Chapter 19: Just Great!

My mom had called and told the administration that I was returning and that Gillian missed her old school so she had left the night before. They must have bought it, because I had to redo all that work from Tuesday and Wednesday.

Oh, that really made my day start off great. Then Connie would just look at me, but she couldn't talk. Neither could Charlie. Or the rest of the team for that matter.

What was I thinking? I knew he wouldn't forgive me, just because of one kiss. And he made it evident as soon as I walked into History on Thursday morning. He glanced at the door of the classroom, shot me a look, then turned back to his work. I felt so hurt.

Randa sat by me, very glumly. "Hey," she whimpered.

"Randa, what's wrong?" I turned to her all concerned.

"Oh, nothing," she said, all depressed. Then she turned to me and grinned. "Nick wants to marry me!"

"What!?" I yelled. The teacher told me to quiet down and get to work.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I told him, you know, 'the news' and he didn't even get mad. He got all happy and told me that it was the best day of his life and asked me to marry him. I told him that I couldn't, of course, being a freshman in high school. Then I told him I was, you know, kind of hoping for it to be a false alarm."

"What happened then?" I asked, after a long pause.

"He said he hoped it wasn't, but if it was, there'd be plenty of time in the future." She grinned from ear to ear. "Isn't he the greatest?"

"Oh, yeah, just the greatest." I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to my mountain of homework. "Pardon me for not jumping for joy…Too much work to do."

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Lunch sucked, too. Myranda just kept going on and on about Nick while I played with my macaroni casserole. I thought I was about to die of boredom when a paper airplane landed on my plate.

It said, Meet me in the band room in ten, C. I glanced around to see who had written it, but couldn't find the source. I glanced at Myranda who was staring at a wall all dreamy-eyed, mumbling on and on.

"Uh, Randa? I'm really happy for you and all that, but I need to head to the library for a little while." I glanced at her again. This time she wore a puzzled look. "All that homework, don'tcha know."

Her perplexed expression faded and she smiled. "Yeah, okay. See you later."

I waved at her and walked to a garbage can. Once I was out of the cafeteria, I ran almost the whole way to the band room.

When I got there, it was extremely quiet. I sat in one of the metal folding chairs and started to twiddle my thumbs in anxiousness. I really had no idea who had written the note, but I could only hope it was someone who would tell me WHAT THE HELL was going on.

The ten minutes had passed and no one had come into the room. I sighed and stood up. I started for the door. So much for that, was all I could think after the disappointment of the letdown.

I had just opened the door when the one at the other end of the room smashed open. I turned to the noise and saw Connie, panting and leaning against the wall.

"Hey, just give me a second," she said between breaths of air.

I patiently waited and went back to my seat. She soon joined me and turned to look into my face.

"I have someone you need to meet," she finally said. "Sorry I'm late but I had to find him. His name is Craig and he's Banksy's cousin." She looked at my face full of amusement. "Seriously! Adam doesn't know he's here, but Craig said he'd rather talk to you than one of us."

Connie went over to the door and opened it. A boy of about Adam's height stepped into the room. He was wearing jeans and a baggy Aerosmith tee shirt. He had brown hair and sunglasses on, but he totally looked like Adam.

"Hey," was all he said.

"Hey," I replied, a little scared and confused.

"I'll let you two talk now," Connie said, leaving the room.

Craig came over to me and sat down. He let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Look, Lilly. I know the last couple of days have been hard on you…even though Adam says you have no feelings. But I don't believe that. I heard about how you pretended to be your cousin, just so you could explain to Adam how you felt about yourself." Craig leaned back in his chair. "He still loves you, too."

My eyes widened in shock. "Really? I don't believe you." I looked away from him. "I don't want to get my hopes up again." I added this quietly.

"Lilly, I wouldn't lie to you. Adam and I are very close…If he knew I was telling this, he'd probably kill me." Craig leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees with his hands between them. He took off the glasses with another huge sigh. "They all told me I'd be wasting my time. But I thought you should know that."

I glanced at him. This couldn't be Adam; Craig's eyes weren't the same penetrating blue; they were only a mousy brown. He looked so honest, too.

"Alright," I said, turning towards him. "Let's say I believe you. What do I have to do?"

"Just be yourself," Craig replied, grinning and standing up. "Go to the game tomorrow and don't let him walk away. He really does love you, Lilly. Apologize some more and tell him it's over…Tell him you've grown up." He put the shades back on.

"Okay," I said, a little above depressed. "I'll try it." I looked at Craig one more time. "Thank you, for all your help." I gave him a hug and ran from the room.

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It was after school when I saw Connie again. I strolled right up to her locker and gave her a hug in front of the whole team.

"Thank you so much," I whispered into her ear as I hugged her.

"Don't mention it…literally," she whispered back, pulling away and smiling.

"So, what was that for?" Charlie asked, grinning hysterically.

"Girl things," I replied, putting on my best cramp face.

Charlie's smile disappeared. "Right. Um, okay, cool." Then he looked embarrassed as he finished getting ready to go.

I asked Connie and Julie if they'd like to hang out or go see a movie, since practice was off for the night. They said sure and the three of us left Eden Hall.

We decided to hang out at the mall. As soon as we got there, I told the girls what Craig had said.

Julie smiled when I had finished. "That's great! It'll be easy to win him back now, Riley."

"How so?" I felt depressed. "He won't talk to me. Well, at least won't listen."

"Then make him listen." Connie looked at her nails.

"How?" I felt like a little child.

"Kiss him again, you moron!" they exclaimed in unison.

My face got a crimson coloring to it. "I don't know. It was different before. He never used to push me away."

"So? Guy used to want to kiss me all the time," Connie said, rolling her eyes. "Now, he's too busy trying to be a tough guy." Connie sighed.

"Besides, you know Adam didn't mind the kiss you gave him yesterday," Julie pointed out as we approached a boutique.

"True," I murmured. "Okay, I'll do it."

The three of us looked around the mall for a couple of hours and had dinner in the food court. We talked about guys and school. I felt like I really bonded with them, just like the day at the locks when I bonded with Charlie.

I really wanted to tell Julie about Scooter, but couldn't do it. I mean, she had the right to know a sweet, gorgeous guy liked her, but…I didn't feel it was my place to tell her. That was Scooter's job. But I knew he'd let her know sooner or later.

I got back to my dorm at eight. There was no sign of Myranda and no messages. I was a little worried when I noticed a piece of paper on the table.

"Hey, Lilly! I'll be gone tonight and tomorrow night. I'm staying at my house and getting a ride to school from my mom. It's time to tell her. Pray for me! Myranda." I read out loud. Then I whistled. "Good luck, kid."

I knew it was early, but I was just so tired. I put on my Discman's headphones and turned the music on. Then I fell asleep listening to the loud blaring of "Walk This Way."

A/N: Next chapter, The JV/Varsity Showdown. Will Lilly get her man? Will this all have been in vain? Will you like it?! Find out next time on Family Feud! Nellie