CHAPTER 10
Previously on The Story of Us…..
Kate danced the night away with Tom at Prom. Rick broke a promise. The fab five has dwindled to the troubled three. Rick has started writing a book. The boys went to a baseball game with Rick. Finals week has come and gone, and they all prepared themselves for the upcoming summer break.
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And now, now school is starting up again in two weeks. Kate and Tom still going strong, Kate excited about the upcoming soccer season and Tom struggling to put football ahead of Kate. Rick's first novel has been published, but he never told anyone. Lanie and Javier started dating mid summer, leaving Kevin to be a third wheel.
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With only two weeks before the torture of high school begins again, Tom and the rest of the football team decide to throw an end of summer bonfire at the beach. And being his girlfriend, Kate helps the team set everything up.
As they get the DJ station set up and start playing tunes, Tom pulls Kate aside before it gets too crowded and loud for them to talk. They walk hand in hand for a couple hundred feet down the beach before they pass a small patch of grass with beautiful purple and white flowers and taking a seat on a couple of giant rocks.
Taking Kate's hand, Tom takes a deep breath before opening his mouth and closing it again. Sensing her boyfriends nervousness, Kate lays her other hand overtop of the hand that is holding her other one. Then she speaks, "Are you okay Tom?"
Tom looks up at her, sees the concern written in her eyes and starts to speak, "Kate, you know that we have had an amazing time together this summer." He pauses trying figure out exactly how he wants to say this, but the time he takes to pause scares her.
The pause makes her think that he is breaking up with her. So she slips both of her hands out from his before letting the tear run down her cheek and saying, "You're breaking up with me aren't you?"
"What?! No!" Tom says immediately, looking up at her again he sees the fear in her eyes. "No, God no, Kate."
"Then what is this?" Kate asks as she pulls her hands away again when he tries to hold them.
Hanging his head a little, he rubs the back of his head before taking yet another deep breath to calm his nerves and starts to explain. "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous. This isn't turning out how I wanted it too."
"What are you talking about Tom?" Kate asks, feeling a mixture of fear and confusion. "If you aren't breaking up with me, then what is going on?"
"I- I uh found this little patch of flowers a while ago and I thought it was beautiful. They kind of reminded me of you and so I just really wanted to show you them." He says nervously, "Oh god, I've never done this before and it is was supposed to be super romantic, with the sun setting and these beautiful flowers behind us."
Taking his hand, Kate squeezes it before putting her free hand on his cheek softly to lift his eyes to hers, "What was supposed to be romantic?"
"I- I uh- I-" Tom tries as he can feel the sweat drip down his forehead as well as down his back and he can feel his palms become clammy.
"Just spit it out Tom!" Kate says laughing as she runs her thumb back and forth on his cheek.
"I love you." He says a little too fast. But it's out there. He can't take it back.
Afraid of her reaction, Tom looks down at the sand with his eyes closed. He doesn't see Kate's eyes go wide, he doesn't see her mouth hanging open, and he doesn't see the corners of her lips curve upwards.
But he does feel her squeeze his hand and he does feel her lift his eyes back to hers. Their eyes meet and he can see her fighting back tears before her eyes slip close and her lips touch his.
Pulling away from his soft, tender lips, Kate opens her eyes again, meeting his, and saying, "I love you too."
"What?"
"I love you." Kate says again, this time more confident and with a bigger smile.
Seeing all of her pearly whites, Tom's own smile grows before he pulls her in for another slow, yet sweet kiss. His hands make their way up to hold the back of her neck in place, while hers start to run through the short hair at the back of his own neck.
Pulling apart, Kate stands up and pulls Tom along with her as she starts to head back down the beach to the party. But Tom stops her.
"Come on Tom, we don't wanna miss the party." Kate says squeezing his hand.
"Wait" He says putting his free hand into his jeans pocket. Looking down at the sand and closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, he gathers the courage to say the other thing he needed to say, "There's something else you should know."
Taking a step back towards him, Kate nods her head before pulling his other hand out of his pocket and holding it.
"Last week, Coach Johnson pulled me aside. He hasn't exactly been pleased with my performance on the field lately." Tom starts saying looking down at the sand every couple of words because he knows that this might just crush her. "He gave me an ultimatum."
"An ultimatum about what Tom?" Kate asks shifting her weight back and forth between her legs.
"Football or you."
Slowly slipping her hands from his, she nods her head before looking out at the ocean and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You chose football. So what was that back there then? Huh? Tell me you love so that you can make this easier on yourself? Well thanks, but I don't need your pity."
Giving him one last quick look, Kate takes a couple of steps towards the party. She makes it about fifteen yards away before she hears,
"I chose you."
Freezing, Kate closes her eyes and lets the tears fall before slowly turning to face him. Looking up to find his eyes, Kate is suddenly overwhelmed with confusion and a small amount of hurt. "You what?"
"I chose you."
"No." Kate says shaking her head as he quickly closes the distance between them. "No. You can't choose me."
"Why not?" Tom asks lifting his arms up in the air, "You were just pissed at the thought of me not choosing you, so why can't I choose you?"
"Because football is your life Tom." Kate raises her voice. "Football is your dream. It always has been."
"Dreams change Kate." He says taking one of her hands into his own hoping that things were going to be okay. "You are my dream now."
But Kate still pulls her hand away from his before taking a couple of steps backwards and saying, "No. Tom, I love you. I love you so much, but you can't do this. You need to choose football. I'm sorry."
Quickly turning around, Kate starts to run down the beach away from Tom, who is standing there in shock. His eyes are sad, the smile is gone, and a single tear rolls down his cheek.
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