The Boyfriend Deal(6)

"You're seventeen. You have no privacy in this house."

All the more reason to go to a college out of state, or at least far  enough away I'd have to stay in a dorm. Hell, maybe some girl would tame  me between now and then, and we could play house. Getting an apartment  didn't sound so horrible, if there was someone to share it with.

"When do I get to meet her?" Mom asked.

"I'll bring her around soon. I'm going to try giving her some space  between now and Friday's game, but she's going to the after party with  me. I'm sure she'll have to be home by midnight or something, so I doubt  I'll be out late."

"You aren't going back to the party?" she asked. Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped open.

"The point in going to a party solo is to hook-up with someone, and I'm  not going to do that to Hadley, so no, I won't be going back to the  party. Once I leave with her, that's it for the night. And I promised  her mom I wouldn't be drinking anything but soda or water."

There was something that looked suspiciously like pride shining in my  mom's eyes, and I decided to get the heck out of there before things  became really weird. When I got to my room, I checked my phone for the  first time since leaving school with Hadley. I wasn't surprised to see  missed texts from Colin and Robert, wanting to know what the deal was  with Hadley.

I wasn't sure it was any of their business, but I sent both of them a  message that I'd asked Hadley to go out with me. Immediately, my phone  rang.

"You're seriously going to date that Hadley chick?" Colin asked. "She's  in band or something. You're going to lose major cool points if you  don't drop her tomorrow morning."         

     



 

"I'm not dropping her. I happen to like Hadley." That wasn't exactly a lie. I did like Hadley, maybe more than I'd realized.

"What the hell, man? You have Alicia. Besides, word in the halls is that  Hadley doesn't put out. Hunter said he had a serious case of blue balls  after dating her."

I doubted that very much. Hunter had hooked up with random girls at  every party he'd been to without Hadley, which was a lot of them. Every  time I'd seen him sneak off with some chick, or watched him paw her out  in the open, I'd wanted to beat the shit out of him for cheating on  Hadley like that. I'd known it was going to devastate her once she found  out, and eventually someone had sent her the proof she needed to break  up with the jackass. Just because she'd been beneath me socially didn't  mean I'd wanted to watch some asshole tear her world apart. That little  part of me that had always been fascinated by her had wanted to stand up  for her and knock the jackass's teeth down his throat.

"I don't care about the rumors Hunter is spreading. You and I both know  he wasn't faithful to her. Maybe knowing she has someone that wants her,  and only her, will make a difference. Not that I'm trying to get in her  pants. I really do like spending time with her. If you got to know her,  you'd realize how funny and sweet she is."

"Who are you and what have you done with Tyler?" Colin asked. "Do you hear yourself?"

Maybe he'd gone a little too far, but if he acted like an asshole with  his friends, then they would expect that behavior with Hadley too. And  if this plan was going to work, then Tyler really did need to become a  different person, a kinder one. Someone who wasn't a selfish asshole who  only thought of himself.

"There's more to a relationship than hooking up. I can have any girl I  want; we both know that, and Alicia is proof that they'll do whatever I  ask. Maybe I like the fact Hadley won't just fall at my feet and do  anything. I liked spending time with her this afternoon, and I even had  dinner at her house."

"You never have dinner with the parents. You're breaking all your rules  with her," Colin said. "Are you sure she's worth the ridicule you're  going to face at school? What if your friends decide they can't hang  with you anymore?"

"Then they were never my friends. Is that what you're saying? That I have to pick Hadley or you?"

Colin sighed. "It's not like that, but I can't afford to be seen with  her. Besides, you know the girls aren't going to like having her around.  It's one thing for them to share your attention between them, but  adding someone else? That's not going to fly."

I really didn't care what the girls thought, or anyone else for that  matter. All right, that wasn't entirely true. It was still important to  me that I was popular, but maybe I didn't have to rule the school the  way I had up to this point. Once I'd become the star quarterback in  ninth grade, everything had become brighter. Suddenly, everyone wanted  to be my friend.

"Maybe I don't care what everyone thinks anymore. I'm captain of the  football team. Girls want me and guys want to be me. There are countless  Alicias in the world, but there is only one Hadley. Maybe I think it's  worth getting to know her."

