to react, he continued. "It feels like you've been avoiding me all summer. We hardly talk or go out and…I don't know, Hollis. It feels like you don't want me around anymore."
"That's not true, Carter!" His expression told her that he didn't believe her. Hollis reached for his hand and looked up at him. "I know I've been distant lately and I'm really sorry." She glanced down at their hands and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Hollis wanted to assure him that he was wrong but was he? "I guess I'm still trying to get my life back together. I want everything to feel normal again. The last few months have been…" Biting her lower lip, she shrugged. "But that's no excuse for shutting you out. I'm sorry."
Shaking his head, he put both hands on her arms. The angry look on his face softened as he studied her. "No, I get it. I just…miss you, that's all."
"I miss you, too." Hollis did miss him. She missed how everything used to be, how normal everything had felt. Now all that she was left with was a jumbled mess of what had been.
"Maybe you should come to the party on Friday, Hollis." Seeing the horrorstruck look on her face, he held up a hand to keep her from interrupting. "Being surrounded by your friends might just be what you need. It'll be fun and it beats staying home surrounded by homework…alone."
A party was the last place that she wanted to be at yet it was something normal for her to do. Normality was the one thing that she strived for amongst the craziness of her life. Hollis tilted her head, thinking his words over. A few silent seconds passed before she nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. "Alright. You talked me into it," she answered with a laugh before she was pulled into a hug. She relaxed and leaned against him. For a minute, things seemed almost normal, comfortable. She missed this. Reluctantly, she pulled back and looked up at him. "I should go find Lydia and Allison."
He nodded, loosening his grip on her. "I'll see you later," he said with that familiar smile she loved.
[- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -]
"Sorry I'm late." Hollis climbed the bleachers and sat down next to Allison and Lydia.
"I was beginning to get worried that you ditched," Lydia said, turning to look at her. "You didn't miss much…well, anything, really. They're setting up so you arrived just in time."
She nodded, turning her attention towards the field. From where she sat, Hollis had a clear view of the players. Although she couldn't for the life of her remember all the players by their numbers, she was able to locate a few familiar faces. In her search, she spotted an over confident Jackson who happened to look in their direction. A smug smile plastered his face and, with much hesitation, Hollis managed a small smile in return. She looked away from him, her eyes landing on Coach Finstock who was talking to a nervous looking Scott.
"Who is that?" Allison asked.
Lydia casually looked over and shrugged. "Him? I'm not sure who he is. Why?"
"He's in our English class," Allison said.
Rolling her eyes, she glanced at Lydia. "That's Scott," Hollis answered. "Seriously, Lydia? He's been in our grade since elementary school."
"Oh." She shrugged, as if this was the first she was hearing of it. "So, did you and Carter make up?" Lydia asked, brilliantly changing the subject.
"How did...?" She trailed off.
"Nothing gets past me," she stated proudly. "So, did you?"
Hollis nodded, which earned her a happy squeal from Lydia. "He convinced me to go to the party," she admitted, looking at Allison.
"Perfect!" Lydia said, clapping her hands. "Now if only we could convince miss-I've-got-family-night to come along." She looked at the brunette with a playful glare.
Allison shrugged. "Sorry, I wish I could."
At the sound of the whistle, the girls cut their conversation short.
Her eyes were fixed on the field, where Scott grudgingly walked to the goal. He looked worried while he prepared for the first person to shoot the ball. With a quick look in their direction, he distracted himself long enough for the first player to hurl the ball. Rather than stop it, the ball hit his helmet and bounced into the goal. Laughter erupted right away; even the coach wasn't hiding his amusement, not that he ever did. Hollis could swear that he loved the humiliation and embarrassment of his team and students. She kept her eyes glued to him and, when he caught the next couple balls with ease, she cheered along with everyone.
"He seems like he's pretty good," Allison stated.
Hollis nodded when Lydia said, "Yeah, very good."
She was happy for Scott, proud even. But then Jackson pushed his way to the front, determined to bring Scott down. She knew him well enough to know that he didn't want anyone to be better than him. This was his way of bringing all attention to himself and to humiliate Scott in the process. For this, she disliked him. Hollis held her breath when he angrily charged towards Scott and flung the ball with rage. When Scott easily caught it, she smiled. Even Lydia cheered, which earned the three of them a glare from Jackson.
