House of the Scotts

After I had finished my work, I called Sawyer and made it urgent that we had to meet today. Luckily, she immediately agreed and I headed straight to her. When we sat in her room a short time later, with cookies and cool lemonade in front of us, I came straight to the point.

"You have to tell him," I told her unmistakably. "He visited me and wanted to know who had written the poem."

"He already got it?" She asked in surprise. "You were really fast. What exactly did he want to know?"

"Well, who the writer was and what it means." I rolled my eyes. "Your stupid crush really causes trouble for both of us. What's so bad about telling him how you feel? He may even be flattered that a girl is interested in him."

"Or he'll laugh at me," she sighed. "You can believe me that I've already tried to fight against it. But I just can't get him out of my head."

"What you need is a real boyfriend, someone who is your age and not as out of reach as Justin Baker," I said firmly. "If you fall in love with another boy, then you'll easily forget him."

"Yeah, maybe," Sawyer muttered thoughtfully. "But please not someone like Davis!"

My head jerked up. How did she come up with that? "Um... no, of course not Davis!" I blurted quickly. "What made you think that I was talking about him?"

"You mentioned his name during our last conversation," she said with a shrug. "But just because he's good-looking doesn't mean that I wanted to get involved with him."

"You think he's... good-looking?" I stuttered jealously.

"From a purely visual point of view - yes," she confessed. "But in character - no."

I exhaled in relief. That was the last thing I wanted that my best friend fell in love with the boy I wanted. But she was right. Davis was an ass to say it outright. But just as Sawyer, I couldn't stifle the feelings I had for him. "How did it start?" I asked curiously.

"You mean how I fell in love with him?"

I nodded. "Yes, I can't remember anymore."

She pushed her bangs aside and showed me an already faded scar over her left brow. "It was a year and a half ago in cheerleading training," she began her story. "We were in the hall rehearsing individual figures for a competition. I had been selected to be at the top of the pyramid. The guys from the 'Ravens' were playing basketball with their coaches next door. I don't know why, but I was totally unfocused that day. Well, I lost my balance and fell to the ground."

I nodded as I remembered. Because of the deep cut on her forehead, there had been blood everywhere. Alarmed by our screams for help, the boys had run over to see what had happened. Justin, one of the coaches, had been the first to be there. And he had immediately provided first aid and then had called the ambulance. He had stayed with her the whole time, reassuring her and holding her hand. No wonder she had fallen in love with him. The other guys had just been standing and stupidly gawking. One had even vomited. But Justin had stayed calm. Suddenly, an idea came to me. "What would you think if we would try this again?" I suggested.

She looked at me confused. "What exactly do you mean?"

"You'll be in trouble and Justin would've to save you again." I was suddenly completely convinced of my great idea. "Maybe it works, that he falls in love with you, too."

"Another laceration?" She asked skeptically. "No, thanks!"

"No laceration this time." I shook my head. "I was thinking about drowning." She looked at me as if I had lost my mind. "Not for real," I reassured her. "You just feign to drown. But I think that might work." I could tell from Sawyer's expression that she was intrigued. "As head of the cheerleader team, I can also make decisions about where our training will take place," I continued. "And I think it might be fun to try out some figures in the water." I winked at her. "What do you think?"

"You want to go to the beach with us?"

"Exactly." I nodded eagerly. "And since we're all still minors, we need supervision. I could ask Jamie if he could ask Justin to supervise."

"You mean like in the series 'Malibu Beach Patrol'?" Sawyer asked.

"I loved this series!" I said, rolling my eyes. "Did you know that Izzy's dad directed the series? Well, she even went with me to the film set and I met some of the actors. That was so exciting!"

"And then I play a 'drowned body'?"

"Hm... Not that drastic, I would suggest. I think it's enough if you get a cramp or something like that. I'll be thinking about something else. First I have to let the girls know and ask Jamie to help us."

Sawyer laughed. "Seems you have thought this out down to the last detail."

"Look at it as a farewell gift from me. Then at least you will have the opportunity to kiss him," I said smirking.

"Kiss him?" Sawyer stammered, turning pale.

"Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation," I corrected eye rolling. "But that's almost the same. If you're convincing enough, his lips will definitely be on yours. Afterwards you can decide for yourself what you make of it." I looked at her expectantly. "So will you go through with it?"

"Okay," she agreed after a moment's hesitation. "It's the craziest idea we've ever had," she said, smiling.

"Great. Then that's settled," I said and got up. "I'll go to Jamie now, then inform the girls and get back to you." I was already at the door when she called me back.

"Thank you for helping me! You're a great friend!"

I smiled. At least one positive event on this day. I opened the door and left the room.