The hallways were still dark and quiet, which was good. I stopped briefly to look through the tiny windows at each of the various rooms. The game room door was still propped open, but the only people in there were playing video games. Reed wasn’t anywhere to be found.
I made my way back to the gym and opened the doors. There were a lot of people in the middle dancing, about three times as many from the time I left. I managed to find my way to Sarah who was still going full throttle. She was dancing with one of the senior football players, grinding a little. I noticed a lot of people were doing that, probably because they were in the middle of a crowd and out of the view of the chaperones standing several yards away by the snack table.
Sarah gave me a little nod, a gesture to ask if I needed something. I just waved her off though. I didn’t need to admit out loud that I was on a desperate, and almost panicked, search for Reed. I found Sienna dancing with a few of her friends from band toward the edge of the circle. Her hair was damp with sweat.
“Sarah really worked you out, huh?” I said, pulling at the ends of her hair a little.
She just blew up to cool off her forehead and nodded. “I’m going to get it one day, Nolan. I swear,” she joked.
I just smiled, still turning my head to scan the crowd. I stayed near Sienna until I spotted Reed. He was with the group near the center. He had managed to find the senior cheerleader he came in with. And his dancing was rivaling Sarah’s. My whole world seemed to switch to slow motion as I watched the girl turn to put her back to him and push into him closely. His hands grabbed her thighs and he slid them up as she lifted her arms in the air and he continued all the way up until he grabbed her hands in the air and spun her around into him, rocking his hips with hers…closely.
I had seen enough. I couldn’t help the little chortle that escaped my throat as I stifled what I knew was going to be a hard cry. I started walking quickly, almost jogging, to the large double doors that led to the locker rooms and hallway. My sweatshirt caught a little as I slammed into them, making more of a scene than I had wanted. I jerked at it and got myself through the doors and started to run to the women’s locker room.
The cold metal of the lockers was like fire on my hot face as I leaned into them, turning to slide my back against them as I let the tears come on full force now. I heard the sound of the doors slam again seconds later and I held my breath, hoping I could hide from anyone coming in, until I saw Reed’s frame fill the hallway leading to the lockers.
“Oh god,” I said through the tears, embarrassed and not wanting him to see me. I turned to walk quickly, heading farther into the locker room, somehow thinking I could either lose him or he would change his mind and leave.
He didn’t, though. His hand grabbed my wrist when I tried to pick up speed and he jerked me back into him, trying to wrap me up in his arms. I fought against his chest, beating against it with my pitiful fists. “Reed, just go. Just let me go, I don’t want you to see me,” I begged, but he stayed.
I fought harder, my hair flying wild around me and my sweatshirt falling from my waist and dragging on the floor. I was forced to stop when my back hit the bank of tall lockers along the back wall.
“Nolan, stop fighting me. Just stop!” he yelled, slamming one of his hands on the locker next to my head. He took a deep breath and moved his other hand to slide my nest of hair from out of my tear-strewn face, flinching a little when he realized how hard I had been crying.
“Oh, Nolan. You’re crying,” he was tender, his eyes showing his own hurt. My bottom lip was still quivering and I just looked down at both of our feet. He was so close I could taste him. It was almost like I could feel his lips without them even touching mine.
He tucked my hair behind my ears and moved his sleeve down over his palm a little to wipe away my tears from my cheeks, which of course only made me start to cry again. Exasperated, he let his arms slump next to his sides. He stepped back a little and turned from me, groaning with frustration, kicking at the other lockers and then swearing. When he came back to face me, he put both palms flat against the lockers on either side of my head. He took his thumb and lifted my chin to force my gaze to his. My eyes were puffy and hard to open. Everything was blurry.
“God, Nolan. Is this because you saw me with Stephanie?” he asked.
“That’s her name?” I spit back, almost a little nastily.
He just looked down, inhaling deeply. “Yeah, Nolan. That’s her name,” he paused. “It doesn’t matter, though. Who cares who it is, Nolan. It doesn’t matter.” His eyes were drilling into mine, and he was shifting his gaze between my eyes and my mouth. The sensation made my lips twitch.