Part 25 (1/2)
Everyone continues talking, but I'm mentally berating myself for messing up. All I have left to write is my essay, but the subject matter is going to be hard for me to deal with. I excuse myself and walk around to clear my head. This view is one of my favorites. The quarry lit up by the moonlight and of course the clear sky covered in stars-it reminds me of my birthday.
”Whatcha thinking about?” Haden asks, standing next to me.
”Graduation. College. My birthday. Everything,” I admit and lean my head on his shoulder. ”I really screwed up.”
”You have time-just write the essay tomorrow and we'll mail our applications off together.”
”You haven't sent yours in either?” I look up at him, but his eyes are trained on the horizon.
”Not yet.” He takes my hand in his and kisses it. ”Just waiting on you.”
”Guess I need to get my act together.” I smile sadly.
He tugs my hand behind him to bring us back to the group and kisses me in front of everyone.
”Dude,” Cole shouts, ”it's not midnight, yet.”
”Practice,” Haden laughs.
”Resolutions,” Joey announces. ”We've got five minutes until it's midnight, let's do it.”
”Resolutions?” Bailey asks.
”Yeah, it's our tradition,” Braxton confirms. ”We take turns saying what our resolution is for the New Year. We'll save you newbies for last and give you time to think. Joey, you're up.”
He rubs his hands together over the fire and looks at everyone with a mischievous grin. ”I'm going to try something new. This year, I'm going to go skydiving.”
”Nice,” Cole says. ”All right, my resolution is-I'm going to get straight A's for my last semester.”
”Good luck with that,” I tease. ”Okay, my turn: I'm going to find my birth mom-with my parents' blessing.”
Haden wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek. ”Well, I guess I'm up. My resolution is that I'm going to enter a marathon.”
Braxton nods his approval and clears his throat, ”okay, my resolution is that I'm not going to hide who I am anymore.”
I don't miss the look Braxton and Scot exchange before Scot speaks up. ”Am I next? Okay, so I guess my resolution is that I'm going to try to mend things with my dad.”
I suppose there's the reason why he moved to Texas, but none of us pry.
”What about you, Bailey?” Joey asks, holding her hand.
She looks around nervously and bites her nail. ”My resolution is that I'm going to join a band.”
”What?” I openly gape. I've heard her sing, but she's never mentioned that it was an interest.
”Just something I've always wanted to do,” she shrugs with a shy smile.
”All right, Ree, you're up.” Braxton points.
”Okay, my resolution,” she starts but pauses for a second, ”I'm going to stop going after the wrong guys.”
I can't help the laugh that escapes me, but when I try to stop, she and Braxton join in. Everyone looks at us like we are idiots, which is a good thing because she knows I haven't said a word to anyone.
”Wait,” Cole points to himself, ”is that a jab at me?”
She smiles and shakes her head. ”Nope. Not at all.”
Chapter 21 ~ Finding Battles.
”Braxton,” a guy calls out when he comes into view.
”What's up, Davis?” he asks, walking toward the football player.
I'm standing near my locker with Haden waiting for the first bell to ring. Even though he's in the middle of telling me something, my attention is focused on our other friend because something isn't sitting well with me. Braxton walks over and raises his hand to pat him on the shoulder, but Davis dodges the touch and pushes him away.
”Dude, back off! Just because I talk to you doesn't mean I swing that way,” he says, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Braxton shakes his head and smirks, trying to take it as a joke, but it's clear Davis is trying to be a jerk.
”Get over yourself, Davis,” he says with a shake of his head and leans in. ”I'm not into you.”
He turns to walk away and nods his head in our direction, but doesn't stop on his way to cla.s.s.
”Well that didn't take long, did it?” I ask.
”What, people being a.s.sholes? Nope, never does,” Bailey chimes in. ”What did you expect?”
”Decency,” I mutter. ”I can't wait to get out of here.”
”Did you finally mail off your application?” Joey asks.
We haven't had much time to talk since New Year's Eve. We stayed out until well after one in the morning talking and laughing, but the next day I was glued to my desk, working on my essay for my applications. I spent the better part of two days getting it perfect and had my parents read it over to make sure that it was okay. The following Monday, Haden picked me up and we mailed off our applications together.
”Yep, all taken care of,” I smile.
”Yeah, we each had three applications to mail off, and none of them were to the same school,” Haden says.
I wrap my arm around his waist and hold onto him. We were both disappointed, but considering that he wants to study art and I want to study psychology, we had limited options.
”But most of our choices are only an hour away, so we'll see what happens,” I remind him.
”C'mon, Lai,” Joey says, ”we're going to be late.”
”Fine,” I pout before giving Haden a quick hug. ”See you at lunch?”
”See you.”