Chapter 33: Chapter 33

*Two Weeks Later*

Rylie's POV

Today marked the day of the game between Meadow Brook's football team and J. Heights football team. You know, the game Blake tricked Sky into having. The same game I feel is just about the dumbest one ever which is exactly what I'm telling Blake.

"Oh come on! That doesn't mean you shouldn't come!" Blake argued, raising his voice.

"That's exactly what it means, Mister. There are million other things I could be doing other than watching two schools headbutt because two arrogant, scratch that, one arrogant player couldn't control himself!" I replied matter-of-factly.

"But Rylie-" Blake whined.

"But what? Give me one good reason why I should come. Just one," I raised a finger up.

"It shows school spirit?" he offered.

I faked a yawn and yelled out a "Pass!"

"Come on, Rylie. You have to come! You just have to!"

"I don't have to do anything!" I shook my head sideways before turning to face my locker.

"Ugh! You're so impossible!" Blake huffed leaning against the locker close to mine

"Thanks sweetheart," I blew a kiss his way with a wink.

"I know the real reason why you don't want to come to the game," he continued after a pause.

"Oh really? Pray tell, what could that be?"

"You don't want to go to the game because you don't want your little buddy, Sky to see you like this," he said, booping my still swollen nose.

"First off, oww!" I yelled, pointing to my nose. "Secondly, that is not true and you know it. You're just trying to bait me and honestly, that was a weak attempt at best."

"Say whatever you want, sweetheart. You're just scared that if your little admirer sees you with a nose as big an onion and as red as a tomato, his crush on you will melt faster than ice in a volcano."

I was stunned but beyond that, I felt crushed. "Can you even hear yourself? I don't care what anyone thinks about how I look, least of all Sky. You know why? Because unlike you, he's sweet, caring, fun to be with and he wouldn't mock me for something that wasn't even my fault!" I closed my locker with a bang and stalked off angrily.

Jerk!!!

Blake's POV

As I watched Rylie stomp off, I fought the urge to palm myself. I can be such an idiot sometimes. Whatever possessed me to tease her for something sensitive?

Ugh! Now I've gotten her mad at me. And we were just starting to get close.

The last two weeks have perhaps been one of the best ones of my life. While I made no particular breakthrough in finding who threw the basketball at Rylie, we got pretty close during her stay at the hospital. Amidst all the fighting and mild teasing here and there, we'd really grown a bond.

And now I just had to go and ruin it. Gosh, I can be so stupid at times.

Still, maybe I can fix this. All I have to do is find her first.

Rylie's POV

I stared at my reflection in the fountain and lightly touched my nose, careful not to press it so as not to hurt myself. It still hurt and bled occasionally.

I let my hand fall and stared at my reflection again. Blake was right to mock me about this. My nose really did look as big as an onion and as red as one too. I felt my eyes pool with tears and brushed them away quickly.

Why did his comment affect me so much anyway? I should be used to this, especially coming from Blake…at least that's what I keep telling myself so why does it hurt so bad???

Tears began sliding down my cheeks and into the fountain, causing a ripple in the still water. Whatever did I get myself into? I didn't sign up for this when I agreed to be Blake's girlfriend. And why does his dumb comment bother me so much anywhere?

I had no answers for either of my questions. All I got was the silence of the empty garden, a silence that ended soon enough.

"I thought I might find you here," I heard him say, his deep voice causing a fluttering in the pit of my stomach.

"Stop reacting to his voice. You're mad at him, remember?" a voice in my head reminded me. Right!

I quickly wiped my face with the back of my hand so he wouldn't see that I'd been crying just as he took his seat beside me on the bench. Our bodies might not have been touching but we were close enough for me to feel the heat radiating off his body.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as emotionlessly as I could manage, struggling to keep my voice from cracking.

"Looking for you. And I found you."

"Well, good for you," I replied, my voice laced with sarcasm.

"Have you… Have you been crying?" he asked all of sudden, snapping his head sideways.

"No!" I quickly answered.

"You have been crying!" he argued.

"So? What if I have been crying? What's it to you?" I retorted, staring at him through angry tear filled eyes.

"Rylie," he started tenderly, "you should know by now how much I care about you."

"Care about me?" I laughed mirthlessly. "That's bull and you know it!"

"No, it isn't. I really do care about you."

"Well, I really doubt that because someone who cared about me wouldn't mock me for something as traumatizing as this just to get me to come to a dumb football game!!" I lashed out, poking his chest as I spoke.

He winced, obviously hurt by my words but I couldn't care less. "Rylie, I really am sorry for what I said. I didn't mean… I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear it. I-" he hesitated and didn't say anything else again.

"You what?" I pushed for an answer, curious to know what he'd wanted to say.

He sighed and looked away, running his hand through his hair before looking back at me.

"I'm sorry for teasing you, Rylie. I went too far and I'm really really sorry about that. But you have to believe that I didn't mean any of it, I swear it. You will always be the prettiest girl to me no matter what."

"You really mean that?"

"I do. I really do."

"Oh Blake!" I sighed, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in his warm, muscular chest. His arms went around and wrapped me as well. I'd never felt safer or more secure in my entire life.

We stayed in this position for a few minutes but it felt like a lifetime. Eventually, I got ahold of my senses and pulled away, sniffling.

"Sorry about that. I kinda broke down back there."

"Don't worry about it," he waved it off.

"Also, sorry about your shirt," I pointed to the wet spot of his shirt where I'd buried my face.

"Don't worry about it. Least favorite shirt anyway… So, what do you have next?"

"My next class?"

"Yeah."

"I have study hall next. Why do you ask?"

"I'm asking because… well, I was wondering if you would like to ditch class?"

"Uh why, if I may ask?"

"Well I was just thinking if you would like to just go out and get something to eat. Maybe go see a movie," he rattled off.

"A movie? But school isn't over yet."

"I know but I was just thinking it would be fun… So what do you say?" he inquired.

"So you want me to ditch class and school to see a movie? Is that what you're saying?"

"Well yeah. I guess so."

I stared at him, wordlessly for a few minutes before eventually sighing and saying, "I can't believe I'm saying this right now but yes."

"Yes?" Blake exclaimed, not believing his ears.

"Yes. Let's go see a movie. I can make up for missing study hall at home. Besides, not much is going on in class today anyway. With the whole football game later on. So yeah, let's ditch!" I gave him an evil smirk.

"Wow! I thought it would take a lot more convincing than that!"

"Well, we better get going before I start thinking about the cons of this idea and decide not to go."

"Right! Let's go then!" he grabbed my hand and pulled me up. We started sprinting out of the library.

Soon after, we were seated in Blake's car, buckled up and ready to go.

"I can not believe you actually talked me into doing this!" I murmured, leaning into my seat.

"It'll be fun. Trust me."

He reached over and gave my shoulder a light squeeze before pulling away and starting the car. The car revved to life and soon we were on the road.

Please tell me, this wasn't a bad decision because I'm starting to feel like it was...