"What, like you're in love with her after one day?" Colin asked snidely. "You are seriously screwed up."

"No, I've been screwed up the last three years. It's time to make some  changes in my life, and one of those is Hadley. If you can't hang with  me because of her, then go find a new best friend. I didn't realize what  we had was so fragile that my falling for a band geek would be enough  to destroy it."

Whoa! Did I just say I was falling for a band geek? What. The. Fuck. I  mean, yeah, I liked Hadley and had for a while, but falling for her?  Where the hell had that come from?

"Does she know you've totally flipped for her?" Colin asked.

"No, and I'm not ready to tell her yet." Hell, I wasn't ready to tell  myself that. "She knows I'm into her and that I'm serious, but I don't  think she realizes how serious."

"For the record, I don't agree with your decision to date beneath you.  Out of all the girls in school, why did it have to be that one?"

"I think if you got to know Hadley, you'd be able to answer that  yourself. She's different, Colin. She makes good grades; she's talented,  and she's probably the sweetest girl I've ever met." Except for when  she was puffing up at me with narrowed eyes and a few sharp words.  "Hadley is unique. The other girls are all alike."         

     



 

"Don't come crying to me when this blows up in your face."

"Everything is going to be fine."

At least, that's what I told myself as I hung up the phone, but really I  wasn't one hundred percent sure. There was Alicia to deal with, and  Hadley was still being tormented by Hunter. I'd like to think my  presence would deter him from bothering her, but for all I knew, it  would have the opposite effect and he'd come after her even more now. As  for the psycho in my life, I knew it was only a matter of time before  she would strike. She'd never come after me, but Hadley would be fair  game to her. Talking to Alicia never did any good, but if she caused too  much trouble, I'd have to report her to the school. It had been funny  when she'd tormented the others, but I wasn't about to let anyone hurt  Hadley in any way.

My phone dinged and I read Robert's message. The band geek?

Yeah, so Hadley was a band geek. Why was everyone hung up on that? It  wasn't like it determined who she was. She played the flute, and from  what I remembered, she did it rather well. Did that somehow make her  less of a person than one of the girls on the cheer squad? In my eyes it  didn't, and it never had. No, we hadn't travelled in the same social  circle, not even when she'd dated Hunter, but I would have gladly given  up everything in my life for a chance to be with her. Now I had that  opportunity, and I wasn't going to let it pass me by. I just had to find  a way to take this fake romance and make it into the real deal.

Me: She's more than a band geek

Robert: She's kinda hot

Me: Don't even think of flirting with my girlfriend

Robert: LOL it's been one day and she's your gf already?

Me: Sometimes you just know

Robert: Then she's okay by me. Alicia is going to be pissed

Me: Help me keep an eye on Hadley?

Robert: You got it. When do I get to meet her?

Me: Tomorrow morning at her locker

I didn't hear from Robert again, but I assumed we'd see him in the  morning. It was nice to have the support of at least one of my friends.  Who knew the guys I hung out with were such jerks? I shouldn't have been  surprised by Colin's comments, but I was hurt he thought so little of  our friendship that he wouldn't even give Hadley a chance. I'd been  friends with Colin and Robert since grade school, but it seemed that  didn't mean very much to Colin.

I set my phone aside and stripped down to my boxers. There was an essay I  should probably have worked on, but I still had a few days. The same  assignment had been given to Hadley's class, so maybe she'd want to  study together one night this week, and we could write them together.  I'd never done homework with a girl before. Not really. I'd said I was  doing homework, but we'd ended up making out the entire time. If Hadley  really didn't plan to let me get past first base, I had a feeling I'd  get lots of homework done over the next few weeks, if not longer. And I  was okay with her wanting to hold out. I didn't want her to do something  that made her uncomfortable or didn't feel right. A lot of girls gave  it up because they were lost in the moment, but if something ever  happened between Hadley and me, I wanted it to be for the right reasons,  and not just because she felt good right then. If I wanted easy, I'd  stay with Alicia, despite what Mom had said.