The remainder of practice was good but nothing remotely interesting happened, nothing that could beat Scott's quick rise to lacrosse stardom. When the final whistle blew, the two girls followed Lydia off the bleachers. A crowd of students formed around the players, congratulating their friends who did well and cheering up the ones who didn't.
Hollis couldn't keep the gleeful look from showing on her face as she neared him.
He noticed because he scowled at her right away. "Don't even start, Hollis," he said angrily, shaking his head.
"Oh, come on, Jackson," she said with a laugh. "It's not everyday that the king of lacrosse gets dethroned."
"I didn't get dethroned." His voice was icy and a glare was directed at her. "So McCall got lucky for once. It won't happen again."
"It better not," Lydia said with disapproval.
Allison and Hollis exchanged a look. She knew that tone in Lydia's voice very well. She was about to get into one of her 'I'm not dating a loser' speeches and, Hollis took this as a cue to leave. She slipped away with Allison just as a heated argument broke out between them. Shaking her head, she couldn't help but feel bad for Jackson at that moment. Any fight with the fiery redhead was a battle already lost.
"I'm glad we escaped that."
"Me, too." Allison said, who looked happy to be out of the battlefield. "That looked intense."
Hollis let out a laugh while she nodded. "It always is." She glanced over at her friend before adding, "You get used to it, though."
They walked in silence until they were far away enough from the two. Their silence was interrupted by Allison's phone, which she answered on the third ring.
That was my mom," Allison began once she hung up. "She's here to drive me home."
"Oh, I could've given you a lift," Hollis told her.
"Thanks. Maybe next time?"
Hollis nodded before the two parted ways. She watched Allison walk across the field and her eyes briefly landed on Lydia and Jackson.
As gust of wind picked up, she hugged her jacket closer to her body. The unsteady weather was a clear inclination that summer was at an end, with fall just around the corner. She liked the shift in seasons. It was reassuring, peaceful.
Moving her hair out of her face, her eyes scanned the area around her. She caught sight of Scott and Stiles talking. Hollis moved towards the two boys, catching the last few bits of their conversation.
"That was unbelievable! I mean... Wow," Stiles said, at a loss for words.
"It was pretty cool, huh?" Scott said, a mixed look of surprise and happiness etched on his face.
"You were great out there," Hollis told him when she appeared beside them. They turned to her, obviously surprised to see her. "Even Lydia was impressed," she went on. "Jackson, not so much." She looked in his direction to see his face permanently frozen on unhappy.
"Oh, thanks, Hollis," Scott said.
"Jackson needs to get brought down to planet earth once in a while. I mean, he's good but-"
"He thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread," Stiles muttered, finishing her sentence. He looked at them sheepishly but his words earned him a smile from them both.
"I know that Allison was impressed." Hollis looked at him, watching the dreamy look reappear.
"Yeah? Really? Did she-did she say anything?" Scott asked.
"Just that you were really good. She couldn't take her eyes off of you, either." She couldn't hide her smile at his reaction. "You should ask her to the party on Friday. You're both coming, right?" She glanced from one to the other.
"Of course we're coming!" Stiles exclaimed.
"I thought you and Allison couldn't make it," Scott said, getting a confused look from Hollis. "I, uh, overheard."
"Oh, well, I wasn't planning on going but Carter convinced me." Hollis said. She turned to look at Stiles, whose smile faltered a bit. "But you like Allison so you should ask her." She turned her attention back to Scott and nodded.
Scott groaned. "It's not that obvious, is it?" He asked, embarrassed.
"No, it is," Stiles said. "Like, really really obvious. You might as well have it written on your face. So, yeah, it's obvious."
"Great, thanks, Stiles," Scott muttered and shot him a glare. "But, I don't know…about the party, I mean. What if she says no? What if she doesn't like me back? What if –"
"What if you just ask her and find out?" Hollis asked.
A light blush crept up his face. "Yeah, uh, maybe. I could do that."
"Hollis!" Turning, they saw Lydia and Jackson waving her over.
With a roll of her eyes, she shrugged. "The royals call," she said with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure she does like you back, Scott," Hollis said before walking away.